ALTER.NATION #81
Once & Future Band, The Strokes, Trace Mountains, Maddie & Tae, Pokey LaFarge, Hamilton Leithauser, Adult., The Buttertones, Flat Worms, Joe Satriani, Local H, The Dream Syndicate
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"Several Bullets in My Head"
Once & Future Band - Deleted Scenes / Several Bullets in My Head
The follow-up to their Technicolor eponymous debut, Deleted Scenes further showcases Once & Future Band's skill at combining technical virtuosity across several rock styles with their knack for catchy rhythms and classic pop hooks. Corralling inspirations that include Pink Floyd, E.L.O., and Steely Dan, just for starters, the album offers up nine varied tracks, four of which are instrumentals of a tight, tuneful nature. Hummable enough that passive listeners may not even notice that it's non-vocal, one such track is "Several Bullets in My Head," which evokes the particular jazzy, martini-lounge sound prevalent in composer soundtracks of the '60s and '70s, while remaining rooted in rock. The song's melody moves seamlessly between organ, piano, guitar, and mallet percussion as the rhythm section lays down a soft funk groove... The trio -- singer/keyboardist/guitarist Joel Robinow, bassist/guitarist Eli Eckert, and drummer/technician Raj Ojha -- who had played together in various incarnations in the Bay Area before forming Once & Future Band, not only sound like a veteran arena combo here but offer the material to make them shine.
The Strokes - The New Abnormal / The Adults Are Talking
Though the Strokes have cultivated a cooler-than-cool reputation over the years, at least once on every album they reveal the melancholy underneath the facade. For the first time in their career, on The New Abnormal they stay in that emotional space for more than just a song or two, and the results are some of their most rewarding music... They also sound more mature. "The Adults Are Talking" isn't just wittily named, the way its vocals and guitars swell and soar reflects how the band has updated their time-tested sound -- taut rhythms, intertwining melodies -- and rewritten the rules that don't work anymore...
Trace Mountains - Lost in the Country / Absurdity
With the 2018 disbandment of punk outfit LVL UP, New York singer/guitarist Dave Benton underwent somewhat of a sea change, moving up to the idyllic Hudson River Valley town of Kingston and placing a renewed focus on his laid-back solo work under the name, Trace Mountains. Although the project has been around nearly as long as LVL UP, it was a far more casual affair that has so far yielded a somewhat fragmented lo-fi collection of demos (2016's Buttery Sprouts & Other Songs) and a more cohesive 2018 full-length called A Partner to Lean On. Reflecting Benton's more rural lifestyle, his sophomore outing, Lost in the Country, takes a more ruminative approach and its pastoral guitar pop easily stands as the most pleasing and focused set of his career. Gone are the lo-fi affectations of Trace Mountains' early days, replaced here by winsome strings, sweet harmonies, and jangling guitars...
Maddie & Tae - The Way It Feels / New Dog Old Tricks
...The Way It Feels combines the entirety of the two 2019 EPs -- that winds up being ten of the album's 15 songs -- but that's only one reason why the album feels a bit familiar, lacking the kick that characterized a good portion of Start Here. Specifically, Maddie & Tae avoid the barbed humor and snappy beat of their breakthrough hit "Girl in a Country Song," choosing to crank up the guitars and drums for just two numbers: "Bathroom Floor" and "New Dog Old Tricks," both cuts that closed out their respective EPs. This leaves the rest of The Way It Feels to explore the soft territory separating country-pop and adult contemporary, singing tales of love won and lost while taking the occasional detour to play a bit of sunny cheer...
Pokey LaFarge - Rock Bottom Rhapsody / Lost in the Crowd
When you've spent most of your career sounding as if you were living in the 21st century by fate rather than by choice, figuring out how to sound more up to date is going to be a complicated thing, and it seems that Pokey LaFarge has been giving that scenario a lot of thought. Since releasing Manic Revelations in 2017, Pokey LaFarge left St. Louis for Los Angeles, experienced what he calls a "fall from grace," had a spiritual reawakening, and recorded 2020's Rock Bottom Rhapsody, in which he clearly wants to change up his usual creative persona as a slightly twangy jazzbo here on a pass from 1923. The rootsy jazz-inflected sound that dominated LaFarge's early albums is wired deep enough into his DNA that he can't entirely shake it in as far as his melodies are concerned, but in terms of his production and arrangements, he's clearly willing to fight that...
Hamilton Leithauser - The Loves of Your Life / Til Your Ship Comes in
One of the few indie-rock alums to make it out of 2000s New York with their legacy and dignity intact, The Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser’s fourth solo album is unashamedly old fashioned.
It’s certainly not what you’d call a change of pace, after all, the band’s debut artwork was a sepia photograph from 1910, and he was only 21 then. Leithauser has evolved in the 19 years since - The Walkmen no longer even exist - but the storytelling intent signalled by that photograph and the three working class factory boys it depicted remain at the heart of his solo work, and provide the concept for this record... Produced and mixed by Leithauser alone in his DIY studio The Struggle Hut, there is a decidedly homely quality to the music... feature his wife and daughters as backing vocalists, and even their pre-school teacher sings on half the songs too. Eschewing the sleek production of Electric Lady Studios, which must have been mere blocks away, gives the album the raucous feeling of a bar-room jam...
Adult. - Perception Is/As/Of Deception / Total Total Damage
With Perception Is/As/Of Deception, Adult. remain masters of disorientation. As they did for their previous album This Behavior, Nicola Kuperus and Adam Lee Miller went to creative extremes to depict a world that seems to have shifted off its axis. Instead of sequestering themselves in a northern Michigan cabin, this time the duo stayed closer to home and made Perception in their windowless basement, which they transformed into a sensory deprivation chamber by painting it black. Creating, and then confronting, a void does seem to have heightened a few aspects of Adult.'s music... There's also more range to Kuperus' vocals than on some of Adult.'s other albums; while she's sharp-edged and anguished as ever on "Total Total Damage," which brings the album's concept front and center as she chants "perception is deception"
The Buttertones - Jazzhound / Bebop
Appearing as if out of the dusky, late-afternoon shadows of downtown Los Angeles, post-punk noir outfit the Buttertones have built a loyal fan base amalgamating wild-eyed surf twang, punky dance-rock grooves, cool '50s pulp novel imagery, and a yearning, '80s guitar jangle. They bring all of these touchstones to bear on their brilliantly moody fifth studio album, 2020's Jazzhound. Once again working with producer Jonny Bell (who produced their equally engaging 2018 album Midnight in a Moonless Dream), the Buttertones coalesce their blue-toned sound with songs that balance their strong conceptual skills with lyrical hooks and perfectly executed arrangements. At the core of their sound is lead singer/songwriter Richard Araiza, who grounds each song with his broad baritone, evoking a dreamlike combination of Scott Walker, Joy Division's Ian Curtis, and French crooner Jacques Brel. It's a mood that also brings to mind Morrissey's early work with the Smiths, an influence the Buttertones nicely evoke throughout Jazzhound,.. and the propulsive, tube-amp-soaked "Bebop," the latter of which brings to mind the late-'70s art-punk of James Chance.
Flat Worms - Antarctica / The Mine
2020: world in flames, deserts in permafrost, everyone in their own corners, looking down into their hands. What’s happening isn’t working, but Flat Worms’ have hardened their post-punk/psych sound, and are out there, playing to change minds at all times. Recorded at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini, they fight the cold realities on Antarctica.
Joe Satriani - Shapeshifting / Shapeshifting
Alongside his formidable guitar playing chops, Joe Satriani's recordings continue to sound fresh 18 albums in. This is largely due to an innate yet sophisticated songwriting prowess (verses, choruses, and bridges) rather than stacked tracks of technically proficient riffs and solos. Satriani possesses a gift for combining and recombining styles, dynamics, and various strains of lyricism from a nearly astonishing variety of genres... Shapeshifting was co-produced by Satriani and Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Widespread Panic, Foo Fighters). His drummer is Kenny Aronoff who played with him on the Chickenfoot and the Ultimate Hendrix Experience tours. Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney is here, as is keyboardist Eric Caudieux, rounding out the core musicians. The title-track opener twins his guitar leads in the verse atop a funky bassline and popping snare and kick drum...
Local H - Lifers / Beyond The Valley Of Snakes
...As a band who briefly seemed poised to grab the brass ring of commercial success in the '90s but instead have been slugging it out as cult heroes since then, it would be easy for those observing Local H's career from a distance to put them into the latter category. Those who have been paying attention know better, though, and 25 years after they released their first album, Local H are not simply still in the game, they're sounding as strong, focused, and imaginative as ever... 2020's Lifers confirms he is keeping his music fresh and revealing while holding on to the hard rock wallop that puts it over. Lifers was recorded by Steve Albini and Andy Gerber and mixed by J. Robbins, and this may be the group's best sounding record since 1998's Pack Up the Cats, making the most of Ryan Harding's honestly spectacular drumming and the rich mixture of riffage and sculpted noise generated by Lucas' guitar rig. This boasts enough punch to leave a bruise, but there's still enough nuance to let the details of this music (and they're plentiful) get a fair hearing.
The Dream Syndicate - The Universe Inside / Dusting Off The Rust
The Dream Syndicate Takes a Wild Trip to Find 'The Universe Inside'
...Born out of a late-night jam that was never intended to be an album, The Universe Inside finds the band pursuing its freeform, experimental side to an extent it never has before on a studio album, while still sounding purposeful and confident...
Once & Future Band, The Strokes, Trace Mountains, Maddie & Tae, Pokey LaFarge, Hamilton Leithauser, Adult., The Buttertones, Flat Worms, Joe Satriani, Local H, The Dream Syndicate
