DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC?: After not having a whole lot going on for the second half of last year, Jake Brower released two new tracks this month after just releasing a new single in February. The first one is named “Gotta Lotta Beans,” which is sweet and, as we describe this music in our Calendar, whimsical bubble gum pop. This month’s release, the two-track High n’ Low & New Name In Your Phone—which is really just the names of the songs—won’t rot your teeth quite as much. “High n’ Low” is a gentle acoustic number beholden to at least a couple of folk traditions. The second, “New Name In Your Phone,” has a very early-1960s pop waltz rhythm and a very light melody that carries along just strong enough to see the song through. The whole package is kind of sad and forlorn and encapsulates a type of bedroom pop that is often mimicked but will only shine if authentic. Which this clearly appears to be. These are released courtesy of Athens label Attaboy Tapes and can be found at attaboytapes.bandcamp.com.
THE CURTAIN HITS THE CAST: Max Boyd (ConSec, The Skippers, et al) has a new slowcore project named Eternal. He just dropped a new four-song EP named Poison Darkener, and it took me a few runs through before it grabbed me. Going into it, I was expecting something very heavy and doom-ish. What’s actually here is surprisingly textural and strongly melodic, and its lack of the expected noise waves left its layers open for discovery. Of the four, the first two (“Outshifted” and “Separated”) are clear highlights, but the second two aren’t exactly shabby, either. Find this at eternalbandeternal.bandcamp.com.
RE·AC·TOR: Songwriter Chris Ezelle stayed silent for over a decade before releasing last year’s full-length 60 Pieces Of Silver. This week he’s releasing another new album, the 10-song In On It. This one is pure Ezelle, too, as it’s basically genre-less or, rather, genre-filled. Although, I suppose, you could discern a basic category in country blues for most of these songs, Ezelle decorates them with electro drum beats, effects-processed vocals, proggy guitar riffs, organ trills, etc. At a certain point, it’s clear that Ezelle makes music for no one but himself and, clearly, will sell no wine before its time. Find this at chrisezelle.bandcamp.com starting April.
THE WORLD IS AS SOFT AS LACE: I’m convinced that Marcel Sletten never sleeps anymore. In addition to running the release-heavy Primordial Void label, he’s also constantly playing music with others, creating new projects and continuing his own solo release schedule. Most recently, though, he’s formed Chairs with Atlanta singer Reed Winckler. The pair’s first single, “Dilaudid,” is a pretty perfect lesson in turning one’s admiration for past musical works into one’s own. In the simplest terms, this is a mid-tempo jangle pop tune awash in influences from Felt to the earliest days of Dreams So Real to even The Field Mice and associated Sarah Records groups. The twist here, though, is that the song cuts off without warning at the 1:31 mark. It’s incredibly jarring and attention grabbing which may have been exactly the point. I’m not crazy about it, but I sure do like everything that happens before then. Word on the street is that a full-length album should happen before the end of the year. Find this at primordialvoid.bandcamp.com.
BLATANT LOCALISM: The local hardcore punks in Delta 8 have released a super impressive eight-song album named Greased Lightning. It’s available on cassette and name-your-price digital via label Hard Tack, and as a free digital download through the band itself. These recordings so closely resemble the band’s live sound, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that this was all recorded essentially live. But, honestly, I have no idea. What matters is this thing is relentless, lithely muscular and totally enjoyable from start to finish. Among the many subgenres in which it could rightfully claim occupation, it’s most closely aligned with 1980s skate punk. Particular highlights here are the title track, “Stay Down,” “Beach And A Mule” and the menacing album closer “Do Not Ask.” Find tapes at hardtackk.bandcamp.com, and grab a free download at delta888.bandcamp.com.
PERPETUAL CHANGE: MG Williams just put out a new EP from his long-running project Psyop. It was produced by Kyle Spence (Harvey Milk) and includes some impressive guests including Chris McNeal (Vincas, Maserati) and Gene Woolfolk (T. Hardy Morris, Powder Room). Thing is, this is a record so in search of an identity I don’t know what to do with it. Musically speaking, it only briefly resembles the band’s 2020 album Utopia Now, which occasionally missed the mark but overall stayed solidly within the parameters of bass-heavy hard rock. This new EP, Blip, approaches the listener as futuristic with its outrun-style cover art and presentation, but slides into Primus territory with the title track, early 1970s prog with the opening song “Ghost In My Mind,” space cowboy land with “Soft Kill” and reached for epic grandeur on EP closer “Outside Of Exile.” For the band’s 2020 record, they chose to use the category “wankery” in its description, and that’s pretty on the mark. Your mileage will vary, of course, so if you’re interested try to find this on Spotify and have as much fun as I did digging through every possible iteration of the band name “Psyop” before you find it.
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