We had a very post-whatever heavy collection of awesome music this week, but I’m not complaining because that’s my shit. While not finalists, I was pleasantly surprised to get new, spectacular albums from Melvins and Menomena. I’m the type of person who kind of automatically assumes older bands don’t have it anymore — especially when I thought they’d completely broken up (in Menomena’s case). So to get actually great music from both bands is rad as hell.
As for the finalists, well, you already know from the title of this article that Grocer won the week. But can I interest you in a noise rock slut? Perhaps a Couch Slut? What about Venezuelan post-rock band zeta? Or noise rock Italians Arrrgo? If you’re not into any of that shit, I honestly don’t even know what you’re doing here. Pitchfork is that way.
But if you are into that shit, I invite you to check out…
The Coolest Stuff of The Week | April 24th
Ekko Astral – pink balloons
Genres: Art rock, bubble grunge, post-punk
Arrrgo – Mare
Genres: Post-hardcore, post-punk, alternative
Strumbrush – Whirlwind
Genres: Art rock, indie rock, alternative
Khôra – Gestures of Perception
Genres: Experimental, electroacoustic, musique concrete
zeta – VII Magia Infinita (2024)
Genres: Post-rock, math rock, screamo
Chaton Laveur – Wild State
Genres: Kraut pop, dream pop, alternative
Hot Joy – Small Favor
Genres: Alternative, rock, indie rock
Couch Slut – You Could Do It Tonight
Genres: Noise rock, hardcore punk, sludge
First Came The Shadow – S/T
Genres: Post-rock, math rock, alternative
Riley! – Keep Your Cool
Genres: Indie rock, alternative, emo
Hallway – S/T
Genres: Alternative, indie rock, indie pop
WHORES. – WAR.
Genres: Noise rock, sludge, punk
Addict Ameba – Caosmosi
Genres: Ethio-jazz, latin-rock, Cuban-salsa
Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice – Total Reality
Genres: Post-punk, weirdo punk, kraut-rock
Menomena – The Insulation EP
Genres: Experimental, art-rock, alternative
Melvins – Tarantula Heart
Genres: Alternative, noise rock, grunge
Grocer – Bless Me
Genres: Punk, experimental, noise rock
Way, way back when Grocer made the August 2023 edition of this (then monthly) column, I asked the readers to imagine them as what would happen if Swearin’ and Deerhoof formed a band. Half a year later, that description is still technically apt, but more than ever, Grocer sounds like Grocer. Their influences and comparables are so numerous and pieced together in a collage of punk, art rock and post-everything that it’s like a Girltalk album assembled not by samples but by vibes and concepts, creating something entirely new and fresh and unique in the process.
Yet, here’s the remarkable thing… What we have in Bless Me is an album of a myriad influences that spans many punk-adjacent genres, helmed by three different lead singers. What I’m describing probably sounds hectic, like a post-punk hyper-pop, but it’s not that. Or perhaps it seems like it might be disjointed, lacking any kind of flow, but it’s sure as fuck not that either.
Despite its eclectic nature, Bless Me is a startling coherent and cohesive album from start to finish.
Can we take just one moment to appreciate how rare and difficult that is? Even with the three different lead singers, there’s no feeling of push and pull between them. It feels natural going from one track to the next. Even when the tone or pacing changes from song to song, this feels natural as well.
Patience is the key here. No track or idea gets rushed just to get to the next one. And in fact, if a concept works in one song, it might get used again in a different song later, paired with entirely new ideas, recontextualized to feel totally different but familiar enough to provide an extra layer of continuity. The songs themselves are given room to breathe, which I’ll get to more in a second on a song construction level, but on an album level, Midtempo slacker rock sits next to legitimately pretty and/or sad slow burners that sit next to all out barn burning, odd-time signature noise rockers. Never does the album feel stuck in one place. Everything feels carefully plotted out, paced perfectly like an expert distance runner who has internalized the course they’re running.
Most importantly, the arrangements themselves are meticulously crafted to maximize loud-south dynamics.
The fuck does that mean? On Bless Me, Grocer knows exactly when and where to drop instruments and vocals in and out of the arrangement, and they know precisely how many and which ones will elicit the biggest effect before everything comes roaring back all at once.
This is a true power trio — drum, bass, guitar and all three sing. That means a few things. First, it means there’s never going to be too many instruments bogging down the mix, so when the volume goes up, it goes way the fuck up. This gives each of those roar back moments so much power. Second, it means a lot of the songwriting interest and complexity does have to come from playing with construction and dynamics. Most of the complexity comes from outstanding musicianship from these three and knowing exactly how and when to play around each other.
Oh yeah, and nearly every song here could be the lead single.
Shit, talk about all killer and no filler. Even the slower songs could be a single. It’s such a treat for a band this talented and arty to be so damn fun and catchy as well, but Bless Me is a collection of would-be hits if the world were fair. And to have all that tied up in a package that runs just under 30 minutes means we have a catchy group of cohesive songs that are just being begged to be played over again as soon as the album ends.
I should know, I’ve been playing this thing a lot since it dropped, and I just listened to it for 2.5 hours straight while writing this little review. Now that the review is over, I think I’m going to listen to it again.
