Quick Hits: January 17th, 2022
Thoughts on some new releases.
Quick Hits from The Discover Tab is an on-going capsule-reviews series which covers music I’m currently listening to - short, and to the point for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
Been a while since I did one of these! Here’s some quick descriptions and thoughts on new releases I’ve been trying out the past few days. Let me know what you’re listening to, what I should be listening to and more on Twitter OK?
Hook-Ups - Domestic Fantasy (2022, Smoking Room)
Bedroom indie-emo grab-bag of acoustic strummed songlets (“Felt”) sitting alongside dreamy atmosphere pieces (“Candy Apple”) and drum-beat backed slacker emo (“Wild Fire.”) Toss a bunch of samples into the mix and you’ve got Domestic Fantasy, which is a satisfying way to spend eighteen and a half minutes.
Lucie,Too - Fool (2021, THISTIMERECORDS)
Debut full length from this Utsunomiya, Japan based power-pop/indie-rock band who have been releasing EPs since 2017. There’s a dream-pop and jangle influence on tracks like “シワの種” which also adds in some pop-punk-esque energy to their sound. “Get Back” similarly cranks things into overdrive for just under a minute and thirty seconds. The whole album is fizzy and addictive, the perfect crossroads between garage-y indie rock and sugary sweet pop hooks.
NicFit - fuse (2022, Upset the Rhythm)
Taut, spiked art-punk from Nagoya, Japan; dense and blown out distortion paints this record, but stops just this side of noise-rock because their melodies are always able to seep through the fuzz - even when indulging in a good bit of no-wave influenced chaos.
Honningbarna - Animorphs (2022, Nye Blanke)
The latest from this Norwegian noisy punk-rock act who have been releasing records since 2013. This is the first one I’ve heard, and it’s an interesting mix of sounds; the record starts on an abrasive note and moves into bass-lead slightly post-punk sounding songs pushed straight into the red. The second half of the record almost gets heavier, but at the same time stretches into indie punk "(“En av oss er idiot”) or even straight up blast beat noise tracks (“Ække Noe Kirke”). Cool stuff!
V Don - Better Than Money (2022, Serious Soundz)
Producer V Don’s 9-track release with a bevvy of featured spitters (most of which are new to me). 20 minutes of softly jazzy but still hard hitting beats and lots of varying styles of bars is a good way to get exposed to not only a new-to-me producer but a bunch of hip-hop heads I now need to investigate.
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.