on the pulse - 2023 - #6 - metallica, kara jackson, liturgy, caitlyn smith, shame, redveil, ron gallo, lamp of murmuur
Lamp of Murmuur - Saturnian Bloodstorm - So this one man raw black metal project out of Los Angeles has been getting buzz and critical acclaim the past few years, and while rough mixing held me back from getting into the early albums and splits, the mixing and mastering have been cleaned up with traces of symphonic bombast to pair with the borderline-thrash riffs, sharper basslines, and blast beats, albeit with too much compression. Hell, most of the goth atmospherics have been sacrificed for a lot of mid-90s black metal worship, leaving some of the drums tinny and underpowered, and the gurgling howl of our frontman is not as impressive without that lo-fi atmosphere - and while we’re on that subject, the chilly brutality of the lyrics can feel limited, more focused on cycles of classical epic violence than saying more or crafting a thematic arc. So call it a solid listen… but not as memorable as it should be.
Ron Gallo - FOREGROUND MUSIC - So after HEAVY META and Really Nice Guys, Ron Gallo lost me hard in his fatalistic psychedelic experimentations over self-referential throwback garage rock, especially in awkward production choices, so I’m very happy to say this strikes a stronger middleground after the ugly mess of Peacemeal. The social satire is once again sharp, spanning American existential confusion in machismo and late capitalism and why folks choose to live like this… with his own hypocrisies and failings that provide the answer. It’s an anxious, frustrated album, but between the wry humour and sense of empathy it doesn’t feel as bleak, even if the mixing choices can still lean towards the squealing and staccato. Thankfully, the grooves, production and hooks are stickier and more robust, so if you’re looking for a short record of throwback garage rock that still feels current, I think this is a winner!
redveil - playing w/fire - I was late to reviewing redveil’s excellent learn 2 swim last year, and while this is just an EP, I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice, especially as I unfortunately missed seeing him on tour. And for a quick slice of chaotic but melodic trap bangers built for live shows splitting its influence between Lil Uzi Vert and JPEGMAFIA in the smear of wild samples and slightly blown out mastering - hell, Peggy is on the project and fits in effortlessly - this does exactly what it needs to do while still providing the liquid, soulful melodic grooves and sticky hooks. And yet there’s more depth beyond the braggadocious flex - like on learn 2 swim, it smartly sidesteps those who’d pigeonhole him or assert ownership over his experiences, pain or art; the goal is direction over speed, for freedom and not brands and thus feels more populist and universal. So yeah, great little EP, absolutely check this out!
shame - Food For Worms - Yes, I know I’m late to this - I’ve been late to shame for a while now, as this genre of washed-out, retro UK post-punk can run together if you hear too much of it. Thankfully shame seemed to have more riotous, anthemic spark - closer to early IDLES - and while I didn’t care for Drunk Tank Pink washing everything out, this works a bit better, an exploration of male friendship both platonic and erotic pushed through the emotional ringer, with past years of isolation as metaphor to how it can feel in those cases. But while I usually like Flood’s well-balanced production and venturing into 90s indie rock and even psychedelic rock, the foundations of dreary post-punk and some muddy mixing doesn’t help elevate the band’s best beyond their influences… which now sound a lot like Black Country, New Road. Ehh, it’s solidly constructed, I’d say it works, it definitely ends really well… just nowhere as distinct as it should be.
Caitlyn Smith - High & Low - Full disclosure, if you saw my review of Caitlyn Smith’s High EP in On The Pulse, you’ve already heard me discuss over half of this album, which repackaged that EP with six new songs to make it a full-length - please get Smith off of Monument Records, this career mismanagement is criminal. So unfortunately you can’t get away from self-produced rougher vocal mixes and missing some of that grandeur it deserves, but at least in the new songs Smith brought some of the detailed, high romance lyrical flair to pair with the aching melodrama she can sell with her incredible voice, including a collab with Garth Brooks in ‘Mississippi’ where they actually balance really well. Hell, with ‘Alaska’ and the closer ‘The Great Pretender’, it feels like we got the better half of her album smuggled in, even if it tilts towards an adult-contemporary sound. It still feels transitional… but at least it’s way better now.
Liturgy - 93696 - I’ve said my piece on Liturgy back in 2020 - black metal that smashes into a grooveless pile-up of squealing glitch, chamber music, and utopian but pretentious philosophical wank, more interesting to talk around than experience. So while there’s a maximalist ecstasy in trying to seek a radiant cleansing in gender euphoria - and Steve Albini’s production adding some visceral crunch through the live recording is a boost - the cacophony is a trilling grind, the vocals are incoherent, the transitions are painfully clunky as are the shambling, undercooked lyrics, and it’s telling that any “transcendence” from gnostic Catholic apocrypha to Aleister Crowley feels so hyper-individualist, naively entrenched in hierarchies - its limits on deconstruction or “emancipation” feel stark. To some it’ll be a transcendent culmination - I hear an exhausting slog that has its moments, but is not as smart or powerful as it thinks it is. Not for me.
Kara Jackson - Why Does The Earth Give Us People To Love? - I feel like I was set up to like this: an indie folk and country singer-songwriter debut dabbling in soul and even ambient, this should be up my alley! And… yeah, I do like this - the shuffling, hazy acoustics flitting between intimate lo-fi bedroom pop to spacious, soulful soundscapes, and while Jackson’s singing lacks some polish and tightness - languid is a good way to describe this, it definitely feels like an overlong debut, there’s an shambling slipperiness to how Jackson paces her songs or bends her voice - I kept coming back for the organic, textured atmosphere and the poetry. Thematically this album centers finding personal worth, and how that compromises insecure relationships, which leads to listless, lonely heartbreak between those who linger in self-destruction and those taken too soon. An affirming if bleak listen… but I’d call it a really good one.
Metallica - 72 Seasons - I said my piece on Metallica and by extension thrash metal back in 2016 when I reviewed Hardwired… To Self-Destruct - glorious in the 80s, the following decades were an exercise in inconsistent production, coasting on legacy at best and disastrous misfires at worst… and really, I can just copypaste all my old critiques of Hardwired for this. Same lousy drum mixing - the tinny cymbals and flat click of the kickdrum overpower so much of this album - same underpowered bass, same bloated runtime, same riffs that don’t take a single chance or risk. Thank God for Kirk Hammett’s solos which thankfully can keep me a little interested compared to James Hetfield’s increasingly checked out vocals and stilted lyrics - when he’s not openly recycling the personal angst is sold haphazardly and at odds with his delivery. I won’t call this a bad Metallica album… but it is a redundant one.