album review: 'in league with dragons' by the mountain goats

...I mean, sometimes it's just too goddamn good to be true.

Granted, I think I would have been looking forward to this album regardless: when it comes to amazingly well-written singer-songwriter indie material, the Mountain Goats are long-running veterans, and seem to be taking this time in their careers to venture into the strange nooks and crannies that frontman John Darnielle finds interesting, not just as a fan but as someone looking to comment on those subcultures and eras. He did it in 2015 with pro wrestling and Beat The Champ, he elevated his game to a different dimension with Goths in 2017 - which, for the record, was my top album of that year - and in 2019, the new album was announced to be called In League With Dragons.

Look, I've said before that I'm a nerd, and by that I mean I've been playing Dungeons & Dragons for about fifteen years across multiple editions. I was a passing fan of wrestling at best, goth culture was something for which I've always felt a little on-the-outside-looking-in as much as I've appreciated it, but D&D and that brand of fantasy is formative for me, to the point where the stakes were raised before I even heard the album. Now I did trust that they'd do an excellent job - Darnielle is only growing as a writer and this is a band with the pedigree to do this justice - but I also knew that the reason Goths worked and was a little controversial was because of its subversive and deconstructionist side taken to the goth community, and given how close I've been to tabletop roleplaying, I wasn't sure I was ready for this. And I was also wary for the possibility that said dragons could well be a larger metaphor or idea - the track listing seemed to be placing at least chunks of the album in the modern era, which could mean anything. But regardless of those concerns... man, I was excited: so what did the Mountain Goats deliver on In League With Dragons?

video review: 'it's real' by ex hex

So I've had this for a few days... and I wish it was better. Still good, but after such a long wait, I really wanted this to be great.

Ah well - next up should be something I've been waiting to review all week, so stay tuned!

album review: 'it's real' by ex hex

...you know, it's going to be a cheap tagline repeated by many fans and critics following this group upon hearing that the album is dropping, but it's true: somehow it's real, we're getting another Ex Hex album!

Now for those of you out of the loop, Ex Hex is a scuzzy, garage-leaning, almost punk indie rock act fronted by Mary Timony, who you might know from Helium or especially in recent years from her involvement in Wild Flag, an all-too-brief project fronted by Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney that put out one project and then folded when Sleater-Kinney reformed. And honestly, I thought a similar fate was going to crop up for Ex Hex - Mary Timony pulled up Betsy Wright on bass and Laura Harris on drums and cut together a straightforward but critically adored album called Rips in 2014. Now I did review it five years ago, and while I was a bit cooler on it than most - Timony never quite wowed me as a frontwoman and there were some rough patches in the production - the hooks were phenomenal and the writing was great, which led the project to maintain some solid replay value as just a great three-piece rock act. But it's been five years - you'd think the group would strike when the iron was hot, especially with the critical acclaim, but we finally got a follow-up - so what did Ex Hex deliver on It's Real?

video review: 'remind me tomorrow' by sharon van etten

Okay, bit of weirdness today getting this all together (and filming was a living hell - stupid sirens), but looks like I'm on track here.

Next up... alright, let's handle James Blake, shall we? Stay tuned!

album review: 'remind me tomorrow' by sharon van etten

Before this album, it's been close to five years since Sharon Van Etten put out Are We There which I reviewed way back in 2014, a really damn good album that I didn't quite love as much as I wanted despite some sterling cuts - maybe it's just me, but I thought epic was just a shade stronger and more consistent. And I'll admit that for as much as I liked those songs, I've only gone back to Sharon Van Etten sporadically - which is more than 'not at all', but for as powerful of a singer as she is, I've still been waiting for her potential to coalesce and for her to really drive it out of the park, at least for me, and it's not like she's short of more prolific competition either.

Granted, it's not like she hasn't been busy - she got married, she had a kid, she did some acting work, she went back to school, that's a lot to cram into five years as well as record what many have described as her most lush and expansive project to date. And while I wouldn't say I was incredibly excited to cover this - the hype has been a long, slow boil - I wasn't about to let it slip past me, so what did we get from Remind Me Tomorrow?

video review: 'why hasn't everything already disappeared?' by deerhunter

And here we go... man, this was a mess. Enjoy?

album review: 'why hasn't everything already disappeared?' by deerhunter

So it's been a very long time since I talked about Deerhunter, at least on this channel in a formal review - I discussed Monomania in the very early days of my channel, but when it came to Fading Frontier in 2015, I actually teamed up with the Indieheads podcast to discuss the album at length... and yet somehow I wound up as the guy who was the stick in the mud who didn't really care much for the album.

And what's frustrating is that whenever I've listened to a Deerhunter album in recent years, I've come away with the understanding of exactly why a lot of critics adore this band... and yet it never clicks as well as so many of their peers. Don't get me wrong, there are projects in their back catalog I enjoy, but I struggle to put any of their albums on a pedestal in any respective year - Halcyon Digest might get close, but even then it's dicey. And what's exasperating is that it's never just been one thing: the most consistent frustration probably comes with frontman Bradford Cox's improvised song construction and persistently underwhelming nihilism, but when you factor in distinct production and tonal inconsistencies, it leaves me never quite liking or disliking a Deerhunter album in the same way. And coming off of Fading Frontier... look, it's not bad, but revisiting it highlights a lot of repeated lyrical issues from earlier albums and the more placid tone and instrumentation continues to show how that brand of mid-to-late-80s Americana has been done better elsewhere by a lot of acts in recent years. That said, I was curious about this new project, as buzz was suggesting more elaborate instrumentation could make this Deerhunter's answer to The National's High Violet - a comparison of which I was immediately skeptical because say what you will about that band, Matt Berninger can write cohesive songs and outside of their last album has consistently great production. But fine, I can appreciate more ambition, so what did we get from Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?

video review: 'shake the spirit' by elle king

So yeah, this was a letdown... eh, it happens?

Next up, well, let's continue burning through my backlog here, so stay tuned!

album review: 'shake the spirit' by elle king

So I'm going to say something a little strange here: I'm not sure Elle King was done any favours by 'Ex's And Oh's' becoming a hit.

Now on the surface this might sound crazy - most acts in rock, especially those who can can straddle the scuzzy lane between blues, alternative country and the indie scene, would kill for any crossover success, especially when it cracks the top 10. But that's part of my point: for a moment in 2015, Elle King seized the popular attention with a blend of retro sounds that almost screamed novelty while simultaneously plainly showing her influences, which many critics described as squatting firmly between Amy Winehouse and any slew of modern blues rockers with a fuzzy pickup and a fat groove, especially The Black Keys. But while I might be mostly fond of that blend of sound, it wasn't all that unique in the indie scene - especially if you looked towards country - and going back to her debut Love Stuff, I just wasn't as wowed as I wanted to be. Yeah, there were a few great songs - 'America's Sweetheart' was a pretty great barn-burner with its banjo - and I liked Elle King's vocal texture, but as a whole the album felt too polished and direct and the blown-out groove sections could get tiresome, and could have likely done well on the radio... in an era where there was a space on the airwaves for more than just one song from her, or indeed anything in these genres.

And given that we hadn't heard from Elle King since, I'll admit I was surprised when Patrons threw a ton of support behind her sophomore follow-up Shake The Spirit, which reportedly was trying a broader selection of sounds... which to me smacked of trying to maintain her identity while trying to recapture that retro magic again, which could be risky for maintaining cohesion. But hey, I wouldn't say no to another 'America's Sweetheart' and hopefully one of those styles managed helped her strike gold, so what did we get from Shake The Spirit?

video review: 'delta' by mumford & songs (ft. ARTV!)

So yeah, this was pretty interesting - I think the review might have wound up a bit clipped at points for time, but I think we still got our points across.

Next up, Muse and Anderson .Paak - stay tuned!

video review: 'nearer my god' by foxing

Yeah, I'm a little stunned I wound up liking this as much as I do... but yeah, it gets there SO well, and though late I'm happy I covered it - enjoy!

album review: 'nearer my god' by foxing

So over the past few months I think some folks have gotten the impression that I've been more harsh or negative than usual - and while it's true that I've found less albums that I'd say are easy fits for the best of 2018, let's flip the script a little bit and talk about a trend in indie rock that I've actually come to like a fair bit. See, as a part of the success of the third wave of emo in the 2010s, over the past few years we've seen an expanded wave of rock artists dig deeper into raw, emotive territory but harness a little bit more maturity and poise, splitting the difference between over-educated detachment and the painful realization so much of that will not save them anymore - don't look at me like that, we all get to that age!

And make no mistake, this is a thematic trend that might have been primed by the third wave of emo, but it's bled enough into indie rock and alternative rock that it's hard to not think the pretentious coffeehouse hipsters of the early 2010s are having midlife crises, from the wine-soaked breakdowns of the older guard like Josh Tillman and Matt Berninger to the over-educated angst of Will Toledo to the palpable angst of Deaf Havana and The Wonder Years. And somewhere in the middle, inhabiting an intricate blend of post-hardcore rage, post-rock atmospherics, and indie rock meticulousness, we have Foxing. And honestly, I should have tackled this band months ago, because from the reckless, ramshackle howling of their debut The Albatross in 2013 to the more intricate and reserved fragmentation of Dealer two years later, Foxing were definitely inhabiting this lane, and with their third album Nearer My God primed to blow everything up on steroids with their longest and most explosive project to date, I definitely wanted to take this in, so what did we get?

video review: 'last building burning' by cloud nothings

So yeah, this album was awesome - hard to tell how much traffic the review will wind up getting as we're dealing with indie rock that still seems a bit under the radar, but we'll see.

Next up, either Billboard BREAKDOWN or another great project that I can knock out quickly, so stay tuned!

album review: 'last building burning' by cloud nothings

Yeah, I won't lie, I was a little worried about this one.

See, I was among the few that actually seemed willing to get on-board with Cloud Nothings making a more accessible, borderline pop punk-friendly record in 2017 in Life Without Sound - no, it wasn't the razor-sharp explosion that characterized Attack On Memory which remains their best work, but I didn't expect that to return. And by hiring a second guitarist to flesh out the melodies, I actually found a lot to like on that project, an album that at least seemed wiling to push the band out of their comfort zone, both sonically and lyrically.

And yet given the rather mixed critical reception that project got, I wasn't surprised when buzz was suggesting the band was going to wrench their sound back into darker territory - and when I say 'dark', I mean hiring Randall Dunn, a producer most well known for Earth, Sunn O))) and Wolves In The Throne Room, the last being a black metal band. And when you hear that the band was intentionally looking to go back to the scuzzy, nastier era produced by Steve Albini... well, I had high hopes, but this might wind up as a very different animal than I was expecting. But hey, what did Cloud Nothings deliver on Last Building Burning?

video review: 'bottle it in' by kurt vile

So this was... honestly, kind of tiring to review, but I'm happy I got it out anyway. Enjoy!

Next up... hmm, let's see if I can kill two birds with one stone and cover both Open Mike Eagle and Cloud Nothings soon, so stay tuned!

album review: 'bottle it in' by kurt vile

It's hard not to feel like Kurt Vile is going in the exact opposite direction I hoped he would.

Or at the very least it's hard to say if he's playing to his strengths, because I've always been of the opinion that when the man feels fit to string his ideas together he can craft some fascinating songs with great hooks that I'll recommend to this day. Hell, I put one of his biggest singles 'Pretty Pimpin' on my year-end list of the best songs of 2015, and I stand by that - yeah, the songs might coil and meander but so long as the hook stabilizes it's some great indie rock. It's also why I tend to like his earlier, garage-inspired records more than his newer stuff - less complex and psychedelic, sure, but there's a visceral catchiness and core of tension to his best work I really do appreciate.

And yet that seems like the last thing on his mind, which can get frustrating for me because while the shaggy song construction and perpetually stoned demeanour might give some the impression of laziness, I've never bought that. I've read interviews with Kurt Vile and the impression I've got is closer to the guy in the room who is so smart he might operate on a different detached plane of existence, where you cling to moments with a hook or stable progression because it's a clue of what level he's on. But over the past two projects I've heard increasingly less desire to get there: b'lieve i'm goin down felt increasingly lethargic and his project with Courtney Barnett Lotta Sea Lice felt more like an extended jam session than a fully composed piece, and with buzz suggesting this record was even more obtuse... well, I wouldn't say I was thrilled, but I was curious. So okay, what did we get on Bottle It In?

video review: 'stardust birthday party' by ron gallo

Ugh... this was hard to talk about, because I really wanted to love this one, and it just didn't connect all the way through. It happens, though.

Next up... I think it's time I talk about A Star Is Born, so stay tuned!

album review: 'stardust birthday party' by ron gallo

So I wasn't expecting this.

Sure, when Ron Gallo came right the hell out of nowhere to blow my mind with the brilliantly witty, terrifically nasty album HEAVY META in 2017, I knew we were dealing with a very real talent that I was sure was going to throw me for a loop consistently, and when he followed it with the Really Nice Guys EP in January of this year which seemed to be an extended satire of the experience of the working musician, I knew that he would be have to be someone to watch. What I wasn't expecting was that Ron Gallo would have another project ready as early as this October, which I only assumed to be another slice of self-aware satire but buzz was suggesting was a much more gentle, introspective affair, blending in elements of funk and art rock... which yes, could indeed be very interesting, but given what I know about Gallo's delivery I wasn't sure this was a direction that'd really flatter him in comparison with the acerbic fire that stoked HEAVY META. Still, he's a fantastic songwriter, I really wanted to hear this as soon as I could, what did we get from Stardust Birthday Party?

video review: 'art of doubt' by metric

Yeah, it's the haircut, I know. Certainly not the sling - but hey, it's hard in those streets for a critic. :p

Anyway, I'm still working on polishing up that Vallendusk review and then Billboard BREAKDOWN - stay tuned!

album review: 'art of doubt' by metric

It's a common thing for critics like me who aren't constantly plugged into the hype cycle to say that we don't know what to expect for certain albums. And while in some cases it's just verbiage in the review to heighten anticipation, most of the time for me it's pretty genuine - if I think I know what's coming from a certain act, I'll tell you, for sure!

But with Metric... I just don't know at this point. The last time I covered the group was their understandably underappreciated 2015 album Pagans In Vegas, a pretty damn sharp satire of the mainstream pop music industry that kind of missed the mark when it came to writing that totally stuck the landing with their concept - a good record for sure, but not a great one and certainly one that didn't quite hold up to their releases in 2009 and 2012. But from there... I just wasn't sure what was coming. Emily Haines rejoined Broken Social Scene for a comeback record in 2017 as well as reforming her solo act Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton for an indie pop album that wound up on my year end list and was better than it had any right to be... also probably better than any individual Metric album, but that's a different conversation. So when you have that, and then she's returning to Metric for their longest album to date and the buzz was inconclusive surrounding what sound the band was taking up this time, I wasn't sure what Art Of Doubt was going to deliver, only with my hope that Haines would bring over her considerable writing heft and hooks from that solo album. So, what did we get on Art Of Doubt?