Country Welcome Mat
November 6th, 2023
Is it almost time to start thinking about year-end lists? I suppose, but as always I feel required to wait later into the year since so much great stuff gets released right up until January arrives.
I have been on a roll with my note-taking and thought-recording, so here’s a big batch for your perusing pleasure. Let me know on Twitter what you’re listening to and what has been scratching your itch!
Mouse - Under the Light of the Air Conditioner (Self-Released)
This is so sick. If you like 90s indebted indie-rock that oscillates between Duster-esque vocals, violin-adorned riff-outs, noisy alt-rock, slowcore and shoegaze textures and more, you should try this out.
I would say a lot of the puzzle pieces here are things you have heard before but I am always a sucker for a band putting these elements together and then executing them to the best of their abilities. There's some total rippers on here. Pick a 90s emo/indie-rock band that Numero has re-released in the past year or two and you can probably hear some of their influences in this thing - Karate, Duster, et al.
This is basically a buffet for people who like all kinds of guitar rock. Loved checking in with this and could see it landing on my year-end list pretty easily.
Teenage Halloween - Till You Return (Don Giovanni)
Really hooky emo-indie-pop-punk with lots of opportunity for room-filling chant-alongs. the self-titled Teenage Halloween album was a little scrappier and hit the spot but this definitely feels like they're tightening up and making their sound as expansive as possible in that Rosenstockian kind of way. all of this probably shreds live in a room full of people singing along. very satisfying and could see this aging better and better since it's the kind of thing I often return to again and again. and 30 minutes on the dot too, nice.
The American Analog Set - For Forever (Hometown Fantasy)
This album feels less like a long awaited reunion record and more like a between-records kind of release, where a band is still working out the kinks between where they have been and where they want to go. by no means is this bad but it's just not the slam dunk some might want it to be. it's definitely above-average for the genre but also this is one of the all-time greats we're talking about.
this absolutely feels like 11 songs that were likely written at different times over the past years and kind of slapped together into one package - some of them feel like classic AmAnSet slowcore droners and some sound like the more focused nuggets of dreamy indie pop they'd go on to make on later albums.
I really hope the band keeps at it and releases more stuff because hearing For Forever just makes me want to hear what they get up to next after this closet-clearing of material recorded in 2019 and 2020.
Katie Dey - Never Falter Hero Girl (Self-Released)
A really beautiful mix of glitchy hyper-pop-esque production and singer-songwriter stuff, but without the huge sugar rush that comes with hyper-pop. I guess it's called hypnagogic pop or maybe it would even just be indietronica but there's something special here that defies simple categorization because it also leans heavily on singer-songwriter pop or even just straight up emotional piano pop on something like the opening of album closer "metaphor." the density of layers on these songs brings to mind that indie-orchestra sound of the aughts but obviously this is a lot more tightly focused and feels more personal than those big bands full of like 20 members would sound.
Almost an hour long but I was emotionally engaged the whole way through. I love the texture to this record and imagine this will only continue to grow on me. it's really gorgeous.
SPLLIT - Infinite Hatch (Feel It)
I've fallen off a bit when it comes to trying to follow everything released by Feel It records; they went from "wow everything this label releases is great" to "wow they release way too much for me to keep up with" quick.
Spllit's last LP was on my year-end list that year so maybe I'm predisposed to liking them but I'm enjoying what sounds like a step towards a more focused sound from them here. A few less songs than last time, a few longer ones, some more 'song-y' songs alongside the weird and quirky diversions.
A really well rounded slab of whatever you want to call this stuff (post-punk? egg-punk? art-punk?).
Year of the Knife - No Love Lost (Pure Noise Records)
My memory of the last YotK record was that it had more of a metalcore sound overall than this one, which feels to me like they've expanded with blasts of groove-thrash and power violence influences, but maybe that's just the shorter song lengths? It's been a while since I spun that last record anyway so maybe I'm way off here and they were always doing this.
I think this is going to leave people wanting more, or wishing that the band leaned further into longer song structures or elaborated on their sense of melody, but there's something to be said about 20 minutes of solid heaviness to me.
Can absolutely see someone pointing at "Mourning the Living" and saying there's not a whole lot memorable about it, with it being the second longest song on the record. I think that's why my lizard brain just likes when they go all in on quick hits of blast beats or slow and heavy riffing. "Alice" is just a good, heavy swirl of chugs.
Overall, this works for me but as an album I understand it might not hit the spot for everyone. Another one I'll need some time with to see how it unfurls over time, but for now I dug it.
Bat Boy - Fun Machine (Asian Man Records)
More indie-punk with a pop-punk sensibility to its hooks that sits right in the perfect comfort zone for me personally. Tracks like "(Robinson St.) Julie" and "January" just have that great power-pop-punk melody pulsing through them that gets me every time.
Features Jake from Spraynard, Cory from Sundials and Hannah (of Spraynard demo tape artwork and ran their merch table on tour.) Described in their press kit as sounding like "Discount meets Tilt meets The Muffs meets Josie and The Pussycats" and that should get you most of the way there. There's also a lot of that Sundials indie-punk with big hooks sound in here.
Marnie Stern - The Comeback Kid (Joyful Noise Recordings)
Exactly what you want from a record like this. The songs sound a lot like an extension of Chronicles of Marnia, with a sprinkle of their louder/mathier earlier work put in for good measure. It's 28 minutes and leaves me wanting to hear it again to get these melodies drilled into my brain. hell yea! welcome back
Girls Against Boys - You Can't Fight What You Can't See (2002, Jade Tree)
A real back-to-basics album for GvsB; if you didn't like their bass-heavy attack already this won't be the record to convince you. But here, they're cranking out crisp groove-laden tracks with the melody knob cranked up in comparison to their pre-major label days. That's not to say they weren't hooky before but on this record they are certainly leaning into it. Again, if you can't get past their lyrics already this LP won't win you over but if you're on board for their brand of sweat-slicked style-over-substance, there's a lot to dig on here.
Kittyhawk - Hello, Again (2014, Count Your Lucky Stars)
I've tried to get into this album a number of times in the past, but one of the things I'm always looking for in emo/indie albums of this era are big, big hooks and Kittyhawk are much more of a subdued brand of this kinda thing.
Another example of just not being in the right mood for something to hit, because once you do give this album some breathing space, Kittyhawk does whip up solid emotive power-pop on songs like "Welcome Home" or the Tigers Jaw-esque "Sunny Day Renter's Insurance."
The keyword for unlocking this album is likely "autumnal." Would I potentially like this a little more if it were tightened up and a little more immediate? Maybe, but today it was nice to vibe in the corners and pockets of this album.
Lifted Bells - Minor Tantrums (2018, Run For Cover Records)
Lifted Bells is a project featuring Bob Nanna (Braid, Hey Mercedes), Seth Engel (Options, Great Deceivers, Jupiter Styles), Matt Jordan (Their / They're / There, Sincere Engineer, Kittyhawk) and Kyle Geib (Sincere Engineer).
Personally, Lifted Bells continues a theme in my life where projects featuring Nanna post-Braid land for me much better than Braid ever did. This LP has that emo-revival noodling thing going on, but the performance by Engel on drums and Nanna's melodies stop it from becoming too over-indulgent on the math-rock riffing side of things.
The band is definitely strongest when they are erring on the side of rock vs. math though, as that's when the melodies stick the hardest. I'm surprised this group of performers didn't keep working together on more Lifted Bells releases since it would have been interesting to hear where they'd take this sound next. It feels very of its time for 2018, but the way the genre itself has ebbed and flowed since then would have likely had an intriguing influence on where they could have taken this sound next.
Pupppy - Shit in the Apple Pie (2015, Father/Daughter Records)
Another seemingly forgotten release from the mid-2010s, Pupppy play indie-rock with a bit of herky-jerky country and twangy folk attitude tossed in there.
Whenever I attempted to describe their album Shit In The Apple Pie that year, I wasn't sure exactly how to describe it – but it’s more refreshing than whatever you’re currently picturing in your head, I promise you.
With an album cover that may incite some queasy stomachs (not to mention track titles like “Puking (Marry Christmas)” and “Fucked Up”) and the lyrics to match, Shit In The Apple Pie paints a scarily real portrait of day-to-day drunken, stoned struggles over hooky but dusty instrumentals.
RIYL: Wednesday, Slaughter Beach Dog, Ratboys, Horse Jumper of Love, etc.
Winter Break - Winter Break (2015, Lauren Records)
Formerly Summer Vacation (see what they did there?), Winter Break continues the former band’s tradition of scream-along punk-rock influenced indie-rock barn-burners.
These dudes are a total throw-back, sounding exactly like three or four different bands I would have listened to in High School squeezed into one album. They’ve hit on a sweet spot, and Self-Titled should please any punk or indie-rock fan looking for a tight, noisy, catchy record.
This feels wildly overlooked these days it seems, along with Summer Vacation's 2011 album "Condition".
Crusades - The Sun Is Down and the Night Is Riding In (2011, It’s Alive Records)
It's wild to me that there aren't tons of ratings and reviews for all of Crusades' albums on RateYourMusic, as to me they aren't really an underrated band as I've seen plenty of praise for them over the years… and mostly by Americans so it's not a "up here in Canada" thing either haha.
Anyway, if you don't know them, Crusades basically play punk rock draped in spooky atmosphere but with a decidedly chewy pop-punk center beneath it all. They might bash out what is essentially a pop-punk song in "Dreamers" before moving on to an acoustic-introduced hardcore-adjacent punk rock song like "Remedy." Basically they flirt with most types of melodic punk in and around their 80s punk and metal worshiping clothing.
All three of their records are great but they definitely get "cleaner" after this one, so I can see people who were really holding on to the grit from their EP liking this one most. They've always had a lot of pop-punk in their sound even on this record, so that never bothered me and all three albums are super strong top to bottom.
Get Rad - I Can Always Live (2010, Gilead Media/Hyperrealist)
Great hardcore/punk record from Milwaukee with the right amount of silliness and seriousness blended together. they've got songs screaming "FUCK OFF, DEATH! / WE AIN'T GOIN' YET!" with your friends and then they also have songs about how great eating pizza is. Which... I mean, true.
It's not so melodic that you'd call it actual melodic hardcore (in the Lifetime sense of the genre) but it's hardcore/punk and there's enough melody that it goes down easy, so I guess it is melodic hardcore in that sense.
There's a few moments on the album where they get close to poppy punk bands ("Sparks" sounds a LOT like Too Late...-era Gob now that I think of it) but otherwise it's gang chants and speedy tempos all the way.
🧷 #03 Punk Planet (1994 Sep-Oct)
🔁 2023 Heavy Rotation
As always, keep up with my favs throughout the year using this playlist!
📝 2023: Favourite Discoveries
This one is a lot less frequently updated but I try to toss new-to-me stuff I really like onto it!
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.
Love seeing Katie Dey on here! Great album.