In Sickness & In Flames, the Front Bottoms

It’s T’Newsday! Wherein I listen to an album less than six months old.

In Sickness & In Flames, the Front Bottoms, August 21 2020, :52
 

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Folk-punk, or rather folk-emo band. Sounds like nothing so much as an acoustic Say Anything. And a little like Defiance, Ohio. I like the angry strumming and shouted choruses and the earnest heart-on-their-sleeve vocals. The lyrics are rather trite but they fit the material, somehow. Not profound, but strongly felt, let's say; not everything needs to be poetic. If I have a cavil about this album it's that it seems overloaded. At a generous 52 minutes over 12 songs, many of them 4 or 5 minutes, and every song an epic, with several ending with these ten- or fifteen-second long muttered spoken word codas… and it just gets to be a bit much.  As I say, though, that's a minor grouse.  Favorite tracks: "Fairbanks, Alaska," "Love At First Sight," "Camouflage."

Flower of Devotion, Dehd

It’s T’Newsday! Wherein I listen to an album less than six months old. 

Flower of Devotion, Dehd, July 17 2020, :38

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I don't even know how to begin to characterize this.  A power trio.  Low-fi, DYI garage-surf-pop?  The male and female shared vocals, there are shades of Imperial Teen, catchy hooks just peeking out of the fuzz.  Both vocalists use their voices as instruments, growling, yelping, screaming, pleading, whispering.  The drumming is sparse and moody.  Lots of tricks in their bag; each song has its own discrete tone and structure. The songs are taut and emotional, the lyrics simplistic and raw, heart-on-the-sleeve.  "I am a flood for you."  "Do you want to disappear with me?"  "I feel myself falling apart."  "Here's to this hoping / Taking a wing / I want to show you / You are my dream."  "You only want me when you're sad / And I got no time for it."  Favorite tracks: "No Time," "Flood," "Apart."

See Here, I Have Built You a Mansion, Josh Ritter

It’s T’Newsday! Wherein I listen to an album less than six months old.

See Here, I Have Built You a Mansion, Josh Ritter, August 28 2020, :30

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I love me some Josh Ritter!  This eight-song rare and unreleased collection shows that even the stuff he leaves on the floor is gold.  "Time Is Wasting" is a jaunty Ritter-esque romp that brings to mind "Getting Ready To Get Down," one of his best works.  Catchy tunes and literate, exuberant lyrics mark nearly all the songs on this disc.  It includes a version of "Lawrence, KS" recorded live in Lawrence, Kansas, which is a cute gimmick, and a cover of Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms," a poetic song about war, but which is so somnolent it puts coffee to sleep.  Oh well, six out of eight ain't bad, and if my math is correct, that's exactly the same ratio as four out of five stars.  Favorite tracks: "Time Is Wasting," "Haunt," 'Waiting On You."

SUGAREGG, Bully

It’s T’Newsday! Wherein I listen to an album less than six months old.

SUGAREGG, Bully, August 21 2020, :38

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Never heard of this band, but I saw a few positive reviews and wanted to give it a try.  It's a grunge-punk therapy session.  Singer Alicia Bognanno shouts, growls, and croons personal lyrics about her bipolar disorder over surging riffs and waves of melodic noise.  The loud-quiet, sweet-shrill delivery reminds me of the Kelley Deal 6000 or Sleater-Kinney.  That harsh to honeyed sound is definitely a retro one but it's effective, with a modern approach to soul-baring millennial angst lyrics: "And I feel pressure to get away / Everyone just settles in this space / And there's so much more that I could do / Than fucking around staring down at my dirty shoes."  It took me a few listens to dig the melodies out from the roar of pain and loud guitar, but I warmed up to it.  Favorite tracks: "Stuck In Your Head," "What I Wanted."

The Mother Stone, Caleb Landry Jones

It’s T’Newsday! Wherein I listen to an album less than six months old.

The Mother Stone, Caleb Landry Jones, May 1 2020, 1:05

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I know this fellow as an actor, in War on Everyone and as Banshee in one of the X-films. He sings and plays drums, keyboard, and guitar on this album. It's period psychedelic rock. It's not original at all, but if you love late Beatles material, with all the string arrangements and weird voices and such, or heck, even if you love the Rutles, you’ll probably like this. Shades of T-Rex, Pink Floyd, Bowie, and Kramer too. It’s earnest, if a bit long (15 tracks, two over seven minutes and two over six minutes) and not cohesive as an album. Uncharitably, it's self-indulgent; charitably, it proudly follows a muse. I'm going to go with charitable.  Favorite tracks: "Licking the Days," the wild epic "Thanks For Staying."