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"

Retriever

 

Attic Ocean

Retriever

(Digital)

Retriever is a five song EP from German five-piece Attic Ocean.  It is their second EP, and you know what?  They have figured it all out!  Each of these five songs evoke different sounds, yet this is a tight unified whole. I can’t imagine breaking these songs apart from their running order, so it feels best to listen to it in its entirety instead of picking individual songs.  Each song has been a favorite since its release in October.

“Young Again” opens this all too brief set with a shot of electricity charged by a driving bassline, and a dreamy sounding guitar lead that evokes “The Cutter” by Echo and the Bunnymen.  Hannin Nasirat’s urgent vocals along with the vibrant instrumentation drawing similarities to the best songs from Spain’s incredible Linda Guilala.  “Young Again” is so aptly titled, because it brims with an inescapable energy that is a powerful narcotic.   This is one of the biggest joys in seeking out and discovering new music. 

Next up, is the huge sounding “Lilies and Sea” that uses its heavy wall of guitar fuzz to bolster the chorus, reminding of some of the best 90s indie by utilizing that era’s LOUDquietLOUD drama.  Hannin’s hushed vocals, and the stratospheric twin guitars of Niels Baumgarten and Maximilian Swierczynski hint at Slowdive’s style of shoegaze, while the galloping drums from Lukas Moore, along with the huge sounding chorus that hints at Lanterns on the Lake at their most anthemic. 

“Glow” provides us with a jangly spirally hook that reminds of Velocity Girl’s “My Forgotten Favorite” as channeled through the cranberries’ third album To the Faithful Departed.  “Glow” is an unabashed pop song with a cyclical vibe and a gushing haze of atmosphere.

The penultimate “Sleepless” thumps along with strong snarling guitars and serious grinding bass from Philip Marx providing a heaviness the previous songs don’t share.  Moore sounds like he’s trying to break his snare and bass drums, along with his splash cymbals.  It’s a glorious song that smashes through its three minutes and is an unexpected change up. 

The closing “Weeks into Years” is another example of this band’s strong songwriting talents.  It sounds timeless and immediately familiar.  I swear it sounds like something I can’t quite put my finger on (ideas are welcome), but it doesn’t matter because it’s absolutely glorious.  The soaring whirr of reverb highlighting the bridges, the Rachel Goswell-esque “oohs” from Chaperhouse’s brilliant “Pearl,” and Marx’s extremely tightly stretched bass strings pluck out a danceable groove, which all combine for a song that begs for repeated listens. 

If you’re not certain from what I’ve written here, this EP is astounding!  I highly recommend checking them out.  This EP initially hit me in a similar way that Australia’s Fragile Animals did with their debut LP last year.  Songs with emotional depth, musical drama, and catchy hooks.  What could be better? 

(https://atticocean.bandcamp.com/album/retriever)

Attic Ocean "Lilies and Sea"

Presence

 

SPECTRES

Presence

(Artoffact)

When I write these little album things, I often struggle to find ways to describe the music involved.  I try to use the tried too much use of comparisons, and it often leaves me uneasy.  First off, though sometimes effective, I often times find comparisons unfair to the artist that I am writing about.  Everyone hears things differently.  I try not to pull out too many obscure references, because those can be meaningless to most potential readers.   As a reader of music reviews myself, I can be turned off by too many unknown references.  I don’t need to know that the writer is so damn hip, plus I often find as an older person that my references are often dated – so much so that the artist I’m writing about may not have been born, while I was bouncing off the walls listening as a teen.

The newest SPECTRES album, Presence, their fifth full length is a refreshing reminder that time is relative and crucial regarding how we all perceive events and how we proceed with decision making for our lives.  The song “Waiting,” which stands as the middle point of this collection, opens with a dramatic musical build up that levels into a melancholic love song.  The beautiful chorus of “Waiting for the sunrise / Waiting for the day / All for your reaction / Your one in a million” can be interpreted as a nice love song, or that “your” instead of “you’re” it feels more like a dissertation about timing.  The juxtaposition of patience versus time.  Can we hold off even knowing that our one n a million chances might be jeopardized?  Time is referenced in almost every song on this album, from the generational struggle inside “The Old Regime,” to the stuck in the past vision of “AM Gold,” to the closing message to take time, take stock and “Start Again.”  Vocalist/lyricist Brian Gustavson provides a lot of thought-provoking words. 

One of the reasons that I say that SPECTRES’ music is refreshing, is because as an old fart, their music makes me feel like a kid again.  Not only do they remind me musically in the most simplistic terms of a remarkable melding of early New Order and Big Country, but they also evoke a wonder at the size of our world, and a belief in possibilities.  They are twenty year veterans who sound like classic 80s post punk, but only discovered recently.  I absolutely adore the variety of Presence.  “Chain Reaction” brings an angry punk energy, while “Real World” sounds like what should be a hugely popular pop song, as well as the yearning quality of the wondrous “One Day.”  The spikey guitars of “AM Gold” sounds like a lost outtake from Big Country’s The Crossing, while “Dominion” evokes early Chameleons with its exciting twin guitar urgency. 

There I went and dragged out a bunch of 40 year old references.  However, SPECTRES are no retro act.  These songs are relevant and current, and really fun to listen to. 

(https://spectresvancouver.bandcamp.com/album/presence)

SPECTRES "AM Gold"

The Raven

 

Magnet School

The Raven EP

(Shifting Sounds) 

Has it really been eight years since Magnet School’s last album, 2016's The Art of Telling Truth?  Wow!  Lucky for us, they’re still at it and have graced us with another collection of cranking twin guitar majesty.  They have always reminded me of Swervedriver, with the dual exploratory guitars that aren’t afraid to lock in with the potent rhythm section and crank out some serious rock-n-roll. 

“The Raven” opens with an air raid siren that acts as a clarion call to action. Once the guitars kick in atop a beat full of stuttering nervous energy, “The Raven” jumps out as one of the most rousing songs I’ve heard in eons.  It feels like a call to action like New Model Army’s “Here Comes the War,” but with lyrics full of festering and rotten imagery, it is more of a call for some kind of hex on a betrayer.  The intensity of the instrumentation gives the song an undeniable urgency that feels incredibly vital.  There’s more turmoil ahead in “A Conversation,” which is pushed forward by a bass-line that sounds like the rumbling engine of a hot rod.  It’s another song that feels full of betrayal as the lyrics ruminate on the changing stories (misrepresentations?  lies?) from conversations between the past and the present. 

Magnet School are always reliable with some devastatingly good instrumentals, and here we’re treated to “Dotted Eighth,” which absolutely rips.  The band locks into a tightly wound riff and soon sparks begin to fly.  Once the cool breeze of “Mayor of Greenpoint” comes in, I envision hearing/seeing these songs live as part of an especially hot encore and this is the slow burning set closer that builds to the exciting conclusion, as well as the highlight of the set.  This EP closes with a classy piano and strings “Reprise” brief instrumental of “The Raven” – replacing the original’s harrowing and menacing threats into a quiet and peaceful reflection.    

It was a long wait for these new songs, but well worth it.  Magnet School have showed us that they set a high bar of quality control.  Happy to have them back.  Does this mean there’s more new music on the near horizon?

(https://shiftingsounds.bandcamp.com/album/the-raven)

Magnet School "The Raven"

Versions of Us

 

Lanterns on the Lake

Versions of Us

(Bella Union)

There are many contradictions in my behavior and beliefs, but one I’ve only fully realized in recent years is how I seem to have an incredibly strong sense of survival, despite often having a desire to die.  When I’ve been confronted with some pretty catastrophic health issues over the years, I fight like crazy!  When things have been touch and go, I come out gasping for air like someone who’s been under water for an extreme length of time.  Both doctors and nurses have commented on my will to live and my willingness to fight.  It’s funny to me, because they don’t see how I react at some real minor inconveniences that can and often do completely shut me down.  If I receive mail of any kind that involves forms, or when I am fumbling around too much with my hands, or wobbly on my feet, or am dropping everything I try to hold or pick up, I think to myself, how much I don’t want to keep on living.  Every time I encounter debates involving denial of facts and all reason, my response is to shut down.  I’d rather die than deal with that shit.  All of these things have become large factors in my life these days, so I am worried that my fight – my will to survive is declining.  This is why the newest Lanterns on the Lake album, Versions of Us, is so important.

Lanterns on the Lake have been a massive favorite of mine since their earliest self-released and packaged EPs, I regard their debut album,  2011’s Gracious Tide, Take Me Home, as one of the finest debuts of the 2000s, while their follow-up, 2013’s, Until the Colours Run, is an all-timer for me (2013 #1 pick - see here).  That LPs first single, “Another Tale from Another English Town” is remarkable in its cinematic beauty and quiet, yet bitter protest.

There is a positivity that runs through Versions of Us that strikes like a kick to the ass to get in gear and live!   We’re not talking about saccharine messages of hope, but a well-worn reaction earned in the face of serious darkness.  It’s striking, and I’m here for it.  I, for one, am tired of all of the negativity.  I need to turn things around and build up that life affirming resiliency again.

This sense of positivity is important, because singer Hazel Wilde is reminding us that we can all collectively and individually learn from our previous poor habits and assumptions and do better.  “The Saboteur” spells this out in a very straightforward way, in a very memorable chorus, which is heightened by Paul Gregory’s soaring guitar work: 

“Gripped to the past til our fingers bleed

Habit of a century

We’re going to turn this thing round like you wouldn’t believe.” 

The first pre-LP single, “The Likes of Us,” opens the album with a plea for positivity acceptance.  It’s like Wilde is working out her new strategy by accepting that she’s a “wreck,” but asking for all of us fellow down trodden folks to let her have this, “all of these cynics and nihilists couldn’t stop me from feeling this.”

The second single, “String Theory,” finds solace in the idea of a multiverse.  The notion that there are an infinite number of us progressing through time pleases her, knowing that at least one of those versions is having a great time.  It’s kind of funny, but there’s an urgency to this song that is incredibly infectious and hopeful, like witnessing an especially epic sunrise. 

Lanterns on the Lake, with their swelling surges of sound, have always had the ability to create spine-tingling moments that tap into hidden and unspeakable emotions that make one’s face contort to hold back the flood.  This album is no exception, and here we find them perhaps more accessible than ever before.  The previously mentioned singles are upbeat, concise, and with a driving beat from Radiohead’s Philip Selway, songs like “String Theory,” sound crucial and exciting.  Elsewhere, “Real Life” is as close to a catchy pop song that they’ve ever attempted, and it creates an especially spine tingling moment during the bridge, once Gregory’s guitar melds with Angela Chan’s searing violin.  I honestly cannot get enough of it.  “Rich Girls” is another stunner with its warm buzzing organ hum, low end bass, a stuttering beat, and the rousing chorus that absolutely soars, as Wilde clings to her goal of positivity, even if she has to fake it.

Hazel Wilde’s lyrics have always been excellent.  Here they feel more conversational than ever before.  Perhaps she’s writing these affirmations to herself, yet they come off more like an evolving conversation with an old friend.  There’s a humor and humility (“And your guru tries to help / Keeps telling me to love myself / But he can’t stand me either”) here that is familiar and trusting.

This fifth album is already one of my favorites!  Increasingly, with each album release Lanterns on the Lake unveil, there are stories about how the making of that new album almost didn’t happen, because of various issues.  They have continuously lost members through the years, yet they keep on going and remaining remarkably vital.  I am thankful that they remain steadfast and keep this amazing music coming.  Whenever I hear someone say “there’s no good music anymore,” I think of artists like this, and laugh to myself about how ridiculous that notion is.

(https://www.lanternsonthelake.com)

Lanterns on the Lake "String Theory"

(image for) drawing on canvas

 

SPOOL

(image for) drawing on canvas

(self-released)

After several singles the past couple of years, Japanese four-piece, SPOOL, return with a full length at the end of 2022!  There is something special about this band, but to be honest, I have a difficult time putting my finger on it.  They are always solid.  They mine a style that is a psychedelic indie rock that reminds me of the early Teenage Fanclub, when they were more similar the Dinosaur Jr than the Byrds. 

This new LP fits right in, yet mines another adjacent style.  The songs and production here are very straight ahead and streamlined.  SPOOL have often employed a dreamier, exploratory sound, but here the basslines are tight with the massive sounding drums.  This album would’ve fit neatly into the US dominated 4AD record label years from about 91-95.  I’m talking about when 4AD began releasing alterna-rock hits by US bands like Pixies, Throwing Muses, Belly, and especially the Breeders.  I’m not implying that Spool sounds like these bands, or is copying their sound, I’m just saying that if you appreciated these artists, you might enjoy this one. 

From the tight thumping of the momentum gathering opening instrumental “fu_ka_n” to the closing melancholy “nevv song,” this album is pleasing at every stop.  The highlights for me are the vaguely Lush-like ”Somewhere,” which scratches many itches, along with the heavy and cranking “In My Head,” which includes a guitar line that sounds like a buoy beacon in the distance, and the two minute scorcher “P-90.” “Light of the Sun” is amazing too, despite ripping off the opening of Adorable’s 1994 “Vendetta” single.  What a song to steal from though!!  It becomes its own rocker by the time the first verse comes in.  The three pre-LP singles are all nice inclusions, though surprisingly, three of the quieter additions.

SPOOL, have easily earned the honor of being a band that I will continue to purchase prior to hearing new offerings.  I know that sounds silly, but I take that very seriously.  There aren’t many that my tightwad hands will ungrip for sound unheard.  It almost feels like they’re taken for granted after only three excellent albums.

(https://spool1991.bandcamp.com/album/image-for-drawing-on-canvas)

SPOOL "(image for) drawing on canvas"

Love Lives in the Body

 

Soft Blue Shimmer

Love Lives in the Body

(Other People)

Love Lives in the Body is Soft Blue Shimmer’s second album, and as I’ve said before, this band’s sound is one that I love!  I have trouble writing about them.  My love for them does not elicit any kind of narrative.  I just enjoy their music.  It seems to be deeply rooted in me.  I remember a time when I was in my early twenties and in love with the idea of love.  I had experienced, in a big way, that early electric bliss that comes with a fresh crush/relationship and on the other side of the coin, around the same time, I had gone through a lot of serious heartbreak and loss.  I became a mess of emotions and conflict.  Everything in life became exceedingly poignant and powerful.  Inevitably, all of the songs I loved from that era that evoked any direct emotions from those experiences, all still tap into those vivid days.  I began to amass a soundtrack for those times.  Songs that poked the bruises of those emotions were of a wide variety of sounds, but are all linked in their own genre that only makes sense to me.  Soft Blue Shimmer’s warm sound envelops me into that world – a world of my deepest desires and regrets - the things that bring tears to my eyes.  Their songs mean a lot to me in a deeply embedded way.  Perhaps, they’ve stumbled upon just the right dose of bittersweet.  I miss the feeling of feeling so much.  Age and accumulation of experiences, at least for me, has numbed me, despite my best intentions to avoid it.  Hearing music like this makes me feel alive.  In some ways, I need to keep that bruise going.

Love Lives in the Body, indeed.  Much like Soft Blue Shimmer’s music lives in my body.  Main vocalist, Meredith takes a breath in and out to open their second album, before we are set into their stunning musical realm.  It’s like a ‘here we go’ prep.  Their wash of soft buzzing guitars, plush drums, and Meredith’s heavenly vocals are always pleasing, and it’s about then when I realize that I will be listening to these songs a lot!

The slow unfurling of the pre-LP single, “Prism of Feeling,” is beautiful as it blooms into a sound that one wants to hear again and again.  This is similar to the rising earnestness of “Cloudless.”  “9090” is the most upbeat song, while “Memory / Fantasy” is quite melancholy with matching incredibly visual and poetic lyrics.  Definitely my early favorite.

The album unfolds in an unusual way.  It leans toward the dreamy side early, and increases the tempo and pop hooks as it progresses.  SBS, have found a magical balance between the shoegazey elements I love and the crisp fizz of indie pop, which I love as much.  They remind me a bit of 90s legends, Majesty Crush, only without the creepy and sinister lyrics.  I feel a profound loss in these songs, thought I am likely projecting, as they explore not just the emotional loss of a loved one, but the physical one as well.  It’s a thought-provoking thread to consider and deeply felt.  Maybe that’s part of what poking the bruise is all about.  So often, we mourn the emotional loss, but not the little things, like just the right touch to the forearm at just the right time.  Love Lives in the Body evokes all of that.

The dichotomy between the darkness of the words and the bright music is fantastic - something that has always appealed to me!  On their Bandcamp page they let us know that they’re here to make you think about stuff or forget about stuff.  Could not be more accurate.  Timeless music!  Their records are like the best candy that we all try to save to consume last.   

(https://softblueshimmer.bandcamp.com/album/love-lives-in-the-body)

Soft Blue Shimmer "Prism of Feeling"

Dawn of the Freak

The Haunted Youth

Dawn of the Freak

(Mayway)

The debut album from The Haunted Youth opens with a short rough, yet simple instrumental and closes with a lofi acoustic heart tugging ballad.  The eight tracks in-between are some kind of amazing collection of postpunk pop wonders that are so streamlined and perfect that they play like a greatest hits album from a pioneer of the genre.

Joachim Leibens, from Belgium, has managed to learn from the past.  Over the years, especially before MP3s and streaming changed the music industry forever, occasionally, an “alternative” artist or band would sneak a catchy song or two into mainstream radio.  I’m talking about songs by Modern English (“I Melt with You”), The Church (“Under the Milky Way”), The Cure (“Just Like Heaven”), or especially The Psychedelic Furs (a few), among others.  These were triumphant moments for those of us who were exhausted from the overplayed pop hits that we mostly heard on the top 40 radio stations that us folks in small towns were pretty much stuck with.  These random breakthroughs would spur on discovery of new and unusual music that we had to hunt down in the nearest cities, and these would lead us to other artists.  These artists were different.  Generally, more experimental, thought-provoking and interesting.  Generally, they had more insightful lyrics and sounds.  They were often darker in sound, but still tied to the idea of pop hooks.  It’s as if The Haunted Youth have cleaned out any of those variations and failed experiments that were buried on those old albums, and put out a collection that is so unrelentingly focused that every song sounds like one of those breakthrough hits.

“Broken,” the first song I heard from them, is an epic breathy anthem, whose guitar chorus is magical and downright exciting!  So many of these songs have very few lyrics - mainly a few lines, repeated at key moments, a sturdy rumbling bassline and beat, some spiraling or scratchy rhythm guitars, and nothing to get in the way of the point.  “Teen Rebel” is super infectious, though a bit odd.  The vocal is kind of a snotty retort to the so-called Teen Rebel, who is “always wanting something more.”  Though, it could be irritating, these lines are sung/spoken atop a Chameleons-like bed of guitar reverb, which is always great.  If one were to remove the bass and drums, this song could qualify for an Ambient genre all-time classic.  All of the singles, like the hand clapping addiction that is “Gone,” or the scratchy simplicity of “Shadows,” and the sing along attraction of “Coming Home” (opens similar to New Order’s “Procession”) should be international blockbusters. 

There’s a no frills/no bullshit thing going on here that I dig and I think a lot of people would to.  A great example of this is the song “I Feel Like Shit and I Wanna Die,” is exactly what the title implies.  No sugarcoating.  No nonsense to obscure the message.  No room for interpretation.  The music is stunning – something similar to an early OMD ballad.  So is this album.  I’m anxious to hear more!

(https://thehauntedyouthofficial.bandcamp.com/album/dawn-of-the-freak)

The Haunted Youth "Broken"

 

Canary Yellow

 

Soft Kill

Canary Yellow

(Cercle Social)

There are those times in High School and college, or thereabouts, where most of us start our search for how we want to be identified.  Identity is important to us when we’re young, because we don’t know what we are.  We’ve been told how to be by our authority figures, but at some point, we begin to question things and try to understand what type of person we want to be.  It’s an exciting and dramatic time, because it feels lonely to search for meaning and direction and exciting, because there’s so much opportunity and discovery.  Oftentimes, the music we develop a taste for becomes a tangible source of community.  We begin to gravitate to others who like similar things.  We change our look and adopt new personas to fit in with a new clique or scene.  Sometimes it can go deep and it is all very serious and very important.

Now that I’m old, I am both mystified by it all, and I miss the promise of those days.  I never really felt like I found a niche when I was young, because I really never wanted to fit in.  I did desperately, but at the same time, was mostly content with being by myself.  It was a time of being sad, because I was lonely, and yet never comfortable with others – especially in groups.  I do, however, miss how fired up I would get when I ran across new music that I felt an affinity for.  That felt like home.  That spoke to me.  That taught me.  That helped me not feel so alone.  Music still does these things for me.  I still get energized when I run across music that fits into my narrow-ish tastes.  However, most of those harken back to those earlier times.  They are nostalgic, even if they are new and by younger artists.

Having said that, within the last few years, I have learned about Portland’s own Soft Kill.  They are fantastic!  They exude that perfect band for young discovery.  At least that’s what I think and feel when I hear them.  They write songs that remind me of “In-Between Days” Cure, that are a bit more “street,” yet which are genuinely sad and reflective, and yet incredibly catchy earworms that can fill one with energy and a real passion and angst.

Soft Kill’s latest offering is Canary Yellow.  I originally got sucked into their energy with their previous proper LP, Dead Kids R.I.P. City, from 2020.  Yes, they remind me of younger days, and I’m okay with that.  I listened to Dead Kids a lot and reveled into those old angsty feelings.  It reminded me how important those times were and thankful that most of those old anxieties became meaningless to me now.  Don’t get me wrong.  My anxieties are numerous – just different.  Canary Yellow is very similar to the previous album with songs full of an energized sadness that are absolutely tuneful.  I mean, this is a fun and enjoyable listen no matter what.

Songwriter, Tobias Grave, has a knack for catchy melodies.  The pre-LP single “Magic Garden” with its acoustic strums and hummable guitar and keyboard melody should be heard by a wider audience, or the endlessly addictive tune that is “Rocks & Blows,” will creep into one’s head and stay there, in a good way.  The piano anointed “Domino” is another favorite with its inherent drama that hints of the magnificent Stars at their best.  The ballad, “The Line” sung by Ruth Radelet formerly of another long-time Portland stalwart, Chromatics, is a touching moment of loss and heartbreak, as well as sweet moment of variety.  I love the police station free phone message that is “Joey,” which opens the album and provides the title, and the epic album closer, “Lake Shore Drive,” with its music box like piano melody crossed with a “Love in a Car”-esque high end guitar atmospherics, is dreamy and momentous. 

The entire damn album passes by too quickly.  Lucky for all of us, we can play it over and over again, which I will continue to do.

(https://anopendoor.bandcamp.com/album/canary-yellow)

Soft Kill "Magic Garden"

From Capelton Hill

 

Canadian six-piece, Stars, have hit pay dirt with their 9^th album!  I shouldn’t say that, because they have always been consistently good.  They have earned my loyalty.  If they release new music, I will purchase it unheard.  Stars have returned to form!  This, is also untrue.  As I said before, they have always been great!  However, they did set the bar very high from their humble beginning as an electronic duo in 2001 (I was drawn in by their cover of the Smiths “This Charming Man”), to the expanded four-piece lineup enhanced LP Heart, then to the amazing all-time classic that is their third LP, 2004’s Set Yourself on Fire.  It was this LP that blew my mind.  An album that somehow captured some kind of unholy crossing of the Beautiful South and the Delgados.  Capturing a melodrama filled with broken relationships and heartbreak with fantastic orchestral string-laden arrangements.  It was an impossible album to follow, and to be fair, they’ve done an incredible job trying.  Their albums are all consistently good to great, and they always bring that Fire melodrama and energy to their live performances.  However, From Capelton Hill brings back the strings and their secret weapon of having their lead singers, Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan sing most of the songs together.  I don’t know what it is, but the seamless combination of their voices seems to elevate the lyrics to another level.  Every song feels that much more important and crucial. 

It’s pretty remarkable that 21 years on this band has released an album so inspired that it plays like a best of collection.  Drop the needle anywhere and you’re in a song that sounds like it should be a single.  This record is informed by all of their past.  They have the dramatic duets full of desperate, sad and longing words from their early work, busy arrangements like their great 2010 single “Fixed.”  They’ve got the disco inspired dance numbers (a la the No One is Lost LP) of “Build a Fire” and “If I Never See London Again” (more of a Pet Shop Boys-styled circa ’89 Euro-disco triumph), and wonderful ballads such as “Patterns,” “That Girl,” and “Snowy Owl.”  Sure, the dramatics can be a bit overboard at times, like in “To Feel What They Feel,” but I think we all need to be bludgeoned over the head to gain some needed empathy for others, if we’re ever going to get out of our current ugly state of affairs culturally. 

It’s downright remarkable that they can pump out such all-time songs like “Palmistry,” “Pretenders,” and the cinematic “Back at the End,” and “Capelton Hill.”  Personally, I have always loved Amy Millan’s vocals, and this is the album where she is a part of every song!  And a special shout out to Evan Cranley, as the basslines here are fun and lively.  It is truly inspiring to hear a band this engaged after doing this for so long. 

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

Stars "Capelton Hill"

The Swiss Army

Has it been twelve years?!  Northern Portrait’s debut album, along with their initial EP’s, were a breath of fresh air.  And now this four-piece from Denmark have returned over a decade later with their second LP, The Swiss Army.  Maybe they waited so long, because they knew that another rush of air was needed.

I think I wrote about all of their early releases, and I went overboard comparing them to The Smiths.  Yes, there is and was similarities in sound and style.  Vocalist Stefan Larsen has a wonderfully infectious vocal style that begs to be sung along to with great zeal!  Their music is timeless and sounds effortless and endlessly catchy.  And they have fantastic song titles, and lyrics like: “I have come to disappoint you!”   I think the similarities are strong in sound, but they also give me the same kind of rush and excitement that I first felt when I discovered The Smiths. 

Now, after all of these years, the new LP, is less Smithsy.  They’ve boosted the low end with this recording and have added a layer of organ to most of these tracks.  They still have all of their attributes fully intact, except now they are more in league with what Gene was doing from albums two through four.   Northern Portrait have not lost their knack for creating beautifully executed intelligent pop music tinged with longing, melancholy, feeling and fantastic melodies.

Each LP side opens with two singles.  “At attention” to open side one is one of those whoosh songs that always fills me with energy.  Side two’s “Once Upon a Bombshell” is one of those mid-tempo cautionary sad tales of faded glamor and attention that Morrissey used to capture so beautifully, while in The Smiths (“Paint a Vulgar Picture”).  In fact, much of the flawless second side feels like a strong caution of focusing one’s priorities on fleeting attractions of youth and commercialism.  The rousing “business Class Hero” is my favorite here with its life-giving guitar strums to its hammering and abrupt close and its tale of greed unhinged.  Sadly, there’s no karmic end awaiting this questionable character as they go on to “join the superhuman race.”  “World History part I and II” continues to focus on our penchant for fame and glory at all costs.  So damn good.  The Elsewhere, the jaunty “Long Live Tonight” grab a classic groove from pop bands going back to the 50s, but that still entice one to jump around, and likewise, the slow ballad, “The Soft Revolution,” could be a slow dancer from that time.

If you were or are a fan of 90s Britpop and Seattle’s National Honor Society, then you will likely really like this.  There are songs that can remind of the guitar attack of Suede, Sleeper, Blur, and even the classic melodies of the Stone Roses’ first album.  It’s also one of those records that gets better with each listen and it begs for repeated listens.  Can we wait for them to revive us in another twelve years?  I sure hope not.

(https://shop.matineerecordings.com/collections/new/products/northern-portrait-the-swiss-army)

 

Northern Portrait "Business Class Hero"

Raise Hell

Fresh

Raise Hell

(Get Better) 

I’ve often wondered why the search for new music has been such an important part of my life, and though I don’t really ever find a satisfactory answer, I think the biggest part is to find a way to capture and keep capturing that initial joy of discovery that comes with finding music at a young age.  It’s like an eternal search for youth.  I know that there are a few releases every year where a big part of their appeal to me is from the artist’s high energy alone.  Speaking of energy, the aptly named Fresh released their third album, Raise Hell, last month and I’m pretty excited about it.

My summer of 2019 was pretty well dominated by their last LP, Withdraw.  I fed into the pop hooks, the youthful energy of the performances, and especially the frank words (mostly about low self-esteem) and vocals Kathryn Woods.  I don’t know, it boosted me.  It was refreshing to hear twelve songs in under 30 minutes that are not all identical.  I’ve listened to it endlessly and have had each song as a favorite at different points in time.  Their second album was them finding their voice.  It is a marked improvement on their debut, as it claims their own territory and stands out as unique.

 Not sure if I had any expectations for the new album.  Gone, for me, are those days of high expectations of bands and then harshly judging them on the actual results.  Nowadays I prefer to just wait and see.  I liked their singles leading up to Raise Hell, and I can announce that there’s nothing super different here, yet it’s still a blast to listen and often!  They are a band that puts together songs that feel effortless in the sense that they can go all kinds of different directions and it all sounds right.  Plus, they play with such gusto, it is addictive.

The opener, “Our Love,” is a slow builder that utilizes a similar keyboard sound to The Kinks’ nostalgic elegy “Come Dancing” from 1982, before heading into becoming  a full-on rousing number.  The pre-LP single, “Morgan & Joanne,” pops up next and I dare one to not get this tune about a relationship that is doomed from the get go, stuck in their head.  For the real highlight comes at track four, “Going to Bed.”  It opens quietly, befitting the title, but quickly turns into a pseudo-ska jaunty pop classic, complete with horn section, that sounds as fresh to me now as the old 2 Tone stuff did 40 years ago.  For some reason, the wonderful chorus in the round makes me think of The Rifles at their best.  What a great song!

This album isn’t as starkly as dramatic lyrically as Withdraw, but the breezy sounding “Fuck Up” and the vulnerable “Deer in the Headlights” show that a mental health break might still be needed.  I could easily see any of these songs becoming huge hits, but in a good way, like “hey look at that indie rock band on tv!”  The recording is excellent as well, I love how many songs have a soloing guitar slotted to the left a bit, kind of like a Dinosaur Jr. song.

This kind of music feeds my soul and keeps me going.  When I listen, I feel like jumping around.  I no longer ever feel young anymore, but it does get me out of bed.

(https://freshpunks.bandcamp.com/album/raise-hell)

 

Fresh "Going to Bed: