Rapid Fire Reviews - Lets Get Indie With It
Between two busy release weekends I wanted to take the time to really quickly get my thoughts out about a couple of indie records that have been turning heads in the past few months. I was hoping to do a full length review of some of these but with even more high profile indie releases on the horizon I wanted to get them out quickly while they are still more or less relevant. Enjoy <3
Spirit of the Beehive are a Philly based indie outfit that I've heard mentioned in passing a few times over the years and this is actually their 4th album. I saw this thing turning heads and getting some pretty good reviews when it first came out so I gave it a listen as well as some of their other work. One thing that is immediately obvious about this record going into it is that the band will unashamedly bounce between all different kinds of genres and sounds with ease. Even within the same song they are dabbling in harsh experimental rock sounds then all of a sudden jump into something indie folk flavored before ending off on a sweet dream pop like passage. There are no doubt elements of that sonic approach that come off as very gimmicky and unnecessary but there is also a surprising amount of versatility on display as the band jumps fluidly between these sounds and pulls many of them off quite well. My favorite points on this record come when the band is playing it kind of loose and very psychedelic, the occupy quite a lot of space in these tracks but it feels blissful rather than messy. The instrumentation across the album is generally impressive but there are also moments where the band seems to be tripping over themselves trying to fill the mix with as much noise as possible when it really isn't necessary. Generally speaking the vocals are often taking a backseat on the record with refrains often short and spaced apart with the exception of a few tracks, which is fine since I don't see them as being the most impressive part of the bands formula. Generally while the record shows off some great raw talent it is incredibly inconsistent often even within its songs. The band has definitely won me over in terms of paying attention to what they do going forward and there are absolutely some highlights here, but narrowing down exactly what their sound is will help a lot in crafting songs more suited for them. 6/10
New Long Leg - Dry Cleaning
Dry Cleaning are a British post-punk band that I have had my eyes on for a while for a couple reasons. Firstly being that they play a very nostalgic brand of Joy Division channeling post-punk, but frontwoman Florence Shaw delivers spoken word type vocals over top of it. I envisioned this bands capacity to create a Life Without Buildings like masterpiece especially once I heard Jon Parish was producing their debut album. The first thing I'll say about the album is the instrumentally it is doing a very faithful job of executing what made that classic post-punk sound so infectious. From the methodical drumming the hazy guitar tones the instrumental passages on this record are inviting at their most reserved and exciting at their most frontal. Even with most of these songs not having conventional hooks or standard refrains the instrumentals feature extremely memorable reoccurring moments throughout. I was surprised to find that it was on the lyrical end where I found most of my complaints because I think both of the singles do a really good job of presenting the vocals in a really interesting way. The narrative focus is just so often not here at all and for the vocal performance to be as indulgent as it is, the lyrics are very important. I have less of a problem with the tracks that use constant metaphors to assemble something relatively coherent as I do with the tracks that are so painfully literal they sound like Mark Kozelek tracks but not nearly as observational. As far as the actual vocals themselves go I'm not blown away but I also don't think that's the point. When the refrains are well written and compelling Florence is lulling the listener in with her reserved almost meditative performances. There are some absolutely killer tracks across this record that flash a ton of potential for the band, but I also can't ignore some major misses and inconsistencies from a songwriting standpoint. I still think this is a pretty essential listen for post-punk fans in 2021. 6.5/10
So this one definitely snuck up on me. Arab Strap is a Scottish indie act who came to prominence in the 90's with a very methodical pseudo-slowcore sound. The bands last album came out in 2005 and I really didn't even know that they had reformed until seeing this record randomly dropping one day. Obviously the records most defining feature is Aidan Moffat's extremely Scottish vocals which can be absolutely snarling as he delivers gritty, uncompromising lyrics. What I'll say about his vocals is that on some of the darker tracks here he completely takes over delivering this harrowing style or poetic lyricism that is totally enthralling. But there are also a number of tracks that take a little bit more of a philosophical approach with sweeter instrumentation and more singing and they are generally nowhere near as engaging. The subject matter of the record is often extremely serious in nature and the sound fits that even if the tracks can start to blend together sonically while still standout out thematically. That's really my biggest complaint about the record is that the songs that stand out are just as often doing so for the wrong reasons as they are the right ones. I like the slow developing song structures and some of the very subtle electronic instrumentation but that is pretty much a one trick pony across the record, and when it does wander more instrumentally it tends to be in a less satisfying direction. With these 11 songs running nearly 50 minutes the record is definitely a taxing listen if you go from start to finish even to somebody like me who is very familiar with slowcore far more indulgent than this. 6/10
