Survival Groove
Acid House, IDM, Power Pop, Ambient Dub, Progressive Electronic, Indie Rock, Egg Punk, Pop Punk and more!
Hello y’all!
Holy moly, I feel like I need to apologize or something for how long this edition of the tab is! I’ve run into another situation where I’ve had my head down the past few weeks, just focusing on life and work stuff while continuing my usual “listen to as much music as I can while taking notes/capsule reviews” and all of a sudden I have a wealth of them to share with you today.
Before we get to them, here’s the usual list of stray items to share that have been bouncing around my noggin’:
As you probably have noticed in the past few editions, I’ve really been enjoying YouTube DJ sets, but cannot stand how much AI has seeped into that area of the online music industry. I just want cool people to play me cool music, please stop generating slop ass vaporwave lo-fi shit and uploading them with eye-catching vintage aping art, please.
Anyway, here’s a good Japanese Jazz Fusion mix that really helped me though some work last week.
If you haven’t already, you must check out the new music video from Outer World. The song rules, the video is great, and I cannot wait for more!
If you’re the same kind of nerd that I am, you might be interested in Clairtone (2025), a documentary about the rise and fall of Canadian hi-fi company Clairtone Sound Corporation.
Otherwise, here’s some music reviews. Hope you enjoy ‘em!
Emoji legend:
⛏️ denotes picks of the week, my favs.
🌱 seedling denotes albums like a lot and expect could grow on me over the year.
✨ albums I would recommend to fans of the genre (i.e. it might not convert new listeners, but you should check it out.)
✂ denotes favourite tracks from a given record.
As always, feel free to reach out over on BlueSky or 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!
⛏️ Octo Octa - Sigils for Survival (2026)
Genres: Acid House, Deep House, Tech House, Progressive House
A very progressive/acid house forward release from Octo Octa; last I heard from them was 2017's Where Are We Going? so I think I missed Resonant Body's incorporation of breakbeats. It shows up here on songs like "Rituals to Exist & Connect" but not so much that I'd say it forms the backbone of the entire record. Lots of acid influence and longer form subdued deep house work ("...To the Divinity of Gay Sex") round this release out well.
Could see this sliding off my brain as mostly straightforward iterations of varying house genres but I have been in the pocket for this type of repetitive, slowly shifting stuff so it really hits the spot.
⛏️ abentis - Dim Grow (2026)
Another record I've heard this year described as "rhythmelodic", which I'm learning is just a vibe that I can really get down with. This is filled with kalimba-esque "intricately designed electronic mallet sounds", glassy atmosphere and glitchy percussion. In some ways it might bring to mind classic minimalist works like Music for 18 Musicians with seemingly infinitely layered, always shifting rhythms and melodies. That said, there's a much more prominent dance / IDM element at play here, particularly on beat-forward songs in the second half like "Lune" or "Eachpath". Really enjoyed this, and the way it flows from having ambient and sound collage influences in the first half, to more driving tracks by the end felt really organic and effective.
🌱 Cape Crush - Place Memory (2026)
Genres: Power Pop, Pop Punk, Emo-Pop
This falls somewhere in-and-around power-pop foundationally, but also wields emo-pop sized hooks and mid-tempo poppy punk crunchiness. Makes sense that the band self-identifies as “power-emo”.
About a hundred bands rattled around my head while listening to this, but the effectiveness of songs like "Calm & Delivered" and "Train in Motion" did allow me to shut the comparisons off and just dig on their hooks as they were presented.
Usually when bands like this pull back for some acoustic-led melodrama, as they do on "North Street", I lose interest, but they do that relatively well too; allowing the song to have a backbone of jangle pop that jumps from laid-back pedal-steel and harmonica-adorned verses to emotional wall-of-sound crescendos well.
I definitely like them most when the energy is high ("Dotted Line" is a bit of a snoozy tone establisher that fizzles out) but this is a well rounded debut that shows a lot of promise for the band.
✂ Calm & Delivered, Place Memory, Train in Motion, Also-Ran
🌱 Foote/Dickow - High Cube (2026)
Genres: Ambient Dub, Progressive Electronic, Ambient Techno, Downtempo
These days, whenever I am enjoying a left-field electronic release about half the time I look it up and it will be related to Peak Oil in some way. In this case, it's a collaboration between Strategy and Brian Foote, the latter of whom runs the label. While this is more main genre tagged ambient dub music, the inclusion of progressive electronic elements help set it apart from the records I've been listening to lately. There's a steady, long-form heart beat to this release that really landed for me on a workday afternoon. Likely need a few more spins to really dissect this, but upon initial listen I'm really enjoying it.
🌱 youbet - Youbet (2026)
Genres: Indie Rock
More indie rock with elements of neo-psych, art pop and folk pulsed in from youbet, who have been proving themselves an incredibly consistent act with this, their third release.
Where Compare & Despair and Way to Be immediately landed for me, this almost feels like it will be a bit of a sleeper. They continue to stand out with their unique approach to melodies here, but I'm not sure if its just familiarity with their sound causing it to land softly this time or if they've tweaked it ever so slightly in ways that aren't registering upon first glance. Part of me wants to say the latter because when they do hit on familiar tones like the twisting folk strum of "Embryonic" with synth droplets hanging in the air, it still really works. Or when they work "Bad Choice" slowly into overdrive for the bombastic finale, it's familiar stuff but it hits.
I'm still in the pocket for what they are doing here, and they've remained an above average act in a crowded genre, but I think time will tell if this is "year end" stuff or just another solid entry into their very consistent discography. Regardless, check it out if you're into off-kilter folky indie rock.
🌱 Reinartz - Irradiated (2026)
Genres: Ambient Dub, IDM
Lately my tastes in electronic music feels very skewed towards stuff that ends up having genre tags like ambient dub (or atmospheric drum and bass). See also: Architectonics & II.
This continues that trend, as it sits exactly in that place between IDM and dubby, ambient type soundscapes. On the bandcamp desctiption, they self-describe as ‘ADHD-ambient', which, goddamn, that targets me pretty much exactly. Some of this gets nearly too ambient for my tastes today (stretches of "Love as an Antidote to Fragmentation" are pretty abstract percussion over drips and drabs) but never so much that it loses me entirely. It also makes sense, pacing wise, as the closing track to the A-side before flipping to the B-side.
If I had one complaint, maybe it'd be that a couple of these tracks follow a similar progression of a few minutes of ambient work with percussion-based moments centered in the song before evaporating by the end. But songs like "Things That Fall Right Into Place" bring to mind Chaos Theory-era Amon Tobin for me, which is always a good thing.
🌱 Appleblim - Neolithic Neon (2026)
Genres: UK Bass, Jungle, Ambient Dub, IDM
Very good liquid electronic music that skitters around between IDM, ambient dub, bass-forward stuff ("Plasma Stomp"), some breakbeats and more. This was something I sampled in the new release bin and decided to put on in whole because it sounded intriguing to me and I'm happy I did. Well rounded and feels like it could be a bit addictive through the summer.
🌱 No Peeling - EP2 (2026)
Decent EP (under 9 minutes) of egg punk energy; squiggly synths, jittery angular riffery, post-punk basslines, et al. What sets this apart from the usual alien-vocal egg punk is that some of their vocal melodies almost recall vintage pop. "Crimes Against Buffet" made me think of The Like at times, melodically? There's something here for sure, would love to see how this band expands to a full-length.
🌱 Pope - BFM (2026)
Genres: Indie Rock, Power Pop
Very, dare I say it, cromulent indie rock with some slackery vibes and a whiff of twang ("Back to the Center"). True Talent Champion landed on my year-end list back in 2017, so I was happy to see their name pop up again in the new releases after so long. This is all fine stuff, about 40 minutes of it, that jumps from driving hook-n-riff forward guitar pop ("Newboi") and more subdued, folky indie ("Good Enough").
Entirely passable, and at times above average, but not exactly enduring stuff. Decent.
✨ De Beren Gieren - Fuzzy Bears (2026)
Genres: Progressive Electronic
I'm torn on this a little bit, because it was a pretty great background album for the afternoon and I enjoy this kind of retro progressive electronic vibe which the group effectively pairs with some nu-jazz and live-band type accoutrements. But at the same time, it swerves in-between the non-derogatory and derogatory lanes of this kind of deliberately retro type of synth-focused music. It's best when they really smash the two building blocks of their sound together and have elements like live percussion and organic band textures alongside the modular synth type sounds ("I'll Explain Later"). I love Mort Garson as much as anybody, but there's definitely moments here where they are leaning a little too hard on the "remember?" textures ("Levenslied"). Still, I enjoyed this and it's possible I'm just being too hard on it because there's a lot of cool music on this release. Rating could potentially see an increase over time, we'll see.
✨ Tristan Arp - (Re)Weave (2026)
Genres: IDM
Good EP of well-rounded IDM and tech house. Hard to tell upon initial listening whether or not this will stick with me, but I enjoyed this quite a bit while it was on for 21 minutes. High potential to return to this and bump the score up a little, I would say. Great work-music fodder.
✨ Prince Daddy & The Hyena - Hotwire Trip Switch (2026)
Genres: Power Pop, Pop Punk, Alternative Rock, Emo-Pop
Have never been fully on board with this band, but couldn't deny that their records always had a hit or two on 'em (i.e. Prince Daddy & The Hyena's "El Dorado" is wildly catchy).
Here, they are continuing their pivot from juvenile 4th wave weed emo band to (slightly less juvenile) power pop alt-rock band that they started on their last record. It definitely suits them, and they again work themselves up a handful of nice hooks, but I'm still a bit unsure about them as an album band.
"Sure Could" kinda sounds like it wants to sit somewhere between Nimrod. and Warning:. The opening of "The Luna Project" ensures that no review will be written without at some point referencing Weezer. I'm not so sure about the aughts-era blog rock dance punk guitar riffing on the verses of "30days30days30days", but the chorus is decent.
They do sound like they are gaining ground towards an overall consistency; instead of there being one or two songs I get addicted to, this feels more like everything here is at about the same level of quality as one-another. Whether that is a good thing or just an OK thing, I'm not sure. I generally have a lot of time for big, hooky guitar rock and this mostly works on that level. Could see this being a grower, or it might just dissipate from my brain as soon as it came in. We'll see.
✨ Push! - Plowing Ahead (2026)
Genres: Crossover Thrash, Metalcore, Beatdown Hardcore, Hardcore Punk
Genre tags on this one should give you the right idea even if they might be a little out of whack, order-wise; this is metallic hardcore that sits somewhere between beatdown two-stepping and metalcore riffage, with some moments of crossover thrashiness ("Porcelain").
Usually once or twice a year, a record like this delivering no-frills, meathead riffing will hit my gut in the right spot, and this one isn't too bad at doing exactly what it says on the tin.
There's probably about a thousand bands that sound exactly like this, so I'm not sure why this one felt more passable than others but it scratched an itch I had this morning. Doubt it'll become something I reach for throughout the year, but who knows?!
The Raging Nathans / Horace Pinker - Split EP (2026)
Honestly, despite the Split EP being a classic punk rock format, I don't listen to many of them. I always end up prioritizing LPs over EPs or split releases, despite enjoying many of them once I finally sit down and listen to them.
The draw here was actually more about seeing what Horace Pinker sound like in 2026 (my personal experience with them begins and ends with Burn Tempe to the Ground) than it is hearing some potential The Raging Nathans leftovers. And I have to admit their two songs sound like stuff they may have had laying around ("Running in Place" might have worked as the lead-off for a more substantial release but here it sounds half baked.)
The Horace Pinker songs aren't too special either, though they sound like two fully formed thoughts in some ways compared to the A-side. "Another Way" is a bashed out pop punk tune with slight grit, and "Redeemer" is a bit more mid-tempo gruff orgcore melodic punk or emocore type vibe with shades of Small Brown Bike.
Totally passable, middle-of-the-road stuff, but not exactly satisfying on the whole.
The Arrivals - Payload (2026)
The Arrivals return 16 years after their last record (Volatile Molotov). Have they changed their sound, or is it another group of bar-rocked tinged punk?
Well, it's not a bad album but... it's really lacking in energy huh? There's not a ton of memorable material here. I suppose you can't expect a band of this age to keep cranking out the same kind of music, but a lot of this just feels forgettable.
"The Wretched of the Earth: Guns, Germs, Steel" shows signs of potential; if they aren't interested in doing the pub-rock meets punk thing anymore, I would welcome a turn into some kind of progressive pub-rock that the final song hints towards. At least if they're slowing things down, they could let loose in other ways, you know?
I'm happy to have the band back, but this really went straight through my brain and out the other side, unfortunately.
Loukeman - Sd-3 (2026)
Genres: Indietronica, Downtempo, Electronic Dance Music, Outsider House, Folktronica, Neo-Psychedelia, Glitch Pop, Hypnagogic Pop, IDM
When this leans into euphoric electronic beat-forward songs like "To the Sky", it's really quite good. A lot of the quirky collage folktronica elements though felt a little corny and maybe even a bit too on the nose for me. Not a bad record, just a little overstuffed with ingredients when I would have preferred something more focused on the outsider house type elements personally.
⛏️ The Anniversary - Designing a Nervous Breakdown (2000)
Genres: Emo-Pop, Midwest Emo, Pop Punk, Power Pop
In 2000, I was in Grade 9 or 10 in a not-tiny-in-size-but-in-feeling Ontario city and would make trips to Oshawa and Toronto on weekends with my family where I'd wander around malls and pick up CDs that would explode my musical tastes into a million pieces. One key album from that era was Another Year on the Streets, which really splintered my previously exclusively pop punk tastes into many directions. It's got a lot of filler (I see you, Automatic 7, Gotohells, and No Motiv songs) but it also got me into bands like Rocket From the Crypt, Koufax and The Anniversary.
It's sad to think back to now, but in the 2000s the punk and emo scenes were still incredibly dude-forward, so a band that not only had keyboards and synths but a woman vocalist sharing near-equal singing time was pretty out of the ordinary based on what I was listening to previously. Even in 2025 users in the RYM comment box are making note of this and commenting on how "so many [emo bands were] just a bunch of dudes in ringer tees". Let alone the fact that Another Year on the Streets ended with the 8+ minute "I Believe That the End of the Reign of Terror Is Soon Near" which cracked my three-chord addled brain open as well. All that to say, it was just an album I needed at that moment, you know?
As a result, this is one of those albums that I have a hard time disassociating my memories and nostalgia from; I remember teaching myself the little riff from the second half of "Perfectly" on guitar in my room in 2000, or how epic the opening of "The D In Detroit" sounded to someone who listened almost exclusively to punk. If I had to, I'd say the highs (basically the entire A-side) outweigh some of the deeper cuts like "Shu Subat" or "Without Panasos" which are less immediately satisfying (though ultimately are satisfying in their own right, with time.)
So you can imagine that this record was pretty formative for me, getting me out of the confines of my established music tastes at exactly the right time that I needed it. This, alongside Rock and Roll Part Three probably formed the basis of my craving for "emo in foundation guitar-forward music with wee-oo-wee-oo synths" for years to come.
⛏️ Mock Orange - Nines & Sixes (1998)
Genres: Midwest Emo, Post-Hardcore, Emo-Pop, Math Pop, Math Rock
As I mentioned on a previous review of The Record Play, this was the definitive Mock Orange release to me for a number of years. On this album, they took a balancing act familiar to many emo bands of this era—fusing loud-soft dynamics and intricate noodling guitars with a busy drum performance and elements of technicality seemingly pulled from both math pop and skate punk—and made these ingredients all their own.
Truly, you could point to bands around this time doing similar stuff in the genre, but I believe nobody was doing it nearly as well as they do here. Somehow, the band is angular and technical ("All You Have") while also punk-ish in their palm mutes and ever-active rhythmic pulsing, while still dropping into emo-forward dynamics. Plus, they incorporated indie rock jangle (the opening of "Poster Child") from the get-go, signaling from afar their left-turn into indie that would come circa Mind Is Not Brain. And they do it all without becoming a pretentious, dour type of emo band. These songs are overflowing with strong melodies and hooks; emotional, but not overwrought. The opening plucked notes of "Dictionary" might sound like a hundred other bands of the second wave of emo, but where the song goes (and crucially where it doesn't return to again) lest them stand out.
Over the years, I've reached for The Record Play more and more, but revisiting this one was a great reminder of how strong this album is and what made me fall in love with their music from the start. Like many younger bands staking their claim, its a little messy and the back half has some weaker songs compared to the first side, but it still holds up as a gem of the genre for me.
⛏️ Piebald - We Are the Only Friends We Have (2002)
Genres: Emo-Pop, Pop Punk, Power Pop
Had to revisit this and knock out a review since I have nothing logged on RYM for this certified banger. In high school, I had some stray MP3s off releases like If It Weren't for Venetian Blinds, It Would Be Curtains for Us All, The Rock Revolution Will Not Be Televised and ...When Life Hands You Lemons because people on IRC were always raving about them, but when this album dropped it was a huge levelling up for the band and really sealed the deal on my interest in them.
Basically, the band pivoted away from the grittier angular post-hardcore and emo of their early work and drove their van further down the road they turned onto with The Rock Revolution Will Not Be Televised, where they dialed up the pop elements, and started exploring what they would refine down to a sharp, concise tool on this record.
It's emo-power-pop and indie rock all the way down, with crunchy riffs and major hooks. They add in some horns and acoustic moments ("It's Going to Get Worse Before It Gets Better") here and there, and "Rich People Can Breed" feels like a pivot into the kind of indie that was in vogue in the 2000s, but mostly this sticks in the "big riff, big hook, big emotions, and a sly wink" territories. “The Stalker” has aged poorly though, it’s clearly not written to be taken at face value but at the same time feels miscalculated.
I'd go on to spin All Ears, All Eyes, All the Time a bunch in the car circa 2004 and 2005 on summers home from College ("Part of Your Body is Made Out of Rock" is an underrated tune) but this remains their best work for sure.
✨ Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Get Happy!! (1980)
Genres: New Wave, Pop Rock, Power Pop, Blue-Eyed Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Mod Revival, Pop Soul, Garage Rock
My long-standing thought on this record—wherein Costello packs 20 songs into 47 minutes on a single vinyl—was that it had some excellent highlights and many duds. Upon revisiting it today, I've definitely softened on the whole thing. Since many of these songs are very short—only a single song breaks the three minute mark—it's always on to the next one by the time you start thinking a song is a little lackluster.
That said, there's definitely a few songs on the B-side that will have you thinking "did I hear this one already, or is it just incredibly similar to an earlier cut?". Otherwise, this is pretty strong overall despite it being 20 songs long. I'm always surprised that this is ranked higher in his discography than Trust, to be honest, which would be a top 3 Costello for me.
✨ Steps Ahead - Modern Times (1984)
Genres: Jazz Fusion, Smooth Jazz, Synthpop
Grabbed this on vinyl the other day and have been listening to it quite a bit over the past few weeks. As the comments box on RateYourMusic states, this is the kind of smooth jazz fusion that gets plundered and chopped and slowed down by vaporwave artists. One of my favourite things about exploring smooth jazz and smooth fusion has been finding out how often conventional wisdom about the genre is wrong.
The idea that this type of music only exists to be elevator music, or doesn't hold up to any kind of listening scrutiny just doesn't ring true for me. Take "Safari" which opens with some corny keyboard sounds but eventually gets into some lightly abrasive sax-layering. Or "Oops", which reminds me a lot of how The Bad Plus would switch back-and-forth between catchy melodies and more out-there excursions. And yeah, there's some smooth jazz here that does sound like elevator music ("Self Portrait", "Now You Know"), but the synths and slickness of the production really do make it work.
The performances here are very strong, there are enough interesting and weird diversions (the clattering synthpop smooth fusion of "Radio-Active", the stripped down and explorative "Modern Times") that make this an interesting record that also works as a mood setter. Might have to continue my way through the Steps Ahead discography because they are two-for-two in terms of enjoyable releases for me.
✨ Shit Present - What Still Gets Me (2023)
Genres: Indie Rock, Punk Rock, Emo
I know I heard this record when it came out, because I remember the album art and the name along with it coming out on Specialist Subject Records which is a label I would keep up with after really digging early releases from Doe and Caves. In my mind this record came out in like, 2015 or something. It's entirely possible I'm thinking of the Shit Present EP though.
Anyway, basically I had an idea what I was getting into by revisiting this but wasn't sure how much I liked it with having such a foggy memory about it. This sounds pretty much exactly as you would expect knowing the label and some of the other artists they've released; upbeat, hooky indie rock with varying poppy punk and emo genres sprinkled on top alongside confessional lyrics sung in a lightly British accent.
And their songs are all well above average for the most part. At 43 minutes it's maybe a little long, and although they are very good at writing that kind of slow burner tune that works itself up to a mid-tempo release ("What Still Gets Me"), I can also say that the pacing of the album is a little up and down with so many of them. But I always have time for this kind of hook-forward, emotional indie punk and this is a good stack of it.
✨ The Fairlanes - Welcome to Nowhere (2001)
Genres: Pop Punk
Above average pop punk that reminds me most of bands like The Gamits, in particular how they dial in their hooks with power pop elements without completely losing the pop punk DNA ("This Amp Goes to 11"). When they go mid-tempo mode ("Lesson Learned") they retain some chunky riffing and some bursts of energy. You could probably say there's a whiff of emo pop in here as well on songs like "Right Through You". They have some elements of big hook-based guitar rock that sometimes sits alongside "pop punk", but I think they never go so far down that road to their benefit. They strike me like a band that probably started more along the lines of snotty Weasel-core type stuff, but matured into something that rides a few genre lines effectively instead.
✨ I Farm - Sincerely, Robots (1999)
Genres: Melodic Hardcore
This is the kind of snotty, poppy skate punk and melodic hardcore that gets a lot of mileage out of attitude and energy. I came across this just digging around in the Melodic Hardcore tag, not realizing I had probably seen the name years ago on Mitch Clem's 60 Favorite Pop-Punk Albums list. That might have been why I was drawn to it? Anyway, if you like stuff along the lines of Donuts n' Glory or De La Hoya's Dance! Techno Mega-Mix Vol. 42 then I think you will fund a good amount to like here. It's 26 minutes, goes by in a blur of power and octave chords, high pitched yelps and "singing" that amounts to mostly yelling loudly yet melodically. This will serve me quite well when I want something as a chaser to that Donuts 'n' Glory album.
✨ Pinhead Circus - Detailed Instructions for the Self Involved (1997)
Genres: Punk Rock, Pop Punk, Skate Punk, Melodic Hardcore
I've bounced off Pinhead Circus a lot over the years, but I know I've tossed this album (and Everything Else Is Just a Far Gone Conclusion) on when trying to find new-to-me pop punk records in the past. Today, something I guess clicked because I made it through this one top-to-bottom. Maybe it's because the band never seemed to nail down anything resembling a cohesive aesthetic for their records, but I was a little surprised that this was the kind of snot-nosed skate punk type of pop punk and not something a bit more squeaky clean or Ramones-y?
There are shades of neener-neener stuff like Screeching Weasel in their sound, but this is generally more buzzsaw in focus with lots of speedy power chords and random pogo-laden stop-starts to their riffing ("Carefree Mental Daze") while still having decent hooks and melodic basslines. Like I said, way more skate punk than I expected for some reason. Also it might just be me, but I heard a sprinkle of some angst-driven emo punk type stuff hiding in here too.
Like Sincerely, Robots, which I reviewed recently, this calls to mind Donuts n' Glory and bands of that ilk. Maybe a pinch long as it approaches 40 minutes (has a 6+ minute song with a bunch of silence before the secret track as well), but also like Sincerely, Robots the attitude and energy goes a long way if you like this type of stuff.
✨ Errth - Errth (2025)
Genres: Punk Rock, Melodic Hardcore
Bit of a sampler platter of orgcore punk styles; opener “Close to Gone” is the exact kind of gruff, flannel-clad thing you’re already thinking of based on that opening sentence, and “8,760 Hours” follows up more in the drunkenly-snotty The Lawrence Arms type of punk.
The album (which features members of Aspiga, Graduation Speech, Public Serpents, Seeing Snakes and was released by Bad Time’s non-ska imprint Uncle Style Records) mostly trades back and forth between these styles, sometimes feeling so specifically tied to the orgcore genre to the point of near-parody, but generally landing on the “satisfyingly comfortable” side of the fence. Sometimes they do a bit of a mid-tempo emo-adjacent type Samiam vibe, like on (”Streets Don’t Sing”).
In general, this passed by quickly and in a haze of familiar tones and textures. Not sure if it stands up beyond “this sounds like other stuff I already like”, but it’s not bad.
✨ The Adventures of Jet - Part 3: Coping With Insignificance (2000)
Big time wee-oo-wee-oo geek rock type power pop. Immediately made me think of The Squish, and to a lesser extent Ozma. The very obvious comparison would be the first The Rentals album. Throw a little Nerf Herder in there for good measure, maybe.
If you like crunchy power and octave chords with moog keyboard lines on top, this is more of that. Not all of these songs are strong, and 40 minutes of basically the same kind of song back-to-back is definitely more than I need, but my appreciation for this general sound gets me pretty far and I'm just glad that the album doesn't dip into the kind of gross geek rock lyrics that you often see.
Jets to Brazil - Four Cornered Night (2000)
Genres: Indie Rock, Emo, Midwest Emo
There are a few songs on this album so embedded in my being, so intrinsically tied to a certain time and a certain headspace that they will forever be a part of me. “One Summer Last Fall” is one of those songs, similar to other reviews from this edition of the newsletter, it landed at just the right time in my life via Santa Cruz’s Uprising (2001).
Is the album as formative for me? Well… it has “You’re Having The Time of My Life,” “Mid-Day Anonymous” and “Milk and Apples” at least. Oh, and “Orange Rhyming Dictionary” which one must assume was a leftover from the album of the same name, and must be why it’s one of the better songs here.
That’s why it’s such a shame that—though admirable that they stretched out to try some different things—the rest of the album is so forgettable. This is a great 5 song EP with a 8 passable-to-weak songs surrounding it.
Garage Fuzz - Relax in Your Favourite Chair (1994)
Genres: Melodic Hardcore, Emocore, Skate Punk
Cromulent and relatively unmemorable melodic hardcore from Brazil with elements of pop punk, skate punk, and emo. Totally alright stuff, probably a hair above average for an album with only 32 ratings. I couldn't tell you anything about a single one of these 16 songs after the fact, but it was a fine diversion while it was on. They went on to release 4 more albums over the years, so I do wonder how they evolved from here.
Ансамбль Арсенал - Второе дыхание [Second Wind] (1985)
Genres: Jazz Fusion, Smooth Jazz, Jazz Pop
Oooh, progressive smooth jazz fusion? Okay, the lead-off title track is 10 minutes and 45 seconds with multiple smooth jazz movements and a very spacey, vibey atmosphere. I'm absolutely here for it.
Second track "The Lion Constellation" is a little sleepy, but does retain that long-form, progressive approach to smooth fusion. "Forgiveness" really brings things down even further into airy progressiveness, but by this point I'm acclimating to the fact that we're much more in instrumental prog rock mode here in general. The extended soloing that forms much of that song's second half is totally fogged-out arena filling, laser light show shit. They also do dip into some more classical style compositions, which unfortunately is less exciting to me.
Uh oh, the next song is called "Funky-Charleston" and it sounds how you might expect. We're into circus ass jazz territory here and I don't like it. "Provincial Tango" fares a little better, but not entirely.
"A Model" returns us to synth-laden progressive rock theatrics, thankfully, even if by this point it feels a little stale. We close with "Nostalgie" which is fine, has some silly quack-sounds on there, and ends things with a bit of a shrug.
This mostly can't stand up to the very strong opening track, though it's not entirely a miss either. A mixed bag for sure, with a solid A-side that I could see me returning to on vinyl and then just skipping the B-side entirely.
Stereotyperider - Same Chords Same Songs Same Six Strings (2003)
Genres: Melodic Hardcore, Pop Punk, Post-Hardcore
This sits somewhere between angular post-hardcore, pop punk, emo pop and a little melodic hardcore ("Aiona"). All of that sounds great to me because I like all of those genres, but what you end up with here is poppy punk music that isn't catchy enough to be memorable ("Forget It"), and post-hardcore ("I Never Want to Rest") that doesn't have quite enough oomph to leave a lasting impact.
All of this is performed well, produced well, written well, but it was pretty in-one-ear-out-the-other. At times, it strikes a decent balance and ends up sounding a little bit like Good Health era Pretty Girls Make Graves and other times it is concise enough to be relatively hummable ("Critical People") but in general I'm not sure I'll remember much about this. I hate to say it, but I wish this was a little more streamlined, simplified and in service of better hooks.
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.