Tripper has more of a narrative focus than previous Fruit Bats efforts. On his fifth album, Eric D. Johnson consciously shifts to story-based songs. While he leans more toward the storyteller brand of songwriter, though, he steps away from the sunny folk pop that is most identified with Fruit Bats releases.
Alex Schaaf recorded his debut album, The Mistress, alone in his Wisconsin bedroom. Under the moniker Yellow Ostrich, Schaaf’s music has the intimate feeling of poetry reverberating off the four walls of his confined space. The minimalist song structures use instruments to fill in gaps in the open-ended tracks. An occasional thud of a kick drum or piano chord have a jarring effect, seeming out of place with the flowing vocal melodies, but it is those vocals that provide the meat of the album.
Unlike those lying Doobie Brothers, Sisters 3 is actually a band comprised of three sisters: Cassandra, Beatrice, and Anna Christie Sadler. The Philadelphia trio has a vintage style, but it would be a mistake to lump them in with the folk pop revival trend of recent years. Their second album, Coruscate at the Meadow Gate, has a sound too diverse to fit neatly in any genre.
Tripper has more of a narrative focus than previous Fruit Bats efforts. On his fifth album, Eric D. Johnson consciously shifts to story-based songs.
Were My Sweetheart to Go…, the second album by Austin chanteuse Lex Land, finds the singer continuing to cover themes of loss and unrequited love. A more introspective take on the topics, however, reveals a more confident songstress. The melancholia is still there (“Finally thought something might work out alright, but then it died during the Ides of March”) but Land seems better able to deal with it now.
Forgive Chamberlin if their debut album seems to end too quickly. The band seems to be lacking in patience. They had only performed in front of friends before deciding to record an album and had only played a handful of shows in Vermont before going on a national tour with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Though the 9-track album is brief, Bitter Blood sounds like the painstaking work of a veteran band rather than an impromptu recording by new band-mates.
Listening to Man Man’s music is taking a journey down a rabbit hole, observing a world that mirrors yours but is a little less predictable, a little less sane
There’s a bias among many that for something to be artistic, it has to be dark and moody. Poetry is only high art, they reason, if it dwells on the negative aspects of the human experience. For that reason, those who focus on positive vibes are often under appreciated. It is exactly in that positivity, however, that Brett Dennen thrives.
It’s not easy to describe the sound of Royal Bangs. Singer Ryan Schaefer has said that he has no interest in conforming to the conventions of a particular genre of music. Instead, he would rather make whatever music he feels, without worrying about what it’s called. While that mindset helps create an eclectic mix, it frustrates fans and critics who are used to utilizing the names of genres and subgenres to define a band’s sound.
On their fourth release, the Kills place more emphasis on melody than on angsty rock riffing. Blood Pressures features fewer squealing guitars and buzzing feedback and more vocal harmonies. Hell, there’s even a piano ballad. Not to worry, though; the duo’s gritty sound, combining blues with a punk swagger, is intact.
