Tag: American rock

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Albums

Best albums of 2024: #3 Gift “Illuminator”

Looking back at my list so far, there’s a few bands making their first appearance on any of my end of year, best albums lists and a few of these still that are brand new to me, just hearing about them and listening to them for the first time this year. Gift is an example of this latter group.

They are a Brooklyn-based quintet that was hand-picked and pieced together by TJ Freda back in 2020, just before the onslaught of the worldwide pandemic. Much like for a number of other people, COVID threw a monkey wrench into Freda’s plans and the group was forced into a hiatus just as they were getting off the ground.

Gift still managed to record a debut album, “Momentary presence”, which was released to raves and acclaim back in 2022. However, much like I did with Wunderhorse, I completely missed out on this debut, but given how much I delight in last year’s “Illuminator”, it’s definitely going to be one that I go back to explore. Purportedly it is much more in line with and more faithful to their psych rock influences, evoking flashbacks to Spacemen 3 and Jason Pierce’s second band, Spiritualized, both bands that I love. And in truth, I do hear smacks of these on “Illuminator” and even some Dandy Warhols and The Liminanas, these are likely the result of Gift’s more collaborative approach here and wilful willingness to allow some pop leanings to creep into their sound.

“Illuminator” is the group’s first release on legendary indie label, Captured Tracks, the folks behind a number of excellent dream pop band releases over the last decade, as well as the vinyl reissue Luna’s first five albums in a box set. And well, it’s an album that definitely fits within Captured Tracks’ ethos as I understand it. There’s plenty of haze and dry ice oozing from these songs but there’s also lots of fun energy, a near perfect album for a Friday night*. The eleven tracks are all gigantic and audacious and should fill a lot of dance floors… if the kids are still doing such a thing, that is…

It was near impossible to select favourites but given that this is the tradition with these posts, I endeavoured and present the following three picks for you.

“Going in circles”: “You taught me to forget, when I watched my sky cave in.” This was the first track Freja wrote for the album, purportedly coming up with it while noodling around with his guitar. Inspired to get up immediately and put the sound to tape. Listening to these 3 minutes and 36 seconds of pure bliss, you can see and hear and feel where he must’ve been that night. “Going in circles” informed the direction of all 11 tracks – spacey and dance and not a little bit inspired by 90s UK rave culture. The drums crash and the synths bounce off the walls and the rumbling bass line simply begs for more smoke machine. It’s a song for dancing to like nobody’s watching, even if everyone is.

“Glow“: Track nine is another rager. Smacking slightly of a post-reunion Ride track that I can’t quite put my finger on right now, but this isn’t a comparison that anyone should be ashamed of. The track name perfectly encapsulates the mood. An explosion of ecstasy, writhing bodies shuttled down from space, strobes and lasers, sweat and pheromones. The drum beat has no intention of quitting and the guitars and bass shuttle along, climbing up and down your spine. The synths wash through, building force to Freda’s gauzy delivery. The party ramps up and just begs for more dancing.

“Wish me away”: “Will they remember me just in time to bury me?” The opening number has words like this that feel like a downer, the inability to hold on to happiness or anything, and just general inconstancy, but the mood of the music, just like everywhere else, is pure joy. The guitars and drums feel like they’re in a race to the finish line, each jumping ahead of their other at different points. The synths flit about like a laser pointer drawing one hundred cats in its wake. These five young musicians/magicians are adept at accelerating neurons to the point where you’re forgetting all your problems and joining them on the dance floor, like psychedelic pied pipers draining the anxiety away.

*The timing of this post is impeccable. You’re welcome.

Onwards, we march. We’ll be at album #2 in a few days hence. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Quivers “Oyster cuts”
9. The Jesus And Mary Chain “Glasgow eyes”
8. The Last Dinner Party “Prelude to ecstasy”
7. Vampire Weekend “Only god was above us”
6. Real Estate “Daniel”
5. Wild Pink “Dulling the horns”
4. Wunderhorse “Midas”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

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Albums

Best albums of 2024: #5 Wild Pink “Dulling the horns”

Wild Pink was formed in New York City in 2015 by John Ross, Dan Keegan, and TC Brownell. They have released five full-length albums and just as many EPs during their decade in existence. They’ve changed labels a few times, cycled through a few members, but what has remained consistent has been the strong song and lyric writing by frontman Ross.

I came across the group one year into the pandemic with their third record, 2021’s “A billion little lights”. And though up to now I haven’t felt compelled to backtrack through their earlier work, explore any of the shorter releases, or do any research as to who it was I was listening to, I’ve been all over their full-length LPs, enjoying the sound and pricking up my ears whenever they popped up in playlists randomly over the speakers. My interest in them has intensified over the past year, however, the more I’ve listened to this, their fifth record, “Dulling the horns”. It’s quite possible that it has been the compounding of three successive excellent records that has guided my increased appetite for their sound but I think it is more than that.

So I’ll just say it: “Dulling the horns” is a great record. And though I’ve only heard three of their five full-lengths, I still feel confident in declaring this their best, as much as I enjoy many of the tracks on both “A billion little lights” and 2022’s “ILYSM”.

This 2024 release just seems so much more cohesive and focused. This could be the result of a concerted effort by Ross to try to capture the group’s live performance magic by throwing the old reliables in the studio together to bang the thing out. What they captured was an Americana record that has been dragged through the mud of 90s fuzz rock, like Dinosaur Jr, Pavement, and Weezer. Meanwhile, Ross seems to have adjusted his vocal style, whether this was intentional or not, going to the well of established 2010s indie folk singer/songwriters like M Ward, Jason Collett, and Great Lake Swimmers’ Tony Dekker.

All of this has added up to repeated listens to the album, something I possibly didn’t do enough with the previous two and in so doing, I’ve come to realize how great a songwriter and lyricist is our John Ross. And, yes, this might be bold but I feel justified, after singing along to many of the great tracks on this album, to placing him amongst Matt Berninger and Craig Finn, indie rock’s finest.

Intrigued or doubting? Have a peek at one or all of my three picks for you and see for yourself.

“Sprinter brain“: “Can you show me how all your feelings are like seashells? Laying down down on the seafloor, and how you dive down, and pick one up, weigh the truth of it in your hands, put it back down again. You just let it be.” This song is just under four minutes of driving and crashing rhythms – both the pounding drums and the wild strum of the guitar – all punctuated by tinkling and dancing keys. It has the feel of a road trip with no intended destination – the windows all cranked open, allowing the warm wind to whip through and forcing the radio volume to be cranked to max. It has the feeling of running away and running to something at the same time. And yeah, it leaves you breathless.

“The fences of stonehenge”: “There’s a light that no one else can touch. When I saw it in your face, I thought it was a little much. There’s a light, I’m going after it, despite the fact I’m still sick of all my shit.” Apparently, this two and a half minute opening number was intended to open the proceedings right from the beginning. A hilarious title that may not seem to be obviously related to the song’s subject matter, until you stop to consider the whole idea and realize the absurdity of it all. As a song, it’s timeless rock and roll, with a persistent power chord strum that hooks you long enough to become invested in the call and response vocals, to which no one is responding save for your own frustration.

“St. Catherine st.”: “I know you wanna be here. Don’t wanna hide again. Quitting drinking was like swimming away from land.” This is just one of many great lyrical treats on this slow-burning but sweat-dripping number, each evoking an image and a feeling that sticks with you. The song builds from a repetitive strum, a plodding footfall, a rimshot that echoes in the darkness. The guitar starts to feel anthemic after a while, a cathartic cross-pollination of guitar god stances and a shoegaze feedback noodle with your eyes closed. It has closing number in a packed club written all over it, everyone screaming along with Ross, hands raised in the air, trying to catch hold of this feeling and freeze it for later enjoyment.

We’ll be back in a handful of days with album #4. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Quivers “Oyster cuts”
9. The Jesus And Mary Chain “Glasgow eyes”
8. The Last Dinner Party “Prelude to ecstasy”
7. Vampire Weekend “Only god was above us”
6. Real Estate “Daniel”

You can also check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 1994: #30 Beck “Loser”

#29 >>

I’m starting off this list of my favourite tunes of 1994 with an artist with whom many of you are likely quite familiar. In fact, you’re all probably more familiar with Beck Hansen (also known mononymously as Beck) than is this humble blogger.

I remember hearing this very track on alternative radio and watching the video on MuchMusic ad nauseum back in ‘94. I found it amusing at first, deeming the tune catchy yet quirky, but soon grew to dislike it, as well as the other single* that was being slogged from “Mellow gold”. The singles from his next album, “Odelay”, though they too were overplayed, rang more true for me and I purchased that album on CD. I very nearly became a fan after that, if it weren’t for the Britpop explosion that followed, dragging my tastes in a completely different direction for a time. Still, I paid attention when I heard his name spoken on commercial radio over the years that followed but it took catching him at Osheaga back in 2013 to finally hook me for good.

In truth, “Loser” was originally released as a single in 1993. It was released by indie label Bong Load Custom Records with a limited pressing and somehow got picked up by college radio stations along the west coast. Modern rock stations started playing it next and pressings quickly sold out. Our hero musician, who from his folk roots had always been indie at heart, found himself signing with a major label, DGC, to keep up with demand. They re-released the song in 1994 as a preface to Beck’s third album but first on a major label, the aforementioned “Mellow gold”. The rest, of course, is history. A dozen or so albums released, millions of units sold, Brit awards, Grammys, household name.

“You can’t write if you can’t relate
Trade the cash for the beef for the body for the hate
And my time is a piece of wax falling on a termite
That’s choking on the splinters”

In hindsight, this is a crazy tune and crazy that it became so successful. Beck mixes and matches with genres and sounds, throwing blues, folk, and hip hop into the meat grinder and cranking away. He’s got samples, a wicked drum machine beat, slide guitar, and sitar**. Above it all Beck is spewing nonsensical words at random in a rough hewn sing-speak that some have strangely compared to Dylan. By contrast, Beck has called out his own rapping prowess, which incidentally, is the real basis for chorus line that became like a clarion call for the so-called slacker image of generation X.

“Soy un perdedor
I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?”

*I remember making the connection for a university acquaintance between “Beercan” and the artist that performed “Loser”, without realizing until later I was sounding arrogant and making her feel small. Not one of my finer moments.

**When I saw him at Osheaga, he had Elephant Stone’s Rishi Dhir playing the sitar on stage with him.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1994 list, click here.