Q's Compilations
Vol #136 – February
to March 2021
Happy
Spring (or nearly-Spring)! There have already been a lot of good new releases
in 2021 so between that and hopeful news of vaccine roll-outs, we just need to
hunker down and be responsible a little longer. As is usual for the Feb/March
mix in a year, there are some songs that didn’t make the cut for the best-of,
or songs that would have if only I’d heard them before now, and all the best
new things I’ve heard. I hope there’s something for you to enjoy.
01) The Dirty Nil – Doom Boy: Canadian trio The Dirty Nil released Fuck Art, their third studio album, on the 8th of January via Dine Alone Records. The record has felt like a long time coming, not uncommon given many bands have delayed releases during the pandemic, though Done With Drugs, the lead single for the album, came out in June (and was on Q#133). The album is another excellent collection of catchy power pop, this song opens the record which rarely relents. “Do you delight in rule breaking? Dancing to thrash and hailing satan?”
02) Ratboys – Alien With a Sleep Mask On: Chicago quartet Ratboys released Printer’s Devil in February 2020, pre-pandemic! I only just recently heard of them, however, and this was a recent bandcamp purchase. They just put out country-twinged single so hopefully there’ll be a follow-up in due course.
03) Jetstream Pony – It’s Fine: I do find that going down a Bandcamp rabbit-hole can often yield pretty good results – at this point I can’t remember how I ended up on this Brighton-based band, but it was a “you just purchased xxxxx perhaps you’d like Jetsream Pony”, and they weren’t wrong. Their self-titled album was released in May 2020 and this opens the record.
04) Rat Columns – It’s Your Time (to Suffer): Perth’s Rat Columns just released their fourth album, Pacific Kiss in February (mostly recorded in East Williamsburg). I just love the sound and arrangements of the whole album, which lands fairly close to the middle of my venn diagram.
05) Kiwi Jr – Undecided Voters: Another jangle-heavy release already in the bag for 2021, Toronto’s Kiwi Jr just put out their second album, Cooler Returns, which is being released by Sub Pop. The comparisons to Pavement may be a little boringly obvious, but the record does certainly sound a lot like them at times.
06) The Reds, Pinks and Purples – The Record Player and the Damage Done: Those that know their record labels will not be surprised to hear that Uncommon Weather is being released by Slumberland Records, it comes out in April but this is one of the singles. I guess 2021 really is the year of jangle so far (at least in my universe). The Reds, Pinks and Purples is a DIY project from Glenn Donaldson in San Francisco. “I don’t wanna join your revolution, so leave me alone. No spiritual journeys for me, I’ll stay home. Use your breakthroughs for something worthwhile for once. And save the human race, haven’t we suffered enough?”
07) Horsees – Overdry: Paris quartet Horsees released their self-titled debut album last month and it’s a delightful collection of songs that would all sound at home on the Children of Nuggets compilation.
08) Ron Gallo – Hide (Myself Behind You): Peacemeal is Ron Gallo’s third full length album and was released by New West Records on the 5th of March. The album is a departure from his first two records, which were a little more traditional garage/indie, there’s certainly a more poppy vibe on songs like this one, but the album is a bit of a kaleidoscope for the most part that I’m still digesting.
09) Fruit Bats – Balcony: Celebrating Fruit Bats’ 20th anniversary, The Pet Parade is Eric D Johnson’s ninth release under the Fruit Bats moniker. The album came out on the 5th of March and it’s another find addition to the discography, for this song in particular there’s something about the way that bass comes in at around the 40-second mark that gets me every time.
10) Bright Eyes – Flirted With You All My Life: One of my favourite songs of all time is Vic Chesnutt’s Flirting With You All My Life (which was used on a very, very old Q-Comp back in 2009 when At the Cut was released), it has been covered many times often badly and should probably be left well alone. However, I did hear Bright Eyes version recently and think it’s probably the best of the covers I’ve heard. Technically I have rescheduled tickets to see Bright Eyes this summer, which I assume will get rescheduled again at this point!
11) Del Amitri – It’s Feelings: I typically describe Del Amitri as my first love, and the band are set to release their first album since 2002’s Can You Do Me Good in May (unless the release gets pushed back again), recording of Fatal Mistakes was finished the day before the first lockdown in the UK, which was good timing… this is the second single from the album. It’s hard to describe the feeling of your favourite band releasing an album for the first time in almost 20 years. “All the sickness, all the bruises, All the shit that no one chooses, Bring it on in its disguises, I'll take the knockouts with the prizes”
12) Semisonic – You’re Not Alone: Speaking of bands who haven’t released anything in 19 years… Semisonic’s last album was 2001’s All About Chemistry but they released an EP last year. Dan Wilson has had a pretty successful career writing for/with other artists in the ensuing years, indeed the idea to finally record some new Semisonic tunes came after he tried to write some material for Liam Gallagher, I’m certainly glad he decided to take the inspiration for himself.
13) Black Country New Road – Sunglasses: London septet Black Country New Road released their debut album, For the First Time in February and it’s certainly the front-runner for most critically acclaimed album of the year to date. The record runs the gamut of art-and-post-rock, having saxophone and violin throughout is always going to bring something else to the table and the musicianship is first rate. Clocking in at almost 10 minutes, Sunglasses is probably as good a summation of the record as possible, but you should really listen to the whole thing. I’d love to see what they’re like live.
14) Mogwai – Pet Stains: In probably the most surprising charting achievement I can perhaps think of, Mogwai’s tenth album, released on the 19th of February to mark the 25th anniversary of their first single, actually got to number 1 on the UK album charts. As someone who has been a fan since their 1997 debut album, Young Team, it’s gratifying to see them do so well.
15) Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe – New York Miracle: I saw Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe open for Fuck Buttons in 2013 and he had me in the palm of his hand. Using a modular synth and sipping tea, he looked like some kind of magician controlling the room. Notes Above Land was released in February though a lot of it was recorded in 2015.
16) Ronnie Vega – Lieutenant Dan: Another somewhat random recent bandcamp purchase was Two Eps by Ronnie Vega who was from Philly and sadly died last year. Two Eps collates his entire discography and it’s a huge shame there isn’t more of it as it really is outstanding.
17) Lilys – Accepting Applications at University: Lily’s re-issued their 1999 album, The 3-Way recently and while I prefer them in a more shoegazy mood, there are some pretty enchanting songs on this record, which wears its 60s Kinks/The Zombies influences proudly.
18) Beach Bunny – Blame Game: At this point I shouldn’t need to say that Beach Bunny released my favourite album of last year (Honeymoon), but I do need to tell you that they just put out a new EP, of which this is the title track, that came out in January. My in-general-hot-take in music is that I think EPs are a little silly and that bands should just wait a bit longer to have enough material for an LP, but I’m of the CD-single generation where bands like Del Amitri would put out 2-CDs with 6 excellent b-sides that were basically Eps. Anyway, I digress, the EP is of course excellent and I hope they have a new record in the works.
19) Snarls – Burst: Every once in a while I’ll hear Emily playing her Spotify recommended/daily playlist and something will prick my ears, the best recent example is this Columbus, Ohio quartet who released Burst in March 2020 and would certainly have made the previous best-of-that-year mix if I’d have heard it at the time. “When I die, May I burst, With a crack of thunder, And a lot of glitter”
I know as the weather starts getting better there’s a temptation to put our guards down but hopefully we can start seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, even if we’re still a long way off normality. Keep being safe!
As always, Peace and Love - Q
