Attic Salt
Get Wise
Jump Start (2020)
A big part of why I do this is to discover new music. Attic Salt are a new band to me, and I decided to pick up Get Wise after checking out the first couple singles.The band, based in Springfield, IL, play peppy pop-punk. While that subgenre seems to have a surprising amount of different meanings, this is the crisp, clean and bouncy pop kind. The style that is played by people with bangs, leather jackets, and a good chunk of the Lookout catalog on their shelves or hard drive. The vocalists alternate songs and/or verses, and often harmonize together. The drums are predictable and use fills to give character and the Ramones chords do the heavy lifting.While at its core I’d define Attic Salt’s sound as of the peppy, pogo variety, it’s also nuanced. The record doesn’t have 10 Ramones copycat tracks. “Mud” kicks off with an emotional acoustic intro, “Undiscovered” is in a ‘00s indie rock key, and on several of the tracks, it’s the harmonizing that takes the lead -- such as in “Washington Street,” where the female/male combo recalls memories of Bullets To Broadway. Personally, Currie’s powerful delivery has a way of cutting through the chords … Read more
Aesop Rock
Spirit World Field Guide
Rhymesayers (2020)
Spirit World Field Guide is Aesop Rock’s first full-length in a few years. He’s been busy in the meantime, working … Read more
Almøst Human
XS2XTC
Fastball Music (2019)
As most of you non-essential workers I have been working from home for what seems like forever now. What I … Read more
Pallbearer
Forgotten Days
Nuclear Blast (2020)
Pallbearer’s evolution from their early days as a dark, funeral doom leaning band into a prog-embracing emotive force is well … Read more
The Cavemen
Euthanise Me
Slovenly (2020)
The Cavemen are a garage band from New Zealand with a ton of releases to their name. You know the … Read more
