Tired & Troubled
Indie Rock, Slowcore, Power Pop, Metalcore, Industrial Metal, Alt Rock, Technical Death Metal and more.
Holy moly, I do two weeks of new music release day posts without dropping a review-dump and this happens… I’ve got a huge stack for y’all to go through today.
As for non-Music life, been trying to soak up the Fall weather but increasingly getting the feeling that it’s slipping away. Hoping we will have time to make it to a haunted farm of some kind for some spooky fun before the end of the month. We did visit the The Screaming Heads of Midlothian for the first time though, so there’s that.
Here’s what I’ve been listening to, and logging lately. Let me know what you have been excited about!
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.
As always, please reach out on the hellsite, the better site, 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!
⛏️ Comfy - Goated & Foreboded (2024)
Genre: Indie Rock, Power Pop
Comfy released two of my favourite indie rock records in recent memory with 2018’s Thanks for the Ride and 2021’s immaculate Volume For. Since then they have been busy, releasing albums of imagined video game music (Super Comfy World and Super Comfy World 2: The Lost Levels) as well as another proper album Jock Hours in 2022. For whatever reason, Jock Hours didn't grab me, although I am not sure I gave it a lot of time.
Goated & Foreboded though, hit me immediately. This is more of what Comfy does incredibly well: a grab-bag of indie rock, power-pop and guitar rock with hooks that stick. This can jump from jangly indie ("Dream is Dead") to crunched out noise-pop ("Spark"). In a way, they remind me of Built to Spill in spirit but not sound or texture (though "Awake & Living" does get there by way of sheer guitar heroics.) They can write concise indie-pop songs as well as they can write more layered guitar pop with solos and power pop textures ("Dream is Dead") just as well as they can follow that up with a driving, twangy jangle-y tune like "Tired & Troubled."
I think Comfy are shaping up to be a great, super consistent band that isn't afraid to follow their ambitions and inspirations wherever they may take them.
⛏️ The Dopamines - 80/20 (2024)
Genre: Pop Punk
Listen, I love The Dopamines and celebrate their entire discography. I could probably nit pick and figure out exactly where this sits in their records, which ones it is better than and which ones it is worse than, but the fact of the matter is this is their first album since 2017 and I feel like no matter what I would be walking away thinking it's not quite as good as the albums I've listened to hundreds of times.
This rips, sounds like The Dopamines, is very catchy, and I'm just stoked to have more music from one of my favourite bands. I'll see where it lands in the grand scheme of things later but for now I'm happy and this is definitely one of the better albums of poppy punk rock this year. I expect this to grow on me even more and possibly even end up on my year-end list.
⛏️ Candy - Flipping (2024)
Genre: Metalcore, Industrial Metal, Digital Hardcore, Beatdown Hardcore, Powerviolence
This is hard as hell and I love it. This might top their LP from this year to be honest. It nails that insanely heavy breakdown metalcore / hardcore sound without slipping into that tik tok breakdown band sound? Hard to explain. Just immense, huge, enormous. This shit fucks you up in the best way AND has fun textures and electronic flourishes and even turntablist/beat moments that seal the deal.
✨ John Davis - JINX (2024)
Genre: Alternative Rock, Power Pop
Was getting ready to describe this as Superdrag-esque power-pop alt-rock with a bit of twang before I realized that hey, John Davis is the Superdrag guy, lol. If you like Superdrag and are craving some more in the same vein, this will do the trick. Good stuff, a little in-one-ear-out-the-other but generally this sound is something I gravitate towards. Very well-rounded.
⛏️ Chat Pile - Cool World (2024)
Genre: Noise Rock, Sludge Metal, Post-Hardcore, Deathrock, Industrial Metal, Nu Metal
Listen, you know about Chat Pile at this point. Very muddy, sludgy anxious noise rock, sprinkles of nu-influence and groove. Raygun's divisive vocals. This is Chat Pile to a T, with some small tweaks and evolutions of their sound. A bit more nu-metal influence than before, but not so much that I could imagine haters being upset about it. It's not going to convince anyone who has made their mind up about the band, but if you're into it already here's some more for you. I'm still into it, so I liked this a whoooole lot.
✨ What Gives - Same Time Next Week (Single, 2024)
I reviewed Feels Good back in 2017 and it landed on my year-end list. I always wondered what happened to 'em (assuming the members got busy with Annabel, Dowsing, and Elway as well as working together again on the Party'z EP). This new version of the band seems to be an extension of the Party'z EP since Delia Hornik has joined on keys.
Their sound hasn't changed too much though, it's still crunchy mid-tempo power-pop influenced emo but the singles off their upcoming record sound nudged even closer towards Motion City Soundtrack and The Anniversary worship, which hey, that works for me, I love those bands. I have high hopes for this LP, for sure.
🌱 Karate - Make It Fit (2024)
Genre: Indie Rock, Slowcore, Jazz-Rock
Really stoked to have another album from one of my favourites 20 years later. This sounds a bit like your average reunion album (derogatory.) It's basically a bunch of songs that sound very familiar to their old work, sometimes with riffs that seem directly referencing riffs from old tracks. They seem to be doing a bit of that greatest hits kind of thing, some faster ones like their earlier work, some jazzier ones like their more subdued later work, and call it a day. Farina's vocals and lyrics in particular feel a little like the weak link here.
This doesn't get into outright bad territory but it feels a little unmemorable to me and not the kind of reunion album that serves as a fitting cap to the end of a discography. More like a sigh of relief that this doesn't suck, but I'm not sure how long it'll stick in my listening rotation.
✨ Cognizance - Phantazein (2024)
Genre: Technical Death Metal, Progressive Metal
I love me some tech death and this is a good slab of that. Incredibly crisp, lots of riff variety and unpredictability. Doesn't sit still very long, but it does manage to whip up a sense of melody and tasteful solo passages that let this stuff sink in. I think I just have a predilection for stuff like this, so I had a good 40 minutes and can imagine coming back to this again soon.
✨ Mutant Academy - Keep Holly Alive (2024)
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop
Very solid hip hop crew album. Consistency across the board from performances to production. Almost an hour long so I definitely felt like it got same-y and overlong. But there's a lot of quality on here.
✨ MEMORIALS - Memorial Waterslides (2024)
Genre: Neo-Psychedelia, Post-Rock, Electronic, Post-Punk
At first glance, I though this would sound like most any neo-psych sorta-Stereolab-or-Broadcast post-punk influenced album.
I think what makes this stand out in a sea of bands that have the same foundational sound is how experimental it gets. Lots of extended "let's just explore this texture/vibe" segments of the record that were effective for me. A lot more of a sound collage vibe than you might expect from the genres this exists in, or at least compared to a lot of modern takes on the neo-psych/post-punk/etc. thing.
Very cool stuff, really enjoyed this.
Scooped Up! - The Runs (2024)
Genre: Pop Punk
Ran to listen to this after dewtaylo's Rate Your Music review because it sounded like absolutely my kind of thing, which Dude Ranch role-play absolutely always is.
This is decent, but misses the mark for me because a) there's something about the singer that really doesn’t do it for me and b) I don't think the songs are as good as they need to be. The band nails the early Blink three-piece sound but if you pressed me to remember a melody or hook or riff from this album mere minutes after it finished I'd have no way to do so.
The Loudmouth EP remains the high water mark for modern takes on this sound for me, though I will admit that Scooped Up! sound way more accurate to the time and place of earlier Blink. In some ways, I think this is more like Cheshire Cat-era Blink because the songs just aren't quiiiiiiite there yet.
This seems promising… but I feel like whatever they do next will be a level-up from here.
⛏️ Grass Widow - Past Time (2010)
Have loved this since it came out in 2010 and really need to remind myself to revisit this more often. Just gorgeously layered harmonies, plucky lead guitar lines and post-punk basslines bouncing off one another in the best of ways. I understand that their sound isn't the most expected thing when you think of this genre, but no idea how someone could listen to this and claim it sounds "incompetent", as one reviewer on Rate Your Music has.
Anyway, just a little defensive because this is a favourite of mine I guess! A special album that for me will always be five stars.
✨ Bolt Thrower - The IVth Crusade (1992)
Genre: Death Metal
Plain and simple, the riffs here kill. This seems to avoid claims of being too repetitive by sheer volume and heaviness of its titanic riffs. Not quite up to Realm of Chaos though, which is still my favourite from them as that mix of death and grind is just too good to top so far. This gets close to matching it though, but is definitely a bit overlong.
✨ Engine 88 - Clean Your Room (1995)
Genre: Post-Hardcore, Alternative Rock, Pop Punk, Post-Hardcore
Got recommended this by Orangeboulder on Rate Your Music.
Really solid mix of things going on here - they're part Jawbreaker-esque melding of melodic punk, post-hardcore and indie rock, part twang-adjacent blue collar ramble-rock (I'm not an expert in The Hold Steady but I feel like there's some of that kind of vibe in the DNA of this) and a sprinkling of noise rock. In some ways they bring to mind Nuisance as well. The alt-rock element to their sound (and the vocals) might be a stumbling block, but I don't mind when that sound is mixed with post-hardcore riff angularity. Plus, it's paired with melodic punk in a way that feels satisfying to me (even if the amount of "actual punk™" in the foundation of their sound is arguable.)
Definitely a little same-y over the course of 40 minutes but songs like "Spinach", "Mangos", "GTO" and "Drowning" are hooky enough to stick even if stuff like "Man, I love to fish" is a silly hook indeed. If you don't like that grunge-esque buzz-bin kind of sound in your melodic punk or post-hardcore maybe this won't be for you but I found it mostly enjoyable and above average as far as this kind of thing goes.
✨ Pestilence - Spheres (1993)
Genre: Technical Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Jazz Fusion
After not loving the new one from Blood Incantation, I have seen more than a couple references to Pestilence’s Spheres as being ahead of its time so I figured I need to check this out.
This is definitely technical prog death metal, or basically death metal with guitar synths and jazzy fusion-y elements woven in, while there's MIDI textures and stabs bouncing around in the background. Some of this definitely sounds like a band trying something really off-the-wall out, to mixed results, and some of it sounds like a band really nailing something cool. And other times it sounds like a technical death band playing while some synth band is playing in the next room over.
For my money, I think a band like Nocturnus is able to mix the death metal and spacey synth atmosphere into something less rough around the edges, but I also really like that this album is dedicated to smashing this stuff together alongside proggy tech stuff. I've heard enough Atheist albums to know that people were getting prog and fusion in people's death metal since the early nineties so this isn't exactly "I can't believe they're doing this" territory, but the atmosphere and unpredictability of this album is really cool to me even if it feels a little uneven.
Tip: don’t listen to the version on Spotify that has “(Original)” in the name of the first track. That’s not the remastered version, which I recommend!
🌱 Rush - Power Windows (1985)
Genre: Progressive Rock, Pop Rock, New Wave, AOR, Big Music
I guess this is a bit divisive among some fans but it's more of what I come to Rush for: nerdy, kind of ridiculous lightly proggy pop synth rock. Not a whole lot else to say, enjoyed this. I like this middle period of the band quite a bit whenever I dive into these albums. I know I felt similarly about Grace Under Pressure.
✨ Ripping Corpse - Dreaming With the Dead (1991)
Genre: Death Metal, Thrash Metal, Technical Thrash Metal
Hell yeah. This took me a couple tracks to adjust to (I like how in the comments box it's described as "casually weird") but once I did I really got into the mood. Concise death thrash jams, really intriguing left turns, good amount of technicality without being overbearing (and the song lengths help) and a tinge of hardcore/crossover texture to the vocals that otherwise sit really snugly between thrash and death. When it gets dumb heavy it works well. Honestly, quite well rounded all things considered. By the time "Beyond Humanity" and "Feeling Pleasure Through Pain" came on I was basically fully on board for this. Could use more bass in this mix though, I will say that.
✨ Agressor - Neverending Destiny (1990)
Genre: Thrash Metal, Death Metal
This has that "thrash band trying to play as heavy and fast as they can, ultimately ending up in death thrash territory" thing going on and I really love that. This has a real meat and potatoes sound that probably won't stand out of the pack but it's executed really well and retains a kind of scrappiness, "scrape it together" vibe to the production that is charming.
✨ Honey Creek - Self Preservation (2023)
Genre: Pop Punk
When those wee-oo-wee-oo synths hit over huge pop-punk power chords, I know I'm going to like something to some degree. This is basically easycore with tippy tappy modern emo flourishes and the aforementioned wee-oo synth lines to seal the deal. I don't love always this kind of super melodramatic modern easycore stuff but when it works I can get pretty into it. This basically sounds like if Motion City Soundtrack was an easycore band so yeah I dig this.
✨ Nails of Hawaiian - Jazz (1996)
Genre: Emo, Pop Punk, Punk Rock, Post-Hardcore
Jawbreaker-y, J Church-esque pop-punk from Japan with gritty emo undertones. As far as this kind of 90s punk goes, this is very well executed. Has those emotive instrumental passages like Jawbreaker did so well ("Spring"). Not exactly sing-along style punk but melodically it is strong. Can see why there is a post-hardcore sub-genre tag with some of the moments of angularity to the riffing, but mostly this is punk forward, with some soft-loud elements of emo. Worth a look if it sounds like your kind of thing.
Necrophagia - Season of the Dead (1987)
Genre: Death Metal, Thrash Metal
This is wildly sloppy stuff right here. In particular it feels like the singer has no idea how to stay on beat and sometimes the band feels like they are tripping over themselves. But then other times, the horror atmosphere and dank basement/garage vibe of the performances have a charm to them. I kind of laughed when "Bleeding Torment" stops for a little simple, unimpressive drum break. But then there will be some legitimately dope moments as well to pull you back in.
Maybe it's from all the hours of listening to technical death/thrash but there is definitely something endearing about this album that you don't get from the hundreds of other records that sound exactly the same with nary a note out of place. That said, am I going to listen to this over and over again?
Not so sure.
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.