April 29, 2026

Cover Collector – April Greens

April 29, 2026/ The Swim Team

I don’t know about you guys, but I love a good album collage. One of the first things I do every Friday is head over to tapmusic.net and render a 4x4 chart of the albums I listened to most over the past week. At the end of each month, I do the same thing with a 5x5 that recaps my previous 30 days of listening. By the time December rolls around, I look forward to recapping the last twelve months with a gigantic 10x10 grid in an unwieldy encapsulation of the 100 albums that defined my year.

Is it a little self-aggrandizing? Sure, but it’s also a fun way to see a quick snapshot of what my last week, month, or year has sounded like. At its best, this practice has led to fun conversations and solid recommendations going back and forth with friends as we bond over specific albums. Sometimes it’s that shared love over a deep pull from years gone by, other times it’s just noticing trends with a recent fave that seems like an unshakable presence week in and week out. At the very least, I suppose it’s satisfying to see a bunch of records that I feel an affinity toward lined up and embodying a specific stretch of my life.

At some point near the tail end of last year, I conceived of a more communal way to bring this love of album collage to life. Because, sure, getting a live readout of your listening history is cool, but this is also about album art, an essential part of the experience and something us nerds can fixate on just as much as the songs that sit beneath the cover. As such, I’m excited to welcome you to the fourth edition of Cover Collector: a monthly installation where the Swim Team discusses some of our favorite albums based on album color. For April, we’re writing about gorgeous greens.

The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die – Whenever, If Ever

Much like the color blue, I think there’s something primordially calming about green. It’s everywhere in our natural world, from the grass of the field to the leaves on the trees that tower above us. It’s calming, pastoral, and speaks to something deep within our brains that seems to signal pause and restoration. It’s no big surprise then that the cover for Whenever, If Ever, the debut studio album from the foundational emo act The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die, evokes a sense of fuzzy nostalgia before you even hit play. The slightly out-of-focus photograph shows someone jumping off a high rock into a cool body of water below, everything framed by foliage and warmed by the bright sunbeams above. The album’s two-minute instrumental welcomes you into this world before whisking the listener away into the brilliant splendor of “Heartbeat in the Brain.” Not only is Whenever, If Ever a defining emo album, it operates from this mystical point of undying adventure and youthful adoration that every nostalgic teenager and wistful 20-something understands as soon as they realize that the world will never quite be the same again. The band rouses and rises to the occasion. There’s a collectivist sense of powering through with each other, despite it all. The band said it best themselves in the knockout seven-minute closer “Getting Sodas,” when they sang “The world is a beautiful place, but we have to make it that way.”

– Taylor Grimes

Blues Traveler – Four

In my journey as one who writes about music, I often return to my origins: MTV2, VH1, and my Mom’s big purple CD binder. My earliest music memories involve sitting at the foot of our wooden entertainment center, next to the six-CD changer-stereo combo, beneath a blue curtain with that classic ‘90s gold-moons-and-suns astrology pattern, leafing through this CD binder that must have held 300 CDs.

Among the Dave Matthews Band, Aerosmith, and Sheryl Crow CDs, two discs always caught my eye. The first was Kid Rock’s Cocky, because the image on the disc featured Mr. Rock flipping the double bird. The other was Blues Traveler’s Four. Not only because the disc was bright green, in great contrast to other CDs at the time, but because of the cartoon cat smoking a joint at the top. What can I say? I was like seven years old and titillated by things I knew were naughty! And yes, I’m sorry for airing out my Mom just now and admitting she owned a copy of Kid Rock’s Cocky, though it’s entirely possible that one belonged to my stepdad, and this was after the “Great CD Co-Mingling of the Early 2000s.” That’s where his Ludacris Chicken and Beer CD touched faces with her copy of Madonna’s Ray of Light, and they found happiness.

Four became one of my favorite albums over my childhood and adolescence, and it still reminds me of car rides with my Mom to this day. Blue Traveler has picked up a sort of “Nickelback Factor” where people love to talk shit but refuse to admit that they had some real joints. The singles from Four (“Run-Around,” “Hook,” and “The Mountains Win Again”) can come off a bit hokey now, but that’s because they’re devoid of context. Four was released in September of 1994. Grunge was in the rearview mirror, and labels were clamoring to catch the next rising star. Blues Traveler arose as something different with drawing power. In a crowded field of jammy, blues-inspired acts from the Northeast and Southeast (along with Spin Doctors, Phish, Widespread Panic, God Street Wine, Dave Matthews Band, and Medeski Martin and Wood), they innovated an entire new genre in a couple of years, playing thousands of live shows at colleges all over the Eastern United States. There’s a really great book about this mid-90’s jam scene, Mike Ayers’ Sharing In The Groove.

There’s really not a skip on Four, and it’s an outstanding document of a band at the tippy-top of a scene doing what they do best. For my money though, their first live CD, Live From The Fall, is the best way to hear what those A&R guys heard in 1992. John Popper is one of the greatest frontmen of all time, and Live From The Fall is the proof.

– Caleb Doyle

Type O Negative – Slow, Deep And Hard

There may not be a more obvious, entry-level, green-coded band than Type O Negative. Few bands have held their identity with just one or two colors, but from 1991 to 2007, the Brooklyn “drab four” created an entire discography of iconic green-and-black imagery. My favorite Type O album is 1996’s October Rust, although that cover art is the least directly green of them all, so let’s dive into their penetrative debut, 1991’s Slow, Deep And Hard. Lead vocalist, lyricist, bassist, and 1995 Playgirl centerfold Peter Steele was beginning his next musical chapter after the end of his previous band Carnivore, and he was not in a good mood. Slow, Deep And Hard may be the first and only thrash metal breakup album, bridging the gap from Carnivore’s direct East Coast fury to the introduction of Type O Negative’s (anti-)romantic doom. It doesn’t sound much like what the band would become afterward, nor does it line up with any other metal album before or since. The twelve-and-a-half-minute opener “Unsuccessfully Coping With The Natural Beauty Of Infidelity” is a signature moment of Steele’s tongue-in-bleak attitude that he would carry throughout the rest of his career, even with it being a completely raw and unfiltered reflection of his feelings. “Xero Tolerance” moves back and forth between dissonant sludge and major-key punk rock, with a “kill you tonight” shouted refrain that’s as nasty as it is ridiculous.

Of the album’s seven songs, two of them are back-to-back entries in Type O’s list of album pranks: “Glass Walls Of Limbo (Dance Mix)” is nothing but a dark ambient/martial industrial interlude, and “The Misinterpretation Of Silence And Its Disastrous Consequences” is… well, you’ll have to listen to get it. The five core, multi-movement songs end with “Gravitational Constant: G = 6.67 × 10−8 cm−3 gm−1 sec−2,” simply one of the finest, physics-inspired, relationship-dissolving, gothic thrash album finales in Type O Negative’s history. Slow, Deep And Hard is something all its own, not for everyone, but should be heard by everyone.

– Logan Archer Mounts

Víkingur Ólafsson – Opus 109 (Beethoven | Bach | Schubert)

It’s challenging to break through the noise in any genre of music, but I would argue that it’s particularly difficult to do so in classical music. The genre is overshadowed by great performers and ruled by strict, historically accurate performance demands. And yet Vikingur Olafsson has done the impossible and cut into the surface of this realm with clear, precise intent. I am an avid fan of Olafsson’s interpretations and claim him as my favorite performer of classical piano music - his 2017 album of various Philip Glass selections is a treasure, and he made waves with his fresh, sparkling recordings of the Goldberg Variations in 2023.

In Olafsson’s latest recording, Opus 109, he explores the throughline that runs so clearly through Bach to Beethoven to Schubert. You can hear the pull of emotion in every note of Olafsson’s interpretation, indicative of the new era that music was hurtling towards. Programming Schubert alongside two giants of classical music may seem an unusual choice at first glance, but upon closer inspection, we can trace a theme from Beethoven to Schubert: both composers defied traditional compositional structure in their later works. Schubert’s two-movement sonata, widely considered incomplete, is argued to be the opposite by Vikingur. Schubert would be utterly pleased to see his name alongside Beethoven’s on this cleverly planned album.

Vikingur Olafsson’s renditions of the works on this album are resonant, warm, and thoughtfully prepared. The album exterior reflects an equal amount of care: it’s impossible to ignore the mesmerizing cover photo. Vikingur has always leaned into his artistic sensibilities for the covers of his releases, and this portrait of him is no exception. Lush, sensual, and surreal, the artist invites the listener into his world with a direct gaze that breaks the fourth wall. You are beckoned to experience the beauty of these works alongside him. The performer is nothing without someone to play to, for what is music without anyone to hear it?

– Britta Joseph

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Float Along - Fill Your Lungs

Back when I was a green Gizz listener, I prided myself on holding the niche take that Float Along - Fill Your Lungs was the Australian psych-rock genre-be-damned mega-unit at their very best. And, even as “good ole days,” I still stand by it. Hearing “Head On/Pill” for the first time rewired what I thought a long song could be. (People joke about riffs or melodies being able to lift them from comas, but the “Head On” riff really does summon my Gizz geeker self from the depths of my psyche.) The opening guitar echoes and wobbles on “Head On/Pill” felt like a green, slimy, sticky, swampy flare shot straight into the night sky. (As Stu wrote in the liner notes: “It was short at first, but it just kept fucking growing like pond scum.”) And I realize now that I used to think it was the best Gizz album because it was the first Gizz album where the minds were truly meeting, the Gizzards letting their improvisational freak flags billow until they broke. It was also the de facto double-drummer album, a return to form that became a focal point of Gizz's live presence in the mid-2010s. With a ripping, wandering opener and a theme-song-esque title-track closer, the middle of the album is oft overlooked, but not in my world. Not in the world I’m living in. That’s where the Gizzards sneak their droning (“30 Past 7”), their fuzzy (“Pop In My Step”), their overmodulated (“God Is Calling Me Back Home”), and their funky (“I’m Not a Man Unless I Have a Woman”)—a great, big green journey into the outer reaches of it all.

– Cassidy Sollazzo

The Hush Sound – Like Vines

When I was around 11 years old and burning the midnight oil on World of Warcraft in the family computer room, there was a good chance I was usually either listening to Billy Talent’s second LP or Like Vines by The Hush Sound. Released in 2006 on Pete Wentz’s Decaydance Records, this no-skip banger of an album is a masterclass in imaginative poetry and use of playful textures. Despite this release dancing in the same circles as Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco, Like Vines stands strongly on its own feet outside the shadow of its contemporaries. This record’s unabashedly twee nature and jaunty rhythms, combined with its melancholic lyricism, feel very much at home in a time period where Hot Topic and the global village coffeehouse existed simultaneously.

Like Vines gives you such a strong impression of what it’s about within seconds of starting with the charismatic, almost showtune-esque “We Intertwined” while tracks like “Lighthouse” and “You Are the Moon” display the group’s more heartstring-tugging, piano-forward qualities. It’s the effortless versatility, this shifting between full-band tracks with the more subtle breaks consisting of a single vocalist and a piano, that help this album stand the test of time.

While I believe every track on this album is its own perfect, self-contained world to explore, the song “Wine Red” alone is reason enough for everyone to experience Like Vines at least once in their time on this earth. Of course, I’m also going to give a special shoutout to the Patrick Stump feature in “Don’t Wake Me Up” that I admittedly did not clock as him until many years into listening to the album.

– Ciara Rhiannon

Hatchie – Giving The World Away

If you’ve been looking for something to listen to while walking in a dusky city on a cool, spring night, look no further. Hatchie’s 2022 breakout album has the whimsical reverb that perfectly parallels Giving The World Away’s dreamy album cover, with beams of light and a glow reminiscent of a still frame from a futuristic Wong Kar-wai movie. The standout “Quicksand” was on my playlist for the entirety of 2022, making its way into my personal library when I would take the green-bullet G train and get a glimpse of the downtown skyline before heading back into the tunnels underneath Brooklyn. That bass during the chorus envelops me in such a beautiful way. Outside of Hatchie’s pop masterpiece, songs like “This Enchanted” explode with sound and color, while “The Rhythm” feels equipped for your dancing shoes. There’s a deep cut on this record called “The Key,” which is simply shoegaze perfection, with a chorus that slams with levels of distortion like nothing you’ve ever heard. There’s RANGE on this one!

– Samuel Leon

Alex G – Rocket

They say you never forget your first, and when it comes to Alex G albums, that’s certainly true for me. I distinctly remember trying to “get into” Alex G back in 2017; he was fresh off his contributions on Frank Ocean’s Blonde, and I was eager to learn more. First, I tried DSU since that seemed to be a consensus fan favorite at the time, but that record didn’t do much for me. This was still during his “(Sandy) Alex G” era, and I remember deciding to give him another shot early on in the summer when he released Rocket. I threw the album on while out for a walk, and the whole thing soundtracked my walk perfectly, seeping into the grooves of my shoes and flinging the hot air past me. I was walking through neighborhoods and fields that looked eerily similar to the one on the cover of Rocket: lush, waving, and full of motion off toward an indistinguishable horizon. There was no Jacob Sheep staring me down, sure, but I will tell you the first time I heard the dog bark on “Poison Root,” I took out my earbuds because I thought it was coming from a nearby backyard. That moment turned out to be transportive in the best way, making me laugh as I slipped my headphones back on and hit play again. The rest of the record is super laid-back and breezy, barring the off-kilter three-song suite from “Witch” through “Brick,” but even that I love as a sort of mid-album bridge into “Sportstar” and the remainder of Side B. Rocket is just a really special record that helped me unlock the rest of Alex G’s discography. I feel lucky to have fallen into it.

– Taylor Grimes

If we’re talking solid-color album art, there’s one band that stands above the rest, and that’s Weezer. Across fifteen studio albums, more than a third of their discography is made up of self-titled albums that fans simply refer to by their color. Each features the band members lined up staring down the barrel of the camera against a solid-colored background. In this recurring section, we’ll address the elephant in the room that is Weezer’s discography.

Alright folks, big Weezer fan Lillian Weber talking here. And by that I mean up until today, April 25th, 2026, I have only listened to Weezer, Pinkerton, Everything Will Be Alright in the End, and Weezer in full. No, those are not in chronological order, and which colored Weezer albums I am referring to is for you to decide. Weezer (The Green Album) was not one of them. Beyond those four albums, I knew the singles, and no one could convince me I really needed to listen to anything more from further Weezer albums. With Green, I knew one song that wasn’t a single, and it’s this live performance of “Don’t Let Go.” This is much better than the version on the record because River’s sings like this song actually has a target, like there is actually a love he is desperate to keep in his life. But I’m getting too close to my issues with this record, and we have singles to talk about.

What do I think of the singles? “Hash Pipe” is obviously a perfect song, and “Island in the Sun” is just that: a pleasant idea. Listening to this record today, what I’m most struck by is how pleasantly this record goes down. You can’t call it bad, per se, because the melodies are good, the lyrics are inoffensive (except “crab at the booty”), and the instrumentals are the perfect bridge between the emotive alt-rock of The Blue Album and the fluff Weezer would continue to pump out until EWBAITE (but which immediately returned on White). The band went to the studio with the intention of resetting to what fans liked about Blue after the EVERYTHING of Pinkerton. But what makes The Blue Album so good to this day is how it melds the emotional anguish with hooks. The Green Album is just hooks for the sake of hooks, and hey, I’m not above the platonic ideal of a hook, but this is WEEZER we’re talking about. But now that I think about it, this is Weezer we’re talking about.

The cover is okay. River’s looks a little surprised by the camera, and that’s about all the emotion we get out of him on this record…. I’m sorry he really sings “crab at the booty.” WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?

– Lillian Weber

Crash of Rhinos – Distal

If you have an opinion on the term “midwest emo revival,” then you probably know this album already. Released in 2011, Distal is a brooding work of dueling guitars and uncertain trajectories, inhabiting the intricate space between emo and math rock. The reason I call this period “revival” is because bands like Crash of Rhinos, Algernon Cadwallader, and Sport brought back a sound from the mid-to-late nineties. The sound they breathed new life into was originally concocted by Cap’n Jazz and Braid, who crafted fast, chaotic, and thoughtful tunes for as long as they could manage. The cost of their energy and intensity was an all-too-brief lifespan. This was similarly borne out by Crash of Rhinos, whose original run as a band lasted from 2009 to 2014.

Despite knowing about this album and listening to it for the better part of five years, this is the first time I’ve looked intently at the cover. It appears to be a picture of a threshold into another room, with a dark green filter applied on top of some building notes. The cover is maybe even referenced in “Lifewood” with the line, “Take back these ideas / These words and notes and papers and plans.”

It would seem to me we are living through another revival, but this time it might stick. Emo is approaching mainstream “cool” in a way it never has before, long-defunct bands are reuniting for huge festivals, and the internet has made it possible for anyone with enough free time and DIY grit to achieve global listenership. Luckily for us, Crash of Rhinos is one of these reuniting bands, with a full album releasing on May 22nd. If you can’t wait, you can already listen to two new badass singles on Bandcamp, released just last month.

– Braden Allmond

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – I’m In Your Mind Fuzz

Am I in Heaven? No, I’m just listening to King Gizzard’s fifth studio album: I’m In Your Mind Fuzz. Often called a psych rock or garage rock record, this album transcends both genres to do something bigger, opening with a four-song suite, the first of many that Gizz would go on to do, becoming a staple of the band’s sound. This album is much more than its ripping first four tracks, however, as Side B gives us something else we’ve never seen before from this band: slow jams. Throw away your spring reverb, fuzz pedals, and turn down the gain on your amp, cause it’s time to slow things down and talk about saving the earth.

Of course, it’s hard to talk about this album without talking about the album art. Visual artist (and essentially the bonus member of Gizz) Jason Galea designs nearly all the band's visuals, from album artwork and music videos to show posters and projections. Galea, in short, is the band’s visual identity, which is why it’s so weird that this time he just shamelessly ripped off the cover art for the 1983 Atari game Fortress. as the band begins to create The Gizzverse, an interconnected story that ties together many of their albums and songs.

The Gizzverse is only visually depicted on this record through the cover art, but in subsequent albums, we’ll get context for why the sea is green on the cover and why the castle is crumbling. Perhaps we even get answers as to where the lightning is coming from. Indeed, this record’s art sets up the story for at least the next eight records the band would release. Don’t call it psych rock. Vocalist Stu Mackenzie has tried to shed that label. Rather, think of it as a puzzle piece, a first look into what’s to come, and an invitation to put in some work on this angel of a planet we call home.

– Noëlle Midnight

Coheed and Cambria – The Second Stage Turbine Blade

As a lifelong Coheed and Cambria fan, I would be remiss not to give a special collection of words to the green album that started it all. The Second Stage Turbine Blade is easily one of the most ambitious debut albums I have ever heard, and even 24 years after its release, I am continually impressed and inspired by it. Coheed’s firstborn originated many of the group’s staples – the eerie, instrumental opening track and outro, the handful of proggy tracks exceeding 10 minutes in length – while also birthing a discography-spanning, sci-fi epic centered around the two characters for whom the band is named.

While Coheed’s third album, Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness, is my indisputable favorite of the band’s catalog, The Second Stage Turbine Blade contains some of my top Coheed tracks, including the impossibility badass and sonically rich “Delirium Trigger” that I once transcribed by ear for classical guitar quarter in my final year of college. “Everything Evil” similarly ranks high in the pantheon of Coheed tracks and is probably their best live song to date, with its entrancing final “Dear Claudio-o” chant and typically present ripper of a guitar solo. It’s difficult not to list every track on this album as heavily influential, but “Junesong Provision” holds a special place for me, along with its acoustic demo featured in the deluxe version of the album, complete with an audio clip from the cult classic, Army of Darkness.

The Second State Turbine Blade is owed reverence not only in the history of great rock albums, but in my history as a music-lover, leading me down the paths I have been able to walk and the relationships I’ve been able to form through Coheed and Cambria. Fortunately, it remains a classic and a timeless masterpiece that I get to return to and enjoy to this day.

– Ciara Rhiannon

Ogbert the Nerd – I Don’t Hate You

My first show after the COVID-19 Pandemic was in July of 2021. It was called the DIY Super Bowl, featuring an absolutely stellar lineup: Guitar Fight from Fooly Cooly, Blue Deputy, Oolong, Carly Cosgrove, and Ogbert the Nerd—a veritable who’s who of the burgeoning community of fifth-wave emo bands. After over a year without shows, the DIY Super Bowl finally offered the catharsis we all so desperately needed. No one brought that catharsis on that sweaty July night quite like Ogbert the Nerd.

Their debut LP, I Don’t Hate You, showcases their incredibly messy brand of emo perfectly. It is far from polished, even by the increasingly lo-fi, messy standards of fifth-wave emo. The guitars are frantic, constantly driving forward and nearly careening off course. On “Do It For Elio,” lead singer Madison James’ voice is constantly breaking and straining with pure emotion. Throughout its brisk 30-minute run time, their vocal cords always sound moments away from snapping in half while screaming about being a fuckup, being fucked up, and being fucking mad at your fuckup friends. “You Like the Raiders?” opens with genuinely one of the meanest opening lines of any song: “Hey fucker, nobody ever gave a shit about you.” For a 20-year-old whose life was just derailed by a global pandemic, who struggled with finding joy, who didn’t believe in herself, and who was harboring a great deal of frustration with the world, I Don’t Hate You felt like a bolt of lightning. An album that was the pure distillation of all the energy, anger, and anxiety I had bottled up inside of me.

The moment from Ogbert’s set that will always stick with me is when I attempted my first-ever stage dive. Attempted is the keyword here, as it was much more accurately a belly flop. I fell directly into the first row, where somehow the perfect number of people both dodged and tried to catch me, leaving my feet pointing sky high, my face planting into what must rank as one of the top three grossest venue floors of my life. Despite this, the most vivid part of my memory is how I bounced right back to my feet, energized by the hectic, frantic music, ready to keep swinging, keep dancing, and keep embracing the pure catharsis that Ogbert the Nerd brought that evening.

– Caroline Liaupsin

Angel Du$t – Brand New Soul

I am going to hop on my fucking soapbox and declare that Brand New Soul is the best record to drive to. Ever. Of all time. Don’t believe me? Okay, well, get in my Accord, baby, and we’ll go for a spin. “Brand New Soul” is the perfect song for trying to connect your phone to the Bluetooth thing. “Love Slam” is the perfect song for pulling out of your parking space and hitting the gas a bit too fast. “Don’t Stop” is a humble trucking song. “Racecar” is a song for sitting at the red light. “Space Jam” is for the light finally turning green. You get it? It’s a perfect LP, and I’m not just saying that because it has “Sippin’ Lysol” on it.

– Caro Alt

Anxious – Little Green House

Anxious doesn’t waste time with sugarcoating difficult emotions in their debut album, Little Green House. Sitting at a tight 32-minute run time, this record approaches the bittersweet experience of growing up with honesty and wisdom beyond the band’s years at the time of writing. In the same way that life often demands that we balance many feelings at once, Little Green House simultaneously addresses themes of relationships, grief, change, and doubt. What better way to work through such heaviness than the tender, precise blend of melodic hardcore and emo that Anxious has been refining since high school?

Despite its subject matter, this record doesn’t lead me to dwell on things. Instead, it evokes grit, determination, and an intent to keep moving forward after reflecting on the past. The first three tracks are punchy – anthemic even – and they carry a momentum as if to suggest that the only way out of pain is by going through it. This energy is contrasted beautifully in the stripped-down moments of “Wayne” and the poignant closing track “You When You’re Gone.” Anxious stay true to the genre in their configuration, yet deliver an instantly recognizable sound through subtle vocal processing and unique instrumentals. This record feels like a raindrop-soaked memory in a rearview mirror; the perfect backdrop for leaving something behind before facing a new chapter. If you’re wrestling with confusion, gloom, or transformation in life, you very well may feel at home within the walls of Little Green House.

– Annie Watson

Bomb the Music Industry – Get Warmer

A bright, empty green field is a promise, a clean slate to build on. Jeff Rosenstock knew what he was doing when he picked a photo of a field for the cover of Get Warmer, a record about how you can get a clean slate by moving states, getting sober, and riding bikes, but things won’t really change unless you do. When Rosenstock sings, “It never seems to get warmer / no matter how far south you go,” he doesn’t just mean literally. The obvious double entendre implies that when you look outside yourself for the truth, you just get colder. It doesn’t matter what the Georgian summer brings when “problems are all I create.” For as goddamn fun as this album sounds — specifically how euphoric “I Don’t Love You Anymore” is to shout along with — this is a desperate record that can’t fulfill any promises you can’t do yourself.

– Lillian Weber

Field Medic – Light Is Gone

I was pretty late to the Medic Nation. I jumped on board after seeing a tweet someone had posted about not being able to listen to Field Medic because of the way he looked. Usually I just scroll past that sort of online hate, but it was 2020 and I didn’t have anything better to do considering the world outside had stopped, so I decided to see what this person looked like that made someone so angry. Six years later, Kevin Patrick Sullivan, the man behind Field Medic, Paper Rose Haiku, and Protection Spell, remains one of my favorite artists. Debut album Light Is Gone is a homebrewed, lo-fi folk album that is somehow reminiscent of the old folk music my mom would play in the kitchen, yet also contemporary and fresh. Recorded live directly to cassette tape, the songs on Light Is Gone are sparse in their arrangements but dense in their lyrics of love lost and nights spent alone drinking. One of my highlights on the album is the closer “it’s still you,” where Patrick sings about a sketchy situation of some dudes getting him to cash a stolen check for them. I was genuinely shocked to hear something so transparent and vulnerable from an artist. That courage to put out a song that revealing inspires me to this day and always keeps me coming back to not only Light is Gone, but to Patrick’s work in its entirety. May we all be that true to ourselves in our lives.

– Nickolas Sackett

Honorable Mentions

Hey, we can’t write about every album with this color, so here’s a list of some more that we feel like we should mention.

American Football - American Football
The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Harmlessness
Prince Daddy & The Hyena - Adult Summers
Alien Boy - Don't Know What I Am
Minus The Bear - Menos El Oso
Anxious - Little Green House
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Soup Dreams - Hellbender
Charli XCX - Brat
Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
Big Black - Songs About Fucking
The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field
Enter Shikari - Common Dreads
SZA - Ctrl
Wilco - Schmilco
Big Thief - Double Infinity
The Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot
Alex G - DSU
Deftones - Private Music
Pool Kids - Easier Said Than Done
Tiberius - Troubadour
Gladie - No Need to Be Lonely
Ratboys - Singin’ To An Empty Chair
Origami Angel - Somewhere City
Fiddlehead - Between the Richness
Lucky Boys Confusion - Commitment
Opeth - Watershed
Type O Negative - The Origin Of The Feces
Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses
Type O Negative - World Coming Down
Type O Negative - The Least Worst Of
Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me
Type O Negative - Dead Again
Alex G - Rules
MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks
bedbug - pack your bags the sun is growing

October 31, 2023

The Best of Q3 2023

October 31, 2023/ Taylor Grimes

We’re in the final stretch of the year, and while other music blogs are already gearing up for their Album of the Year lists, we’re still hung up on the summer. Continuing our series of quarterly roundups, here are some of our favorite albums, EPs, and splits released from July to September.

Angel Du$t – BRAND NEW SOUL

I have a few questions for you, dear reader: do you like ROCK music? Do you like LIFTING heavy things? Do you like SHAKIN’ your little butt? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then BRAND NEW SOUL might be for you. The latest album from the ever-shifting Justice Tripp-led supergroup picks up right where YAK left off, which is to say, wildly inventive and ignoring every boundary of genre or expectations. Less of a “hardcore” group than ever before, Angel Du$t feels like a band whose artistic mission statement is to follow whatever sounds fun at that moment. Most of their music can still be defined as “Very Aggressive” but morphs from folk-punk to electro-bops to Chili Peppers worship at a moment’s notice. There are still a couple of ragers here like “Sippin’ Lysol,” but most of the music should be filed under jammers and slammers – an important distinction. The girls that get it get it.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Astra King – First Love

Midway through the year, the visionary PC Music announced that 2023 would be their last year releasing new music before shifting to archival projects. This was heartbreaking news for girlies, gays, and music fans all across the World Wide Web, yet we must rejoice, for Astra King is here with a definitive hyperpop contribution in the label’s eleventh hour. King is a relatively recent addition to the PC Music roster, a younger artist with less than a half dozen songs to her name; even still, the four tracks that make up First Love are so pristine that they somehow stack up to the decade-long legacy of the PC Music label. From the anthemic unfurling of “A Little Bit Closer” to the too-cute-for-its-own-good title track, every song fleshes out a different shade of reflective, chromium future pop. In many ways, First Love is the ideal EP: a lightweight fifteen-minute collection that finds an artist seemingly already zeroed in on her sound and going four for four, all with one of the coolest covers of the year to boot.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

awakebutstillinbed – chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger

awakebutstillinbed’s brand of throwback ‘90s emo has always been my jam ever since pressing play on their 2018 LP, what people call low self-esteem is really just seeing yourself the way other people see you. The band’s latest record, chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger, picks up where the last left off, but already the sounds and songs are better. The drums hit hard and dry, snapping like twigs and booming like thunder as spindly guitars snake through adagio dirges such as “bloodline.” Shannon Taylor, whose ragged and reedy voice stands strong in a scene that’s rapidly embraced pop vocal sounds, really lets her vocals shriek, crack, and take center stage. Every chord feels knotted and dissonant, but every song is beautiful, and though most of these tracks are north of three minutes by a large margin, you won’t be snoozing at any point. This is what a perfect emo record sounds like in 2023.

Michaela Montoni - @dumpsterbassist

Broken Record – Nothing Moves Me

Denver-based Broken Record are self-described “stadium emo,” and you know what? That’s so goddamn true. Their very good second full-length, Nothing Moves Me, pulls from some of the greatest bands to ever make the jump from DIY house shows to playing for thousands. Think Jimmy Eat World, Sunny Day Real Estate, and the best second-wave emo bands who also obsessively listen to The Cure. The album sounds amazing (produced and recorded by Broken Record’s Lauren Beecher and Gleemer’s Corey Coffman), the guitars are huge, the riffs are crushing, the drums are driving, and the hooks are singable—this band rocks.

Ben Sooy - @bensooy

Read our review of Nothing Moves Me here.

Chain Whip – Call of the Knife

Vancouver’s Chain Whip is a down-and-dirty punk band with viciously compressed production and the tightest 13-track LP I’ve heard in years. This shit is all the garage energy of Amyl and the Sniffers with none of the major-label Gucci-deal bravado. The production is homespun but clear: the drums pound, the guitars rip, and the vocals sound like an unhinged goblinesque Jello Biafra. Chain Whip aren’t just any modern punk band, either, with vague allusions to political messaging. Tracks like “The Flag Means You Suck” and “Class Decay” pull no punches against the totalitarian fist of Western “democracy.” Spin this or get fucked, it’s only 21 minutes.

Michaela Montoni - @dumpsterbassist

Coronary – The Future… Is Now

These days, the market for fast hardcore is pretty much gone– industrial and blackened beatdown have infected the mainstream like a disease, and slam-dancing has taken the masses by storm (see: endless mosh discourse, the new Knocked Loose). But the world has not stopped making punk rock music, and Coronary from Chicago are proof– thrash-punk crossover guys playing ridiculously fast. Their guitar playing is impeccable, the drums rumble and sputter like a chainsaw engine, and the lyrics cut straight to the heart of the political issues of our day. Does it reinvent the wheel? Yes and no– while sonically, it’s hard to say that anything happening here started in 2023, it’s so rare to find a band this hard-rocking with slick production, a huge sound, and good hearts. It’s rare, it’s great, I love it, and I want to hear more of it.

Michaela Montoni - @dumpsterbassist

Del Paxton – Auto Locator

For some people, emo is a seasonal genre. I’ll admit the crunch of a fall leaf hits extra hard when you’re listening to American Football or AGBPOL, but that could never be me. I spin this shit all year long; even still, there’s an undeniable fall air about Auto Locator, the first album from Del Paxton since 2017. The record opens with a freight train headed directly toward you and ends with a sizzling 7-minute send-off that still somehow leaves you wanting more. Aside from the palpable fall feeling, Auto Locator offers up bouncy rippers like “Up With A Twist” and “Chart Reader,” but also aren’t afraid to gnash their teeth and get a little aggressive on tracks like “100 Words For Snow.” The whole thing feels like an emo record from a different era in the best way possible.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Downward & Trauma Ray – Split

It’s fall, and Shoegaze Season is officially here. While there’s no shortage of dudes with bad hair and black jeans cranking out over-fuzzed riff slop and Whirr worship, these bands are not that. Coming off a pair of excellent 2022 EPs, Downward and Trauma Ray have combined forces for a four-song split that pummels the listener into submission with distorted guitars, floaty vocals, and forceful riffs—a perfect way to kick off the season where heavy music hits the hardest.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Equipment – Alt. Account

Equipment has been a band for almost a decade at this point. They’ve released fantastic EP after fantastic EP, including one earlier this year, and even though 2018’s Ruthless Sun is the band’s first LP, in many ways, Alt. Account is the band’s first album. During the album’s writing process, Equipment’s lead singer/guitarist, Nick Zander, was diagnosed with bipolar II; his first medication is seen on the cover of the record, and the insomnia it gave him led to the creation of the majority of this album. The result is a collection of emo-tinged indie rock that feels like a celebration of the fact that he’s now tamed the instability of his initial diagnosis. Songs are punctuated by clips of a 12-year-old Zander, who can be heard talking about LEGO stop-motion and the Sega Genesis, all snippets ripped directly from his 2008 YouTube channel. It’s a lot to take in, but luckily, Alt. Account is just as listenable without any background, a record packed with sublime riffs, singable choruses, and highly relatable sentiments. With a solidified lineup, an undeniable collection of bangers, and a tour-ready spread of merch, all self-released under their own label, Alt. Account is just the first step in Quippy World Domination.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Fiddlehead – Death is Nothing to Us

After hearing the sophomore record from Fiddlehead, I was a little worried that the band had run out of things to say. It’s not like Patrick Flynn has any shortage of thoughts to share, more so that Fiddlehead was initially started as a one-off supergroup collaboration that wasn’t meant to last beyond a single EP. Through a combination of luck, pre-existing fanbases, and stellar songwriting, Fiddlehead have now created three albums, and Death is Nothing to Us makes a strong case that this band was always meant to exist. There are kickass riffs, surprisingly sharp melodies, and enough group chants to make you lightheaded screaming along. As you would expect from the title, the band’s latest record is primarily concerned with death (as was the case on the last two albums as well), yet the band finds an infinite number of new ways to pontificate on and philosophize around this topic, wrapping everything in a catchy hardcore outpouring that lends some comfort to the living.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Gravess – i still feel it, crawling, under my skin.

Continuing the trend laid out by bands like Funeral Homes and Rosewilder, Gravess is yet another stellar shoegaze project out of Florida. While those other bands lean further into the dreamy side of the genre, Gravess aren’t afraid to throw in a few extra screams and breakdowns for good measure. You can practically see the mosh pit form when listening to the one-two punch of opening tracks, but the high point of this bite-sized EP comes in its final two songs, where the band deploys a hypnotic guitar lick and then proceeds to construct a brilliant cresting instrumental around it. Beginning in a suspended dream state, the band eventually unleashes a torrent of heavy music, sweeping the listener up in a beautiful cacophony.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Harrison Gordon – The Yuppies Are Winning

The one good thing TikTok ever did was show me Harrison Gordon. The million-viewed video speaks for itself, featuring POV footage from a “sweaty house show” and the bridge of “Kirby Down B,” which references Zelda, Dragon Ball Z, and, of course, Super Smash Bros. It’s a frenetic song whose energizing call to action, “OI OI OI,” has led me to describe the project as “Zoomer Jeff Rosenstock.” After I kept coming back for “Kirby Down B,” I gradually became obsessed with the rest of the album, which deals with post-gifted-kid syndrome, decaying childhood friendships, meds, and self-destructive tendencies. There are a couple of Worst Party Ever-style acoustic tracks that provide a brief respite from the seemingly bottomless supply of group chants, but what I love most about this record is how old it makes me feel. For the first time ever, it feels like I’m listening to the next generation of emo kids reflecting on their own nostalgia from a time when I was already an adult. The fact that I can still connect to it goes to show how wonderfully written these songs are. Here’s hoping I’ll soon be packed in that sweaty house show, screaming along to songs about Kirby.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Honey Creek – Self Preservation

When I first became musically conscious, I knew early on that I was drawn towards “rock music.” In my mind, this descriptor covered everything from AC/DC and Motorhead to Sum 41 and Nirvana. Eventually, I learned more about genres and subgenres, and I’d wager one of the first hyper-specific scenes I became obsessed with was easycore. This semi-fake genre was basically pop-punk that threw in a breakdown once in a while and often used high-pitched keyboard noises. Think A Day To Remember, Four Year Strong, and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! Imagine my surprise then when Honey Creek started rolling out the singles for their awesome new EP, and it sounded exactly like some shit I would have been obsessed with in high school. The band has fresh-as-fuck all-white fits, cool music videos, catchy-as-hell choruses, and (thankfully) dig a little bit deeper than the typically-bro-leaning undertones that come with most easycore. It may just be 11 minutes, but there’s not a wasted moment or bit of energy on this EP, and while it may lean on some trappings of a very specific subgenre, Honey Creek do a fantastic job of making these sounds feel updated for 2023.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Josaleigh Pollett – In The Garden, By The Weeds

Salt Lake City DIY artist Josaleigh Pollett is a beautiful enigma to me. The closest artist I can truly compare them to is David Bazan, especially those Care and Blanco records, not just because they share some musical DNA with Pollett’s In The Garden, By The Weeds, but also because Pollett is a lyricist (a songwriter! a poet!!) on par with Bazan. The recording of In The Garden… was a partnership with producer Jordan Watko, and what they’ve made together is one of the greatest indie pop albums of all time. Pollett’s vocals will break your heart, Watko’s beats will have you dancing your ass off, but in like a moody and hopeful sort of way.

Ben Sooy - @bensooy

Read our review of In The Garden, By The Weeds here.

Mauve – About The Weather

The crazy thing about the internet is that I can show you my exact first impression of Mauve. Back in January, my brother and I were huddled up against a table in McMenamins White Eagle Saloon, nursing a couple of ciders. We were there mainly to catch the Tallest Emo Band™ Swiss Army Wife, but when Mauve took the stage and started tuning, I could already tell we were in for a treat. We secured a primo spot right up front and proceeded to take in a set of pure, unbridled Portland Emo. Once I found myself on the other side of the band’s invigorating performance, I was absolutely over the moon that my hometown felt like it had a legitimate emo scene for the first time ever. Released six months after that fateful concert, Mauve’s debut album is chock-full of tasty riffs, gnarly screams, and pit-opening tunes that show a glimpse into an alternate reality where the Pacific Northwest eclipsed the Midwest as the true ruler of the emo genre.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

MINDCLOT – Profit Over People

From the instant you press play, it’s apparent that MINDCLOT are not fucking around. Their weapons-grade d-beat hardcore doesn’t let up for the entire duration of their second album, blasting through politically charged ragers like it’s nothing. Vocalist Mike Mutersbaugh’s piercing shriek cuts the tastefully muddy mix like butter, and the driving rhythms will surely keep any show-goer in the most violent pit of their life. There are tastes of the moshcore revival here too towards the back end, with straight-ahead and danceable two-steppers like “Hypocrisy” rounding out the straight-ahead Discharge-worship on Side A. With a quick run-time and absolutely killer riffs front to back, particularly “Poison” and “Two Faces,” this release is sure to be a modern punk touchstone for ages to come. Up the punx, check out MINDCLOT if you know what’s good for you.

Michaela Montoni - @dumpsterbassist

Pacing – Real poetry is always about plants and birds and trees and the animals and milk and honey breathing in the pink but real life is behind a screen

If you couldn’t tell from the album title, the second full-length album from Pacing is very funny, extremely clever, and painfully self-aware. There’s a Sidney Gish sensibility that runs through the whole thing, making it a joy to listen to, inspiring to read along with, and rewarding to revisit. In an early song, Katie McTigue ponders whether it’s weird to go for a walk, a concern that spirals into a commentary on her own laziness, paranoia, and climate change – all in two minutes! There are well-observed songs about home ownership, surface-level wellness culture, and obnoxious electronic communication, but, to me, the crux of this record can be found on “unReal / forReal,” which finds our hero questioning the intertwined reality and the surreality of the world around us. Things end with McTigue waking up and realizing that she “forgot to be scared,” which, given everything that’s happening, can feel like a blessing or at least a brief respite. While this all might sound heavy, the bubbly delivery and anti-folk instrumentation help keep things light and breezy, even as you contemplate societal decay and mourn the environment’s decline.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Ratboys – The Window

Twang is so hot right now. In fact, “twang” is so popular that Spotify has a playlist showcasing the best country-flavored indie rock we have to offer, including MJ Lenderman, Florry, and Hovvdy. Ratboys, however, have been making music at this intersection for twelve years now, and The Window sees them as masters of their domain. From the scintillating 8-minute lead single to the Frankenstein-esque “It’s Alive!” the Chicagoans spend 47 minutes and 45 seconds flexing their musical chops, with the four band members more in sync than ever before. There’s a suite of love songs in the album’s title track, “I Want You (Fall 2010),” and “Bad Reaction,” making a case for this being the most tender-hearted Ratboys record yet, but the band isn’t afraid to make some noise with snotty punk tracks and exuberant guitar solos. Just another day of being the world’s greatest indie rock band.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Read our review of The Window here.

Ringworm – Seeing Through Fire

Ringworm’s demo turns 32 years old in 2023, which is mindblowing to think about. They’ve consistently been one of the heaviest and most biting bands in metallic hardcore since then, and Seeing Through Fire is no deviation. The band continues to find new ways to make the most explosive sounding aggressive music out of the Midwest, with another crop of anthemic circle pit initiators like “No Solace, No Quarter, No Mercy” and “Thought Crimes.” Ringworm is keeping their Holy Terror scene alive with each new album, and they’ve outdone themselves once again.

Logan Archer Mounts - @VERTICALCOFFIN

Slow Pulp – Yard

This August, I spent a few weeks boxing up my childhood room as my parents prepared to sell the house where I spent the first twenty-something years of my life. As I was unearthing adolescent artifacts long since forgotten, I was spinning an advance of Slow Pulp’s Yard, which perfectly soundtracked this excavation. Since the beginning of the year, the album’s lead single, “Cramps,” had already become a mainstay on my playlists, and my excitement only mounted with “Slugs” and “Doubt,” each song eclipsing the last as my favorite thing the band has ever done. The album collects these knockout singles and pads them out with a few more mid-tempo tracks of transition and impermanence. Having relocated from Madison to Chicago in the time since their excellent 2020 record Moveys, Slow Pulp themselves have undergone a move as a collective, and Yard reflects that. There are multiple songs about moving away and making changes in your life, all of which made it feel stupidly on-brand to spin as I moved every earthly possession I have into boxes to be opened at a later date. There’s a slight lull in the middle, but the rockin’ “MUD,” woozy country-leaning “Broadview,” and the pensive “Fishes” make for a final three-song stretch that balances out the pep-heavy front half. All in all, Yard makes for one of the most exciting, youthful, and catchy indie rock records of the year.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Squirrel Flower – Tomorrow’s Fire

Smoldering. If I were to boil Tomorrow’s Fire down to one single descriptor, it would be that. After an album full of slow-burn stunners that were kneecapped by the pandemic, Ella Williams was anything but discouraged. Over the last couple of years, she segued some phenomenal covers and singles into the desolate, naturalistic heat death of Planet (i) and a haunting companion EP that leaned into her more minimalistic sensibilities. It’s understandable that after all of the false starts and fraught life events, Williams was ready to rock. Earlier this year, she dropped “Your Love,” a one-off single featuring a full-band recreation of a similarly named song from the Planet EP, signaling a new page for the project. Backed by a band comprised of MJ Lenderman, members of Bon Iver, and the War On Drugs, Williams had free reign to construct the most grand, sweeping, and holistic collection of songs ever released under the Squirrel Flower moniker. There are reflections on the spirit-crushing nature of capitalism, queer Springsteen-style love songs about escaping out past the edge of town, and unrequited skatepark hookups aplenty. The songs tend to crackle as monstrous shoegaze riffs but also know when to pull back into something slower for maximum impact.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Star99 – Bitch Unlimited

The debut LP from Bay Area four-piece Star99 has maybe the most perfectly-matched-to-the-music cover art of 2023. An I-Spy-esque jumble of kitsch and miscellany–stickers, teacups, a stray earring, model train tracks –crowd a floral surface (“an I-Spy-esque jumble of kitsch and miscellany” would also be an apt description of the ten songs as well). Peeking out from underneath the Dollar Store clutter is the album title: Bitch Unlimited. It all feels like it was ripped straight from Rookie Mag circa 2013 or the 8tracks account of the coolest girl at your high school (also circa 2013), an effect that only intensifies when you press play. This isn’t to suggest that Bitch Unlimited is in any way stale or derivative– it’s one of the freshest, most innovative rock records I’ve heard all year –but Star99 feels like the kind of band that I thought didn’t exist anymore. Their earnest-yet-irreverent blend of pop-punk, power pop, and garage rock hearkens back to bands that existed on the fringes of emo’s fourth wave. Bands like Chumped and Swearin’ that were bursting at the seams with snark, exuberance, and the stickiest of hooks. Bookended by slot machine sound effects and eschewing any polite, small-talking introduction, opener “Girl” barrels in with blistering snapshots of suburban angst and young heartbreak, culminating in frontwoman Saorise delivering a gleeful “guilty” verdict. From there, the hits don’t let up, with Saorise and Thomas switching off on lead vocals. From the Joyce Manor-reminiscent jaunts about self-sabotage (“Salt”) to poppy confessions about the less-glamorous aspects of living and working in DIY spaces (“South Second”) to meditations on codependent friendships (“Elastic”) to frenetic bouts of agoraphobia (“Vegas”), Bitch Unlimited is a 26-minute firecracker, its fuse lit by defiant spirit and white-hot hooks. During “Spit Take,” Saorise declares, “Life’s a bitch, and so am I!”; life may be a bitch, but bands like Star99 make it way more fun.

Grace Robins-Somerville - @grace_roso

Stephen O’Malley & Anthony Pateras – Sept duos pour guitar acoustique et piano préparé

That title translates to “seven duets for acoustic guitar and prepared piano,” in case it seemed like a mystery what you might be in for on this album. Stephen O’Malley is one half of Seattle’s drone legends Sunn O))), and he appears in collaboration on this album with Australian composer Anthony Pateras. It’s their second album together following 2018’s Rêve Noir, and it’s a perfect split between unsettling and comforting. The two compliment each other pristinely, O’Malley adding unsuspecting guitar strums over Pateras’ minimalist, avant-grade piano hits. Both musicians are incredibly prolific and are no strangers to experimental music, so their second team up here seemed like it would have been a knockout no matter what.

Logan Archer Mounts - @VERTICALCOFFIN

Talking Kind – It Did Bring Me Down

Somewhere, there exists a Venn diagram containing MJ Lenderman, Slaughter Beach Dog, and the Barenaked Ladies. At the center of this diagram, you’ll find Talking Kind. Talking Kind is the project of Pat Graham, a Philly-based musician making catchy, power-poppy, singer-songwriter fare that’s as touching and true as it is goofy and fun-loving. The first song on It Did Bring Me Down utilizes features from Radiator Hospital and The Goodbye Party to deliver a title drop and mission statement for the project after Graham explains “I just say shit.” Over the album’s remaining 24 minutes, Graham busts out immaculate melodies (“Damn Shame”), makes adorable pasta-based improvisations (“Pretty Flowers”), and romanticizes truck life (“My Truck”). There’s some beautiful slide guitar on “Never Bored” and one of the best love songs of the entire year in “Trader.” The whole release wraps up on “World of Peace,” an ode to fellow Philly musician Greg Mendez that doubles as a thought experiment about how beautiful the world would be if everyone were literally Greg Mendez. That’s the world I want to live in.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Teenage Halloween – Till You Return

I know what you’re thinking, and no, this isn’t some Misfits-esque horror punk band; rather, Teenage Halloween describe themselves as “flaming queer power pop,” and if that doesn’t perk your ears up, then I don’t know what to tell ya. The group’s second album refines the recipe laid out in their previous work but blows the colors up to maximum saturation and packs the whole thing with catchy hooks and boisterous shouts. There are still deep questions to be grappled with here, like mental health and navigating the world as a queer person, but with those moments of realness also come euphoric successes and moments of love. The whole thing is speedy, shouty, and lively–a record that feels tailor-made for sweaty New Jersey basements packed wall to wall with people who share the same struggles as you. This album is the sound of being alive.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

Thank You, I’m Sorry – Growing in Strange Places

Thank You, I’m Sorry has had a few lives. The project initially began as Colleen Dow, alone, recording solitary acoustic songs about heartbreak, self-doubt, and isolation. Eventually, Dow was joined by a talented group of musicians who helped flesh out some of those initial songs and added a few new ones on 2020’s I’m Glad We’re Friends. Now, a little over three years later, we have Growing In Strange Places, a sprawling and impressively diverse collection of indie rock songs that shows a band working together to push far beyond any descriptor that’s ever been applied to them in the past. The emotions are still conveyed primarily through Dow’s infinitely charming vocals, but the instrumentals range from kaleidoscopic electronica and desolate slowcore to relatable dance-ready bops and even a hardcore rager for good measure. There’s also one of the best love songs of the year, and the whole thing wraps on a solo song that feels like a beautiful full-circle moment for the project. Song topics are just as relatable and confessional as before; the difference is now the artistic expectations have been dismantled entirely. The result is an album that feels like TY,IS achieving their true potential: a collection of tracks as vibrant, engaging, and ever-changing as the people behind the music.

Taylor Grimes - @GeorgeTaylorG

TORSION – DEMO 2023

I’d be remiss not to talk about hometown greats. No one knows anything about this band yet. Their debut 7” just came out a matter of days ago. It’s five songs, five minutes long (and change), and one track on Bandcamp. It’s fucking blistering. The guitars are gnarled and heavy, the d-beats fly on a thumpy cardboard drum kit, and the vocals are low and gravelly in that perfect early black/death metal way. This is fucking Pittsburgh hardcore, and I can’t wait to hear more riffs. If you’re in the area, stay tuned for one of their shows, and if you like Bomb Threat or Razorblade, you’re gonna fucking love this.

Michaela Montoni - @dumpsterbassist

November 03, 2021

The Best of October 2021: Part 2

November 03, 2021/ Taylor Grimes

October brought us so much great music that I had to split our usual monthly roundup into two parts. Read on for paternal pop-punk, soul-rending black metal, and a worthy successor to My Chemical Romance. Click here to read The Best of October 2021: Part 1.

Trace Mountains - House of Confusion

I’ve been riding the Trace Mountains Train ever since Spotify served up a single off A Partner to Lean On back in early 2018. In the time since then, “Thunder Trails” has gone on to become one of my favorite songs of all time, and the project has been a consistent source of pleasant country expeditions and killer closing tracks alike. While 2020’s Lost in the Country was curbed by releasing a month into lockdown, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it gave Dave Benton enough time to regroup and create House of Confusion. Pitched as a darker, earthier counterpart to last year’s album, Confusion is a lush and inward record packed with slide guitar and slightly more pensive sentiments than its predecessor. Despite its more inward nature, the third proper Trace Mountains album is just as authentic as everything that came before–a perfect collection of songs to watch the leaves change to.

Virginity - POPMORTEM

Here’s a fun little choose your own adventure: Are you emo? Of course you are. Do you want to make music? Excellent. Are you a dad? Perfect. If you meet all of these criteria, you actually have two options based on your location. If you live in the Midwest, you can take the Mike Kinsella route and make sad, slow albums about parenthood. If you’re from the southeast, then crank your amp as far as it’ll go and get to riffing like Virginity.

This is a total false equivalency, but I really do see these bands as two sides of the same coin. Both acts lean into the age of their members, taking a more mature approach on all-too-familiar topics like sadness, nostalgia, and aging. That perspective is a proper distinction in a scene where most people creating emo music are in their twenties talking about high school heartbreak and getting stoned. In fact, Virginity addresses this on album opener “We Get It,” speaking both musical contemporaries and fellow members of the DIY scene alike in a blistering 2.5-minute takedown. Throughout the album, Virginity jumps from catchy choruses, breakneck PUP passages, and hardcore screams. Lyrically, the band discusses everything from selfishness, privilege, family dynamics, shifting friendships, and the indifferent impermanence of our world. Together, these songs assemble into an energetic 30-minute excursion that gives the listener punky emo music with a unique perspective–a precious resource within the scene.

Angel Du$t - YAK: A Collection of Truck Songs

It’s kinda hilarious to go back to the first Angel Du$t album and compare that sound from five years ago with what’s found throughout Yak. As a supergroup with members from hardcore bands like Turnstile and Trapped Under Ice, it only made sense for them to start with thrashy songs that felt like familiar territory. At the same time, it’s no wonder why the band so quickly shifted into something so sonically dissimilar; after all, you’d want your side gig to be different from your day job too, right? If I were to describe Yak with one word, it would be emphatic. This album feels like a collection of tracks primarily concerned with being groovy, joyful, and fun to listen to. Some songs sound like Scooby-Doo chase music while others are straight-up Rancid worship, this is all alongside some hardcore-lite sprinkled in for the oldheads. No two tracks sound alike but bear similar levels of effortlessly cool vocal deliveries, sticky choruses, and bouncy acoustic guitar. Yak is a far cry from the band’s hardcore origins but still an engaging and catchy comedown from the fist-balling rage of their earlier work.

Spirit Was - Heaven’s Just a Cloud

Spirit Was is the solo project of Nick Corbo, formerly of the lo-fi pop-punk band LVL UP… However, if you go into this project with that framework, you’re likely to be shocked. If you want a proper introduction to Spirit Was, just start Heaven’s Just A Cloud from the top. That probably sounds like ‘no duh’ advice, but the album’s opening track “I Saw The Wheel” not only doubled as the first single but also single-handedly sold me on the entire project. That song begins with a slow-moving folk music whisper but halfway through vaults up into a Sunbather-style of blackened metal. It’s jarring but still somehow manages to work beautifully, resulting in a combination of sounds I would never have thought to put together. After this cataclysmic outpouring, the band walks the listener deeper and deeper into their rustic world, combining folksy drawls with the occasional crushing shoegaze riff much like Twin Plagues or Dixieland. Heaven’s Just a Cloud is a mystical and awe-inspiring journey that rumbles with a sort of naturalistic holy power.

Boyfrienders - Midwest Alive in Nightmares

I’d say a few times a week I fantasize about moving back to Detroit. Sure the winters are cold, the drivers are crazy, and you’re forced to hear natives refer to soda as “pop,” but you know what makes up for all of that? The music. Seriously, Michigan has, pound for pound, the most creative and inspiring crop of bands out of anywhere that I’ve ever lived, and nobody exemplifies that quite like Boyfrienders. After detailing New York as seen through a series of different J-line stops in 2020’s Scenes of Brooklyn, lead singer Poppy Morawa and co. return back to the frigid landscape of the Midwest for a stunning collection of 11 power-pop bangers. Songs range from boppy Cure-instrumentals on “Johnny Drama” to hard-charging punk on “The Moment.”

Aside from having some of the most fun song titles of the year (“Dudes Rock Twenty Twenty One” and “Post-Commune Glitch Pop” are simply all-timers), the sheer scope of musicality on display throughout this album is impressive. From a vibey build on “Live Like You Exist” to a celebratory send-off on “Permanent Prom Night,” there’s never time for the listener to predict what’s coming next. While Morawa’s distinct croon leads most songs, “Fushigi 45,” “Halcyon,” as well as the aforementioned “The Moment,” cede the spotlight to other band members and voices from the Michigan scene, leading to a beautifully-collaborative sense of ever-shifting musical wonder. Additional collaborations come in the form of Bryan Porter (In A Daydream), Tyler Floyd (Parkway & Columbia), Austin Stawowczyk and Kris Herrmann (both of Shortly and Seaholm), Alex Stoitsiadis (Dogleg), and more. It’s a who’s who of Michigan musicians packed into one LP that makes me miss the collaborative spirit which permeated every corner of that scene. Until I can get back to Detroit, at least I have Midwest Alive in Nightmares.

The War on Drugs - I Don’t Live Here Anymore

Nobody should be surprised by a War on Drugs album in 2021. Since 2008 the group has been cranking out near-flawless heartland rock, and I Don’t Live Here Anymore is no different. While not quite as wondrous as Lost In The Dream and not as breathtaking as A Deeper Understanding, the band’s newest album trades the thoughtful 11-minute-long journeys for more bite-sized songs with killer synthesizers, soulful guitar solos, and compelling narrative flashes. There’s some pitch-perfect Petty-indebted instrumentals, blatant Springsteen worship, and even a few moments of morbid reflection. Everything resolves satisfyingly on “Occasional Rain” for a clean break at the end of 50-some-odd minutes of classic rock.

Swim Camp - Fishing in a Small Boat

Here’s the recipe: take a dash of Alex G, a pinch of Trace Mountains, a smidge of slowcore, and just a hint of shoegaze. Whisk together vigorously and let sit for two years. The result will be a creation as rustic and gorgeous as Fishing in a Small Boat. Whether through staggering builds, backcountry jaunts, or long rolling instrumentals, Swim Camp never falters in their mission to depict a laid-back lo-fi world in which every man deserves a porch on which to enjoy his beer.

Every Time I Die - Radical

When I listen to hardcore music, I come in search of a few things: heavy riffs, killer screams, and breakdowns that make me want to fight God. For over two decades, Every Time I Die has brought those qualities to their music and then some. It’s rare that a band I listened to in high school ages this gracefully or this cringe-free, but much like a fine wine, Every Time I Die somehow manages to just keep getting better with time. Vocalist Keith Buckley has a scream that could obliterate your chest like a point-blank shotgun blast. Combine that with chuggy drop-D riffs, molar-shattering basslines, and unrelenting drums, and you have a radical grouping of 16 songs that hit like a brick to the face.

Super American - SUP

One of the first CDs I ever purchased of my own volition was Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right…but Three Do by Reliant K. The songs were clean, catchy, and beautifully pop-punk. The tracks got lodged in my head for days on end, using everyday objects like chapstick and mood rings to springboard into observations about girls, maturity, and (of course) God. When I listen to SUP by Super American, I’m struck with many of the same things I felt when I first heard Reliant K. Sure, their songs aren’t as kid-friendly and don’t ladder up to selling the listener into their religion, but the rest of it is all there; snotty pop-punk deliveries, highly-potent power chords, and an exuberant youthful bounciness. Plus, with just ten songs clocking in at a blistering 25 minutes, there’s hardly any time to get restless; all you have to do is chug an energy drink, sing along, and commiserate.

Save Face - Another Kill For the Highlight Reel

The pitch for the newest Save Face album is a slam dunk: this is the closest thing you’re going to get to a new My Chemical Romance record in 2021. On some level, I think that does the music itself a disservice, but it’s easy to see the appeal of this elevator pitch for a certain sect of music fan. While the debut album from Save Face relied on polished shout-along pop-punk hooks, Another Kill For the Highlight Reel dials up the goth meter until it reaches the skeleton-clad upper echelon. The group’s sophomore album leans into the heavier side of their sound, offering up a shreddy bunch of emo bangers that all but revive the long-lost sound of their fellow New Jersey hard rockers in MCR. Don your finest all-black ensemble and journey into Save Face’s world.

Minus the Bear - Farewell

I’ve talked before about how important Minus the Bear is to me. I’ve waxed and waned about their discography and delved into why “This Ain’t A Surfin’ Movie” is my favorite song of all time. When the band decided to call it quits back in 2018, I was crushed, but I understood why it had to happen. The members had been at it for over fifteen years at that point, even longer if you count predecessors like State Route 522 and Sharks Keep Moving. Farewell is a career-spanning live album that sees the band breaking out the hits and deep cuts alike over the course of a nearly two-hour runtime. Pulling tracks from their most recent album to their most obscure early EPs, Farewell truly is a celebration; it’s a victory lap for Minus the Bear and a thank you to the fans who have stuck around. The album is also a technical showcase as the band taps their way through a wide range of mathy indie rock hits with as much precision as they do on the studio versions. Perhaps most importantly, Farewell is a testament to a beautiful group that has been making formative music for millions of fans for nigh on two decades. Thank you for everything, Minus The Bear. Farewell.

Quick Hits

If you’re looking for even more tunes from the past month or so, we’ve published reviews of the new releases from Couplet, Church Girls, Sufjan Stevens, and Pictoria Vark. Alternatively, you can see my favorite songs from every album I listened to in October month through this playlist.

September 28, 2021

My Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2021

September 28, 2021/ Taylor Grimes

We’re entering the final quarter of the year, and, spoiler alert: most of your favorite blogs already have their album of the year selected. Not me, though. I have some favorites, obviously, but when I think about my Album Of The Year 2021, it’s still anyone’s game in my mind.

On some level, it’s easy to get swept up in end-of-the-year festivities and opt-out of the constant swirl of new music, so I wanted to give a little preemptive roundup of all the records still to be released this year that I’m excited about. These albums range in scope from heavy hitters of the indie world like My Morning Jacket and Snail Mail to up-and-coming acts that everyone should be tracking like Snarls and Illuminati Hotties. In other words, I hope you find something new here, or at the very least something to be excited about, because there’s still lots of 2021 left.

Explosions In The Sky - Big Bend (An Original Soundtrack or Public Television) (October 1st)
The post-rock stalwarts are back with another soundtrack, this time for a new nature documentary from PBS titled Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas. As someone who has spent their summer hiking the mountains of Colorado, I look forward to this record soundtracking my last few hikes of the season before things turn too wintery.

Hovvdy - True Love (October 1st)
Simply put, Hovvdy are masters of fall music. Their last record, Heavy Lifter, was an inventive indie rock album that perfectly captures the languid, slow-paced feeling of the season. It’s moody, vibey, inward, and perfect for late nights as the weather gets colder. The four singles released thus far have been absolutely stunning, so I can’t wait to see what the whole album sounds like.

illuminati hotties - Let Me Do One More (October 1st)
Pool-hopping season may be over, but that fact won’t crush the indomitable spirit of Sarah Tudzin. The “tenderpunk” pioneer is back with another album-length collection of vivacious songs that I expect will counteract the dark days of autumn.

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Illusory Walls (October 8th)
The fourth-wave emo figureheads return with an epic collection of tracks grappling with a society in decay. Whether taking on a proggy post-hardcore tone or more of an open-ended Broken Social Scene approach, this record is shaping up to be something career-defining.

Kevin Morby - A Night At The Little Los Angeles (October 8th)
2020’s Sundowner was a flawless fall record. Now, Kevin Morby looks to recreate that success by revisiting the album with a pack of 4-Track demos recorded for the project. Hopefully an even more stripped-down version of the record, I look forward to hearing songs like “Campfire” in an even more intimate environment.

Virginity - PopMortem (October 15th)
Each year, Florida rockers Virginity outdo themselves. 2019’s With Time is a personable emo record with hooks for days. 2020’s Death to the Party upped the ante with even more ferocious performances and relatable lyrics. Based on this trend, PopMortem is set to be the band’s new gold standard.

My Morning Jacket - My Morning Jacket (October 22nd)
The first new My Morning Jacket LP in-earnest since 2015’s The Waterfall, the group’s eponymous release is set to be a monument to their two-decade-plus career as some of the most wholesome alt-rockers in the music scene.

Trace Mountains - House of Confusion (October 22nd)
Over the course of his last two albums, Trace Mountains has evolved from bedroom country-light into fully-fledged indie rock. Dave Benton may not have the audience I feel he deserves, but watching his sound, production, and musical ideas evolve over the last few years has been immensely rewarding. His newest album is said to be a darker, earthier counterpart to last year’s Lost In the Country.

Spirit Was - Heaven’s Just a Cloud (October 22nd)
In his newest solo project, the ex-LVL UP member combines hearty folk sounds with Sunbather-level black metal. This album is probably the one thing I’m most excited about in the rest of 2021 due sheerly to its potential to be uniquely “my shit.”

Every Time I Die - Radical (October 22nd)
Every Time I Die is back, and it’s time to punch something. Crafting some of the most finely produced metal I’ve heard in ages, Radical looks to be an assemblage of bottled-up rage that’s been mounting for the last few years. A single cathartic outpouring that’s long overdue.

Parquet Courts - Sympathy for Life (October 22nd)
Parquet Courts seem to have let their last album do the talking. In the time since 2018’s Wide Awake, we’ve seen fascism, racism, inequality, and death all on a steady rise; all things the band predicted on that sixth album. Where they will go next is anyone’s guess, but I’d wager we will look back on Sympathy for Life in a few year’s time in awe of how prescient it was.

Angel Du$t - Yak: A Collection of Truck Songs (October 22nd)
Once a hardcore band, now just a band, Angel Du$t aren’t afraid to challenge preconceived notions. Throughout their eight-year career, the supergroup has evolved from Turnstile-indebted hardcore to wildly inventive indie rock. It’s a pivot so flawless that even the most coked-up hardcore bro will have a hard time denying it. Get ready to dance your rage out.

The War on Drugs - I Don’t Live Here Anymore (October 29th)
The modern heartland rock kings return with their newest collection of songs. Seemingly continuing the somber approach of 2017’s A Deeper Understanding, Adam Granduciel and company seem to be crafting a record designed to soundtrack the indigo-colored sunsets and amber-tinted afternoons of late fall.

Minus the Bear - Farewell (October 29th)
My favorite band from high school (one I saw live half-a-dozen times before I could even drive) is releasing a career-spanning live album. Captured on the band’s final tour in 2018, I simply cannot wait to revisit my final two hours spent with the band as they hit all my favorite songs from a decade-spanning career—a true gift.

Save Face - Another Kill For the Highlight Reel (October 29th)
New Jersey-based shredders Save Face are unleashing their newest collection of songs on the world this fall. Fittingly releasing in the days before Halloween, the Skeleton-adorned and blood-encrusted record is likely the closest thing we will get to a new My Chemical Romance album, so drink it up, get spooky, and rock out.

Snail Mail - Valentine (November 5th)
The long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s Lush is almost upon us. Initially heralded as a teenage savant, Lindsey Jordan was poised to be the “next voice” of indie rock music. She’s spent the intervening half-decade touring, discovering herself, and enjoying the final stretch of her teenage years. Valentine will likely be a synthesis of all those experiences and emotions. It will also likely be the soundtrack to your crush’s Instagram Stories for years to come.

Radiohead - Kid A Mnesia (November 9th)
Sorry, but I love Radiohead. A box set of Kid A and Amnesiac is necessary. It may not be my favorite era of the band, but many people look back on this period of Radiohead as their best. Much like OKNOTOK, I’m eager to hear the songs left off the records and experience an overindulgent celebration of all the demos and recordings that missed the cut on these landmark alternative albums.

Delta Sleep - Spring Island (November 12th)
A mathy combination of TTNG and Minus the Bear, Delta Sleep look at the world through a naturalistic lens and then filter those observations through prog-tinted indie rock. The band’s first album in three years, Spring Island, is building off the rubble of Ghost Cities into something more organic and awe-inspired.

Snarls - What About Flowers? (November 12th)
If there were any justice in this world, Snarls would have been the biggest band of all time by the end of 2020. At the beginning of the ill-fated year, the group released Burst, a stunning collection of songs that felt primed for the mainstream… then the rest of the year happened. Rather than get dragged down, the group rallied and recorded What About Flowers?, an EP designed to reignite the spark that they’ve been patiently waiting on for nearly two years. With any luck, by this time next year, they will have the listenership they have always deserved.

Courtney Barnett - Things Take Time, Take Time (November 12th)
The iconic Australian rocker returns from the shadows of 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel with an album that sounds more deliberately laid-back and easy-going. An excellent reminder to take things at your own pace and that good things will come in time.

Ovlov - Buds (November 19th)
The Connecticut shoegazers are back with their first record since 2018’s Tru. While members have dropped other projects under the names Stove, Pet Fox, and Smile Machine, the group has announced their reformation in earnest with “Land of Steve-O,” a stunning signal of the album to come.

Blog

The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die – Whenever, If Ever

Blues Traveler – Four

Type O Negative – Slow, Deep And Hard

Víkingur Ólafsson – Opus 109 (Beethoven | Bach | Schubert)

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Float Along - Fill Your Lungs

The Hush Sound – Like Vines

Hatchie – Giving The World Away

Alex G – Rocket

Crash of Rhinos – Distal

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – I’m In Your Mind Fuzz

Coheed and Cambria – The Second Stage Turbine Blade

Ogbert the Nerd – I Don’t Hate You

Angel Du$t – Brand New Soul

Anxious – Little Green House

Bomb the Music Industry – Get Warmer

Field Medic – Light Is Gone

Honorable Mentions

Angel Du$t – BRAND NEW SOUL

Astra King – First Love

awakebutstillinbed – chaos takes the wheel and i am a passenger

Broken Record – Nothing Moves Me

Chain Whip – Call of the Knife

Coronary – The Future… Is Now

Del Paxton – Auto Locator

Downward & Trauma Ray – Split

Equipment – Alt. Account

Fiddlehead – Death is Nothing to Us

Gravess – i still feel it, crawling, under my skin.

Harrison Gordon – The Yuppies Are Winning

Honey Creek – Self Preservation

Josaleigh Pollett – In The Garden, By The Weeds

Mauve – About The Weather

MINDCLOT – Profit Over People

Pacing – Real poetry is always about plants and birds and trees and the animals and milk and honey breathing in the pink but real life is behind a screen

Ratboys – The Window

Ringworm – Seeing Through Fire

Slow Pulp – Yard

Squirrel Flower – Tomorrow’s Fire

Star99 – Bitch Unlimited

Stephen O’Malley & Anthony Pateras – Sept duos pour guitar acoustique et piano préparé

Talking Kind – It Did Bring Me Down

Teenage Halloween – Till You Return

Thank You, I’m Sorry – Growing in Strange Places

TORSION – DEMO 2023

Trace Mountains - House of Confusion

Virginity - POPMORTEM

Angel Du$t - YAK: A Collection of Truck Songs

Spirit Was - Heaven’s Just a Cloud

Boyfrienders - Midwest Alive in Nightmares

The War on Drugs - I Don’t Live Here Anymore

Swim Camp - Fishing in a Small Boat

Every Time I Die - Radical

Super American - SUP

Save Face - Another Kill For the Highlight Reel

Minus the Bear - Farewell

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