Cory Hanson "Western Cum"
Western Cum (say it three times fast! Nope, doesn’t help) departs radically from the acoustic existentiell of Cory’s first two solo releases, torching their haunted dreamscapes by upping its heat to molten levels, six strings at a time. A darkly comic evisceration of the end of the American road; great tunes to modern dance along with, too.
Wye Oak "Every Day Like the Last"
From Pitchfork:
“Wye Oak spend as much time in gray areas as ever, cataloging moments of strife with restraint. The lyrics are personal and unspecific but mostly gesture towards wrestling with relationships, trying to locate acceptance in discomfort. A new song called “Repeat (If You Remind Me)” closes the album—a moment of relative peace in which Wasner resolves to find meaning in a fragile and fleeting existence. Wye Oak’s music has often been evocative for its malleability: Their songs could take place in spring or autumn, at rebirth or encroaching decay. As the duo navigates these in-between states—both in their personal lives and the trajectory of the band—Every Day Like the Last coheres into a short but resonant whole: a series of snapshots taken over a turbulent stretch of years.”
Cable Ties "All Her Plans"
The third album from Melbourne, Australia’s Cable Ties finds the trio of Jenny McKechnie, Shauna Boyle, and Nick Brown at their punchiest and most assured. The ferocious, kraut-influenced blend of post-punk and garage rock of Merge debut Far Enough remains, but McKechnie’s lyrics invite the listener closer than ever before.
The urgency and fury that have marked Cable Ties’ output thus far is more nuanced on All Her Plans. The unfettered rage of their calls to action remain—tackling subjects like broken mental healthcare systems and the burden of familial care that is largely placed on women—while holding space for gratitude, love, and acceptance.
All Her Plans is a breakthrough moment for Cable Ties. It is the sound of a group that is exhilarated to be making music together again, both a celebration of their resilience and a massive step forward into a future they can finally claim as their own.
Pardoner "Peace Loving People"
From Paste Magazine:
“Organized around skew-whiff pop hooks and hardcore-punk dynamism, Peace Loving People is a stream of Gen Z consciousness. It’s a therapy session in which many stones are overturned: relationships (romantic and canine); ambition and failure; drugs, lots and lots of drugs; the Second Amendment; big cities and small paychecks; the ever-shifting alternative landscape; the end of the world as we know it; whether we’ll be fine. Each topic is given equal attention and rubs up against the rest, just as in real life—just as in your Twitter feed.
Some of these subjects are tackled with the sardonic wit that characterized Came Down Different, such as when Freeland (co-guitarist/vocals) snarls, “You gotta change with the times / What else can you do? / Nice belief system, man / Did your mommy make it for you?” But others require a kind of melancholy reflection, an earnestness that we haven’t seen the group offer to this degree: “I got so much left to lose / Seems like I never learn a lesson / Unless the lesson leaves a bruise,” he sings on the crisp, poppy standout “Dreaming’s Free.” Striking a similar tone, “Rosemary’s Gone” may well be Breakup Song Of The Year, molding gnarled guitars and diaristic candor into an alluring, Wowee Zowee-esque puddle of pain (just like love..?).
Behind the pithy insights is pithy guitar music. Pardoner’s sound lives in the same world as peer bands Dumb, Dazy, 2nd Grade and Cheekface—those postmodern indie rockers whose love for acts like Lilys and Polvo lingers in their music in the way one’s accent reveals their origin but not their whole story. In other words, Peace Loving People is more than an amalgam of influences. Of course it is. Pardoner have been doing this a while now, and their confidence comes across in these more ambitious arrangements. Fast, loud and even obnoxious one minute; heartfelt and reposed the next.”