This week I have new releases from Wolf Alice, Squid, and St. Vincent. I have to say that in the intro so that Google might someday actually put my blog in their search engine!

We are quite literally, as of today, on the year’s halfway point. Many publications are releasing their half-year best-of lists. I have about 900 more albums from 2021 to listen to and absorb, and I’m sure the best is still yet to come! It’s a good time to be a music fan.

Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend
(June 4, 2021)

Wolf Alice’s third studio album dropped in early June and was met with immediate critical acclaim. I’ve heard very little Wolf Alice in the past, and I was incredibly wary going into this one. I was expecting a lot of folky noodling and hushed vocals, but Blue Weekend showcases some diverse indie rock styles while maintaining a mildly grungy veneer throughout the record.

Immediate standouts at first listen were “Safe From Heartbreak (If You Never Fall In Love)” and its ethereal folky strumming, the pure pop of “How Can I Make it OK?”, and the fuzzy shoegaze bombast of “Feeling Myself”. On my first album run-through I found the riot grrrl punk anthem “Play the Greatest Hits” a jarring turn, but this one has really grown on me too.

My minor gripe is sequencing. The album is oddly middle-heavy, and “Feeling Myself” is such a sweeping, epic emotional cooldown of a song that it’s crazy to me that it’s not the album closer. There’s a finality to it that makes the remaining tracks feel tacked-on.

Good stuff! Too many bands have “wolf” and “Alice” in their names, they should re-brand. Might I suggest “The Beetles”??

Early Verdict:

Squid – Bright Green Field
(May 7, 2021)

Ahhh, Squid. Among the major post-punk releases in 2021 (along with Dry Cleaning, black midi, and Black Country, New Road), Squid presents a kaleidoscope of post-punk tropes and influences, brought together into an unpredictable display of tense, passive-aggressive arrangements, and finalized with a guy who sounds like the British answer to Mike Watt from Minutemen and fIREHOSE.

The air of Bright Green Field is shaky and uneasy, as if the band is just as unsure as the first-time listener about what will come next. One of my favorite moments comes from “Narrator”, a high-strung song about how the individual will create their own truths and realities that fit their worldview, where vocalist Ollie Judge repeats “I’ll play mine…I’ll play mine…I’ll play mine…“, ebbing and flowing with the music behind it and slowly building to a frenzy. The band is playful with style and tone. It’s a veritable gumball machine of post-punk excitement! How’s that for a shitty metaphor?

They get dinged on points with some instances of ambient go-nowhere codas tacked on at the end of songs (“Boy Racers”, “Documentary Filmmaker”, “Global Groove”). They are excessive, unnecessary, and absolutely could’ve been trimmed. Other than that, this is a great debut in a year with other great post-punk debuts! The direction that this genre is heading is very exciting, can’t wait to see what comes next.

Early Verdict:

St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home
(May 14, 2021)

I’ve been a St. Vincent fan for a long time, and I was very much looking forward to this album’s release since she made the announcement last December. Every album had been different and exciting, oh boy, what will Annie Clark cook up next?

And, man, I wanted to like this album so badly. I spent a lot of time with it, seeing some of the polarizing reviews and trying to listen through the whole thing over and over again with unbiased ears. And I do like some of it, I like “Pay Your Way In Pain” and “Down” for sure, which were both released as singles. Both of these have strong melodies with some groovy elements and memorable ’70s rock pastiches. In fact, this whole album feels like Clark’s ’70s love letter. However, this was done better with Ty Segall’s 2018 release Freedom’s Goblin, And while Clark is an outstanding guitarist (better than Ty Segall, methinks), and the solos and guitar interplay on Daddy’s Home are outstanding, the actual songs themselves ring incredibly hollow. For a record–no, her first record–that’s supposed to be deeply personal, it still feels like she’s playing a character. I mean, look at the cover for goddamn sake. I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel listening to Daddy’s Home. I feel a little bored.

I think being open is one of Annie Clark’s weaknesses, unfortunately. We got a hint of it on her fantastic 2017 album Masseduction, but going all-in this time, ironically, created a detached and somewhat emotionally insincere final product. And the ’70s pastiches feel like empty carbon copies of the real thing. I need more time with this.

Early Verdict: