The Alt Weekly Roundup (10/24)
Posted: by The Editor
The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format. Albums, singles, videos, and live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Lumpy – Burn the Page
A little reggae, a little ska, a little indie, a little punk, and all with a lo-fi bedroom recording feel, Lumpy’s Burn the Page is a perfect lazy weekend listen. Like the musical approach, the melodies are simple and direct in the best way, with Bryan Highhill’s casual vocal delivery fitting snugly next to the lines from the horns and keys. There’s a noticeable warmth to those horns and keys on tunes like “Back to Earth” and “House Plant,” while “Old Pictures” and “The Other Side” make use of a spooky minor-key sway. “I Never Saw This Coming” and “Restless” add acoustic strumming and laser-like synths to the horn hits for a fun, bouncy conjunction of indie pop and reggae. Lumpy pulls all these threads together in an organic way that never feels disjointed while keeping things fresh as you make your way through Burn The Page—plus there’s some nasty bass playing all over this record. Tapes are available through Ska Punk International.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Oversize – Into the Ceiling
A little bit spacey, a little bit gazey, a little bit grungy, Oversize’s new EP Into the Ceiling taps into a lot of the currents of ’90s alt rock revival that are popular now, but it blends them in a way that doesn’t just feel like a retread. The way “Taste” melts into a rough post-hardcore bridge is both unexpected and thrilling, and the closing “Dissolve” feels like a speedrun of all the band’s previous work in a neat four-minute package. It’s a great step up from the band’s already impressive In Balance EP.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
5ever – “Anything More”
Members of 5ever might currently be best known for their work in hyperpop-punk idols Cheem, but the band is so much more than a mere side act. Like Cheem, much of their music draws from the sticky pop-punk of Fall Out Boy, Good Charlotte, or All Time Low, with a distinctly chaotic twist. “Anything More” carries the self-aware jubilance of those bands at their best but it’s filtered through a 2022 lens: the vocals drip with Autotune, there’s a sparse, glitchy beat that opens the track, and the whole thing feels like it could only be the product of 5ever’s twisted minds.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Church Girls – “I Hate This House”
A snapshot of the ashen aftermath of a relationship that has blown up in a blaze, Church Girls’ latest “I Hate This House” carries a ferocious energy from the opening riff. Lyrics like “you talk at me / And your voice it’s dead in the back room / It’s so cold with the shades all down / I know that I’m gonna feel better when I lose control, and let go” reflect the chaotic and frenzied mental state in the song that also buzzes through the active bassline. The group is kicking off a tour this week, including a date at FEST 20.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Blondshell – “Cartoon Earthquake”
Blondshell’s been making quite a splash with her stray singles this year, and it’s easy to see why. Her newest single is the standalone “Cartoon Earthquake,” a fuzzy, ’90s-tinged indie rocker that sways with the intensity of a dam about to break.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Tenci – “Sour Cherries”
To date, “Sour Cherries” is the longest song Tenci’s ever released. And while the song certainly has a number of moving parts–not least a mesmerizing vocal melody, eerie violins, and a trilling bridge–it’s by no means overstuffed. Instead, much of the song unwinds at its own deliberate pace, the power of it coming from the spaces between more than anything else. The third released cut from Tenci’s second LP A Swollen River, a Well Overflowing, it’s the most ambitious yet, and it’s a great look for the singer-songwriter.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Archers of Loaf – Reason in Decline
After Archers of Loaf’s 2020 singles “Raleigh Days” and “Talking Over Talk,” a new album isn’t such a surprise. Still, none of those tracks–which dropped back in 2020–made it onto Reason in Decline, so there was still reason to wonder what direction the band’s fifth LP might take, and the pre-release singles didn’t help much. On lead single “In the Surface Noise,” Eric Bachmann’s signature ragged howl has been smoothed out, and the song signaled a shift from the manic urgency of the earlier material to a more patient, eclectic style of indie rock. This is broadly true of Reason in Decline; it’s a record made by a band with no intentions of looking back. “Mama Was a War Profiteer” and “War Is Wide Open” are brisk, sparse songs that rely more on space than energy, and even the songs where the band really lets loose (“Screaming Undercover” and the two-minute rager “Misinformation Age”) carry with them a world-weary restraint that suggests Bachmann’s no longer interested in being anyone’s spine. So they might no longer be the white trash heroes we remember, but they’re a clearer-eyed, steadier version of themselves.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week our editor Lindsy Carrasquillo compiles a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We’ll post it on Fridays on Twitter and then include it in each edition of the ‘Weekly Roundup’ to make sure you don’t miss all of the great music we’re recommending.
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