Lav's Music Corner

For this bulky rapid-fire reviews segment I gathered together 5 bands who to varying degrees of commercial success and critical acknowledgment, occupied the blog-driven world of indie and alternative rock in the late 2000s. Many of their contemporaries have fade, but these five are still going strong to extremely varying degrees of success in 2024.  All Hell  - Los Campesinos! Verbose indie-punk outfit Los Campesinos have been quiet with studio albums since 2017, but their presence has never faded. Whether that's due to the many bands who are obviously influenced directly by their vibrant, youthful sound and lyrical snark, or because they dropped an EP a few years ago and some compilation material since then, the band still feels much more relevant than others from their era. I was on board with this new record right out of the gate when I heard the fantastic lead single Feast Of Tongues . It sees the band channeling their righteousness into pinpoint catchy songwriting with nu...

5.  BACK ON  - SBTRKT SBTRKT has kinda been on one recently, that's something I bet you didn't expect to hear in 2024. Despite what I thought was a huge miss with THE RAT ROAD  last year I've enjoyed a number of the singles that have followed in the wake of it. This is another pretty direct embrace of sunny summery house music but it's consistently delightful throughout.  Listen 4.  Lies Lies Lies  - Morgan Wallen "Lies lies lies, eyes eyes eyes" is a lyric that's below Morgan Wallen's pay grade, let's start with that. While he can be one of the most obnoxious artists in music when he's coming with ego, but he's still an earnest conceptualizer of songs. This is a vulnerable cut where he gives in to the numerous lies he tells himself and others about having moved on from a woman no longer in his life.  Listen 3.  kms  - Los Campesinos! The first single from their new record might be the best Los Campesinos song I've heard in 15 years, bu...

What a great week for new singles, let's get into it. 5.  New World  - Tindersticks According to Tindersticks themselves, this is a shift into a more poppier and accessible direction. Given this less-than-4-minute edit from the band is still a distinctly composed swaying chamber ballad it's not like they're exactly making an Imagine Dragons song or anything. But I see what they're going for and despite a slow start I appreciate where the song eventually ends up.  Listen 4.  Joker  - Porches Porches got my attention earlier this year with the great single Rag  which is probably why I was so open to this deeply strange follow-up. This weird indie-slacked jam that seems to meander through weird lyrics about getting a dog and kissing him on the mouth. I know it may not exactly sound enticing but there's something so effortlessly smooth about the songs rambling demeanor that I find pretty captivating.  Listen 3.  Oh No!  - The Decemberists This is...