Boston – “Life, Love & Hope”

(Photo Credit: bravewords)

Grade: C+

Key Tracks: “Heaven On Earth” “Sail Away”

Bands continuing on after the death a key member is no strange thing. Queen stumbled when they added Paul Rodgers, while Alice In Chains is continuing with a surprising successful replacement singer. These things happen, and whether you want to give the band the benefit of the doubt or not is dependent on the situation. Sublime should’ve stopped, while AC/DC only got bigger. But this feels different. “Life, Love & Hope” isn’t Boston moving on, it’s them remembering the life of Brad Delp. Delp was almost unmatched in rock – his voice was meteoric, screamingly loud and high while always gorgeous. And his style worked alongside Marc Bolan is ushering in rock’s glam phase. When Delp was found dead in his car in 2007, it was a crushing blow to a band that was already fading into the limelights. This album, through all it’s faults, serves as a parting piece for those of us that loved Delp. And Boston fans will want to give it the benefit of the doubt.

So let’s focus on the negatives first. There’s eleven songs on this album – eight if you don’t count reworked versions of “Someone” “Didn’t Mean To Fall in Love” and “You Gave Up On Love.” Of those eight, three have ‘love’ in the title ( that’s 5/11). There’s a lot of downtime on the album. Ballads galore, with plenty of acoustic and piano bits. Lyrically, it’s corny, it’s really corny. It’s called “Life, Love & Hope,” and my AP style insides are screaming. The glam scene that Boston had an early cog in was a largely corny genre altogether, so it’s expected, but it’s still a little over the top. And most of the album isn’t very memorable. While it isn’t bad, it’s best suited as background music and little else.

That said, Boston had one of the most definitively unique sounds ever, and this is Boston. The opening to the first song, “Heaven On Earth,” is a quick guitar slide that promises the listener that Tom Scholz has never turned his pedals off. It doesn’t have the energy of earlier releases, and there’s few (if any) solos on the album, but they still sound the same. Vocally, the album is all over the place, but it’s alright. Delp’s voice shows up on three songs, although two are previous recordings from reworks of songs on “Corporate America.” The other singers on the album, of which there’s five, simply aren’t as strong. The clever track listing lets Delp jump in at the right moments. But the addition of other singers, which include current lead singer Tommy DeCarlo, feels like a tribute instead of a fault. The album’s rough assemblage of new and old songs acts as a strong tribute to the fallen singer.

There is one new song on the album that Delp recorded after 2002’s “Corporate America.” It’s called “Sail Away,” and it’s in response to the government’s mishandling of Hurricane Katrina. It’s easily the best song on the album. Concise and a little more intuitive than earlier songs, “Sail Away” is a great example of how a band can still be on top of things years later.

It’s hard to believe that this is only Boston’s sixth album in thirty-seven years. I was co-runner of an embarrassing Facebook page in high school called “Boston should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” (that has since been removed). My music tastes have grown and are completely removed from what they used to be, but I continue to love Boston. Maybe because they’re named after my home city, but something always draws me back to them. And while “Life, Love & Hope” has many faults, it serves as a fitting tribute to the late Brad Delp, and as a positive notch in the history of a very interesting band.

-By Andrew McNally

Black Flag – “What The…”

(Photo Credit: Pitchfork)

Grade: D+

Key tracks: “My Heart’s Pumping” “The Chase”

Do you remember Metallica’s “St. Anger” album? Of course you do, it’s unforgettable. If their career was a cup of fine Italian coffee, “St. Anger” was the small bit of unfiltered grounds at the bottom that you accidentally swallowed. And for a while, it’s what you remembered about that otherwise great cup. “What The…” is the “St. Anger” of 2013 – a long-awaited album that has all the elements of the original band, but is just remarkably bad and with a cover so grotesquely stupid that it actually drives down the quality. People waited six years for “St. Anger,” and it sounded like it was recorded inside a trashcan. While the production is better on “What The…,” people that have been waiting for twenty-eight years deserve something better than this.

Much like those in “Some Kind of Monster,” the documentary that accompanied “St. Anger,” public troubles with the band have hurt their image recently. Guitarist Greg Ginn is the only original member left. Two of the other original members are currently touring as FLAG, also playing Black Flag’s music (having lost a court battle to use the name). It’s a mess. Famous skateboarder and early 2000’s video-game star Mike Vallely is currently in the band, and singer Ron Reyes, who sings lead in every song on this album, is no longer a member despite this album just coming out yesterday. It’s really a mess.

It’s got all the components of a Black Flag album – the only two songs over three minutes are the second and last songs. Every song is fast and heavy; urgent as always. It’s really coincidental that I always pick two key tracks, though, because there’s only two stand-outs: opener “My Heart is Pounding” and “The Chase,” which sits exactly in the middle. These two songs are the only two that really capture the band’s original hardcore sound. “The Chase” really captures the power chord brutality that made early Black Flag so great. Otherwise, I’d skip the other twenty songs. They’re all practically identical, and they’re okay at best.

Not to be mean or anything, but it’s probably not a bad thing that Vallely replaced Reyes, because Reyes voice just isn’t that good. Obviously, hardcore punk isn’t demanding a sultry, smooth lounge voice, but Reyes’ vocals just aren’t very powerful, and eventually it kind of drowns into the music. And the music itself is a weird tempo – it isn’t hardcore, but it’s faster than what I’d describe as “mid-tempo.” It’s almost like they’re restraining themselves, or are attempting to do an imitation of what they used to be. Although it sounds much more like the former, some of the song titles suggest the latter: “Get Out Of My Way” and “Go Away,” “This Is Hell” and “To Hell And Back,” “Slow Your Ass Down,” “It’s Not My Time To Go-go,” “Wallow in Despair” and the painful “Give Me All Your Dough.”

And then there’s the cover. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ album “Mosquito” was going to get two year-end awards: Most Disappointing Album, and Worst Cover. But man, we should’ve seen this coming. It looks like a school assignment that was made in ten minutes by some 14 year-old who paused his Call of Duty game when he remembered he had to do it. (That said: it’s still an undecided competition). With a cover like that, you really expect the album to be atrocious. It’s not atrocious, it’s just not very good. There’s plenty of worse albums, and plenty of more boring and unoriginal hardcore punk releases. This just shouldn’t be labeled as Black Flag, both thematically and factually.

If you like this, try: Any other Black Flag album. This is already the asterisk on their career.

-By Andrew McNally

(GIMME GIMME GIMME / I NEED SOME MORE / GIMME GIMME GIMME / DON’T ASK WHAT FOR 1 2 3 4)

Britney Spears – “Britney Jean”

(Photo Credit: Rolling Stone)

Grade: B

Key Tracks: “Alien” “Passenger”

Britney’s eighth album has been heralded by her as her most personal album yet, and a conceptual one about “the loneliness of pop life.” She’s not exactly uninformed on the subject – we all witnessed her meltdown a few years ago and her surprising comeback. But Britney is now staring down a new issue – this is her first album in her ’30′s, and she has to fight to stay relevant. Pop music can be a lonely world, and Britney knows it best.

The first track, “Alien,” works the best for the concept – a very literal song about being alone, with a feeling of reluctant acceptance about it. “Work Bitch,” the leadoff single, sees Britney giving very simple advice to younger singers who are trying to make their way (although ironic, given Britney’s instant fame). Songs later on down the album help to bolster the concept of loneliness, like “Don’t Cry” and “Passenger,” a great track about not really being in control of your life, having everything dictated. “Chillin’ With You,” a duet, would totally break the concept if it wasn’t for the duet being with family – her own sister Jamie-Lynn (remember her??).

Unfortunately, where the concept works at the album’s bookends, it almost totally disappears in the middle. will.i.am and T.I. show up for guest spots that feel out of place on a somewhat bummer record. Songs like “Body Ache” and “Tik Tik Boom,” which is not a Hives cover like I had hoped, are really just generic pop songs. The album’s midpoint sags lyrically, as Britney gives way to musical progressions that are foreign to her, instead of following through with the concept.

Musically, there is a lot on the album. The more basic nature of the opening songs gives way to moments that flirt with EDM, until the will.i.am collaboration “It Should Be Easy” dives right into it, in a dubstep rhythm that would make Skrillex proud. Spears definitely experiments around with the music of today. There are moments of heavy electro freakouts and booming dance beats, as well as her more familiar sound.

Britney still sounds as good as ever. Her voice is still strong, and still has that slight touch of snarky ego. Even on a moody album, she sounds like she’s having fun. And ultimately, that’s what makes the album succeed. Britney is doing a slight transformation, necessary with the times. Although it’s a little awkward and alienating, she knows exactly what she’s doing. The concept doesn’t always hold and the songs are somewhat inconsistent, but you want her to succeed. You spend the album rooting for her, because few stars ever have such a comeback. Give “Britney Jean” the benefit of the doubt, because it’s Britney, bitch.

The Raspberry Heaven – “Nascent Meadows”

(Photo Credit: bandcamp)

Grade: B+

Key Tracks: “Substance” “Meadow & Her Missing Wolf”

I don’t know of anyone, myself included, that’s been clamoring for a hybrid of pop melodies and emo sympathies, but that’s what makes the Raspberry Heaven sound so engaging – it’s something you didn’t know you wanted to hear until it starts playing. The band, independent and based out of Ontario, is self-described as “sad pop,” a misnomer that describes their music pretty accurately. It’s the soft subtleties of traditional pop, with the sadness and occasional lack of restraint of emo.

While some current emo-leaning bands are pushing up the volume, “Nascent Meadows” never gets much above a speaking level. Uninformed listeners could mistake “Nascent Meadows” as some sort of a lo-fi project, but it’s simply a reserved album. This is where the pop element comes in – nearly every song is kicked off by piano or acoustic guitar, creating a warm sound. The music is engaging, which strengthens the lyrics.

And that’s where some of the album’s more emo qualities come in. The lyrics are honest and personal, poetic and original. The album deals with rough topics, and it feels reflective of the people on the other side. Musically, the album treads into some different territories. “Substance” has a bit of a guitar wall at the beginning, and saves room for some gang vocals (as do a few other moments on the album). The album feels reminiscent of some of today’s lighter emo bands, if they decided to take a semi-departure from the genre.

What makes so many great albums work is hearing the musicians behind it feel invested in what they’re doing. The Raspberry Heaven – made up of Michael Hansford on Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Piano and Percussion, Jamie Chute on Vocals, Guitar and Keyboards, Rian Gravelle on Vocals, Darcy Robichaud on Guitar and Vocals, and Phillip Child on Percussion – are passionate about the music they’re creating. “Nascent Meadows” is very real and honest, and it’s evident that the band put a lot of effort into the making of the album. It’s soft and personal, and it only expands when it feels the need to. It’s a very interesting release – it seems to exist in a genre that feels foreign to listeners but natural to them. It’s got a haunting foundation-less deja vu because of it. “Nascent Meadows” will make you feel right at home, in a place you’ve never been.

The album can be streamed on their bandcamp page.

-By Andrew McNally

Human Colonies – “Demo EP”

Grade: B+

Human Colonies, a four-piece out of Bologna, Italy, have a sound that’s a healthy mix of shoegaze and dream-pop. Their Demo EP manages to showcase a few different influences over just four songs and fourteen minutes in what’s a promising debut. The band consists of Giuseppe Mazzoni on guitar and vocals, Roman Dagner on guitar, Davide Hare on drums and Sara Telesca on bass.

The EP’s first track, Sunshine Jesus, actually starts with a more traditional rock beat, courtesy of the rhythm section. The vocals are buried under a wall of fuzz in a typical shoegaze sound. But, with the driving beat and the short 2:21 length, it comes off as a unique, shoegaze/pop-punk hybrid track. Follow-up “Hey You” has a much slower tempo, with vocals just as distant. The song feels a little too restrained, although it opens up to a full band feeling in the last minute. The third song, “Falling Deeper,” might be the best of the four, taking on a more rigid, post-rock sound. It’s a tense song, and almost totally devoid of lyrics. The band instead really explores the space while confining themselves to a repetitive rhythm. The song hovers much closer to post-hardcore than to shoegaze. Finally, “Cross” is the most shoegaze-resembling song on the EP. It’s a very slow song that makes use of the non-stop guitars to build a relentless wall of sound. It’s a little draining, in the way shoegaze should be.

The band has a surprisingly polished sound, for a young band. They probably benefit from having an intentionally fuzzy and distorted sound, but the production sounds better than expected. Throughout the EP, they really explore their surroundings, bringing together a bunch of hyphenated sub-genres into a good listen. Because each song focuses in a bit of a different direction than the previous one, the flow between tracks is a little jaunting. Luckily each song engages quickly so it really isn’t a major issue. All in all, it’s a great demo, and one I’d recommend.

You can find the EP on the band’s bandcamp and soundcloud pages, and you can find them on Facebook.

If you like this, try: Pity Sex’s “Feast of Love.” They can get a little repetitive, but it’s another shoegaze crossover album.

-By Andrew McNally

Jake Bugg – “Shangri La”

(Photo Credit: http://www.entertainmentwise.com)

Grade: B+

Key Tracks: “Slumville Sunrise” “What Doesn’t Kill You”

When Bob Dylan went electric at Newport Folk Festival, he shocked audiences and divided his fanbase. Bugg, the 19 year-old from the UK, might just be trying to do the same. His self-titled debut came out in Britain this week last year (and in April in America), but he’s already got his second album out. The leadoff single, “What Doesn’t Kill You,” is single-handedly louder than any song from “Jake Bugg,” sounding more like a 70′s garage-punk song than a 60′s rock-and-roll one. There’s more electric on this album, and there’s more balance. It’s a fun, nostalgia-driven album with no real low points.

The average length of a song from “Jake Bugg” looks to be around 2:30-2:45. On “Shangri La,” it’s closer to 3:00. It’s not much of a difference, but it shows. Bugg expands on this album. While his first album was full of enjoyable ’60′s throwbacks, it got too repetitive. “Shangri La” has a balance between quick, energetic blasts and well-developed ballads. “All Your Reasons,” the longest song across either album, even allows for a lengthy musical bridge. And while some of the album’s opening tracks are a little louder and faster than his previous songs, the album ends with some songs that are slower and softer.

Bugg’s influences are defined here – he was raised on classic rock and garage rock. It’s just as evident here as it was before, and it makes for a delightful throwback. There’s plenty of artists doing 60′s nostalgia, but with their own modern flairs. Bugg’s only real flairs are a combination of older influences, and crisper production (courtesy of the ubiquitous Rick Rubin). Otherwise, his simple and energetic music actually sounds original amidst a sea of bands trying to be more and more complex.

It’s still a little much – it’s a great listen that doesn’t take up much time, but there are still some moments that get a little repetitive. The album’s midpoint has a few tracks that are great on their own, but don’t particularly stand out on an album format. Still, that barely deters “Shangri La” from being a great and varied album. It’s an album that won’t get old fast. Pretty much everything works on “Shangri La,” and things are looking up for the young Jake Bugg.

-By Andrew McNally

Some Quick Reviews – “Other Albums”

Sometimes, I’ll listen to a new release and definitely feel ways about it, but I just can’t quite put them into words. So here’s some quick blast reviews because there’s been a number lately that have been worthy of praise but that I haven’t been able to come up with reviews of:

Swearin’ – “Surfing Strange” – B+:  It’s tough to call this album ‘punk,’ even in an era where the definition of the word differs person to person. It’s pretty, often soft and incredibly different from song to song. What it is, really, is great songwriting. The Crutchfield sisters (Allison, in this band, and Katie, the sole member of Waxahatachee) have yet to put out a remotely subpar album between them. Swearin’ is one of the best bands around today, so take note.

Haim – “Days Are Gone” – B+: As a whole, the album seems really repetitive. Every song sounds pretty similar. But when you listen to it track-by-track, you’ll realize that each song has a lot of time and effort on it, and that this trio of sisters are very talented songwriters and musicians. It almost sounds like music your parents like – and it probably is. But it’s catchy and original, give them your time.

The Naked and Famous – “In Rolling Waves” – B-:  “In Rolling Waves” isn’t a unique album, and it doesn’t try to be. It’s just a collection of largely good, dance songs. The album isn’t very memorable, but it’s easy to enjoy. “Hearts Like Ours” is one of my favorite songs of the year.

CHVRCHES – “The Bones Of What You Believe” – A-:  Much in the vain of the Naked and Famous, every song on this album is synth-driven and it all kind of sounds the same, but it’s an incredibly energetic album for something so catchy. Very great debut.

Tancred – “Tancred” – B-:  “Tancred” is a pretty great blending of emo, punk and folk influences. Everything sounds great on the album – it’s just all over a little too soon.

Best Coast – “Fade Away” – B: Being someone that’s not a big fan of the band, and given that it’s an EP, I couldn’t accurately say why I really enjoyed this release. But it’s just an entertaining listen, a good step for the band. Their songwriting has improved consistently, and they’re feeling comfortable as a weird, garage-rock/dream-pop mix.

Parquet Courts – “Tally All the Things That You Broke” – B+: This follow-up EP to their debut (which also came out this year – one of the best albums of the year) slows things down a bit and gets more detective. Even though it’s unexpected, it all works. Parquet Courts, a throwback garage band out of NYC, are a band I consider to be one of the best in American music today. This EP only bolsters that.

Chumped – “Chumped” – A-: It’s tough to stand out in pop-punk, but Chumped’s energetic and smart music make for a release much better than most of the schlock in the genre. It’s another great debut in an already pretty full year. Also, they’re great people. That always helps.

AFI – “Burials” – B-: I started writing a review for “Burials” the day it came out. It’s a few weeks later, sorry guys. What I had said so far was that AFI, for the first time in their career, sound like they have no barriers to conquer. So they’ve combined their 90’s hardcore punk with their ’00’s emo into what’s a largely entertaining album. It’s arena-rock ambitions are on an awful level similar to Muse and the Killers, but the band doesn’t always go there. When they’re just being themselves, it feels comfortable and zeitgeist-less, and it feels right. They stray away from that comfort zone too frequently, but it’s got all the gloom you expect from an AFI album, with a renewed energy.

Death Grips – “Government Plates”

(Photo Credit: Pitchfork)

Grade: B-

Key Tracks: “You might think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for it’s your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat”  “Birds”

Let me say that I was one of the many people complaining that last year’s album “The Money Store” felt too conventional. Sure, it had some of the best songs the band has recorded, and it still felt like genuine Death Grips, but there was that worry that signing to a major label had influenced the band to gravitate towards more radio-friendly hip-hop. Well, we were proven wrong later that year by “No Love Deep Web,” as the band leaked the album online just to spite EMI (and the famously explicit cover image). Well “Government Plates” is the most experimental album they’ve done yet – but it goes in the other direction. For the first time, MC Ride and Zach Hill take a back seat to Flatlander. The music is the focus on this album, and while it’s still urgent and shocking, it doesn’t exactly feel necessary.

My favorite Death Grips song is “Blood Creepin’,” the last song on their original (and perfect) mixtape “Ex-Military,” pretty much because it’s their loudest song. MC Ride’s scream-rapping over Flatlander’s alternately pretty and distorted synth is just a pure assault on the ears. There’s no assaulting on this album. MC Ride is barely present on some songs. It’s all about the experimentation, and Flatlander does a decent job staying abrasive without ever treading into EDM or anything, but the band could’ve pushed a little farther. The opener, whose title is taken from Bob Dylan’s “Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat” is so drenched in a synth rhythm that it’s impossible not to dance, with your mouth on the floor. But the next song, “Anne Bonny,” just doesn’t live up. For the first time, the album feels centered around a few songs instead of a cohesive effort. The pre-released “Birds” is certainly a stand out, subtle but the most experimental song on the album. And they end strong, with the winding “Whatever I Want (F**k Who’s Watching).” But the songs in between should be better. They’re never bad – they’re just sort of there.

The best example of how different this album is would be the song “Big House.” The song starts with a loopy, 80’s synth rhythm. Despite being under two and a half minutes, MC Ride doesn’t show up until the :52 mark. There’s a lot more music on this album, as the group further continues to question what it means to be a hip-hop band. It was inevitable that they would investigate the other side of the spectrum. MC Ride and Zach Hill being less of a presence on this album feels very intentional, because it’s just as challenging as anything they’ve done before. While it’s not challenging on the ears, it shakes the very foundations of hip-hop by having the frontman often take a backseat, and to have songs drop senses of rhythm for experimentation.

That said, I’m really not on board with the lack of Zach Hill on this album. He’s barely present. He’s easily one of the best drummers working today, and he could’ve done some very original work on this album, but there’s so little percussion.

It has yet to be announced if this is an actual Death Grips album or if this is the soundtrack they’ve allegedly been working on for Zach Hill’s film. Frankly, it could go either way. It almost feels like a soundtrack – it’s got a slight disconnect amongst the songs, with a strong beginning and end – but it’s a good listen no matter which it is. I can’t say Death Grips fans will love it on first listen, and I didn’t. But it might grow after some revisits. It’s just as different as everything they’ve done prior to now – they’re making the same statements. It isn’t quite as enjoyable, but it’s certainly not bad. They’re not songs you’ll be singing to yourself, they’re not songs that EMI would approve of, and they’re head-scratchers. And really, that what Death Grips is striving to be. The album doesn’t play out like it hopes to, and it’s more unmemorable than memorable. It’s still Death Grips, though, and by this point, I don’t think I could live without them.

Lady Gaga – “ARTPOP”

(Photo Credit: wallpaperswala)

Grade: D+

Key Tracks: “Venus” “Swine”

There’s a piece in some corner of the MoMA that’s a light, plugged in and emitting a low strobe, on top of a piece of wood and a tire. Some people might call it a true artistic endeavor. Some, including my normally artsy self, will just call it stupid and self-indulgent. That’s what Gaga’s third album intends to be – something to take in on both a superficial and an artistic level. But it’s really only enjoyable at the most superficial basis. Sure, it’s an alright listen, but to try and analyze any merit would just be a waste of time.

Gaga said she was inspired by the word “Artpop,” and felt it reflected what the project is. She also said it’s a “reverse Warhol” formula and a “celebration and poetic musical journey” with “a lack of maturity and responsibility.” I don’t exactly know what “reverse Warhol” is supposed to mean, but this isn’t it. Warhol’s work is full of immaturity. For “Empire,” he filmed the Empire State Building for eight hours, as it did nothing. “ARTPOP” is actually an embracing of everything Warhol was about – fame, loose caricatures, controversy, and a disconnect with the general audience. Except there’s no art here.

The first track, “Aura,” is one of the album’s more interesting songs. It’s about taunting the audience by promising them looks into the artist beyond the work. But it’s an EDM track, simply. Zedd and Infected Mushroom collaborated with her on it, and while they’re great at what they do, there isn’t exactly much artistic merit in it. It’s club beats. The album’s first half is full of this frustration – songs that think they’re experimental but are just club-ready doses of EDM, electronic and pop. Most of the earlier tracks are great listens. They’re booming jams, even bigger than what she’s done previously. Somewhere along the way, the music loses it’s touch. The album’s second half is almost totally forgettable. It’s not as catchy, and although it’s more the faults of the vocals, it’s completely ineffective pop. “Swine” has a spine-tingling keyboard rupture, and R. Kelly duet “Do What U Want” has some sweet R&B. But those aren’t enough to save the album’s dragging second half.

Lyrically, Gaga has fallen under whatever caused Jay-Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail” to be so irrepressibly bad. There’s a total disconnect to the audience. Gaga’s two previous albums have been so, so good because she created huge club songs while still sounding like someone you could call up to have lunch with. She was easy to relate to. Here, though, she’s not. Two straight songs are called “Donatella” (as in Versace) and “Fashion!” She’s fallen prey to Jay-Z’s ‘If I sing about luxury, people will respect me’ train of thought. Nearly every song is just basic club lyrics. The R. Kelly duet, an intended sexy song, is made creepy by the presence of R. Kelly. Only two songs explore any sort of topic – the decent “G.U.Y.” looks at male submission in sex, and “Mary Jane Holland” is a cliche and trite look at marijuana. “Venus,” the album’s best song, is the only really poetic track. Everything else is just simple rhymes.

I didn’t find anywhere to work this in but I still want to mention it – there’s one track called “Jewels N’ Drugs” that has a few notable rap guest spots. The last is from Twista, and I’m just really glad to see him still popping up in places; I don’t think I’ve seen him on a track in years. He hasn’t lost anything – he still raps at a world record speed.

So “ARTPOP” is really a total misstep. Not artsy, sometimes not even catchy, and unintentionally alienating. This is why I chose the image that I did for the review.  It feels experimental, but there’s nothing artistic about the album, it’s really just Gaga. Any experimentation has no real basis or reason. Some of the songs work, a lot are at least enjoyable, and some are just bland and useless. Diehards will eat it up, those looking for a dance record will be more than pleased, but those looking for the promised experimentation will only find a light on top of a stick and a tire.

-By Andrew McNally

Veenstra – “People & The Woods”

(Photo Credit: bandcamp)

Grade: B+

Key Tracks: “I’m Sorry, I’m Lost” “The Hollow Realm”

“People & The Woods” is the third album in a trilogy – you can find my review of the second album, “Six Months of Death,” here – and it largely feels like the ending to a progressing narrative. It does what any finale to a trilogy should do, it kicks it up a notch. The album, much like the two previous, is wickedly lo-fi. It was all written and recorded by Francois Veenstra, and it often has the tone of an ambitious solo project. The trilogy isn’t exactly a happy one, as this album deals with finding yourself suddenly alone. While maybe not as existential of a topic as before, it’s one that’s just as striking.

This album has more of a band feel to it, although it is still a solo act. There are full band instruments on more of the tracks than before. For a finale, Veenstra wanted to go for a more cohesive feel. The album has a great balance because of it, with shorter, more ambient pieces intersecting some more traditional tracks. And the heaviness of the album’s story gets transferred through the varying volumes. Each sound, be it guitars, vocals, bass, drums, all are elements of the story. They’re never working against each other, instead complementing each other and working to fill a story. He continues to show an ability to switch up an album before any certain idea gets too old, providing for a very satisfying listen. It’s interesting that the album has just as much of a dreamy feel, despite the added instruments. Even with the increase, the album feels more sparing, more distant than before, and it helps it to feel just as lonely as the character.

The only real criticism I can muster is a slight dissatisfaction with the final track, “Mirror Lake.” Veenstra’s longer songs have often been some of the bigger opuses of the albums, but the song is instrumental and softer. On a purely sonic level, I was a little disappointed in a more subdued track to end the trilogy. But even then, I understand it on a level dealing with the album’s dark themes. Having a lighter, more ambient finale is a little haunting when you take the tone into account. Otherwise, I think it’s another solid experimental, lo-fi album. It won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s very good for those that it will. It’s a great finale, full of existential dream-pop and lo-fi rock that’ll likely stick in your mind for a while.

The album is available here.

-By Andrew McNally