Sound Advice- 18.October.2023
The flood of great 2023 releases continues! Today we're taking a look at the latest from The Croaks, Neil Jung, The Sizzos, and Wilco.
Longtime readers may recall that I reviewed 100 new (to me) records last year. Because I’m a glutton for punishment love music, I’m doing it again this year. This is the latest in the series.
Good morning!
Today we’re taking a look at several records, including the latest from The Croaks, Neil Jung, and Wilco.
Every year, I celebrate all the great music we’ve been gifted while worrying that next year will see the other shoe drop. I did that last December and have been proven wrong every month since. Not only are there a ton of releases steadily coming out, but there’s also been a ton of great stuff, no matter your tastes. It’s almost overwhelming— but in all the best ways. Below are a few of the releases that have caught my attention recently.
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The Sizzos- Glitter In Gravel
The Sizzos is a Eugene, Oregon-based project led by George Zaninovich. Their first record, “She’s Driving Down,” rightly drew many comparisons to The War On Drugs. The band’s follow-up continues to merit those comparisons.
Written over two years and the course of multiple losses in Zaninovich’s life, Glitter In Gravel is equal doses of grief and hope. There are plenty of synths and just enough angular guitar riffs, but more than anything, the songs here are stories of resilience.
Speaking with Zaninovich about lead single “No Big Sky” (co-written with Joe Dagostino), he told me:
…the female character is a composition of a few stories I'd heard while making the album from women in my life I love dearly. One was about feeling estranged from the small town she grew up in and her close community of friends because of her more progressive views on the important issues. The other was about a woman who dealt with physical and mental about from a spouse. In both cases, the women are strong, resilient, and amazing contributors to their families and communities despite the setbacks. So, the character in the song knows how to fight through hard times and will herself to be ok despite realizing her life isn't turning out how she'd expected.
Back To Cold starts things off with a lanky bassline and steady rhythm. The ethereal, almost whisper-like vocals on tracks like Still paint a grey picture, which is ironic, given that it was written during one of Oregon’s ever more frequent wildfire seasons, with Zaninovich telling PRP:
The song was written…during a particularly severe Oregon wildfire season…I wanted to create something sonically nostalgic, which led me to more of a shimmering guitar sound and prominent synth.
Instead of making a voice memo, I pulled out an old laptop and loaded up garage band. I put the acoustic guitar parts in as rhythm, and lead just through the computer mic. I tweaked the sounds, and all of a sudden it didn’t sound lo-fi…the guitars shimmered and sustained.
I decided to build around that sound, adding synth parts next. I let it sit for a year, came back to it, and it was the sonic north star of the new album.
The record was mixed and mastered by Alex Chapman, who has played with Jeffrey Silverstein and also features on a few tracks here.
Heavy themes, to be sure, but Glitter In Gravel is full of shimmering guitar, wide open spaces, and hooks at every step along the way. Sometimes, the catalyst for good music comes from bad events.
Neil Jung- Infinity Is Whatever EP
Certain things come with the territory when your band is named after a Teenage Fanclub track. On Infinity Is Whatever, the Brooklyn quartet of Evan Brock (Vocals/guitar), Kris Hayes (Lead Guitar), Jeremiah Furr (Bass), and Andrew McDonald (Drums) deliver healthy doses of fuzz and power pop. Like their namesake, the band owes a lot to the early 90s indie pop sound.
The EP was primarily recorded in 2018 before real life (and then the pandemic) got in the way of everything. Five years later, the band is slowly returning to life, and the EP has been taken off the shelf and dusted off.
Opener No Cavities nails that specific early 90s sound and will remind the listener of Pavement at their jangliest. Alright, Okay takes a heavier turn that reminded me of Weezer (YMMV). Washing Machine sounds more like standard-issue Malkmus but never gets close enough to be derivative. Waster evokes the earlier days of college radio right before it morphed into “Alternative.”
I’ve written before about how Teenage Fanclub took almost 3 decades to grow on me. With its bright chords and sunny melodies, Infinity Is Whatever only took a few minutes.
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The Croaks- Croakus Pokus
The Croaks are a self-described “freak rock” band out of Boston with a sound characterized by big narratives, catchy riffs, and complex arrangements.
Led by Anna Reidister and Haley Wood, who have been playing together since 2017, Jasper Fleming and Sammy DeSantos round out the lineup on bass & drums, respectively.
Following up on a couple of singles released earlier this summer, Croakus Pokus is the band’s debut record. The band refers to it as an EP, but at nine tracks and just over 30 minutes, I’m not sure that’s accurate.
Court Jester kicks things off and sets the tone early with some really agile vocals and sounds that would be right at home deep in a forest or Stonehenge. Cuttyhunk Isle is a sea shanty with lyrics like Upon Cuttyhunk Isle I’ll live out my days as a wanton maid I’ll catch a fisherman’s eye And at sunrise disappear with the tide.
With its shoegaze-y sound, Rainbow Trout is a hook-laden piece that takes us from the Middle Ages to the near future. Big Bug (not to be confused with the previous track, Big Bog) throws us back into the time machine, this time again to the heavier side of the early 90s. You would be excused if you thought you were listening to a track by Tad or Calamity Jane.
Postlude closes the record with some cryptic poetry because, of course, it does.
Having spent some time with the record, I’m not sure that “freak rock” is the best way to describe the band’s sound. It’s melancholy without ever becoming dour. It’s bright without ever being in danger of becoming too peppy. It’s baroque without becoming too ornate. The songcraft is accomplished, and multiple instruments (dear reader, I did not expect to be reviewing a record with a harp on it) make for a lush soundscape.
With elements of chamber pop, folk-rock, and prog, the sound is eclectic but more refined than that label gives it credit for. It’s a great fit for these grey days with low light.
Wilco- Cousin
There is a great meme floating around featuring Richie from the TV show The Bear. Richie, of course, is usually called “Cousin” by Carmy on the show, and Wilco’s latest release is titled the same. (h/t to
of Check This Out! for getting this meme on my radar).
Is it still a meme if I have to explain it? Do I even need to explain it?
Similarly, Wilco is a band that needs little explanation. They make a record, people love it, repeat. Jeff Tweedy is often mentioned in the same breath as Dylan, credited with sparking the entire alt-country genre, and more. I say all this to mention that my toxic trait is that I just don’t like Wilco very much.
I will 100% carve out an exception for Summerteeth—to my ear, I’m Always In Love- is the quintessential pop song—and there are a few other songs here and there. But after that? Not so much.
Is Yankee Hotel Foxtrot an objectively good record? Yes.
Am I more interested in the apartments featured on the cover than the record itself? Also yes.
So I didn’t have a lot of expectations going into Cousin, their latest. The band has seemed weary of late, and after 30 years and with five records in the last 8 years, who could blame them? They knew what worked and gave the people what they wanted.
There’s no great pivot here, but there are a few big steps. First, the band brought in Cate Le Bon to produce, and the result is a much tighter, compact record than we’ve seen recently. Tweedy still has room to roam, but not too far. Those constraints paradoxically give the record a more complex feel.
Old habits die hard, and Tweedy gives us another “kinda” love song in Sunlight Ends. I also could’ve done without “Ten Dead,” a mediocre rant about a worthy cause (ending gun violence). But every now and then, Tweedy also puts pen to paper and gifts us a song that reminds me why so many hold this band so dear.
Commenting on the piece linked above, I noted that on Cousin, the track is album closer Meant To Be. It’s a gorgeous end to record with more than its share of fits and starts.
All of that said, Cousin is a marked improvement over the last few outings. Like Richie, their music is often more complex than it first appears but just as often exactly what it appears to be. I don’t know if this is Wilco’s “Forks” moment for me, but I like it and can see myself growing to love this one.
Also out recently:
Space Kitchen- S/T -A great 7-track EP packed with 60s-infused power pop. There is a late Beatles vibe running throughout—plenty of jangle and mellotron to go around. Prog fans will also find a lot to love here. I’m looking forward to seeing where the band takes us next.
Surf Harp- Language Is Lost Baltimore, MD-based Surf Harp has spent the five years since their last release tearing down what they know and deconstructing their style. The result is a clean slate of new sounds that frontman Philip Bolton described to me as “the strange combination of electronica, jazz, country, orchestral, and krautpop.” Sterolab walked so Surf Harp could run. RIYL: XTC, Devo, NEU!
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on any (or all) of these records! Did I get it right, or am I way off the mark?
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
I was really hoping with Cate Le Bon on board that they would get weird again. I miss when they were challenging me with Yankee and A Ghost is Born... I even loved Star Wars. I guess they aren’t here to just please Jason though. 😂
Glad to hear you like the new Wilco for the most part, even if you aren't a Wilco person. Have you been listening more since you wrote it? Any songs grown on you? I think it takes a few listens to really sink in.
Also, sounds like I need to check out The Sizzos and Neil Jung.