Rapid Fire Reviews: Debut Albums With The Last Dinner Party, Sprints, Tapir
Prelude To Ecstasy - The Last Dinner Party
Last year, one of the most talked about debut albums of the year was Chappell Roan's The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess. While I wasn't nearly as crazy about the record as most fans. seemingly all of those fans have immediately shifted directly into The Last Dinner Party this year. Because the appeal seems to have translated so vividly into yet another new artist I didn't want to miss the chance to cover this one in better time. One thing that translates over from Rise And Fall is the sheer drama of absolutely everything. The baroque pop instrumentation across the opening intro and even the early stages Burn Alive are reminiscent of The Anchoress at her most expansive or Marina at her most melodramatic. Moments like that are contrasted hard by songs like Caesar On A TV Screen which begins like an Angel Olsen ballad before bouncing into something much dancier. But even though I like the song it's an example of how the soaking melodrama and overwrought performances aren't always the right call for every moment. Beautiful Boy is one such moment where the track completely runs out of any momentum at all and then tries to recover with an elaborate string arrangement that ultimately falls short. An even more extreme example is My Lady Of Mercy which is just piles and piles of instrumentation and compositional shifts for a relatively short song without any refrains that are all that soaring or dramatic and it is just NOT equipped to handle all this.
On many of its best tracks the album is lyrically playful with gender roles. One of the most obvious examples is The Feminine Urge which again sounds indistinguishably like an Anchoress song and foregoes some of the melodrama for a better more straightforward presentation that I really appreciate. Sinner is one of the hardest rockers on the record with background chants of "pray for me, on your knees" over the chorus. The last thing I'll say about the record is a bit of a confession. I do not understand the band's breakout song Nothing Matters. To me, it's one of the most uninspired songs both lyrically and compositionally here and I would never voluntarily listen to it over the numerous HAIM songs it's obviously querying from. I understand Prelude To Ecstasy more than I ever did Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess. At its best moments, the album's verbose writing and baroque pop arrangements work together to craft an elevated pop style. Though the band occasionally over-indulges on moments that feel too thinly crafted to support their weight I can't help but admire the ambition. This is a good start for a band that I suspect I'll be hearing about a lot more going forward, even if its over-refined edges to often hold it back. 6.5/10
Letter To Self - SPRINTS
Sprints are the newest product from the always impressive City Slang Records and a band whose name I heard floating around a few times. But this new album, which is produced by Gilla Band's Daniel Fox, seemed to click with people right away in a major way. Listening to their sound it's easy to see why. Like the deep well of post-punk bands to have broken out in this decade so far like Dry Cleaning, Fontaines D.C., and Shame they bring a vibrant and youthful approach to the familiar sounds of the genre. But much like Fontaines D.C. my first listen of their new album seemed to suffer from a lack of precision. Take a song like Heavy, whose sonic palette absolutely lives up to the name. But on the songwriting front, it feels like it falls short both of achieving its most pointed narrative ambitions but also starts repeating refrains long beyond their welcome. I feel similarly about Adore Adore Adore which makes a pretty compelling point lyrically and makes use of the fascinatingly distinct vocals of the band's frontwoman. But on both the instrumental and songwriting front it's almost like the band only really has one card to play that works and they aren't really sure how to turn that into a fully compelling song.
But on the flip side of those issues, the band is sometimes capable of channeling their energy with lethal results. Cathedral is the most pointedly furious moment on the record and you can feel every bit of that spite. I love the way the wordy refrains unfold sounding like they have so much more to say but just not enough time. Unfortunately though, across the second half of the album the band seems to just lose their vitals entirely. From the desperately lame Literary Mind to some of the more regularly boring songs that surround it I can't say the deep cuts are doing much to help push the record in the right direction. The one highlight on the back end is Up And Comer which was actually the song that made me want to check this album out in the first place. Once again the vocals are a massive highlight here but it also features some of the most focused and venomous lyrics on the album as well. Maybe it's just because this sound has been bloated with so much good music recently, but a lot of Letter To Self isn't clicking with me. It reminds me in particular of the debut Dry Cleaning album, albeit without the high points reaching quite as high. Sprints have a ton of frenetic energy and untapped ambition, but where they aim it could use a lot of refinement. Despite the common pitfalls this debut album suffers from there's more than enough reason to pay attention to SPRINTS going forward. 5/10
The Pilgrim, Their God and The King of My Decrepit Mountain - Tapir!
Of the three debut albums included in this set Tapir!'s is the only one I was highly anticipating ahead of its release. The London folk outfit impressed me last year with some of the substantial teases towards this record and I was excited to hear the full vision of the album in its entirety. The three-part project is an experiment in loosely connecting theatrical narratives and whimsical detail-oriented indie folk. If that sounds like the kind of thing you might be into, I expect the album to live up to your expectations. Following a great introductory instrumental Disc 1 begins with an instrumental whose subdued drum machine and keys feel straight out of Radiohead's In Rainbows. The vocals across this album at numerous points really resemble the impressively distinct sound of weirdo pop band Everything Everything, something that consistently surprised and delighted me. There's also a splash of alt-j vocals in the mix as well if you pulled from some of their most stark ballads. The album also makes great use of the 6 different talented collaborators that make up the band's roster. From subtle instrumental shifts and additions to a variety of both lead and background vocal performances, this album has a consistently impressive amount of sonic tricks in its bag. The first disc keeps the highlights up with Shallow whose naturalistic instrumentation feels like the perfect pairing for its folklorish lyrics, and The Nether which sways with a bossanova-like bend but maintains an underlying eeriness that I find captivating.
Disc 2 doubles down on the eeriness with a sea-side spoken word introduction that becomes Broken Ark. The track is a wandering ramble that seemingly pays homage to some of the great languished singer-songwriters like Bill Callahan. What makes the song so compelling is the increased presence of string arrangements which breathe and swell as the song goes on really making the whole thing feel alive. Arguably some of that eeriness transitions into Eidolon but it's more the kind that comes naturally from reserved performances and lo-fi mixing. In between, Gymnopedie is a more focused singer-songwriter type effort that even reaches an inspiring and optimistic conclusion. I think it really takes its time getting going with build-up that isn't quite as compelling as a lot of the other songs here but it does eventually reach a compelling conclusion.
On Disc 3, Untitled is a more conventional indie folk outing. It kind of sounds like something Mac Demarco would do if his music was still allowed to be fun. The instrumentation here is absolutely irresistible with numerous vocal passages that are once again a dead ringer for Bill Callahan. My God has become the band's breakout song and it's easy to see why as it's one of the most accessible tracks on the record. Unfortunately, the more grounded lyrics that seem to be a kind of muddles critique of consumerism really stand out amid the more fantastical points elsewhere on the record. It's a decent song but I wouldn't call it a favorite. The album closes with the 7-minute mountain song which returns some of the keys from the very beginning of the album kind of out of nowhere. As you might expect it's one of the most indulgent moments on the album that isn't all that focused on making the most of every single moment it uses. Despite that, I think it's a fitting tailspin of a finale for this record.
Even after coming into the album with high hopes I'm incredibly impressed by what Tapir! deliver. My issues with the record are largely nitpicks and they're often incredibly contained. For the most part, this array of talented musicians continues to find ways to subvert expectations even as they adopt a myriad of recognizable styles as they do it. While stepping away from some of their most obvious influences may be how the band elevates their sound in the future, this is already a spectacular start. Fans of outside-the-box folk music or really any indie at large aren't going to want to miss this. 7.5/10
