We’ve all been there, Hearts of Animals, but thank you for embracing it.
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Some laid back electronic stuff for your labor day, care of The Horrors’ Tom Furse.
Girl Band’s upcoming album Holding Hands with Jamie is shaping up to be a real banger. Everything I’ve heard so far sounds like early Health run through a Jesus Lizard filter. It’s out 9/25 on Rough Trade.
Give Beach House credit for one thing: They know exactly how to sound like Beach House. Depression Cherry is the fifth album from the band in about a decade, and they stay firmly in the pocket throughout its nine tracks. The formula is a simple one: Sparse drum loops, droning keys, reverby guitar leads, and one single voice over top of everything. But oh man, that voice. Victoria Legrand can belt out vocals as well as anybody. Beyond that, though, she knows how to set a mood.
It’s that abstract moodiness that lets Beach House headline festivals while still occupying the same sonic territory they started exploring as far back as 2008’s Devotion. Every guitar slide and modulated organ chord that survived the final studio cut serve to establish a sound that is as equally somber as it is triumphant. Alex Scally might be one of the most understated lead guitarists in popular music. He’s like an indie rock middle reliever: the better he does his job, the less noticeable he seems. It’s not an easy trick to pull off, and that’s one of the main reasons BH are playing Sunday main stage slots while a dozen bands emulating them are barely visible at the bottom of Coachella’s lineup poster.
Just like its predecessors Bloom and Teen Dream, Depression Cherry leans on this atmosphere as a sort of third band member. In theory, it’d be easy to paste the dream-pop label on this review and call it a day. Hell, lead single “Sparks” takes that idea and pushes it about as far into shoegaze territory as Legrand and Scally have ever ventured. But there’s a smokey blanket draped over the proceedings that lends a cinematic feel to everything. Standout tracks like “Space Song”, “10:37”, “PPP”, and “Wildflower” all sound like chamber-pop on quaaludes, despite the sparse instrumentation throughout.
Repeated listens reveal a bit of experimentation. Drummer Chris Bear (of Grizzly Bear fame) adds some extra muscle to a few of the tracks, and a church choir rings in album closer “Days of Candy”. There’s small details like those throughout the album, but ultimately these songs sound like they were designed to stand alone with as little clutter as possible. Minimalism is the name of the game on Cherry, and it works more often than not. While nothing soars to the heights of Bloom‘s “Irene” (and really, not many songs do), the valleys here are still perched far above sea level.
Given everything we’ve heard from Heaters before, “Gum Drop” comes as a bit of a surprise. The whole thing starts as a tiny, reverby snowball perched on top of a mountain. Then it starts rolling downhill, growing into a gigantic, triumphant avalanche along the way.
Some raucous guitar rock for your hump day. I’d like to reiterate TRAAMS request that you please don’t break your neck.
I know post-punk can fall into the angular category at times, but this is absolutely jagged.
Lest you haven’t heard yet, Helen is a supergroup of sorts, featuring members of Eternal Tapestry and Eat Skull backing the ethereal vocals of Liz Harris, AKA Grouper (who, incidentally, was planted firmly at the top of my year end list for 2014). “Violet” follows the previously released ““Motorcycle” and continues to emphasize the “dream” in dream pop. Is there any label more consistent than Kranky?
I still believe that the Kevin Parker-featuring “Daffodils” off of Mark Ronson’s Uptown Special (maybe you’ve heard of it?) is a fantastic song. I’ve also long maintained that Foals are still a great band, even as they get more polished in their journey away from Antidotes. So how convenient it is that the band offered up their take on the song during a recent stop at Triple J.
On the subject of live music, Thomas Watkiss will be in the studio tonight, playing live and blowing minds. Tune in at 9PM, www.wrct.org.
Ian Curtis lives! Let’s all get our brood on, shall we?