Something Old
(an album that came out before 2016 that I’ve been listening to)
Not sure how I went my whole life without listening to The River by Bruce Springsteen, but man, it really gave my stagnating opinion of Bruce a swift kick in the ass. I think I’ve avoided it because I made unfounded assumptions based on the three songs that are in the WMGK canon—"Independence Day," "The River," and "Hungry Heart"—the first two are bummer slow songs, the third, corny as fuck. But someone should have told me what a banger this album is! Almost 3/4ths of the album is the E Street Band going balls to the wall. It’s a party album! And even those quiet moments make more sense in the context of being a breather between the rest of the hot takes. Born to Run be damned, I might have a new favorite Springsteen album.
Something New
(an album that came out in 2016 that I’ve been listening to)
Every year, I hope that Of Montreal puts out a great album. I have the opportunity to hope this every year because the band literally almost puts out a new album every damn year. But I know Kevin Barnes has greatness in him. I’ve heard it. 2016’s jaunt is Innocence Reaches, and it probably comes closer to greatness than any other of their other efforts in the 2010s, even if it doesn’t quite get there. But it honestly reaches that balancing point between psychedelic maximilism and grounded rock 'n' roll better than Of Montreal has in a while. Songs like "gratuitous abysses" and "chaos arpeggiating" are still weird as shit, don’t get me wrong, but they are at least anchored to the goddamn ground, unlike the pile of beige noises they put out last year. If you like Of Montreal but are growing weary like I am, maybe give Innocence Reaches a shot. It’s either going to be mildly refreshing, or you’ll swear them off forever. At this juncture, I’m feeling the former.
Something Borrowed
(an actual music critic talks about an album better than I can)
Chris Deville of Stereogum, in his Album of the Week column, describes Connections’ Midnight Run, a neat little album that kind of reminds me a bit of Titus Andronicus' The Airing of Grievances, if they toned it down and polished the hooks ever so slightly:
"Midnight Run is this band's finest collection of unpolished gems. As ever, they've delivered a batch of churning, physical power-pop songs topped off with ripping guitar leads and the kind of buried vocal melodies that sneak their way into your consciousness. The music inhabits a sonic space somewhere between Cheap Trick and Flying Nun, populist in style yet boutique in scope. You’ll get a similar Camaro-blasting vibe from Diarrhea Planet, but rather than blast you across the face with over-the-top theatrics, these tracks are stripped to their raw material, letting the songwriting outshine its aesthetic container.
And if you give them the chance, these songs really do shine."
Something Blue
(an album I will NOT be listening to this week, or probably ever?)
Listen, folks, Stranger Things on Netflix was pretty damn good! It was the perfect Summer Popcorn Series, if you will. Despite the heavy sci-fi, it was a simple A to B story. It was thrilling! But holy moly, it’s becoming way too overhyped! At least once a day on Facebook, someone claims it was the best series they’ve ever seen. Slow your rolls, friends. I liked it, I didn’t LOVE it, and I certainly do not want to listen to the soundtrack. The alien music was really neat in the context of watching television, but damn I could not listen to that shit for an hour straight by itself.
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