Rapid Fire Reviews: Steadfastly Indie

An extremely busy time for me is finally settling down and I'll have time to focus on a lot of records I've wanted to review over the last month or two through rapid fire reviews. While there is still a ton of exciting indie music coming out on a weekly basis in 2021 it is also worth looking back at some of the staples of the genre whether in the 2010's or 2000's to see what they've been up to recently. 

Draw Down The Moon - Foxing

I've always had a weird relationship with Foxing, seemingly be drawn to the albums that most people are least impressed by. While they're debut is certainly solid I though the follow-up Dealer impressively embraced post-rock fusion in a way that felt more instrumentally impressive than most indie rock bands were capable of. This is why I was surprised to feel to meh about the bands previous record Nearer My God in 2018. Regardless I was willing to engage with the band given the clear talent in their line-up and the fact that they seemed to be promoting the record pretty hard. Just one track in and I felt like the record had hooked me with the roaring opener 737 which transitions from a lackadaisical albeit emotional indie rock cut into a harrowing, explosion of heavy rock instrumentation and screamed vocals. The band is certainly willing to take artistic risks with their sound, but after this point on the album they start to get more inconsistent in their execution. One of the things that most struck me was just how much the embody some of their contemporaries. Second track Go Down Together is a dead ringer for a Manchester Orchestra track, so much so that I think you could clearly fit it into that bands album from earlier this year. The band is also much, much more willing to embrace the aesthetics and songwriting of pop music which was forecasted by a couple of my least favorite singles which can masquerade as edgier Chainsmokers songs. On the flip side of this is my favorite of the singles Where The Lightning Strikes Twice a Killers-esque heartland rock anthem with a simple but high reaching hook that I thoroughly enjoy. While Draw does have a handful of highlights it is extremely inconsistent and the bands ability to diversify and in many cases simplify their sound result in a record whose most extravagant moment are its best, but not an album I would describe as being very extravagant. 5.5/10

Harmonizer - Ty Segall

Ty Segall is one of the more prolific voices in indie rock which makes it hard to keep up with both his solo work and his numerous side projects. I've always been able to at least keep track of his solo studio discography which has erupted with over a dozen entries in just over a decade. That doesn't mean that he doesn't find a way to make his records distinct, while Harmonizer turns down some of his trademark distortion it features a sound that is still sonically heavy. The record has a classic rock flare to it but uses the full depth of its mix to make for bassy hard-hitting moments. Ty continues to sound like an incredibly cool alien in his eerie occasionally almost cult like vocal performances and delivers a number of strong hooks across the album, particularly in the first half. While I think the flowery language helps describe the records thesis statement, simpler words are required for it's execution. This thing fucking rips. Track after track features driving riffs, huge drums and catchy hooks. While not ll songs are equal and the record has an extremely singular focus, at just 40 minutes I'm comfortable with it existing in that space entirely. Ty has been a reliable name for indie rock greatness for quite a while and that doesn't change a bit with Harmonizer. 7.5/10

The Golden Casket - Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse is obviously a legendary indie band, you can't take that away from Isaac and the boys. After a pretty prolific run of great records in the late 90's and early 2000's the band slow down their releases pretty significantly with only three records coming in the last 14 years. Despite all the praise I have for the bands discography I was surprisingly not all that excited for this record. Between a couple singles I didn't love, a lot of weird interviews the band did in the last few months and the fact that I thought the last Modest Mouse album was just okay I really wasn't sure what to expect. At the records best moments it is a watered down version of what originally made the band compelling at least in their era as a commercial act. The kooky refrains, unconventional song topics and rustic instrumentation occasionally comes together for some decent tracks. Unfortunately the record has both a number of failed experiments which go over quite poorly, and a handful of tracks that go so accessible it's unbearable. While there are flashes of what I've always loved about Modest Mouse, it requires listening to a lot of bad ideas and incredibly underwhelming songs to get those highlights. Pair this with almost all the songs even the good ones dragging on for an average of a few minutes longer than they really should and this is quite the exhausting listen. 4/10