Lonesomeize
September 28th, 2023
I’ve been trying to keep thoughts jotted down over on Rate Your Music, so I’m back here in your inbox with a heavy dose of new releases that skew towards punk but hopefully there’s something for everyone in here. As always, I’ll circle back on some older releases and include a few playlists for you as well. Otherwise, not too much to update you on here. Getting stoked for fall and have been pre-gaming falloween movies over on Letterboxd all month. 🎃
Hope you find some music to enjoy! As always, check me out on that platform with the stupid name.
Anita Velveeta - i saw the devil in portland oregon (2023)
One of my favourite parts of any week is digging around in the Friday new release bin. I’ll try any album that has an interesting name, intriguing album art, etc. and it has been a way to find tons of music I wouldn’t otherwise stumble upon. That’s exactly how I came across this Anita Velveeta LP and I’m glad I did.
It has that kaleidoscopic post-genre thing going on where they will mix together elements of indie/punk/noise/emo/electronic/ska?!/etc. but really it's just a blender full of big hooks and a lot of enjoyable dynamics and very honest songwriting. Don’t sleep on this one!
Strawberry Runners - Strawberry Runners (2023)
This reminds me quite a bit of Julie Doiron's work; there's an ability to mix together folk/singer-songwriter stuff alongside pop melodies but with a good mix of weirder textures and more experimental elements. "Slip Through" is a good example of all of this smashed together into one song.
It's maybe not immediately satisfying but it's really fascinating and I gravitate towards that end of the listening spectrum if I'm in a certain mood. I'll have to see if this grows on me enough to be a year-ender kind of deal but I think it's impressive.
There's nothing as simple and strong as something like "Brother" off their EP which makes me want to bawl my eyes out, but I think there's an element of these songs working together to build a whole moreso than their EP.
The Chemical Brothers - For That Beautiful Feeling (2023)
Easily the Brothers' best since Further in 2010. Definitely plays to their strengths and doesn't exactly break the mold, but it's effective and fun and got my head moving while I was working. Very strong stretch of opening tracks with “Live Again” / “No Reason” / “Goodbye” back to back to back. “Feels Like I Am Dreaming” reminds me of some of the best elements of Further. Loses a bit of steam (“The Weight” feels a little too much like a parody of their own sound) and I'm not sure I'm sold on the Beck song, but overall a real welcome return for them.
Babytooth - Babytooth (2023)
Scrappy indie-pop-rock that sits adjacent to emo and alongside stuff like bubblegrunge but has a palpable 90s pacific northwest guitar rock thing going on. This has been a bit of a sleeper for me, as since it came out I’ve found myself coming back quite a bit. I could see this sneaking into my year-end list for sure.
RIYL stuff like Hop Along, Palehound etc.
Lauran Hibberd - Honda Civic (2023)
Lauran Hibberd released a very good album last year called Garageband Superstar and I've been waiting to hear what they'd do next. Over on Rate Your Music I dropped a positive review for this single saying that with "Honda Civic" they've released a better modern Weezer song than Weezer has in a while, but that got unpublished because there's no fun allowed on that platform I guess and they can unpublish your reviews without asking you to update them or expand on them. Anyway, it's a great song, super catchy, and hopefully their next album is even better than the last.
Bedspin - Liminal Spaces (2023)
Poppy orgcore not unlike the Dopamines or Copyrights. This has about an equal measure of hits and misses though, but because I'm always looking for stuff like this it has been in and out of my rotation through the year. I'm especially not sure about when they leave their comfort zone of straight ahead pop punk for something that has upstrokes like "City of the Dead" (not sure I need an instrumental intermission on a pop-punk album either.)
This is another one of those albums where you go "they have potential to drop a really dope album and this one isn't quite there yet." I'll keep my ears out for more from them to see if they capitalize on their potential for sure, but for now this scratches an itch that often needs scratching for me.
Speedy Ortiz - Rabbit Rabbit (2023)
Speedy Ortiz's Major Arcana was a big one for me in 2013, a debut from a promising band that seemed to pull from all the kinds of indie rock that I loved; angular Polvo-influenced riffs ("Tiger Tank") with a Built to Spill-esque handle on melody. I also really dug their Real Hair EP that followed it up. 2015's Foil Deer was a solid release but after that their grip on me loosened.
Sarah Tudzin (Illuminati Hotties) jumped in as producer here, and the results are still pretty in-line with what you expect from an Ortiz album. Satisfying if a bit overlong would be my thoughts here. Another I need to file under "listen to some more to figure out if it really lands or not".
Wasted Years - Restless (2023)
It took me some time to adjust to Cati's vocals on this album. Not sure if it's an accent thing, a mixing thing, or a performance style thing. And I'm not saying it in a negative way either, they just feel... different than you might expect from what is an otherwise expected modern pop-punk sound. This sits in that sweet spot between 90s and 00s pop-punk worship. It's quite catchy and I've circled back on it a few times this year so they must be doing something right.
It’s also neat to see a band's bandcamp page name-checking bands you don't see namechecked every day (Samuel, Hankshaw, Baby Gopal.)
Sparrowhawk - Sparrowhawk (2023)
An album that really surprised me when I stumbled across it... total painted van, jean jacket rock and roll by way of power-pop punk and glam rock. I don't always go for this kinda thing but the dual lead-guitar lines worked for me and there's a good dollop of Thin Lizzy and some other throwback sounds while also reminding me of more modern stuff like The Arrivals at times. Very solid all around!
American Television - Scars (2023)
I find a lot of modern punk will rely heavily on one style or the other - either they're exclusively influenced by that Ramones/Weasel-core or they're fully in the orgcore/modern gruff pop punk area. What I liked about this album is they nicely step into both sides of their style at different moments. It ends up not being as overtly catchy as you might want, but it also avoids pushing into that sugary area either. It's a nice blend and probably knocks up what is more of a three star release into three and a half territory for me. I could see this also being another sleeper this year since it's 22 minutes and goes down easy, so I imagine I'll return to it some more when I'm in this mood.
RIYL: The Raging Nathans, New Junk City, Dead Bars, Tightwire etc.
Seven Storey Mountain - Based on a True Story (2000)
This is really solid Deep Elm core that sounds a lot like if various emo-punk bands got really into Jawbox. There's a mix of more straight ahead riff-rock influenced emo ("So Soon") and also the soft-loud second wave emo on songs like "Unrest." Definitely shades of later-era Samiam in here, among other bands. If that sounds like something you’d dig, check it out for sure.
Dimber - Always Up 2 U (2022)
This really hits on that "kind of pop punk, but mostly indie-rock" thing that I always, always dig. Not sure if this would have hit my year-end list last year but I'm also surprised I missed it until today since I'm usually on top of the genre haha.
That said, I could see it having been one of those sleeper hits for me where I'm so comfortable with this sound that I just keep reaching back for it, not unlike Nanny's Can't Remember Can't Forget or Fortitude Valley's self-titled.
Plow United - Goodnight Sellout (1996)
Probably the best from Plow United, one of the definitive underrated 90s punk rock bands.
Where their self-titled debut is a pinch snottier and scrappier (still great!) and their third album is much darker and more aggressive (also great!), their sophomore album is the perfect combination of both. I love all of their albums - and they even got a second! great reunion LP out in 2016 - but this one is juuuuuuuuuuust right to me. And they've got the sense to bash this one out in just 25 minutes!
Wild to me that this album has no reviews and only appears on 2 lists over on Rate Your Music!
🔁 2023 Heavy Rotation
Keep track of albums I add to my heavy rotation over here. It’s also where I usually start when trying to whittle down everything I’ve listened to and dug in a given year for my year-end lists.
🧱 WTF is Melodic Hardcore?
There’s a podcast called VIOLENT TREATMENT that I’ve been listening to, and I made this playlist of every band brought up throughout their episode on melodic hardcore. It’s super interesting to hear people discussing the genre from different vantage points and hearing who they have dogeared in their brains as the “definitive” band that dictates the genre’s sound. For me, like one of the guests, that’s Lifetime.
Though, like many genres, it’s a confusing one because of timelines. There was definitely a time in the late-80s and early to mid-90s where EpiFat style skate-punk bands were all getting labeled “melodic hardcore” because most of the bands started as (or were members of) heavier punk before leaning into melody. Bands like Bad Religion, Pennywise, 88 Fingers Louie, AFI, Strung Out, Good Riddance, No Use for a Name etc. all show up in the genre over on Rate Your Music. I guess in that way it’s a lot like post-hardcore; sometimes it’s labeled on bands whose members were literally previously in hardcore bands and other times it’s more about the sound.
Anyway, fun stuff to think about out loud I suppose.
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.