Author: nicole.baumann

Jessica Pratt – On Your Own Love Again

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Jessica-Pratt_On-Your-Own-Love-Again-coverRating: ★★★☆☆

Jessica Pratt first hit the scene back in 2012 with her debut self-titled album that transfixed audiences with its folksy creations. Now she’s back with a soft sophomore effort, On Your Own Love Again, which hopes to double up on the success of the first album in the apparent age of the singer/songwriter.

While Jessica Pratt’s music is certainly folk, it goes deeper than this blanket genre term suggest. Pratt’s overall sound is a mix of cascading acoustic guitar that serves as both the melody and the rhythm accompanied by her whimsically airy vocals. These vocals are the main attraction, though, and through them she spins intricate tales and crafts wonderful imagery that your mind will linger on. The combination of her voice and the intricate plucking of acoustic guitar are vastly more complex than they might seem and Pratt weaves them together with ease and allure. The sound here is simple, yet elegantly crafted, ornate, yet easy.

The highlights of this album come all over—by no means is this a one sided collection of songs, and I feel that those that resonate with you the strongest depends on your personal taste, but those that struck me as the most enticing come from the second half of the album. I was drawn strongly to “Jacquelyn In the Background,” on which Pratt’s vocals are impossibly breathy and light and yet still weighty in their content. The twisting and turning acoustic guitar falls on itself, creating a constant state of motion over which the vocals are able to glide. At the end of this track, the production adds a twist to it, distorting the vocals and guitar as if the record is playing on the wrong setting, evoking a level of self-awareness in an unexpected twist. Another song that has really pulled me in is “Back, Baby,” which reminds me a bit of old Destroyer records—the melancholy guitar that cuts through the tongue-twisting vocals hits hard.

I enjoy the songs on On Your Own Love Again, but I wasn’t too floored by the overall construction of the album; it’s gentle and delicate all the way through. Whereas Pratt’s contemporaries seem to burst through with power guitar or electronic components, she holds firmly to the eclectic nature of her folk tunes, which leaves me a little longing for more. She’s captured my attention with the enticing and spell-bounding quality of the music, but doesn’t expound beyond this.

 

Bummer City? More Like Bummer Vacation

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bummavacay

Bummer Vacation, besides having a pretty rad name, are a self-proclaimed shoe-gaze punk wave band from Fort Worth. They put out their debut album last summer, but now they’re back with this single, “Silver Hands.” What I really appreciate about this track are the little details that this band has incorporated; they’ve got a traditional punk-wave sound with twangy guitars and plenty of reverb on the vocals, but these guitar licks are super sharp and the percussion feels light and airy. There’s no such thing as too much shoe-gaze music. Enjoy.

 

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Get Your Folk On With Canet

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canet

While that heading may be a little misleading, as Brooklyn’s Canet make more alternative rock music than straight up folk, but you can definitely still hear some folk inspiration in the song I have for you below. Canet is the project of Agusti Canet and Daniel Tortoledo, who met back in 2011 and have been collaborating ever since. “I Want To See You,” is a track off their brand spanking new EP, Sounds From The Sea, which is available here for free on their Bandcamp Page. This song is a little meek, but the interesting vocals and the wonderful little break down at the end make it worth your while. Have a listen.

Puppy Gives You A Little Metal

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puppy_forever_art_541_402Puppy are a trio from London that make grunge/metal(ish) tunes. That’s pretty much all that is known about them thusfar, so I’m going to let the song do the talking. What I really like about this track is that the guitars are screaming heavy metal while the vocals are light and airy; something you’d expect from dream/twee pop, creating a balance that’s hard not to enjoy. “Forever” blends genre in a seamless fashion, and makes me look forward to what they have in store for the future. Forget the weird name and press play: rock on Puppy.

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Fall In Love With TV Sets

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tv sets

Toronto band, TV Sets is pretty well under the radar as of now, but I’m a firm believer that that is about to change, as their lo-fi bedroom rock is full of hooks and allure. When I stumbled upon the track I have for you below, “So Fortunate,” I was immediately drawn in by the stripped production, jangly guitars, and far off vocals that this band has got going for them. This band put out their first EP last year, but they’ve got another one for you to listen to for free called Gen Pop, which includes this track as well as some other catchy numbers. Have a listen and get behind these up and comers.

The Lone Bellow – Then Came The Morning

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unnamedRating: ★★☆☆☆

Sometimes a band needs a little bit of help to get off the ground, or rather with the case of The Lone Bellow, where to go once they have. On Then Came The Morning, they brought in The National’s Aaron Dessner to produce their sound, which makes for some interesting tracks and a bit of progress from their first effort they put out a few years ago.

The Lone Bellow have a bit of a mild alternative rock sound—one you would expect to hear from a band on the radio. This quality isn’t intrinsically negative, but it is apt; their folksy blend of acoustic guitar and harmonies doesn’t push a lot of boundaries sonically. In this baseness, they’ve found their niche—within this genre they’ve got some good numbers you’ll want to give a second or third listen. On the whole, however, the sound isn’t exciting enough to set them strongly apart from what others have already done.

Opener and title track, “Then Came The Morning” is about as boundary-pushing as you’ll find here. It’s a bluesy waking up track—the tempo is slow and rolling, as lead singer Zach Williams’ raspy vocals chime in with their emotive quality. The backing group vocals provide an interesting sweeping effect to the tune, the “oohs” and “ahhs” as well as the repetition of the chorus gives the whole number a balloon-like sound, giving the album a positive start. Other good songs seem to come when the band is doing bluesy sounding rock—take snappy number, “Cold As It Is” as an example. This song holds the vocals in the limelight, which freshens up the sound that The Lone Bellow have already developed. This number is a stomper and a catchy one at that, and one of the standout bright moments of the album.

By the end of the album, there is a feeling as if the songs are repeating themselves, within this genre it seems difficult to craft boldly different songs, and with thirteen altogether, the band doesn’t do themselves a lot of favors. Then Came The Morning is far from a bad record technically—the production is clear and there’s intricate craftsmanship abundantly placed all over—but I’m left wanting more edge and bite from this group. Maybe you’ll find you enjoy the mildness of The Lone Bellow, but I can’t seem to get fully behind what they’re putting out.

 

 

Cold Noise Pop From Future

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future

I’m all over the place musically today, so why not mix things up completely and bring you some weird cold wave French music? Future are a french trio who are big on creating huge tracks that soar in post-punk bliss. They’ve been around for a few years, but this track, “Side Effects” caught my attention with its dark, yet dance-ready quality. The howling feedback, papery percussion and monotone vocals blend to create cold noise pop that you can jam to, and I’m digging it.

Cruising Along With Fuzzy Pop From Bruising

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bruising

Bruising are a Leeds duo consisting of Naomi Baguely and Ben Lewis, who decided to join forces late last year and combine their skills to make some DIY lo-fi rock and roll. The result can be heard below, on “Can’t You Feel,” which has a gritty sound to its instrumentation only to be juxtaposed by the intense sweetness of Baguely’s dreamy sugar vocals. This single is coming out as part of a Volume series from London’s Beech Coma Records, and can be purchased on limited edition red cassette tape here.

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Keep It Simple With Seafret

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seafret

Folksy music always has a way of worming its way into my heart and listening patterns, so when I heard this track “Oceans” from acoustic duo Seafret I couldn’t help but enjoy its sound. These two gentlemen currently making music out of London have crafted a simple, yet elegant, track that relies on the emotion-drenched vocals to carry the song along. While this isn’t the most complex of tunes, sometimes simplicity is enough to keep you locked in. Have Seafret done enough to keep you interested?

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Pinkshinyultrablast – Everything Else Matters

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psub-1440Rating: ★★★½☆

Band names are often weird, but sometimes they’re really out there. Oddly enough, Pinkshinyultrablast is a name that somehow fits this power-shoegaze group from St. Petersburg, whose sound is a mix of airy dream and heavy noise pop. Everything Else Matters is their debut full-length album, and it is packed with tightly wound tracks that will have your head shaking and your feet tapping fiercely.

You wouldn’t believe my previous statement at the outset of the album, as opener “Wish We Were” creeps in slowly, but as the name of this band suggests, the band just needs a little bit of time to light the fuse before this record explodes into full throttle shoegaze bliss. A few minutes in the song takes off, transitioning from distant and ethereal to tangible and rocking. The drums and infectiously shoegazey guitars kick in, moving the song right along to the sleek sound that Pinkshinyultrablast does so well. “Holy Forest” keeps things heading in this same direction—the band’s sound blends electronic elements like synth and super reverb soaked vocals with the cutting electricity of the white hot guitars to create blazing tracks with speed and intrigue.

Each track pushes through to blossom into its own little explosion of dream pop bliss, some hitting harder and heavier, while other soar through lightly and airy. The vocals play a large part in the balance of Everything Else Matters, creating contrast to the music when its weighed down with a deep bass groove or when the guitars are shredding. “Metamorphosis” and lead single “Umi” are the bands’ best examples of this balance. The first of these two holds true to its name, alternating between simmering instrumentation and straightforward alt rock, the bass line stringing the two together perfectly. “Umi,” on the other hand, is just plain pretty and lush; synths and the lead soft vocals compete for your attention while the peppiness of the percussion bounces you along. Both of these are just two of the types of dream pop you’ll find on this album, and there are a lot more adventurous tracks for you to dance along to.

Just as this firework of an album begins, it fizzles out slowly, akin to the residual smoke that is left behind when the brilliant explosion fades away. What you’re left with is that elated feeling of wonder and excitement, and the burning desire to start it all over again. While this is an album that makes you want to just turn up the volume and jam along, after a couple of times through it begins to fall slightly dimmer each time—still good jams, but a little less hard hitting than the first time.

 

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