on the pulse - 2020 - week 20 - dedicated notes on tense dreams

I'll admit this week felt slow and lethargic in weird ways, where even the injections of punk and metal to galvanize things didn't quite get all the way there. But hey, there's got to be something here, so let's get On The Pulse!

Four Year Strong - Brain Pain - Okay, so you all know by now that I’ve been an advocate in favour of the heavier, more thought-provoking and diverse expansions in the most recent wave of pop punk and emo, but what I didn’t really mention was that there were bands that laid some of the groundwork of this in the mid-2000s, blending in elements of chunky metalcore with pop punk for what became colloquially known as ‘easycore’. And into that scene came Four Year Strong, which fans have cited as epitomizing that subgenre… and I dunno what to tell you, for someone who likes the modern brand of this, Four Year Strong didn’t really win me over that much. They had a couple striking moments, a few good hooks and a ton of shouty energy, but I think the early albums missed the message that pop punk was evolving in both lyrics and composition, and they took a while to get there. But hey, this is their first album after a long five year hiatus, and… it’s a Four Year Strong album? I mean, it’s not like the compositional style or delivery has evolved or changed much in fifteen years - maybe fleshing out the basslines a bit more and sounding a bit more textured, which is welcome, and the larger lyrical focus on mental health certainly feels more contemporary. But Four Year Strong is the furthest thing from subtle or nuanced, so most of this winds up feeling more like a framing device for the sort of relationship angst and adolescent boredom that has dominated pop punk for decade, and it doesn’t really give the brighter Sum 41 imitation moments that much unique punch. Now if you’re into that sound, you’ll certainly find this agreeable - big chunky riffs, big hooks backed by a lot of personality behind the mic, heavy breakdowns perfect for the pit, the well-placed ballad in the back half that shows a bit more maturity with the strings to boot, the warping, synth-driven closer that sounds like nothing else on the album - but it’s nothing that you haven’t heard before, it can absolutely run together, and some of the drum production is weirdly inconsistent for a project looking to hit as hard as this is. Still, it was solid for what it is, so… eh, extremely light 7/10, if this sort of sound that’s a borderline throwback these days is up your alley, check it out.

Westside Gunn- Pray For Paris - It feels strange that I haven’t talked about the Griselda collective in my reviews - they’re easily one of the most potent hotspots in rap music just a step away from the mainstream and their fusion of grimy subject matter with textured samples and a wealth of strong guest verses have won them a ton of acclaim with hip-hop traditionalists. And yet I’ll admit I’ve been a little distant from them - partially because they remind me a lot of Roc Marciano in how they have texture and taste but can start running together in content with a casual indifference to hooks, but partially because I’ve not heard a project that has felt as forward-thinking and potent across the board in production and content as their marketing has suggested. But even among that camp, Westside Gunn hasn’t exactly won me over - he leans more heavily on flash and yelping attitude and let’s not forget the ‘BRRRRT’ ad-libs as loud as his actual bars, and it just hasn’t hit with the same power… and while this album is certainly more lush and relaxed, it falls into a lot of the same patterns. Yeah, the fluttery elegance of the samples and pianos off the more dusty percussion is tasteful, and everyone here can rap on this production well, but if you ask what more it adds to beyond the opulent brand name flex juxtaposed with the occasional splash of grisly gang violence, you’re not going to come up with much. And hey, maybe that’s fine if you want that luxurious vibe - I’m well aware this’ll play very different to a different audience - but there’s not a lot of smoother groove to flesh out the low end and it’s not like Westside Gunn is a great singer or suave presence to sell this all that well. More annoyingly it’s missing a lot of that populism that I like in my favourite flex songs, where it’s not just that they have it, but you can as well - the closest thing we get to any added complexity unsurprisingly comes from Freddie Gibbs and maybe newfound Griselda affiliate Boldy James, but the most unsettling verse came from Keisha Plum, if only because of her dead-eyed delivery and graphic detail against Tyler, The Creator’s production. And really, if I’m going to recommend this album for anything, it is the production - DJ Premier and Alchemist both contribute as well, and even at some of the more warped moments this is an easy album to like on instrumentals alone. Just wish there was more actually being said, that’s all. strong 6/10

Anchor & Braille - Tension - So here’s something that’s become sadly a little common for me as a music critic: you hear about a band you don’t recognize or maybe you know the name but nothing else, you see something of a devoted following, you go in to check out the sound… and then you wonder why on earth anyone cares. Okay, that’s harsh, but Amberlin is one of those projects, and this is a side venture of their frontman! And I went through the Anchor & Braille back catalog briefly… and there’s just not a lot to say about it: very lightweight, very clean pop rock that’s going even further into fluttery ambience that’s about a half step removed from royalty free commercial music with every project. And that might be your thing, but it’s not really mine, mostly because said frontman Stephen Christian leans very heavily on his falsetto for some rather flimsy and basic writing, with the religious undercurrent that doesn’t surprise me coming from an act signed to Tooth & Nail, but not all that transgressive or interesting. This is the fourth album of this project… and man, I’m not sure if it was a good or bad thing a project this breezy and lightweight in a very 80s-inspired way dropped around the same time as The 1975, because it forces an inevitable and unfortunate comparison, not helped by the tinny graininess that tends to touch the very top of their synths and percussion, both on which this album relies heavily given the lack of strong melodic basslines. And that’s an odd thing to note on a project that’s trying to sound so breezy and airy with reverbed guitar pickups with the occasional driving hook and flashy solo: if you’re not getting anything close to an edge, why not add at least some coursing foundation rather than concessions to modern pop that can feel increasingly stiff and leaden, especially when you’re going to go for a more contemporary drop and the colourless production just sounds awful? It once again lands the majority of the focus on Stephen Christian’s vocals and writing, and while he sounds fine enough, the lyrical content feels basic as hell in some pretty underwhelming love songs that are not sold well enough to rise above their cliches that are the furthest thing from danger or madness! Again, this has so little distinctive melodic impact or punch that I guarantee in a week I’ll forget this exists, so light 5/10 - only fans.

Caligula’s Horse - Rise Radiant - Alright, this is a progressive metal act out of Australia that’s gotten some critical acclaim and prime touring spots throughout the 2010s, and going in cold… well, I hear the appeal. I wouldn’t call them a particularly dynamic or innovative band in progressive metal and I’m not sure I’ve ever been impressed by their hooks or lyrics, but they had some really pretty melodies driven off of great guitarwork and decently layered vocals, and when they went full djent in spots, they didn’t completely pitch tune out the window. What I’m saying is that while I doubt I’d seek out a band like Caligula’s Horse, they were good enough that I wouldn’t object to them either, and on this album… well, it certainly is some prog metal from Caligula’s Horse, alright? Same airy vocals and falsetto, same casual indifference to structure or truly potent dynamics which you might be able to excuse thanks to interesting bass and guitarlines and amazingly smooth production at least until the djent parts drop in, same frustrating soft-focus drum and percussion production, and while it’s easy to like in the moment, ask me to remember much of it later and I’ll just give you a helpless shrug; that’s what happens when you treat hooks or dynamics as optional, folks, and not helped by ending the album with two covers that have more memorable tunes and hooks than the rest of your album! But fine, one thing Caligula’s Horse doesn’t get as much credit for is how they try to embrace more conceptual storytelling in their lyrics, so maybe that’s what sets them above? Honestly, not really - we get a number of isolated stories about endurance and overcoming bad odds and hard times as the underdog, objecting to unjust authority but finding peace of mind in love as we ascend, of which I wouldn’t really complain except without much of an arc or concrete differentiation they really run together; going back to a lack of dynamics again, going for broad abstraction along with it leads to a project that’s pleasant but can’t really cut deeper. Now if none of that bothers you, this is fine enough progressive metal and is getting a light 6/10… but don’t be surprised if you don’t remember much of it down the line.

Unreqvited - Empathica - Yes, I went bandcamp diving again for black metal - and I’m pretty happy with the results, as when it comes to atmospheric black metal, this one-man Canadian project has shown some real growth since the latter half of the 2010s, sharpening up their production and delivering even more sweeping, symphonic touches - which to me seems like an extended Nightwish reference given the title of this album and a few songs, but it also trickles down to the compositions in a good way! And on this project… well, assuming you can move past the vocals so buried and fractured that this album is basically instrumental, it’s really solid! It’s well-paced and well-balanced, the melody lines are pretty sticky when they have to be and meditative when necessary across both arranged elements and pianos, the crescendos are credible, and the shifts from strings-accented symphonic swell to frenetic black metal are well-executed, even if I do think this album would be ripe for a few really great solos to drive it home. I’d also say in addition to not having a ton of striking standout moments, it does start to run short on momentum by the final few songs that get a bit more downbeat and muted, even if the atmosphere feels appropriately windswept and haunted - it’s definitely more of a mood project than one I’m inclined to go back for specific songs. Still, I’ve heard a promising progression here and a few more tweak could make this great, so… light 7/10, absolutely worth hearing.

Jeff Rosenstock - NO DREAM - Jeff Rosenstock albums seem to drop at opportune times, don’t they? The timing and searingly potent but nuanced catharsis that both WORRY. and POST- delivered felt like such gutshots at their time that I’ve seen punks pause a few months later to really question how well those moments held up. And while the answer there has been a little mixed - WORRY. is still great, but POST- is patchy and probably got over-praised by a lot of folks hopping on the bandwagon, and I can probably include myself in that - I was curious how well NO DREAM would hit in a weird point when time itself has started to morph into an amorphous and increasingly irrelevant blob. And… well, there’s a similar feeling that I have with this that I’m starting to notice across a fair few Jeff Rosenstock songs: smart, punchy, really potent on impact, but they don’t have a ton of staying power. And when he’s starting to repeat themes and ideas from previous projects for more broad appeal, it becomes all the more obvious - the best moments on WORRY. worked because they were specific, whereas for as much as I like his self-flagellation at fame and indulging in the system in patches, by turning inwards so much the songs don’t quite have the same firepower. And while the throughline of anxiety and exhausted depression still has firepower if only through how Rosenstock will howl through it, it can start to get actively draining, from the dilapidated tours to just how much cynical participants in the system will pitch real punk rebellion to the side without much in the way of progress or hope. But fine, it’s not precisely nihilistic - that is until we get ‘Old Crap’ where he says ‘it’s not angst, the world’s just fucked - and it’s at least got plenty of moments that have that slapdash, full-throated presence off choppy, flattened grinding riffs… but I can’t be the only one who thinks some of the vocal mixing and acoustic texture tacked onto a lot of blown out squeals and fuzz is distorting from the melodic punch that has always been this band’s secret strong suit, especially when the bass groves aren’t as defined? I dunno, folks, Jeff Rosenstock is normally an act I can go to for smart, killer punk rock and normally I’d be all over it… but this fell flat, blurring together and regurgitating themes and ideas we’ve seen before done better. So… strong 6/10, really wish I liked it more.

Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B - it’s kind of funny that Carly Rae Jepsen’s b-sides - or what her label claims are b-sides - wind up as consistently strong as her formal album releases, or in some cases maybe even surpassing them; while I slightly disagree with the assessment that E.MO.TION Side B is better than the original article, I can see the very credible argument. And thus while I stll consider Dedicated a lateral move from E.MO.TION. it did give me one of my favourite songs of 2019 and thus I was excited to see if the quality remained high. And for the most part that was true here, as we once again got a really damn good if not quite great project, much in the same vein as previous Carly Rae Jepsen albums: she remains a potent and emotive performer, the songs are at their best when they punch for a little more beyond just the lovestruck hookup - ‘Solo’' as an anthem to the one-man party is the best example, but I really liked the cautious pullback of ‘Heartbeat’ and the search for internal stability that came on ‘Comeback’ with Bleachers - and the actual songs themselves can feel very dependent on the production team she pulls together. When you have the more lush and balanced production from Jack Antonoff and Ariel Rechtshaid, you normally wind up with a lot of quality, but if you get cuts with Jack & Coke or Oak then the production quality tends to take a dip. I’ll also add that while there are a fair few standouts here - and songs like ‘Let’s Sort The Whole Thing Out’ are so aggressively sweet and chipper they’re hard to dislike - I’m not sure all of Jepsen’s experimentation clicks, as a few songs show her going towards a gauzy, vapourwave-esque tone that might be more glamourous, but don’t really flatter her more breathy, straightforward delivery; she’s slowly gotten better with tones that are more R&B and funk, but this feels like territory in which she’s not as familiar. And going back to the lyrics, I do feel this album can start to seem a bit single-minded in its hookups, where a bit more detail could have helped. Otherwise, once again this is pretty damn solid - strong 7/10, definitely recommended.

The 1975 - Notes On a Condtional Form - Let me get serious for a second: after the end of last year I didn’t know if I’d be able to llisten to The 1975 in the same way again. Note I’m talking about 2019, not 2018, when I was burned out at the end of that year and had to struggle with an overlong, frustrating slog that had its high points but also its cavernous lows. No, in 2019 I saw The 1975 live and they were excellent, better than I ever expected, to the point where some songs from A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships actually sound way better… but after I did, I had a really bad breakup with the person I was seeing who was a huge fan of this band. Anyone who saw my my videos in the last months of 2019 understand the emotional toll that took on me, and it left me at a point where I was genuinely worried if those scars would prevent me from hearing the music in the same way. Thankfully… I dunno if the distance from it all or therapy in the right moments let me achieve the right sort of closure, but my opinions on The 1975 remains stable… and thus I was dreading another overlong, autotune-bloated project that had been delayed countless times! And let me make a few things clear: this is absolutely too long, bloated with dreamy post-rock digressions that are less Explosions In The Sky and more the August Rush soundtrack, or forays in jungle-inspired electronics or blatant pulls from Jamie xx that add up to far less than the sum of their parts; if anything, they sound more like placeholders or the interlude music played between stage changes at a concert. But even focusing on the more conventionally structured songs… well, if you were expecting more of the frenetic electronic rock energy of ‘People’, be prepared for the bait and switch because there’s nothing close to that here, as the ‘rock’ sides of this album either flirt with even more restrained easy listening pablum or slightly more blown out tracks that make me think Matt Healy is full of even more shit than usual; he may have said in interviews he’s going for pure pop stardom, but normally that comes with stronger hooks and less obvious pulls from modern bedroom pop and emo, or maybe even with a splash of dream country to boot! Factor in some truly abysmal sequencing and the most stark observation is just how much this album sounds assembled from a half-dozen different recording sessions where none of the ideas coalesce into much at all, and where Healy - on whom a lot of this band’s firepower and charisma depends - seems a lot more willing to fall into the background with listless delivery, autotune, and pitch-correction! Which takes us to the content… and you know, I’ll say this, I’m almost glad that the bait-and-switch of ‘People’ happens so early for the rest of the album to wallow in half-formed, midnight debauchery where thoughts and emotions are as fragmented as they come; it dispels the illusion that they’re trying to make grander statements than they can conceivably land, where they even try to blow off people taking them all that seriously on ‘Roadkill’ as if a band making political statements should be expected to be informed on what they’re talking about! But that’s the thing: if they were just going to stay in the blurry, drunken, half-earnest millennial haze, a more textural experience than grounded one, I might honestly support it… but then we get these starkly earnest moments like ‘Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America’ with Phoebe Bridgers sounding excellent, or like ‘Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied’ which sounds like a callout to acts who aren’t challenging ideas - might want to look in the mirror here, guys - or the straightforward love letter to the band on ‘Guys’, or ‘If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)’ which is the most obvious ‘1975-sounding’ song on the album, the most directly, and easily the best, and I’m left questioning how any of this adds to more. The best moments are the most direct and punchy, but they’re fewer and far between amidst a deconstructed formula that doesn’t add up to anything and really doesn’t challenge any ideas or power structures. Healy has gone on about how subversive they want to be in their experimentation so he doesn’t get bored, but when your subversion doesn’t land a punch amidst more direct moments that do, it only reinforces the feeling of a band believing all their own hype, but not holding themselves to any kind of refined standard as a result. And honestly, that’s their prerogative… but it doesn’t make the album feel any less bloated, fractured, formless, and lacking even the best moments of A Brief Inquiry, even if I don’t think this has the complete duds of that album either. So… 5/10, and I think even some of the fans might be lukewarm on this one.