EP Reviews: Channel Tres, Kelly Lee Owens, Party Hats

Real Cultural Shit EP - Channel Tres

Channel Tres is an artist I've been trying to get into for a long time because a lot of my friends who are more casual about their music diets absolutely adore him. Despite that, I never really found much in either of his studio albums or even his essential 2018 self-titled EP. But that didn't mean I was going to give up on his sound, primarily because I've seen some pretty overwhelming praise sent the way of his single 6am which appears on this EP. One thing I will say for this record is I think the quality of the instrumentals has improved. Channel Tres has always been a genre-blurring project and there are elements of dance, funk, soul, and even some pop and electronica in the mix here but I think they sound better than on previous projects. Unfortunately, I think too many of these songs fails to stick the landing compositionally, delivering about one tik tok's worth of catchy refrains before playing it out in a very awkward way in routine fashion. For this reason I found the more reserved deep cuts much more appealing than the dancier lead singles. Big Time is easily the highlight with infectious chanted refrains and a great little instrumental kick, though I'm also a fan of the classic swagger of the opening track Sleep When Dead. Unfortunately, this is just another Channel Tres outing that I don't really get. Even though it maintains a positive and dancy vibe throughout the more I pay attention to the details the less impressed I am and I think there are a lot of artists aiming for a similar blend of styles and ending up with something much more interesting. 5/10

LP8.2 - Kelly Lee Owens

This is a collection of leftover songs from the recordings of Kelly's previous album LP.8 which I wasn't head over heels for but it never really left my mind. The shift she made into something more synthetic and mechanical was a really interesting one and I said at the time it was a sound I could see her having success with going forward. If anything the songs on this project lean into it even further with opening track Rituals serving up creeping ambience which is slowly overtaken by chaotically warped drums and electronic whirring as it goes on. I'm also quite fond of the next track Moebius whose refrain is genuinely kind of an earworm that has really stuck with me and reminds me of frequent a frequent collaborator of the producer of these songs, Jenny Hval. While I think the sweeter refrains and natural sounds of closing track Find Our Way are a bit out of place with the rest of the project I still come away from this thing enjoying it every time. I know these are just leftovers and not necessarily indicative of where Kelly is going next but it has certainly instilled me with more optimism as these tracks, the first two in particular, are even better than much of what appeared on LP.8. While nothing is guaranteed, I'm very glad that these songs saw the light of day as I like them quite a bit. 7.5/10

Autobiographic Autopsy - Party Hats

Party Hats are a Texas screamo project that I first caught onto last year with the release of their Fatima album and they've turned around pretty quickly with the release of this EP less than a year later. While it is a shorter project, it's only by a few minutes given that two of the band's longest songs to date bookend this project. If you're unfamiliar with the band going into this EP you can expect a very midwest emo-inspired take on screamo with the twinkly guitars and technical proficiency that come alongside that term. It doesn't take long for all of the band's stylistic motifs to tap in on the opening track New Tricks Off The Table though I wouldn't call it a highlight as it shares some VERY strong similarities with other songs from groups operating in this style. In fact, that's an issue that sort of comes up often on the project. Not that I was hoping the band would find some kind of gimmick to separate or isolate them from their contemporaries, there just isn't much in the vocals or instrumentation here that sets them apart despite the quality of the performances all around. The best song on the project is definitely Belly Up whose parallel stopping and starting of the refrains and instrumentation is extremely endearing and sets up for the project's hardest-hitting moments. I also just adore the deterioration of the vocals as the song goes on sounding purely animalistic by the end of it. Because of how impressive some of the performances on this album are, I think Party Hats has immense potential. But right now I just have a bit of trouble distinguishing them from most of their contemporaries. Going forward I'm looking for something that is defining for the band whether that be thematically or sonically because if they apply their talent to a unique lane they have the ability to make something amazing. 6.5/10