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.
Cooper Wolken "Chapters"
Due June 9th via Earth Libraries, Cooper Wolken’s debut solo album Chapters translates the duality of darkness and sublime beauty with intimate personal vignettes. This collection of songs, written across 2018 and 2019, are tied closely to moments in his relationships and personal life, but all point to something universal. Realizing he’d accrued an album’s worth of new music, Wolken brought together guitarist Steven van Betten, bassist Marcus Högsta, drummer Nick Hon, and trumpeter/producer Louis Lopez to round out his compositions. The group set up camp at Theo Karon’s Hotel Earth, cramming an album’s worth of tracking into a weekend. The resulting Chapters honors that familial coziness, a record at once diaristic in its familiar warmth and profound in its resonant emotionality.
Big Blood "First Aid Kit"
While any fan of the band will tell you that no two albums sound very much alike, First Aid Kit displaying for the first time their affinity for the emotional effects of bands like The Cure, Bauhaus and The Clean, there’s a clear thread throughout all their records. First, there’s Kinsella’s voice, which pivots from upbeat fun to pure dread, presumably based on how she was feeling that day she recorded. Secondly, Mulkerin’s production preserves layers of could-have-beens by keeping the ghostly presence of past takes alive in the background of tracks like subliminal thoughts. Their songs achieve the double satisfaction of being immediate, catchy and memorable, while also revealing inner depths at repeated listens. Some of the best experimental music is cloaked as mundane.
First Aid Kit was recorded entirely at the family’s home onto 1” eight-track tape. It achieves the magic of capturing a moment and making a lasting impression. There aren’t many family bands, and there’s definitely no other band like this.
Surprise Chef "Friendship EP"
Since the release of Surprise Chef’s 2022 album, Education & Recreation they have been touring across the US, Europe, and Australia selling out shows and cementing themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Releasing three albums and a string of successful 7” singles since 2019, their output is nothing short of prolific and they show no signs of slowing down with the announcement of their new Friendship EP.
Friendship is a six song 12” EP that picks up where the last album left off and pushes their sound in new directions as they take on different energies and make them their own. The EP opens with “Rosemary Hemphill”, a gorgeous yet haunting tune that takes the listener through a myriad of musical changes and moods. “Friendship Theme” is a bouncy and energetic number with an infectious and driving topline that is sure to move dancefloors around the globe. “Over The Moon” is pure mood music that puts Surprise Chef’s restraint and tasteful use of space front and center while “Spiky Boi” is a frantic upbeat number drenched in percussion and keyboards.
With a year of heavy touring plans in front of them in 2023 this EP will bridge the gap while they write and record their next album due out in 2024.