We’ll be honest: We were pretty blown away by Not Bad Not Well when we were researching the 2023 edition of the Rock & Roll Rumble and then became even more so after witnessing the live show. That said, like many fans of the band made from those shows we’ve been frothing at the mouth for new music beyond their lone single up until that point (“Sleeper” which you can read about here). And new music is finally here in the form of “New Way Out”!
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We keep a running list of records that release throughout a given year that strike some kind of chord with us so that we don’t get overwhelmed when it comes to whittling down faves for our inevitable year-end list. Sometimes, on very rare occasions, we add a band to that list before an album even drops because we have faith in that artist while on other occasions an advance single is so strong that we can’t imagine not loving what’s to come. Boston’s Blood Lightning falls into the latter category as “Blankets” got many a spin over a plethora of different streaming platforms from us and now that we have the rest from the supergroup’s debut in house we don’t feel bad about patting ourselves on the back over that early prediction.
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The constant cycle of getting pitched for stuff which we dig then review which leads to other pitches and more stuff we dig will never get old for us. And it was during a recent cycle that led us to Tomorrowish and their debut record called Almost Home which is the whole sonic enigma wrapped in a riddle conundrum.
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How could we say no to an album that just screams “MASSACHUSETTS!!!”?!? Not since Jonathan Richman’s ode to the Bay State has a record resonated so much with us. Sure, Friendship Commanders’ MASS probably won’t get any tracks played at Fenway Park over “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” anytime soon especially with the self-autobiographical seriousness of it all … but we can dream of hearing “Blue” in a stadium at some point, right?
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For folks yearning for Emma Ruth Rundle to return to the sound of Marriages or wished Chelsea Wolfe lingered in the heaviness a little longer, Blodet is here for you with their latest opus entitled Death Mother. But really? They’re here to make some kickass experimental Post-Rawk noise that’s ethereal and entrancing and stands out on its’ own.
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Is “Grunge Punk” a thing? Well, it should be especially upon hearing the latest from Seattle’s Filth Is Eternal which pretty much captures that vibe across Find Out‘s 14 tracks, each of which barely breach the two-minute mark yet manage to come at yer earholes all dense and dynamic-like unfurling at times like a sort of Heavy Metal mixtape with the flow throughout. Also, are we allowed to call Find Out fun? Because it is. Like listening through Turnstile’s Time & Space for the first time or a lot of those early Roadrunner Records debut records where they’re monstrous, something special, and just an experience from start to finish.
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Diving into Nonfiction, the debut record from multi-instrumentalist Sara Abdelbarry under the nom de plume Teen Idle, and fans of those charming Indie Pop singles that preceded the album immediately get a treat in the form of the 1-2-3 punch of “Saccharine”, Birthday Cake”, and “Norway” all in a row to start as a refreshing reminder of why they’re here in the first place. And for new fans, this trio of tracks is just the prologue to an earnest aural novel that’s perfect for the current changing of the seasons.
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Surely you’ve heard Calculating the Angle of Our Descent from former Mistle Thrush vocalist Valerie Forgione as Lovina Falls now, right? Well, what are you waiting for??? For those who are already well-versed in the debut solo record from Forgione that was released earlier this year, you’ll no doubt be ecstatic to hear that “Vaulted” from the record is following “On Your Side” with a video treatment of its’ own once again from director Joan Hathaway. And for the rest of y’all, here’s your chance to get on the right side of aural history.
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What a shreddy good time “Bury This Heart” is! Three minutes and forty seconds is all it’ll take to hook you, too, on this marvelous slab of heaviness dispelled from Salem outfit The Innsmouth Look.
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On Where Neon Meets The Rain (Found as a lyric in “Arrive!”), Boston’s Looking Glass War continue to captivate while capitalizing on the sonic good will rightly earned from the strength of the singles released so far.
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