New Music Report – January 29, 2021
Eclectic mix of new music this week. I’d say there’s something for everybody here but that isn’t necessarily true. All of these albums are fantastic but, aside from perhaps Lucero, cater to very niche audiences. If you’re looking for something that’s a bit of a challenge to listen to but with incredibly rewarding results, then this week is for you.
Lucero – Back in 2008/09 there was a very strong, very niche hype around a specific type of americana-tinged folk punk, influenced mostly by The Gaslight Anthem’s ’59 Sound, of course. And I fell VERY deep down that rabbit hole. And Memphis-based country punk band, Lucero, is one of the best things I have to show for it. This band will always have a special place in my heart, especially their earlier albums, the ones that sound like they were recorded in a buddy’s garage with a single microphone. They had a soulful, authentic, simplistic charm that just created this grand ideal of a time and place that probably never existed outside of their albums. Their past few albums evolved beyond that, leaning hard into the soul aspect of their style, adding horn sections, gospel choirs, and other elaborate arrangements, it lost a little of what I fell in love with, but it was undeniably good. The newest album, changes up the formula again, adding some synths and evolving past a gritty, down home punk band, into something that more closely resembles classic rock. But the charm, the honesty, the grand, yet smooth execution that are all part of Lucero’s charm are back, stronger than ever.
The Body – Man, I don’t even know what to tell you this album even is. At its core, people say The Body is a doom metal band, or at least derives from one. But that doesn’t even begin to tell the story, they take the bass-driven droning sound of doom and absolutely mutilate it into some avant garde, post-everything shitshow that’s absolutely brilliant. It sounds like a 40-minute long car crash. An onslaught of throbbing, compressed bass that strains your ear drums laying the foundation for incessant clanging, crashing, and metal deforming and twisting beyond any conceptual recognition of where this sound might have come from. All this interspersed with distorted, indecipherable, desperate shrieks. And the result, I mean, Jesus, what a record. It’s entirely unique in its execution. It sounded exactly like how I described it. It doesn’t sound like an album, it sounds like an accident, and I couldn’t stop listening to it. It’s not something I’m going to listen to all the time, it’s too abstract and frankly exhausting to listen to very frequently. But the experience itself was incredibly exciting.
Portrayal of Guilt – This album was a really cool surprise, in the past year and half, Portrayal of Guilt have put out three EPs, so I wasn’t really expecting them to have a full length ready so soon, but I guess with the quarantine going on, there isn’t much else for a band to do than make new music. These guys have been absolutely on fire, built up with tons of underground hype ever since the release of their debut full length just 2 years ago, earning themselves comparisons to absolutely legendary bands like Converge along the way. They’ve been dubbed one of the leaders of the screamo revival movement by everyone from NPR to The Washington Post, curiously enough. And I guess screamo is somewhat accurate but that REALLY doesn’t tell the whole story. Their sound is pure chaos, with a foundation of very clear screamo influences from bands like Pg.99 mixed with everything from noise punk to straight up hardcore. Add to that some howling vocals reminiscent of black metal. The result is an incredibly unique testament to the diversity and brutality of heavy music and a truly inspiring listen.
Singles – The ’68 (post-The Chariot Josh Scogin), Long Distance Calling (German post-metal), Devil Sold His Soul (post metal/screamo), Chelsea Wolfe & Emma Ruth Rundle (Everything I’ve ever been waiting for), Left to Suffer (metalcore/deathcore),