Top 10 Releases of 2017: Part 4

1. stampeter - too many boys

(2017 Self-Released)

FULL REVIEW

too many boys is twenty ounces of sentimentality, left in the freezer so long that it pressurizes the air inside its bottle. The plastic warps, the cap pops, and you're left with a sticky mess that smells like sucrose and growing pains. 

Spanning seven tracks in just 19 minutes, Connecticut's stampeter approach their fifth EP with an anthemic conviction that'd make their back catalogue of folksy twee pop tunes tremble in fear. Roomy and raw, the record's an introspective take on the retro college-rock sound of 90's acts like Blake Babies or The Lemonheads that ditches pretension for melodic WOOs that you can scream along to, station wagon windows rolled down. 

"waters", sandwiched right in the center of too many boys, is the album's standout moment. It's a love song about leeches and big city dreams that steadily shifts from its nervously strummed verse to a power-chord-driven chorus, unfurling infinitely in all directions, revealing the cataclysmic power held within. Stampeter stay true to their sloppy, slacker-rock aesthetic here, but unintentionally tap into a confidence that draws genre-transcending brilliance from just two chords. The way Luca Bartlomiejczyk's sustained vowel sounds melt into Judge Russell's slogging bassline: it sneaks up on you and warms your cynical soul. A Casio's glassy hum mimes the melody, taking up residence in your psyche's now-cozy confines. 

From the slow heaves of "pullout couch" to the twangy vocal harmonies that close the woozy "paws", this record is a flurry of knockout punches that perfects any genre it touches. too many boys is emo, grunge, folk, and ambient all at once, blurring the lines between each distinction: it's the product of its own reality.

Albums of the Year Pt. 4

1. Alex G. - DSU

(June 2014 Orchid Tapes)

Though I do my best as a reviewer to ignore hype, I couldn't help getting excited for the most recent Alex G LP. It's an underdog story that seems nearly too idyllic to be true: the Pennsylvanian songwriter's charming, yet undeniably inventive nuggets of lo-fi pop, (seldom greater than three minutes in length), had garnered the attention and praise of major music outlets like Fader, Spin and even Rolling Stone, coverage unheard of for an artist releasing music exclusively on Bandcamp. It was no surprise to me that Alex G had escaped the boundaries of his cozy lo-fi niche. His music bore a faint, magical quality; it stayed true to the shared lo-fi ethos of his peers and contemporaries, yet it also seemed to go deeper than that, its songwriting exhibiting the punk polish of Dinosaur Jr, Pavement, perhaps even Neil Young. 

DSU did not just live up to my expectations of "the internet's best secret singer-songwriter", it exceeded them, narrowing the broad scope of previous releases down to a more cohesive focus: quirky noise-pop that mirrors the early experimentation of Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. There's a balance between minimal pop gems like "Harvey" (one of Rolling Stones' 50 tracks of the year), noisy cuts like "Axesteel", and lush, jazzy tunes like the album's closer, "Boy". There's nothing too flashy about DSU. It does everything correctly, and consistent, making for a near-perfect listen.

Top 10 Albums of 2014 Pt. 2

7. Reighnbeau - Hands
(May 2014 Bridgetown)

Migrating from capacious slowcore to a pummeling brand of fuzzed-out shoegaze, New Mexico's Reighnbeau turned his signature sound inside-out on his most recent full-length effort, Hands. The sound of the album is simultaneously atmospheric and crowded, rushes of airy guitar coursing through primal rhythms like white water rapids. All that attempts to raft atop the swift flow of trebly noise, (breathy vocals and the occasional synth tone), is pulled under. Reighnbeau's approach to songwriting is a study in minimal maximalism: cramming as many textures and as much beauty into what is nearly a unified drone.

RIYL: Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, Airiel

6. Death Grips - Niggas On The Moon

(June 2014 Harvest)

A sensory feast for the ears, Death Grips' Niggas on the Moon is the hip-hop trio's most puzzling effort, much less linear than previous outings like the punk rock influenced mixtape Exmilitary or the sinewy industrial assault of No Love Deep Web. Niggas on the Moon finds the trio eschewing the distorted, fat synths that so defined their work for a more brittle sound built up from sliced-up Bjork vocal samples and warbly percussion. Stefan Burnett's lyrics, though delivered with the same ferocity as always, veer from the unhinged violence they conveyed in previous efforts, instead bordering on dadaist absurdity. From the jarring beat drop at the beginning of "Up My Sleeves" to the samply freakout that concludes "Big Dipper", Niggas on the Moon has become my favorite Death Grips album since its release date.

RIYL: Clipping, Wolf Eyes, Swans

5. Barlow - Four Castles

(July 2014 Self-Released)

Four Castles is a brief, but powerful dose of old-school lo-fi pop, borrowing influence from Sebadoh's noisy brand of proto-emo as well as the catchy fuzz-pop peddled by Robert Pollard's Guided By Voices. It's not merely an act of revivalism, though; the Pennsylvanian trio uses the sound of its influencers as a benchmark for building upon, injecting a healthy measure of shoegaziness into their gritty sound and incorporating elements of Captured Tracks surf pop into the mix. Highlights of the album include the sludgy, yet ethereal, opener "Missionary" and the muscly punk assault of "Visor".

RILY: Guided By Voices, Early My Bloody Valentine, Beach Fossils

Phone Thou - HOUNDSds

Phone Thou - HOUNDSds

(2012 Chill Mega Chill Records)
(9.3)