Indie Recap - March 2020
Artists Covered: Circa Waves * Little Dragon * Sorry * U.S. Girls * Waxahatchee
"Sad Happy"
Circa Waves
Circa Waves
13th March 2020
Prolifica
After their abysmal attempt at a more straightforward, pop direction, the band seem to have taken the step back towards their sophomore record Different Creatures, to mixed results.
From the off, the sound of this record has obviously pivoted back to the harder rock edge found on their earlier work, as well as the more detailed instrumentation found on their generic but energetic debut. It's arguably a step in the right direction, but thematically it still feels very much stuck in the quarter life crisis state of mind that dominated What's It Like Over There. It's unfortunate that a band who've had a knack for writing reasonably political songs have resorted to outing their opinions on Twitter and their relationship troubles and existential crises on their songs, but I have to admit the writing is at least more on the ball this time around.
You'd think perhaps that the two distinctly divided parts of this album would benefit from cutting the filler to make a shorter, more streamlined record, but honestly the majority of what I enjoy is on the first side. It's this front half that captures my attention with generally faster tempos and more passionate songwriting that doesn't trip up on the stacks of cliches this band have adopted as lyrics, whereas on the second half the general feeling is a slog of midtempo, melodramatic pop rock that sounds far too much like a continuation of their last album. Incidentally, this begins with the last track on the first half of the album, the wailing "Love You More" with its oversold chorus, awkward lyrics that try to call up some socio-political commentary by throwing the term "bourgeoisie" into the pot just for the sake of it, all the whilst relying on a claustrophobic mix of acoustic guitars and a far too simple drumbeat that are built up in volume but not complexity.
The lack of development and progression within songs carries over to the album as a whole, and the result is a very stale helping of all too similar renditions of the exact same themes and lyrics over and over again. Of course, the illusion of change is there given the album's split between the Sad part and the Happy part (in the opposite order just to be confusing of course), but neither half is particularly distinguished and even the good songs really run dry when surrounded by all too much similarity and the blatant influence of better bands persisting throughout the record, from Phoenix on "Wake Up Call" to Native era One Republic on "Battered & Bruised", a song that would work if not for the insufferable, inexcusable and most frustratingly UNNECESSARY whistle.
At the end of the day, it's not the worst the band have done, but you could go to so many better bands for the same thing done better. Please, just listen to Phoenix instead, a band with a far more varied (and yet more committed) career, or APRE, a young band who actually deserve some more attention.
At the end of the day, it's not the worst the band have done, but you could go to so many better bands for the same thing done better. Please, just listen to Phoenix instead, a band with a far more varied (and yet more committed) career, or APRE, a young band who actually deserve some more attention.
Volume 1: Happy score: 6.5/10
Volume 2: Sad score: 4/10
Volume 2: Sad score: 4/10
5/10
Best Tracks: Be Your Drug; Move to San Francisco; Call Your Name
Worst Tracks: Love You More; Sympathy; Hope There's a Heaven
Worst Tracks: Love You More; Sympathy; Hope There's a Heaven
"New Me, Same Us"
Little Dragon
Little Dragon
27th March 2020
Ninja Tune
Just as the band have picked up some steam again, it seems as though they've been forgotten by everyone else. Not their best work of course, but a good entry into the funkier side of their career, I'd say this album is worth your time.
As with most Little Dragon albums, there isn't much to say in the lyrical department and it's really the vibe of this thing that matters. What stands out to me on this album is the return to sonic experimentation. It's been a while since this band were doing anything other than coasting on the retro house beats and smooth synthesisers that they mastered early on in their career, but since their abandonment of the post-dubstep sound that made their hit "Wildfire" and the album Ritual Union so exciting, they've lost a lot of the edge that made in any way unique. The band shortly fell of the map entirely, and so soon after they'd left their mark on it.
Whilst most critics and certainly the public seem to have become entirely estranged from a band who helped define some of the early 2010s indietronica scene before synthpop took a hold, I've been slowly waiting for the moment that they return to their former greatness. Flickers of improvement and change were foreshadowed on 2017's Lover Chanting EP, a short and fun demonstration of their most derivative house incorporating a few elements of the more interesting synthwork that's at the forefront of New Me, Same Us, an apt title that reflects more than just the lyrical themes of the record. Whilst all of the fundamentals of a Little Dragon song remain present, it's the direction that the band takes in exploring new horizons (at least for the band, this is far from a genre-defying experience and I don't want to mislead you) which gives the album its worth.
At the end of the day, this might not be the most fresh or the most impactful venture into synthfunk but you're probably going to have fun here, and for me the chimes, congas and bass are at their best making this a gloriously groovy record. There are moments of redundancy as always, but it's a good feeling when a band makes an album that can rival their earlier peaks once again. Most of all, it's a very pretty record, and that's quite rare these days outside of ambient music.
7.5/10
Best Tracks: Hold On; Rush; Every Rain; New Fiction; Are You Feeling Sad?; Water
Worst Tracks: Where You Belong
Worst Tracks: Where You Belong
"925"
Sorry
27th March 2020
Domino
A wonderfully disjointed and layered album, for me this is the height of current indie rock and a bright window into the future of the genre.
There was a moment that Sorry evolved into the band they've become today, and most critics seem to state this transition came about around the time of their phenomenal single "Starstruck" in late 2018, referred to as the first track of theirs to boast a proper chorus. Indeed, this was the song that hooked me onto this band, and whilst it's certainly one of their catchiest and most irresistible tracks, I'd argue the more significant came around the time of the track's vinyl b-side, "Jealous Guy". Released as the next single in early 2019, it was the start of a new phase in the band's career that saw their lyrics take on a new shape by adding layers of perspective and commentary that can be perplexing to unravel as the point of view on many of their songs can change in a split second from either Asha or Louis, the creative and vocal duo delivering these songs, to the perspective of someone they were previously observing.
It isn't just lyrically that the band's approach to writing is a bit off the wall either, as throughout the record there are moments of purely ingenious instrumental flourishes and ear candy that comes as a result of the band's "computer music" as they've referred to it, their more experimental and electronic tracks hugely influencing their more conventional and rock based sound. Consequently, the album that they've given us is not only performed and written well but instrumentally intriguing and above and beyond many of their peers. It's these perplexing moments that have kept me coming back to songs like "Wished" and "Drag King" in the past, but though their exclusion from the album originally seemed unfortunate to me, the array of equally fantastic new songs with their own new experiments has me more than satisfied.
I love the unexpected, and funnily enough Sorry delivered upon my expectation for my expectations to be subverted (urk that sentence) with the song "As The Sun Sets", an absolute masterpiece that caught me off guard by how straightforward it is. Of course, the intoxicating bombast and heaviness of "In Unison" and the casual, bass-heavy breakdown on "Wolf" might be definite and excellent standouts, but it's the wistful beauty of "As The Sun Sets" and captivating atmosphere that draws me to that song above maybe all others. The lyrics borrow quite blatantly from Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World", but the masters of lyrical subversion re-emerge to throw it all on its head into what has to be one of the most depressing songs of the year.
Of course, I could go on talking about each and every song on this fantastic album, but I'll save the song highlights for the end of the year (oo what could that mean). In the meantime, go and give this band some love.
9/10
Best Tracks: Right Round The Clock; In Unison; Starstruck; As The Sun Sets; Wolf; Rock 'n' Roll Star; Heather; Ode To Boy; Lies (Refix)
Worst Tracks: Perfect
"Heavy Light"
U.S. Girls
6th March 2020
4AD
A wonderfully disjointed and layered album, for me this is the height of current indie rock and a bright window into the future of the genre.
There was a moment that Sorry evolved into the band they've become today, and most critics seem to state this transition came about around the time of their phenomenal single "Starstruck" in late 2018, referred to as the first track of theirs to boast a proper chorus. Indeed, this was the song that hooked me onto this band, and whilst it's certainly one of their catchiest and most irresistible tracks, I'd argue the more significant came around the time of the track's vinyl b-side, "Jealous Guy". Released as the next single in early 2019, it was the start of a new phase in the band's career that saw their lyrics take on a new shape by adding layers of perspective and commentary that can be perplexing to unravel as the point of view on many of their songs can change in a split second from either Asha or Louis, the creative and vocal duo delivering these songs, to the perspective of someone they were previously observing.
It isn't just lyrically that the band's approach to writing is a bit off the wall either, as throughout the record there are moments of purely ingenious instrumental flourishes and ear candy that comes as a result of the band's "computer music" as they've referred to it, their more experimental and electronic tracks hugely influencing their more conventional and rock based sound. Consequently, the album that they've given us is not only performed and written well but instrumentally intriguing and above and beyond many of their peers. It's these perplexing moments that have kept me coming back to songs like "Wished" and "Drag King" in the past, but though their exclusion from the album originally seemed unfortunate to me, the array of equally fantastic new songs with their own new experiments has me more than satisfied.
I love the unexpected, and funnily enough Sorry delivered upon my expectation for my expectations to be subverted (urk that sentence) with the song "As The Sun Sets", an absolute masterpiece that caught me off guard by how straightforward it is. Of course, the intoxicating bombast and heaviness of "In Unison" and the casual, bass-heavy breakdown on "Wolf" might be definite and excellent standouts, but it's the wistful beauty of "As The Sun Sets" and captivating atmosphere that draws me to that song above maybe all others. The lyrics borrow quite blatantly from Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World", but the masters of lyrical subversion re-emerge to throw it all on its head into what has to be one of the most depressing songs of the year.
Of course, I could go on talking about each and every song on this fantastic album, but I'll save the song highlights for the end of the year (oo what could that mean). In the meantime, go and give this band some love.
9/10
Best Tracks: Right Round The Clock; In Unison; Starstruck; As The Sun Sets; Wolf; Rock 'n' Roll Star; Heather; Ode To Boy; Lies (Refix)
Worst Tracks: Perfect
"Heavy Light"
U.S. Girls
6th March 2020
4AD
U.S. Girls, the acclaimed indie project from Meghan Remy, first gained more widespread recognition after signing to 4AD, a move that drove her music to more accessible and accomplished highs. Have those heights been retained on this, her seventh studio album?
The first thing you notice when pressing play is the somewhat indulgent length of the album's brazen opening track, the funky "4 American Dollars", a successful endeavor into a groovier direction that lands pretty well but lacks the outstanding addition of a saxophone that helps to elevate the second track "Overtime" into the rollicking and gratifyingly soulful highlight it is. Both cutting out the coasting of the previous track and including an extra element in the mix results in easily the most accomplished of the album's uptempo tracks, something there could have done with being more of to balance out the rest of the record's slow and stately but somewhat tedious balladry.
Of course, the writing throughout is excellent, an indication of the extensive experience Meghan has after spending so much time within the industry. What's a shame is the redundancy of the many interludes that take up far too much space on an album that's only 13 tracks long. Personally, these half-baked ideas and periods of talking take me out of the experience of the album and the flow is definitely disrupted; it may work on "State House (It's A Man's World)" as an engaging buildup and empowering delivery of the album's underlying feminist themes, but the other interludes seem to serve no purpose other than to fill space that didn't need filling and, many of the songs being as short as they are anyway, interrupt the interesting but fragmented excerpts of passion and traditional folk influenced songwriting chants that take over in spectacular fashion on a song like "Born to Lose".
At the end of the day, I probably respect this album I whole lot more than I enjoy it. Of course, most of the actual songs are rather enjoyable with their strong, thudding drumbeats and the danceable funk influence that compliments the loose feeling that most of these songs possess. It's not a long album, but the interruptive interludes really should've been removed and ignoring the thundering but repetitive "Red Ford Radio" at the end seems a smart move to make.
6/10
Best Tracks: Overtime; Born to Lose; And Yet It Moves / Y Se Mueve; Denise, Don't Wait
Worst Tracks: Woodstock '99; Red Ford Radio
"Saint Cloud"
Waxahatchee
27th March 2020
Merge Records
I'm going against the critical consensus on this one in an aim to tear apart what I view to be a painfully mediocre and overrated album.
First things first, the music that backs Katie Crutchfield's focal lyrics and vocals is absolutely nothing special. The band might hope to pull from some of The Velvet Underground's strange charm, but it comes across as a primitive effort into country tinged indie folk that does absolutely nothing ambitious instrumentally or even that great even just in terms of performance. Trying to pick out anything special about the guitar melodies and percussion is like looking for a nonexistent needle in a haystack, but I will admit that it's pleasant enough to listen to when it's engaging enough.
Now, for the matter of the lyrics. Of course, the story behind this album is a rather powerful one as Katie writes about her experiences getting sober and the pain around several relationships at the time. Good fuel for good lyrics I must say, but transmitting that is most often done in very plain and all too familiar ways, the metaphors often coming across as rather basic and a lot less clever than they think they are. Perhaps there's something clever in the chorus of "Lilacs", the painful honesty pouring out as she describes her bones as "delicate sugar" and her need to "fill herself up like [she] used to do", but it's somewhat undermined by the unfulfilling abstract approach of the lyrics on "Oxbow" which supposedly represent the start of her decision to be sober, despite conveying an absence of any real meaning when you realise the pretty phrases hide a song that lacks the emotion and grounded openness of the album's few great highlights.
The thing is, the album's weaknesses completely undo a lot of the more abstract lyricisms as everything feels too loose and too lazy; it's not so much that she can't write as it is she can't present her songs in the best way to make her writing stand out. Successful attempts at conveying the emotion she paints through the vagueness of the lyrics comes are the minority, as much due to the band's seeming lack of enthusiasm as her own. Noone is giving it their all, the general vibe is too laidback and generic to take as seriously as many critics seem to be. For me, praising this album as "wise" and "detailed" as many critics have is an oversight on the clear lack of depth, both instrumentally and in terms of the writing. The indie country genre is stocked full of pretty albums akin to this, and Waxahatchee desperately need to do more in order to stick out, as their whole current sound seems reliant on calling back to the classic sounds of a legend like Bob Dylan. Waxahatchee don't come close to the heights they want to achieve and I'm left empty and wanting a whole lot more from this album.
4.5/10
Best Tracks: Fire; Lilacs; War
Worst Tracks: Oxbow; The Eye; Witches
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Thank you very much for reading, I hope you've enjoyed this latest recap of mine.
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The first thing you notice when pressing play is the somewhat indulgent length of the album's brazen opening track, the funky "4 American Dollars", a successful endeavor into a groovier direction that lands pretty well but lacks the outstanding addition of a saxophone that helps to elevate the second track "Overtime" into the rollicking and gratifyingly soulful highlight it is. Both cutting out the coasting of the previous track and including an extra element in the mix results in easily the most accomplished of the album's uptempo tracks, something there could have done with being more of to balance out the rest of the record's slow and stately but somewhat tedious balladry.
Of course, the writing throughout is excellent, an indication of the extensive experience Meghan has after spending so much time within the industry. What's a shame is the redundancy of the many interludes that take up far too much space on an album that's only 13 tracks long. Personally, these half-baked ideas and periods of talking take me out of the experience of the album and the flow is definitely disrupted; it may work on "State House (It's A Man's World)" as an engaging buildup and empowering delivery of the album's underlying feminist themes, but the other interludes seem to serve no purpose other than to fill space that didn't need filling and, many of the songs being as short as they are anyway, interrupt the interesting but fragmented excerpts of passion and traditional folk influenced songwriting chants that take over in spectacular fashion on a song like "Born to Lose".
At the end of the day, I probably respect this album I whole lot more than I enjoy it. Of course, most of the actual songs are rather enjoyable with their strong, thudding drumbeats and the danceable funk influence that compliments the loose feeling that most of these songs possess. It's not a long album, but the interruptive interludes really should've been removed and ignoring the thundering but repetitive "Red Ford Radio" at the end seems a smart move to make.
6/10
Best Tracks: Overtime; Born to Lose; And Yet It Moves / Y Se Mueve; Denise, Don't Wait
Worst Tracks: Woodstock '99; Red Ford Radio
"Saint Cloud"
Waxahatchee
27th March 2020
Merge Records
I'm going against the critical consensus on this one in an aim to tear apart what I view to be a painfully mediocre and overrated album.
First things first, the music that backs Katie Crutchfield's focal lyrics and vocals is absolutely nothing special. The band might hope to pull from some of The Velvet Underground's strange charm, but it comes across as a primitive effort into country tinged indie folk that does absolutely nothing ambitious instrumentally or even that great even just in terms of performance. Trying to pick out anything special about the guitar melodies and percussion is like looking for a nonexistent needle in a haystack, but I will admit that it's pleasant enough to listen to when it's engaging enough.
Now, for the matter of the lyrics. Of course, the story behind this album is a rather powerful one as Katie writes about her experiences getting sober and the pain around several relationships at the time. Good fuel for good lyrics I must say, but transmitting that is most often done in very plain and all too familiar ways, the metaphors often coming across as rather basic and a lot less clever than they think they are. Perhaps there's something clever in the chorus of "Lilacs", the painful honesty pouring out as she describes her bones as "delicate sugar" and her need to "fill herself up like [she] used to do", but it's somewhat undermined by the unfulfilling abstract approach of the lyrics on "Oxbow" which supposedly represent the start of her decision to be sober, despite conveying an absence of any real meaning when you realise the pretty phrases hide a song that lacks the emotion and grounded openness of the album's few great highlights.
The thing is, the album's weaknesses completely undo a lot of the more abstract lyricisms as everything feels too loose and too lazy; it's not so much that she can't write as it is she can't present her songs in the best way to make her writing stand out. Successful attempts at conveying the emotion she paints through the vagueness of the lyrics comes are the minority, as much due to the band's seeming lack of enthusiasm as her own. Noone is giving it their all, the general vibe is too laidback and generic to take as seriously as many critics seem to be. For me, praising this album as "wise" and "detailed" as many critics have is an oversight on the clear lack of depth, both instrumentally and in terms of the writing. The indie country genre is stocked full of pretty albums akin to this, and Waxahatchee desperately need to do more in order to stick out, as their whole current sound seems reliant on calling back to the classic sounds of a legend like Bob Dylan. Waxahatchee don't come close to the heights they want to achieve and I'm left empty and wanting a whole lot more from this album.
4.5/10
Best Tracks: Fire; Lilacs; War
Worst Tracks: Oxbow; The Eye; Witches
---
Thank you very much for reading, I hope you've enjoyed this latest recap of mine.
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