Desde Cuándo Todo

LISASINSON

Desde Cuándo Todo

(Elefant)

 

Every so often an album comes along that infuses me with a new charge of energy.  I’ll never forget the thrill I felt the first time I heard The Primitives “Crash” while in High School.  It’s been a love affair with indie pop ever since!  That vivacious burst of fresh air made me feel inspired and alive and a major reason I became a music junkie.  I’ve written before about how Swedish indie-pop band Popsicle turned my attitude from lethargic and hopeless to excited and optimistic with their stellar debut album Lacquer (see write up here).  In 2005, I recall being struck like lightning by Maxïmo Park and their frenetic jolt of an album A Certain Trigger.  Then there was that Halloween when I saw The Pipettes doo wop their way a Capella style at an in-store performance at the record store Music Millennium, which led me to buy their CD on the spot and follow them to Wonder Ballroom for their concert later that evening in 2007.  That CD did not leave my car player for months, and only left when thieves busted my car window and stole my stereo with the CD inside.  By the way Gwenno, my marriage proposal still stands.  Man, did that whoosh of music carry me on a tidal wave of good vibes!  Don’t get me wrong, every time I hear a new song that appeals to me I get a shot of adrenalin and probably all kinds of narcotic endorphins.  I guess that’s why, despite having more great music I love than I can ever re-listen to again, I still hungrily search out new music, or new to me music. 

 

Even though, I do not speak Spanish, I have found myself in love with many musical acts from Spain in recent years.  In 2016, Linda Guilala released a massive twenty song opus named Psiconáutica, which definitely set my imagination ablaze!  This was delivered via the long-time and most excellent Spanish indie label Elefant Records, whom I first learned about via Camera Obscura.  Elefant Records has introduced me to numerous pop bands since the turn of the century and is unsurprisingly now the home of the afore-mentioned Primitives.  Most recently, Elefant has introduced me to this spitfire of a foursome from Valencia: LISASINSON.

This is LISASINSON’s third album since 2020, so I am late to the game and have some catching up to do.  I was first introduced to them via their defiant sounding 2023 single “Chuchillos,” which is absolutely a stunner.  I’m not sure how I let their second LP get by me at that point.  Though that single led me to tracking down the string of incredible digital singles over the past year or so leading up to this new album: Desde Cuándo Todo.  I’ll be honest, despite growing up with German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk as part of my young childhood soundtrack, vocals in a different language have often been a barrier for me.  However, with LISASINSON, I am finding that not knowing the language has freed me up to really let go and enjoy the music and not get so hung up on the words and their meaning.  Or, likely more accurately, I’m talking out of my ass, and their music is simply so infectious that I cannot resist it.

The album opens with the mid-tempo builder “Salgo A La Calle,” which bounces along a buoyant clean bass-line and explodes with color and intensity as the chorus hits.  Their indie pop or “punky pop” thrives in that 2-3 minute sweet spot and each song leaves me wanting to hear more. Their use of noisy guitar fuzz combined with bright simple keyboards as emphasis remind me of recent music from Australia’s rocket rules (their new collection Dearden’s Number is also highly recommended for a great musical start to 2026!), or Maxïmo Park when keyboardist Lukas Wooller was a big part of their sound, and of course there’s a massive influence of Spanish pioneers Linda Guilala (check out their 2014 song “Verano” for a head-spinning shot to the system). 

“Quiero Que Perdamos La Cabeza (Otra Vez)” comes on like a festive gang busking out the chorus at an open market, which becomes a through line for the entire two-plus minutes as it builds into a stomping banger that makes me feel like jumping around.  The exciting dance remix (also included here) is a nice bonus, as it smartly emphasizes the song’s frenetic and fun feel.

There are so many songs that are also fueled by pure adrenaline like the buzzing “Quiero Que Perdamos La Cabeza (Otra Vez)” and the truly punk drive of “Decidí Desaparecer,’ and the Heavenly-esque “No Quiero Envejecer,” and I cannot forget the power chord driven closer (before two remix tracks) “Si Todo Se Tuerce.”

 

However, I’m finding a huge draw to the more spacious and serious sounding bursts like the determined sounding “Desde Cuándo” and the brilliant “Si Me Pierdo,” whose contrasting verse and chorus brings back that good ole ‘LOUD/quiet/LOUD’ dynamic of early 90s indie-rock.  My favorite song here though is the dramatic “Me Acostumbré” and its powerful idling engine bass-line that climbs to a cymbal crashing chorus.  Much like the opening track “Salgo A La Calle,” this song builds with intensity and when that second vocal comes in late, shouting along with the original chorus vocal, it feels like a desperate heartbreaker.  Wow, what a song! And what an album!

 

Whatever the remainder of 2026 holds, I will always remember LISASINSON and how they helped pull me from an extended period of doldrums on the music front.  For that I am thankful.  If I’m not feeling a lot from music, then I’m not right.  Period.  Now, pardon me, while I go and listen to their earlier albums.  Meanwhile, I hope you are inspired to give their music a chance!

 

(https://lisasinson.bandcamp.com/album/desde-cu-ndo-todo)

 

LISASINSON  “Me Acostumbré”

 

Tourist

 

Fragile Animals

Tourist EP

(self released)

Earlier this month, Brisbane Australia’s Fragile Animals released this wonderful long awaited six song EP.  I say long awaited because I’ve been listening to their 2023 debut album Slow Motion Burial in my car all summer so far.  That album is so big and bright and exciting that the anticipation for more has been off the charts.  Their music is incredibly polished and they sound like a veteran band, though their first release was, I believe, in 2017.  I suppose that makes them fairly veteran, please excuse my old age, where years feel like months.  My first conscious exposure to Fragile Animals was with their 2019 “Waiting” single.  They remind me a band I would’ve flipped over in the early 90s, as they utilize the LOUD-quiet-LOUD technique of song dynamics, and find a remarkable balance of edginess and tension versus clarity, anthemic hooks, and catchiness.  The massive album closer “Breathe Out and In” from Slow Motion Burial could’ve fit seamlessly next to 90s bands like cranberries, Belly, Radiohead, Whipping Boy and the like on a really good alternative radio station or mix-tape. 

First of all, Tourist, is so perfectly recorded and mixed that it sounds amazing on any kind of audio player at any volume.  Every instrument is crystal clear and vibrant and balanced.  And speaking of that fictional 90s alternative radio station, Fragile Animals would sound especially dramatic on a high watt FM broadcast!  It’s difficult for me to imagine that a band this put together is only a minor known blip in the vast sea of independent artists.  They write sturdy timeless songs that can easily match or exceed a lot of better known bands.  Their music NEEDS to be heard and shared.

The first single, “Worldview,” from Tourist is actually an older track from their 2019 EP, the ambitiously titled Only Shallow/Only More.  The urgency of “Worldview” is palpable, as the persistent beat pulses together with a mid-range bass-line.  While the searing guitars bring the dissonance.  Victoria Jenkins sings about wanting to understand the picture.  The good and the bad or indifferent sides of humanity – not the curated glimpses of some random viewpoint of an organization or government.  Or even from an individual standpoint of social media, where people only posts their good moments, for example. 

Fragile Animals "Worldview"

There’s a pretty consistent theme throughout touching on uncertainty caused by the sheer amount of us out there, and not knowing what do believe, which can lead to isolation, and more uncertainty or less understanding.  The opening “People I’ll Never Know” is a minute of quiet music and reflection whose lyrics read like someone being so overwhelmed that they can no longer go on.  The title track is a glorious chiming dose of excellent dreampop which finds us looking for a partner, yet unsure of our instincts in recognizing what’s real and what’s not.  The dramatic cymbal crashes throughout make me wonder how they didn’t shatter or stay upright.  “Sending Flares” is another tale about seeking connection, but the sing-along chorus (“freezing to the bone”) reveals the truth that one can still feel alone whether with someone or not.

The second half begins with “Into It” A downtempo reflection lamenting the loss of innocence and how jaded we become as we get exposed to hate and the ugliness of the world.  The crushing finale is “Allergic,” which tells the conflicting emotions of possibly being a caretaker of a loved one.  Feeling lost.  Feeling claustrophic.  Nowhere to turn.  “I can’t change it!”  The music is again urgent, intense, and kind of perfect.

When I mentioned above about hearing songs like these on broadcast radio, I realize that’s a dated concept.  Most people no longer listen to the radio.  Yet I lament that bands with such extremely palatable music like this one and last year’s Attic Ocean EP, or the brand new Bleach Lab EP should be relegated to the deep underground.  It’s a crime if you ask me.  Fragile Animals are continuing to improve with each release, and that’s an unbelievably difficult feat.  Hoping there’s new LP on its way soon.  I cannot recommend this enough!

(https://fragileanimals.bandcamp.com/)

Fragile Animals "Tourist"

These Things Happen

 

It was another cold, misty summer day in the coastal town of Lincoln City, Oregon.  I had recently turned twenty and I was feeling lost.  I was back in my small home town after dropping out of college.  My life was a mess.  I was trying to recover from a poorly done and ill-conceived double nephrectomy during the spring and my mom was struggling through kidney dialysis three days a week at clinic about an hour away and her condition was worsening.  I was working, but only minimal daytime hours.

I was lost.  Numb.  Listless.  Directionless.  So, what did I do?  I finished work and drove south to the lone record store in town.  Driftwood Mac.  Mike had been running the store for several years by that point, but I don’t think anyone knew how it survived.  I’m glad he persevered as long as he did.  It was a home of sorts.  Music and the records and CDs that contained that music were my comfort.  I loved the artwork, the smell, the feel, the sounds, and the information.  Mike was busy painting the walls of the shop.  He did this often, as well as rearranging the display racks.  The shop was rarely in the same position as the previous visit.  It never took long, before the old unchanging inventory would reveal itself.  Mike had a vast collection of 60s psychedelic band H.P. Lovecraft, as well as a strangely prolific stock of 80s American punk label SST’s discography, as well as imports from the arty UK label 4AD Records.  That’s what was so strange about his inventory is that it catered to a very small niche of music fans.  One might think that he would’ve stocked the current top 40 style artists and would’ve plastered his walls and displays with ephemera dedicated to the hit makers.  However he managed to survive, he did, and I am thankful. 

 

On that particular day, he slipped a CD into my hand, as I perused his strong supply of Dinosaur Jr. colored vinyl.  The CD was a record label compilation.  It had a very simple design.  White with an aqua flavored green font and picture.  It was named Glass Arcade and the record label was Sarah Records.  He had done this to me before.  He had given me a Flying Nun Records compilation named In Love with These Times that blew my mind!  Even at that point, a couple of years later, I was still learning new to me artists by referencing that CD.  I don’t remember if I purchased this recommendation, or if he gave it to me.  He simply told me that I would like it.  By the time I returned to my childhood room, the mist had become so thick and heavy outside that everything was soaked and it was difficult to see.  I put this unassuming CD into my player and shuffled stuff around my room, opened the window blinds and the window allowing the cool damp air into my bedroom.  The dimming light of the evening was shrouded by heavy clouds, yet a crack of sunlight emitted a haunting golden glow from the west horizon.   I laid back onto my bed and let the sound of The Field Mice’s “Holland Street” envelop me.

 

Glass Arcade included no dates, only a couple of murky green photographs, and the band names of song titles for the sixteen songs.  I did not know of any of these artists, or songs, but damn the first few songs not only felt like they fit perfectly together, but also fit the gloomy weather.  This was my definition of rainy day music.  This music was reflective, thoughtful, and quietly inventive.  I absolutely loved it!  

What was this?  This music was a timeless collection of songs from an alternate universe, where introspection is valued and introverts are the most important target audience.  I listened intently as every song played, and then began the disc again and then again.  I immediately began planning mixtapes to make that included a lot of these songs paired with similar things I had discovered in the few years leading up to this moment.  Some of those early Creation Records bands, some of the 4AD artists like the Cocteau Twins, and my favorite songs by The Go-Betweens.  I felt inspired by this mysterious music.

 

It would be a couple years before I learned that the occasional Sarah Records release that I would purchase were actually new and that this music was currently being made.  I hadn’t been sure if these were artifacts from another period of time.  I felt like I had been pretty knowledgeable about music, yet this entire Sarah thing had alluded me.

I’m currently reading These Things Happen: The Sarah Records Story by author Jane Duffus (https://www.janeduffus.com/sarah-records).  I’ve had the book for about a year and a half, but am just now getting to it, and I am reading its finely detailed account of the label and the co-conspirators involved incredibly slowly.  It’s a well written book and completely thorough, immersive and enjoyable (for Sarah Records fans especially).  I am savoring it.  Not only am I a huge fan of the label and most of the artists who recorded for them, but I am a huge fan of the inspiration that this fandom provided me. 

It was that punk rock thing.  The Do It Yourself thing that was cool.  Not the DIY corporate sloganeering that defined home makeover design media in the early 00s, but the make the shit you like – anyone can do it idea that Punk rock first brought about.  Don’t like what you hear on the radio, then make your own music.  The music of Sarah and the way the label tried to go about things by being fair to their artists and fans by trying to avoid the sexist greed and depravity of the rock-n-roll institution was not just noteworthy, but admirable.  Sarah, along with many small indie labels such as K, Slumberland, Pop Narcotic, SpinArt, Teen-Beat, Simple Machines, and Independent Project Records, helped me feel a part of a community.  I’ve never been a scenester.  I have always been reluctant to fall in with a particular insular music scene.  Yet with artists, labels, and mail order distributers all over the western world introducing me to terrific music, it felt like my world was expanding and that somehow I was part of it.  No, I wasn’t making music, but I was helping spread the word and supporting those who did.  It was rewarding and exciting!  I was corresponding with people all across the globe on a very personal level, instead of just memorizing their names from record sleeves as I listened to their music.  Nearly every day I was receiving 7” singles, demo tapes, letters, or postcards in the mail.  This was what inspired me to start writing and to (mistakenly) believe that my voice was valid.  Even though my world was growing through this indie music stuff, it also felt smaller.  Suddenly, I fely=t important.  Everything was not so daunting.  It helped me realize that there are lost souls everywhere and we can bond over our shared sensibilities.  It wasn’t long after Mike introduced me to the Glass Arcade compilation that the idea of This Wreckage was born.   Who would’ve thought I’d be still trying to make it interesting 34 years later?  

Whatever the case, reading about how immersive the Sarah devotees were back when the label was active (1987-1995), reminded me to go back and listen to my introduction and how it made me feel then.  It still inspires me as much as the music gives me those rainy day vibes.  Yes, there’s a lot of nostalgia there, as I miss the idealism and the innocence of my own youth.  It makes me wonder if it’s not just me losing that fire with age, or if we as a whole have.  I’m savoring the book because I do want those feelings back and listening to these old songs helps. 

 

Go On

 

The Blue Herons

Go On

(Subjangle)

This is the debut album from The Blue Herons, but it doesn’t seem like it.  The songs on Go On have all appeared as digital singles over the past few years.  The project originally started out as a vehicle for master instrumentalist, Andy Jossi, to showcase his love of jangle guitar pop.  Jossi originally started recording and releasing instrumental songs before reaching out to various vocalists to help him “complete” them.  I put “complete” in quotes, because Jossi’s wonderfully detailed music is incredibly dramatic and absolutely great without the addition of vocals.  During that weird year of 2020, The Blue Herons released the single “In the Skies,” with Gretchen DeVault seamlessly adding lyrics and vocals.  If you’ve bothered to read these silly music missives I occasionally write, you may recognize DeVault’s name. These two have teamed up for ten more fantastic singles since.  I became a supporter of Gretchen’s music going back to when I first heard the 2004 song “I Wanna Know” by her band The Icicles – an incredibly refreshing pop song that evokes the fun teenage love songs by 60s girl groups.  Subsequently, DeVault has explored different sounds through other outlets such as the melancholic dream pop of Voluptuous Panic, and the pristine indie pop of The Francine Odysseys, as well as adding her fantastic vocals to the fun Hero No Hero project before settling in as a full-time collaborator with Andy Jossi and The Blue Herons.

In this new era of digital singles and artist’s having more direct contact with their followers, first albums like this are likely to become the norm.  In the past, a ‘best of’ or singles collection might come out after an artist has reached a certain level of tenure and/or popularity, but this debut album is already a singles collection and it plays like one.  Every single song is incredibly addictive and beg for excited repeated listens.  Jossi’s other fairly well known project, The Churchhill Garden, with Whimsical vocalist Krissy Vanderwoude, finds him creating incredible extended dreamy vistas that build and build in intensity and volume like the Kitchens of Distinction used to do with regularity.  The Blue Herons, on the other hand, have a more straight forward sound that, while still dreamy, has more in common with the more upbeat songs by the 80s line up of The Church with the added strength of Gretchen’s spectacular vocal melodies.

I want to highlight particular songs, but it’s difficult because all of these songs have been favorites as they’ve been released over the past four years.  I think “Talking to Ghosts,” however, is the cream of an especially bountiful crop.  Jossi channels a Johnny Marr-esque arrangement and the dynamic orchestral chorus is absolutely stunning, as are DeVault’s vocals.  Of course, there is also the more driving and urgent “Autumn Leaves,” whose life affirming chorus is downright invigorating and motivational.  Surprisingly, The Blue Herons took on a cover of Joy Division’s all-timer “Disorder.”  At a glance, this might seem an odd choice, or a mismatch, but I can assure you, as a massive Joy Division fan, I find this to be the best cover I’ve heard.  Gone are the harsh shards of sounds atop the dark echoing rumbles of the original, but added is a different kind of urgency and warmth.  The approach is different, yet the end result is similar in that as a listener you’ve been taken on an epic adventure.  Plus I absolutely love the buzzing close and wish that it didn’t fade out.

Though most of these songs were released as singles prior to the album, there is added value in checking this out, because here the songs have been worked on – enhanced, plus there is a great alternate version of the yearning “Echoes in the Dust.”  If you have not checked The Blue Herons out previously, this is not only the perfect place to start, I would say it’s mandatory.

(https://theblueherons1.bandcamp.com/album/go-on)

the blue herons "talking to ghosts"

the morning papers have given us the vapours

 

The Black Watch

the morning papers have given us the vapours

(Dell’Orso) 

The black watch released two albums in short succession this year and both are worth an investment.  The morning papers have given us the vapours was the first and is the more traditional release – full of their unique smart indie pop that seems to come from a limitless well.  The other album, weird rooms, is also excellent, but it’s the morning papers that has given me the vapors (sorry).  John Andrew Fredrick has guided this band for a long time, and I was lucky enough to join the entertaining ride ever since I bought one of their early 7” singles simply because it had a picture of Natalie Wood on the cover back in 1993.  All these years later, I still love the 80s era Church/Cure/Go-Betweens vibe that they produce. 

 

I’m not eloquent enough to explain in any interesting way why the black watch are so appealing, except to say that they feel like a longtime friend.  From that first chance listen, I found their songs addictive in the best way.  By that I mean, they fit neatly into my palette sonically, and are always thought-provoking lyrically and most importantly, I want to hear their songs again and again.  Some more than others.  The past six years have found them, in my estimation, on a hot streak.  A wider variety of sounds has crept in, along with more female vocals and string arrangements, which remind more of their incredible early releases.

Speaking of which, the pre-LP single (included here) “oh, do shut up,” is sung by Kesha Rose and is a perfect kiss off to any narcissist that might be making you feel bad about yourself.  It’s one of the best songs of the year and it feels so damn satisfying.  Not to be confused with their 2021 LP here and there, “there & here” is another buzzing great!  Actually, there’s not a weak moment here.  The matching guitar melody with some “doo-doo-da-doos” are alluring on the opening “new brooms sweep clean,” “sorry so far” sounds like a highlight from a Grant McLennan album, and who can ignore the pop perfection of “more lies from the government.”  “The morning papers” closes the album with a wonderful frantic strummer that is urgent, bitter and fun as hell to sneer/sing-a-long with. 

I can honestly say that in 1993 I did not look ahead and ponder what I’d be doing thirty years later, but unsurprisingly, I still look longingly at pictures of Natalie Wood when I encounter one, and listen to the black watch.  I’m okay with that.

(https://theblackwatch.bandcamp.com/)

 

 

the black watch "oh do shut up"

 

Here

Mammoth Penguins

Here

(Fika Recordings)

I have an incredible fondness in general for rock trios.  So many of my favorite bands over the years have been trios.  There’s an economy and cleanliness in the arrangements that appeals to me.  Personally, I find bandleader Emma Kupa’s best work has been in this format.  It’s not just the wonderfully straight forward arrangements, which are immaculately captured here.  Everything sounds so clean and fresh that it feels live.  It’s not just the music though, Kupa’s lyrics are so relatable that listening to an entire album feels like reading an especially deep letter from a treasured lifelong friend.

“It seems I have to learn everything the hard way” Kupa sings on the incredible crunching opening “Species.”  She sings with such a precise honesty that it’s refreshing and so relatable.  It’s a trick.  It’s what I’d love to pull off with my own writing here, so I am envious and greatly admire it when I come across it.  These songs unveil themselves as a journey to self-discovery.  While the previous LP mined emotions around an especially unwanted end to a relationship, Here finds telling missives about finding satisfaction.  “Flyers” is a direct commentary on being in a little known band.  Kupa’s frustration with pouring her heart out, all while playing shows to no audience, sleeping in vans, and storing triple XL Tee shirts under her bed (this XXXL monster would like a deal!).  I think anyone who has done anything creative that they try to share with the world can relate.  It doesn’t take long to realize that “no one cares at all.” (“Blue Plaque”).  We are all wrapped up in our own worlds.  Stuff that feels monumental to us when shared isn’t a priority to anyone else out there.  That’s how it can often feel.  It’s not necessarily true, which is the direction we’re led to as the album wears on.  The effort can be worth it.  It’s not easy.  What is the cliché?  The grass isn’t always greener.  As humans, we are always in some sort of transition.

Here finds solace in living in and appreciating the moment and the things that are positive in life, and realizing that the difficult parts can be a part of that too.  Kupa sings “fuck success / fuck expectation” with a well-worn voice of experience and acceptance, as opposed to a reactionary bitterness. 

The thing is that the Mammoth Penguins write fantastic rock songs.  I love turning these songs up really loud, air guitaring all of the power chords, punctuating verses with cymbal splashes (air cymbals), and belting out the vocals along with Kupa’s earnest voice.  These tracks are fun and catchy and, yes, remarkably personable. 

(https://fikarecordings.bandcamp.com/album/here)

Mammoth Penguins "Species"

 

Every Heaven

 

Humdrum

Every Heaven

(Slumberland) 

The debut album, Every Heaven, from Chicago’s Humdrum is an indie pop dream come true.  To get the easiest comparisons out of the way, if you were a fan of the band Star Tropics, who existed throughout the twenty-teens, yet only managed one full length LP, the incredibly infectious Lost World (Shelflife Records, 2017), the precursor and required listening for Humdrum, as bandleader/songwriter Loren Vanderbilt is the man behind both of these projects.  In other words, if you loved Lost World, you will undoubtedly love Every Heaven,  

Other comparisons and influences could be the entirety of the Sarah Records catalogue (1987-1995, 100 releases), or more specifically The Field Mice and their indie pop singles like “September’s Not so Far Away” as channeled through the jangles of early R.E.M. and the straightforward urgent bass lines of The Railway Children.  I also keep thinking of the version of The Jesus and Mary Chain’s re-take of “The Hardest Walk” from the Some Kind of Wonderful movie soundtrack.  This album is on the Slumberland Record label as well, so that alone is both an influence and a stamp of high quality.

There’s a dreamy sentimentality to these songs that creates a wonderful nostalgia for naïve times in our lives when our emotions are especially dramatic and unjaded by life’s experience.  It’s so refreshing and familiar that there’s no way to not feel comfortable and at home listening to Every Heaven.

The title track is a brief instrumental opener with a pounding drum machine and an ever ascending exploratory feel that ends with a woman’s voice saying “What is it about this place?  It’s like another world” before segueing  into the very Field Mice-like “There and Back Again,” (another Sarah reference?) which is so unbelievably catchy that it’s kind of unfair.  Loren’s vocals are friendly and humble sounding with a hint of emotion and maybe a dose of impatience or excited anticipation.  The thing is that the next song “Superbloom” is every bit as addictive, as well as “Wave Goodbye,” with its cascading guitars and its spectacular bridge and chorus.  I don’t know who does the backing vocals, but when they appear the harmonies are fantastic! 

Side two does not let up at all, as “See Through You” surges with great energy and another perfect chorus, “Eternal Blue” evokes the greatness of The Cure’s timeless 1987 single “Just Like Heaven” (that keyboard!).  Most of these songs are upbeat and exciting.  The lower tempo songs add a nice dynamic, and more of those yearning keyboards that transport one to somewhere “a million miles away,” as repeated in “Ultraviolet.”

Every Heaven is an album that I cannot stop listening to.  It feels like I’ve been listening to these songs all of my life and the songs always feel like a soothing balm to any kind of ills.  Like visiting with a longtime friend.  The kind of friend one can relate to no matter the passage of time.. 

(https://heyhumdrum.bandcamp.com/album/every-heaven)

 

Humdrum "There and Back Again"

 

A Pleasant Journey

 

Copperplate

A Pleasant Journey

(Self-released)

Lauren Grace is Copperplate from Georgia.  Lauren has been busy.  Since May of this year, Copperplate has loaded Bandcamp with three albums with another one due on September 20^th.  I’ll be honest, it’s too much for me.  I am old and incredibly have become even more thick-headed over time, so music takes its time seep through.  When I was younger, I could hear an album once and have pretty much all of the song titles memorized, know a lot of the lyrics, and bizarrely, maybe even the exact length of songs.  Forty years later, I have forgotten all of those things, and struggle to absorb new music.  There is a real danger of me purchasing songs more than once.  I have to be careful!  In the case of Copperplate, I am just now grasping this third digital only collection A Pleasant Journey, and have yet to explore the first two options and am trying to prepare for the upcoming one (Contentment).  From what I’m gathering is that Copperplate is incapable of writing a subpar song.

A Pleasant Journey is definitely in store for those who enjoy dreamy indie pop.  These intimate recordings are full of meticulous cleanly plucked guitar chimes and jangles (hinting at early Ocean Blue), over a hazy base of quiet vocals and other instrumentation.  If pressed to compare, Copperplate lands somewhere between Seattle’s Sea Lemon (especially on the ultra-catchy “Oh Okay,” and its jaunty bass-line) and San Francisco’s Tanikichan.  Lauren has a knack for memorable choruses and I love the guitar work throughout - a sound that instills reflection, and daydreams of rain clouds on the horizon.  “Preoccupy,” has a booming low end that is incredibly appealing, while “Grand Central” ruminates over our limited time lines in a warm way that reminds me of Depeche Mode’s “Here is the House.”

I’m pretty sure that Copperplate can write, record, and mix an entire album of consistent high quality songs faster than I can fully consume them.  Speaking of which, Copperplate has removed the earlier releases from their Bandcamp page, so be sure to check out A Pleasant Journey as quickly as you can, and get ready for the next album in a few weeks! 

(https://copperplatemusic.bandcamp.com/album/a-pleasant-journey)

Copperplate "Preoccupy"

Torrey

 

Torrey

Torrey

(Slumberland) 

I’ve always loved indie pop/rock.  There’s something in its simplicity that I’ve always clung to.  There’s an approachability and vulnerability to the best indie music, as well as that DIY punk rock spirit.  These are songs written and performed by goofballs like me!  Scratch that.  I have no skills, but I sure can appreciate those willing to go for it.  My ears are always drawn to dissonance, when paired with straightforward indie melodies.  At their base, Torrey is an old school indie pop band with over busy drumming, imperfect scratchy/strumming guitars and meandering grinding basslines, but here they’ve added loads of noise – everything from washes of feedback, overloaded retro-sounding keyboards, incredibly upfront and aggressive tambourines.  I think of the cut and paste genius of the Swirlies, the angular bitterness of the Archers of Loaf, or more currently: the most recent Alvvays album and their timeless melodic sensibilities.  There’s a certain ramshackle feeling in this collection that provides an exciting depth and repeated discoveries with additional listens. 

This self-titled second LP from Oakland band Torrey is their first for Slumberland Records and for me.  I have not yet investigated their prior work, but am extremely excited by this release!  To be honest, even though the lyrics are provided for this album, I can’t seem to make sense of them, yet so many of these tracks are incredibly contagious.  The aptly titled “Pop Song,” has a repeated chorus of “A common blue” that has been stuck in my head endlessly for the past several days.  This is not a complaint.  It only makes me want to hear it again, even though I’m not so sure what it all means.

There’s no way that I’ve ever figured out how to describe this, but sometimes certain artists sound more meaningful.  This is incredibly subjective, but I felt these songs upon first listen, even if many of the lyrics have remained elusive to me.  Early favorite, “No Matter How,” is an exception.  I love the repeated bridge refrain of “it will all be okay” landing just before the chorus of “no matter how you wanna spin it.”  I feel like this message hits incredibly well in these days where we are all guilty of spinning our own stories to justify our own means.  I know I’m certainly guilty of this.  I seem to be able to assuage my own bad feelings by spinning my narrative to only positives.  “No, I did nothing wrong!”  It’s a powerful message for a catchy three or so minute song.  The afore-mentioned “Pop Song” is also undeniably addictive, as well as the sweet sounding organ drenched “Bounce” and “Happy You Exist.”  My favorite amongst these highlights though is the haunting “Moving,” which has a similar vibrato vibe as “How Soon is Now?” and a sneaky earworm of a chorus vocalized perfectly by singer Ryann Gonalves that is absolutely breathtaking.

It’s discovering new music like this that I find forever regenerative.  If you’re familiar with pretty much any musical act to ever grace the Slumberland Records label, you will likely love this.  If you’re not familiar, this could be a perfect gateway into a magical world.

(https://torreymusic.bandcamp.com/album/torrey)

Torrey "No Matter How"

POPISM

 

The Popguns are such a jewel.  I feel like this EP should be getting worldwide hit buzz, because every song here is exciting, fresh, bright, thought provoking and essential.  Pretty much every year, like so many others, I make a list of my favorite albums – or most listened to albums.  This is a four song EP that clocks in at less than twelve minutes, but it is easily my most listened to release this year.  Every single time I put it on the player, I listen to it at least twice, if not three or four times.  Talk about leaving an audience wanting more. 

“Caesar,” has a yearning chorus that is so goddamn pretty that it sends shivers down my spine.  Wendy Pickles’ mellifluous voice continues to be so charming that it took me several listens before I realized that she’s singing about the irreversible damages of climate change brought on by short-sighted greed.  Of course, this sobering message is delivered inside a brilliant and beautiful package.

Similarly, “Dirty London” takes a glance at monuments marking England’s far reaching history of Imperialism and weighs the pros and cons of the privileges earned from some disturbing history (“Now you see / how the hurt is just a page of history / how the end will justify the means”).  It’s a heavy subject that is delivered with a wicked combination of grinding bass and scratchy guitar stabs. 

“Red Cocoon” comes on as a breezy love song.  Sparks flying between a pair out on an all-night bender?   It’s funny, because this song could easily be the feature song with its bouncy bass and suburb guitar leads, but it’s not! 

This all too brief EP closes with a fun punky anthem named “Indie Rock Goddess.”  Talk about leaving us wanting more!  This song abruptly ends just before it reaches two minutes, yet it’s pounding beat and Wendy’s commanding vocal will definitely imprint itself into your consciousness.

It’s wonderful to have the Popguns as our wonderful little indie pop secret, but I feel like they should be one of those bands that get much higher recognition.  I feel like we’re taking them for granted.  Please check them out. 

(https://thepopguns.bandcamp.com/album/popism)

 

 

The Popguns "Dirty London"

The Sun is in Our Eyes

 

UJU

The Sun is in Our Eyes

(Melt)

There is some kind of scientifically enhanced surgery going on with how precisely this collection of songs tugs at my heartstrings.  The Sun is in Our Eyes is melodramatic and depicts the romanticism of past love in a very unreal light.  I know we’d all like to believe that from our past there’s the one perfect match that got away, but the reality is generally far different.  There’s commonly a very good reason they are no longer a big part of our life.  Yet, for some reason, it’s very powerful to look back into our pasts and overly romanticize a stolen kiss at summer camp and the delightful innocence of it all.

Firstly, I need to thank DJ Krissy Vanderwoude for this, because she played a song by UJU on her radio show, Drowned in a Sea of Sound. a couple of weeks ago.  I cannot contain my enthusiasm for this album!  This is one of those: ‘was this made for me?’ sort of albums.  Okay, I have to slow down.  UJU is from the Philipines and The Sun is in Our Eyes is their second album.  I do not have much prior experience with Filipino bands, other than going nuts over Julie Plug’s sparkling bright debut Starmaker way back in 1998/99.  UJU do share Julie Plug’s incredible pop sensibilities, but instead of the overt chiming pop rock of JP, UJU explores a dreamier approach.  In fact, the first few songs remind me heavily of the quiet approach of that first EP by The Arrogants.  There’s a simplicity to the songs that really helps set a particular reflective mood.  Much like the power of Robert Wratten’s songwriting, and more specifically, during the brief Northern Picture Library period.  There’s an ambient atmosphere combined with nakedly emotional lyrics that pretty much wins me over every time 

Early single, “Promises,” borrows the guitar melody from New Order’s amazing “Leave Me Alone,” (full overly melodramatic disclosure: pretty much any evening during my high school years, I was probably listening to “Leave Me Alone” with an intense desperation wanting everyone to leave me alone, despite the fact that they did - especially the girls.  Of course, it isn’t until the spectacular sixth song, “Anywhere, Everywhere,” that a burst of Adorable’s “Sunshine Smile” type guitars sprawls out like a splash of bright color.  The album takes a much more shoegazey turn, sound-wise, the rest of the way, especially, the epic crashing wave that is the title track..  There’s a foggy atmospheric haze to many of these songs that reminds of Singapore’s motifs, or Australia’s Lowtide.  However, Leeju Jung’s vocals are an entirely different game here.  She does not blend her voice in like another instrument like so many shoegaze artists.  She really sings, but she does not fall into that dreadful American Idol-style of oversinging.  Instead, songs such as the bouncy, “We Should’ve Walked, but We Ran,” feel like something sung by Rachel Mayfield’s former band, Delicious Monster. 

There are so many great songs here that pull those emotional strings!  “Summer’s Gone and so Are You,” I mean C’MON?!!  Then there’s the intensely exciting instrumental “Was it the Sound of a Car Crash, Broken Glass, or the Moments I’ll Never Get Back?” which paints a dramatic picture, where words would be too much.  The closing “I’ll Be Alright (I’m Still Here)” is repetitive, but undeniably pretty and reassuring and romantic as hell.

Yesterday morning, after listening to this album over and over about a half dozen times, and deciding that I wanted to write about it, I learned that UJU is now taking a “hiatus.”  I guess it’s a good thing that there’s another album to discover!

(https://meltrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-sun-is-in-our-eyes)

UJU "THe Sun is in Our Eyes"