Oh hi. I didn’t see you there. Welcome to Cool Stuff for Cool Lifeforms, December 2022 where every month, I’ll be recommending some cool stuff I’ve been into lately because there’s nothing cooler than sharing the art you love. If you love it, share it.
Since it’s the Christmas season, I’m coming into this month with an extra special Cool Whatevers for Whatever. That’s right, the December 2022 installment is an all-music edition because I feel like only sharing music, and you feel like only listening to the music I share. Let’s do this thing.
Weird Nightmare – S/T
I’ve been looking forward to this album from Alex Edkins (vocalist from METZ) ever since the project was announced. And then I somehow didn’t realize it got released until this site’s owner mentioned it on this site’s podcast a few days ago. It came out in May, and it’s fantastic. Literally, my only regret in my entire life is I haven’t been listening to this since it came out. It’s like METZ covering Guided by Voices songs. Or the other way around. Or both. Both. And it’s fun.
Jackie Hayes – Over and Over
Holy hell, this album is a lot of fun. This is garage punk that moves. The vocals are standard stuff from garage music, but somehow getting that raw energy from a female lead singer instead of the dude from Bomb the Music Industry makes this feel like something completely different. Women just aren’t typically “allowed” to sing in this way, but why the fuck not? Go off, Jackie (if that’s your real name). This band rules.
Pohgoh – Du und Ich
Pohgoh could totally be on the same bill as Jackie Hayes, so it’s funny that their lead singer is pretty much the exact opposite of Jackie Hayes. Crystal clear and perfectly enunciated, the vocals trade bite for sugary melodies and slower, almost alt-country passages of melancholy. This is like if the most fun aspects of Velocity Girl and the Old 97s made an album together.
Cassels – A Gut Feeling
This is in the running for my album of the year. The narrative storytelling in each song is maybe the best out of any album I’ve listened to since Mountain Goats and Hold Steady were at their peaks, but the songs are often sadder, more devastating, and much more chaotic musically. This is, of course, a post-punk album, and it runs the whole range of the genre, from beautiful moments to pure noise. A Gut Feeling is heartbreaking and exciting, and it’s just… perfect. It’s a perfect album.
The Antlers – Green to Gold
I didn’t listen to it much when it came out, but I recently came back to 2021’s Green to Gold. This is just a beautiful album. Check it out on a sunny but sleepy day.
