Here’s how this segment works: I’ll listen to as many albums as possible throughout the week, break down buzz-worthy choices and then stamp them with either; Unripe (intriguing), Ripening (gratifying) or Ripe (choice of the week).
Albums I listened to that I didn’t feel warranted a discussion:
- David Lynch – The Big Dream
- Gauntlet Hair – Stills
- Grant Hart – The Arguement
- Letlive. – The Blackest Beautiful
- Master Musicians Of Bukkake – Far West
- Mayer Hawthorne – Where Does This Door Go
- Pet Shop Boys – Electric
- Robert Pollard – Honey Locust Honky Tonk
- Soft Metals – Lenses
- Speedy Ortiz – Major Acrana
- The Icarus Line – Slave Vows
- µ-Ziq – Chewed Corners
Postiljonen – Skyer
- Released : July 22nd, 2013
- Label: Hybris
- For Fans of: Beach House , M83 or Memoryhouse .
- The Harvest: Unripe
Postiljonen are a reminder that it’s now 2013 and how big of a difference 5 years can make. If this album was released pre-chillwave, when other fellow Swedish dream pop acts such as Air France and The Tough Alliance were making cyber waves across the Atlantic Ocean and M83 had just raised the bar in the genre by releasing the single ‘ Graveyard Girl ’, it would have sounded a lot more unique.
The one thing Postiljonen do have going for them, regardless of the unoriginality, is their ability to design hooks on tracks (such as ‘ We Raise Our Hearts ’, ‘ Supreme ’ and ‘ Skying High ’) that are all warm, fuzzy and comforting. It’s like covering yourself in a thick doona in front of the TV but only to watch the same movies you’ve already seen a million times.
If the tracks weren’t already robotic and predictable as they unveiled themselves, the messages sung by Mia Bøe are often inaudible. This wouldn’t necessarily be an issue if the melodies were stronger, but they are masked between the reliance of the hooks to carry the momentum.
The strength of the melody during ‘ All That We Had Is Lost ’, which covers a Whitney Houston song, brings me back to the same issue with Stumbleine ’s Spiderwebbed album last year – this album also glowed in dream pop warmth, but their cover of ‘ Fade Into You ’ only highlighted their own unmemorable original melodies.
Even though the track ‘ Atlantis ’ is still best described as a female version of ‘ Midnight City ’, it at least thrusts some personal authority at you and for the first time Postiljenon have their own voice that’s engaging. Unfortunately it’s too late as the album comes to a close.
I was drawn to several tracks individually before the release of Skyer , because in small doses this sound is nothing more than a quick reassuring hug from an ex-girlfriend, but any length longer than that and you’ll find yourself dating again, drowning yourself in nostalgia rather than moving forward with your life for the better.
Weekend – Jinx
- Released : July 23rd, 2013
- Label: Slumberland
- For Fans of: No Age , Crocodiles or Wooden Shjips .
- The Harvest: Unripe
Not to be confused with Canadian RnB artist
Weeknd
, San Francisco post-punk shoegaze outfit
Weekend
have been flying under the radar since debuting in 2010 with the very solid
Sports
album and then dropping the
Red
EP in 2011, which featured the fantastic closing track ‘
Golfers
’ and left me day dreaming of big things to come for the sophomore album. It’s not that I’m disappointed by the albums end result, but
Jinx
’s lack of dynamic does confirm my suspicions that the band isn’t comfortable expanding outside of their linear sound.
After ‘ Mirror ’ sets the tone early by drawing on their core strength of engaging you with hard driving energy, ‘ July ’ holds a chorus that sticks but everything around it is empty – and it’s not the only time when a songs only strength is the chorus hook. ‘ Rosaries ’ succeeds at moving away from pure force to grab your attention, but only to cycle the same idea around repetitively. Sometimes the idea that they want to repeat isn’t even that interesting in the first place. ‘ Scream Queen ’ suffers from playing it safe with its basic lack of guitar variety.
Another issue, which is slightly out of their hands but effects the end result regardless, is the production’s mixing on tracks such as ‘ Celebration, FL ’, where the snare drum snaps are way too high and all the distortion details in the background are buried too low in the mix. ‘ It’s Alright ’ drowns the lyrical message in re-verb to the point where it’s unrecognisable.
There are, however, moments that do emerge from the shadows to move you. ‘ Sirens ’ is unfairly too short but the emotions are evident. And likewise on ‘ Adelaide ’, where Shaun Durkan states “ I want to save you from the world ”, and ‘ Just Drive ’, which loosens up the guitars and draws from dark tones of The Cure ’s gothic era.
Weekend could’ve actually learnt a lesson in album structure (because they clearly aren’t keen on diversity) from label mates Girls Names. Girls Names also released an album earlier this year that, track for track, wasn’t the most distinct experience but collectively the album built momentum, rather spinning wheels in the mud as Jinx too often does.
Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus
- Released : July 23rd, 2013
- Label: ATP Recordings
- For Fans of: Holy Fuck , Blondes or Errors .
- The Harvest: Ripening
If you asked me last week which act was sitting in the driver’s seat for this week’s Ripe tag, Fuck Buttons would have been the easy pick. After all, I had only listened to the album a couple of times and the electronic duo from Bristol make sonic waves that strike you immediately. It also helps that the albums strongest points are at the beginning and the end. What remains in the middle appears to be the tension, in the tension-release tactic, but upon several listens you can begin to hear them stretching for ideas.
Take ‘ The Red Wing ’, which was the first track released for the album; not only does its hip-hop beat sound slightly unnatural in the context of the album and experimental simply for the sake of just trying something different, but the distorted acid tones clash abrasively, rather than synthetically meshing as the track labours along.
While that’s the only track that doesn’t belong on the album, other middle tracks have minor issues. ‘ Sentients ’ opens with a very similar sample pattern to the one on ‘ Higher Ground ’ by TNGHT and although it’s transfixing at first, it has the natural beauty of Pacific Rim or an action video game. The creepy keyboard organ has you feeling adventurous as ‘ Prince’s Prize ’ progresses, only to end abruptly as the shortest track on the album. Another track that opens with promise and ambition is ‘ Stalker ’, with its motivated, glorious, slower recapturing of what made ‘ Olympicans ’ from their previous album so triumphant, but the track stagnates after its initial burst and after about 30 minutes of frustration, you start to boil over inside a little. This never occurred during any of their previous albums and you start to wonder why they aren’t challenging themselves more at this point.
Thankfully ‘ Hidden XS ’ is waiting at the end of this relay team to save the day and boy does it complete an impressive final leg. Not only is there immense desperation in the dramatic loop but the guitar distortions lift the song from muddling and for the first time all album it throws a left turn at you when the drum pattern changes up. The unpredictability not only sounds natural but it plays in to Fuck Buttons’ strongest appeal: the sense of adventure. And adventures are all about exploring the unknown.
If you’re new to Fuck Buttons you won’t feel the limitations as noticeably but for those coming back for the third time, you’ll still walk away satisfied – even though it takes until the end of the album to get there.
Mean Lady – Love Now
- Released : July 23rd, 2013
- Label: Fat Possum
- For Fans of: Dirty Projectors , Tune-Yards or St. Vincent .
- The Harvest: Ripe
Lead singer Katie Dill can obviously sing, but so can thousands of young females, so what makes Mean Lady stand out? It is Sam Nobles ‘ subtle catchy details on bass guitar, keys, sampler and post production. It gives you the impression that this rich affair is the work of an industry veteran, not someone producing their debut album.
From start to finish Love Now is fun and playful (think of a less structurally challenging version of Dirty Projectors ). While Katie is embracing this approach consistently by not over complicating the thought process, her lyrics can often come off a bit elementary school on tracks such as the opening ‘ One Big Family ’ where she sings “ If we lend a helping hand to a friend, we’ll feel better in the end ”, or ‘ Mother Earths ’ where “ surrounds me ” rhymes repeatedly with “ astounds me ”, and ‘ Lonely ’, which makes you cringe slightly during the line “ how can it break me and make me so strong ”.
These slight blemishes aren’t as awful in practice as they look on paper, because the world Love Now creates is so light and unpretentious that these lines only reinforce Katie’s open and accessible manner. Especially when her harmonies are on full display during the chorus of ‘ Daisies ’ or when the melody sticks instantly on tracks such as ‘ Far Away ’ and ‘ Bop Bop ’, where her vocals take off at the midpoint, blossoming the track wide open with colour.
Mean Lady’s ability to funnel their RnB melodic influences through a chamber pop filter on ‘ Why’d'ya Haftabee Sucha ’ highlights why this project never sounds restrictive or specific to a particular demographic. And when they pull off a track of ‘ Pony Ony O ’ length without stretching or going out of character, it stamps not only the album but the project itself with confidence and belief that they have many more infectious tracks awaiting us in the near future.
WORDS BY Marcus Rimondini
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