Quick Spins takes a quick look at recently released albums to make certain you're listening to all the quality music being released these days. And with today being Bandcamp Friday, I'm hoping some of the words below will spur you to actually listen to, and then buy, these excellent new releases today while all the dough goes directly to the artists!
It's not unusual for a TV star to make the leap to music, but from what I can tell, Juana Molina's early TV work in Argentina was done primarily so she could make the music she wanted to make. I became aware of her music through 2000's jaw-dropping album Segundo, a mixture of subtle and jarring textures featuring her quietly delivered vocals, creating a whole new universe of sound I've sunk into so many times over the years, always finding a new aural nook or cranny previously unknown to my brain.
Molina has released albums relatively regularly, though non entranced me as much as Segundo, until the arrival of this year's DOGA, are vertiginous spin through sound creating another ever-expanding universe I continuously find myself lost within. I highly recommend adding this one to your collection and think you'll find it an entryway into a mysterious and wonderful word as well. (And while you're on her Bandcamp page, I also recommend her 2020 live album ANRMAL as a primer on just what Molina has been capable of as it pulls in songs from her entire catalog and was recorded just before the pandemic shut the world down.)
Chicago's Yada Yada comes from our underground but traffics in sounds that would have fit right into the darker corners of the city's '90s guitar rock boom. On one song massive thudding riffs underpin snaky guitar leads that break through the basement roof and reach for the starry skies far above. On another Yada Yada veers punk and kicks off joyous slam-dancing throughout the basement pit. The mix closes in around you and at times feels as if you might suffocate under the layers of sound, just before Yada Yada pulls back and gives you enough to time catch your breath, laugh maniacally, and dive right back into the maelstrom.
Time Thieves
Come Home & If You Survive
Time Thieves released 2 EPs this year, but they clearly function as complements to each other and play as a full album once you join them together. This is another group channeling the '90s, but they dip into the poppier shades of guitar rock as they deliver up their own platters that matter. These tunes bounce around jubilant, crashing slabs of guitar into sweet vocal melodies that lean on harmony rather than high-pitched sweetness. Chicago has always had a knack for grafting singalong hooks onto music that's too heavy to qualify as "power-pop" but too sweet to be simply classified as heavy. Time Thieves continues that tradition and deserves a listen from you.
Glyders have been around Chicago since the twenty-tweens but only released their debut album a few years ago. While that debut garnered positive attention it did not prepare me for the quantum leap that was ahead of them on this year's Forever. Though it's funny to describe something that channels the spirit of '70s rock that glances at a psychedelic moon while overlooking Laurel Canyon at a party where the dance floor is driven by groovy guitars. I found myself loving this album on first listen so much I actually doubted myself, but repeated listens have only proven it to be a durable piece of art that is so addictive I would've worn to a flat piece of vinyl in another era.
Strange Neighbors
People Pleasers Pleasing People
This New York quartet just wants to please you. Sweartagod,they do. This is super-duper poppy, universally accessible, tightly crafted guitar pop delivered by lovable misfits that quite literally brightens my day every time I put it on. Sweartagod, it does. And singer Aidan Strange sits at the forefront of all this making you fall instantly in love with the whole endeavor with a delivery that's their sweetly accessible but full of attitude. Sweartagod, they do. Snag this now and bounce around the room and you'll thank your lucky stars stuff this playful and heartfelt still exists these days, Sweartagod, you will.
I feel the need to warn you, the opening track on the self-titled debut from Messiness "Feature with a Rapper" may cause you to cringe a bit, mixing genres and study tricks that sound straight out of a teen movie soundtrack circa 2002. But do not let that deter you! As you dig into the rest of the album's chaotic and psychedelic mix, Messiness' fearless approach to following their every music idea, no matter how silly or out there, makes a lot more sense. Based in Milan, the group seems to share more in common with the quirkier outliers of the Britpop scene and would've deserved their own cover profile in Q magazine back in the day. If that last sentence made sense to you, you will love this band. And if it was gobbledygook to you, I hope it at least confused/intrigued you enough to take a leap and get messy with this.
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