Song Review – Page 37 – Queen City Sounds and Art

“Landlord Cull” is Muscle Vest’s Wild Noise Rock Call For Righteously Radical Economic Justice

The title of Muscle Vest’s “Landord Cull” is a statement in itself and in essence not a bad idea. But in the music video we get some facts about landlords and examples of their neglect in the UK with obvious cognates elsewhere that speak to the predatory practices of the landlord class writ large, particularly over the last few years like that group of people were getting revenge for pandemic era protections for renters. With the rampant expansion of private equity firms buying up huge swaths of residential property over the past couple of decades has simply amplified the effect of soaring rent prices, much less actual property ownership, so that an investor class can get in on the action and feel like it’s “just business” and not personal. But in the lived existence of people it is deeply personal and this song speaks to that rage and frustration with more than a little playful sonic mayhem The ragged and joyously delivered vocals and cutting, whorling noise rock is reminiscent of a combination of Chat Pile and The Jesus Lizard with a surreal and caustic sound. Watch the video for “Landlord Cull” on YouTube and follow Muscle Vest at the links below. The song is part of the Every Day For The Rest Of Your Life EP which came out July 26, 2024 via Muzai Records.

Muscle Vest on Facebook

Muscle Vest on Instagram

Talking to Shadows’ Tragically Haunted Shoegaze Song “Valentina” is Reminiscent of 4AD Dream Pop and Ethereal 90s Space Rock

Talking to Shadows, photo courtesy the artists

Talking to Shadows worked with Francis Ford Greggola on the evocative video for “Valentina” to establish a touch of the otherworldly quality of a Hammer Horror film combined with classic early 4AD band videos aesthetic (think Dif Juz and This Mortal Coil both visually and sonically). The song is a melodiously drifty dream pop song about yearning for love and meaningful connections in a world where that can elusive. Though the song begins delicately enough, as it progresses the guitar tones become more fiery and the vocals more soaring as the lyrics rise in tone to a place of greater personal conviction before it all dissolves by song’s end. The scintillating guitar progression in the last quarter of the song feels like a triumph over uncertainty right before the acceptance of one’s inherent human vulnerability. The song recorded and mixed by the legendary J. Robbins has a strong resonance with projects recorded by Keith Cleversley like Hum and Space Team Electra but with an elegance of tone and emotional delicacy all the band’s own. Watch the video for “Valentina” on YouTube and follow Baltimore’s Talking to Shadows at the links below.

Talking to Shadows on Facebook

Talking to Shadows on Instagram

Talking to Shadows on Bandcamp

HARTES PORZELLAN’s Subversive, Psychedelic Big Beat Single “RICH” Challenges Us to Re-Imagine Our Lives and Consciousness for a Better Collective Existence

HARTES PORZELLAN, photo courtesy the artist

HARTES PORZELLAN’s subversive, psychedelic, post-Big Beat song “RICH” expresses both an intense solidarity for fellow humans navigating the depredations and compromises of late capitalism and a complete contempt for the system imposed on everyone everywhere. Throughout the song the conventional system of values are flouted and redefined as the songwriter questions what constitutes being “rich” for real and how that “virtue” is a contingent fact that can be overturned if people simply didn’t cooperate in the established system of assigning value and perhaps embraced valuing our own lives and dignity and the very time we’re allotted in life itself both individually and as a society. In the video we see people indulging in casual fun and dancing, simple pleasures, acts of creativity and rebellious acts of everyday luxuries while simply shifting perspective to live in a new world of transformed consciousness. Musically it’s reminiscent of something that might have been inspired both by the work of Jack Dangers and The KLF’s The Manual. Watch the video for “RICH” on YouTube.

Mr. Gnome’s “Nothing and Everything” is a Brooding, Psychedelic Synth Pop Reaffirmation of Love and Commitment in Challenging Times

Cleveland’s art pop duo Mr. Gnome returns with its first album in four years with A Sliver of Space due out September 27, 2024 on El Marko Records (vinyl, CD, download, streaming). Lead single “Nothing and Everything” and its lyrics video showcase what’s in store with the new record. We see a mysterious figure drawing down cosmic energies from the heavens while floating above a rocky, desert landscape like a figure out of a Dune novel. The brooding synths contrast well with Nicole Barille’s lightly distorted and passionate vocals and the finely syncopated beat and together the music serves a song that seems to be a reaffirmation of love and commitment during challenging times through personal struggles and doubts. Sure it’s a classic theme but Mr. Gnome’s particular approach and style gives the messaging a sense of being in it for the long haul even if things get tough and require extra grace. It’s truly a song for the current period of human civilization and the title speaks to the layered challenges we all face individually and as a civilization. Watch the video for “Nothing and Everything” on YouTube and follow Mr. Gnome at the links below. The band tours across the USA September 27 through November 2.

mrgnome.com

Mr. Gnome on Twitter

Mr. Gnome on Facebook

Mr. Gnome on Instagram

Mnevis’ Alt Pop Single “Sparks (Zig Zag)” has the Soothing Sounds of a Cosmic Tropical Paradise

Mnevis’ single “Sparks (Zig Zag)” immediately brings you into an alternate world of shimmery sounds like a cosmic tropical paradise. The blend of strings, soft percussion and what seems like a rich tapestry of electronic/keyboard sounds crafted in a dynamic array of impressionistic composition is easy to get lost within even in the moments the song ramps up with fuzzy guitar entering the mix. The song has the energy of something from another era but one that remains fascinating elusive to the end. Because of that those familiar with the band Orions Belte or the music of Mary Ocher will find much to like with what this Swiss band has been up to up to in its career thus far in experimenting with what pop music can be. Listen to “Sparks (Zig Zag)” on Spotify and follow Mnevis at the links below.

Mnevis on Facebook

Mnevis on Instagram

Bryce Terry’s Ambient Downtempo Track “The Only Game In Town” is a Beat Driven Journey Into the Shadow Economy

Bryce Terry’s “The Only Game In Town” opens with ethereal drones like a walk through a hallway into an abandoned building. From there a steady, syncopated beat anchors screaming streams of tone, sustained, distorted synth and a ghost of a melody in the background. Rapid echos of harmonic sound give way to the latter early in the song as the beat establishes itself and the layers convey a sense of space like being given access to a secret area in which clandestine activities are undertaken and moves are made, think something like the vibe of an underground casino that is hidden away in the back rooms of a legitimate business that operates mostly on cash but in the after hours deals in the black market economy. Like the rest of Terry’s album Two-Thousand Yard Stare there is an undercurrent of menace in the song that suits the album’s themes of addiction and succumbing to the inner demons that drive one in that direction but despite the song’s title the song doesn’t sound like video game music like this song and a few others on the album reflect the moments when one is able to break free of the spell of addiction for some moments to see one’s life for what it is and the context in which one has placed oneself in service to addiction. In this way it’s reminiscent of Oneohtrix Point Never’s soundtrack work for the film Good Time and that film’s tone of unreality and gritty reality side by side to give resonant tonal contrasts. Listen to “The Only Game In Town” on Spotify and follow Bryce Terry at the links below.

Bryce Terry on Apple Music

Bryce Terry on Instagram

“Return to Sender” is talker’s Triumphant Song of Liberation From Emotionally Stifling Relationships

“Return to Sender” from talker’s 2024 debut album I’m Telling You the Truth (out June 21, 2024) is typical for the songwriter in its dramatically unorthodox presentation. The music video begins like a horror movie with perhaps undead pallbearers bringing a casket into view and opening it with talker inside and seemingly liberated from a living death to dance in choreographed moves like a vampire film in reverse. The song’s lyrics seem to be directed to a loved one, former or potentially so, who seems to find it hard to deal with her how she is in the moment. No one is always going to be how you think they need to be all the time and human life is full of flux and struggles that if we don’t feel them and express that reality and instead bury that pain and flux it can fester in your heart in unhealthy ways. The song with its richly triumphant tones are a declaration of self-acceptance. After all, if someone you love can’t talk with you about what’s going on with them in a real way is it really love? If you’re always trying to “fix” them rather than share in a moment of empathy for regular human frailty is it the kind of love you’d want to have? Sometimes you just have to listen to people and not offer what you think is a solution because a part of getting through tough emotional times is just being able to express those feelings without judgment and dismissing them. Talker’s song is about that set to music that feels like it’s bursting free of emotional limitations. Watch the video for “Return to Sender” on YouTube and follow talker at the links provided.

Sea Girls Spin Despair Into Radical Self-Acceptance on “Does Only God Know That We’re Lonely”

The slightly quavering vocals on Sea Girls’ “Does Only God Know That We’re Lonely” speaks to the vulnerability and existential fear suggested by the title. But the song which openly and frankly considers these moments of pondering questions of personal potential and accepting ourselves for who we are and life situations for what they are even though there is a cultural pressure to be and within more than that doesn’t stay stuck there. Its melodies and chords and sentiments strike out with a defiant and triumphant spirit. The song seems to say that maybe we’re not perfect or have perfect lives according certain standards but that our lives have their inherent dignity and worth and that we can’t very well live the lives of other people. The song in that way spins what could be despair into radical self-acceptance. What kind of music is it? Touchstones might include Death Cab For Cutie or Modest Mouse but Sea Girls has its own sound on the spectrum of emotionally raw and melodically vibrant pop that in times is reminiscent somehow of the tonal range and pace of Flock of Seagulls’ “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You).” Listen to “Does Only God Know That We’re Lonely” on Spotify and connect with Sea Girls at the links below. The group recently released its full length album Midnight Butterflies on June 14, 2024.

Sea Girls on Facebook

Sea Girls on TikTok

Sea Girls on Instagram

Kai Tak’s Downtempo Dream Pop Single “Until We Leave From Here” Warmly Layers Nostalgia With Hope For the Future

“Until We Leave From Here” finds Kai Tak’s richly layered melodies streaming into the horizon as Chesley Boy’s melodious vocals opining nostalgically on where a relationship has been and where it might and should go. Musically it’s a fusion of billowy dream pop and chillwave’s introspectively romantic and expansive drones. But composer Chris King brought Annie Zhou on board to add the textural tones of the guzheng to lend the almost elusive song subtle flourishes of anchors to tactile, emotional immediacy. Its moods are reminiscent of the 80s but of an 80s that never existed making the track and the rest of the album Designed In Heaven Made In Hong Kong (out June 21, 2024 via à La Carte Records on digital download, streaming and limited edition colored vinyl) resonant with modern cinema that juxtaposes era with modern sensibilities for a hybrid aesthetic that seems fresh rather than dated. Listen to “Until We Leave From Here” on Spotify and follow Kai Tak at the links provided.

Kai Tak on Instagram

Kai Tak on YouTube

Kait Warner Confesses the Foolish Behaviors that Serve as a Barrier to Intimacy on Orchestral Indie Rock Ballad “Rodeo Clown”

The title track to Kait Warner’s debut album Rodeo Clown (released June 14, 2024) starts off with the sound of a record of circus music getting up to speed before the clipped, rapid guitar riff brings us into a song about two people with strong personalities who maybe have more than friendship attractions to each other but get into the kind of dynamic that involves dramatic, performative gestures rather something more straight forward and tender. We’ve all seen it, people who are clearly into each other but have difficulty admitting that to themselves and accepting it, or a situation where one of those people struggles with embracing those genuine feelings in a way that allows for intimacy. Warner sings about using laughter as a cane, acting the fool and other behaviors that put up a barrier that everyone else can see through. But in being able to articulate those ways of being displays a self-awareness that offers hope in the end when heartbreak forces you to reconsider your ways. Listen to “Rodeo Clown” on YouTube and follow Kait Warner at the links below.

Kait Warner on Instagram