Trans Am "California Hotel (Thrill Jockey)"
I try to come up with original content for these blurbs, I really do. Sure, I check out the official press for the albums, but besides listening to them that’s all the research I do. Yet sometimes that pesky official press speaks to me on such a visceral level that I can’t help but quote it directly. And located in the press for Trans Am’s new album California Hotel (Thrill Jockey) hits so many of my specific likes that I just can’t help it. “On California Hotel, Trans Am borrowed ideas from My Bloody Valentine, John Carpenter, DAF, Led Zeppelin, Air, Sade and David Gilmore, among others. The result is an incredibly rich range of sounds that retain a pulsating energy.” I know for a fact that I have used every one of those bands as “sound alikes” in blurbs during my tenure. It’s a greatest hits of “sound alikes” in fact. I love this album. You love this album. Stop reading my plagiarism and start listening to the driving chaos of “Alles Verboten.”
Good Good Blood "Songs From Where I Live"
Written and recorded during the month of January in 2017, the proper full-length debut from Good Good Blood is something of a diary album. Known to his friends as James Smith, Good Good Blood has been self-releasing music for years before Team Love signed him onto the roster. Haunting, acoustic, sparse, emotive and beautiful. The Bon Iver vibes are strong with James, but his sound is singular; rooted in familiarity but still mysterious. Check out the round for one that is “Fallen Leaves.”
Charly Bliss "Guppy (Barsuk)"
Full of youthful vigor, jangly ‘90s guitars, candy-coated pop melodies, and vintage alt-rock touches, the debut album from Charly Bliss is gonna take you back. Guppy (Barsuk) finds the band 5 years into their career, finally prepared to recorded a full-length album after repeated false-starts. It was time well spent, as this is a rock and roll good time. Obviously influenced by the likes of Veruca Salt, Eva Hendricks’s squeaky vocals match perfectly with the Weezer-y pop strains and the modern production touches. Check out the build of “Percolator.”
The Black Angels "Death Song (Partisan)"
Austin’s psych-rockers The Black Angels are back with their first LP in 4 years! Death Song was written and recorded in 2016, during the endless misery that was the election cycle. This record is the dudes getting rid of all that nervous dread into some hard rocking, drug taking, road tunes. Full of buzz-y bass, rolling drums, and more garage hooks than… um… a garage full of hooks, but like for tools and stuff. You know what I mean. You are also gonna know what I mean when I say check out the Sonny and Cher meets Blue Cheer sounds of “Currency.”