Tag Archives for A-

You Blew It! – “You Blue It”

Grade: A-

Key Track: “Surf Wax America”

The never-ending and ultimately inane debate about Weezer’s place in 90’s emo has been revived again, with Weezer’s influence on hybrid emo/pop-punk seen heavily in the past few years. So it only makes sense for a band like You Blew It! to do a series of Weezer covers. The band, right on the heels of their excellent sophomore album “Keep Doing What You’re Doing,” embody Weezer’s amped-up style of lovable-but-lonely fuzz-rock. The five songs they cover, all from Weezer’s legendary debut, are less covers and more progressions, showing how much Weezer really has influenced today’s emo.

The purpose of this EP wasn’t notoriety, the band stayed away from the Blue Album’s most recognizable songs – “Buddy Holly,” “Say It Ain’t So,” and “Undone” – in favor for some deeper cuts. “My Name is Jonas” and “Surf Wax America” are still recognized songs, but less so, and “In the Garage,” “Only In Dreams” and B-side “Susanne” are still somehow deep cuts. You Blew It! keep the songs mostly intact, preserving their integrity instead of flashing them up in any way.
“In the Garage” kicks the EP off, and it actually lacks the energy that the original boasts, as the band takes a more lackluster approach – either a reflection of emo’s slow draining of energy, or just a build up into the more accurate cover of “My Name is Jonas.” They keep the song almost as it is originally, as they probably should, adding only some reverb at the end.

“Only In Dreams” gets drastically shortened and moved to the midpoint, although it still serves as the longest song (as did the original version). “Surf Wax America” is probably the EP’s best song, with the band changing up the opening riff into a more emo-friendly rhythm before launching into a cover with just as much energy and guitar as the original. “Susanne,” meanwhile, is presented as a low-key acoustic track with a more lo-fi sound.

You Blew It!’s adherence to Weezer’s original, largely simple songs is reflective of a band honoring their influences instead of trying to overcome them. Weezer’s Blue Album has stood against time – we’re all still listening to it like it’s our first time. The Blue Album, whether Weezer was trying to or not, laid a template for pop-punk today, and You Blew It! is just the band to watch their throne. “You Blue It” is more about reflecting the progress of emo than it is about either band, showing how it’s evolved in form, and how it hasn’t really actually evolved at all. These are five reliable homages, as one band in their prime honors another from theirs.

-By Andrew McNally

My Fictions – “Stranger Songs”

Grade: A-

Key Tracks: “Mt. Misery” “Postcard”

Boston group My Fictions know how to do hardcore right. Their new album, “Stranger Songs,” is fast, slick and uses volume to punish the listener’s emotions, not just their eardrums. At 10 songs and 28 minutes, it’s the work of a band that sounds frustrated and confused by the world around them, and they take out their feelings as quick as they can, with no unnecessary embellishments. “Stranger Songs” is loud and assaulting, with a dark and uncertain tone to boot.

The album’s opening track, “Mt. Misery,” starts with a bit of a cop-out intro, before jumping suddenly into a menacing, hardcore blast. Its follow-up, “Postcard,” the shortest track on the album, is an all-out assault on the listener. It is, as many of the songs are, centered on the frantic and explosive drumming that drives the beat further and further into submission. “Parking Lot” and “Stranger” also play around with false or building openings, and the energy behind the kit never lets up throughout the album.

But the album isn’t just about volume, it’s about using it properly. The album has an almost tantric feel to it, quickly softening and building back up, sometimes hitting a huge climax, sometimes not. “Airport Song” drops off completely at the end, leaving just faint bass notes and distant vocals. “Lower (A Selfish Song)” slows down towards the end for a punishing mid-tempo climax that’s as abrasive as they can get. My Fictions don’t come out of the gate and pound the listener into the ground with speed and volume – they welcome the quieter moments and tempo changes that enhance the hardcore sound.

“Stranger Songs” is not a summer album. I’d been receiving e-mails from (the excellent) Topshelf Records about the album’s release for months prior, but it’s a little difficult to get into it when I have the air conditioner running. It’s a dark and dense album, with the lyrics’ emotions coming out through the strained vocals. The band have an aura of unbridled frustration, no more apparent than on the aptly-named “Wake Anxious.” The guitars are dissonant and thundering, the drums heavy and the vocals distant and screamed. They sound disturbed by something, just in general, and use this album as their release. The album’s midpoint, “Concern,” is centered around a soundclip of someone asking a poet, “How can you write poetry if you’re not bothered by something?,” a line that comes up again in the final song. Taking a thunderous approach to your music only works if we believe there’s the frustration and anger behind it, and it’s on display here. They’re bothered. And it comes on full force. So prepare yourselves.

On an unrelated side note, I will be attending grad school in the fall. That does put this blog’s name in jeopardy, for sure. But I will be going to Emerson which is, by sheer coincidence, partially pictured in the cover of this album. I would like to promise this didn’t influence this review but no guarantees.

If you like this, try: I’m not up on my hardcore, I’m usually floored by a hardcore band’s stability throughout an album. So I’d like to suggest fellow Boston band Defeater’s recent “Letters Home” album, a continuation of their insane multi-album concept.

White Lung – “Deep Fantasy”

Grade: A

Key Tracks: “Drown With the Monster” “I Believe You”

In a world where punk is an ever-increasing and subjective term, we’re seeing more and more bands stretch the limits of the genre – the Waxahatachees and Andrew Jackson Jihads take a more acoustic-driven approach, and the Menzingers and the Modern Baseballs opt for deft poetry instead of angst. So it’s almost surprising to hear a band like White Lung, a well-oiled machine of anger and energy. They have a ferocity normally reserved for hardcore, and indeed, their music tends to hover towards hardcore and thrash metal, but it stays distinctly punk. Their excellent third album, 10 songs and 22 minutes, is a sweaty and kinetic burst that never once lets up.

White Lung aren’t changing anything on “Deep Fantasy.” This album isn’t an increase in power – they’ve always been as intense as they are here. But it’s still impressive. All ten songs on “Deep Fantasy” are at a non-stop, ferocious volume, as if they don’t know anything except that. White Lung have the ability to make a song that’s 2:26 feel long. The music is no frills – no drum fills, no theatrics, no breakdowns, no intros, no outros. Just volume. And yet, it doesn’t quite align with punk or metal. If they were to rely more on chords – which I’m glad they don’t – they’d veer into thrash metal. But the verses are usually marked by guitarist Kenneth William’s shearing, high-pitched rhythms, adding a shrieking element that isn’t metal at all.

Mish Way’s vocals dominate the album. She inverts some typical vocal structures by letting her voice fly high over the verses and taking a backseat, sometimes in a deeper pitch, during the choruses. Her voice is more stable on this time around, actually sounding intentionally conventional at most times. It creates a weird disparity – there’s clear, common vocals centered around a mass of volatile, unstable music. Her voice, at least on this record, actually resembles that of Debbie Harry’s, and the result is the album that Blondie always sounded like they wanted to experiment with, but never did.

To refer to a band, especially a punk band, as “female-fronted” in 2014 is ineffectual and stupidly ignorant, but for “Deep Fantasy,” it’s important to point out the album’s feminism. With blinding punk like this, you’d expect angry lyrics, whether personal, political, etc. And sometimes that’s the case – the repeated line “the water looks good on you” on “Drown With the Monster” speaks volumes. But some of the songs are poignant and rational. The album’s most intense track, the 1:42 blast “I Believe You,” is in response to sexual assault. Elsewhere, Way sings about other issues that society has laid on women – eating disorders, sexual fantasies and body image. To present rational and balanced lyrics in an otherwise aggressive setting brings home the importance of what Way presents – forcefully saying we need to address these issues in a safe manner.

White Lung only does one thing, and they do it extremely well. At 22 minutes, the album is a chugging engine that never gets repetitive or tired. It just keeps going, until you’re starting to break a sweat, and ending before the actual pain comes. Years ago, White Lung turned their instruments all the way up, and they haven’t adjusted them since. “Deep Fantasy” is an aural assault, and one of the best punk albums of the year. The band is a driving force in punk, and “Deep Fantasy” establishes them as a deafening group to watch out for.

If you like this try: an obvious comparison is equally feminist group Perfect Pussy, but they include effective moments of silence and feedback as major song points, that White Lung instead totally eschews. So, a better comparison might be noise-punk group So Stressed’s album “Attracted to Open Mouths.”

-By Andrew McNally

Lana Del Ray – “Ultraviolence”

ultraviolenceGrade: A-

Key Tracks: “Cruel World” “West Coast”

“Ultraviolence” is a slow album. It’s easy to overlook the album as a long, long wick attached to a room full of fireworks, burning slowly and ending before the big bang. But to look at “Ultraviolence” like that is to ignore the music’s subtleties, and the complexity of the album’s subject matter. “Ultraviolence” is a dark record, one that examines a woman who tries to ride her way to the top, but never excels past being “The Other Woman” (as evidenced by the final track). Given Del Ray’s recent, questionable comments on feminism, the album isn’t a critique on women in society today as much as it is a semi-personal narrative. It helps to strengthen the cinematic quality of the album. And it doesn’t hurt that Del Ray’s vocals are stronger this time around, rationing out a few strong performances across the album.

The album’s opener, “Cruel World,” is also the longest, at 6:39. It’s a building and intricate song, one that sets the tone by really taking it’s time to get to an engaging climax. It’s a slightly captivating song, and an unexpected one to open an album, even for Del Ray. What follows is a number of polarizing songs – sometimes engaging, other times putting up a strong barrier. Nearly all of them are a medium tempo, which should be a distraction or even a boredom, but when almost every song has it’s own identity, it doesn’t even matter. The only real exception is the excellent “West Coast,” full of tempo changes and a low-key funk that isn’t present anywhere else on the record.

Del Ray’s lyrics focus on struggling to find your identity and struggling to find success, accepting defeat in both. They’re typically dark – with titles like “Old Money,” “Pretty When You Cry,” and, of course, “Fucked My Way to the Top.” They call back memories to the pratfalls of luxury in the 20′s-50′s, even with modern references and a decidedly more provocative and profane tone. And her vocals are stronger; she’s allowed herself to open up and expand her range. “Shades of Cool” finds her in a high pitch, alternating between beautiful and off-setting. “Money Power Glory” is another track where her voice flourishes in big, grand ways. She’s often cooled down, but the rare times when she wants to take control – she does. These rare moments highlight the album’s otherwise restrained times, both benefits.

The album is bolstered by fine production, as well, courtesy mainly of Dan Auerbach (singer for the Black Keys and producer of everyone). The production is borderline cavernous, adding a faint echo and an ungraspable dark feeling throughout. It’s slickly produced – but not to the point where it’s actually pop.

“Anti-pop” isn’t a phrase, outside of a long forgotten Primus album, but it’s almost something that could describe Del Ray. With meandering tempos, cinematic music, dated lyrics and often 5+ minute lengths, her songs aren’t designed for radio. Yet they’re distinctly pop, a type of dream-pop. It’s melodic, and catchy, but in a low-key way. It isn’t possible to dance to this (as we now know, thanks to SNL). Like Nico long before her, and Lorde shortly after, Del Ray’s pop music is one of depth and density, not one of rapidity and popularity. You probably have a strong opinion of Del Ray, good or bad, and “Ultraviolence” isn’t going to change that. But it’s a strong pop release, ripe for analysis, and an improvement over her still notable debut. Like her or not, Del Ray’s strongest quality has been her ability to establish a persona in no time. And “Ultraviolence” really runs with it.

-By Andrew McNally

The Front Bottoms – “Rose”

 

Grade: A-

Key Tracks: “12 Feet Deep” “Jim Bogart”

Leave it to a band like the Front Bottoms to put a reviewer in a tough spot on whether to call these songs “new” or not. Because these songs are freshly recorded. But they certainly aren’t new. The first five tracks that make up “Rose” – “Flying Model Rockets,” “Lipstick Covered Magnet,” “12 Feet Deep,” “Jim Bogart,” and “Be Nice to Me” – are re-recordings of older songs, with “Awkward Conversations” the only freshly recorded one. The Front Bottoms released three albums before their perfect 2011 ‘debut’ self-titled, “Brothers Can’t Be Friends,” “I Hate My Friends” and “My Grandma vs. Pneumonia,” respectively. But all three are only available in the deepest corners of the internet, so buried that even some of their more adamant friends aren’t even aware of them. They’ve played these songs live, though, and they’ve become staples, so they’re getting a proper release in the first of a set of EP’s named after the duo’s grandmothers.

The song with the most remarkable difference is “12 Feet Deep,” always one of my personal favorite Front Bottoms songs. “Because you are water twelve feet deep / and I am boots made of concrete” proved in c. 2010 to be an emotionally impacting line, reflecting a relationship that isn’t healthy but still committed. But in 2014, a more steady drumline and more inspired vocals transform it into a more optimistic and hopeful relationship, without altering any of the words. All throughout the EP, there’s lyrics about school and parents, which still sound fresh in Brian Sella’s non-aging voice. The poetry of early Front Bottoms is more natural; less forced than some of the corny couplets on last year’s “Talon of the Hawk.”

Musically, the band has it more together now than they did then. That’s another added bonus of re-recording – the only real fault of their early albums is some messy music, when they were still learning what they were doing. It’s more refined on “Rose,” though still a little off the rails, of course. “Jim Bogart” ditches the inside-a-box production, and adds trumpet and and a slick little keyboard rhythm to build up to the drum entrance. In one way, the songs feel stripped down on this EP – more confined and controlled, sometimes fewer instruments, and with a better production. But in another way, they feel even more expanded and in your face than they did before – the benefit of a band that’s since settled into a signature sound.

It was a smart idea for the band to release these older songs, revamped. Relative fame, a constant touring schedule (and a namedrop alongside the National and Daft Punk in this NYT article) have had the unfortunate drawback of their youthful, innocently downtrodden lyrics sounding less believable. A decidedly terrible full-length didn’t help that, either. So although the band is reaching a wider and wider audience, their music is sounding less personable and less impacting. These six songs show how youthful and energetic the Front Bottoms really are, and by re-recording them, they’ve proven that they haven’t really changed at all. It’s sad, it’s fun, it’s poetic and easy to relate to, so it’s all you’ve come to expect from them. The only criticism? It doesn’t include “The Cops.” And that’s really a personal criticism. Maybe on a future EP.

-By Andrew McNally

Parquet Courts – “Sunbathing Animal”

Grade: A-

Key Tracks: “She’s Rolling” “Sunbathing Animal”

The men of Parquet Courts are growing older, but just in the sense that we all are. “Sunbathing Animal,” the second accessible full-length and third release from the band in barely a year and a half, shows hints at maturity. It’s a reluctant maturity, one of attempts at denial but eventual acceptance. The band, as they did on last year’s “Tally All the Things You Broke” EP, open up to more influences and more ideas. The always-terrific “Light Up Gold” mixed garage-rock and country influences, but was filled with a boundless youthful energy that is roped in and controlled here.

Parquet Courts seem to know that they can’t just keep playing hybrid country-punk forever. “Stoned and Starving” is one of the best songs in years, but at 5:12, it’s the only song on “Light Up Gold” that’s over 3:30. Of the 13 songs on “Sunbathing Animal,” five break that threshold, with two more only seconds away. The band is, in one way, slowing things down and introducing some more developed songwriting. “Bodies Made Of” starts the album on a deceiving, medium tempo. “Dear Ramona” follows a narrative and shows more mature songwriting. “She’s Rolling” goes past six minutes, and “Instant Disassembly” past seven, with the latter being a pseudo-ballad and the former ending in crazy, layered harmonicas.

But in another way, they’re not slowing things down at all. They’re still a punk band, and “Ducking & Dodging” shows its love for 8ths and 16ths. Its “vocals over a drum and soft guitar line” is one of the most garage-y rhythms in years. The title track provides a volume and energy blast after the slow-burning “She’s Rolling.” And there’s musical interludes, just as on “Light Up Gold.” “Vienna II” and “Up All Night” provide brief break-ups throughout the album. “Sunbathing Animal” is more drawn-out, and more expansive, but it packs as many punches as their previous works.

“Sunbathing Animal” pairs nicely with “Light Up Gold,” as a band exploring the width of their own sound. “Sunbathing Animal” is no better or worse than “Light Up Gold,” and it doesn’t immediately demand any comparisons. It’s a lot more structured, and the band is more in control of their energy. It’s still very youthful and tongue-in-cheek, still fun but serious. “Sunbathing Animal” is a distinctly different album for the band, but it’s still definitively Parquet Courts. And that should be enough of a reason alone to pick the album up.

If you like this, try: together PANGEA’s “Badillac,” a less exciting (but still agreeable) example of a garage-punk band expanding.

-By Andrew McNally

Marc Maron – “Thinky Pain”

 

Grade: A-

Key Bits: “Bill Hicks Was a Poet” “Israel”

It’s very possible that nothing has ever sounded more ‘Maron’ than the beginning of his 2013 special “Thinky Pain,” now available on audio. He starts by wrapping up a podcast with Tom Scharpling and walking out on stage to tell a story about crazy Bill Hicks was, and then himself admitting he didn’t prepare anything for the night. Maron didn’t prepare any set or anything for the special – and it comes off in the most Maron way possible – 50% confidence, 50% apathy. He starts the Bill Hicks story with an oral history of the venue, killing time before figuring out where to start (like an “Odyssey” bard recounting a name). What follows is exactly what you’d expect from Maron – self-pity, unwarranted anger, and the thin line between insensitivity and offensiveness.

Most of “Thinky Pain” is personal stories. Maron recounts how missing a pop-out in baseball changed his life, and how he overcame hypochondria, and his trip to Israel with his Jewish wife, among many others. Since this special was unscripted, it reassures us that Maron really is the always-slightly-upset man behind the comedy. He even says at the beginning that he might end up not telling jokes but working through some things. Even though he does end up working through things, it’s riotously funny throughout.

Maron is usually at his funniest when he’s talking about himself, self-deprecating or not. He covers his Jewish upbringing and now-aversion to religion in “Born a Jew” and “I’m Not an Atheist” and how that translated a religious vacation with his wife in “Israel.” He talks about how the religious vacation was basically just looking at rubble of buildings that were and were not Jewish. He discusses his druggy past and how he doesn’t trust people who can’t let drugs take them over for a few years on “Drug Wisdom,” and he acts out what his first time trying out autoerotic asphyxiation would probably be like on “Autoerotic Asphyxiation.” Maron switches from angry to self-involved to reluctant on a dime, and occasionally comes off as a ranting man who just happens to be funny.

The only real fault of the special is that, since it’s all off-hand and unprepared, Maron’s stories get a little tired towards the end. He ends with bits on roosters, a vacation to Kauai and having a ‘porn brain’ that are funny, but not as funny as the stuff at the special’s midpoint. “Thinky Pain” ends up coming off as a little top- and middle-heavy, going on maybe a little longer than it needs to. But then again, he has a lot of stuff to work out.

With his now very successful WTF podcast, and an IFC show in it’s second season, Maron picked a very good time to drop a new special. “Thinky Pain” helps Maron milk this opportunity without overworking it. And it establishes Maron as someone who is unfazed and unchanged by a surge in popularity. In fact, in five to ten years, we can probably look forward to a special about all of the pratfalls of success. The special’s title even comes from understanding the mental turmoil he’ll go through after missing that routine fly ball when he was a kid. Maron hasn’t changed a bit, and “Thinky Pain” is just as angry, whiny and honest as Maron’s ever been.

If you like this, try: It seems like such a softball pitch to compare a comedian to Louis CK, but Maron’s comedy has aligned with CK’s for years, even if the two have a rocky past together (or at least as documented on Louie). Maron is every bit as self-deprecating, angry, perverse and in control as CK.

-By Andrew McNally

Owen Pallett – “In Conflict”

(Photo Credit: alpentine.com)

Grade: A-

Key Tracks: “I Am Not Afraid” “The Riverbed”

Although quick enough to be mistaken for an interlude, my favorite song off of Owen Pallett’s 2010 album “Heartland” is “Flare Gun.” The song, reflective of the album as a whole, sounds ripped out of a carnival. It’s got nearly a full orchestra behind it, and an almost sickeningly catchy rhythm. The song, and the album, is pop music, for sure. But it’s a puzzle. Pallett’s music has always been layered and difficult to grasp, and it’s what makes him the talented force he is today. “In Conflict” represents a drastic departure from “Heartland,” looking a whole new direction, with equally great results.

Pallett is, occasionally, described as “baroque pop.” It’s fair to say this isn’t really a popular genre of music today, and indeed, a Wikipedia search of the genre lists a number of very famous, very long-gone bands (Beach Boys, Moody Blues, and, confoundingly, the Beatles). But Pallett’s use of a wide number of instruments sets him aside from other alt-pop acts of today. On “Heartland,” he used those instruments to create a whole universe that he didn’t let the listener into. It’s a fun album, on the surface, and one whose storied lyrics gift many re-listens. But on “In Conflict,” his fourth solo album, he lets the listener come inside the puzzle and see the man inside. And he manages to do this without sacrificing any of the ambition.

The immediate thing to notice on “In Conflict” is a notable turn towards darkness; this album is gloomy, rarely offering anything promising. While “Heartland” sounded like a cryptic carnival, “In Conflict” resembles the longest night of the year – sure, things will get better, and there’s good things happening, but it isn’t enough. The album’s first song, “I Am Not Afraid,” mixes calming piano over industrial beats, starting off a bit unsettling. There’s fewer instruments, but they’re just as effective. Pallett goes for strings and synth rhythms to convey some convoluted moods. “On a Path” and “The Passions,” for example, use string sections to hit melodic, ballad highs. “Song For Five & Six” and “The Sky Behind the Flag,” meanwhile, benefit from their use of synth rhythms and space-y moods to add a bit of uncertainty to the mix.

The lyrics on “In Conflict” really help to open the album up to the man behind the music. Early on the album, he sings about growing up without a heart. Later, on “The Passions,” he invites the listener into the bedroom with him, solely as a viewer. “In Conflict,” on it’s most immediate level, shows Pallett as a human that never existed on “Heartland.” It’s dark, sure, but what’s to be expected of a man who can pull off baroque pop in 2014?

It’s also worth noting that, to go along with the album’s theme of pulling away the curtain and revealing the wizard, Pallett offers more vocally. He really shines on “On a Path,” but his voice is more present throughout than it was before. Whether he’s delivering some sort of devastating lyrics, or merely singing pitches – he’s more apparent on this album, more upfront and more available. His vocals add a personal force throughout; stronger and more frequent.

“In Conflict” isn’t the album for people looking for something fun. Its title sums it up pretty well – there’s a lot of conflicting emotions going on here. Ballads are interspersed with forceful tracks. It’s all personal, and ambitious, but humanly so. If “Heartland” was a puzzle the listener could never crack, “In Conflict” is one where Pallett has himself given up and left it to the listener to complete. It’s moodier and more contemplative, with effective music to go alongside. On “In Conflict,” Pallett fully proves himself as an ambitious alt-pop force who can’t be reckoned with, even if he wants to be.

If you like this, try: I’ve never shied away from a chance to promote Dirty Projectors’ last full-length, “Swing Lo Magellan.” It’s in a similar vain or something, just listen to both.

-By Andrew McNally

Dunas – “Boas-Vindas”

Boas-VindasGrade: A-

Key Track: “Em Algum Lugar Dentro de Nos”

Dunas, a name that translates to “those sand dunes” from Portuguese, is a Brazilian-based band featuring the ambitiously experimental Francois Veenstra. The band, normally a Portuguese-singing, straightforward band, ventured way out during a contemplative period and instead recorded an improvised, instrumental, ambient EP. “Boas-Vindas” is four tracks and roughly thirty-three minutes of an improvised story.

The album’s opener, “Em Algum Lugar Dentro de Nos,” is an extremely peaceful work. It’s very ambient, and centered around an echo-y guitar and various nature sounds. The song, especially it’s first half, gives an aura of satisfaction and sounds like enjoying a nice spring day falling in tune with nature. Much of it sounds like it’s recorded from within a cave, with it’s swooping, almost wind-like rhythms.

Since it’s improvised, it’s tough to know if Dunas had planned for this EP to have a real storyline, but it seems to have a narrative of descent. If “Em Algum Lugar Dentro de Nos” is peaceful and feels like laying on the forest floor, watching the sky, “Por Favor, Por Favor” feels like becoming too engulfed. The song’s airy and faux-futuristic rhythms might seem like falling asleep comfortably on the forest floor, but is more akin to letting yourself get overtaken by the nature around you. It’s also a relatively peaceful song, and the lightest on the EP, but it slowly seeps into one that isn’t, through the sound of things getting disconnected at the end.

“Boas-Vindas” feels like a descent into a gritty underworld. Its immediately abrasive, back-and-forth dissonant piano rhythms are a stark difference from the first two tracks. The song feels like a bad dream; or seeing the ugly side of nature. If it starts in a cave, it ends deeper down, in darkness. The song’s title roughly translates to “hearty welcome,” and that’s what it resembles – an unwelcoming welcome. Other synth rhythms pile onto the early ones, and play until the noise settles into something less intense but no less loud – as you get more accustomed to it. The short outro, “Motion Picture Soundtrack,” follows in the previous song’s volume and drone-like tone.

The EP all flows together, as if it were one long song. This helps to enhance whatever sort of increasingly dark narrative hides behind the ambient music. The EP slowly goes from peaceful to forceful, and does both very well, especially when you factor in the improvisation. “Em Algum Lugar Dentro de Nos” is engagingly warm, and it makes the slow descent into noise all the more powerful. It is best appreciated with headphones on, to take in the full ambient effect. “Boas-Vindas” is a strong and weighty ambient release, so let it wash over you.

The band has produced a set of videos to accompany the EP’s lengthy tracks. You can watch the video for “Em Algum Lugar Dentro de Nos”

-By Andrew McNally

Porch Cat – “Split” (w/JFKFC)

(Photo Credit: bandcamp)

Grade: A-

Key Track: “Be Okay”

Porch Cat, recording name of Chan Benicki, flows some current folk-punk icon influence into a unique, americana-based folk sound. On the new release, a split with JFKFC, Benicki and a rounded line-up of backing musicians make a beautiful blend of folk with hints of both elegance and existentialism. It has the charactericstics of folk – it’s all acoustic, a full sound, but one with a running and sometimes indescribable punk influence.

On the album’s first song, “Ballad for Winter,” Bernicki sings “Addicted to a substance / Delusion and distress / Addicted to the way / The heart beats in my chest.” The lyrics throughout the four songs are poetic and often vaguely distressful, dealing with physical and mental health, sleep, and making it through tough times. “Be Okay” ends with the repeated and reluctantly enthusiastic chant of “we’ll be okay,” before transitioning into “Living Art” and singing about trying not to sleep forever. “Belly Full of Fire” almost sounds like an Irish drinking song, with a drinking song vocal rhythm and a chorus about a whiskey-fueled belly of fire. It’s just as forcefully optimistic as “Be Okay,” a kind of optimism that doesn’t sound certain. The EP’s lyrics are hesitantly personal. They reflect what much of folk-punk has become – the sound of someone picking up a guitar and singing about what they know.

What doesn’t reflect that, though, is the music of the EP. Where folk-punk bands that emulate this nonchalant sound often have music that’s nothing more than a guitar attack, Benicki and the backing musicians add rhythms and a larger range of instruments. Besides vocals and guitar, Benicki is credited with accordion and – unexpected surprise – singing saw. Benicki is joined by Alex Fairweather on guitar, bass, drums, tambourine, mandolin, and vocals, Jordan Hamilton on banjo, bass and mouth harp, and Naomi Gibson on fiddle and vocals (along with some others on secret vocals, secret meows, and ‘tea making’). With a wide variety of instruments, they’re able to create more developed songs and a deeper sound than most folk groups. “Belly Full of Fire” gets further reinforcement as an Irish drinking song with use of a mandolin and fiddle. The band sounds the most full at the end of “Be Okay,” with group vocals, drums and a bunch of acoustic strumming. Porch Cat is a more musically folk group, a little refreshing to hear today.

So although it’s easy to compare Porch Cat to a more traditional folk-punk band, they really have a stronger indie-folk sound, masquerading as folk-punk. They have a more complete and balanced sound, one with rhythmic and vocal harmonies and a wider range of instruments. And Bernicki’s vocals are strong throughout, some sweet-sounding singer-songwriter vocals marked with the more defeated lyrics. The four songs here are a complete and successful package, emotional yet pleasant, with a full and unassuming folk background.

The four tracks are available for streaming and download as part of a split with JFKFC, a more directly folk-punk band that’s also quite worthy of your time. It can be found here.

-By Andrew McNally