Tapir! – The Pilgrim, Their God, and The King of My Decrepit Mountain | Album Review

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Heavenly Recordings

Kyle Field, of Little Wings fame, narrates the opening to each act of Tapir!’s debut album, The Pilgrim, Their God and The King of My Decrepit Mountain. Field and his Little Wings project persist as one of the most enduring outsider indie folk projects of the aughts - outsider, not in the way Daniel Johnston's lo-fi aesthetic was irreplicable, but in the way Jim O'Rourke's sprawling catalog has been canonized by a dedicated few.

Field's presence on Tapir!'s debut record is emblematic, not necessarily of the type of music they hope to make (though the influence is palpable), but of the enamored status Tapir! hope to achieve. The six-piece began playing music during the pandemic, but as they began releasing music in 2022, the bedroom aesthetic they developed stuck around, even as the group expanded their focus towards a precise visual brand. The association with red papier-mâché helmets present in nearly all of the band’s press material was an obvious move towards cementing a trademark symbol. This splashy red iconography was complemented by the flowing green hills and vast naturescapes that persist in the band’s imagery, which they curated over the album’s two-year gestation period.

Tapir!’s first EP, Act 1 (The Pilgrim), was released in 2022 and doubles as the first of three acts contained within their debut. After a remaster of Act 1 and the release of Act 2 in late 2023, Tapir!'s vision finally culminated in The Pilgrim, Their God, and The King of My Decrepit Mountain, the kind of high-concept work that pervaded amongst indie auteurs in the mid-to-late 2000's à la Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois and Joanna Newsom’s Ys. Through their debut album, Tapir! has not only crafted a narrative and aesthetic worthy of such comparisons, but boasts the musical breadth to back it up.

After setting the stage with a brief introduction by Field, Act 1 (The Pilgrim) opens with "On A Grassy Knoll (We'll Bow Together)," which also acted as the group's debut single. Paced snaps of a drum machine play with arpeggiated guitar and light flourishes of pianos, horns, and other woodwinds. Both intentionally and impulsively, the track evokes the wide range of aesthetics developed in the indie music of the late 2000s. Further than its interpolation of LCD Soundsystem's "I Can Change," the exact instrumentation paired with the thump of the drum machine sounds like what would happen if the Postal Service welcomed Jonny Greenwood as a third member.

The record rests upon pristine compositions, bedding youthful lyrics and vocals. Act 2 (Their God) features a rendition of "Gymnopédie," a 19th-century piano composition denoting the classical training that informs the sonic direction of the album. Like many of their London contemporaries, a formal excellence found in the halls of Berklee or the BRIT School courses through many of the band's tracks. Many artists that depend on technical formality deprioritize the soul of their songs, but Tapir! use theory and history to their advantage, evoking aesthetics from chamber music to accentuate their naiveté.

Tapir! primarily rely on straightforward lyrics to paint simple images, but occasionally, they drop slight winks towards a greater grasp of their poetry than they divulge. "Eidolon" is an easygoing guitar number, save for the title itself, a reference to the spirit-image of a living or dead person as conceptualized in ancient Greek literature. Largely though, The Pilgrim, Their God and The King of My Decrepit Mountain is a record that lets its music speak far more volume than the words actually put to page.

The improvement and evolution of Tapir! can be tracked throughout the three acts of The Pilgrim. Between Act 1 and Act 3, Tapir! signed to a label, expanded their resource pool, and picked up a drummer, leaving Act 3 as an incredibly thrilling conclusion to not only the journey of the album but also this chapter of the band. 

"Untitled" and "My God" are two of the LP’s tightest tracks, but "Mountain Song" closes out the album in grand fashion, justifying every overreaching concept and larger-than-life visual the record produced in its lifespan. The seven-minute opus begins tense and distant before evolving into a swirling and expansive collage of guitars, strings, drums, synths, and a whole menagerie of voices that move from phase to phase, each grander than the last. “Mountain Song” is indebted to the grand post-rock compositions of London contemporaries like Black Country, New Road and Squid, which are in turn indebted to the immense lineage of post-rock and art rock that came before them. Despite all of its influences, "Mountain Song" places a Tapir!-exclusive naivete on the grandiosity that still feels personal to the band's ethos and taste.

The influences swirling around Tapir! are very clearly present, but they're twisted and spun in ways that still center Tapir! as the man of the hour. As more and more artists harken inaccurately to bygone eras, drawing on influences they don’t understand, artists who were already mimics, and relying on audiences ignorant of history, hearing a band that so assuredly understands the technical, conceptual, and aesthetic depth of their influences is a refreshing gust of wind. Even if the episodic structure feels akin to Sufjan Stevens' Illinois, the chamber instrumentals are incredibly Arcade Fire-esque, and the drum machines could have been bought from a Postal Service estate sale, Tapir!'s virtuosity and strong holistic concepts allow The Pilgrim, Their God, and The King of My Decrepit Mountain to stand mighty and tall on its own qualities.

Benny is the managing editor of STATIC Mag and a freelance writer. If he’s not nose-deep in a book about an over-specific era of music history, he’s probably bumping the dirtiest underground rap hit of the week or the shiniest disco track of the 70s.

Heart to Gold – “Can’t Feel Me” | Single Review

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Memory Music

Some of the best music is seasonal. I’m not talking about holiday music, and I’m not even talking about something overt, like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. I mean, there are some songs, bands, and sounds that just feel like they suit a certain kind of weather. There are songs for winter that feel nostalgic and heavy and sad, music made for that moment when the sun barely crests the horizon and the temperature seems like it never rises. Then there are songs for summer, which are often eager and full of anticipation, like the feeling of waking up early to take a trip with nothing more than the open road ahead. “Can’t Feel Me” by Heart to Gold falls somewhere between spring and summer, heady with the first warmth of May, yet still tinged with the chill of old snow that lingers in the shadows of the woods.

Heart to Gold has long been a band in my personal rotation of favorites, with their 2022 album Tom being one I still put on regularly. Since the release of their first EP in 2016, their bold sound and distinct vocals have set them apart from other bands in the emo/punk scene, with tracks like “Tokyo” and “Tigers Jaw” only solidifying their position. “Can’t Feel Me” comes on the heels of their 2023 tour supporting scene giant Movements, along with Mannequin Pussy and Softcult. This is also the first we’ve heard from the band since the release of their standalone 2023 single “Chloë,” which was one of my favorite tracks of last year. Heart to Gold consistently outdo themselves with each subsequent release, and “Can’t Feel Me” is no different.

Tender guitars and soaring vocals took me by the hand and pulled me, laughing, through breezy patches of sunlight and past damp, mossy shadows. I felt like I was missing something I never had as Grant poured his heart out over rich chords.

Sometimes the highest highs, at times the lowest lows.
It must feel like I’m distant, constantly can’t feel me.
Seems like the right direction, but right now I can’t see.

His lyrics echo the sentiment so many of us twenty- and thirty-somethings feel. I think this is the right thing to do, but what if I’m making a mistake? Am I doing it right? We are watching the spring of our lives transition into summer, welcoming the change of seasons with open arms and a hesitant smile, but in the back of our heads, we still wonder if it’s where we’re really supposed to be. “Shout it out,” cries Grant, “shout it out! I don’t feel the same!” Neither do I, and as the new warmth of summer touches my skin and freckles my arms, I think I’m okay with that.

Britta Joseph is a musician and artist who, when she isn’t listening to records or deep-diving emo archives on the internet, enjoys writing poetry, reading existential literature, and a good iced matcha. You can find her on Instagram @brittajoes.

Dogs on Shady Lane – The Knife | EP Review

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Lauren Records

One of the most comforting things about music, to me, is that there are songs for every possible situation life could throw at you. There are songs for dancing, songs for crying, songs for driving 100 mph down an empty road at 2 am just to feel some intensity. You get what I mean. There’s a bit of Venn Diagram-level overlap in some categories (i.e., you might work out to some of the same songs you party to), but certain genres, sounds, and overall vibes exist at two opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. You’re not gonna put on Joni Mitchell’s Blue while getting ready for your wedding, the same way you wouldn’t put on Megan Thee Stallion when you need to wallow. Brooklyn-via-Providence four-piece Dogs on Shady Lane seeks to challenge this thinking with their latest EP, The Knife. Throughout these four songs, the band refuses to be put into any of these reductive categories, pulling from all sections of the Feelings Wheel to create songs that can soundtrack everything from your next rage room to a contemplative winter night by the fireplace. 

What began with Tori Hall in her college dorm room, Dogs on Shady Lane has existed in a multitude of lineups since 2018, finally settling into its current four-piece: Hall alongside Evan Weinstein, Calder Mansfield, and Grace Goss. The group’s breakout single, 2022’s “Cole St.,” explores an all-consuming love set to a breezy, borderline-twee backing, complete with muted horns, faraway claps, and tight vocal harmonies. On that song, Hall promises, “I’ll give you everything I own,” willing to surrender all of her earthly belongings in the name of devotion. On The Knife, Dogs refine their left-of-center indie sound by countering this softness with an intensity and pure grit we’ve not yet seen from the group. As far as I’m concerned, the grungier, the better — shit that makes you want to punch a wall but also think about the meaning of It All. Throughout this EP’s 13 minutes, I can hear influences from classic Washington grunge acts like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and 7 Year Bitch, but also recent shoegaze groups like Pity Sex and Weatherday.

The Knife exists in extremes. The EP looks at love through different lenses: a neglectful partner, the settled-dust post-breakup feeling of emptiness, washed-up guys with goatees, and the near-obsessive feelings of a new romance. It opens with “Knife (Lady),” a back-and-forth rocker that kicks off with fuzzy, jolting guitars, eventually beginning its cycle of intense throws of distortion, giving way to pared-down, gentler, all-around chiller grooves. The song exists somewhere between My Bloody Valentine’s classic shoegaze crunch and Faye Webster’s jazzy interludes. The give-and-take makes it so that you could be giving your best version of a Millennial Head Banger, then ten seconds later want to lay on a plush velvet couch with a nightcap. 

Throughout The Knife, Dogs on Shady Lane take listeners on an exploration of the emotional contradictions we as humans ceaselessly exist in. Many feelings can be true at once, and this is the reality of the human psyche! There is hate in love, sadness in joy, and confusion in certainty. It’s scary, but it’s also kind of wonderful. The band displays this perfectly as a throughline of the EP: the gently sweet verse melody of “Pile of Photos” clashing with swells of aggressive drums and guitar or the waltzy, dreamy, almost ambient breakdown of “Basement” giving way to a brutally fuzzed out jam perfect for exorcising all of your most negative feelings. There’s an erratic back-and-forth to the entire EP that perfectly parallels the highs and lows of emotionally tumultuous relationships. 

Closing track, “18,” is the EP’s purest moment. Initially released in 2020, Hall recorded all the vocals and instruments herself, including supporting harmonies, electric and acoustic guitars. The eerie electric guitar passes that come and go, combined with the miles-away drums, give the track a distant feeling. Coming off the back of the grungy explosion that is the end of “Basement,” “18” provides yet another contradiction for listeners to ponder. Hall’s vocal delivery is akin to the whispery voices of Phoebe Bridgers or Billie Eilish, making the song feel like a secret. The hook, “I’m too old to be crying so much,” caught me off guard and hit my cancer sun and moon right in the jugular upon first listen. Hearing words I’ve said to myself amidst my latest quarter-life crisis breakdown emphatically sung back to me from all angles of my headphones was one of those disorientingly unique feelings of an artist just getting me. Hall’s haunting vocals stuck with me for days after the song ended. I can still hear her in my head as I’m typing this. The Knife revels in contradictions, but Dogs on Shady Lane take listeners on a sonic, lyrical, and emotional journey that reflects the erratic feelings we all have about love. Looking for the perfect blend of grunge, punk, jazz, and folk? Lyrics that feel like they were written specifically for you? The search ends here.

Cassidy is a music writer and cultural researcher currently based in Brooklyn. She loves many things, including but not limited to rabbit holes, Caroline Polachek, blueberry pancakes, her cat Seamus, and adding to her record collection. She is on Twitter @cassidynicolee_, and you can check out more of her writing on Medium. 

Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain | Album Retrospective

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Matador Records

In many ways, 1994 was the culmination of more than a decade of “alternative rock,” for better and for worse. While the year brought the loss of Kurt Cobain and furthered corporate influence into a historically underground form of art, it also introduced the world to Green Day’s Dookie, Weezer’s Blue Album, Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, and countless other impactful albums. Released on Valentine’s Day of that year, Pavement’s sophomore full-length, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, also deserves a place among the year’s best records.

Upon release, the album was met with critical acclaim, with LA Times writer Richard Cromelin describing the songs as “music of constant invention” while rating the album three-and-a-half stars. Despite the appreciation from numerous outlets, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain didn’t quite break through to the mainstream, topping out at #121 on the Billboard sales charts.

While it has been generally accepted as Pavement’s most digestible album, it shouldn’t come as much of a shock that it didn’t win over the public at large. Its songs, though largely catchy, are filled with non-sequiturs, abrupt outbursts of high-energy chaos, and an artful sloppiness that is just as endearing to some as it is repelling to others. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain displays a softer touch than the band’s previous work, but Pavement made it clear they weren’t afraid to challenge listeners in some ways.

It’s telling that the album’s catchiest song and biggest hit, “Cut Your Hair,” is an overt parody of the commercial culture that had taken over rock music by the early 1990s – something that the members of Pavement were acutely aware of as constant targets for major label A&R representatives. Following their 1992 full-length debut, Slanted & Enchanted (and throughout their entire career), the band opted to remain with Matador Records rather than signing with one of the many majors courting them. The reasons behind that decision don’t matter; the important thing is it allowed Pavement to maintain creative freedom throughout their run. The band continued to walk a fine line between its pop sensibilities and some of its noisier elements, and this album has it all on full display.

The songs on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain exist on a spectrum from accessible to slightly challenging. Poppier tracks like “Range Life” and, of course, “Cut Your Hair” exist alongside more experimental songs such as “Fillmore Jive” and “5-4=Unity.” Pavement’s vast assortment of influences is on full display across the album’s 12 tracks and. In addition to some of the more obvious inspirations like The Fall or The Replacements, it’s clear that at least some members of the band had an affinity for jazz and art rock groups such as The Velvet Underground. The latter influence is particularly evident during songs like “Hit the Plane Down,” the only track on the album penned by Scott Kannberg (AKA Spiral Stairs) rather than frontman Stephen Malkmus.

One of the album’s highlights, “Gold Soundz,” is a breezy summertime jam that offers wispy vocal melodies courtesy of Malkmus. It has an immediately memorable hook, but scratch underneath the surface, and you’ll find that the song features unconventional lyrics and composition.

I keep my address to yourself 'cause we need secrets
We need secret-cret-cret-cret-crets back right now

Following the second chorus, “Gold Soundz” breaks down into an extended instrumental bridge, with a thumping back line driving a pair of jangly guitar solos that interplay and harmonize with each other for nearly a minute before Malkmus’ voice returns to belt out another of the album’s iconic lines.

So drunk in the August sun and you’re the kind of girl I like
Because you’re empty and I’m empty and you can never quarantine the past

Later on in the album, the song “Range Life” stands out. The track is perhaps best known for sparking a long-running feud between Pavement and The Smashing Pumpkins. Set off by a harmless verse poking fun at the massively popular band, Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan held a grudge against Malkmus and company, continuing to take public jabs at the band in the press for years afterward.

Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins
Nature kids, I - they don’t have no function
I don’t understand what they mean and I could really give a fuck

Musically, the song displays a strong country/western influence – something that has grown popular these days but was more of a rarity in alternative rock at the time. Unlike other tracks on the album, “Range Life” features fairly basic chords and composition. The minimalism allows the vocals and lead guitar to take center stage, with Malkmus delivering earnest lyrics about the lifestyle of a touring musician. Near the end of the song, a honky-tonk piano is brought to the forefront to complement the country vibe before the band ends everything in a typically unserious fashion. The track is a fan favorite and has been played quite a bit through the ongoing Pavement reunion.

Like Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, I am a product of 1994, born just a few weeks after the album’s release. Over the course of the following 10, 15, and 20 years, I would discover the joys of bands like Green Day, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails, and many others from this era. Though I would see Pavement’s name pop up from time to time and may even have casually checked out a song or two, the band didn’t catch my full attention until more recent years.

While I’ve since had the pleasure of digging deeply into the rest of Pavement’s discography, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was the starting point for me, as I’m sure it has been for many others. The album is the perfect mix of accessibility, laid-back charm, and unique musical choices that could only be made by Pavement, acting as a stepping stone to get into the band. Swim Into The Sound’s own Taylor Grimes has written about the appeal of music that takes time to fully appreciate, and Crooked Rain offers immediate enjoyment while revealing more about itself with each repeat listen.

Good night to the rock ‘n’ roll era

While Malkmus later described these “Fillmore Jive” lyrics as tongue-in-cheek during a conversation with Rolling Stone, in many ways, his words proved to be eerily prescient. The collapse of the music industry was right around the corner, with the rise of CDs and, soon after, the advent of file-sharing programs like Napster, forcing immense change across the industry. To this day, it would be difficult to argue that the business has fully acclimated to the existence of the internet, with streaming services like Spotify continuing to deny artists their fair share. In addition to paying musicians fractions of a cent per stream, Spotify recently announced changes to the platform that will see them withhold all royalties until an artist reaches 1,000 streams.

Despite the bleak climate of the music industry, Pavement has found new life in recent years. The track “Harness Your Hopes,” a B-side off 1997’s Brighten The Corners, picked up steam on Tik-Tok, introducing a new generation to the notorious slacker-rockers and turning hordes of them into fans in the process. Additionally, the band has had a clear impact on artists that followed in their wake, such as Kurt Vile, Parquet Courts, and MJ Lenderman.

After breaking up in 1999 and reuniting briefly in 2010, Pavement announced that they would be touring again in 2019. Their return was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the band played shows throughout 2022 and 2023. This spring, Pavement will head to South America to complete a run of shows, and following that, their future remains uncertain. It might be too much to expect any new music, and it’s unclear if they intend to continue at all. Still, it’s been a pleasure to see the band return to play for original fans and the next generation, with plenty of songs from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain continuing to fill out the band’s set.

Despite its age, I don’t believe the appreciation for Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is rooted in nostalgia. The album sounds as fresh and invigorating today as I imagine it did upon release, and it’s not hard to envision the kind of success it would see if it came out today rather than in 1994. 

Like all the best records, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain offers something different on every track while still maintaining enough musical continuity to tie everything together. It’s an album of dualities. There is the blend of familiar pop sensibilities with something a little stranger and more chaotic, similar in theory to what Nirvana had accomplished in the years prior but in a very different manner. On top of that, Malkmus nails the art of balancing earnestness with his trademark wit. 

The combination of these factors helps the album stand out, but being interesting doesn’t automatically make something truly great. The songs have to be good and stand the test of time, and they absolutely do here. From the playful opening notes of “Silence Kid” to the cathartic outro in “Fillmore Jive,” Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is thoroughly engaging. Fitting of its Valentine’s Day release date, it’s an easy record to fall in love with. Thirty years after Pavement unleashed their sophomore album upon the world, it’s still winning over new listeners and will continue to do so. 

Nick Miller is a freelance writer from Ypsilanti, Michigan, primarily writing about the world of professional wrestling. He also enjoys playing music, reading, tabletop RPGs, and logging Letterboxd entries (AKA watching movies). You can find him on X at @nickmiller4321 or on Instagram at @nickmiller5678.

Madi Diaz – Weird Faith | Album Review

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ANTI-

One of my favorite things to do when I was young was snoop through my older siblings' rooms when they weren't home. I got to see what was important to them by sifting through their junk drawer, seeing a different side of the people I had spent my whole life around. To this day, I have a vivid memory of reading my sister’s diary, quickly skipping through pages and reading short sections at random. I'm embarrassed to admit that even writing about this memory is making my heart beat through my chest as if I am about to get caught by my parents. That sense of sneaking around, reading things you shouldn’t, and glimpsing into the inner workings of someone’s brain is also how I feel when I listen to Weird Faith, the fifth album from Madi Diaz. 

I only recently found Madi Diaz’s music during the rollout of Weird Faith, and it only took a few seconds of listening to the album’s lead single, “Same Risk,” to know that she was making music that I would enjoy sitting down and engaging with on a deeper level. In addition to serving as the album’s lead single, “Same Risk” is also the opening song of Weird Faith, and it fills that role wonderfully as the introduction to Diaz’s style. The very first verse of the song had my eyes wide and feeling like a bit of a prude for being so taken aback.

I'll let you try on all my dirty thoughts
If you lay in my bed, I know we're gonna have sex
It'll happen so fast, make a suicide pact
And you can't take that back

On its own, the first thirty seconds of the song felt like an attempt at “shock value.” Phrases like “suicide pact” feel almost gratuitous, but after the pre-chorus opens up and we leave that first verse behind, it becomes clear that Diaz’s songs have more than enough substance and meaning to warrant my discomfort. 

Madi Diaz writes clever and concise songs about love and life in ways that are brand new to me. I found myself grinning every time I would connect the dots in my head to understand the concept of each song. Typically, I'm not much of a lyrics guy, so I'm not one to think about all the possible interpretations of a song in the first place, but Diaz’s songwriting stands so tall in the forefront of these tracks that it's impossible to ignore.

“Get To Know Me” is a prime example of Diaz breathing new life into a common trope. It’s a song of pointed self-depreciation that reminds me of various Willy Nelson cuts like “Touch Me,” “Am I Blue?,” and “Half A Man.” This is a style of song I love because it allows the artist to balance out this crushing self-analysis with impressive self-awareness. 

Have you met when I'm belligerent?
I might make you cry
Have I introduced insecurity yet?
Wish I could tell you why

That back and forth brought yet another smile to my face, giving and taking all at once. 

I set out to write this review during a flight from Knoxville to Denver and back. My first listen of the album began the minute I sat down in my little blue aisle seat. I got out my phone and proceeded to tap away for three hours there and another three on the way back. As dumb as I looked hunched over in seat 19B, smiling to myself, there were a handful of spots in this album that took me out of my state long enough to straighten my back and face. Some of these moments were musical, like the muted guitar strumming in “Everything Almost,” which was tough to listen to. There’s also “God Person” and “For Months Now,” where echoing vocals rang against sparse production, feeling a little too over the top on such intimate songs.

While the first ten songs of Weird Faith remind me of flipping through my sister's diary, the last two tracks come together for a freeing resolution that sends the listener off with a bit of hopefullness. This whole album addresses what it’s like to exist in a relationship as imperfect people, to come together with someone else who’s just as messed up in their own ways, and to acknowledge that. If the first ten songs are the challenges, then the title track works as a mantra that counters and consoles each challenge found in the preceding songs. “Weird Faith” is ultimately a reminder against becoming calloused in heartbreak and holding onto an optimism, or faith, of the good to be found. 

‘Cause every love brings a lesson
And I'm gonna be tested
So I'm gonna have a heart of gold
And I'm gonna have weird faith

After arriving at the album’s thesis statement in the penultimate track, Diaz adds a needed dose of substance and reality with the placement of “Obsessive Thoughts” as the closer. After a record of intimate thoughts and honest over-shares, Diaz builds waves of big energy at the beginning of this song, unlike anything that preceded it. I found the highest peak of the album here in the last song, which surges to a wailing height and then drops off into silence, ending even quicker than it started. We get to hear Diaz’s voice waver a little in the softer flourishes between cymbal crashes. I’m imagining that we are hearing the toll from multiple takes of this grand finale, and I really love the inclusion of that waiver. 

Madi Diaz gives us insight into her heart through masterfully crafted songs. She tells us stories about herself in ways I have not heard done before. I love it when I am able to notice even a sliver of the amount of work that went into making a piece of art, which made listening to Weird Faith a lot of fun. 

Our anxieties don't disappear once we figure out what helps to tamp them down. “Obsessive Thoughts” on its own is a tough place to be, but thankfully, we have our weird faith to help us along our way. 

Kirby Kluth grew up in the suburbs of Houston but now lives in Knoxville, TN. He spends his time thinking about motorcycles, tennis, and music. You can follow him on Instagram @kirbykluth.