Lav's Music Corner

Maruja are an English post-punk outfit that I've been paying a lot of attention to recently. They represent the newest addition to an ever-growing string of recent acclaimed European post-punk acts and approach the sound with a raw fury and political edge that's unmatched by any of their contemporaries. Like those contemporaries, the band is also off to a red-hot start to their careers with a trio of EPs already under their belt. The first of which, Knocknarea , blew my mind a few years ago. Now the band is back to blow it all over again with a razor-sharp, righteous, and pummeling debut album.  The first half of Pain To Power sports two singles I loved, but not before the ripping opener “Bloodsport.” The track hits the ground running with explosive punky instrumentation and undeniably grimy lyrical themes. By the time the sizzling saxophone pops up on the hook, I'm already fully bought in. The other shorter cut on the first half of the record is the single “Saoirse.” It...

Pile are a long-running, Boston-based indie rock band who have crossed over into other genres like post-punk throughout a pretty versatile career. I've touched on the band occasionally but never in a full review, something I knew I would have to amend after hearing the excellent trio of singles that preceded  Sunshine And Balance Beams . Even though the full record wasn't quite everything I hoped it might be, it still sports some of the best songs of Pile's already long and storied career.  That trio of singles pops up in the record's middle section, and what a run it is. "Bouncing In Blue and "Uneasy" are a stunning back-to-back punch. "Blue" has a brooding and plodding introduction that contrasts wonderfully with the high register singing. Even though the composition wanders around a lot, it manages to keep up its momentum and pay everything off with a satisfying finale. "Uneasy" deploys one of many great lyrical moments on the album...

Review by Lavender: Wet Leg is an English post-punk and indie rock outfit that first debuted back in 2022 to pretty enormous praise from critics. Their tongue-in-cheek revitalization of vintage post-punk struck a chord with a lot of people, myself included. I still love songs like their breakout hit "Chaise Lounge," and my personal favorite "Angelica." But when their debut album as a whole came out, I was a lot more mixed on it than most. But even then, I had a lot of excitement for the band's potential. Though it took a little longer than I anticipated, their sophomore album pays off in pretty much every way I was hoping for.  The singles for this album are among my favorite Wet Leg songs to date, none more than “catch these fists.” It's the perfect combination of the band's punchy energy with their unmistakable humor. Rousing drums on the hook are wrapped around an absolutely irresistible chorus, and their baiting calls for a fight are hilariously dry...

Rather than locking in on a super-specific genre of experimental rock, this time we're just going to do a sweep of several already difficult-to-define records from under that umbrella, enjoy.  Lower  - Benjamin Booker Even though I'm not a particularly bit fan of Benjamin Booker's first two album's in the 2010s, I went into Lower  all the way back in December with genuine hype. That's because he had made a few notable appearances on various billy woods projects where he slotted into the world of the mysterious rapper nicely. Additionally, one of billy's frequent collaborators, Kenny Segal, normally a hip-hop focused producer, is on board for wall to wall production on Lower . That all came together on singles like the solid "SAME KIND OF LONELY" and the even better "SLOW DANCE IN A GAY BAR" where Segal's production gave Booker's muted rock stylings a nocturnal and hypnotic boost that I found pretty infectious.  Lower  gets off to a pr...

Review by Lavender: Viagra Boys are a Swedish post-punk band who began a crawl up to critical darlings in the late 2010s. They broke through with a grimy, guttural intensity to their music and a lyrical style that gives new meaning to the word bizarre. The band had improved with every single release leading up to their third album,  Cave World , in 2022 . I'm still a HUGE fan of that record and its ability to weave together a coherent narrative about the dumbest and most degraded parts of society through a series of stories that are all kind of about being de-evolving to a monkey. That's the kind of shit you're getting into with this band. For that reason, I was pretty excited for this record, and even though the band doesn't quite one-up their excellent predecessor, I'm still very happy with what they delivered.  This album gets off to an absolutely remarkable start with its trio of singles reminding me exactly why I enjoy them so much in the first place. First up ...

These EPs are all just a lil bit scary, but that's okay because more importantly they're all also varying degrees of good.  Living Is Easy  EP - Agriculture Agriculture is a west coast black metal outfit that's signed to The Flenser, all of which basically guaranteed that I was going to like them before I ever heard a single song. That crystalized into a debut self-titled album last year that I thought was solid and one I was looking forward to the follow-up to. I didn't expect that it was going to come so soon in an EP just a year later and I also didn't expect it to be teased with singles I loved as much as the two they delivered. Opener Living Is Easy  feels triumphant in the same way some of the best songs on their debut did. It has punishing intensity in the crashing drums and guttural wails across the middle section. But the song is weirdly bright in the spaces between in a way that makes its throttling intensity feel like it isn't just there to punish lis...

It's technically not even March yet and I already have like 50 albums from this year that I want to review but haven't had the time for one reason or another. Hopefully I can really dig in on these rapid fire reviews and covering new albums as they come out and we're starting here with a few experimental rock records I've been listening to and hearing people talk about online.  The Overload  - Yard Act Yard Act is a band I first heard about last year when some of the numerous singles they dropped in the lead up to this debut album started spreading in post-punk circles. Because of how much of a renaissance the genre has been going through particularly in Britain right now, I've sort of kept my ear to the ground with the style. What separates Yard Act is apparently pretty quickly with their lead singers distinctive snarl and their off kilter style of songwriting and performing which serves as set-up for those overtly political messages. The most enjoyable part of the...

Priests are a D.C. post-punk band that broke through last year with their debut album Nothing Feels Natural  garnering praise from some indie fans and establishing a space for the group in the indie music environment. Review By Lavender: When I heard the sounds of Priests last year on their debut album it was clear to see that they had something here going for them. Their DIY aesthetic and willingness to experiment with their sound was something special but it didn't translate into much coherent songwriting as Nothing Feels Natural  came off as closer to a rehearsal tape than a debut album. But looking to the future I had a feeling Priests would improve and maybe even drop some essential indie material and while they have certainly improved, there are still some big steps to take.  There are two big takeaways from this album that are obvious in pretty much every song. The good thing to take away is that the bands lyrics are nearly always on point, whether the...

Xiu Xiu is a lot, and I mean that. The band blends genres from every reach of experimental music to make some extremely indulgent bastardizations of rock, electronica, goth and pop music. Despite collaborating with indie acts like Grouper and Michael Gira of Swans a surprising amount of indie fans never caught on to Xiu Xiu's presence until their 2010 album Dear God, I Hate Myself   a foray into video game based music using the Nintendo DS music maker app in their recording process. Getting a shoutout from The War On Drugs for their 2014 album Angel Guts: Red Classroom was the biggest stop on their way to 2016's Xiu Xiu Plays The Music Of Twin Peaks . A universally acclaimed covers album of the Twin Peaks soundtrack that set them up for a fantastic follow up in Forget and drew attention to frontman Jamie Stewart's solo instrumental project last year.  Review By Lav: I, like most people first heard of Xiu Xiu in 2010 and even then it was pretty clear to me that th...