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Review: OK Human by Weezer

Weezer’s latest offering sees them trading the guitar for the viola, with surprisingly effective results.

Poor Weezer can’t seem to get a break. Head honcho Rivers Cuomo has an irrepressible desire to pump out material, and it seems like its reception is always at the mercy of the guitar music faithful.

As for me, I’ve been waiting for Weezer to really get experimentation right. Perhaps I’m in the minority, but I’ve always been willing to give them that chance. As much as I do love massive crunchy guitars and wailing solos accompanying lyrics about D&D and rejected concert invitations, one of the greatest charms of Weezer truly has been Cuomo’s penchant for writing a sweet pop melody. When he gets lazy with it, it’s often to his craft’s detriment, even with those big guitars (see “Beverly Hills”). Some of their strongest recent work has deviated from that guitar-alt formula, specifically on their stronger cuts off of 2017’s Pacific Daydream, which saw middling reception but nonetheless soared in its best moments (listen to “Sweet Mary,” “Weekend Woman,” and “QB Blitz” before you contest that point). We have to remember that Weezer has always been a pop-band, and Cuomo a pop music scholar and advocate of sorts. Even those first two albums that are constantly exalted at the expense of their later work were released when loud guitars and outsider angst were “The Thing”. Cuomo’s talent as a composer of melody could be met with a little more open-mindedness. Unfortunately, especially in their rockiest period (2005-2010), deviation from their classic sound has been handled quite clumsily by Cuomo and crew. Which is why I was just a little skeptical when OK Human dropped basically out of nowhere.

The opening track and lead single, “All My Favorite Songs,” quelled some of that skepticism. Immediately engaging and infectious, the song served as a satisfying sample of how Cuomo’s songcraft could lend itself to a 38-piece orchestra. The album was not quite a surprise; Cuomo had teased its existence long before its announcement. What was surprising was the choice to keep what was thought to be a working title (despite being a somewhat asinine album title, it’s kitschiness is nonetheless very Weezer, so to say). How was a 38-piece orchestra going to sound, though? Well, given Cuomo’s affection for orchestral experimenters like The Beatles and The Beach Boys, potentially quite solid. “All My Favorite Songs” almost immediately confirms that. “All my favorite songs are slow and sad,” Cuomo sings over a viola and cello accompaniment. “All my favorite people make me mad…I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” This is when the full ensemble takes effect, gelling impeccably well with bassist Scott Shriner and drummer Patrick Wilson’s rhythm section (probably the most consistently great thing about their recent output). The lyrics are simple…rudimentary, even…yet seem to hit on some universally relatable feelings, even if a little more detail and originality might be desired. Either way, the single shines…but then again, so did “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To.” It’s all downhill from here, right?

Enter “Aloo Gobi,” which opens with a burst of staccato cellos that may have been a palm muted distorted guitar in the hands of a coward. Cuomo builds on the feelings of confusion and isolation that the opener and many songs before it have touched on, adjusted to the thoughts of a 50 year old man. “Oh my god, what’s happening to me? Walking down Montana, WOAH-OH-OH” he sings in an impossible-to-shake Wilson-style melody. “Same old dull routine, same aloo gobi…” The aversion to mundanity, however, is short-lived, as he is waxing poetic about audiobooks on the very next track. Cuomo rattles off many literary references (and yes, a little bit of product placement) that will make those of us who loved English class smile, in a tune that will make those of us who were also theatre kids bop our heads. Watch it appear on Audible’s next ad.

Things slow down a little bit with “Numbers.” This is where the album seems to reach its apex for me (thankfully, it starts in a high place as is). In the closest thing to the title’s Radiohead reference this side of “Screens,” Cuomo laments over the reduction of humanity into numbers, be it statistics or Instagram likes. Shriner’s playing shares the spotlight with Cuomo, following the McCartney school of melodic bass, and the vocal harmonies of the four members, all very able singers, shine in a rather meticulous bridge. It’s all in service of the kind of mighty chorus that one could always hope for in a Weezer track.

“Playing My Piano” feels like a sort of sequel to 1994’s “In The Garage,” with the single 23-year-old in an alternative rock band now middle-aged, married and raising a family, only to continue to escape to his “stupid songs…” only it’s a baby grand he’s jamming on this time. Fragmented into two separate verse melodies…one that sounds like a Disney tune, the other sounding oddly close to the second movement in “Heroes And Villains”…both supported by a sweeping chorus. Bleeding into the lovely, hymn-like interlude “Mirror Image,” which almost evokes a bride marching down the wedding aisle, Cuomo finds his most poignant lyricism in the whole album in a simple, twice repeated quatrain. “Screens,” while never quite as deep as it might want to be, sees the darker side to the mundanity that has invaded our lives in quarantine, while “Bird With A Broken Wing” and “Here Comes The Rain” look to serve as songs of hope in a time when bleakness and despair has become our mundanity. Continuing a tradition that has become quite routine for mid-career Weezer, they close the album with a reference to their home city of Los Angeles, “La Brea Tar Pits,” one of the album’s bounciest numbers, and the one that veers the closest to quasi-psychedelia with its disjointed breaks and prominent splashes of electric keyboard. While there could have been more done with this reference as far as extended metaphor goes, it adapts Cuomo’s affection for his adopted home city to the album’s themes quite admirably.

Overall, after the unfocused mess that was the band’s 2019 self-titled offering, OK Human is quite welcome in that it is Weezer’s most focused and consistent album since 2016’s excellent eponymous effort (“the White album”), which saw them balancing a long awaited “return to form” with more overt nods to Cuomo’s affection for sunshine pop. But perhaps this hallowed “form” has always just been the capability to crank out an unfaltering collection of fine pop melodies, no matter the arrangement (for those longing for guitar heroics, the upcoming Van Weezer should whet your appetites, and given the recent singles you have every right to be excited for it). On that front, OK Human never misses. When it settles into its baroque pop sound, it never strays far from it, and thus, aside from this sound being different from anything they’ve done prior, surprises do not abound. However, the songs will stick in your head, in the most pleasing way they could. And when it comes to Weezer, and not to mention these confusing and sometimes overwhelmingly bleak times, well, what more could you really ask for?

Our Rating: 7.8/10 (Stand-Out)

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The 10 Club: Odessey And Oracle by The Zombies (1968)

The 10 Club is a new series where our writers look back at albums from decades past that they consider worthy of the 10 out of 10 honour. The first in the series will look at Jem’s pick for the 1960s, The Zombies’ 2nd album Odessey And Oracle.

One mantra here at Not A Sound is that there can only be one album blessed with the elusive 10/10 rating –also known as “the Generational Classic”– per decade per writer. And yet, in the opinion of this particular writer, the 1960s have four. Maybe even more. It should not be too much of a surprise, as pop music as we know it was still growing up and innovations we now take for granted were just being realized. This of course yielded several brilliant albums. Three of my picks might be deemed “obvious” by most. There is a Beatles album, Revolver, and there is a Dylan album, Blonde On Blonde. Of course there’s Pet Sounds (shout out to The Beach Boys Today! for being nearly as good but not getting half the shoutouts). These are all albums that have gotten, deservedly, plenty of lip service. Which is why I bring up the “Generational Classic” that was made by a band that wasn’t inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame until 2019, despite being eligible since 1990 (Note: other contenders for the 10/10 rating include Love’s Forever Changes and maybe one of the Velvet Underground albums, but I digress).

The Zombies’ opus Odessey & Oracle has quite a bit in common with at least two of the aforementioned albums. The London quintet had their roots in the British beat sound that The Beatles were the primary ambassadors of to the rest of the world, and their 1968 outing saw them vastly expanding their ambitions, just as Revolver did with the Lads from Liverpool. And alongside Pet Sounds, Odessey is commonly regarded as a seminal chamber pop album (I’ve seen it called an autumnal version of Pet Sounds by another writer, which I wouldn’t completely concur with but it gives you an idea). Another thing it shares with Pet Sounds, sadly, is a lack of success upon release; the album’s release was hampered by indifference from audiences in their native England, and they initially failed to find a hit Stateside as they had with “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No,” pop gems that carried their debut album in the US. Though an album bursting with potential singles, the label confusingly chose the precise opposite of single material, “The Butcher’s Tale,” as the album’s second single to cash in on the growing antiwar movement. It backfired.

Whatever the reason for the delayed success, a listener in 2021 might find its initially lukewarm reception odd (or this one does, at least). Partially recorded on the same Studer four track as one Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Odessey carries just as much psych-pop magic as that monumental record. Most tracks are digestible for those on a pop-music diet, with not a single one passing the 4 minute mark; at the same time, the arrangements are rich and imaginative, arguably on par with The Beatles more than other bands mentioned in the same breath (The Rolling Stones, The Who). Already dishing out a fresh-at-the-time combination of beat, jazz, and R&B in 1964 via “She’s Not There” et al, Odessey saw the band expanding their sonic palette with sprinkles of folk, worldbeat, and baroque, all on twelve tracks that never miss the mark in terms of pure, simple melody.

Opening with a sprightly dulcimer-like keyboard jingle, “The Care Of Cell 44” rings in the album with perhaps the most cheerful sounding song about a prison sentence ever written. The lyrics hide this little twist for most of the song’s first minute, cleverly dressing it up in tropey lyrics about reuniting lovers (see “It Won’t Be Long” and “Wait” by our four friends from Liverpool): “Good morning to you, I hope you’re feeling better baby. Thinking of me while you are far away…stayed in the room you used to stay in every Sunday. The one that is warmed by sunshine every day. And we’ll get to know each other for a second time, and you can tell me about your prison stay.” The clever drop of darkness is a sort of running thread throughout the album; although a few songs have overt darkness and melancholy bubble over (i.e. the wartime carnage in “The Butcher’s Tale”), even the warmest songs such as the nostalgic “Beechwood Park” and the jubilant “This Will Be Our Year” imply separation and gruelling trials. One looks longingly back, the other looks longingly forward. The second track “A Rose For Emily” similarly dresses up its dark themes of loneliness and mortality in summertime sun and the simplicity of a nursery rhyme, but does it in a perfectly fitting arrangement of one lone piano, with four part vocal harmony as the only thing accompanying it. Borrowing its title from a William Faulkner short story, the song is not a literal retelling of the story so much as it is a focused meditation on one of its themes, the theme of loneliness. Loneliness is prevalent throughout the twelve songs; the jealous rejected lover in “Maybe After He’s Gone” mourns “I feel so cold I’m on my own. As the night folds in around me, night surrounds me; I’m alone.” In more humourous fashion, the penultimate track, the punchy pop ditty “Friends Of Mine,” sees the narrator paying tribute to his friends who are in couples rather than any of his own lovers…perhaps because he doesn’t have any. “And when I’m with her, she talks about you, the things that you say, the things that you do…And when I feel bad, when people disappoint me, that’s when I need you two to help me believe.”

Loneliness is nonetheless contrasted with love and companionship in this number; the most jarring example of this contrast comes in the beginning of the third act of the album; one of the most celebrated of all Zombies songs, “This Will Be Our Year” is perhaps the warmest track on the album, with bright pianos bolstered by a jovial “Penny Lane” like horn section, giving it a festive feel. Indeed, with lyrics like “the warmth of your love’s like the warmth from the sun” and “I won’t forget the way you said ‘darling I love you, you gave me faith to go on,” this song is played at many weddings to this day. It is followed by the album’s most divisive, yet no less brilliant, track, “Butcher’s Tale (Western Front 1914),” a cold meditation over a lone organ (later joined by the brief ghostly whistle of an electro-theremin) on the isolation brought on by war. The song’s most gruesome verse sees the narrator mourning another kind of seperation, the death of a friend: “And I have seen a friend of mine, hang on a wire like some rag toy; and in the heat the flies come down and cover up the boy.” The sequencing decision of juxtaposing these two clashing songs may be a little jarring to some, but to me it quite potently drives home the album’s oft-underappreciated themes.

While the album remains timeless, there are certainly some zeitgeisty moments that also make it timely. The iconic “Time Of The Season” has seen a lot of action in Hollywood period pieces alongside “White Rabbit” and “Get Together,” with lyrics that bring to mind free love over a sultry bassline and jazzy keyboard solos by the virtuosic Rod Argent. The other (sadly less appreciated) zeitgeist piece is “Hung Up On A Dream,” which paints the classic picture of people with “flowers resting in their hair.” In the narrator’s recalling of a journey through a strange new world, the people “spoke with soft persuading words about a living creed of gentle love.” The creed of love that swept through the 1960s however was “just a dream.” The narrator, like many who may sit back and ponder over what had happened 55 years ago, resigns to the fleeting nature of his dream and the ideals they brought: “Sometimes I think I’ll never find such purity and peace of mind again,” all over a quasi-ethereal melody that makes the listener feel like they are flying.
Odessey & Oracle is bursting with stories and beautiful melodies that never waste one second of its 35-minute running time. To this day it remains a cult favourite to a certain club that get more excited about songs like “Brief Candles” over Hollywood A-lister “Time Of The Season,” and may well be one the earliest examples of the “critical reappraisal” phenomenon that has turned once-overlooked-or-modestly-received albums like In The Aeroplane Over The Sea or Spiderland into classics perpetually praised on online music forums. Artists as diverse The Jam’s Paul Weller, The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, and Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt have named the album an all-time favourite. Though they continue to tour mostly as a nostalgia act, playing shows at state fairs or mid-size venues, The Zombies will forever hold the honour of creating one of the absolute best albums conceived in a decade where pop-music truly grew up into an art-form. All with an album whose best remembered line is “Who’s your daddy?” Can Paul McCartney or Brian Wilson claim that?

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An Interview, Joey Testa of Yours For Mine

If you didn’t know already, the indie rock/metal-based band Yours For Mine has returned! I (William Wachter), caught up with my close friend, Joey Testa of the band to bring you all an inside look at what the band is up to these days.

Yours For Mine, originally from Woodstock, Va. you all started the band in 2005, correct? Or when did that begin and tell me how it formed?

Joey: Yes, early 2005. Most of us were living in the Edinburg/Woodstock area when things got started. Chad Altenberger, Stephen Minnick, and I all played in the high school band together (my tuba talents have yet to be incorporated into YFM).

I remember Chad saying that there was this guy from Winchester (Jon Woods) that he wanted to start playing music with. Originally, it was me, Chad, and our friend Tyler Dowdy that played with Jon, under the name Each New Day. We quickly changed the name to The Red Letter Days. Our friend Tyler exited the band and Stephen joined. That’s when we changed the name one last time to Yours For Mine. (Tyler still ended up designing most of our merch and is actually the one responsible for the art on this new project). Eventually, Benjamin Cooley joined on guitar, making YFM a five piece.

So nearly 13 years since the last original music for Yours For Mine has come out, take us through this journey a little bit.. What are some things that have changed and things have maybe stayed the same about the band and its direction?

Joey: A lot has changed! We all got married. Most of us have kids now. We honestly never intended to get back together after things fizzled out, all those years ago. The reunion show in 2017 was supposed to be the last hurrah, but that night reignited our love for the old “cabin songs” that we never got to finish. We agreed from the beginning that it would be fun to just record them well and give them away for free to the handful of folks that still care. That eventually developed into the idea that we could use this project to help raise funds for people with mental health issues who are struggling to afford therapy. Although the world around us has changed quite a bit, our calling to love our neighbors has not.

I know maybe what a lot of people don’t know about Yours For Mine is that, even as small as band as you were before reforming, that, you all would perform with bands like August Burns Red and Haste The Day, what was sharing the stage with some of your idols like so to speak?

Joey: We did get to play with some really fun artists over the years. The guys in ABR probably don’t remember us by now, but the impact they left on me was huge. We hit up the local IHOP after our show with them and just hung out. Just sharing a table with those guys was great. They were so nice and down to earth! I didn’t detect an ounce of that big headed rock n roll celebrity attitude that often takes over the bigger names out there…the shows with Haste the Day, Listener & Me Without You were also great. That said, as cool as it was to share the stage with some big hitters, most of my favorite memories are some of the smaller scale shows we did with local acts like us.

Cool, well I know that you all were originally on Blood & Ink records, which of course for those listening that might not know they were and are a fairly big independent label in the christian music scene… Now you all are coming out and doing a sophomore album self-released… Tell me what things were like being on Blood & Ink, and also tell me about the decision on putting this album out on the band’s own terms?

Joey: Blood & Ink was really kind to us. I honestly didn’t handle any of the interactions with them directly, so I can’t say much more than that, but they were super helpful in getting our name out there. I don’t think we would be against partnering with a label on this new project at all. We just understand that a label collaborating with a band that is pretty “inactive” is a stretch.

During the Yours For Mine reunion show, the band performed 3 new songs calling them “the cabin songs”, this has been a working title for you all dating back to when these songs were created… So I have to ask, will these songs be on the upcoming album, if so how much have they changed if anything from when they were originally created?

Joey: Yes! All three cabin songs from the show (“Not by Force, Not by Strength” & “Break the Teeth” & “Forgive, Act, Repay”) are part of the album. They are the only songs that were mostly completed before the band’s hiatus. Surprisingly, we barely altered any of the original lyrics, as they still fit directly into the larger story that this album will tell. There were some hefty changes made from a structural standpoint on the music, but the original message weaves perfectly into the bigger narrative that came much later.

And how many songs that were unreleased from the cabin songs days will be on the new record?

Joey: The album has 12 tracks! It is 10 “cabin songs” that are bookended by a prologue/epilogue.

So I’m curious about the album title “How Dark The Night”… it’s very interesting.. Not just the title, but, that this is also the first time fans of the band including myself are seeing this album name for the first time… So what does the title “How Dark Is The Night” mean to you all as a band, and why did you all pick the name?

Joey: Great question! So we decided to go with the name “Yours For Mine: How Dark the Night” for both the album and the book that accompanies the music. The songs and chapters are all connected and tell a story about a young boy named Habit who runs away from home. On top of already struggling with anxiety, depression, grief, and suicidal thoughts, Habit eventually finds himself enslaved in a mysterious town called “Seduction”…

The overall story is an allegory. It wrestles with what it is like to grow up in a world where you are told that God exists…that God is good…that God is love…and then you look around at all of the terrible things going on around you and within you and wonder…has God forgotten us? The specific name of this project comes from a chapter/song towards the end of the story

I do want to say of course as I’ve expressed to you Joey, the new songs “Head In The Clouds” & “We All Hide” lyrically grabs the listener by the throat and takes us through this journey of what you have gone through and they are absolutely fantastic tracks and the transparency in the lyrics is so visible which is great… But I have to ask, what would you like for the listener to take away from these tracks and the upcoming album if anything else or just in general?

Thanks Willie! I’m glad you liked the two singles. I think there are three main things I would love for people to take away from this project:

#1) You’re not alone. People with mental health issues often get pegged as the weirdos…the “crazy” people, right? But take suicide, for example. That’s just one of many things that somebody could be wrestling with. Every 2 seconds, somebody is trying to kill themselves. Every 40 seconds, somebody succeeds. It’s heartbreaking. It might even be unexpected in a lot of cases. But it isn’t crazy. Something that happens every 2 seconds on the earth is far from crazy. It’s common. If you aren’t struggling, you’re in the minority. I’d like to see a culture that is more open to conversations about mental health.

#2) It’s okay to have faith and still ask a lot of questions. Just like I would love to reverse the many stigmas that surround mental health issues, I would love to see more churches that encourage questions….churches that are intentionally trying to reverse the misconception that asking questions is indicative of an inferior faith or no faith.

Questions have the potential to create a more robust faith. I think God is big enough to handle your biggest questions towards Him.

#3) There is hope.

Very cool, so do you do vocals on the whole album or just part of it? Because you know, in the first album you were doing unclean vocals as well as drums and Jonathan would do lead vocals and drums as well.

Joey: Not one drum was harmed (by me) in the making of this album. We pulled the old switcheroo. Jon did all the drums, and I did most of the main vocals.

Stephen and our old friend Ace Cosner have some leading vocal parts throughout the album. For people invested in the story arc, you’ll notice that each of our voices are often associated with a particular “character”

I know that you had hinted at possibly doing a show after when the new album comes out in conversations we’ve had… Is that still a possibility that’s on the table? Maybe even some touring? Of course, when the pandemic is over!

Joey: We all agree that at least one more show makes sense! We are thrilled with the way this thing has turned out and would love to perform it in person. The logistics make it hard enough to say that it isn’t for sure, but I wouldn’t rule it out!

What art, people, bible verses or anything inspired you most in the writing of this album?

Joey: In a span of just 7 years…my dad died. My wife and I lost 3 kids to miscarriage. My childhood best friend died. My grandfather died. I almost saw my wife die in front of me. My grandmother died. I had a major mental breakdown and ended up in the hospital and therapy. And then my uncle died. And then my father in law died.

Without getting into all of the gruesome details, a lot of those events were pretty traumatic for me. The lyrics and the story come from a genuine place of struggle…a place of life and death…hope and despair…almost all of the words were written in between my first few therapy sessions, towards the very end of 2019.

The biggest inspiration from any biblical text was the story of the Prodigal Son that Jesus told in Luke 15.

I guess that could lead into my next question, Yours For Mine has always been a christian band and I know, you, Joey are very outspoken with your beliefs, how has your relationship with God changed since the last album? Could you maybe touch on that a little bit?

Joey: My relationship with Jesus, like most, has had its ups and downs. I think the last few years of my life have been the hardest, and with that comes change, for sure…but the most comforting thing is that it hasn’t been Jesus that has changed. He is changing me. God is the only thing that has been constant throughout the good and the bad times.

I think the biggest thing is that I’m truly learning to live through all of the things that I was taught as a kid…like, I was always taught that God is with us in the storm, but now I’m actually feeling it. It’s easy to ask where God is hiding when everything is crumbling. And it’s easy to give an answer when you’re not the one going through it…but now my knowledge of God’s love for us has moved more from cerebral to experiential.

I don’t fully understand a lot of things. My faith is still a work in progress. But I know enough to know that Jesus is the only one to fully satisfy my soul. All pain points to the cross and the cross to the empty tomb and the empty tomb to our soul’s deepest longings.

I always find this interesting with bands because what we listen to musically has a huge effect on when the music is being made and in the studio… so, what were you listening to on your own time when the album was being made?

Joey: For the first time in my life…almost nothing. I went through the longest period of time where I was solely fixed on this project. I didn’t want to listen to anything else but Yours For Mine for months on end haha It sounds weird to hear myself say that…like, I don’t wanna sound a certain kind of way, but it’s the truth.

I wanted to be fully immersed in this story, so I would listen to the music to write a chapter of the book or vice versa. I would read a rough draft of a chapter of the book to come up with lyrics.

This project has been super therapeutic for me, so on really rough days, the music/book was all that kept me going. So yeah, I would come back to YFM:HDTN on the daily.

That said, some of my biggest personal inspirations, musically, would have to include He is Legend, the Chariot, and Imogen Heap.

So I have one last question, what can we expect with the new album if you’d like to talk about it? Any trumpet work, or similarities, or maybe even big differences? And is there anything you’d like to say to fans of the band or anyone that will read the interview?

Joey: Expect a lot of different sounds and a lot of different emotions!

We hope this project helps you heal…helps you hope…and even if you don’t agree with us from a religious standpoint, we love you.

William: Well, that’s it folks. I want to thank you all for reading and if you haven’t already, check out the newest single below “We All Hide” by Yours For Mine from their upcoming second album How Dark The Night. They have also released another single called “Head In The Clouds”, be sure to check that out (on Youtube) as well if you would like. Their first album “Dear Children” is also available to stream on Spotify or Bandcamp (and Myspace if you still use that, haha).

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Top Albums Of 2020

As we all know, 2020 has been an interesting year, but even a more interesting year for music. A lot of good albums & runner-ups have been put out during this rough year… as most of us have been inside this year due to the pandemic & trying to keep our time filled, we’ve been listening! So, we at Not A Sound have decided to give you all our top 5 releases of the year with each writer’s picks! Take a look if you’d like, and have a great 2021!

Aaron Zajac:

Ugly is Beautiful – Oliver Tree
Esther – Second to Safety
This is Loss and It Will Pass – A Boy Named John
Notes on a Conditional Form – The 1975
Life on Other Planets – Moon Hooch

Jeremy Schep:

Run The Jewels – RTJ4
Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
The Strokes – The New Abnormal
Jeff Rosenstock – No Dream

Zacharia Bowman:

Pinegrove- Marigold
Run The Jewels- RTJ4
Imperial Triumphant- Alphaville
Jeff Rosenstock- No Dream
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit- Reunions

Zack Rozmus:

August Burns Red- Guardians
The Ghost Inside- Self Titled
Second To Safety- Esther
Pinegrove- Marigold
Slaughter Beach, Dog- At the Moonbase

(Zack listed “Phoebe Bridgers- Punisher” as well as “The Front Bottoms- in Sickness and in Flames” as runner-ups respectively)

Jason Panella:

Hum- Inlet
Phoebe Bridgers- Punisher
Shiner- Schadenfreude
Nothing- The Great Dismal
Taylor Swift- Evermore

William Wachter:

Fiona Apple- Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Big Sean- Detroit 2
Mac Miller- Circles (deluxe)
IDLES- Ultra Mono
Charmer- ivy

(William lists “Taylor Swift- folklore” as well as “Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats- Unlocked” both as runner-ups respectively)

That’s all folks! Thank you for checking out these lists & for being the reason we do what we do. We hope to see you all next year! Until then, we hope to bring more content to you in the new year & maybe soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Take care.
Peace & love.

Perfectionist Emblems: Dreams & Reality in Aesop Rock’s Labor Days

“Now we the American working population

Hate the fact that eight hours a day

Is wasted on chasing the dream of someone that isn’t us

And we may not hate our jobs

But we hate jobs in general

That don’t have to do with fighting our own causes.”

This wordy excerpt is not a speech by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but a refrain from loquacious Long Islander Aesop Rock, and it serves as the thesis for his third album, 2001’s Labor Days. Filled to the brim with thesaurus-mandating verses about hopes, dreams, and working class anxieties, this banner release from underground hip-hop royalty label Definitive Jux has taken on many meanings to many people over the past 19 years. To some, it was the pipeline to underground rap music, whether the entry point opened through mixtapes passed around by that hip neighbourhood kid or through hours spent playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4, which features the opening track as one of its soundtrack’s many stand out hip-hop attractions. To some, (admittedly one demographic, primarily; white middle class kids who were looking for a way into the rapidly growing genre) it served as the artsier alternative to albums like The Marshall Mathers LP, featuring wordplay that equaled Eminem’s but didn’t rely on the shock value or constant baiting of the era’s MTV regulars. In 2020 however it stands as, in this writer’s/fan’s opinion, among the greatest albums in any genre to wrestle with a theme that has constantly been a mainstay in hip-hop since its inception: work, and the struggles of working people against the people who try to keep their dreams away from them.

Class is a theme that has often manifested in many diverse ways in hip-hop music, most conspicuously coming into play via the commercially successful yet oft-misunderstood mafioso subgenre that is filled with mythological tales that take inner-city Black kids like Shawn Carter and Nasir Jones from the Marcy Homes and Queensbridge Houses to the penthouses in lower Manhattan. Eminem, to name another mainstream artist, is often credited with connecting to Middle America to rap specifically because of the underclass anxiety he touched on through his shock jock stories. Aesop Rock comes from a decidedly different world from that of Jay-Z, Nas, or Eminem. Starting out as a skater kid armed with a dictionary and a sampler, and inspired by artists from KMD to Dead Kennedys, Rock emerged at a time when alternative hip-hop artists like Mos Def and Company Flow were operating in a post-Biggie New York. His first two albums circulated through NYC’s underground and eventually gained the young Long Islander a reputation for verbosity. Buried beneath his heavy lexicon were stories laced with working class anxiety; it wasn’t until Labor Days that this artistic statement became its most pronounced, direct, and, for those who are deliberate listeners and recognize the frustrations that inspire the labyrinth of words he’s laying down, its most cathartic.

Opening with the blaring synth blasts of “Labor,” Rock starts things out with a question: “Who put the monkey wrench in well-oiled perfectionist emblem/Just to watch these monitors spit white noise through your office space”. Right off the bat, we are asking who has sabotaged the system, one that has been romanticized as the perfect life…an assertion that is nothing more than a symbol, according to the MC…into trapping the proletariat class into a life spent wasting away in front of a computer (or a toolbox) for a dream that isn’t theirs. Using pop culture references–1973’s animated sci-fi classic Fantastic Planet, where large blue aliens enslave and hegemonize earthling humans; to Spider-Man villain Green Goblin, who hides his true identity, wealthy industrialist Norman Osborne, behind a menacing flying monster who terrorizes New York City; and to the underclass anarchy of 1979’s The Warriors, Rock looks at class struggle as a spectacle that has been taken advantage of by the ruling class. He’s left to work for the rest of his life until he passes on (“I work past the surface/I work on what I love, I work to service all my burdens/And I’ll work until this here little flat line closes the curtains”).

Even if it is among his most recognized tracks courtesy of THPS4, “Labor” feels like just an intro track compared to what follows, which is the crowd favourite “Daylight.” Anchored by a calm, melancholy beat that could easily accompany an early morning commute to one’s crappy day job or a late night ride home from said job, Rock longs for control over his life and his dreams in the earnestly sung chorus: “All I ever wanted was to pick apart the day, put the pieces back together my way.” Confucian bits of grounded wisdom and metaphor fill the verses of this standout track, as poetic as “His origami dream is beautiful/But man, those wings will never leave the ground/Without a feather and a lottery ticket, now settle down” to as direct and on the nose as “Life’s not a bitch/Life is a beautiful woman, you only call her a bitch ‘cause she won’t let you get that pussy/Maybe she didn’t feel y’all shared any similar interests/or maybe you’re just an asshole who couldn’t sweet talk a princess.” Coloured with melancholy and weariness over the burdens that life brings people, “Daylight” is foremost anchored by an eternal hope and desire to take power over one’s life. It remains one of his greatest songs.

“Flashflood” takes a look at the New York dream, which he views as a manipulative game akin to Monopoly, “Thug, vagrant, yuppie, art freak game piece all included.” In the city where dreams are made of, privileged artists who were provided the easy path in life “suck the proverbial silver spoon till their parents quit apparently/Parasol spinning casually like/I’m an artist, please don’t laugh at me.” The easy path is a theme that appears throughout the album, often juxtaposed against the hard, treacherous path that working class people are forced to trudge to get where they want to be.

The “easy way” is most interestingly explored in “No rEgrets,” a short story of a song spanning 80 years. The protagonist is Lucy, a girl who lives one singular dream and focuses on little else, affording her the privilege of never living with a regret. In three verses, she goes from a shy little girl who ignores the jeers of bullies and adults and commits her time to elaborate sidewalk chalk drawings to an aging charcoal artist who is introverted, detached from those around her save the one man she romantically involves herself with (an artist himself who doesn’t distract her from her pursuit) to an old lady with not a single regret because her life was dedicated to the only thing she wanted to do since day one. “One, two, three, that’s the speed of the need.” We might as well simplify everything down to one thing if we’re going to get anywhere. Rock presents us with a binary choice: “You can dream a little dream or you can live a little dream.” Lucy’s dying words are “Look, I’ve never had a dream in my life/Because a dream is what you wanna do but still haven’t pursued/I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done/So I’ve been the dream that I’ve wanted to be since day one!” Rock doesn’t seem to be critical nor praising of Lucy. She merely takes the only road available to salvage a reality that most people living under the ruling class face. We can have as many dreams as we want, but they will always be next to impossible to achieve unless we whittle them down as much as we can, so we might as well do that, at least. “I’d rather live it, ‘cause dreamers always chase but never get it.”

“One Brick,” featuring underground Ohio rapper Illogic, and “The Tugboat Complex pt. 3” take the class struggle dynamic and apply it to hip hop at large. While Aesop Rock is not a rapper who sells millions (especially in 2001), he is still an underground influencer, a status he shares with the countless MCs who are widely influential but continue to go unrecognized (I can’t help but think of the hilarious “Angry Rapper” skit at the beginning of Notorious B.I.G.’s “Kick In The Door,” but I digress). While these artists work hard to keep the game alive, wealthy label executives are the ones who pick and choose who gets exposed to the consumers. This is prevalent throughout the many tracks leading up to the centerpiece of the album, “9-5’ers Anthem.”

The thesis-statement of a track opens with dreamy chimes and the relatable “I’m late again,” as a sleeping Aesop wakes up to reality and a hard-hitting beat of busy bass and turntable. Possibly the most excoriating critique of American capitalism ever committed to a hip-hop beat, Aesop raps about how “an aggravated breed,” the working class, are stuck in a cycle of throwing “long Hail Mary bombs/Toward cookie-cutter Mother Natures bedazzled synthetic fabrics.” They are trapped in a cycle of producing and consuming while being forbidden from benefiting off of it. In something of a contrast to the “Life’s not a bitch” lyric off of “Daylight,” Rock gives an incensed observation of life’s treatment of people who have done nothing to merit their misfortune. “Life treats the peasants like they tried to fuck his woman while he slept inside/Well they’re merely chasing perfectionist emblems.” Perhaps he understands that life is also the victim here, and the blame really falls on those who are hellbent on controlling it, and in that way becoming it. He focuses just enough indignation on the aggrandizers, and the conformity they inspire in the powerless; “I’ll take my seat atop the Brooklyn Bridge/With a Coke and a bag of chips/To watch a thousand lemings plummet just because/The first one slipped.” In a time where people have shown they are more than willing to march to the death being led by an opportunistic leader, be that Trump, Musk, or Bezos, this lyric seems all the more relevant.

Labor Days is a genre defining work that may have gone under the radar for a lot of listeners, but has nonetheless inspired so many artists with its encyclopedic rhymes and top-notch alt-rap production. More than that, it is a masterpiece of working class frustrations, concentrating on the slog that is life within the underclass, be it as an artist or an office drone. It is the story of an American music genre as much as it is a story of an American people and their struggle against a machine that too often seems more hellbent on crushing them than helping them. Rap has lifted some individuals out of poverty and allowed dreams to flourish. For Aesop Rock though, this hip-hop dream, like the American Dream, is elusive and next to impossible for most of the people working just as hard for their dreams, and in stark contrast to the limos and penthouses, it provides the world of hip-hop with a dose of sobering reality.

Our Rating: 9.2/10 (Masterpiece)

Albums That Slipped Through The Cracks: Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven by Kid Cudi

FFO: Nirvana, Minor Threat, Alice In Chains

Kid Cudi is an artist who has always changed up his formula with every project he has released. Well known and critically acclaimed for his first two “Man On The Moon” albums, he wasn’t willing to settle by any means. Even as projects moving forward would tend to flop in the eyes of critics and fans or get mixed reviews, Scott Mescudi, or “Kid Cudi”, still continued in doing what made him happy. While “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven” received negative and mixed reviews as well, over time, fans have come to appreciate how deep and different the album is compared to Kid’s other projects. Even Andre 3000 as well as other notable artists Kanye West and Erykah Badu gave the album high praise. When friend of mine mentioned to me that this is a punk rock album by Kid Cudi, as some one who loves punk rock music and its culture, I was curious to see how this record would be overall.

While this album isn’t something that hasn’t been tried before, for Kid Cudi it is something almost completely different. If you are expecting any hip hop elements in the mix here of this album, you may be disappointed. However, you may at least appreciate the title track “Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven”, which sounds like something off of the “Man On The Moon” albums but with much more instrumentation. I was very impressed with how much versatility Kid pulled off in this album, not just because it is a style change, but for how loud this album is. It’s very punk rock at times and also very grunge-sounding at times. It sounds as if Kid may have been on the brink of insanity by lyrical content, putting it into poetry and him singing/yelling over a bunch of sloppy punk rock riffs. If there’s one thing I can agree with fans on, it’s that this is arguably his most deep and confident release of his career thus far.

Through the record until about the middle part of it stopping after the track “Judgmental C**t”, we hear very Nirvana-esque riffs and music while the vocals some times don’t differ too far from his work before this record. At some points, the vocals don’t seem to play well into the mix, but it’s made up for what it lacks in the way the music sounds. “Fade 2 Red” & “AMEN” are arguably the most punk-rock sounding songs on the album, loud and filled with more drums than most of what the rest of the album has to offer. “Handle With Care” is my personal favorite song on the album though, surprisingly… It is his most soft song here in terms of sound as well, but the lyrics are very deep and yet somehow cathartic.

At this point in the album though, the sound starts to decline a little bit throughout the second half. While there are some very alluring & much more deep moments as far as lyrical quality, nothing stood out to me as much as the first half. There’s also Beavis & Butthead skits at the end of several songs in the album… While this adds a lighthearted and funny feel to soften up the album’s flow, it almost doesn’t fit. During their appearances, Beavis & Butthead both comment on how they are feeling about the album & how they are being influenced by hallucinogenics while listening to it. It is weird to hear this in the album, but also makes me appreciate the album as an art piece less in a way though too. I was surprised to hear the 3 demos in this half of the album and no fully finished tracks of the same names to back them up as well. While these 3 tracks may keep the spirit of punk rock fresh in the album, it doesn’t seem to fit well where they were placed, as they feel like some songs that should have been put on the first half of the album(or maybe not at all).

Overall, if you are big fan of punk rock and grunge music, this may be an album you are at least able to appreciate. It is infectious in terms of sound, but, somewhat lackluster in quality and when considering it artwork. I will say, though, this is arguably Kid Cudi’s most underrated album and is one for the books, it is one I may be revisiting in the future as well. In more recent times, Kid has put out a single with legendary rapper Eminem titled “The Adventures Of Moon Man & Slim Shady”. Kid Cudi & Travis Scott also put out a track in April titled “The Scotts” under their new group titled under the same name “The Scotts”, and are slated to release a much anticipated project in the future. What can we expect from Kid Cudi in the future aside from this? Who knows?! He is a man of many talents and obviously has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. I, personally, would like to see a return to the punk rock & grunge sounds on this album at some point should Kid Cudi feel the urge to release something similar to this again… either way, I’ll always be eager for what his future as an artist holds.

Our Rating: 6.0 (Solid)

Release Date: December 4, 2015

Label: Republic Records

Review: Ugly is Beautiful by Oliver Tree

Oliver Tree often asks, “Where is the division between the man and the meme?” He attempts to answer this question but fails to satisfy me with his answer. Oliver Tree is an artist who slowly burned onto the scene rather than bursting onto it.. Having released many singles and an EP before putting out his debut album and developing a methodology of turning yourself into a meme for the purpose of marketing he’s certainly worked hard to get to where he is now. However, as revealed in recent interviews with Anthony Fantano and MTV, this is also his last album.

He revealed that he is tired of working with record labels and having to become someone he’s not simply to release music and be paid for it. ” ’I’m just ready to drop all the bullshit and just get to be the real guy, make the real art,’ he said on a Zoom call with MTV News from inside a domineering plastic bubble.”¹ Right after telling Anthony Fantano that he’s tired of marketing himself, he brought out a large document that he wrote for his senior project on how to become a meme.²

There’s immense tension in his music and character. On one side you have someone who writes music about being a genuine person. On the other is a person who doesn’t seem to be his genuine self. He has explained on various occasions that the jacket is his mothers and one that he wore growing up, his haircut is similar to one he’s always had, his JNCO jeans are the ones he’s always wanted, and his scooter is one that he’s ridden as a professional. This doesn’t resolve the tension that I felt, though. He’s taken some qualities of himself and turned them into a caricature, a meme.

Despite this tension in his artist persona, his music sings to me – as someone also going through early adulthood – of his journey through self-discovery and growth. He sings of feelings of being outcast and “other” while gazing upon society and seeing people just fitting in and not living out who they really are. It’s a call to action to create and live life with vision. Instrumentally, it melds genres such as indie, alternative, rap, and pop. It calls back to music he may have grown up listening to while still sounding unique and genuine.

Ugly is Beautiful caught my attention in a way that most pop albums don’t. I went in having heard one track and was taken in with every aspect of it. It was easy to see a genuine person in the lyrics and instrumentals. It kept every track interesting without falling into the trap of trying to make everything a banger. You could feel the enjoyment of the music making process and the real experiences he sings about.

The standout track in this album for me was “Hurt”. It details feelings and experiences around becoming a semi-pro scooter rider and an accident that happened during a competition. Lyrically and instrumentally he gets at the despair that you feel when you have things like this happen, when everything you know is taken away. Throughout many of his other songs, he writes about his struggles with drugs and feeling ostracized by others. Throughout this there’s a feeling of hope and confidence as he comes to terms with who he is and what he wants to do.

He seems to be following his own call to action as he leaves music – for now at least – and looks to start his own film production company. He’s seeking to make films he’s passionate about without having to deal with the bureaucracy and money of the music industry. After watching his music videos, there is little doubt that he will succeed as a filmmaker with vision. I will be interested to find out, however, which side of the internal dissonance that he’s displayed will win out.

Our Rating: 8.2/10 (Best New Music)

Release Date: July 17, 2020

Label: Atlantic Recording Corporation

¹Patrick Hoskin, The End of Oliver Tree as We Know Him, 17 July 2020, http://www.mtv.com/news/3166867/oliver-tree-ugly-is-beautiful-interview/

² Anthony Fantano, Oliver Tree INTERVIEW, 16 July 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPpsNTAhpUE&t=47s

Madaila Bends Genres on New EP “West”

Madaila returns with a fresh take on their sound, deviating from synth-pop roots and opting instead for a more subtle folk approach.

Madaila has been a favorite of mine for several years now. “What If” won my heart, and tracks like “Give Me All Your Love”, “I Know”, and “I Don’t Want to Rest” really sealed things for me. Last year’s Clandestine Magic was a long-awaited return to form for the band after a bit of a hiatus (during which frontman Mark Daly released an ambitious solo LP).

Now, Madaila is back. Sort of. West is the first of four Madaila EPs slated for this year, and it’s quite a bit different that the 80s-styled pop they’ve been known for. Instead, there’s a lot more folk influence at play. The songs are more raw, rural, and perhaps even grittier.

None of this is left field for Daly who previously fronted the short-lived Chamberlin, a dynamic folk act with a sadly-shallow discography. However, the new Madaila is hardly just a Chamberlin reissue. It feels like a rejuvenation of the group’s classic sound, ditching some of the funner, dancier elements for a more humble, mature tone. Daly’s piercing falsetto is still at play, but in many ways, this feels like an entirely new band. Perhaps each EP will explore a different musical style – nonetheless, West is decidedly soulful and vulnerable, treading the careful line between bombastic indie and tender alt-country. Previous releases had apparent charisma, begging to be heard. This time around, the gloss is gone as Madaila doesn’t need to ask for attention. Like an old friend, the group beckons in listeners who will immediately feel comfortable and at home.

All this said, while it may not immediately feel like a Madaila release, it’s certainly good. “One Thing Can’t Be Everything” opens the release, with Migrant-era The Dear Hunter vibes and bright tones.”Sweet Revival” is booming and emotional. “Young Again” feels the closest to the Madaila back catalog. “Love In Ohio” is painfully lamentful. “You Won’t Be Alone” is a warm closer to the collection.

Lyrically, there are traces of things we’ve seen from Madaila before, albeit recontextualized. Love is a key theme, but it’s explored in a more poetic manner. Elsewhere, lines like “I’m not doing so well” feel undeniably easy to relate to. Daly isn’t claiming to have all the answers or the strength to weather any storm that may come to pass, and it’s this uncertainty and vulnerability that feels juxtaposed against songs like “I Know”. And while the latter is strong in its own right, there’s something about this new method of delivery that seems so powerful.

West is far from what you’d expect from Madaila, but it seems like a thoughtful and honest release through and through. Mark Daly hasn’t forgotten his roots in folk and it’s fresh to see both instrumental and lyrical elements of that style flourish here. I’m certainly excited to see what’s next.

Our Rating: 8.0 (Best New Music)

Review: This Isn’t Funny (LP1) by Metadiscorse

FFO: beach rock, lofi, bedroom pop, progressive rock

I’ve been called an old soul for preferring albums over singles and EPs; indeed, it is far more common to see bands releasing shorter (and more regular) works to appeal to dwindling attention spans and the saturation of dopamine that is omnipresent. That’s not to say singles or EPs are lazy, but they’re certainly more convenient from a commercial standpoint. Albums largely seem to be on their way out.

Enter Metadiscorse who have crafted a two-disk long player behemoth of a debut. The first part, This Isn’t Funny, is officially out today (along with some bonus live tracks), and the band has not cut any corners here. Six of the eleven tracks are over four minutes long, with several tracks approaching the six-minute mark. Even the conscious decision to go beyond nine or ten tracks seems significant. And while LP2 is still forthcoming, if we assume it’ll be comparable in length, this ends up being quite a hefty project.

Sonically, the band describes themselves as lofi and bedroom pop – neither of these is inaccurate, but I’d also add in terms like beach rock, grunge, and vintage psych. It’s full of moments both viscerally joyful and passionately vulnerable as frontman Hunter LoBianco croons over a variety of compositions that transport listeners from quiet docksides to restful country hamlets.

It’s hard not to draw comparisons to fellow Wisconsinite band Horace Greene, with their own unique flavor of retrospective rock. Metadiscorse has enough unique DNA in the form of more unique song structures, wide stylistic influences, and overall dynamics. However, vocal style and guitar tone are probably the biggest shared element between the two bands, and it’s hard to mentally separate the two.

“American Troglodyte” arguably serves as the flagship track on this LP and serves as a prime example of what LoBianco and friends are capable of. It’s the longest track, but none of that time is wasted. A waltz-like piano base and auxiliary percussion open the track, but the end is a whirling crescendo of full-band instrumentation. While the album has several instrumental (or at least nearly-instrumental) tracks, this build easily stands out among its compatriots.

One downside to the album format that many critics are justified about is the ability to be cohesive; personally I’m drawn to concept albums which play off motifs, lyrical themes, and elements of self-reference. Can you write a good album without these? Yes. But there’s a tendency for some albums to feel like a collection of singles more than anything else. And when a band like Metadiscorse sets out to release an album of such proportions, it’s hard for things to not feel consistent at times. The narrative inevitably suffers a bit. And genuinely, even some of the most ambitious (and greatest) albums begin to drag a bit as they surpass an hour runtime.

There are plenty of solid moments on This Isn’t Funny, but cutting a track or two could help it feel more solid as a whole. “Self Esteem” is a grungy interlude track that feels out of place on the album to begin with, but its slot as the second-to-last track seems to disrupt what would have been the one-two punch of “American Troglodyte” and “Out to Get Me”. “Problematic” and “Mid-Air Collision” are both stripped back type tracks, but even they feel too lofi for an album marketed as such. Juxtaposed against “Open Letter to Ms. Caroline”, these songs feel perhaps a bit under-developed.

But apart from these songs, there’s not too much to complain about. Sure, production could be a bit more pristine but there wasn’t a $20,000 budget here. The band has been fairly resourceful and the end result still sounds pretty crisp. The variety of explored genres is exciting, especially the mathy “Tokyo Drift (Conventionally Unattractive”. The variety may feel like a bit of a musical identity crisis at times, but there’s huge potential for the band to market specific songs to different audiences and leverage themed playlists here.

Metadiscorse is fearlessly-ambitious on this release, and they’re not afraid of the short-term commercial impact. This Isn’t Funny is ultimately a chill album that feels cozy in the quiet of your home but would nonetheless have allure live as well. It may not feel completely well-rounded, but barring a few earlier complaints, it’s definitely a strong debut album that is certain to help you slow down and appreciate beauty in the simple things in life.

Check it out here or on most digital streaming outlets.

Our Rating: 7.4 (Stand Out)

Exploring Sandy Soundscapes on Tarantula Tapes’ “Easy”

Glowbug’s Daniel Anderson is never content to stay in one place, this time emerging with an amalgamation of country, hip-hop, and lofi.

While Judah & the Lion are arguably the most mainstream example of hip-hop stylings mashed into unlikely contexts, they’ve arguably got nothing on the uncanny cocktail that is Tarantula Tapes’ debut album.

Tarantula Tapes is the latest moniker of Daniel Anderson, and Anderson himself characterizes the project as “not Glowbug” but also “not not Glowbug”. This is a fitting summary – Easy shimmers with a lofi glow and a base of vintage sounding synths, acoustic guitar, and a certain western ambiance. At times, it feels like a reimagined take on the classic chillwave sound of Glowbug, albeit one where Anderson’s vocals are substituted with intricate guitar melodies and the arrangements feel more spacious.

Admittedly, instrumental music is difficult for me to process. Even the most inane lyrics provide some degree of conversation for listeners to respond to. But without lyrics, listeners are given freedom to inject their ideas into both sides of the musical conversation.

It’s also difficult to know how to best approach instrumental works. Can they be appreciated well in the background as concentration or relaxation methods? Or should they be carefully examined with full attention? Is it a disservice to simply do one or the other?

As such, it seems unfair to try to place any sort of rating on Easy. It’s a bit like eating Indian food for the first time – it is foreign to me to some degree, and it may not go down the easiest. But that’s simply my own palate which has not been primed for this sort of release. To enjoy Tarantula Tapes properly is to not overthink things.

That’s not to say Easy isn’t carefully-crafted, lush, or compelling. But I need to temporarily suspend my notions of “meaning” and simply let these compositions cascade freely. Anderson isn’t commenting on dead-end jobs, vibrant memories of driving along the coast, or the nature of luck itself. Instead, he charts beauty is a more subjective manner – one that conjures western vistas, simple living, and an undeniable sense of wonder. Maybe the nature of quarantine holds the album back as it presents us with a sense of freedom that for many seems may never see the light of day.

Stylistically, Easy is in a league of its own. It borrows equally from Orville Peck’s cosmic country foundation and augments it with traces of classic hip-hop; hints of folk, chillwave, and Love as a Dark Hallway-era Flashbulb-esque guitar parts are all present. It’s undeniably modern, but is lovingly retrospective all the same.

Even though Tarantula Tapes is a change of pace compared to the more dynamic elements of Glowbug, the project certainly has its own unique strengths and shows Anderson’s “Renaissance man” aptitude for songwriting.

Check out Easy here: https://tarantulatapes.bandcamp.com/album/easy