April 5th, 2023
New music and a band that finally clicked.
Hey y’all! I hope things have been good in your neck of the woods. Haven’t had tons of motivation lately but hope to keep posting at the very least every month or two to keep updates on what I’ve been spinning. Here’s a mix of new records that have been in my head lately, alongside some playlists and a little bit about Siouxie and the Banshees for good measure.
And another reminder, if you like music and hanging out why not join the Rosy Overdrive discord? It’s a chill place!
Let me know what you’ve been enjoying by hitting me up on Twitter, if you wanna.
gueersh - Tempo Elástico (Transfusão Noise Records)
I love when I click on something in the new release bin on a Friday morning that I have no idea about, and it’s a delightful surprise. gueersh from Brazil play psychedelic indie-rock with a mix of classic rock guitar heroics and some dreamy pop melodies thrown in for good measure. They can do everything from guitar-pop (“Praião”) to smokey basement jams (“Luz Guia”). Really cool stuff.
The HIRS Collective - We’re Still Here (Get Better Records)
The HIRS Collective have put out a lot of music, whether it’s on multiple 100-song releases or 2018’s album Friends. Lovers. Favorites. To say their 2023 release spanning 17 tracks and 30+ musicians and featured spots (incl. Shirley Manson, Gouge Away, Escuela Grind, Soul Glo, Dan Yemin, Melt-Banana, Geoff Rickly, Marissa Paternoster, Damian Abraham and more) was highly anticipated would be the understatement of the year. I love everything this band stands for and I think this record rips for the entirety of its 31 minute runtime. Year-ender for sure.
Punty - Meeko (DONOTHING RECORDS)
Another release day discovery, Meeko by Punty has been released by DONOTHING RECORDS out of Austin. Unfortunately I don’t know a whole lot about Punty - there’s no bandcamp for the album, DONOTHING doesn’t seem to have a lot of information about their releases out there either. What I do know, is that Meeko hits that sweet-spot between indie-rock and emo-pop that will work wonders on fans of Options, Oso Oso, Shelf Life, et al. Punty stuffs their songs with hooks, and they’re particularly apt at mixing their acoustic-led riffs with full band instrumentation - great production too. Don’t sleep on this!
100 gecs - 10,000 gecs (Dog Show Records / Atlantic Records)
I know I don’t usually cover stuff this mainstream, but here I am. I really have to give Jeff Gerstmann a shout-out, because the way he spoke about this album on his podcast made me want to check it out. In the past, I’ve enjoyed some 100 gecs - particularly the ringtone remix with Kero Kero Bonito and Rico Nasty - but I didn’t really give them much of a chance past that. Now that I have become thoroughly addicted to 10,000 gecs I have to bow down to ‘em - any act that mixes hyperpop, ska, nu-metal, pop-punk and blown-out hooks has my respect. I don’t think a lot of people really understand how hard it can be to make music that can be funny or amusing without becoming a gimmick or a joke? 100 gecs wrote a song about how there’s a frog on the floor, and when they say “give him some space / he’s still working it out / give him some space / he doesn’t know what people think about” somehow I feel it in my damn bones man. That’s not easy to do! And then seconds later they’re using Primus bass on a song about Doritos & Fritos that fucking slaps. God bless ‘em.
Double Grave - Till the Ground (Disposable America)
I feel like we’re either on the cusp of, or smack in the middle of, a slowcore revival? I’m not sure exactly what constitutes a revival but there’s definitely a movement of bands who are embracing the slow, steady beat and layering melancholic riffs and melodies on top. I recall enjoying Double Grave’s album Goodbye, Nowhere from 2020, but I don’t recall it being this… grey? That’s a compliment. Sure, sun pierces through on songs like “Heavy” but I think they’ve really focused their sound here and it definitely works for me.
Bombardment - Le Futur est la (DESTRUCTURE)
Another band I had no idea who they were or what they sounded like until I clicked play. Turns out, Bombardment play breakneck French punk-rock. Not sure I’ve heard another album from 2023 that goes this fast, goes this hard, and maintains their hooks and melodies as well as this one does. It’s not pop-punk, it’s not gruff orgcore, it’s not simply melodic hardcore, but it’s somehow all of these things and more. Sick shit, crank it loud.
Faim - Your Life and Nothing Else (Safe Inside)
I must have heard Faim’s previous album when it came out in 2020 and enjoyed it, but something about spinning this year’s Your Life and Nothing Else felt like a clean slate to my brain. Faim are a political hardcore band from Denver and as far as I can tell based on their Instagram they might be breaking up after they tour this record? A shame because it fucking shreds. It reminds me a bit of the SWEAT album from last year that I loved so much. This will be a year-ender for me, I can feel it.
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kaleidoscope (1980, Polydor)
It's interesting how context can really help a record. After Rosy Overdrive wrote about Siouxsie and the Banshees's Juju in their Discord I circled back on that record sampled it a bit - SATB are another band I've always enjoyed but never been an “albums” person with. I kinda bounced off them again that day. Honestly, gothy gloomy 80s bands were a point of contention with me for a long long time. I especially had a thing against the kind of monotonous gloomy guy vocals a lot of bands had from this era. Unfortunately, Siouxie kind of got lumped into the “kinda post-punk kinda pop gloomy 80s music” bin in my brain, even when I did already like songs by them.
The first band to truly break that wall down for me was Echo and the Bunnymen. I ended up in the mood for some of their albums after trying Juju again, and maybe that just got me in the right headspace because afterwards I queued up Kaleidoscope and everything clicked for me. I have a newfound love for Kaleidoscope and Juju and will likely do a bit of listening before-and-after these albums.
🔁 2023 Heavy Rotation
Don’t forget that the best way to keep tabs on what I’ve been listening to a lot throughout the year; sort by Date Added (newest to oldest) for the most recent additions.
🎹 Obscure Synthpop
How about some synthpop? I based this playlist off a Rate Your Music list of the same name and found a lot of true gems in there. Why not dig through yourself and see if there’s anything you like?
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.
Great stuff as always! Just dove into to the synth-pop list.