A graveyard of postcards that falls short on meaning

It’s been difficult to keep up with all the great music lately. Here are four GREAT records that I need you to know about right now. Playlist link.

Del Paxton - Auto Locator

Last week I had An Experience with this record. I put it on as I began writing this entry but immediately I had to stop writing and just focus. I thought the third song (“Spiritual Gymnastics”) was the best song I’d heard all year. Eight minutes later, I was sure track 5 (“Airport”) was the song of the year. Another eight minutes later, I was again rewriting the list in my head as I heard “100 Words For Snow,” the new song of the year, for the first time. The song itself is enough, but when the old radio audio kicked in, my brain lit up.This is fresh and new but also sounds like it could have been released in 1999. (Big compliment.) It’s like Braid and Texas is the Reason and Into It. Over It. and Signals Midwest all had a 90s alt-pop loving child and this is the result. (Don’t ask me the logistics on that, I don’t know.) There’s something so specific and comforting about these words, these tones, and these melodies. I feel like I’ve known these riffs for my entire life, the same way I know what it feels like to stand on the shore and have the ocean waves hit my feet.

Equipment - Alt. Account

The first time I heard this, I had a feeling. But it was too big a feeling to express so soon. Now that it’s been a few weeks, I’m sure that initial feeling was right and I’m ready to let it rip. This is a monumental release. This is a band that was very good before this record, but here they are taking a giant leap forward. Full power. Locked in. Despite already having a number of great songs, I think we’ll look back at this record and say this was their arrival. This is the sound of a band pushing their way to the head of the class and claiming the first chair, demanding your attention.

Thank You, I’m Sorry - Growing in Strange Places

Another band with a record that feels like a culmination of everything they’ve done before. Growing in Strange Places works on many levels as the title. Upon first listen, I was surprised by how many different directions the band explores on these 13 tracks. What did not surprise me through repeated listens was how effortlessly they bounce from one to another, with each song led by frontperson Colleen Dow speaking to the listener like an old friend. From the Scott Pilgrim audio drops of “Autonomy Shop” to the fuzzy, chunky bass of “Mirror” to the slow, atmospheric churn of “Train Car” to the pit-starting energy of “Head Climbing” to the romantic sweetness of “Parking Lots” to the frustration of social media in “Chronically Online” to the anxiety of the world of “This House” to closer “As I Should Be” that gets back to the record title, where Dow finds personal growth: “If this is growth, I’m growing up / I’m moving on and making up / I don’t have time to be distracted by / What once defined my life.” Whatever strange place you may find yourself in, let this release grow on you.

Magazine Beach - Constant Springtime

This one came out in April, and has to be one of the most slept on releases this year. Especially if you like Tigers Jaw, The World is a Beautiful Place…, and Joyce Manor this one is for you. This sounds like the kind of record that has that special magic, one we’ll still be talking about in five years, and the melodies might be stuck in your head for at least that long. Don’t let yourself be the “yeah I heard it was great but I never checked it out” person. This is the perfect sweaty basement band, whose Midwest emo guitars and gang vocals have the energy to burst and bloom above ground, taking root in your ears.

Here’s the playlist link again and here are some other songs that are also on there:

Ben Quad - Hand SignalsTwo more big, anthemic jams from a band getting better with every release. These songs going to sound even bigger when they play some big rooms opening for Hot Mulligan this fall. If it was up to me, that tour bill would be flipped. BQ and Spanish Love Songs should be at the top of that bill.

Some new tracks from some of my favorites:Tiny Stills - “Am I Dead Yet?”saturdays at your place - “pourover”Short Fictions - “Reno Nevada, January 2020”Full Blown Meltdown - “Nothing Matters Anyway”Pacing - “Annoying Email”

I had been working on a “who I’m excited to see at FEST” post but I’m not sure that will get done before FEST. But I’m very excited for FEST. Let’s hang out!

Love and solidarity to Palestine,Crit