Cool Stuff For Cool Lifeforms: October 2023

I’m leading off with some melodic math emo that’s not afraid to swing between heavy and tinges of folk from moment to moment. That last sentence contained, ya know, a lot of descriptors, which would imply that this album is all over the place, but nope. ME REX has a strong sense of self and cohesion that ties everything together. The math part of it stands out — a tight rhythm section of drummer Phoebe Cross (cool name!) and bassist Rich Mandell (sorry, but you sound like an evil tycoon, but I’m sure you’re cool). But what probably grounds everything is the pleading vocals of Myles McCabe. This dude just bleeds emotions out of stones.

I cannot stress how cool and just, GOOD, this album sounds. I’m going to call it garage pop for the sake of calling it something, but this is one of those albums that goes beyond genre. It’s just art, and Italian singer/musician Chiara D’Anzieri goes everywhere on this one. At turns trippy, dreamy, hard, concrete, bizarre, beautiful, and everything in between. It’s an album for literally everyone. She’s created something here that should be near the top of year-end lists.

Ohhhh, this is egg punk at its finest. You’re not going to have more fun than this shit. And oh my Jesus, does this album move while simultaneously taking your mind to different and weird spheres. Absolute perfection.

Ellie Godwin is simply one of the best vocalists in post-noise-punk. If this album serves as your introduction to her and this batshit-talented band, you are welcome. No, don’t thank me. That’s not what I’m saying, thank them for existing and for pushing the genre forward with this weird, unsettling work of art.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find an album more haunting this year. The use of space and interplay between guitar and percussion is creeping, daunting, like falling upward into space. This album has the feeling of your life falling apart in front of you, and you can do nothing about it, but it’s also the most beautiful destruction you’ve ever seen. It will remind you of your saddest moments, and uplift at times to feel like triumph only to drop you again. It’s an amazing masterpiece.

How about some chaos? I don’t even know what to call this but chaos executed at the highest level. It’s almost closer to jazz than rock at times, but don’t get it twisted, this rocks. But every song is jammed with about a billion ideas, executed within an inch of life to each other and to perfection. It takes a lot of talent to pull off an album like this, and these four childhood buddies are oh-so-very talented at music.

Back to the more accessible side of things, but no lesser for it. Here’s an emo album filled with hooks, screams, and deceptively complex arrangements. This will appeal to more than just emo fans, though. It’s a straight-up driving rock album through and through, the kind of album that’s made its way through college campuses for the better part of the last 30 years. And for good reason. This rules.

Patter’s second EP is a weird, pretty, and noisy collection of math rock tunes. These songs are so damn fun, and I just have to say that Patter is one of those bands to watch out for when their LP comes out. Their first two EPs are so good that you just know their LP is going to fuckin’ slap.

Before I go, girl, two things:

1. If you are a band or label with a newer, lesser-known band with music similar to the kind of music I typically highlight in this column, shoot me a line at ‘pizzafriendsrc at gmail.com‘ and I’ll check out your tunes. Will it make this article? Probably not, but I’ll check it out.

2. Here are some honorable mentions from the October 2023 shortlist:

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If you enjoyed Cool Stuff For Cool Lifeforms of October 2023, please check out previous installments here.