Second half, last day of the month, let’s drop it. I am going to finish this year off with another batch of Capsule Reviews alongside a more fan-like piece on a pretty big leak from one of my all-time favourite bands. As for this article in a nutshell, there’s a lot more notable efforts made in trying to experiment with the materials the artists would be intimately familiar with although how it works in practice might differ in quality. By a lot. That & a lot more fruitful efforts are done by established names whose peak might well be done with.
Amyl and the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness (24 October 2024)
Australia is not letting its edge down with Amyl and the Sniffers’ third album. Almost entirely true to its name, the album is an exercise in its rough-edged type no matter how trashy it might come off as. Frontwoman Amy Taylor sings of losing her “tiny bikini” and partying like a madlass while the guitars, bass, and drum crackle along. There is nothing profoundly deep about it and there’s not much that I especially like about it even. What is undeniable however is that it has an infectious energy within it. It’s mindless, it’s dumb, it’s garage punk with its purest form of fun. Check Cartoon Darkness out if you want workout music just from the instrumentals or if you want to party with some Iggy Pop-level of respect. 3/5
Chat Pile – Cool World (11 October 2024)
Chat Pile is a visceral, visceral band from Oklahoma whose style of noise rock dives into the slow pacing and viscous playing of sludge metal. This combo works like magic and contrary to what Cool World would have initially hinted at, it’s nihilistic perfection. The lyrics point to misanthropy in its desire to wipe out anyone in your sight, its psychopathic indulgence ever so sinisterly seductive. When the screaming comes, it is almost incomprehensible to the point of being bestial. There is no peace to be had and what a terrifying, terrific feeling that must be as you listen the album through in its entirety. 4.2/5
Lupe Fiasco – Samurai (28 June 2024)
Lupe Fiasco would have gone down as a lyrically gifted, albeit out-of-trend rapper who is a byproduct of the late 2000s’ music. Had that not been for Samurai which is inspired by one of his favourite music artists, the late Amy Winehouse. Envisioning an alternative universe where she lives a double life as an aspiring battle rapper, the album feels like a companion piece to Eminem’s starring film 8 Mile with its hawkish look into the struggles of small music artists. The productions by Soundtrakk are reminiscent of Nujabes’ classic chill type of jazz beats which birthed lo-fi hip hop as we know it and it fits Lupe’s witty, metaphor-riddled rhymes and flows like a rubber glove. It works like magic as a tribute to both Winehouse and to Nujabes and the more you think of it, the more you wonder if a hypothetical collaboration between the three would go down the same way Madvillainy had previously done. Regardless, Fiasco can keep on spitting after all those years in a bit of obscurity. 4.2/5
Halsey – The Great Impersonator (25 October 2024)
Halsey’s latest album takes an unexpected turn into being a roadmap of odes to her favourite artists & biggest influences. It’s not a tour-de-force of pop songwriting as, clocking in at 19 tracks in total, there are high chances at potential duds and indeed there are some. Her ‘Letter to God’ triplets will begin with a tearjerker before it elopes into unemotive heartland rock and hollow-ish acoustic guitar as one instance. In another, she tried to emulate her previous dabbling in dark pop music which lacks the punch it could have. However, for all the misses that there is, there are a good abundance of songs that suit her vocals and at times, it even elevates her future potential should she need to break from electro-pop. More folksy or country music especially works with her and while it’s not by any means a guarantee, it’s a charming venture that she works especially well in. 3/5
Jamie xx – In Waves (20 September 2024)
The mastermind behind the indie pop band, the xx, have managed to get his second solo album out this year. In Waves sought to carry on his electronic-infused style into house music and future garage beats. The news around how that works in practice is that it doesn’t go down as effectively as it could have. The featured artists don’t add as much as they could have to make the album a worthwhile listen, making its attempts at diversifying come off as hackneyed d-side demos from the Avalanches even at best. It’s made for the dancefloor, but it doesn’t excite which, in its own genre, is a serious offence. It ebbs but it doesn’t flow. It is a saltless endeavour all around after nine years’ worth of waiting. 1/5
Foxing – Foxing (13 September 2024)
The self-titled album from the Missouri-based band sees the attempt to distance itself from its emo background. Suffice to say, it’s not as effective as it could have been. Foxing itself has an experimental touch, but the entire attempt made at rocking out falls a bit flat on its head. For every instance of restrained vocals, blaring from the lo-fi mic, that adds a lot of tension to the music as a whole, there is one melodramatic screaming which takes away our attention from the varying quality of instrumental playing. Its timing will either hammer home the despondency that pervades in our everyday life or it’s nothing but screeches without substance. Not helping (as much as it could have) are the influences from progressive rock which not only makes the album a clear effort at pushing the boundaries of rock, but there is a sheer level of inconsistency that makes it unlistenable at times. It’s a shame as there are clear highlights to pay attention to. However, the album feels pretentious for its ambitions without quality checking. At least for me that is. 2/5
Bright Eyes – Five Dice, All Threes (28 September 2024)
The big-time Nebraskan band fronted by Conor Oberst was once at the forefront of American independent folk music with the release of Lifted in 2002 and I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning two and a half years later. Fast forward 19 years later, Five Dice, All Threes feel watered down. Almost too watered down even to make it passable. Oberst’s singing doesn’t feel as passionate as it used to to add to his everyday portrayal of normalcy, the lyrics failed to land as especially poignant, the production itself feels unintentionally muddy. The final product instead is a typical reminder that the best days of one of the most influential bands in the 2000s are well behind at least in terms of creativity. To be fair for the band themselves, few could hope to top the hopefulness, sweetness, and heartbreak of ‘First Day of My Life’. 1.9/5
The Lemon Twigs – A Dream is All We Know (3 May 2024)
Contrary to what the griminess of East Coast hip hop would have hinted you at, New York has a knack at churning out bands like the Lemon Twigs with their catchy tunes. Jovial as the music generally sounds, the retro-vibe direction poses a couple of issues on some accounts. The vocal harmonies doesn’t feel as strong as it could have compared to the Beach Boys or the Beatles nor does the baroque turns come off as shiny as the Zombies or the Beach Boys (again). A deeper, more critical commentary would bring in mind how in all the band’s effort to recreate the 1960s’ psychedelic rock scene, A Dream is All We Know sticks out largely just because of it. You might identify a few switcheroos in the chord progression or melodies which add to the music, but it lacks the self-referentiality needed to carve its own identity out. Its very own imaginative interpretation is not at the forefront. The album and its little treasures are thus buried with the other emulators, sticking out just enough for some to appreciate it. 2.8/5
Laura Marling – Patterns in Repeat (25 October 2024)
One of the best singer-songwriters in the United Kingdom right now has another mellow, soothing track which, like her magnum opus Songs For Our Daughter, tackles relationship and family. In classic contemporary folk style, it’s the words that matter as she recounts her semi-fictional tales of love in its numerous forms be it romantic, unrequited, or platonic in all its edges. Her mastery in the genre is exceptional, yet this angle leaves open the danger of all-too similarity if there isn’t enough nuance made between each song. In its more minimal formation, she revisits familiar grounds of long-gone relationships although once in every full moon, she would come back with a clearer, more devastating sense of longing. 3.7/5
ShrapKnel and Controller 7 – Nobody’s Planning to Leave (7 June 2024)
The collaboration between NY rap duo ShrapKnel (made up of Curly Castro and PremRock) and Californian producer Tommy “Controller 7” McMahon has some weird-ah beats. It’s not weird in a positive way as one would sum up Quasimoto’s style back in 2000. It’s weird in the same light as one would describe Mr. Bungle without going all the way through with its unpredictability. The actual percussion and samples are passable in itself which sets the whole problem into motion. The out-of-beat rapping shows a clear interest in observing problems regarding life in the East Coast, yet the voices blend in too much with one another. There isn’t anything about Nobody’s Planning to Leave which demands your attention and it’s this notion which means that as solid as the flows might be, as sharp as individual bars could get, it fails to stand on its two legs. 2.2/5
Storefront Church – Ink and Oil (28 June 2024)
Storefront Church was once, at one point, an artsy indie rock project of Lukas Frank with a similar style as Low or Sun Kil Moon. Then he decides to switch up and make what might go down as one of the most orchestrally lush albums perhaps of this decade even. It could’ve been extravagant, it should’ve been overindulgent. Instead, the scope of the music compliments the seediness that underpins a lot of the tracks’ themes such as corporate culture, consumerism, and conformity. Aspects of climate change as a concern are also apparent like with the Weather Station’s Ignorance. However, the way it’s tied to the greed that entices so many businesses makes the message stand out a lot more without putting it in the forefront with the baroque instrumentation making it all the more urgent as it is cinematic. Epic, epic, epic all around with little, if at all, fillers. 4.4/5
Ramper – Solo postres (18 September 2024)
The Spanish band from Granada’s second album is a slow type of chamber folk with the noisy crescendo expected of many post-rock acts. On one hand, there are a lot of electric guitars ringing in the background over themes surrounding separation and the infinitesimal nature of the sky. The other hand shows that the dulled production and mixing, one which unnecessarily gives more weight to its electric instruments than the acoustic arrangements, flattens the music out. It has all the makings of an epic project which tackles the feeling of longingness without the identity that would have set its grandiosity up in distinction from the other bands. Solo postres has shown its teeth and it gnarled at the prospect of its larger-than-life vision. Yet, it couldn’t chew whatever intent it sets itself out to break grounds in. 2.8/5
Fievel is Glauque – Rong Weicknes (25 October 2024)
Originating from Belgium, Fievel is Glauque are a duo of Ma Clément and Zach Philips who specialise in jazz pop. Rong Weicknes could be considered to be their breakout album with glowing reactions for a good reason. The type of jazz pop they practise is eclectic and fun to listen to with shifting time signatures for rhythms, a pretty unpredictable kind of percussion playing, and twinkly keyboards for extra spice. The vocals from Clément are frankly a tad bit weak at least in fitting with the complex instrumental technicality as the voice register feels too limited in range to flow along and it doesn’t help as well that the mixing doesn’t prioritise her singing. Fans of the more avant type of pop are likely going to love this even if it might not border towards greatness as much as Magdalena Bay’s Imaginal Disk. 3.5/5
Cash Lansky – Man of the House (26 April 2024)
Cash Lansky hails from Tucson, Arizona where he lived his whole life as a sole male caretaker for his family as a young child before embarking on a career as an underground rapper. Man of the House is set up as a short and concise clocking at 20 minutes, yet fully introspective work about his attempts at retaining his morals as a racial minority in poor conditions. It’s earnest all the way through with hard-hitting anecdotes surrounding escapism and everyday fears like police brutality. While Lansky’s rapping skills might have been sloppy which is accentuated by its short runtime, it does add to the everyman sense that is further built up by its boom bap and chipmunk soul-inspired production. Come to think of it, it wouldn’t hurt for Kendrick Lamar to invite him for a shoutout. 3.3/5
The Cure – Songs of a Lost World (1 November 2024)
It’s an oft-quoted sentiment that not all greats will remain on top forever. The best in their field will confront future competition who will not only inherit the best of their skills, but will outgrow them in all possible directions. One of the biggest British bands in the alternative scene back in the 1980s fell victim to it as the Cure struggled against the rise of shoegaze and dream pop acts who have pushed their breathy reverbs to its fullest potential. Now, Songs of a Lost World is proof that the Robert Smith-led band not only decided to pump out another record instead of embracing the full-time prospect of touring. They are still damn good at what they do. If you are hoping for a completely modernised take as is once the case with A Tribe Called Quest’s We Got It From Here…, don’t keep your hopes up as the music can err into formulaic epic intros. If you are hoping for swirling echoes, scintillating riffs, heavenly soaring vocals from Smith, and string-like synths, behold the comeback effort that few could only wish to accomplish. 3.9/5
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