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10 New & Notable Releases
2012 isn’t even a month old and already a lot of great new (and old) music has been released that is well worth getting excited about. Here are 10 2012 releases that I don’t think you want to miss.
Grabbel And The Final Cut – Get Your Feet Back On The Ground 7” (Captured Tracks)
If I were a teenage girl, then Captured Tracks would be my Justin Bieber. That’s right, I’m in total fanboy mode at this point. For the past couple of years, it seems that not a month goes by where Mike Sniper’s label doesn’t drop another indispensable release, whether they’re breaking a new artist like Wild Nothing, The Soft Moon, Dive, Hoop Dreams, Minks, etc. or digging into the past to find top notch lost and forgotten releases. Their reissue clout has gained even more traction of late with the introduction of their Shoegaze Archives series of reissues. The best that I’ve heard so far is this 7” from Grabbel And The Final Cut, a band that formed in Luneberg, Germany in 1989, self-released a handful of cassettes to little fanfare or renown, and finally in 1996 called it quits. One listen to the three songs here and you’ll be convinced, as I am, that the failure of this band to find a large following or even a label to release their music (!) is one of the great musical crimes of the late 20th century. What you’ll find here is shoegaze that slants towards noisepop a la Jesus & Mary Chain, as opposed to the dreampop of other contemporaries like Slowdive or My Bloody Valentine. The feedback is loud and at times threatens to unhinge, but does not obscure the killer hooks, and anthemic choruses. The first two tracks, “Psycho Popsong” (featured in the video above) and “The Finest Thing” are exemplary, but it’s the third track that really blows my mind. If I allow myself to dream for a moment of somebody making a movie of my life, “Out Of Work And On The Dole” is the song that I’d want to play over the closing credits. Yeah, it’s that good. As is just about everything that comes out on Captured Tracks, the only label that I would happily buy every single new release from without having any clue what’s going to be on it. Buy this. Now.
Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory (Carpark Records)
Where the hell did this come from?! Don’t get me wrong, because I was quite a fan of Cloud Nothings’ self-titled 2011 release. But that album was a collection of peppy pop-punk influenced lo-fi. It was the kind of thing that you like when you hear it, you listen to quite a bit when you first get it, but eventually it probably blends in with a lot of other good but not great albums in your subconscious and quietly falls out of your rotation. Attack On Memory is a whole different beast, and not just because of the excellent production from Steve Albini (I say excellent production, but from what I’ve read it might be as much a case of having excellent equipment and knowing when to chime in and when to stay out of the way). No, these eight tracks are moody, brooding material that remind of some of the really great indie music that was coming out on this side of the pond in the early 1990’s, right around the time this group’s leader Dylan Baldi was being born. You can hear the influence of bands like Nirvana, Slint, and yes at times even a favorite of Baldi’s (and mine), Wipers. Whether you liked last year’s Cloud Nothings or not, give this year’s new and improved, more mature, less disposable version a chance. I for one hope that this album gets the attention of some young ears and helps usher in a new wave of guitar driven indie rock. The above track is “No Future/No Past”, which leads off and sets the tone on this one.
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp (Jagjaguwar)
Another fine release from Sharon Van Etten, whose Epic was easily one of the best albums to come out in 2010, even if I didn’t become aware of it until 2011. I’ve only had a chance to listen to this a couple of times, but it seems to pick up right where Epic left off, which is to say that it’s a mix of reverby folk and louder more guitar heavy folk rock that’s complimented by Van Etten’s great pipes and lyrics. More than any other artist, I think of Throwing Muses and 50 Foot Wave‘s Kristin Hersh‘s solo work when I hear this. Though, I also think that middle period Cat Power would be a reasonable enough comparison as well.
Nada Surf – The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy (City Slang)
I’ve heard Nada Surf criticized from time to time for being a little too sugary sweet, or maybe even safe. If that’s the case, then I’m more than alright with it. I go to different bands and different sounds for different things. And when I want my fix for three to four minute, well-crafted, hook-laden, sing along, guitar pop songs, Nada Surf is a band that always serves up the goods. If they aren’t breaking down any barriers, blazing new territory, or inventing new sub-genres of sub-genres’ sub genres, then thank god for that. I for one am happy to listen to a band that knows that they’re good at and stays true to that. Which is all to say that if you are already a fan, then you’ll like this one as much as I do. And if you aren’t then don’t worry about it, there’s probably some 15 year old who can’t even play an instrument using his computer at this moment to make some sort of witchhouse/seapunk/dubstep hybrid which will be self-released a few days from now and get a boatload of blog love a few days after that. And then next year all of the kids that thought this kid was the second coming will have forgotten about him and moved on to whatever is the next new thing, and those of us who love Nada Surf will still be happily and obliviously listening to this. (Damn, maybe I shouldn’t write angry! But I heard some kids talking trash about this on the bus today, likely influenced by Pitchfork’s 4.4 review, and it just got under my skin.)
Symmetry – Themes For An Imaginary Film (Italians Do It Better)
Themes From An Imaginary Film is another in a long line of great releases from Jonny Jewel and the Italians Do It Better label. This one features Jewel, along with members of Desire, Chromatics, and Glass Candy, in other words, all of the key players in the IDIB lineup. The imaginary film is actually Drive which was originally supposed to be scored entirely by Jewel. And if you’ve seen that film then you can easily see how this music would work perfectly, and if you’re like me you could also easily wonder why more of it is not used instead of just going back to Desire‘s (admittedly excellent) “Under Your Spell” over and over and over again. Musically, this release is the standard IDIB fare, Giorgio Moroder italo-disco inspired, icy cool synth music, this time with perhaps a darker and more atmospheric edge than any release yet from the label. I believe this released during the last week of 2011, but it’s close enough to 2012 and I didn’t hear it until this week. You can listen to the entire thing above.
Guided By Voices – Let’s Go Eat The Factory (Guided By Voices, Inc.)
I’m not gonna lie, this album has yet to grab me the way that most of Guided By Voices‘ best stuff has and still does to this day. I’m still waiting for one track to stand out as a future classic, an indispensable piece of the Guided By Voices puzzle. And so far I haven’t found it. This is not to say that Let’s Go Eat The Factory is without its pleasures though. It’s simply that I hold GBV in such high regard that when something comes out under that name, as opposed to the myriad Robert Pollard side and solo projects, I expect it to be the very best stuff that Pollard has written, and I’m not sure yet if that’s what I’m hearing here or not. One thing that does stand out is how welcome Tobin Sprout‘s return to the fold is, as his contributions are mostly excellent. And any way you cut it GBV is still doing their sort of music better than most bands out there. I’ve been listening to this a lot, so I expect I’ll warm up to it more as time goes on. How are all of you feeling about it so far? Above is a video of the band playing “The Unsinkable Fats Domino” on Letterman, complete with Greg Demos falling flat on his ass mid-song!
Terry Malts – “Tumble Down” (Slumberland Records)
I can’t find an exact release date for Killing Time, the debut LP from this new Slumberland Records artist that released two stellar 7“s on that label last year (the only label, by the way, that is coming anywhere close to Captured Tracks in terms of quality and consistency of releases right now). From what I can discern though, “Tumble Down” seems to be the lead single from that one. And if the fuzzy, noisy, 80’s UK postpunk-influenced pop offered up here is any indication of what’s to come, then Killing Time will likely end up being one of my favorites of the year.
Neverever – Shake-A-Baby EP (Slumberland Records)
This is another new one from Slumberland Records. This Malibu group does powerpop that also has elements of girl-group sounds, C86 shambling, and early Blondie. I’ve only listened all the way through once so far, but I’m liking what I’m hearing. “Wedding Day” is the last song on the EP and, I think, the best. Interesting placement.
Donovan Quinn – “Shadow On The Stone” (Northern Spy)
“Shadow On The Stone” is the only song from the forthcoming album Honky Tonk Medusa that I’ve heard in its entirety. But the understated picking and slight twang here were pleasing enough that I wrote down its name and February 14th release date after one listen. And twelve or fifteen listens later I’m even more excited to hear the rest of the album.
Steven Wright – Debut on The Tonight Show w/Johnny Carson
Obviously, this isn’t new. Its from 1982. But prior to last week when somebody posted it on YouTube, I’d only seen clips of this in the documentary When Stand Up Stood Out about the stand-up comedy scene in Boston in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The guy who booked comics for the show was in Boston on a trip, went to a comedy club, saw Steven Wright, and three weeks later Wright was on The Tonight Show. When you hear him talk about it, like on his excellent recent interview on Marc Maron‘s WTF Podcast, he talks about how his entire life changed in this five minutes. And when you watch it you can tell. The best part is at the end when Carson calls him over to the couch. Anybody who knows anything about comedy knows that if Carson called you over to the couch, you’d officially made it. That was all that it took to set your career in motion. Wright had no idea that he’s be called over, as it was almost unheard of for it to happen on someone’s first appearance, and the fact that he was not expecting it is clear here to hilarious effect. Also interesting is that Wright went over so well that they asked him back the next week. This video is thrilling as a document of one of the greatest comedians of all-time at his rawest and most vulnerable. It’s hilarious and touching, all at once.
