Still over a month to go and list season is already upon us, with Album of the Year features already dropped for publications like Rough Trade and Decibel, among a few others.

Personally, I look forward to the lists by The Quietus, BrooklynVegan, Kerrang!, Pitchfork, Loud and Quiet, Louder Than War, Stereogum, Anthony Fantano, The Line of Best Fit, and Gorilla vs. Bear. And many others I’m sure.

RIP Tiny Mix Tapes.

Thy Catafalque – Vadak
(June 25, 2021)

A lot of black metal acts seem to pivot quickly to something entirely different than black metal. You never see it the other way around. It’s not like Adele or Taylor Swift are going to suddenly start shrieking through lo-fi static, recording all their tracks in an isolated cabin in northern Norway. So why do some black metal bands throw a big “fuck this” and branch out? Were their early ambitions purely performative?

I’m just rambling, as usual. Thy Catafalque is a Hungarian outfit that is considered “avant-garde metal” simply because they started playing black metal, and now they mostly play other things. I think that genre appellation a misnomer, because albums like Vadak are as accessible as it gets for something this niche. Think progressive metal in the vein of Porcupine Tree, only less moody! There’s also lots, LOTS, of traditional metal and speed metal riffage. Also, plenty of minor key stuff that would please the average, say, Iron Maiden fan who might accidentally be listening to this! Honest! Actually, a lot of this sounds like Buckethead at his most ferociously focused. What the average metal fan won’t like is the atmospheric electronica. This is where the Porcupine Tree comparison is really apt, because most of the tracks are awash in the space-y new age stylings of mid-late ’70s Tangerine Dream (aka Steven Wilson’s other wet dream band after Pink Floyd). I love it! I wish more metal bands did that kind of trance krautrock; it usually melds well.

Vadak is a real melting pot of styles. Track 2, “Köszöntsd a hajnalt”, has some, I don’t know, synth accordion? I’m heavily reminded of the really folky dance-folk metal like Eluveitie where they have lutes and wooden flutes and cavort around like Legend of Zelda fairies. “Gömböc” sounds like a guest spot by Venetian Snares, with crazy breakbeats and pulsing electronics (plus Middle-Eastern guitar flourishes). “A kupolaváros titka” has a motherfucking Kenny G smooth sax passage! There’s not much in the way of vocals throughout, but what you get is either typical black metal guttural shrieking, typical epic doom metal clean male vocals, or soft and folky spoken word female vocals.

If you’re looking mainly for a metal album, don’t listen to this, you’ll hate it. If you like progressive/experimental rock, and you’re not afraid to venture into the highly technical or extreme territory, this is really good shit. Check out the other Thy Catafalque albums too, they’re very consistent.

Early Verdict:

Foxing – Draw Down the Moon
(August 6, 2021)

Foxing is a band of unassuming, beardy white guys from St. Louis. As far as what I’ve heard from them, which isn’t much, they play unassuming, beardy white guy indie rock music. The lead singer is a beardy, white guy who sometimes sounds like the guy from TV on the Radio, sometimes the guy from Vampire Weekend, sometimes the guy from Muse, and sometimes that dead guy Elliott Smith. Your beardy, white guy friend from high school will like this album a lot.

What we have here is bare-bones indie rock structured like jaunty pop songs that crescendo into powerful, hooky choruses that repeat enough to really needle into your brain. At least the first half of Draw Down the Moon is like that. The second half shifts gears into wistful, folky sadcore emo ballads. It’s all very by the book, and it’s all stuff you already heard 15 years ago.

That being said, this album is fine. Fine is the highest compliment I’m willing to give it. The power pop hooks do the job, especially on “Bialystok” which contains the album’s strongest melody (“Oh, without you/I feel so homesick everywhere I go!“). The melodrama of stuff like “At Least We Found the Floor” doesn’t land for me, though, catchy as it may be. The wistful acoustic strumming and doleful, hopeless lyrics sound like suburbanites trying to write a sad, bluesy tune from the college dorm before poli-sci class. “Oh God, he’s everywhere I go/He’s in my head like a metronome/Clicking inside my brain/So I can’t find tempo without a little bit of pain“, yeah, give me a break, nerds.

The zeitgeist of 2005 would welcome Draw Down the Moon with open arms. If I had just discovered this album now, and it was actually FROM 2005, I’d like it much, much more in that context. In 2021, the album feels like a complete self-unaware anachronism. Like, who is this album for? Aging 30-somethings who are falling in the trap of “today’s music isn’t as good as the music in my day”?

Early Verdict:

Crumb – Ice Melt
(April 30, 2021)

Crumb is a NYC-based indie dream pop band that, to my ears, sounds like a cross between Beach House and Yo La Tengo. I guess, in a nutshell, that means it has better melodies than Beach House, but worse melodies than Yo La Tengo! In that sense, it does its job. I’m not a Beach House fan, so that’s an amazing start already.

I don’t remember how Crumb got on my radar. To me, they exist in a world of their own right now, independent from associated acts, similar contemporaries, or even widespread publication recognition. The overall sound of Ice Melt is calm, pastoral and sunshiny, but deeply melancholy. There are occasional psychedelic electronic effects, or an occasional scratchy guitar, but it mainly sticks with undistorted indie pop. The band has a drummer, but I find his real contribution dubious. This sounds too crisp and mechanical, like a drum machine. “Jonathan Gilad” is the name of your drum machine, Crumb. Own up to it.

This music is very agreeable, treading dangerously close to easy-listening. I’m reminded of the less abrasive ’90s Elephant 6 collective groups like the Apples in Stereo or Beulah, while the slower-paced lounge haziness brings to mind Stereolab or Broadcast. I don’t think Crumb is as good as any of those bands for the melodies alone. They’re not strong enough to keep me coming back for more. Perhaps it’s not the “point” of the band, considering the laconic vocal delivery and hopelessly sad subject matter, but the small handful of really good bits leaves me wanting. “Trophy” is the best song, Ice Melt‘s single most memorable melody and the first one in the track list where a deliciously groovy bassline is busted out. Then there’s the end of “Tunnel (All That You Had)”, which presents a minor-key coda that repeats an off-putting and spiraling riff, the most intense minute of the album that briefly brings you out of the dream and into the nightmare. I wish that went on longer. Or that there was more of that particular sound.

I can’t complain too hard though. The band has potential; I won’t sleep on Crumb when they put out their third album.

Early Verdict: