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Friday Album Streams: Blood, Teenage Tom Petties + More

August 2, 2024 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

You know we’re nearing the fall when records start to come fast and furious, and we hit up another Friday with tons of really great releases for folks to pick out…and as usual, most of these have been discussed in detail on this here site. So, no need to go into too much detail, but we’re pretty sure that we’ve got albums for all your moods…so just dive right in, and be sure to grab the ones you love to support the bands/labels.

Blood – Loving You Backwards (Ramp Local)

<a href="https://bloodatx.bandcamp.com/album/loving-you-backwards">Loving You Backwards by Blood</a>

Teenage Tom Petties – Teenage Tom Petties (SafeSuburbanHome/Repeating Cloud)

<a href="https://safesuburbanhomerecords.bandcamp.com/album/teenage-tom-petties-2">Teenage Tom Petties by Teenage Tom Petties</a>

The Male Gays – Be Kind (Chapter Music)

True Optimist – Mental Health (Self Aware Records)

<a href="https://selfawarerecords.bandcamp.com/album/mental-health">Mental Health by True Optimist</a>

Aaberg – Wishing Well (Forged Artifacts)

<a href="https://aaberg.bandcamp.com/album/wishing-well">Wishing Well by Aaberg</a>

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Blood Share Holy Family Single

July 26, 2024 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

When press first came out concerning the new Blood album, it promised to have Tim O’Brien really stretching himself, vocally. There was a little bit on the earlier singles, but “Holy Family” has this dark majesty that fulfills all the promise of Tim exploring his voice. At the beginning, it’s quite fragile, almost beautifully pained, tip-toeing around a light strum and bending nuanced notes. Pronounced percussion comes to rescue, punching through the mix momentarily, but it only seems to make O’Brien withdraw further, hiding behind the textured density the group have built up here. Of all the power the the band possess, they seem to kind of control that chaos, making magic in the process. Loving You Backwards is out next Friday via Ramp Local.

<a href="https://bloodatx.bandcamp.com/album/loving-you-backwards">Loving You Backwards by Blood</a>

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Blood Announce Loving You Backwards

May 23, 2024 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

Former Austin outfit Blood moved off to Philadelphia to find their sound and build themselves a new foundation. Through the process, various members found new paths and chose to leave the band, but not before the completing the record that would become Loving You Backwards. Their sound will likely draw some comparisons to early Shame records, taking post-punk sounds and flexing them into new territory that’s simultaneously bright and dangerous. That said, frontperson Tim O’Brien embraced the more femme shades of his voice, building in a softness to the record that we might not have gotten when they were all back in Texas. Really excited to hear the whole of Loving You Backwards, which drops in August via Ramp Local.

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Blood Share Bone Dry Single

November 3, 2023 nathan.lankford Leave a comment

It’s really a bummer that Blood left Austin for Philadelphia, but at least they’re still dropping great tunes like they’ve always done. They’ve slimmed down to a four-piece, and whether that’s impacted the sound as a whole, it does feel like its tightened the ship a little bit, and even maybe subconsciously tying it back to their Austin days. For me, its like a discordant Spoon, maybe a Britt Daniels/Mineral mash-up. There’s definitely a push for a nice vocal grab, but the song revels in its ability to sound tight and ramshackle all at once. It’ll be interesting to see where they’re heading now that they’ve signed with Ramp Local, but you can be sure I’ll keep you posted.

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