on the pulse - 2022 - #2- walker hayes, AURORA, maddie & tae, years & years, billy talent, silverbacks
Okay, so now it feels like I’m closer to being properly back on schedule… even as February looks like it’s going to be an absolute maelstrom of new releases that’ll we have to take as they come. So I think this covers the stuff that needs to be addressed immediately and will likely brook a lot of controversy - let’s get On The Pulse!
Silverbacks - Archive Material - So I was planning on covering that Yard Act debut album as a promising post-punk album that had some clever writing and sharp moments… but wow, if I hadn’t heard that same sardonic, mostly dreary UK approach dozens of time before cribbing from The Fall, Talking Heads, and a smattering of the flashier side of Britpop - it’s not bad, but it’s also safe, mostly unchallenging, and not quite as clever as it thinks it is. So let’s talk about some Irish post-punk instead that’s a little more off the beaten path and doesn’t have the same marketing budget or video game soundtrack placements, Silverbacks - where initially on their 2020 debut you could easily make the Parquet Courts comparison, perhaps a little Television or Gang Of Four as well, but the sound had a lot of well-balanced, brighter organic flavour and technical flash and the writing had a bit of a Pavement vibe in its eye for socially charged but abstract poetry. And I’d argue their album this year is even better - letting bassist Emma Hanlon punch up the backing vocals and even take lead opposite frontman Daniel O’Kelly is such a small choice but I’d argue it gives the album a distinctive flavour, especially when you notice just how bright and jagged the guitar work is off those rich, thrumming basslines. Indeed, what might catch some off-guard is just how upbeat this album feels compared to a lot of their post-punk and indie rock influences, despite content that is as observational and wryly sardonic as ever - and given that a fair few songs here have been inspired by the pandemic and the late-capitalist dystopia we’re tumbling into, that’s a bit revolutionary in and of itself. But I’d argue that this is Silverbacks’ greatest weapon: the humour is dark and targeted - even prodding at the left occasionally missing its target on ‘Rolodex City’ - the existential emptiness in the workaday life and petty acquisitions and accomplishments - including any career success - is in plain view especially as you might wind up trodden underfoot. But there’s this deeply felt empathy for the characters and every fleeting experience sketched out and surviving in these songs, especially when the album opts for a pure ambient piece where any deflection drops away and just yearns, or embraces a moment of pure romance on the closing track, an earnestness that reminds me more of Ought at their best than the normally more dour, nihilistic UK post-punk. If anything the writing feels way more 90s but reflecting the best of Gen Z elements - a little absurdist, deflective but as a survival mechanism because they’re not sure they can change things and just need to get by. I do have a few minor critiques - while this band is slowly untangling from its most obvious influences, they are still there, and while the drums sound really good in the mix, they’re the one element that doesn’t match the rhythmic complexity of the bass and guitar spurts. But this album is charming as hell, breezy and overflowing with hooks but still packing a punch - excellent project, thrilled to find this band, can’t wait to hear more!
Billy Talent - Crisis Of Faith - So I’ve talked before about how I didn’t really have an ‘angry white boy’ phase growing up, and as a result I didn’t tend to listen to a lot of mainstream rock radio - I wound up jumping straight to metal and I missed out a lot of material… except this was in the 2000s, and pop radio still played a healthy amount of rock, specifically Canadian rock due to certain broadcast requirements, and that takes us to one of the exceptions for me, Billy Talent. And it’s a bit tricky to come up with an obvious comparison to them stateside - given their genre-bending punk roots signing to a major label and falling into an inconsistent radio rock era that nevertheless could feel politically charged, anthemic, and stacked with hooks, you could sketch a parallel to an act like Rise Against, trading faster tempos for meatier grooves that were more post-hardcore than melodic hardcore. But this is a band that could live and die on production, strong singles, and those hooks, so for their first album in six years and now on Spinefarm, I was curious if they were looking to pursue a heavier metal sound similar to how their Canadian peers Sum 41 did a few years back. And… there’s a part of me that wants to be kind to this because you can clearly tell that the band has gotten older and slower and they were looking forward to experimenting and doing more with their sound with fewer obligations to chase a hit, so the opening track tries to go prog and is over six minutes long and features a big sax solo. And they did a Gord Downie tribute song with ‘The Wolf’ and that was pretty good, and the playful funk of ‘Hanging Out With All The Wrong People’ was fun even if the synth was excruciating, and I still think the mix is pretty balanced and if you read through the lyrics the band clearly has their heart in the right place speaking on gun violence, social protest, trying to be anthemic and inspire hope and change… but man, the execution is just not that impressive. A big part of this is the production from guitarist Ian D’Sa - not a bad producer, but he’s never given Billy Talent the explosive edge or teeth they’ve really needed in later years, which for a song like ‘Judged’ trying for hardcore feels too clean and underpowered But that’s kind of true with the whole album - the writing feels overly broad, the compositions lack a certain amount of urgency, there’s a Rivers Cuomo collaboration that sounds like a lesser Weezer song and that’s not a compliment… if anything it just feels like a radio rock act hitting middle age and feeling more safe than I’d like as a result, especially with the hooks just not feeling as sharp as they used to be. Not exactly a bad album, but not one that really sticks with me.
Years & Years - Night Call - Full disclosure, I did not expect much with this. I’ve been lukewarm on Years & Years since I first reviewed them back in 2015, and while their 2018 album Palo Santo was a marked improvement, I still wasn’t as much of a fan as I wanted to be; yeah, the songwriting and vocals had picked up more personality and focus, but the production and especially the melodies felt undercooked and a little slight, and it’s one of the reasons that I haven’t had much reason to revisit that album. But then I discovered that frontman Olly Alexander got rid of his entire band and was rebranding Years & Years as a solo project - rarely ever a good sign - with a new album that wound up even shorter than his last, and with the critical reception being muted, I was worried about this… and it turns out a lot of those worries were justified, because this is middle of the road at best. A big problem isn’t just that it still feels melodically undercooked and over-reliant on the vocal line for its tune for its N’sync-esque harmonies, but the production sounds noticeably lacking swell and scope with all of its farty synths, flatly programmed drum machines, and wonky vocal effects that would have sounded dated to the mainstream when Communion dropped in 2015. I made a comparison to Justin Timberlake with Palo Santo, but sounds like the flimsy rejects from the second 20/20 Experience - yeah, the grooves are there, but they sound cheaper and lacking the texture or flair to lean into it, and Olly Alexander’s vamping feels like a pale facsimile of the artists that are already doing this better; even if I like his falsetto, you could easily argue the synthpop cuts are just trying to emulate what The Weeknd already does better. And when you consider how much Years & Years’ last album was leaning into its transgressive dark horniness, lyrically Night Call is nowhere near as explicit or interesting in its love songs and late night connections - hell, the song that might be the most emblematic of this project is ‘Sweet Talker’, which gets the Galantis treatment with the jumpy piano and strings line that could have even crossed over if this was 2014, but feels painfully anonymous in its writing like a lot of electronica of that era. And while I could highlight that Alexander still can’t sell the cattier side of this album, eventually I just wound up appreciating songs like ‘Consequences’ for having a slightly different energy and a bit more personality… otherwise, I forget this album in record time. Not exactly bad, but it’s probably Years & Years’ weakest to date, I’d skip it.
Maddie & Tae - Through The Madness: Vol. 1 - Not gonna lie, I had mixed feelings about Maddie & Tae going back towards the EP route with this project, mostly because their 2020 album that was a partial compilation of two EPs didn’t do nearly as well on the charts as it should have despite charting crossover hits. But hey, when you’re pulling in Morgane Stapleton and Lori McKenna as key collaborators, I did hope a more streamlined package would lead to a great little project… and I wouldn’t that go far with this, but when it comes to pop country, this was a solid little project. Once again the greatest assets that Maddie & Tae have are a more robust organic sound - the reverb-touched dream country touches to a more spacious mix might feel like they’re chasing a sound, but with the live, well-balanced percussion, plentiful pedal steel, solid harmonies, and the gentle warm rollick in guitars that’s become a hallmark of their tones there’s still a lot to like here especially as they’re still willing to get a little more playful and even silly on cuts like ‘Woman You Got’, even if I think some of the vocal mixing can be a bit patchy, especially whenever a guest shows up. I also think it’s gone overlooked just how much Maddie & Tae write songs about women for women - the subtext is more sisterhood, and translates to some lightweight girlpower moments that work best when they get a little more distinct detail, but also a more confrontational approach to relationships like the bad boy warning ‘Don’t Make Her Look Dumb’, and also the songs that try to reinforce their bond together that are left just oblique enough to pass as love songs, like ‘Madness’ and the Lori McKenna assist ‘The Other Side’… although the excellent ballad album closer ‘Strangers’ is probably just just a love song, and proof that Maddie & Tae improved measurably in this regard since their 2020 album. Overall, though… even though I know even moreso now that I’m outside of the target demographic for this Maddie & Tae project, I still think they’re shy of greatness, even if I think the foundation has been laid. Maybe a bit more in the writing, a little more punch to make their best songs truly knock it out of the park, some of that added rawness or wit that put Carly Pearce in the same tier as Miranda Lambert or Brandy Clark or Ashley McBryde or even Kacey Musgraves at her best - they’re definitely close and this is very good… just not quite there yet.
AURORA - The Gods We Can Touch - I won’t mince words, I had a consistent sinking feeling gearing up to cover this album, because it’s one of those cases while I’ve been mostly complimentary to AURORA and her ambitions in theme and production, I’ve never been fully impressed by a full album in the larger context of indie pop, certainly not to match a fanbase who seem to have found way more texture and depth in which I’ve never been convinced, especially with so many obvious comparison points. And while part of it is AURORA hitting that sweet spot of accessible crossover where many in her audience might not have heard her scattered well of influences, if you’re going to set such a high standard when it comes to the transcendent experience of her music, you’re setting up some unfair expectations. So going into this… well, I could go off about many of my consistent frustrations with AURORA being nowhere near as interesting on record as her marketing and stage performance is, but at least on the double album there’s was a cinematic scope and occasional splash of organic swell that could convince you she was exploring some fae, ethereal world - which is not the case this time, even if the lyrics make some half-formed mythological references. A big part of this is the production - why is AURORA’s voice, her most expressive and unique element, peaking in the mix - and especially the drum machines sounding significantly thinner, cheaper and reminiscent of mainstream progressions? Which was strange because she was only working with the one producer who had been with her since the very start, but there were other voices in the room on the double album and you’re left thinking that he’s trying to help imitate sounds rather than pull in people who can make them work. Now being cynical I could say that it’s not surprise given her sound has never been that far removed from the mainstream, but this doesn’t even play to AURORA’s image and vibe, which at least tried to feel more organic - you can make the lazy Bjork parallel, but honestly with the more elegant strings, hazy “western” guitars, and some of her vocal inflections amidst the reverb I was reminded a little more of Lana Del Rey, which… why go there, you don’t need to go down that path, the Florence Welch influence was already prominent enough on songs like ‘Blood In The Wine’ even if I would have done without the Indigenous yelping! But even by the time we get halfway through the album to ‘Heathens’ where there’s more textured percussion and AURORA is pulling from country influences - to say nothing of all that accordion on ‘Artemis’ which was jarring as hell - where I figured out my frustration: not only is the mixing actively distracting from the ethereal vibe she’s trying to cultivate - with some really nice melodic hooks too, there are good songs buried here like the one-two punch of ‘A Temporary High’ and ‘A Dangerous Thing’ - but there’s a slew of acts doing the dream country sound way more effectively to the point where you can tell AURORA is grasping the basics, not the subtleties. And on that note, the writing - and yes, there are some passing references to Greek mythology, but when you read about what AURORA says her songs are looking to explore and then look at the lyrics, it’s hard not to feel like a lot was lost in translation, especially in comparison with her previous albums; I thought those albums were stretching in terms of lyrical depth, but here it feels even more thin and generic in the songs of love and passion, where even if you accept that she’s playing to the basics as more of a force of nature and that can still be powerful, the messy production and writing that occasionally includes reference to more modern scenes breaks that immersion. And thus at the end… like the rest of AURORA’s catalog, I don’t think this is bad, it’s decent - she’s a good melodic composer, a reasonably expressive singer, and it’s clear she wants to explore big ideas… but it’s also clear her team and label either doesn’t know how to realize, focus, and refine those ideas, or they don’t care and want her to make increasingly generic indie pop because that is what has delivered the increased chart success and fame. It’s not better than the double album, but at least the fans will probably get on board - honestly, I just wish it was more interesting.
Walker Hayes - Country Stuff The Album - Some of you might be surprised that I’m reviewing this at all, because for the longest time, I wasn’t going to bother. Even though I knew would get traffic, even though his record label contacted me with a presskit - shame I didn’t get one for Caitlyn Smith, that’s telling - as I said in my list of the worst hit songs of 2021, his big hit was a novelty that I doubt even he could recreate, and given I knew what his album material was like, even if he got cosigns from Jake Owen, Carly Pearce, and Lori McKenna, was it really worth it? But two things happened that made me realize I was going to have to deal with this: folks who should know better - and if they heard more than five country albums in a calendar year maybe they would - were saying this wasn’t that bad, and then Walker Hayes got a halftime show at the AFC championship game between the home team Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals… was it really the bad play call at the end of the half, or did tides turn from something else? Well, for starters, calling this a full new album is kind of a misnomer, because this is also a case of expanding the Country Stuff EP with enough tracks to make this full-length - it’s very telling most of the praise highlights the better back half stuffed with collaborations that were already on the EP that came out last June. But the larger problem is that the new songs sound rushed in the worst way possible, in that the production is terrible: the guitar twang is crushed into sludge, the basslines are nonexistent, the percussion be it programmed, cheap-sounding fake handclaps or snaps, or drums is painfully leaden, even the vocal leads are overcompressed in an obvious way which leaves me wondering how many corners were cut in the mixing! And that’s before you get the bizarre choices that don’t make any sense: how ‘Life With You’ interpolates enough of the melody of ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ but none of its elegance, how ‘Delorean’ has its weirdly swampy guitars balanced with all the synthetic elements, the leaden twang and rap that tries to collide with gospel swell courtesy of MercyMe on ‘Craig’ that was a remake of his 2017 piano ballad and it sounds like the messiest genre pileup since Thomas Rhett’s ‘Vacation’, how ‘U Gurl’ just sounds like the trashiest country rap where the mix feels borderline unfinished, or how despite getting some name guest stars, you barely give them anything to do - and they still overshadow him! But then I realized something: while you can make a Sam Hunt parallel stylistically to this thing, while Southside felt misshapen and ugly because of the noxious attitudes at its core, Country Stuff The Album was thrown together because they wanted to capitalize on the moment but haven’t figured out what to do with Walker Hayes. To put it bluntly, he’s an extremely limited to outright bad singer with a weak voice, painfully awkward flow, and not much in the way of presence, charisma or distinctive personality - one reason why the title track falls so flat trying for some sort of bluesy stomp - so you need either great writing, production, or some sort of system behind him. Which is why ‘Fancy Like’ might have been the best and worst thing to happen to Walker Hayes, because it’s a novelty that you can tell he, his producers, and his label don’t have a clue how to replicate. So the album turns into a flailing mess in trying to find a sound or personality and the closest it gets is an ‘aw shucks’ cornball who is leaning hard as hell on basic relatability to get around some of the bafflingly awful puns and brand name references in his writing - basically the lowest rent Brad Paisley. At its best… well, there are a few heartfelt moments, like ‘Briefcase’ and its exploration of fatherhood, or ‘What You Don’t Wish For’ in its dreams of making it, or the awkward, overly detailed ‘Craig’ that might be a disaster compositionally, but at least feels authentic with some lyrical detail. The problem is that these are mostly just okay at best - at this album’s worst you get ‘Fancy Like’, or the leering bro-country of ‘U Gurl’, or the stabs at boyfriend country that feel clumsy in the bad way like ‘I Hope You Miss Me’ and ‘Make You Cry’ and ‘Life With You’. So let me leave it like this: Country Stuff The Album is pretty damn bad across the board, and it infuriates me that Nashville will prop up non-personalities with the lowest possible bar where there are so many who deserve better… but I can’t get angry at Walker Hayes because his handlers have not set him up for a career off this album so much as riding out a dying meme. At least the kids who get a quick viral hit are young enough to grow past that - Walker Hayes is over forty, and I get the feeling this is the peak. Congrats on the moment - off this, I wouldn’t count on him getting another.