This Week’s New Music
Here’s some of the most exciting new music playing at sUBject Radio/WRUB this week:
Loving — Any Light (Last Gang)
If the Decemberists and Wilco had a baby, it would probably be old enough to have its own band by the 2020s. And that band is the Vancouver progressive folk outlet Loving. Their second album meanders wonderfully through stringy melodies and quiet observations, managing to be both peaceful and somewhat chaotic at the same time.
Declan McKenna — What Happened To The Beach? (Tomplicated/Sony)
25-year-old British singer-songwriter got some alternative airplay for the first single from his latest, the buoyantly poppy “Sympathy.” That track is just the tip of the iceberg on the artist’s third full-length as the album veers from fuzzy, distorted ballads to jagged anthems.
Madi Diaz — Weird Faith (Anti-)
When she was a young girl, Diaz truly did go to Rock School, as she was prominently featured in the 2005 documentary. Six albums into her career, she is critically feted for her ethereal indie pop reminiscent of anyone from Tori Amos to Jess Williamson. On tacks like the subtly mesmerizing “Obsessive Thoughts,” the L.A. (by way of Pennsylvania Amish country) singer-songwriter wears her emotional heart firmly on her sleeve, and radio is all the better for it.
Brigata Vendetta — This Is How Democracy Dies? (Pirates Press)
If Bay Area punk rockers have a bit of an aged sound, it probably has to do with the members long run in the scene in popular underground bands Harrison Saints and Burn CIty Saints—likely they combined forces because they were tired of getting confused for one another. In any case, from all these band names and the title of the record, one can get a good idea for what sort of punk is here. If you love old school acts like Bad Religion and Dead Kennedys… well, these guys fall almost exactly in the middle of that. This may sound disparaging, but it’s not. Brigata Vendetta bring a fun, fiery, and ferocious brand of political fury in punk form.
Faire Osciller — Drifting (Trash Casual)
If you enjoy the throwback indie rock fuzz (with an emo twist) of bands like Cloud Nothings, Yuck, and Real Estate, the New Hampshire trio Faire Osciller should be up your alley. Their tracks tend to come in tightly under three minutes, but there’s nothing tidy about this band that echoes Fakebook-era Yo La Tengo in its lo-fi glory. Pavement!
Plantoid — Terrapath (Bella Union/PIAS)
If you don’t like what’s playing on the indie psychedelia of the Brit band Plantoid’s latest, wait a few minutes. The soundscape changes multiple times within each complex tune, which is not to say that the journey is not captivatingly catchy. The act can sound like anyone from Phish to Flaming Lips to Beach House from one track to the next. It’s an odd fit in a radio format, but we suspect you won’t want to turn the dial.
