Song Review – Page 32 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Vases’ Darkwave Pop Single “Contact” is a Resonant Portrait of Haunted Self-Alienation

Ty Baron invokes cinematic monsters across decades in the new Vases song “Contact” to convey a sense of haunted self-alienation. Stylistically it’s darker and more somber than we’ve come to expect from the songwriter whose gift for artful psychedelic pop is well established with the project. But with this song and its more darkwave flavor Baron brings to bear his ear for crafting rich melodies and mastery of the use of space. The song takes us through dense and up close moments and those seemingly more adrift in a darkened space like the songwriter is wandering around in his own, surrealistic nightmare, the kind where there is no immediate threat, just a sense of unease and dread. Yet Baron leaves us with a sense of closure from those feelings by the end of the song even as its captivating mood lingers on. Listen to “Contact” on Spotify and follow Vases on Instagram.

Vases on Instagram

Kaput’s No Wave Post-punk Single “High Wire” is a Nightmarish Portrait of the Perils of Attention Seeking and Toxic Fandom

Chicago’s Kaput takes on the tensions between fandom and fame and the demands and expectations that exist mutually in the dark, post-punk song “High Wire.” The synths glisten ominously as percussion thuds splays with a seeming finality and the driving bass pairs with the electronic melody while Nadia Garofalo sings with what might be described as tense resignation. The chorus of “Caution is boring/We came for blood/If you tell me no one’s watching/Was it even worth your time” and later in the song with urgency “Give us everything, everything you’ve got” Garofalo swimming in the rhythmic cacophony and clatter at the end of the song captures the perverse and often toxic dependency of a certain way artists are encouraged to seek out attention at all times while their audience is conditioned to expect more and more with greater cost to the artist psychically and personally. It’s a way of things that has really extended to all areas of our lives to varying degrees as the barrier between ourselves and the commodification of our time and identity channeled into social media and the tendrils jobs and other realms of the economy get their grips into more of your time until you feel like you have nothing left because everything given isn’t enough. It is indeed as the song title suggests, a precarious balance with the potential to end badly. Kaput’s song dramatizes something that many of us feel in everyday life to varying degrees in music that’s harrowing, nightmarish and in the end cathartic. Listen to “High Wire” on Spotify and follow Kaput at the links below. Expect the debut album from Garofalo (ex-Ganser) and Brian Fox (Electrical Audio studio) in early 2025.

Kaput on Instagram

Kaput on Bandcamp

Kaput on YouTube

Orchid Mantis and Cathedral Bells Evoke the Poignancy of Romantic Existential Panic in an Elegant Tapestry of Guitar Pop Melancholia

The intermingling guitar layers in “Dead Malls” by Orchid Mantis with Cathedral Bells enhance its introspective mood. In scarcely more than two minutes the song spans a good degree of emotional and psychological territory of memories and how they resonate with your present experiences in peak moments, in this case seemingly those more melancholic, and the way malls represent for many people an important part of their lives where they met with friends in their youth and perhaps their romantic partners and in that way can be an anchoring memory when you hit a space in your head of uncertainty. In the song’s lyrics we hear a touch about the early romance and the present and thoughts of wondering “if we’ll make it to the end” or if what was built together will disappear without a trace like so many malls. It’s a deep metaphor wrapped in delicately atmospheric guitar pop in which both musicians play off each other with an elegantly intuitive ease. It feels like a good swath of a lifetime experienced in miniature but losing none of the emotional weight. Listen to “Dead Malls” on Spotify and follow Orchid Mantis at the links provided.

Orchid Mantis on Instagram

Orchid Mantis on Facebook

Orchid Mantis on Twitter

“recipes” by tttc is Like Hearing a Friendly Conversation Between Marimba, Kalimba and Analog Clocks

“recipes” from tttc (aka trang trai trai cay aka Angry Bambi aka Mai Giang Tran) layers rhythmic textures and melodic percussive tones. The piece has an organic structure with every iteration a different specific expression of utilizing similar tools to explore the possibilities of those sounds to evoke a mood. In this case it has a soothing, almost hypnotic effect like listening to a kalimba and a marimba having a conversation with analog clocks with gears. Because of that it has an alien yet familiar quality like everyday objects having a way to communicate with each other and you with no agenda other than to provide a stimulating yet calming atmosphere. Listen to “recipes” on Bandcamp and follow tttc at the links below. The album milky smell armpits released September 19, 2024 via the artist’s Fruit Exports imprint.

tttc on Instagram

High Marks’ “In Twilight” is Awash in Transcendent, Psychedelic, Industrial Haze

“In Twilight” by High Marks comes on like Jack Dangers producing a Front 242 track but in lo-fi mode that quickly transitions into pulsing, industrial noise rock. Think Godflesh on a diet of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and The Jesus and Mary Chain. The rapid, caustic shimmer of guitar atmosphere riding on a subtle wave of low end with cryptic vocals floating over it all and all but overwhelmed by the haze conveys a sense of emotional transcendence especially when the flood of scorching guitar gives way to reveal a pulsing, distorted synth anchoring the song to a linear rhythm rather than the semi-organized chaos that made the rest of the song so appealing in its maximalist sonics. Listen to “In Twilight” on Spotify and follow High Marks at the links below. The band’s new album Soured released October 18, 2024 via Propitious Artifacts on digital download, streaming and limited edition cassette and CDR.

High Marks on Instagram

High Marks on Facebook

Kareem Rahma’s “Time” is a Passionate, Motorik, Psychedelic Post-punk Song About Devoted Love

Kareem Rahma pairs a strong, melodic bass line with motorik beats on “Time.” Its a romantic song about patterns and rhythms that bring two people together and it indulges some expected sentiments as you do when you’re swept up in it but words also wax into the complexities of romance as well. When the song takes off it’s like Yo La Tengo embracing their Neu! Influence with fiery, psychedelic guitar flourishes but with Rahma being passionately in the moment as he sings “I got nothin’ but time!” in the outro chorus and it feels like someone expressing their devotion with no concessions to the limitations of a world and a life overly defined by obligations to work and responsibilities. It sounds like where you want to be with matters of the heart more significant than one’s utility to the economy. Listen to “Time” on Spotify and follow Kareem Rahma at the links below. Kareem Rahma & Tiny Gun’s new EP No Worries If Not released on September 20, 2024.

Kareem Rahma on Instagram

Kareem Rahma on TikTok

Holding Hour’s Finely Textured Shoegaze Single “Can I Leave Me Too?” is a Song About a Will to Difficult Emotional Honesty and Reconciliation

Holding Hour uses the occasion of a birthday on its new single “Can I Leave Me Too?” to explore some of the deeper nuances of a relationship. The direct and shifting rhythms reminiscent of a beat you might hear in a Yo La Tengo similar anchors the ethereal melodies and the gentle vocals of Marissa Kephart and Scott Yoshimura trading off vocal lines to explicate what is happening that might not be obvious to other people. The avoidant behaviors and painful self-awareness that sensitive people might bring out in each other when they’re involved if they don’t address their anxieties and insecurities and work on the relationship regularly. The background of ambient harmonics floating over the accenting bass lines, slightly overdriven guitar and generally delicate and warm tone of the song suggests that even though the song is almost uncomfortably honest in bringing to the surface personal truths there is a genuine connection in the relationship and it’s the beginning of working through the parts of the relationship that could be shuffled aside in the earlier phases and the thorny bits that many people would really rather never address. The tonal sheen and textures of the song is in the realm of the grittier end of shoegaze akin to earlier My Bloody Valentine or the solo work Kevin Shields did for the Lost In Translation soundtrack and the use of space in the song seems to reflect its spirit of giving space yet seeking reconciliation in spite of hurt feelings and instincts to hide and avoid the possibility of causing further harm. It’s in the end a song encouraging communication over silence with a title that suggests a touch of humor about a tense situation that doesn’t make a joke of anyone’s feelings. Listen to “Can I Leave Me Too?” on Spotify and follow Des Moines, Iowa’s Holding Hour at the links below.

Holding Hour on Instagram

Holding Hour on TikTok

Holding Hour on Facebook

Holding Hour on YouTube

Holding Hour on Bandcamp

Duckwrth Struggles With the Seductive and Destructive Nature of Addiction on Psychedelic, Electro R&B Single “Had Enough”

Duckwrth’s psychedelic, electro R&B single “Had Enough” is a deeply nuanced depiction of the struggles of addiction. The core metaphor is one of being in a toxic relationship that felt like it served you well enough to deal with some rough times in your life. And when it doesn’t but seems to you like the only thing that seems to help you will rationalize even the harmful aspects in an almost romantic way because what else is effective in chasing away the anxiety and other bad feelings except for the methods and healthier coping mechanisms you don’t know about or try because it seems like a lot more work. The playful synth work and sultry atmospheres of the song are reminiscent of the weirder end of late 80s Prince as filtered through Outkast in a neo soul mode. But Duckwrth’s commanding vocals have their own, unique quality that is perfectly cadenced in the inventive and organically evolving rhythms of the song. In the music video the singer frolics around his place in the early sunlight hours after the party dancing with great ease and style while casting out the poison of the night before and untangling in his mind where the good times of being in the throes of addiction and the pain that follows intertwine and perhaps tracing his own path to freedom from the seductive aspects of destructive behavior. After all without doing the work have you ever really had enough? Watch the video for “Had Enough” on YouTube and follow the innovative avant pop and R&B artist and designer at the links below.

Duckwrth on Instagram

Duckwrth on Facebook

Freedom Fry’s Psychedelic Pop Single “Sorry Situation Number Four” is a Loving and Shimmering Glimpse Back at Summertime Relationship Panic

Freedom Fry pulls us back to a summer mood in time for the chill of fall to start with “Sorry Situation Number Four.” The loops of guitar jangle and minimal percussion lend the song the feel of a psychedelic folk song of the early 70s and the vocals in the verses wax Dylan-esque in the arrangements if not in affect. That is if Dylan worked on a pop song with Roger McGuinn. The slight psychedelic shimmer on the vocals in the choruses are like the sun glimmering on the ocean and suit the romantic cast of the song as the keyboard melody swells in the background. The song seems to be one of unexpectedly sudden relationship panic (the sense that everything might be going wrong or that you’re about to lose your loved one even if none of that’s true) that flows into gentle reassurance of commitment and passionate connection. Though the song taps into a retro sound its emotional resonance has a charming immediacy and freshness that bears revisiting. Listen to “Sorry Situation Number Four” on Spotify and follow the Los Angeles-based duo at the links provided.

Freedom Fry on Instagram

Freedom Fry on Facebook

Cali Bellow Taps Into a Little Help From Her Friends on Hyper.Glitchpop Song “LFG!!!! (i just died)”

You don’t have to be a gamer to appreciate Cali Bellow’s single “LFG!!!! (i just died)” and its animated music videos with more signifiers than one would expect including an Aphex Twin logo on the upper left of the monitor and a NIN sticker on the lower right. But it helps. We see a figure navigating a top to bottom scroller and dancing on a nature path. The pitch shifted vocals sound like something you’d expect to hear in a hyperpop song and there are plenty of 8-bit sounds making up the soundscape and shimmering, bit-crushed tones to signal transitions. Obvious comparisons to Crystal Castles can be made but this song isn’t dark except for the mention of death and it’s a celebration of friendship and how hey can help each other out in our most challenging moments IRL or in game with a quick res or run through a place where we’re struggling. The symbolism of the latter and its application to real life is more apt than non-nerds would like to think. Even with the trappings of hyper/glitch pop there is something chill about the pace of the song as is the stride of the character in view in the video who seems to evade even the most low grade ambient hostiles. Watch the video for yourself on YouTube and follow Cali Bellow (aka Leah B. Levinson, bassist and vocalist of the great black metal band Agriculture) at the links below. The project’s new album Ciao Bella is out October 25, 2024.

Cali Bellow on X

Cali Bellow on Instagram