eee MOURN
eee ADULT JAZZ
Ha, Ha, He (Captured Tracks)
If music is a form of escapism, then it’s surely at its most apt in that capacity when the escapists inhabit a region which is plotting an escape of its own. MOURN hail from Catalonia, where the pro-independence movement has gained traction in recent times. The shadowy second full-length effort from the punk-leaning foursome – with a crucially melodic edge – may not be a separatist soundtrack, but it possesses a fiercely independent spirit. ‘Ha, Ha, He.’ frequently hints at the makings of something truly spectacular – ‘Howard’ and ‘Second Sage’ give plenty of reason to rave with excitement – but it often lacks the absolute finishing touches. It mustn’t, however, go unmentioned that MOURN are yet to all reach their twenties, and to already have two studio albums under their belts is laudable in itself. The latest, though, feels nigglingly incomplete, and while they haven’t stumbled at the unshakeable hurdle of the ‘difficult second album’, the ‘wow’ factor of their debut has since diminished. Thankfully, there’s enough youthful grit and promise on show here to suggest that a spectacular something is on the horizon. (Tom Hancock) LISTEN: ‘Howard’
eee THE GOTOBEDS
Blood // Sugar // Secs // Traffic (Sub Pop)
Pittsburgh four-piece The Gotobeds’ Sub Pop debut is a delightful, riotous post-punk concoction. Ripe with guttural guitars, catchy riffage, and spitting vocals, it feels like the band’s cathartic output for their own skittish energy. The record’s experimental in nature – tracks such as ‘Bodies’ are laced with sun-soaked garage-pop sensibilities, while the beautiful, delicate build-up of ‘Red Alphabet’ explodes like a slow-burning volcano and sprawls across the palette from indie rock to artful, noisy dissonance. The Gotobeds execute a formula of beer-drenched reckless abandon, tense odes to the unloved and loveless. The result is a smart, sharp record to soundtrack the end of the world (or maybe even just a hungover Sunday afternoon.) (Cady Siregar) LISTEN: ‘Bodies’
eee MAGIC POTION
Earrings Off!
(Tri Angle)
Debut album ‘Gist Is’ wasn’t exactly straight-down-the-line, but with ‘Earrings Off!’, Adult Jazz have descended fully into the primordial ooze. Twisted and gloopy, the title-track and ‘Eggshell’ are both wonderfully playful. Other experiments work less well, though, ‘Ooh Ah Eh’’s attempts at free-form structure collapsing in on themselves in seconds. (Tom Connick) Listen: ‘Earrings Off!’
ee
LETLIVE.
If I’m The Devil.. (Epitaph)
Few bands carry a live reputation quite like letlive. – fewer still can say that it’s fully deserved. Snarling, wide-eyed madness abounds at a letlive. show; part of the reason it’s so crushing to find ‘If I’m The Devil…’ to be so flat. Forcibly removing their roughed-up edges, it’s the sound of letlive. gunning for the charts, and casting aside all that once made them such a captivating prospect. (Tom Connick) LISTEN: ‘Good Mourning America’
Pink Gum (Beech Coma)
Releasing their debut EP last May, Swedish garage-punk group Magic Potion carved out a niche amongst the blue skies and scorching sunlight of holiday season. A blissed-out venture through elated highs and worn-out sighs of summer, debut album ‘Pink Gum’ is a continuation of that sun-scorched sound - an ode to the longest of days and lightest of nights. EP numbers ‘Deep Web’ and ‘Booored’ appear once again, the latter’s near impossibly contagious enthusiasm as fresh and freewheeling as it felt the first time around. Out of time and out of place, ‘Pink Gum’ is as fitting a soundtrack to the summer of anyone’s wildest wishes as it is to a season spent wasted in the sunlight. (Jessica Goodman) LISTEN: ‘Booored’
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