Written by Louis Pelingen A year after their debut single, Half/Figurd locks in their brand of indie pop, nestling into their jangle and twee side ever since. It may sound familiar to those who are in the know of this style, but the cleaner bliss in their charming instrumentation, pleasant vocal delivery, and twee relationship writings work nonetheless, even if there is a thought where their style may run itself thin. Gemini (Gemini) is a test for this. This song sinks its emotions somewhere else, zooming to a child and her conflicting relationship with her mother as her abandonment leaves her reflecting on whether or not her mother even loved her and how it pulls up her insecurities of herself, showcased the most with “Does my mommy really love me / Or am I just her insane child?” and “Who am I? / I’m not birthed in the month of Gemini”. It’s a different spark in Half/Figurd’s usual lyrical shard, but now it’s heavier this time around. This also means that the composition also flips things a little as well. The vibes aim lower, the pacing is slower, and the grooves are a lot less propulsive amidst Kirsten’s gentle vocals and the band’s usual instrumental bliss from all the guitars and the synths. But like their past two singles, the band still does carry their jangle pop influences on their sleeves. For the most part, their knack in songwriting got interesting in this song as it incorporates odd terms as if a wordsmith picked them right out of a dictionary page while still retaining the emotional core of the track. And what’s rather frustrating is the composition itself, slower and languid fits the theme but the grooves march out in a way that gets repetitive really quick, not providing a distinct melodic palette between the verse and the chorus. And given that it all plays out for the entirety of 4 minutes, it makes listening to the song feel more like a slog than it should be. There are still tweaks to be done in the future. Half/Figurd may have their songwriting chops lampooned into interesting lyrical backdrops, but their exploration of jangle pop and twee pop still latches on to aspects that are either mundane or missing in variety. Their instrumentation may have their bliss, their vocals may have their pretty spots, and their songwriting may get clever, but their melodies and tones still push themselves into territory that’s not as interesting. Gemini (Gemini) is a nice song, but it just loses steam as it goes on. Listen to the artist:
Tag: Louis Pelingen
TRACK REVIEW: Armi Millare/Munro – Take Me
Written by Louis Pelingen Traces of what may happen to UDD and Armi Millare in the future are set in stone. Stepping away from the band felt like a timely decision to make for Armi – one that has lingered over her as reflections poured her during the still times of the pandemic. Her interview with NME a few months after announcing her separation from the band explains why. Doing too many tours over the past 17 years took a toll on her health as well as personal, sometimes existential details that intensified her worries about herself as she matured as a person and as an artist over the years. Those factors resulted in her not just departing from the band, but also the fact that her love for music has lost its luster over the years where she has to take the time to pick the sound and direction that she wants to indulge in. In that context, Armi Millare dusts off an old project of hers and takes that helm once again in this new song. For those that didn’t know, Munro was a self-produced project that she and other artists have made in 2009, a project that showcased a side of Armi that she describes as “a life imitating art, stuck in reality” where the songs she and her team of artists make are songs that don’t fit into conventionality. It was put off in 2013 but has now returned for this year, where Armi steps upon creative grounds to explore. A song filled with yearning for love and connection, Armi’s new song right here brings a spare and burning baroque cut that’s slow but also confronting. It takes some cues from Florence + The Machine with the bare atmosphere startled by Armi’s vocal harmonies whirling through the quiet mix as her voice allows the emotions to sink in. It’s a voice that’s burning with passion but also carries a delicate grace that Armi just pulls through, where the slight finger snaps and vocal harmonies in the first half put her presence in the very core of the song. Then the baroque elements come in past the two-minute mark. The rumbling drum and bass guitar, the quaint piano touches, and the calming koto instrument have enough space and texture in the mix. Despite the breadth of sound that Armi is pulling off here, there’s a negative space in the mix that could’ve been filled just a little more. Personally, there could’ve been hints of piano or koto playing subtly in the background around the second verse that would benefit the flow of the song better. Additionally, the vocal harmonies could’ve stacked up a little more in the chorus sections especially the chorus segment at the end of the song which just ends abruptly, not allowing the song’s emotive beauty to linger effectively. A veteran in the local music scene that still has a lot of ground left to explore, Armi Millare’s sonic detour on this song is a promising era for her. Donning the Munro project once more, ‘Take Me’ may be a familiar song to some that have already heard this performed back then, yet Armi refurbishes it with a sonic sheen that’s different but also exciting. Despite having a bit too much empty space in the mix, Armi Millare’s presence as a vocalist, producer, and composer has enough punch to bring the direct, romantic yearnings to echo through. SUPPORT THE ART & THE ARTIST:
EP REVIEW: Polyphonic Vision – Sudden Pictures
Written by Louis Pelingen The past 2 decades have seen a growing interest in artists using mostly instrumental motifs to archive downtime and the events that emerge in them. Strains of ambient music have touched upon these musings for quite some time now, but the emergence of certain electronic subgenres has done much more to delve deeper into this. Subgenres such as vaporwave and drone have explored musings of time, memory, and stasis of eras that have been forgotten and are clearing up the lens to find some appreciation for those stagnant, vintage stages of time. ‘That, alongside ambient music in the 2010s, has seen an emphasis on those concepts of time and decay, bringing along slowed-down samples, droning yet hypnotic melodies, and elongated track times to tell what needs to be said. It’s important to take note of these as they have been accompanied by the concept of liminal space and its own visual fragments of abandoned or even empty landscapes of places that all of us have commonly visited. It’s no wonder that the time of pure isolation brought about by COVID-19 in 2020 has elevated the concept of liminal space to the forefront, both in aesthetic and musical components. I bring all this up due to the fascinating debut EP from Polyphonic Vision, a synth-wave project from one-half of the dream pop duo Outerhope, Micaela Benedicto, as well as the mastermind of Big Hat Gang, Mario Consunji. The project came up during the isolation in the pandemic, the outputs now come out in a spontaneous burst, where the sonic snippets are pieced together during 2020 and 2021 and ready to be released for this year. ‘Sudden Pictures’ encaptures a holistic display of the past and the future in a time where the reflection of what was done before and what may happen after is now stuck in place. It’s an auditory mood board that wobbles through retro analog synthesizers, ethereal vocal recordings, and a soundscape that slowly modulates that relaxed yet contemplative mood for the entirety of its 22-minute runtime. It’s one whole trip to a fragmented memoir of memories, starting and ending off with instrumental murals like ‘Zoetrope’ and ‘Tides’, where the former track documents its purpose with its tapping fuzz of the percussion, the alluring echoing vocals, and the calming synth progressions, and the latter track tying things together with the layers of sweet analog synths that float amidst the stuttering percussion and cracking effects that entail the disintegration of those memories in the EP. Then there are the other tracks that frame its musings of memory with dreamy scopes. Starting from ‘Hemispheres’ with its pictures of cities and natural sceneries as Micaela’s shimmering vocals elicit the moments fading away from what she has seen and heard from those sceneries. It’s quite the dreamy song, with all of the cascading synth chimes balanced out with the whirring low-end and tapping drum patterns creating a relaxing mood. ‘Sudden Pictures’ focuses on the memories of someone that the protagonist still keeps, like a reel of film that pops out whenever they see them somewhere else either at close or far distances. That observation comes through with the cushions of gloss around the vocals and the background synths, accompanied by the layers of the quicker drum loops and deeper synth textures. ‘Submarine’ submerges itself into a slice of new wave, all with punchy percussive textures, blurry yet watery synth progressions, and levitating vocal melodies. Despite its watery imagery, it’s essentially an ode to the underground club scene and all the memories that we made and the people that we all meet there. It essentially archives what we have universally felt during the pandemic, reminiscing old memories, confronting past inner demons, as well as missing a sense of self as our social hubs have puffed for a while. However, with how the EP was made during the pandemic which is reflected even further in writing, the EP manages to hit an intriguing roadblock that has to do with oddly enough, timing. It’s a roadblock that specific instrumental projects like these have stumbled upon especially when they are also inspired by the thorns brought by the pandemic. Because as much as they have well communicated the fragments of memory through the ethereal, stabilized rhythms of the synths and vocal weariness, how it is going to age well in time and find resonance is a subjective and tangled discussion at best. Personally, it feels like a message that may possibly have been a lot more resonant if it was released during the isolation stages of the past two years. Because now that things are opening up and the lyricism focuses deeply towards reflections of memory and loneliness, it feels like a message that is sent two years late where with everything starting to open up, it personally makes the message feel less potent than it should be. It does not mean the EP has faults whatsoever. The ethereal waves of synths and vocals are composed with enough stable rhythms and loops to anchor the shards of memory and reflection that we all went through for the past two years. However, the passage of time has its funny way of letting us know of changes that we went through and our resonance with material focused on a specific event that this EP will have to go through. Because with 2022 opening up its walls, I wonder if this composed mood devised by the duo may work its peak of resonance during the time of isolation. Either way, the memories that the EP has captured still hold weight in a time when all of us are confronted to flip through pages of our past and contemplate through what may happen in our future, it’s just that, that resonance will be tested as time moves on. Listen to the artist:
EP REVIEW: SHNTI – ELMNT
Written by Louis Pelingen Ever since she started her career in 2019, LIAB Studios‘ very own SHNTI has been on her way to improving her skillset as a rapper and songwriter amidst her rise of success in subsequent years. Her laid-back delivery captures a sense of lowkey charm, a natural fit to her jumping points in lo-fi production that dips into jazz-rap soundscapes. Her melodic sensibilities are balanced out with loose flows, peppered with consistent rhyme schemes, flavorful wordplay, and honest writing that showcase the playfulness and introspection in the themes that are personal but are also resonant to a wider audience. These are the elements that she embraced ever since, and are working effectively well as she keeps on testing her limits as an artist. This year is a good year for her. Rerecording past songs from her increasing catalog is a sign of her growing confidence as a musician now showing through in spades. Additionally, provided that gigs are now available for face-to-face situations, it’s the right opportunity for SHNTI to put something out there, an anticipated debut project. And with ELMNT now released, it’s easy to say that the EP displays SHNTI’s artistic confidence in the best way imaginable. A collection of 6 tracks that nestles and branches out of SHNTI’s zone, embracing synth-inflected drum beats amidst lo-fi organic instrumentation that she smokes through effortlessly. Her signature relaxed vocals are prevalent, but they’re now oozing with an imposing attitude that was there before but is now refined, so far as standing out amidst the features in the EP. That attitude translates to her efforts as a songwriter, knitting together rhyme schemes and wordplay cohesively and attentively. In the 4 new tracks, SHNTI steps into the present, carrying an aura of confidence around her. “Bright” opens the EP with SHNTI shining through the airy synthscapes, additional backing and choir vocals, and pulsating grooves as she elevates herself and gives a middle finger on the past bonds that pulled her down. “ELMNT” lures you in as the addicting hook, snappy trap beats, and wobbly synth work are solid setups for SHNTI to just be in her element, allowing her slick flows along with clever wordplay to put her loose attitude to feel captivating, balancing out her garnered confidence with a self-aware discussion of fame and exhaustion. “Rhythm” displays her slickness into a flirty territory, her Doja Cat influence showing as she and Yorko’s playful and cheeky bars under punchy drums and pristine strings create a hazy and haughty seduction towards a woman that they’re into, a typically male-centric flirtatiousness that SHNTI steps into and makes it her own. And “YUH” featuring WAIIAN is the smokiest track on the record, reflecting upon their musicianship and how the criticism towards their work keeps them reaching for higher gains as their meandering flows slither around relaxed grooves and gloomy horn loops. While confident and strident, she looks back on 2 previously released tracks and polishes them to a new sheen, a reminder that she still puts introspection in the open. “Best Life” works through shuffling percussion aided by calming acoustic and bass guitar, allowing SHNTI’s laid-back flows to remind herself and everyone to not just live the best life, but put in the work to help other marginalized individuals have that same luxury. The EP eventually ends with “Could Be”, where the horn lines, textured percussion, and subtle bass, pianos, and strings swirl through SHNTI’s pensive musings of the realities of life. Realities that make her question existential thoughts, a question that she keeps repeating as the track glitches out, ending the EP abruptly. Personally, while it was an odd choice to put “Best Life” and “Could Be” on the tracklist at first more so based on worries that they might not fit in thematically and sonically. After a couple of listens later, however, they do deserve to be in this EP. Mostly because it reinforces the introspection that “ELMNT” and “YUH” provides, where “Best Life” sonically works as a cooldown before heading deep down into languid lo-fi jazz crannies of the last two tracks, and ‘Could Be’ acts as a great ending whose introspective questions linger past the EP, questions that may be answered sooner or later as SHNTI keeps on moving forward, as both an artist, and also as a human being. In short, I’ll admit that I’m trying to look so hard for any kind of nitpicks on this EP. But every time I look for anything to find flaws with, the elements in the varied instrumentation, balanced production, captivating performances and melodies, and deft writing just keeps snapping right back. And to quote SHNTI herself, she’s in her goddamn element, where the confidence that she built off for the past couple of years is paying off in great dividends. This is just her debut EP, and with the assured spirit that she has right now, I won’t be surprised if she keeps this streak up with a light that keeps on shining. Support the art & the artist:
EP REVIEW: Manic Mundane – Narrative Three
Written by Louis Pelingen I imagine that working on this EP has been the cathartic moment Manic Mundane needed. The stage name of Kath Dizon, she has been a musician for quite some time now, fronting a hardcore punk band during her college days in Iligan City, using the KTHDRLZ passion project during some time in the 2010s, as well as attending indietronica gigs during her stay in Dubai. But working as a PR executive during her 9-year stay in Dubai only exhausted her, deciding to return to her hometown in Mindanao in early 2020, where things get much worse with the start of the pandemic and her laptop that she used to produce music for five years eventually died out, leaving her with none of the drafts reserved for polish. But eventually, she has to start anew. And with Narrative Three, her debut EP as Manic Mundane – released under Melt Records – that fresh start is a relieving one. Right from the jump, the EP displays a set of tracks that are overflowing with colorful and layered instrumental textures courtesy of Sho Hiniko’s contribution to fleshing out the mixing of these tracks. Her vocals blend in with the sweeping synth-wave and electronica tracks, giving the soundscape its bombast with her upfront vocal tone. The EP has influences and similarities that make sense but also is surprising. Personally, there is a smattering of Let’s Eat Grandma and CHVRCHES from both the synth choices and the vocal tone that Manic Mundane uses, but her influences from Bjork and Grimes also make sense. The melodies don’t leap out immediately and take their time to get front and center. And when the melodies do flesh out and the cathartic lyrics bring out its impact, it really sticks with you. “Awake/Solitude” has this gothic tinge to the swarming synth patches that let itself push through along with the punchy drum loops and Manic Mundane’s gripping vocal melodies, effectively allowing the dire religious reflections to feel riveting. ‘Pavements’ immerses itself with splashes of reverberating synth work, pulsating percussion, soaring vocal melodies, and gleaming guitar chords from Mckie Alvarez of Filipino shoegaze band WYWY that lets loose for a blaring guitar solo that brings in all of the other elements to coalesce to a gratifying finish, mirroring the dramatic details of Manic Mundane’s decaying relationship with religion and the darkness that comes with it. “Spring Waves” ends the album in a positive light: the glittery synthesizers and thumping drums allow Manic Mundane’s uplifting vocals and lyrical details of love with dreamy affectations. While the production and the vocals are well done for the most part, there are times when the melodies just don’t have enough fullness to give their impact. “Astral Bodies” repeats its chorus like a mantra after the verse melodies, leaving the track underwhelming as it coasts through the glimmering instrumentation and lyrics of connection with a cosmic touch. While “Lover” with the shimmery synth textures and romantic refrains in the lyrics are pretty, the melodies themselves and the way they are structured make the flow of the song end up sloppy. There are aspects of the lyrics that feel quite dull and show Manic Mundane still growing as a songwriter. It does not mean it’s entirely bad, the religious and otherworldly details fit well when the instrumentation is this layered and the melodies give the themes of love and grappling against religion an immense impact. But the writing itself doesn’t find itself digging deeper into creative liberties, making the writing reliant on those religious, otherwordly aspects to stick. And if it’s not for those details, the writing could end up being uninteresting. But as a whole, Narrative Three is an EP where the catharsis can be found with flying colors where the instrumentation is full and textured, production that balances out all of its layered synth work, confident vocal performances from Manic Mundane, and strings of melodies that makes the extensive themes of love and religion to land effectively. But there are still flubs with the general writing of the lyrics as well as some songs where the melodies just don’t sweep the listener the way they should. Still, the best songs of the EP allow Manic Mundane’s ideas to leap away into something more, something where greatness will be found. Support the art & the artist:
DEMO REVIEW: DJ HEADACHEMAXIMUM – DAMNATION DEMO 2022
Written by Louis Pelingen In our local electronic dance scene, it is always wonderful to hear a lot more hardcore EDM music in today’s day and age. Where the raves will stomp the ground till it gets crushed to bits as the DJs don’t pull their punches and pushes the limits of EDM with deafening volumes, gut-wrenching drum and synth textures, and rhythms that will make everyone dance like they’re fast-forwarding in 2x speed. These hardcore rave scenes will not be for everyone as there are others who might just prefer dancing to the grooves rather than ballistically setting the dance floor on fire, but it’s a necessary part of dance rave culture nonetheless. After all, they can be spaces that can be gratifying and energetic to engage in, and hardcore EDM rave spaces certainly do not disappoint. When it comes to DJ HEADACHEMAXIMUM’s hardcore EDM leanings in this 4 track demo release, they sure put out a good set of them. DAMNATION DEMO was released under @SLANDERTRAX , a label that focuses on putting out hardcore EDM projects. While this was the first one put out under the label, it is a good and exciting release that puts both DJ HEADACHEMAXIMUM and the SLANDER TRAX label with exciting anticipation on what they will put out in the future as this demo project has some good tracks on them. While straightforward and simple to wrap your head around, there are enough variations and switches on each track that makes them pop out in their own way. ‘CALL ME’ starts off with the kick drum and rave synths in a well-measured rhythm, just before the squelching synths come in and create a chaotic sonic display. ‘IBUPROFEN’ proceeds with its looping synths, pulsating kick drum, and glassy hi-hat progressions that get more energetic when the screeching synth tones come into the fray. The last two tracks end the project that dips its hardcore foundations with softer synths. ‘PERPETUAL BREAK’ amidst the shuffling percussion rhythms comes to the blissful synthesizer that tip-toes through the track, and ‘REMORSEFUL SEPPUKU’ immerses all of its runtime with multiple change-ups from the rubbery synths, blocky percussion, and stable bass and hi-hat drums. What this demo project showcased is a good foundation of Hardcore EDM that has enough variation in synth tones and progressions. It might be considered standard in the genre, but at the end of the day, there’s a good quality in each of the tracks that if played in a hardcore rave gig, it will definitely put enough people in a state where they will whirl themselves around the area. Not mindblowing or anything, but it’s good enough for what it needs to do. Support the art & the artist: https://slandertrax.bandcamp.com/album/damnation-demo-2022-stax-001
ALBUM REVIEW: Ruru – Glorious Miscellanea
Written by Louis Pelingen It has been two years since Ruru put out her 3rd EP, ‘The Odds,’ a short project that finds her inching toward jazzier blends in her melodies while retaining her lo-fi bedroom pop sensibilities and distant, fractured musings on the relationships that she describes in her writing. More so, it felt like her debut album was on the wings of being done, only possibly hampered by the pandemic interjecting every musician’s plans to release their records, delaying their supposed release dates for the next two years. And it was the case for Ruru herself, spending most of her 2020 and 2021 trying to finish her debut record that’s hanging by, which only increases the curiosity of what strands of sound and themes she will branch out next. Because as much as her brand of fuzzy bedroom pop combined with themes surrounding relationships and the personal reflection that comes with it is appreciative, it can start to feel a little stale once this palette has been repeated. And for Ruru’s debut record, she sure has switched that palette in a significant way. If ‘The Odds’ is the teaser for something new in Ruru’s growth, then ‘Glorious Miscallanea’ is embracing that growth. Said growth is shown in all aspects of this record. The instrumentation has been expanded further, bringing in more touches from the violins and woodwinds to help complement the organic texture of the guitars, drums, and synths. The polished production helps out the instrumentation and vocals give that needed fuzzy warmth that has been in Ruru’s pocket in her past EPs. The melodies and tunes have gotten more glee and energy to them now that Ruru has embraced more jazz and funk tunes in her sound, oddly reminiscent of acts like Dijon, Remi Wolf, and Japanese Breakfast. Ruru’s vocals have gotten more presence, allowing her softer vocal timbre to glide through the airy compositions pretty well. And the lyricism does step up as well, and while it still touches upon familiar melancholy, that melancholy is more internal this time. Focusing more on personal struggles throughout the scattershot moments in life and the numbness, disconnect, and frustrations that come with it. While it may not compose an arc that comes through, it does fit the meaning of the album title, where the collection of these small and mundane miscellaneous moments in life creates an emotional tension that takes time to process and reflect upon. Due to these improvements, the songs have so much spirit to them that it makes you want to return to their sweetness even more. ‘Chewing Gum’ with its jaunty grooves and woodwinds, ‘Strange World’ with its starry-eyed watery synths, ‘WYWD’ with its blissful tone from the reverbed guitars, glittery synths, and especially from Ruru’s hypnotic use of her falsetto, ‘Eyes of a Blue Dog’ with its soothing tune from the horns and the watery guitars, ‘It Matters Until It Doesn’t’ with these jaunty funk and jazz melodies from the woodwinds, guitars, and drums, ‘Jigsaw’ with the glitchier melodies from the percussion and sound effects that climaxes to Ruru’s mystical vocal harmonies at the end, ‘Serious’ with its summery and blurry cascades of guitars, and ‘Non-satisfaction’ wonderfully closing off the record with a lot of sweeping synths, guitar passages, and vocal overdubs. Even with the thin texture of the strings and some of the synths that can be distracting in some songs, and the fact that the momentum can slip away from the back half, those issues are still compensated with just how fleshed out these tunes are. While songs like ‘Moonbeam’ and ‘Snoozers’ don’t stand out as much as the rest of the songs, there are moments that still make them decent songs in their own right, with ‘Moonbeam’ coasting through those moody strings and ‘Snoozers’ using its brief runtime to showcase the wavy synths that are used majestically. Ruru’s debut album manifests a different splash of textures and colors in her already vivid world. Polished production that brings out the clarity of the vocals and instruments, Jazzy and Funky compositions along with additional instrumentation that provides sweetness and warmth to the melodies and performances, and songwriting that explores the scattershot moments in life and the whirlwind of emotions that comes with it. It’s a project that picks up pieces of memories and makes a collage out of them, a collage that is majestically put together. It’s a glorious miscellanea indeed, and it may hint at what else Ruru will create from these pieces in the future. Support the art & the artist:
ALBUM REVIEW: Cowboy Country Club – Signs You’re Getting Older
Written by Louis Pelingen Country music is the genre that has received some weird looks from a lot of people due to its traditionalist thematics and usual country twang that may put the listeners into a narrow perspective of the sound unless they dig into the scene itself. It can intersect itself with different genres such as folk, hip-hop, and rock which can expand the style of this genre effectively. And while a lot of the themes relate to an older audience, they can still resonate with the younger audience provided that the tunes, instrumentation, and songwriting can elevate themselves to grab them. The fact that some of the country artists today represent the People of Color and the Queer community that is creating outstanding country records that tell their own stories shows that the genre is evolving with time. In the Philippines, It’s a genre that you may not hear that often in the bustling cities but you can hear more of them once you’re in the provinces, specifically in the mountainsides. The genre does overlap with the Philippine folk scene where the themes of traditional values as well as methodical melodic compositions slip through from time to time. There is one band that does try to explore the genre in interesting ways, and that band is Cowboy Country Club. As the name suggests, they’re essentially a 3-man band that dabbles in folk and alt-country. Their debut record in 2017 showcased an interesting balancing point, where the front half dabbles in animal collective-esque folk landscapes filled with sharp synths, eccentric vocal takes, and guitar textures that ramble and spike across the songs, wherein the rest focuses closer on rollicking country melodies that still keeps the eccentric synth choices. It’s a debut album that has interesting compositional and production choices which do lead to some conflicting issues, where the vocals bring volume but not enough charisma, the synth work that can get garishly annoying quickly, and the sudden split between freak folk and alt-country tracks implies whether or not the band wants to indulge in its freak folk compositions or the alt-country compositions. 5 years after that record, Cowboy Country Club has answered that lingering question with their newest album, ‘Signs You’re Getting Older’. As the title suggests, it’s a record that shows the band maturing not just as musicians, but also as explorers in the country genre that they’re prominently showcasing in this album. This sign can be seen in the presentation of the sound of the record, where the synths and eccentric vocal plays of their debut are pushed away and give way to the intimate and stomping country styles that the band is riding on. While not expansive and risky in sound as their debut, it’s more consistent and more polished. There are issues that are both new and old, the vocals can still have their overpowering moments that focus more on volume rather than tone, some synth textures used still do not fit with the rest of the instrumentation, and there are instances where melodies could’ve used more punch and wonderful transitions, especially in some of the guitars and drums. Issues mentioned beforehand do show up on a couple of songs, but it’s pretty present on ‘Chances Go By’ where the overpowering vocals and unfitting synths that are both sharp and farty just make the song pretty difficult to get through. For a record that focuses on the trek of getting older and the aspirations of trudging forward amidst all odds, the band manages to stick the landing, giving a wonderful array of tracks that touch upon different country sub-genres while also improving on their vocals, melodies, and production work. ‘I Am The Only One’ showcases the country twang and rock smolder playing in different worlds that coalesce in an explosive finish, ‘Dyson Sphere’ goes into Honky-Tonk with the shuffling grooves, ‘Immaculate’ takes off with an upbeat tone from the vocals and the glimmering tone of the guitars, ‘King Sheep’ goes for a Nashville Sound style where the acoustic guitar twang and shuffling bass and drums are complemented nicely with the sweeping strings, ‘Lie Awake’ with its rumbling guitar melodies amidst an understated tone of the vocals, and ‘Squirrel On The Line’ that goes into Neotraditional Country may as well be their best song to date with the spare piano, pleasant guitar strums, and the additional strings and synths help out complement one of the best choruses they’ve put together in a while. Songs like ‘Truckin’ and ‘The Devil Will Always Be Watching’ are decent enough songs due to the country-rock smolder on the former and the impactful hook on the latter, but they don’t stand along the rest of the tracks besides those qualities. While this record does not exactly showcase any creative risks in the country scene that they are pulling from, the maturity, consistency, and improvement from their debut record to this record are enough to acknowledge the journey and the growth that comes from it. There might be disappointment towards the band for not going deeper into the freak-folk eccentrics, but there’s also an audience for leaning into country music that tends a bit more intimate and a little bit older. I suggest giving this a shot, for there might be songs that may resonate with you. And if it does, it may show the signs of growth you’ve had over the years, and it will make you go back to these songs for the rest of your lives. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: Sunday Stallone – Saving Face
Written by Louis Pelingen From a distance, there is something fascinating about Sunday Stallone. They’re a 5 man band that was formed in 2018, mostly putting out covers from a few years back. Those covers showcase their musical influences, from DIIV and their dreamy brand of indie rock to Yung Lean and his hypnotic brand of cloud rap and hypnagogic pop. Additionally, their Spotify profile mentions their merge of genres such as shoegaze, IDM, and ambient. The influences and genre meshes mentioned prior do knot together with how they put up those covers, hazy textures with washed-out aesthetics to create a vibe that will leave you floating, especially with how the songs are paced to glaze and echo through the mix. Once you get closer to their debut single, there is a risk that the band pulls through with its wall of sound from the guitars and drums that coast through misty synth patches that elevates even further in the chorus sections. This kind of mixing and maximalist production touches do work well with the intended theme of the song, pushing through times of frustrations and yearning to move forward despite it. However, once you get the scope of this single, it’s just unfortunate that the rest of the song just ends up being limp. As much as the risk from the band trying to make a stunning debut single is appreciative with its maximalist approach, if maximalism is being pushed here, there needs to be robust melodies and effective performances to carry that maximalism to a potent degree because this just does not have both of these factors. Besides the chorus with its decent maximalist swell, the verse melodies on the instrumental and vocal sides need a bit more crunch and flair to them to act as necessary building blocks to the chorus. Give the drums some engaging rhythms, the guitar and bass some diverse licks, and the keyboard some glistening presence that will make the verse melodies feel rich and buoyant. And when it comes to the performance, even with the backing vocals that show up from time to time do add to the yearning of the song, the vocalists on the first and second verse just lack the tone to sell it. And with the vocal melodies on both verses sounding stiff and bland, their performances just drift further away, feeling one note and numb as a result. Despite all of those criticisms, there is still work to be done. While this maximalist approach in the genre-fused music landscape has been made before, Sunday Stallone has the texture and spark to fill in the gaps in that maximalist niche. But the lack of fulfilling melodies, transitions, and performances crumble the maximalist mix and textures to the ground. It’s a notable debut single from the band that may be flawed all around, the chorus does save face from this single completely falling apart. Support the art & the artist:
TRACK REVIEW: neytan & Areli – FAR
Written by Louis Pelingen For Neytan’s current space in the local music scene, his handle comes off a bit straightforward for the most part. Well-composed tunes nestle nicely in indie rock and indie pop (bedroom pop if you want to lean on the marketing savvy trends), gentle and polished grooves and instrumental textures, and an amateur yet controlled vocal timbre and simple yet affectionate lyrical pastiches — all of which makes for a relaxed and meditative soundtrack for teenagers and young adults dealing with lovey-dovey yearnings. That’s mostly a compliment because the scenes for these kinds of straightforward, lovely twee offerings have their place in everybody’s playlist. If the artist wants to evolve in this sound, that’s good, but if they don’t want to evolve in that sound and proceed to do different experiments instead, then that’s good too. So it’s nice to hear that Neytan decides to do both on his new single featuring Areli, FAR. It starts off with a brisk and poppy start from the instrumentation with the cycling drum loops and spare guitar licks that are not far from Neytan’s origin point, but the quicker tempo gives a different sheen and immediate turnaround from his released work thus far. It brings out Neytan’s vocals a flicker that he hasn’t shown off before, and with this brand of homespun and colorful instrumentation and production that captures a similar vibe from the likes of Brakence, Brockhampton, and Dijon. It’s a sonic palette that really works for him. Of course, Neytan and Areli bring those comparisons more accurate with the melodies and harmonies that keep aiming higher, like fireworks that keep themselves ablaze from start to finish. This sense of urgency is pushed even further with Neytan’s emotional and captivating yearning for connections with people that are far away from him and Areli’s desperation to keep a friendship intact from a relationship that’s about to break apart with sentiments that are executed really well all throughout. The mixing, however, does not bring enough fullness and color to the instrumentation and vocals that would give this song a lot of benefits, especially with the glance to the mentioned artists that have these sticky, indie genre-fused songs that are elevated with a proper mix. But at the end of the day, when the tune is just so magnetic and Neytan and Areli bring a lot of expressive yearnings atop a sound palette that is executed pretty well, it goes to show that their needs for that momentous connection echo far enough for us to relate and hold on to that same desire in our fleeting, but enrapturing lives. Support the art & the artist: