Blueberry Peel
Indie rock, power pop, pop punk, jangle pop, hardcore and more.
As I mentioned briefly in Friday’s post, things around here have been very busy with visitors from out of town and a wildly hectic work schedule. I’ve been getting thoughts down on music here and there, but felt like I was lagging behind. That was before I tried putting this issue together and dang, I guess I did listen to a lot and have enough to support a whole post.
This past weekend we went for a hike we’ve been on before, but a friend took all of us off-path a little bit into some gorgeous areas of the woods. I really don’t want to take for granted our access to places like this now that we are a small ways out of the city, so I want to keep these kind of things up.
Here’s a picture of two trees hugging.
And now some music. I hope you find something new to take a listen to. Let me know!
Icon legend:
⛏️ denotes picks of the week.
🌱 seedling denotes albums I liked, but may grow on me.
✨ means worth a look, if you like the genres listed in particular.
✂ on a review denotes choice cuts from an album
As always, please reach out on the hellsite if you’d like or better yet join the Rosy Overdrive Discord server where I can be found now and again. You can also find me in the corners of Rate Your Music scrounging for obscure emo, hardcore, indie-rock and pop-punk.
Don’t forget: if you’re reading this in your email it will be cut off. Read on the web for the full list of reviews!
Hell Beach - Beachworld (2024)
I’m sorry for those of you who know me, but I’m still not done talking about or listening to this record, haha. I think this is three posts now, but the album came out fully so I have more fully formed thoughts.
No album this year has rocketed to being my most anticipated as fast as this record. All on the strength of the single "Poison Mind", which fast became my "holy shit I need to hit repeat on this song because it's just too fucking catchy" song of the year.
Hell Beach play crunchy power-pop-punk with tasteful synths and a pinch of rock and roll attitude. Not every song here is as strong as their singles, but it's all high energy and stuffed with huge hooks. There are times (like that little riff break 01:55 into "Poison Mind") where they almost recall those great moments when Sum 41 would melt together power pop hooks, pop punk power chords and a slight headbang element. Not that Hell Beach are doing anything remotely similar to Sum's metal or melodic hardcore influence, but their poppier moments do have some similarities, if not small ones.
This is just a great, summery guitar rock album with fun synth lines, lyrics that strike a good balance of the modern emotional worries ("Meltdown") without tipping into the internet-brained kind of lyricism that can occur on some emo-adjacent albums, and big sing along choruses. Crank it in the car as summer comes to a close.
Oso Oso - Life Till Bones (2024)
Genre: Indie Rock, Power Pop, Emo-Pop
prospektor in the comments box on Rate Your Music nails it with: "completed transition from emo to straight up 90s power pop." oso oso has long had a good amount of power pop in their emo/indie rock sound, so this isn't a new thing, but Sore Thumb continued down that path and on Life Till Bones it's another full step into that sound. Hey, no complaints from me, I love power pop. When coupled with Jade Lilitri's knack for sweet, sugary melodies this goes down real easy as always.
My only worry is how far they are going to do down this rabbit hole? There's a danger of their sound becoming incredibly same-y, and though the songs on this record and their previous are strong enough to avoid that problem, over time I could see this becoming an issue. For me, there needs to be a good amount of energy in power pop albums and on this record they do keep some pep and swing in their step, even on the mid-tempo numbers.
Pacing is a little bit on the expected side - the first 6 songs are more upbeat and then the classic "mid-to-late album acoustic song" comes in at track 7. Thankfully they don't end the record on a series of whimpers after that.
This won't convert anyone who has already written oso oso off as having turned their back on the crunch of their earlier work, but if you liked their previous record this is more of the same (in a good way.)
Hedge - Better Days (2024)
Power-pop punk released via Bloated Kat Records. This has that 90s sound that makes me think of a bunch of different bands but that whom name checking might not exactly describe their sound to you well?
It's very hooky, melodic indie rock influenced power pop punk. You can hear stuff like Sundials in their sound for sure. Another name that came to mind was The Fiendz circa-Wact. Good stuff for fans of this kind of thing. I’ve been reaching for it more and more over the past week, and at this rate it’s looking like a year-end contender for me just because I can’t put it down.
Pom Poko - Champion (2024)
Genre: Noise Pop, Indie Rock, Math Pop
After two fantastic albums of noisy art/math pop, on Champion the band sounds like they are getting a little comfortable. Birthday was a speaker-blowing fuzzed-out debut that felt like the band couldn't sit still for more than a minute or so. Cheater sanded their edges a little, but in a very satisfying way that didn't dilute their core experimentalism too far. Here, they are settling down further, but the foundation of what made their skewed pop effective still remains.
Where previously their bonkers hooks felt like little nuggets to be dug out of their songs, here I feel like they have started to fully flip their proportions of their songs. Their melodies are the basis of a lot of these songs and the excursions are the exhilarating noisy moments. I like the band enough to still enjoy what they're getting at in their songs, but I could start to see how a new listener might think elements of this sound like some other bands (a claim I don't think you could make about much of their earlier albums.) Regardless, if you like out-there pop and guitar music it's one to hear.
Plus, after all is said, I’m still getting the itch to return to it again already. I imagine this is going to be a real grower for me.
Supermilk - High Precision Ghosts (2024)
Genre: Indie Rock
Third album of indie rock from this band led by former Doe member Jake Popyura. The band has always been a bit of a grab bag of indie rock textures and tones, but this album does find them leaning a pinch towards a more varied sound. There's some 80s post-punk ("Many Thanks") or even 80s pop rock (the "da da das" or "ba ba bas" of "Words of Affirmation") elements in here, alongside the usual 90s fuzzed-out hooky guitar rock. I'm a sucker for the foundation of their sound - hooky guitar riffs and choruses - so this works for me. Another strong album from a band who is only gaining in consistency.
Everyone Asked About You - Never Leave (2024)
Genre: Midwest Emo, Twee Pop, Slacker Rock
Everyone Asked About You are one of those fun internet success stories, where a band mostly forgotten about outside of die-hard genre fans (in this case, 90s emo) gets a second lease at life. On Rate Your Music, people were calling for this to get reissued since 2014. Numero Group were up for the task, and reissued their self-titled 1997 release and more in 2022, giving the band a whole new reach. Rumours are that the band still has an unreleased second album, inspired in part by Built to Spill’s Perfect From Now On.
Anyway, this is the first new music from the band in like 25 years and it’s… a really successful and very unexpected reunion album! A lot of their emo-pop, indie-pop and twee elements are expanded on these four songs. It might be the most interesting for fans of the band, but if you like 90s emo that still feels like it can sit next to that underground collegiate indie rock of the era, this is more of that. I hope they keep making music!
Slippers - So You Like Slippers? (2024)
Genre: Twee Pop, Power Pop, Slacker Rock, Jangle Pop
17 minutes of scrappy, jangly indie-pop and twee tunes. Some good driving power-pop kind of songs ("The Bus") and some looser, shambly tunes as well. Definitely has that sunny California pop sound going on that can suggest an alternate world where Best Coast were super into Sarah Records bands and less concerned about coating everything in reverb. Nice stuff!
GEL - Persona (2024)
Genre: Hardcore Punk, Post-Hardcore
I like Gel. I think there is a fair criticism that since Violent Closure, they haven't really iterated on their sound much and have kind of gone from a buzzy next big thing to just another band working with this sound. "Shame" kind of hints to their potential as a sort of Drug Church-esque act and that might not be the worst thing for them to do. The title track does bang though, so they still can whip out a good hardcore/punk song, even if it's not the most memorable thing in the world. "Vanity" is suitably heavy too.
Ultimately, I think I am waiting to hear what their next move is, but for now more of the same is OK. They've got some hints on here (the aforementioned "Shame", "Martyr's" intro and overall melodicism, etc.) but I suppose where they really want to go is anyone's guess if they keep putting out short releases with very slight experimentation.
Horse Jumper of Love - Disaster Trick (2024)
Genre: Slowcore, Slacker Rock, Shoegaze
Horse Jumper of Love landed on my year-end list in 2017, and while I did check out their subsequent records, they never quite landed for me the same way as the debut. I feel like here they have refocused on the core elements of what made their take on slowcore work so well on their debut. They also sound a bit more like Helvetia here than I remember.
A lot of this is a bit samey, but I like slowcore guitar-indie that oscillates between slowly melancholic and loud, fuzzed out noise, so this worked for me.
Trees - Sleep Convention (1982)
Genre: New Wave, Synthpop, Zolo
Really nice and underrated synthpop album that bounces from catchy techno-pop to moody arty new wave; nails a good mix of sounding like a "band" through its songwriting somehow, even though it's mostly one person. Likely feels that way because of the mix of synthpop and guitar/bass/etc. instrumentation.
From what I read online, MCA Records didn't market the record and just let it flop. A shame, but this is ripe for rediscovery. Not sure they would have been anything other than a cult act had they received a good marketing push, but maybe it wouldn't have been as forgotten as it is?
RIYL: New Musik, Polyrock, Fad Gadget, '79 - '82 era Simple Minds etc.
Visqueen - King Me (2003)
Genre: Indie Rock, Pop Punk, Power Pop
Very solid power-pop-rock fronted by Rachel Flotard and supported by Kim Warnick of Fastbacks. Crunchy, sugary guitar rock with big hooks. I always want to like this one a little more than I do, but I feel like eventually it's going to break the three star ceiling, just not today. If you like this kind of thing or are fiending for more Fastbacks-adjacent stuff, this'll do.
Slow Gherkin - Run Screaming (2002)
Genre: Ska Punk, Third Wave Ska
Ha! Thought you’d get out of here without a ska-punk record after the previous dispatch? Too bad!
I've never heard a lot of Slow Gherkin’s music in the past, but in my memory they were more straight up ska punk than this. Here, they've got songs that diverge from the third wave, into mid-tempo indie rock ballads like "Letterhead". They are actually particularly well suited for these kind of songs, where other bands might have rendered them as skippable tracks. As I've mentioned about some other albums in the past, this isn't mozzarella stick circus ska, for sure.
The aforementioned song into "Snakes" is particularly effective. They seem to be able to sidestep the pacing issues that often arise when you're mixing upbeat third-wave ska with songs like these. Have to say, well done. Their overall sound isn't super mould-breaking, but it's successful and that's more than you can ask for to be honest.
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.