Alt Rock Review: Ratboys - The Window

Score: 84/100 

Release Date: August 25, 2023

Genre: Alternative, Indie

Similar Artists: Big Thief, Sun Kil Moon, Kevin Morby, Big Thief

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A low-key and low-fi dynamo, Chicago-based Ratboys have been making music since songwriters and guitarists Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan met at Notre Dame in the early 2010s. 

The band's standout album, Printer's Devil, in 2020, when the band expanded from a duet to a quartet, was this writer's first exposure and embodied an eclectic and otherwise ineffable sound that defied labels. All I knew was that I liked it, especially the heavy groove, Flaming Lips-channeled "Alien With a Sleep Mask On," and the relaxed, hooky, disaffected vibe of "I Go Out at Night."  

Earlier this year, an early release from The Window, a song called "Black Earth, WI," came onto my radar, and I became hooked. It is the type of slow bass groove that locks you in from the start. When Steiner's charming yet broken voice enters the fray, one can envision a bird flying into a windstorm, and you know you're in for a ride. There is no question that that bird will fight its way out, and that battle is scored by Sagan's soulful and blistering four-minute guitar solo. When the clouds pass, our faith is rewarded with the return of that sweet bird, the resolution of a conflict, and a most satisfactory conclusion. This song is a masterwork and the highlight of the album.  

If you're not into eight-minute masterworks, the rest of the songs, albeit shorter, are equally unpredictable and vary in sonic tone and theme while skillfully alternating between the sweet and the sour to create a sensation to the ears, not unlike a mouthful of Sour Patch Kids to the mouth. 

Opening The Window is "Making Noise for the Ones You Love." It's a screamer that, like other songs on The Window, such as "Break" and "No Way," are both soft and loud, making a Pixies influence difficult not to draw, albeit more of an even keel. It's Alive is the most accessible and sure to appeal to a broad audience. It is quintessential Ratboys and will hopefully draw listeners into the rest of the fine work on this album.  

Bad Reaction closes The Window in an impassioned and affected fashion. Here, Steiner draws on a formative experience coming out clean on the other side. 

Drove to the graveyard where you were not

Found a nice little hill with an empty plot

I threw the wheels in reverse so fast

Lost in the headache, didn't look back

The velvet hammer method in which Steiner delivers cutting phrases wrapped in soft tones only makes them more powerful and draws comparisons to Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker. 

Overall, The Window is wide open to the rest of the world. With the release of this exceptionally diverse and exhilarating album, no longer shall they be Chicago's best-kept indie-rock secret.  

- Tom Endyke | Guitar & Pen

Alt Review: Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Reset

Score: 92/100 

Release Date: August 22, 2022

Genre: Alternative, Indie

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The music of Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox) has historically sampled the past. This was especially true as a solo artist with Animal Collective and now as a collaborator with Sonic Boom (aka Pete Kember).  

Reset is more than an album title. It's a declaration to the world of modern music that anything is possible. The underlying rhythm is intricate and infectious, transporting the listener to a children's music room filled with skilled musicians. You'll hear what sounds like xylophones, plastic drums, washboards, and maracas.  

The opening track, "Getting to the Point," borrows from Eddie Cochrane's "Three Steps to Heaven," adding the schoolhouse rhythms, synths, and infectious vocals to create an infectious pop song.  

The album cover of brightly colored paddles and whole and half circles indicates symmetrical punctures in the fabric of time. These black holes transport us to other dimensions in the rock and roll continuum. There are strains of 1968 America when the Monkees and Archies sang sugar pop harmonies mixed with 1982 England when Joy Division and The Fall shook our senses with horror and delight. The listener also tastes the modern era, with hints of Tame Impala, Flaming Lips, and Gorillaz.  

Reset forces the listener to stop and look backward in order to move forward. Lennox and Kember have embraced the sounds of the past and skillfully placed them in context with the contemporary music landscape providing a clear path toward the future.  

- Tom Endyke | Guitar & Pen

Indie Rock Review: My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall II

Score: 83/100 

Release Date: July 10, 2020

Genre: Indie-Rock, Psychadelic-Rock, Jam-Rock

Similar Artists: Wilco, Band of Horses, War on Drugs

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The first trip over The Waterfall in 2015 was a comfortable, if not sleepy ride. The landing was soft with a return to the band's trademark sonic weightlessness, countrified arpeggios, and soaring vocals, which brought bastions of bohemians to their shows in the early 2000s.  In this regard, The Waterfall was a refreshing yet largely forgettable trip down the river.  For me, The Waterfall II stays in the groove, yet takes more chances.  Although these songs were conceived and recorded in the same sessions at Stinson Beach, California, in 2015, there's something about II that feels more carefree and unhinged.  

Such is the nature of My Morning Jacket fandom.  One man's Tennesse Fire is another man's Circuital.  The taste of their followers is diverse, and much like The Grateful Dead, it is rare that any two fans agree on their best album.  My personal belief that Evil Urges is among their best work is shared by few and ridiculed by others.  No matter where you stand, all MMJ fans will agree, their studio work is but a framework for their live performances. Listening to The Waterfall II, I couldn't stop imagining what these songs would sound like live and in living color.  

What comes off the record as cautious and cliched refrains paced with pauses and pulses of electric guitar, comes off live as a rocketship toward another sonic dimension.  The pacing and texture of the studio work allow for experimentation on stage.  The pauses are filled will blazing guitar solos, the cliches ring like a bell of truth in the night. The band's chemistry forms and a masterclass jam band emerges and resonates.  

One such song from The Waterfall II is the brilliant "Wasted," which comes upon you like a sunrise saturating the listener in light and sound.  A chorus of "Ohhh" s punctuate a series of deep riffs before the prophetic vocals of Jim James ride over it all. "You've been wasting too much time lately. You've been gone. An illusion then, but one more pressing." At 2:42, a guitar solo kicks in that will make you stand up to absorb the glory imagining the band 20 feet away from you on stage on a hot summer night. When the demons are exorcised, you'll feel the air grow colder and watch the sun as it sets in the distance. Few bands hold such power.  

"Magic Bullet" borrows a funk groove that Bootsy Collins would be proud to lay down.  Again, a squealing guitar takes over the show mid-way, and the completely takes over as the song fades to black. "Run It" adds a gospel chorus over a dancing piano melody. "Can't try much harder to get back to water, gonna get back hotter, get back, get back to water.  Set my mind free."  

"Beautiful Love (Wasn't Enough)" keeps the freewheeling spirit going. The soulful lyrics strike a nerve, and the guitar work, which sounds like new sneakers twisting on a wooden gymnasium floor, is unlike anything I've ever heard. 

There are other strong tracks on this album, yet these four stand out as the gems. They are innovative, and if they sound this good on the album, I can't wait to hear them live.  Some sleepier Jim James solo-ey type tracks found their way onto the record, and that's to be expected.  You can't have the chicken without the grits.  If I had my way, I'd keep James focused on collaborating with this skill group of musicians that have built undeniable chemistry and sound unique and incredible, rather than chasing ideological butterflies in the church of his solo career.  

Overall, I'm thankful that these songs have been packaged and released. My Morning Jacket sounds as powerful and innovative as ever. The band toured in the summer of 2019, and James described the shows as among his favorite MMJ performances. He said the group worked through some of their personal issues in advance of the shows.  More good news coming out of this release is James announcing the band has a fresh full-length, all ready to go. Keeping true to its live performance prowess, it's been said that the new album won't be released until the band can tour immediately behind it. This will eventually happen!  

- Tom Endyke | Guitar & Pen

 

 

Alt-Rock Review: Muzz - Muzz

Score: 80/100

Release Date: June 5, 2020

Genre: Indie Rock, Alt Rock

Similar Artists:  The National, Band of Horses

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Newly-formed Indie-Rock supergroup, Muzz swings a velvet hammer on their self-titled debut album. Interpol frontman Paul Banks is joined by old friends Matt Barrick (The Walkmen) on drums and Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horsemen) on everything else.

There is a familiar soft acoustic 70's classic rock vibe that feels like a synthesis of Mike Nesmith, America, The Allman Brothers, and Marshall Crenshaw. Yet with all these strains crying out for recognition, the end result is inspiring and unique.

"Bad Feeling" sets the tone, fuzing in a subtle lo-fi hum, like crickets on a summer night. The lyrics are deep and profound and the meaning isn't often clear upon the first listen. "We're pretty ancient, that's what all the silence means. Speed runs the whole generation, the torment of ease." The velvet hammer hits hard on the infectious gem "Evergreen" which speaks of love, addiction, and dependency, "One medication, one thing to bring you over. ... Don't ever really need it, somehow it's taking over."

The single, "Red Western Sky" is a hauntingly perilous expression of low self-worth which feels a lot The National's dramatic hurtling. "Everything Like it Used to Be" is Byrd's-sounding track with layered rhythms and harmonies and one of the stronger cuts on the album. It's not all mellow gold, however. "Knuckleduster," and "How Many Days," pack a punch and Josh Kaufman's skilled guitar work comes front and center.

All in all, Muzz has dropped a promising debut from three friends whose talents blend well. Paul Bank's seductive and polished vocals ride nicely over Barrick and Kaufman's smart sonic textures. It's a laid-back summer sound which will go down nicely by the pool, along the beach or on the open road with the windows rolled down.

- Tom Endyke | Guitar & Pen

Indie Rock Review: Duster - Duster

Score: 78
Release Date: December 13, 2019

Genre:  Indie Rock, Slowcore, Lo-Fi

Similar Artists:  Galaxie 500, Low, Deerhunter

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After Duster’s droned out experimental lamentations helped bury the 20th century, the band took an extended break, which lasted a decade and a half. Founding member Clay Parton explains, “We didn’t feel like we belonged in this world before,” he said. “And the world is only an even bleaker hellscape now.” Duster’s latest release, Duster delivers a pounding, pulsating battle march through this bleak hellscape. It is a sound that Parton aptly describes as “purring distress”.  

There is an element of pain that these tracks bring forth, yet it is a bearable and oftentimes pleasing torment, like a mild sunburn or ankle sprain. Duster skillfully walks the thin line of pleasure and pain, stepping from one side to another, yet maintaining their balance throughout.  

The opening track, “Copernicus’ feels like an interrogation lamp turning off and on and off and on again, blasting into your brain in forcefull, mind-numbing 2-second intervals. “I’m Lost” deliberately cuts the vocals lower than the thundering fuzz of the guitar, drum, and bass blend. Straining to make out the lyrics is part of the experience. “Don’t you know I’m lost? Don’t you know I’m lost without you here.” 

Other angst-ridden gems include “Summer War,” “Damaged,” and “Ghoul”. “Go Back” evokes the most haunting and terror-ridden vibe on the album. Even the more seemingly optimistic “Lomo”, with its rich sonic texture and evocative atmosphere lyrically pull the listener under its spell. “Late into the night. When it’s still and calm. And the mind slows down. Is this death? Maybe. It’s alright.”

All said, If you’re looking to have your soul musically eviscerated, give Duster a listen. The depths you’ll reach are impossible to arrive at with other bands. The mastery of this record lies in how skillfully Duster takes the listener to the depths of their own soul, returning them emptied and expunged, ready to start anew.  

- Tom Endyke | Guitar & Pen