Jay Farrar and his reconfigured Son Volt lineup draw upon the elemental genre of country music for Honky Tonk. Without a shred of contrivance, they achieve and maintain an ever-so-precarious balance of euphoric music offset by deceptively despairing lyrics.
When Sharon Van Etten joins Pickwick for a cover of Seattle indie-rock icon Richard Swift’s “Lady Luck,” their debut LP Can’t Talk Medicine reaches its zenith. The collaboration coalesces into a stone cold neo-soul classic. With a nod to Hall and Oates’ falsetto harmonies, “Lady Luck” is pitch-perfect; a patient rendering that exemplifies Pickwick’s triadic harmony of rock n’ roll, indie-blues, and classic soul.
For their fourth album, Stockholm-based Shout Out Louds tried that common “take a step back in order to take a step forward” approach so often attempted by artists stuck in a rut. Although 2010’s Work found Adam Olenius and Co. playing to some on some of their biggest and brightest stages, the vibe just didn’t seem to gel, and the band’s brightly colored musical palette turned a bit more muted and ill fitting.
Good Light succeeds in flashes of minimalistic beauty, but falls short of delivering a knockout punch. The simplest explanation is the lyrics leave little to the imagination (See “I love you, I do”). By avoiding imagery and metaphor almost entirely, Holcomb does a fine job describing where he’s at, but falls short of transcending a particular context. This saccharine, heart-on-the-sleeve style of songwriting is kind of like a stick of gum: nice, kinda refreshing, but of fleeting resonance.
On their sophomore release Hummingbird, Local Natives engage listeners in an unexpectedly mature and serious album that divides its time well between showcasing vocals, instrumentation and emphasizing emotional melodies.
The 35th Anniversary of Eric Clapton’s Slowhand is worth noting as largely the album that consolidated his connection with the mainstream first broached by 461 Ocean Boulevard. The 1977 release, however, did not further his status as a creative artist, but instead solidified a careerist approach to his solo work that has continued to this day.
Foals have become one of the biggest bands to arise from the fruitful Oxford, England scene as of late, and their third album Holy Fire finds them carving out a sizeable international space for themselves. The album is a natural progression from the dense math-rock of their debut, Antidotes, through the spacious creations of breakthrough record Total Life Forever, and into something bigger and somehow more infectious.
FaltyDL is Drew Lustman from New York City by-way-of New Haven, CT. His pseudonym has been gaining steam in electronic music circles due in large part to his association with Thom Yorke and Radiohead. Lustman was invited to open for the iconic band at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom in 2012 but prior to this anointment he was an in-demand re-mixer for the xx, Scuba, Photek and many others. With the tastemakers listening closely, Lustman drops his first full length, Hardcourage on inimitable UK label Ninja Tune.
Lost Animal has connected with something here, much in the same way the Christopher Owens was able to touch a nerve when Girls first arrived. There may even be a digital age Leonard Cohen mixed in there as Quarrell has crafted a swirling first release that keeps rewarding.
While there are moments that it’s convenient to say “Hey, this kinda sounds like _____,” enough counterexamples emerge to acclaim the quartet on their own accord. These guys can write a catchy tune with meaningful lyrics while keeping the music interesting—no small feat. If Atlas Genius qualifies as pop music in 2013, bring it on.
