Well, it’s February 2024 and for the last time or possibly for the second to last time, here’s the monthly edition of…
Cool Stuff for Cool Lifeforms: February 2024 Edition
Den Der Hale – Pastoral Light
At times, when the bass is rolling through the foreground and the vocals are dancing in the background, these songs bring to mind Flaming Lips at their most atmospheric and meditative. But the Lips never had command of tension and release like DDH do, and that’s where their post-punk influences really shine, particularly on the mid-album centerpiece Old Blood, a 12.5-minute bloodletting of space and tension. There’s no better example here of how Den Der Hale’s desperate influences all come together to make something powerful and singular than this track, but the album as a whole is a monument to their blending of genres and making music that sounds both natural and unnatural simultaneously.
Manu Delago – Snow From Yesterday
Just a gorgeous album from composer Manu Delago and Mad About Lemon that very much brings up similar vibes to that first San Fermin album’s vocal collaboration with vocal duo Lucius. This is more subdued than that project, but what it may lack in bangers, it makes up for in heart-aching beauty. And to have that come from a concept album about climate change lends these songs a special kind of existential sadness you can’t get from a simple love song.
Grazia – In Poor Taste
Wanna have fun? No? Then get the fuck out! Yes? Then check out this shit. Rolling basslines and fuzzy guitars and dual disaffected, wry vocals. The whole vibe is lowbrow and don’t give a shit and they’re not trying very hard. But here’s a secret — you don’t craft fuzz-pop this perfect if you’re lazy, and nothing here is haphazard. My only issue is we only have an EP to enjoy, and I want to hear what this group does with more time and space. Fuck.
Fun Fun Funeral – Shake Up The Humdrum
Listen, I think you probably know exactly what you’re getting into just by reading the name of this band and their album. This is exactly the kind of album that could turn a funeral into a dance party if someone decided “What this funeral needs is some mildly hallucinogenic gas”. These are pop songs — sort of. They’re fun and catchy, but there’s something a little off-kilter about them and vaguely ominous. Much like the feeling of being happy while high literally only because you are on drugs. And you know that once the drugs wear off, the doom will creep in again. Let this album be your happy drug for a little bit, though.
Purrs – Goodbye Black Dog
This one fucking rules. Probably why I gave it Coolest of the Month February 2024. One of the tighest post-punk albums I’ve ever heard, full of absolutely filthy guitar lines and drums that not just hit fuckin’ hard but start and stop and jerk in perfection. If this band were out of the UK (and you could probably confuse them for a UK band since these songs are in English), people would be like, “Oh, the UK post-punk scene has done it again!” Okay, maybe we need to really start talking about how insane the French post-punk and noise-rock scene is, especially releases from A Tant Rêver Du Roi Records. This shit is perfection, and it deserves its due.
Sachet – The Seeing Machine
For what’s ostensibly power pop, Sachet is fucking unrelenting. The songs on this EP don’t stop coming at you with a wave of constant momentum. And rarely does their vocalist stop for breath (and I don’t mean that she’s overly chatty in a Craig Finn way), and there’s always something going on in the arrangement. And before you know it, the hooks of the last song ended, and the next song starts. It almost has the feel of a hardcore album in how it keeps coming at you… except it’s fucking power pop! Incredible.
Thee Alcoholics – Feedback
Feedback is damn right. Everything in this one is covered in layers of feedback. Just oozing with noise, and it’s amazing. This is the sound of outright insanity. If you committed a string of murders to this album and then played this album in court and said, “I was listening to this cool shit while I was doing those murders,” I think the jury would kind of get it. I’m not saying you would go free. I’m saying they would get it. But maybe stick to, I don’t know, murdering things in a video game while you listen to this. Or murdering your workout. Or really killin’ those spreadsheets at work while you check this out. This is the soundtrack to making your day cooler, including if you go on a murder spree. But please don’t do that.
Laetitia Sadier – Rooting For Love
Here’s a supremely odd and well-crafted pop album, one of those albums where every second, every single sound feels intentional and poured over. Everything feels like a product of making sure not a moment is lost to imperfection. And while that can sound like a sterile experience, sterile would be an imperfection. Sterile would be cut. No, this album is as alive as the tree sprouting on the cover art. It’s just a tree pruned of its imperfections.
Rick Rude – Laverne
This album fucking goes, and I find the tug and pull between songwriters Jordan Holtz and Ben Troy reminds me of a much noisier version of Swearin’. It’s a dynamic I love, and the songwriters provide a great counterpoint to each other. Sometimes with this kind of multiple songwriter/vocalist thing, it can be a little jarring to go from one to another, especially if they switch off fairly often. Here, it’s a strength, with the switch-offs coming right when the listener needs it. Great songwriting. Great tracking. And a great band.
Before I go, girl, two things:
2. Here are some honorable mentions from the shortlist of February 2024:
Pouty – Forgot About me
Fjalla – Abbastanza
Timelost – Drained
Sensor Ghost – 3 Songs
Same Side – Oh No
Maya Shenfeld – Under The Sun
Silt – Warm Dust
Flight Mode – Toyen, ’13
William Doyle – Springs Eternal
Glitterer – Rationale
tim gick – neighbor invader
Porcelain – S/T
Phil And the Tiles – Double Happiness