Like a lot of people, I first heard of Olivia Rodrigo through her record-breaking song ‘drivers license’ that spent eight weeks at number one. What I did not know was that she had originally become famous through acting on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Because of her multipotentiality, however, she has excelled in both. Having released her debut album SOUR on the 21st of May 2021, there is a lot to marvel at.
Aptly named, SOUR reflects the post-break-up resentment and bitterness and the melodramas of teenagehood. The first track of the album is ‘brutal’, a heavy riffed self-deprecating song that feels reminiscent of punk rock. It reminds me of songs from Kate Nash’s album Girl Talk, which also acts as a representation of a modern angry sceptical female perspective. This musical depiction of Olivia’s emotions is something that is consistent throughout the album. As a consequence, the listener is drawn into her story over and over. In particular, I was captivated by the depiction of the repercussions of her relationship ending. This can be seen in the songs ‘traitor’, ‘1 step forward, 3 steps back’ and ‘good 4 u’.
Had this album come out during my first break-up, I would have sobbed along to these songs. There is something so very pure and relatable about ‘traitor’. Yet, for me, it is missing the anger that ‘good 4 u’ skillfully conveys. In addition to this, it seems a little naïve, which can be seen as endearing and feels like a type of hindsight. If I had it my way, I would have ordered the songs differently as it is somewhat jarring to have all these different emotions crashing into each other track by track. However, at the same time, it makes sense for this to be the resounding theme of the album, a confusing reevaluation of identity. Therefore, if a stylistic choice, it is artful and introspective.
Continuing on from this, ‘1 step forward, 3 steps back’ hurts in a young, vulnerable way. With the twittering of birds in the background and a laughing lilt to her singing, Olivia has managed to write a song that paints a picture with the listener as its protagonist. You are welcomed into her bedroom to watch her phone her ex-partner and can see her hanging out of her window on a late summer afternoon. The way the piano is played seems almost playful and enticing. Contrastingly, ‘good 4 u’ has a deep bass groove that makes you want to dance around irrationally. The sharpness in her tone is exciting and makes the lyrics all the more raw and honest. Currently, this is my favourite song on the album and really epitomises the amount of effort and emotion poured into SOUR.
At the age of 18, Olivia Rodrigo has all the potential to keep on bringing out bops and SOUR is proof of that.
Black Flag vocalist and renaissance man Henry Rollins practices something he calls Protein/Carbohydrate listening. It’s a system in which he organizes his sonic consumption into two categories. New music—stuff he’s never heard before—is classified as protein, while old favorites are classified as carbs. He tracks his daily intake of ‘protein’ and ‘carbs’ in the obsessive manner of any fitness fanatic or health freak.
So far this month, my carb consumption has been way up, and my protein consumption has been way down, nonexistent but for the excellent, Austin, Texas-based band BLACK BOOKS, whose recent single Goodbye Cool (released in early 2020) is eerily prescient in the same sort of way that Contagion is eerily prescient. Watch it and see for yourself…
My roommate’s been playing the most recent HINDS album, The Prettiest Curse, on repeat 24/7, and I don’t mind a bit. The neighbors, however, are absolutely losing it–but then they always behave as though loud music is something physically threatening, like a crazed triceratops bulldozing through the front door. (An absolutely absurd stance on their part, and I find it’s best to help them work through it by blasting Frank Zappa.)
You know what Eve Babitz (cult writer and demi-monde darling of 1970s L.A.) said about really good songs? She said they were like booster shots, like concentrated doses of vitamins. The Prettiest Curse (despite its title) is like having an IV of healthful, revitalizing stuff. Through my roommate’s love of Hinds I’ve discovered the Spanish indie pop singer ESCORPIA, whose recent single Ten Cuidado has a promo video not unlike a three minute snippet of an Eric Rohmer movie.
In other news of tremendous importance, INSECURE MEN have confirmed via a reply to an Instagram comment that their third album is forthcoming, a joyous prospect indeed. There’s been a gaping hole in my soul ever since it became obvious that Ben Romans-Hopcraft’s supremely excellent outfit Childhood were not going to be continuing on in the immediate future, and hearing his work in Insecure Men consoles me greatly.
Totally Wired’s favorite “synth sensation,” JESSICA WINTER, has also hinted at new music. (Which reminds me: limited edition clear vinyls of her LP Sad Music, are currently available on her Bandcamp site, and I’d highly advise snapping one up for your record collection.)
DECIUS, a techno/acid-house outfit comprised of members of Paranoid London, Trashmouth Records and the Fat White Family (a combination calculated to make any self-respecting music geek hyperventilate) have released their first EP, entitled Bread and Butter, available wherever you get your music–I can’t keep track of all the ways to get music anymore–but it’s out there, so go get it.
God, I can’t believe I’m writing this but, a whole ass DECADE has passed to the day since Matthew Murphy (Love Fame Tragedy), Dan Haggis (Dan The Man), and Tord Øverland Knudsen, better known together as the iconic indie band The Wombats released their second full-length LP; This Modern Glitch. To this day one of the most interesting drops of an indie band who rose to fame in the late 00’s because of the left turn it took. Now I’m not saying it’s as sharp a turn as something like Radiohead’s Kid A was to OK Computer, but This Modern Glitch completely reinvented The Wombats sound at one of the strangest periods for modern music. It was 2011, around the time where pop music was changing completely, four on the floor beats, synth-ridden hooks, and the age of the pop ‘band’ was on its way out. So what does a Liverpudlian three-piece do for their next outing? Drop one of the coolest follow-up records of all time, that’s what.
This Modern Glitch takes that raw indie rock outfit from the band’s debut album, and polishes it off, wraps a layer of divinely played synths, and just dial up the wow factor to 11. Kicking off with Our Perfect Disease, slapping you straight in the face with this new synth focused style right off the bat, in fact, there’s no guitar until about 44 seconds in, and further yet there are no LOUD guitars until after a minute of playtime. It’s there with the vocal hooks and spunky guitars that the resonant Wombats sound comes out to play, and as the song progresses the signature twangy Bass tone from Knudsen gets thicker and heavier, and Murph’s guitar gets thrown about in your face more. Somehow it’s the perfect evolution from A Guide To Love Loss And Desperation, and as soon as it’s done the absolute anthem that is Tokyo (Vampires And Wolves) kicks off.
Tokyo is the perfect track for any party, lord knows any piss up I’ve been to hasn’t been complete without blasting this on full singing along to our heart’s content. The intro synth riff, the pulsating bass and the thumping drums carry this song straight into the aether. If you’re new to the sound of The Wombats, Tokyo is a brilliant starting point to get you hooked.
Jump Into The Fog slides right in next and acts as this slower but still effortlessly gorgeous power trip. Again combining the sounds of synth-led pop with the indie structure we’d already grown to love since the marsupials debut album back in 2007. Jump Into The Fog leaves you in a trance for 3 minutes and my god is it wonderful. It manages to pull off this wonderous mixture of texture and dynamics and is only heightened in a stripped-back setting like so. After being an epic synth led song, and now working as an acoustic rendition, swapping lead synths and guitars for cellos and pianos and reinventing the vibe to their own song? Absolutely majestic.
1996 is a weighty synth thumping beast of a tune, acting as the physicality of the themes within the track talking about the horrors of the modern world, longing to go back to the days of 1996 after not being “cut out for the modern life”. It’s the kind of song you just wanna drink and dance to and not have a single care in the world. The Wombats have perfected the danceable sad song and they make no exceptions here. You may feel like you’ve slowed down time, but if you’re soundtracked to The Wombats, you don’t have to worry about a thing.
This Modern Glitch is filled with delightful surprises such as the U-Turn that is Anti-D. A softer sentimental track, proposing the idea that this person could be your anti-depressant. Twinkled with violins that take you back to the days of brit-pop, but with synth under roots that ground you back to The Modern Glitch of life you’re in. Other brilliant tracks I have to gloss over sadly otherwise we really would be here all day, are the sparkly spotlights of Last Night I Dreamt… No no not The Smiths song. This track talks about someone having an epiphany after having a dream that they very bluntly, died alone. Which is fair enough, to be honest, hope you’re good Murph.
Girls / Fast Cars is a brilliant no-nonsense song, brilliant for any sort of workout or when you need to run for a train. I’ve tried it with both and it works, just try not to sing it out loud and look like a lemon at a knife fight in the bowels of Blackfriars station… Definitely more one of the more traditionally rocky songs of the album, but still matched with the synth-tastic sounds of 2011 and feeling right at home among the tracks of This Modern Glitch.
Techno Fan is a song I think everybody relates to at some point in their life. You stay away from something your whole life convinced it’s “not for me darling”, only to find yourself slap bang in the middle of a club moshing to something you’d never heard of before, or you know whatever it is you’ve avoided… It’s a cheerful, bright and spanky song that asks you to “move with me or get out of my face”. This song gets going and if you’re not on board it will sail on without you, and you’ll have to catch it again from the start because it’s got a motive that requires you to pay attention. It’s a phenomenal feeling and you just have to ride this train.
There’s so much identity within this album and so much nostalgia I associate with it and with this band. This Modern Glitch did the hard thing of adapting an indie band to the turn of the new decade, but it blended the two perfectly and without it, we surely wouldn’t have got any of the brilliant work from Murph, Dan, and Tord throughout The Wombats’ musical career and their own solo discographies.
The perfect summer album to play when the world feels wrong, and after the year we’ve had, with things looking up on the uncertain horizon, perhaps This Modern Glitch is what we need all over again.
Listen to This Modern Glitch (10th Anniversary Edition) on Spotify now. Presented proudly, 10 years running.
Trashmouth Records, an independent label run by brothers Liam and Luke May, is the New Malden equivalent of Muscle Shoals’ Fame Studios.
The Mays recorded, engineered and produced the debut albums of bands such as Madonnatron, Warmduscher and the Fat White Family. “Trashmouth produced and released records by bands that no one else would touch with a 10-foot pole and not only lived to tell the tale but proved to have been visionary in their blind faith.”
As scouts of raw talent and miners of sonic gold Trashmouth Records are unequalled by any in their contribution to recording some of the best music of our era…
Clams Baker, the inimitable front man of Warmduscher (the best boogie band in London, and that bass, my God) spoke lovingly of Trashmouth: “When I think of the South London music scene, I immediately think Windmill, Fat White Family, and Trashmouth Records, then I forget what I was thinking about thanks to the last 10 years they are celebrating! Very blessed and honored to be a part of it. Long live the hustle, I can’t wait to see what they think of next.”
Clams Baker III, Benjamin Romans-Hopcraft and Saul Adamczewski of Warmduscher (and friends) at the Windmill. Photo by Lou Smith @lousmithphoto.
The label is soon to release a celebratory album of remixes. “Trashmouth Records – 10 Years Still Not Dead” marks the 10th Anniversary of the inception of the Trashmouth Experiment & features remixes of some of the label’s favourite tracks and artists…”
Thus far one remix has been dropped, a Trashmouth redux of “Yolk Buns USA,” from Warmduscher’s infamous debut album Khaki Tears (an album which was recorded in a mere three days if the rumors are true.)
Other remixes which will be included on the album are a Trashmouth redux of “Heaven on Earth,” a sonically schizophrenic rocker from Fat White Family’s scorching debut, Champagne Holocaust, and other auditory delights from Madonnatron and Meatraffle among others.
Brothers Luke and and Liam May, who founded and continue to operate Trashmouth Records.
In the label’s own words: “The LP will…encompass a visual history of the label within its artwork, featuring photographs of the now legendary Trashmouth nights at the Brixton Windmill, where bands bitched and bonded, where blood, booze and tears were spilled in almost equal measure and where the seeds of a small corner of modern musical history were inadvertently sewn.”
Join the infamous label in celebrating ten years of “Blood, Booze and Tears in Equal Measure…” by purchasing their 10th anniversary record featuring remixes from their top artists, available May 17th on Bandcamp and beyond.
Released in 2007, Made of Bricks by Kate Nash holds a space in my memories like no other album. Unknowingly I have known this album since it came out. Bit by bit and song by song, I have been rediscovering it since starting university.
This album was a commercial success. I still remember watching the ‘Pumpkin Soup’ music video on MTV when I was 7. Transfixed, I would sit on the carpet waiting for it to come on every day. Although at the time it was my personal favourite, it was actually ‘Foundations’ off Made of Bricks that made it to 2nd place in the UK Singles Chart. With its story-like manner and the mastering of melody, you can’t help but be drawn in. Into the bargain, it becomes a welcomed challenge to remember all the lyrics. The chorus is the most memorable part of it, as choruses usually are. Though it’s hard to have a favourite part of this song.
Another single off the album is ‘Mouthwash’, a relatable song about imperfections. Although the lyrics are simple, they are to the point and say everything they need to. I enjoy the fact that in revealing this list of things about her, Kate Nash is showing us that she is just as human as we are. Building up to the bridge, it has a very 2000s feeling to it, one that feels familiar and comfortable to me. Overall this song speaks for itself and is probably more convincing to listen to than to read about.
Side by side on the album, the songs that stand out to me most are ‘Dickhead’ – for quite obvious reasons – and ‘Birds’. ‘Dickhead’ is the kind of song you put on when you’re drunk. Somehow knowing all the lyrics, you scream them at that special someone. The guitar riff is simple but effective, slow but resounding and repetitive but groovy. The anaphoric nature of the song makes it easy to get wrapped up in the lyrics straight away. On the other hand, ‘Birds’ is quite a contrast, a love ballad of a song. Right from the start, we’re introduced to two characters who appear to be in the midst of a blooming relationship. He declares his love through a quirky comparison to birds. It’s very endearing and has the added benefactor of being funny and loveable.
Though I could write positively about the rest of the songs on the album, I think it’s best if I leave you to discover it on your own. Enjoy!
It’s been a whirlwind month for the poor suckers out on of the frontlines of the music industry, myself included. Like everybody else, I have been glued to my laptop for livestreams, during which I have broken two Bose speakers and possibly also ruptured my roommate’s left eardrum, but I’m chalking that up to her allergies and not to the volume at which I was blasting MISTY MILLER’s livestream with Easycome Acoustic Club.
Speaking of recent noteworthy streams, Glasgow’s own indie goth-pop darlings, THE NINTH WAVE (rock n’ roll social workers if ever any did exist) played a livestream show at Leith Theatre with Lucia and the Best Boys, and I hope to hell you blessed your ears and eyes with it—it was the first time the songs from their sophomore album Happy Days! were played live, and thus a red-letter day…
Glaswegian indie rock outfit the Ninth Wave. Photo credit: @olierskine
If you are of the festival going-persuasion, LUCIA AND THE BEST BOYS announced that, come September, they will headline the River Stage at TRNSMT Festival. (Other headliners include Lil Simz—be still, my beating heart!—Sports Team and Walt Disco.) A word of advice, preorder your tickets, plan your wardrobes and sort your granola out NOW. It’ll give you something to live for. And don’t bring a tent if you really want to have fun; tents just get in the way. So does complicated eye makeup, which only summons rain. Just wear some big earrings. Searing the lead singer’s retinas with reflective bling is a far better way to get their attention than looking like a raccoon having an existential crisis.
Lucia of Lucia and the Best Boys. Photo credit @neelastica
The Best Band in all the World, GOAT GIRL, are headlining Wide Awake Fest on Friday, September 3rd where they are billed above Idles. This suggests that there is indeed justice in the Universe. Black Country New Road, black midi, and Tropical F Storm (Iggy Pop’s BBC 6 show turned me on to these freaks, go give their tune “Brain Drops,” a listen, it’ll melt your synapses) will also perform.
The magnificent South London indie rock band Goat Girl. Photo credit: @hollyemmw
If you like GOAT GIRL then saunter on over to Bandcamp and check out The Most Underrated Band in all the World, MADONNATRON, who are once again flying under the radar. I’m over here chewing my acrylics in anticipation of what fresh sonic delights they are possibly preparing to unleash upon us unworthy listeners. Musica Alla Puttanesca was released nearly 2 years ago and I’m hungry for more…
Speaking of bands rumored to be releasing new albums in the near(ish) future, FAT WHITE FAMILY released their firstborn film, a gonzo digital diary entry romantically dubbed Moonbathing in February. I’m sure the sight of Alex White’s lovely mullet in a bubble bath was enough for many of you to give the film a five-star rating but hearing the Fat Whites revert to their country roots—with Lias on guitar, Nathan on keyboards, and Alex on flute and sax–was melancholy bliss beyond belief.
(Lias Saoudi and Saul Adamczewski of Fat White Family. Photo credit: the incredible @lousmithphoto)
As the sun leans in closer for a warm embrace and Mother Earth takes her first steps towards revitalization, the time has come to celebrate spring’s long-awaited arrival. So, what better way to welcome it than with a brand new release that is so beautiful, it’d make even the most gifted of songbirds envious?
Chase Cohl’s EP Dear Dear: Volume I is absolute euphoria. Consisting of four tracks, it embodies a similar feeling to surrendering your skin to the divinity of sunshine; it is nothing short of pure comfort and invigoration. This was my first proper introduction to the enormously talented singer-songwriter who also explores the worlds of fashion and poetry. Hearing these songs for the first time felt like coming home after a long and tiring journey, intoxicated with the pure joy of being right where you want to be.
Dear Dear begins with “Special Situation,” a song so blissful and pleasing to the ears, it’s only right to stick around for more. The backing harmonies paired with the flawless intertwinement of Cohl’s voice and the dreamlike, vintage instrumentals make this song an undeniable winner in my book. If you’re in search of a song to dance along to with a glass of wine, look no further.
Track two, “Take It Like A Man,” took on the role as the EP’s single, and it did its job phenomenally. It’s what I had first heard from Cohl while aimlessly scrolling through Instagram just mere days ago, and I knew right off the bat that I needed to write about her. After (very quickly) falling entirely entranced by the song’s colorful, 1960s-inspired sound, I genuinely could not get it out of my head. Watch the music video here!
“Still Crying,” despite bearing somber lyrics about the woes of break-ups, carries a playful and bright tune. The back-and-forth between Cohl and the backing vocals throughout the chorus is truly satisfying and addictive to listen to. On top of that, its bridge dips into an enchanting pool that lulls you into a brief daydream just before getting right back into the song’s upbeat magic once more.
The fourth and final track, “I Can’t Live Without You,” just might be my favourite. It paints an image in my head so effortlessly, I can easily see it as the score to a montage in a film. Despite it being the EP’s shortest song, it possesses so much beauty and airiness that you pay no mind to its duration. It strikes something deep within me that is impossible to shake, and to say I adore every single aspect is an understatement.
In short, this is one masterpiece of an EP. Elegance and perfection can be heard all throughout, and because I am a newer listener, I will most certainly be taking a dive into more of Chase Cohl’s material (and you should, too!).
To stay in the loop, be sure to follow Chase Cohl on Instagram and Spotify!
Hayley Williams has delivered us her lockdown baby FLOWERS for VASES / descansos only 9 months after Petals For Armor. Having had her tours cancelled, it was a relief for fans to hear there was a new album coming out instead. Like a lot of artists, Hayley Williams has taken advantage of the time off touring to be able to sit down and write music. She sees her second album as a prequel to her first, a more simplistic laidback affair.
Having come out more than a month ago now, it has taken me a while to get into. Unlike the excitement of the first album release, the second album comes with a slow peaking of intrigue. Beginning with ‘First Thing To Go’, this concept album recounts a journey of loss and coming to terms with absence, which is very relevant to our current climate. Unlike the bitterness seen in ‘Leave it Alone’ on Petals For Armor, this album is more of an open wound, an ode to the process of heartbreak and an exploration of tough themes. The album regains some of its missing groove with ‘Over Those Hills’ that has both a catchy hook and lyrical melody.
However, for me the album peaks at ‘Inordinary’ with spine-tingling lyrics about escaping her parents’ domestic situation and being able to start afresh. This song presents the relief that she may not have known she needed. There is a sense of beauty in the simplistic as showcased through the stripped back sound of the strumming of the guitar and bare piano chords in the chorus. For me it depicts how the cumulation of all these negative experiences expressed throughout the album have made Hayley Williams who she is now. In a twisted way, we have to be grateful for everything Hayley Williams has been through. As a consequence, she has been able to produce meaningful honest music that manages to appeal to her audience in such a moving way.
Moreover, further momentum is gained with ‘Just A Lover’ and it may well become my next favourite. I cannot stop thinking about the line ‘one more ugly stillborn cry’. The harsh truth of this album will continue to hit me the more times I listen to it. I think it will continue to grow to the point where we will look back at this album with fond nostalgia. If only there were a CD version, how will the pretentious old-timey people like myself cope?
As is often the case, the second album will never live up to the debut. Yet, this does not mean I am ungrateful for FLOWERS for VASES / descansos. It is undeniably worth a listen and I implore you to. You never know how soon a tour will be announced and you’ll need to belt all the lyrics out. I’m sure Hayley Williams would be grateful.
10 years ago, Alex Turner’s ‘Submarine’ EP released, featuring songs written for the film of the same name. If you’ve seen Richard Ayoade’s Submarine, then you’ll know how perfect a match Turner’s songwriting was for that film, the jaded atmosphere of Oliver Tate’s empty and almost stunted world, as he goes through the struggles of his parents dwindling marriage and his own love spell with a girl at school.
The matched reverb riddled and stripped-back approach to Turner’s songwriting makes for such an interesting experience with the context of the Arctic Monkeys’ albums that sandwich the EP. Relinquished from the deep desert production of Humbug, and far from the polished production of Suck It And See, Submarine acts as a transition period between the two like a palette cleanse. In fact track ‘Piledriver Waltz’ getting a rework on Suck It And See, with even lyrical references spilled over the album, it’s clear the intrinsic connection between the two records.
Is it any coincidence that Turner’s songs here make you feel desolate and floaty? Like you’re drifting through the sea in a Submarine? I don’t think so. Whether you’re entranced by the opener, ‘Stuck On The Puzzle – Intro’, or whipped away by the deeper cuts of ‘It’s Hard To Get Around In The Wind’, ‘Hiding Tonight’ or ‘Glass In The Park’, you immediately get a feel for what this story is about.
Turner set out to write songs for Oliver Tate, love songs, and how the simple bliss of those feelings especially as a teenager can feel so strong, where tunnel vision makes the rest of the world seem irrelevant for the time being. Submarine really enhances those feelings and makes for such an intimate listening experience, in an almost bittersweet way depending on how you the listener perceive his words.
Although the whole EP is filled with magic through its 6 songs, it’s clear to all that its two ‘singles’ are the ones most favoured and listened to. Of course, I’m talking about the previously mentioned ‘Piledriver Waltz’ and ‘Stuck On The Puzzle’.
“I’m not the kind of fool who’s gonna sit and sing to you about stars, girl / but last night I looked up into the dark half of the blue, and they’d gone backwards”
Turner really pours his heart out here. And I don’t think it matters whether he’s talking from his heart, or through the character of Oliver Tate. He clearly understood Tate to the point where he could construct such a symphonic tone to serenade the film’s story so perfectly, and 10 years later that film and that soundtrack, are still being spoken about today.
If you haven’t come across the film Submarine yet then you really absolutely must, it’s a brilliant motion picture and the best way to experience Turner’s music for the first time. Trust me when I say it’s an experience you really won’t forget.
Wolf Alice return with their highly anticipated single ‘The Last Man on Earth’
The tune sets the pace for what seems to be a turn towards the band’s roots, with the recent single giving off a similar vibe to some of their earlier songs Silk and Blush.
Although die-hard fans of the band will know a Wolf Alice album can go from breaking your heart to pure punk rock. One thing’s for sure, Wolf Alice have done it again and never cease to amaze. They really are one of those bands who just can’t write a bad song if they tried.
The band announced on Instagram the title of their upcoming third album ‘Blue Weekend’, due for release on the 11th of June. This years about to get a lot brighter, pre-order while you still can.
