Tag: Best albums

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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.

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Albums

Best albums of 2023: #1 Slowdive “Everything is alive”

Well, folks, here we are at the precipice of a new year and I’m wrapping up the old one, crumpling it up like an off-scribbled on piece of foolscap, and jettisoning it in favour of new ideas… but not before celebrating my favourite piece of work that 2023 had to offer.

“Everything is alive”is Slowdive’s fifth studio album and second since re-forming back in 2014. Their original run spanned only six years from 1989 to 1995 but it was a prolific period resulting in 3 LPs, 5 EPs, and a handful of singles. The five players moved in different directions when they were dropped from Creation Records, a victim perhaps of the flagging shoegaze scene with which they were lumped, a flash fire that passed as quickly as it started. The lineup that performed on the group’s debut album – Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell, Nick Chaplin, Chris Savill, and Simon Scott – announced a string of reunion shows nine years later and they’ve stuck together ever since then.

Slowdive has appeared a few times on these pages already, including placing number two with their triumphant return, the self-titled album, on this blog’s inaugural end of year, best albums list in 2017, and in pretty much every post I’ve referenced how I wasn’t super-enthused with them during their first go-round as a band. My attitude has, of course, changed and I now fully appreciate what they were doing back then and it goes with saying that I am completely enamoured with their new work.

“Everything is alive” got its start as many of Slowdive’s albums do, with principal songwriter Neil Halstead writing and demoing by himself. He had originally envisioned the album as more austere and electronic based. The recording sessions were then planned for the spring of 2020 but were in the end impacted and informed, as pretty much every album over the last three years has been, by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns. The recording of the album was pushed back and then spread out over various sessions and locations. But for the band, these were all joyous occasions when they finally happened, being the first time they had seen each in months and perhaps the first time they had seen people other than those with whom they were living for the same amount of time. This positivity likely informed the mood of the record and the original concepts for these songs were enlarged and expanded and became a representation of the band and their mood as a whole.

Indeed, “Everything is alive” is hopeful and joyful and full of life. It is eight songs that don’t want to be anywhere near darkness and solitude. It is five musicians and friends that have known each other a long time performing as one, familiar and familial, a large sound that can envelope and absorb and has room for everyone and everything. It is the album we needed, whether we knew it or not.

There is so much to love here that I wanted to pick all eight songs and run through each for you but in recognition that we’ve only got a few hours left to make 2023 brighter, I’ve managed to narrow down my picks for you to three.

“Alife“: Track three was the final single to be released in advance of the album and was the first one to be finished for it. It starts with a ringing and jangling guitar line and Rachel Goswell adds a set of vocals that are just as ethereal.”Two lives are hard lives with you.”And this is a theme that continues throughout, setting out a mysterious balance against Neil Halstead’s slightly more straightforward narrative. But really, it’s all just a whirlpool of sound and cyclical tones, a hint of relationship struggles, a blockage of communication, diverting wishes and dreams, he said, she said, a billion voices, all looking for love in this difficult life.

“The slab”: The climactic track on the album is very much that, dense and heavy and intense, its title perfectly describing the sound rather than hinting at a narrative. The intro is just over a minute and a half of pounding drums and guitars that fritter and sizzle in repetitive drones and underneath it all is something a bit ominous, washes of deep synths, like black curtains in a black room, ponderous and striking. When the vocals do come in, it’s like Halstead is allowing us in to a conversation already in progress but not quite completely opening the door. The words seem like they’re purposefully incomprehensible, just adding to the mystery and mood of the piece. And at the end of the five minutes, as the sound fades, you’re left bereft and just want to restart it but before you can stop yourself, you’re already flipping the disc back to side one.

“Kisses”: The first advance single from this amazing album is the closest thing to a pop single I’ve heard from the group in a very long time. Though it does feel upbeat and perhaps a little structured for Slowdive, it still is very much a chill vibe. The drums provide clarity in just one of the many layers of gauze and cobwebs, chiming guitars echo off into eternity and Halstead’s and Goswell’s harmonies flit and flirt on the surface of a million mirrors refracting in upon themselves.”I know you dream of snowfields, floating high above the trees, living for the new thing, sometimes the new won’t do.”It is a perfect sampling of the joy that the five-piece is looking to spread about here, drumming up memories previously lost, and forcing you to face them and appreciate the good and the bad and how they shaped everything that came after.

In case you missed the previous five posts, here is the rest of the list:

10. Bodywash “I held the shape while I could”
9. Boygenius “The record”
8. Depeche Mode “Memento mori”
7. The Clientele “I am not there anymore”
6. Eyelids “A colossal waste of light”
5. Pale Blue Eyes “This house”
4. The Reds, Pinks and Purples “The town that cursed your name”
3. The Veils “…And out of the void came love”
2. Blur “The ballad of Darren”

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

If you’ve gotten this far, allow me to wish you and everyone you care about a happy new year. See you all on the flip side of 2024.

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Albums

Best albums of 2023: #2 Blur “The ballad of Darren”

I trust you’ve all had a restful and joyous Christmas holiday, those who celebrate it anyway. Mine was spent with my wife and family, eating lots of good eats. My itinerary for Boxing Day today is to head out to support some independent record stores (avoiding the big shopping malls) and seeing if I can score some records at deal prices. But before I do, I thought I’d drop this little post here on my second favourite album of the year.

Ah yes, Blur.

The London-based quartet has seen a lot of mentions on these pages, appearing in a good number of my Best tunes lists, at least one Best albums list so far, and a special post highlighting my top five favourite tunes by the group. In every single post, I’ve mention that I’ve been a big fan of the group for years, inferring that I know their discography intimately. I saw them a couple of times in the early 90s, both on two separate legs of tours supporting 1994’s “Parklife”, and have often thought it would be great to see them again. So, yeah, I was quite excited when news broke late last year of plans for more live shows, an excitement that grew when a new studio album was also announced this spring, but as of yet, none of their shows have come close enough to my neck of the woods to be financially viable to procure tickets*.

I picked up a copy of Blur’s 9th album on vinyl the first chance I got, having only heard the first single, “The narcissist”. I figured that even if it wasn’t as good as their previous work that I would want it on my record shelves next to the rest of their albums. Luckily for me, “The ballad of Darren” is very good indeed, surprisingly so, and there’s no fear that it will become a dust collector. I’ve already put it through the paces a number of times on my turntable.

Written for the most part by frontman Damon Albarn while he was on tour with Gorillaz in 2022, it is considered by the group to be the most like their earlier work because it was recorded very much collaboratively as they did in their early days. For me, it is like a return to their Britpop haunts but viewed through the dusty and musty time machine windows. It is by far their shortest ever record but this doesn’t mean we feel short-changed. This is very much Blur but not a Blur we’ve heard before. They’ve reverted back from the art rock that has informed much of their last three and yet it hasn’t completely left the room. Indeed, “The ballad of Darren” feels like the culmination of everything Blur. It is a band playing music together and for themselves, loose and free from expectations and in so doing, exceeding them all.

This 9th album doesn’t feel like a climax, or like a swansong, and yet, if this does turn out to be the last Blur record, I don’t think we’d have any cause at all to complain. If you haven’t yet given it a chance, there’s ten great tracks here worth you time. If you’re still unsure, these three picks for you are a great representation of what you would find within.

“Goodbye Albert“: Track seven continues the trend that strings throughout, taking its cue from the album title, a mellower tone that didn’t frighten me at all. I’ve always loved Blur’s ballads and this one is typically Blur and so unlike a traditional ballad. The drumming is understated but complex, Dave Rowntree restraining himself but still putting on his stamp, while Alex James is doing the same with his heavy bass backbone. Graham Coxon plays guitar hero here yet again, dancing around the arpeggios one moment and flailing out grunge feedback the next. And Damon Albarn is seemingly realizing his pivotal moment, saying goodbye to what once was but hesitating with all the finality. “We crossed the world, we disappeared, and no one looks to see if we are coming back soon. I was not ready yet… Let it go.”

“Barbaric”: “I have lost the feeling that I thought I’d never lose. Now where am I going? At what cost, the feeling that I thought I’d never lose? It is barbaric.” If you thought it was all going to be mellow and low-key, this one proves it wrong. It’s peppy and catchy and quite jubilant despite obviously being about a surprise breakup at an inopportune time. James feels like the star with a bass line that bounces around and carries a lively presence and our wonderful drummer Coxon keeps pace with a nod of the head, a wink, and a jaunty smile. This one feels like a fan favourite in the making. Classic Blur and if it weren’t so late in the game, high hopes for future Blur.

“The narcissist”: As mentioned above, this is the one we all heard first and the one that convinced us all that “The ballad of Darren” would be an album worth our collective times. “I’ma shine a light in your eyes (in your eyes). You’ll probably shine it back on me, but I won’t fall this time. With Godspeed, I’ll heed the signs.” Though it sounds quite different, “The narcissist” reminds me a lot of their surprise single from 2012, “Under the westway“. It’s wistful and mature, looking back at what made Blur great but doing so with years of experience and the same amount of time to reflect on everything. It effortlessly fits alongside some of the band’s best work, getting deep into your bones and stuck in your head, and making you think about worth and existence and what’s waiting around the next corner. So, so, so, so good.

*And recent comments by Albarn suggesting it might be time wind up the group again make me think seeing them this time around is becoming increasingly unlikely.

We’ll be back in a handful of days with album #1. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Bodywash “I held the shape while I could”
9. Boygenius “The record”
8. Depeche Mode “Memento mori”
7. The Clientele “I am not there anymore”
6. Eyelids “A colossal waste of light”
5. Pale Blue Eyes “This house”
4. The Reds, Pinks and Purples “The town that cursed your name”
3. The Veils “…And out of the void came love”

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