3.5/5
Blasted, fuzzy, sludgy garage rock that doesn't do much to differentiate itself from the pack.
Exception: The Youth is Out There shows us Black Beach with the pedal down and their hands off the wheel, ending the album on a thrilling, chaotic 6 minute jam. Need more of _that.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Monday, April 1, 2019
#3368 Buddy Emmons - Steel Guitar Jazz
3/5
Emmons' pedal steel solos are a showcase of expressiveness. He did it. He showed it can be done. But the instrument just doesn't slot in well with the horns: of academic / novelty interest only.
Emmons' pedal steel solos are a showcase of expressiveness. He did it. He showed it can be done. But the instrument just doesn't slot in well with the horns: of academic / novelty interest only.
Friday, March 15, 2019
#3367 Chai - Punk
4/5
What sounds at first like candycoated gimmickry reveals plenty of complexity. Subtly dense, insidiously hooky, lyrics laced with pretty poison, every maximalist blast backed by a salvo of fizzy cluster missiles
What sounds at first like candycoated gimmickry reveals plenty of complexity. Subtly dense, insidiously hooky, lyrics laced with pretty poison, every maximalist blast backed by a salvo of fizzy cluster missiles
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
#3366 Wand - Perfume
4/5
Perfume continues Plum's adventurous spirit, steering back into heaviness, getting arty, angular, lightly proggy, even a little jazzy. A clever, unpredictable set of songs. The pacing's all wrong, but even that feels like part of Wand's campaign against expectations
Perfume continues Plum's adventurous spirit, steering back into heaviness, getting arty, angular, lightly proggy, even a little jazzy. A clever, unpredictable set of songs. The pacing's all wrong, but even that feels like part of Wand's campaign against expectations
Friday, March 8, 2019
#3365 Wand - Plum
4.5/5
Wand's a full-band creative force now, and Plum's a refreshing is-this-the-same-band detour. Sweeping and twinkling and swooping, and occasionally ripping off a guitar killshot, sure. But Wand's left most of the Ty Segall baggage behind, outgrown their garage rock housing, and bloomed into something prettier and harder to pin down. Shades of the early 90's when Radiohead, STP and the Pumpkins were overrunning their hard-rock confines.
Even the post-halftime lull kinda works, when it leads into the two longest songs on the album, each enchanting enough to jostle your sense of how long you've been listening.
Wand's a full-band creative force now, and Plum's a refreshing is-this-the-same-band detour. Sweeping and twinkling and swooping, and occasionally ripping off a guitar killshot, sure. But Wand's left most of the Ty Segall baggage behind, outgrown their garage rock housing, and bloomed into something prettier and harder to pin down. Shades of the early 90's when Radiohead, STP and the Pumpkins were overrunning their hard-rock confines.
Even the post-halftime lull kinda works, when it leads into the two longest songs on the album, each enchanting enough to jostle your sense of how long you've been listening.
Thursday, March 7, 2019
#3364 Wand - 1000 Days
4/5
Lacks Golem's transcendent pacing and claustrophobic reverberation, but Wand's still the best heavy // psychedelic band out there. 1000 Days never goes too long without a texture swerve or gorgeous guitar straightaway
Lacks Golem's transcendent pacing and claustrophobic reverberation, but Wand's still the best heavy // psychedelic band out there. 1000 Days never goes too long without a texture swerve or gorgeous guitar straightaway
#3363 Dino Oliveri - Singularity
3.5/5
Deeply old-school electronics with a streak of concept album, like the soundtrack to some lost sci-fi cult classic. Steers clear of 80's revival cliches and keeps that air of mystery and surprise
Deeply old-school electronics with a streak of concept album, like the soundtrack to some lost sci-fi cult classic. Steers clear of 80's revival cliches and keeps that air of mystery and surprise
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