The Best of October 2021: Part 2

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

Lame-O Records

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

Smartpunk Records

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

Roadrunner Records

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

Danger Collective Records

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

Good Luck Charm Records

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

Atlantic

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

Know Hope Records

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

Epitaph Records

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

Wax Bodega

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

Epitaph Records

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

Suicide Squeeze

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. 

Meet Good Luck Charm Records, The Midwest's Best-Kept Secret

In my mind, the midwest is synonymous with good music. From Ska and hip-hop to emo and hardcore, there’s a music scene for every possible genre and taste out there. There’s so much, in fact, sometimes it can feel daunting to jump into. However, with no shows happening for the foreseeable, the best way to discover these acts now shifts to social media, blogs, and labels. 

While these three entities can work together to shed light on new acts, we still live in a world dominated by a neverending news cycle and constant shitposts. Sometimes it’s hard to breakthrough, but that’s why repetition is key. I don’t necessarily see myself as a “tastemaker,” but I wanted to use what little platform I have to shine a light on Good Luck Charm Records, a bastion of the Michigan music scene, and a label that symbolizes everything good in DIY.

Created by Jake Rees of No Fun Club, Good Luck Charm Records is a label devoted to elevating the types of bands you never hear about, even within DIY-focused publications. The label has had a hell of a year, helping bring roughly half a dozen Michigan-based bands to wider platforms through small tape releases and light social media promotion. Much like this blog, GLC exists as a side-project, and the fact that Rees has been able to promote such incredible artists on top of his day-to-day obligations is nothing short of inspirational. 

Focused almost entirely on the Michigan scene, these are the types of bands you’d find opening and middling at DIY gigs in basements all over the midwest. These are the bands you’d see in a dingy Detroit bar and be blown away by. These are the types of bands you’d fall in love with after one performance and walk away with an armful of merch thinking to yourself, ‘why isn’t everyone talking about these guys?’ Hence this article. 

While I’d hope you walk away from this having discovered a new up-and-coming Michigan band, I hope if nothing else, you take away the importance of DIY and how vital it is to support your local artists. Even if you don’t have massive amounts of disposable income (who in this scene really does?), you can still help local acts by sharing them with friends, streaming them online, picking up tapes on Bandcamp, or bringing your friends to a gig once shows are back. Bands like these exist all over the world; it’s up to us, the fans, whether or not they find their audience or not. 

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Boyfrienders - Scenes of Brooklyn or Meditations on Mid-Twenties Mediocrity 

First up, we have Boyfrienders, a synth-pop group from Wyandotte. If you’ve been following the blog closely, you might remember our interview with Benny Morawa earlier this year when we helped premier “The Lower East Side Blues.” Honestly, I don’t even know where to start with Boyfrienders. I could talk about Morawa’s awesome contributions to Mover Shaker’s excellent sophomore album, I could talk about the guest features from Felix Beiderman and Garrett Hunter, I could talk about Morawa’s unique position as a non-binary frontperson and how that impacts their creative process… there are simply too many things to note in this short of a write-up. 

A loose concept album, Scenes of Brooklyn or Meditations on Mid-Twenties Mediocrity is exactly what it sounds like: a post-college grappling with one’s place in the world. Blending electronic elements with flashy indie rock, this release is like a hyper-modern DIY evolution of Future Islands as seen through a series of train stops in the most populous city in our nation. If the name alone doesn’t want to make you click play on the record, then I don’t know what will. 

It Doesn’t Bother Me - It Doesn’t Bother Me

Put simply, It Doesn’t Bother Me released one of the best EPs of the year. Not only that, they released one of the best debuts of the year. It’s one thing to release a good collection of songs; it’s another for that collection of songs to be this polished, catchy, and playlist-ready. 

Featuring jittery guitar tapping, lighthearted self-deprecation, and a hearty helping of group chants, this is a textbook midwest emo release. What separates it from the Mom Jeans of the world is the band’s ability to make these songs sound entirely fresh and approachable to someone outside of the scene. These aren’t just “good emo songs,” these are good songs full-stop. Plus, clocking in at only 12 minutes, this EP offers a low-risk entry point into the world of sad white guys talking about their problems. The band’s self-awareness makes it easy to see the forest through the proverbial trees, allowing anyone to easily see the deeper artistry beneath the familiar emo frameworks.

Bombastic Dream Pussy - BDP

Easily the best band name on this list (and possibly in the world), Bombastic Dream Pussy is a grungy rock act that slithered from the collective depths of DIY venues all across Detroit. Helmed by Hayley McNichol, this EP features instrumental contributions from the likes of Dogleg, Parkway & Columbia, Shortly, and Holy Profane to name a few. 

The best way to first experience Bombastic Dream Pussy is to witness Hayley pour their emotions out by playing these songs out on-stage. Since that’s not currently possible, the second-best way to experience BDP is to watch this video of McNichol performing lead single “Blood on My Bike Seat” to a rapt audience at Fauxchella III. This song details the hyper-traumatic experience of sexual assault, as seen directly through McNicol’s eyes, but wraps this story in a simple chord progression paired with a folksy twang that makes the topic feel slightly more digestible. It’s lyrically-heavy, but I can’t think of a single better encapsulation of what makes this project special than that song. The EP itself features 26 minutes of 90s-inspired indie rock that soundtracks Hayley’s experiences and emotions in a shockingly catchy way. It’s powerful, moving, and completely transportive.  

Happiness Isn’t Possible / Content. - Split

Last but not least, we have a split between two Ypsilanti bands that bring together disparate styles in a surprisingly effective combination. First on the split is Happiness Isn’t Possible, a hardcore act featuring members of Solemn Judgement, who I’ve also written about. The band comes out swinging with the seasonally appropriate “What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie?” Sounding like a broken nose received in a sweaty Michigan basement, this track is a crushingly-heavy seven-minute odyssey that fluctuates between doomy riffage, hardcore breakdowns, and glitchy Code Orange mayhem. It’s absolute chaos. 

Meanwhile, Content. finds Kris Lane (formerly of Hibiscus Bones and Swordfish) embarking on a solo project he describes as “post-whatever.” Leaning heavy into the blurry shoegaze/ambient side of the musical spectrum, Lane’s contributions are dripping in reverb. It’s a wall of sound that’s at once fuzzy and heavy, yet resonant and deeply-felt. The lyrics mesh into the wall of guitar, crashing drums, and a whir of electronics, creating songs that feel more like dreams or distant memories. These songs feel like the soundtrack to a horror film that hasn’t yet been made, and that makes them feel all the more haunting and visceral as you listen waiting for something to go wrong.

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There you have it, four excellent releases from a tiny label from a small corner of our country. While I admittedly have a soft spot for Michigan, what’s incredible about DIY is that there are bands just like this all over the country. There are incredible acts just waiting to be discovered and shared by you. Good bands require good fans to survive, and you don’t have to own a label or run a blog to help good music flourish. Whether you want some tappy emo or some fist-balling hardcore, there’s so much incredible art out there just waiting for you. Your support goes further than you know, and luckily for us, there are people out there like Jake helping it make its way into the world. 

Boyfrienders – The Lower East Side Blues | Track Premiere

Today I’m excited and honored to present the newest song from Boyfrienders called “The Lower East Side Blues.” This is the fifth and final single off the band’s upcoming album Scenes of Brooklyn or Meditations on Mid​-​Twenties Mediocrity out March 20th on Good Luck Charm Records. The track recounts lead singer Benny Morawa’s process coming to terms with being nonbinary and what that means both for themselves and to those around them. It’s a remarkable statement, a vital perspective, and a downright groovy synthpop cut from what’s sure to be another breakout act from the exploding Michigan scene.

First off, while I think the song speaks for itself, I’d like to give you a space to explain the background and your process of coming out to the world as a genderqueer individual.
When I was seventeen years old, I started questioning my personal gender identity and came to the conclusion that I didn’t feel like I really fit within the social construct that is the man/woman gender binary. Originally, I did not know how to really let that manifest, but I started building a social circle of other genderqueer/trans/non-binary individuals and it became clear that there absolutely was a community that I belonged to. I didn’t start coming out to close friends and family until about three years ago, and “The Lower East Side Blues” will be me coming out to the rest of the world. This is terrifying in a way because I’m coming out to all of the people who would give me the most scrutiny over it. The thing that helps is knowing that I have the confidence in myself now to not care what other people think of me. I’m happy with my life, and the fact that they are so miserable with themselves that they have to look down on me for not fitting within “gender norms” or whatever is honestly kind of sick because I know that I’m leading a much happier and fulfilling life. Also, it’s honestly dope that someone would care that much about something that does not affect them because it’s very entertaining. 


This song feels very pointed with a clear message. What was the writing process like for you?
My writing process is very influenced by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, so therefore I always am writing lyrics that immediately come across as blunt and straightforward. In regards to writing the lyrics, they came to me very naturally because they are things that I’ve been feeling about my gender identity for a very long time, and I felt as if writing the driving instrumental first really helped with that. I feel that both lyrics and instrumental fit together absolutely perfectly.

Speaking of the instrumental, the song feels like a spaghetti western future disco, how did that come to life, and why did it feel like the best fit for these lyrics
For the past year, I’ve been on this 80’s synthpop kick, both in regards to the music that I’ve been writing and the music I have been consuming as well. I originally wrote this track on a Suzuki OmniChord which can actually still be heard during the choruses of the studio recording, and then decided to take it into a super drive-y and Mountain Goats-esque direction from there. After the groundwork was laid, I brought in Boyfrienders rhythm guitarist/synth player Matthew Stonebraker to record some electric guitar, and the instrumental was completed. I feel that the tone of the instrumental fits the lyrics perfectly because they are both immediately blunt and in-your-face.


This track has some of the wildest guest features I’ve ever seen. How did you link up with Felix Beiderman and Garrett Hunter?
Strangely enough, through Instagram DM’s. In regards to the intro part, I was hearing it in my head in front of the actual track ever since I wrote it, and I could only instinctually hear it in Felix’s voice. I had talked to him before about things such as workout tips and the like, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to reach out to him about recording the intro, and he was immediately down to do it. The fact that Garrett is doing the outro makes me feel super pumped because he was technically where the band name came from in the first place, so the fact that things come full-circle in that regard is something that makes me very happy. I reached out to Garrett the same way I reached out to Felix, just through Instagram DM’s.

The record is out in one week and is easily on the shortlist for the best album title of the year. How does the story of this song fit into Scenes of Brooklyn or Meditations on Mid​-​Twenties Mediocrity?
Thank you so much for that! Honestly, the album name was a relatively last-second decision; it had been called “The J-Train" up until about mid-January, and I decided to change it to the current title because it made more sense when thinking about the tracklist and settings. Originally, I had the concept of each track being its own self-contained story taking place on sequential stops of the J-line subway train in Brooklyn, but as things started developing, I began to feel weird as some of the track locations weren’t lining up with the J-train line and stops. So, with that in mind, I changed the album title to the current one because it makes more sense to set the concept in Brooklyn overall instead of just the J-Train stops. Also, the themes addressed in each track are things that I’ve noticed myself and many of the people around me in their mid-twenties have gone through. These relatable themes, loosely connected by setting and location, fit within the album concept of going through changes and being okay with those changes as you begin to consider yourself a full-on adult. 



“The Lower East Side Blues” is the only track that doesn’t take place in Brooklyn proper, but the themes remain relatable and important to many of the people around me, and at the end of the day, this takes priority.

What do you hope that the listener takes away from this song?
That it’s absolutely natural to feel the feelings that you do in regards to gender identity no matter how confusing they may seem, and it’s completely understandable to be afraid to come out. I recognize the inherent privilege that I have in regards to being able to come out publicly through this method. You will forever be loved, and you will forever be valid to a community of people around you who feel the exact same feelings. Gender is absolutely, 100% fucking fake, and you will always be welcomed by a community that will love and care for you for eternity.