Willow "Coping Mechanism" (2022)

  

With a chronological step back from an adored Empathogen, Coping Mechanism shifts its fundamental appeal to serve my tastes immaculately. Willow's entangled expressions and gushes of emotional out-poor feel familiar, yet beneath the music nurtures antagonistic intensities, highlighting darker emotions of anger, frustration and sadness. Ever present overdrive guitars dabble in Alternative Rock, Grunge, Emo and Indie, amplifying a hurt in her lyrics. Sailing above with a playful, creative voice, she finds a beautiful resonance with the unsettled rumble of enthused guitar noise.

From a perspective, these songs could be boiled down to catchy Pop Rock songs centered on angsty teenage emotions. Fortunately the underpinning Pop sensibility blossoms with maturity. Willow's lyrics navigate emotional stresses, gracefully avoid the fallacy of simplicity. Her words dissect, introspect and reflect, mostly on the grief of a breakup, in search of a Coping Mechanism. Opposing aspects of these narratives explored often manifest into beautiful vocal inflections. Its a riveting tug and pull, back and forth, an internal mental battle channeled into infectious sing-alongs.

 Producer Chris Greatti and songwriter Asher Bank deserve high praise for their instrumentals. Creatively exploring the aforementioned genres, a Pop Punk ease and occasional touch of Metal aesthetic breeze by effortlessly. The duo weave it all into a cohesive set of both tuneful and mildly aggressive numbers without repeating themselves. One can hear many ideas pulled from across recent decades, rearranged into a new beast. Shifts in guitar tone and color, occasional synths and detailed drum grooves flesh out the experience with continuous variety that's immensely enjoyable.

Coping Mechanism flows, gushes with an infectious liveliness. Willow dances in the river, exuding expressive brilliance. Existing near to unreachable artistic perfection, devoid of weak spots, only its ending seems to dip slightly as the melancholy sways of No Control breaks down intensities for Batshit's return to animated eruptions feeling short of a final statement to wrap it all up. Other than that lack of a landing, this record has been utterly brilliant. Paying close attention to the track listing, trying to select my favorites, I realized the first nine songs are simply sublime. Just wonderful!

Rating: 9.5/10

Horsebeach "Things To Keep Alive" (2024)

 

Befitting of its mellow breezy aesthetic, Things To Keep Alive navigates through soothing, strolling tempos keen on a dissecting introspection of ones present situation. Direct and unambiguous, Kennedy's lyrics warms the heart ache and pains to the positive powers of reflection. Its felt instrumentally first, a steady current sails buoyant, soaked in the glow of effortless sunny skies. The tang of surfing guitar licks over simple drum grooves croons in gentle optimism. Whimsical melodies and softly Ethereal reverberations anchoring a little melancholic sour with the sanguine sweet.

Occasional chirpy synths and stiff 808s add an enjoyable quirky disposition to the dominant temperament, which across these ten tracks treads familiar footings. A couple of songs toy with subtle build ups, calmed climaxes and fuzzy distortions but mostly its an easy breezy affair to mercifully manipulate your mood. Pure Shores stood out, immediately giving me a sense of nostalgia. Convinced it was a cover, I was reminded of the All Saints hit I heard plenty times over in my youth. I liked that one but seems dulled in comparison to the life Horsebeach breathed into it.

Rating: 6/10

Horsebeach "The Unforgiving Current" (2019)

Ive been eagerly anticipating this release. Two years back Beauty & Sadness blew me away, one of my favorites that year. I still fondly return to it, hence the anticipation. The Unforgiving Current continues in a similar vein, Post-Punk baselines drive breezy atmospheres echoing Indie & Psychedelic Rock. There is a closeness to Dream Pop in tone, a touch of Brit Pop and 80s vibes influencing chord progressions. Its a beautiful melting pot from which slow and soothing, inviting songs nurture its serene and sunny warmness. There is a vulnerable core, journey on the soft and expressive voices that filter in and out of focus.

Its unimposing presence makes for an easy, relaxed listening experience where one can indulge in its exotic tone. As the album unfolds, elements of R&B, Soul & Funk even present themselves subtly. Shimmering guitars ring out, creating swooning swirls of breezy color over the grooving baselines. The track Trust opens up with a chilling similarity to The Isley Bothers song Voyage To Atlantis, other songs to have echos of that classic era of mainly American music from the 70s and 80s.

The record follows a similar blueprint to its predecessor, the songs flow with similar temperaments and shifts in mood. There are tracks with drum machine and those without, its all very familiar territory. Deploying beautiful melodies and unfolding riffs, occasional burst of experimentation, the music does a lot to warm your soul but it falls short of being remarkable on the production front. In comparison they are both very similar records but the initial reaction to discovering a new sound to adore masked the obviously amatursih production and that became rather obvious this time around.

It starts with the baseline, a noticeable amount of clunk roughens up its presence and the drum strikes land a little cluttered in the presences of other instruments. Every now and then a drab and fuzzy distortion guitar rumbles in, bleeding into the other instruments and soaking up the fidelity. With a lot of reverberations at work the instruments mostly sound like they are recorded with a different sonic blueprint. When mixed together its comes off a bit disjointed. Perhaps I am nit picking, initially the low-fidelity was a charm but this time around its tame. Listening back to their older songs I think a noticeable shift to subtler styles of singing misses that element of a voice rising up above the melody to peak the vibes and hold your attention. Its a very enjoyable record but a noticeable step side ways, with the sound remaining in a familiar spot.

Favorite Tracks: The Unforgiving Current, Yuuki, Trust, Unlucky Strike

Rating: 7/10

Horsebeach "Beauty & Sadness" (2017)

Here's another contender for my album of the year that's been stuck on repeat these past couple of months. "Beauty & Sadness" is the gift that keeps on giving, a wondrously expressive record tinged in a nostalgia that flirts with many styles and influences while graciously holding its own. This is my first experience with the Manchester four piece outfit who have released two full lengths prior to this third. Its a sterling introduction, ten concrete tracks weighing in at thirty six minutes, precisely what I look for in a record.

Describing their sound beyond its inspiration is a tricky business, Indie Rock might be your point of reference but shades of Post-Punk, echos of Psychedelic Rock melodies and the slight Ethereal charm of soothing reverberations put it firmly in its own grasp. Then there's the synths turning up on a handful of tracks, adding another dimension to their sound without any obviously intrusion to the chemistry, it sweetly brews into the chemistry without an eyebrow raised. On "How Far Must We Go" they bring a Smooth Jazz flavor, playing like a slick saxophone over a grooving baseline jam.

To walk you through the sounds and variety that I adore about this record, it kicks off with its most ambiguous track, morphing, swirling and burying a repeated sampled voice into a thick haze of synth that brings about, dare I say it, warm, fuzzy Vaporwave vibes. From there we step into a bright setting with a gorgeous melodic lead guitar with an infectious lead melody between acoustic chord strumming. We are first introduced to the records voice, a singer who knows his range, a sincere expression that can sway between a firm tone for adventure and a more vulnerable, softer side best heard on "My Heart Longs For You, Pizza" which has a golden oldies vibe I adore, it highlights the nostalgic use of reverberation that his voice often sinks into.

The albums production is a charm of its own, the music has a wonderfully aged feel about it. There's more texture and depth to be heard in the instruments, all smothered in a warm inviting reverberation that runs deep. You might think it just stands out as a breath of fresh air compared to all the squeaky clean, compressed, volume war music of modern production but the reality its chemistry is a charmer. Warm tones, indulgent room acoustics and thick, deep baselines illuminate the magic atmosphere this one conjures.

"Breeze" introduces an instrumental break in the midsection, a drum machine guides us on a Trip Hop alike beat as a echoing guitar jams a solo over a warm murmuring baseline and hazy strum chords. Its followed up with "Theme For Sadness", an entirely synthesized composition, a slightly spooky, teetering on mystery journey that to those familiar, is vaguely reminiscent of Dungeon Synth, in an unintentional way. The title track, possibly my favorite, lures us back in with a pounding baseline and memorable synth melody, very reminiscent of a famous Joy Division song, once you hear it you can't go back!

If you've read my ramblings this far then its no surprise I'm a big fan of this record but as Ive tried to convey my experience is charmed by a unique nostalgic vibe that has me hearing all sorts of styles, similarities and influences that never feel direct, or even close. It lured me in and once there the catchy nature of the melodies had me hooked. Horsebeach make their voice and own it! Can't wait to get my claws into those two records that came before this one.

Raitng: 9/10

The Reign Of Kindo "Play With Fire" (2013)

It's been a while since a band has immediately grabbed my attention, having me seeking out their records based on one song, but "The Reign Of Kindo" did exactly that. One of my first thoughts was pondering if there was once a time I would of turned my nose up at this. Where I've taught myself how to appreciate more varieties of music, Ive learned to hear what the artist is expressing, as opposed to what I want to hear. Kindo's aesthetic on an initial impression is poppy, classy and far from the feast of anger and aggression I'm used to. Through that aesthetic I hear a mighty and fierce musical force of expression projected with true intensity and energy that I may of once not heard.

But enough about my experience, Kindo are an American five piece band from New York who describe themselves as "Makers of music". Their rich and illustrious songs elevated by a range of studio musicians who accompany the five, giving them an arsenal of instruments and styles to pull from at any point. Kindo will be no oddity of sound, but their style truly distorts genre boundaries and expectations despite feeling so grounded and "regular". Drawing their main structural influences from Jazz Rock, Pop and Progressive Rock, the band dazzle with an array of subtle influences that creep into the various tracks, so much so you can hear inklings of Indie, Alternative, Soul, Swing, Big Band and even Latin in the layers of instrumentation that back the core group. Whats charming is how intelligent and natural the compositions are, and how much they put into a track yet leaving a big space for singer Joseph Secchiaroli's stunning, powerful voice to fill. Its a chemistry of musical perfection, delivered with a timeless pop sensibility.

The record is a solid one, variety, flow and consistency run from start to end (almost), yet the group set a very high bar with the ferocious opener "The Hero, The Saint, The Tyrant, & The Terrorist", delivering the albums best riffs, moments, build up and exquisite vocal hooks. The rest of the record doesn't quite reach the same intensity but their is plenty to enjoy and a few calmer numbers that personally I don't think catch the same spirit and charm as the upbeat songs. The production is fantastic, so much so I had at no point given a single thought to it, every instrument is audible, balanced and mixed to give and easy listening experience that carriers a lot of weight.

The final three tracks fizzle out a little for me, "Romancing A Stranger" making a meal of an obvious infatuation and "I Hate Music", really good instrumentally but lyrically it made be wince a little, I feel its pointless to make broad sweeping judgments on pop culture and whats played on the radio. The frank and blunt lyrical delivery just furthered the lack of connection to the point of view. Great record, the band have huge potential and I look forward to hearing their next release!

Favorite Songs: The Hero, The Saint, The Tyrant, & The Terrorist, Sing When No One's Around, Feeling In The Night, Sunshine

Rating: 7/10

Zornik "One-Armed Bandit" (2004)

One-Armed Bandit is the sophomore album of Belgium rockers "Zornik", a record I have spent much time enjoying and wrapping my head around. Zornik would be described as a "Rock" band, but in this modern era of music I find that term to be vague and nonspecific, a generalization for the traditional guitar, bass, vocal and drums band format. Their sound on "One-Armed Bandit" is characterized by some Indie and Alternative influences as well as a strong 90s Pop Rock undercurrent. They also spruce up their pallet with some additional synthesizers and electronic elements, giving this record a diversity thats strengthened by the varied approaches in songwriting. I'm glad I gave this record a chance, usual I look to abrasive sounds and confrontation for appealing musical ideas, this record reminded me that good music can be found in the most approachable of styles too.

For me, this album was mostly defined by the mood and tone set by vocalist Koen Buyse's soft and gentle, emotionally driven presence that would very much guide and mold these songs as the accommodating instrumentals built powerful and moving settings around his narrative which swims through a current of heartbreak and sorrow that comes through in his performances. They are heartfelt and strong, giving a real sense of a troubled soul letting it out through the music, and despite this bluesy and moody feel, these songs feel bright and positive, mostly to the credit of the accommodating instrumentals. Buyse's voice has fantastic range and flight when hitting graceful high notes, he often opts to balance it with gently spoken numbers that elevate his higher range in to epic moments in the songs that make up this record.

Instrumentally, these songs are tame, gentle and humble, strolling through calm and collected instrumentals that grace through inspired melodics. There strength is in the moments between their quieter sound where the group can build up the volume and intensity with overdriven guitars and climatic progressions utilizing Buyse's impressive high range. It gives this record great flow, and theres no shortage of variety between the tracks, which can shift gears effortlessly between different intensities. Theres a great Pop sensibility about some of the vocal leads, and no shortage of energetic riffage that fuses into the tracks from time to time. Its a warm and compassionate listen that grows on me with every listen, looking forward to more from this band!

Favorite Tracks: Scared Of Yourself, Miracles, The Place, We Are Lost

Rating: 6/10