Rapid Fire Reviews: Indie Sub-Genres with Dry Cleaning, Broken Bells & Turnover

Stumpwork - Dry Cleaning

Dry Cleaning dropped a pretty hyped-up debut album last year that I thought was just okay and which barely cracked my Top 100 albums of the year list. I wasn't surprised to see the band back so quickly given that they still have some hype to capitalize on and do feel like they have a genuinely youthful and creative spirit to them like so many of their burgeoning post-punk contemporaries. In fact, after hearing the singles I was excited enough for the record that I planned on doing a full review of it but never got around to it due to a busy release weekend. Singles like Anna Calls From The Arctic, Gary Ashby and in particular my favorite Dry Cleaning song to date No Decent Shoes For Rain forecasted the band further sinking into the methodical darkness of post-punk which excited me quite a bit. Unfortunately, I can say for the second time in as many years that I wasn't as impressed with the deep cuts here as I hoped I would be. On their debut album where I mostly had a problem with the aimless refrains and lack of much being said that really grabbed my attention but Stumpwork doesn't have that problem. The vocals are much improved here and even when these songs are sonically boring they almost always come paired with something either thematically compelling or just flat-out funny to say. The bigger issue I have is with the instrumentals which don't really commit to that turn for a darker palette that I was anticipating, it's more like a turn for plainer. So much of the instrumentation is just politely tapping away in the background and while the occasional memorable riff or on the second half of the record random sax interpolation does come in and provide some interest, there's way too much time on this record spent without much to grab onto instrumentally. While there are exceptions like the closing track Icebergs which is a personal favorite of mine, for the most part, the instrumentation here is holding back some really interesting songwriting. The record certainly isn't bad and I went into it already knowing there were a number of big highlights, but it does still feel like a bit of a letdown and like Dry Cleaning are still yet to really reach their potential. 6.5/10

Into The Blue - Broken Bells

This is another record where the singles did a lot of heavy lifting in terms of getting me excited for the record. The combination of James Mercer and Danger Mouse has produced a great record before, but it's been 12 years since their self-titled and the 2014 follow-up was a substantial letdown. Even though Danger Mouse has had a pretty good stretch of material in recent years I was still skeptical, especially considering what The Shins have sounded like in their most recent rendition. But after hearing We're Not In Orbit Yet and Saturdays I was really starting to believe that this record could be something. Both tracks have the combination of reserved gentle indie rock with that air of spaciness and catchy refrains that make them completely irresistible. Another thing that helped is that the record kicks off with an opening title track that extrapolates on pretty much those exact promises and pairs with Orbit to get the record off to a really good start. I will say I'm still a bit mixed on the record's other big single Love On The Run. While the group vocals and soaring key phrases can be pretty irresistible I also think the 7-minute runtime is beyond indulgent for what the track has to offer. One thing I'm happy to report is that the record's deep cuts are far more exciting than on the previous Broken Bells record. Even though I'll admit that there are some further indulgences like the second half of The Chase I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the jangly spacious indie rock the record had to offer throughout. In one sense this album does quite a bit that will be very familiar to indie fans and I could imagine someone's biggest complaint about it being a failure to stand out with a distinct sound or sonic palette. While that is partially true I think Broken Bells deserve more credit for the style they've crafted which I continually refer to as spacey indie rock, but there's more to it than just that. Even after a number of listens to the record all the way through most of these songs haven't faded on me, if anything repetition only further brought out what I like about them, and about this record as a whole. 7.5/10

Myself In The Way - Turnover

If you know Turnover it's likely for their already modern classic 2015 album Peripheral Vision, which has the reputation it does for good reason. Their musical transition from the world of emo music into the more expansive dream pop style that would go on to define them gave the band a very unique demeanor among their contemporaries and garnered them a big fanbase quickly. Despite being a part of that fanbase myself I haven't been crazy about anything Turnover have done since, not that it's been bad but it falls far short of how special their peak is. But some of the singles from this record particularly got my attention, unsurprisingly highlighted by the title track which has garnered quite a bit of fan attention for its vocal manipulated lead melodies and bouncy dream pop sound. Even though Wait Too Long was the only other single I really liked from the bunch, I was still excited to see just how much the band was going to follow this series of synth-heavy indie rock cuts while making heavy use of vocal manipulation along the way. Unfortunately, after a somewhat promising start, this record falls off hard and never really recovers. Whether it's the pair of underwhelming singles right in the middle of the record or the trio of overly indulgent synth rock jams that wander around for much of the record's back half there just isn't much that I can pick out and really enjoy. It's a shame because I do think there is some promise to the premise of the album that the band occasionally hits on when they deliver a particularly sweet musical passage now and again. But the songwriting and the thoroughly tame performances and mixing hold it back from almost all of its potential. While I probably will continue to check out Turnover records going forward, they feel further and further from their peak with pretty much every new release. 4.5/10