Mad Foxes, Ashamed

Post-Punk music got a jolt of electricity a few years back when Idols came onto the scene. They were, and are, an unconventional band by most accounts. And their music brought a new level of brashness, thoughtfulness, and urgency to the genre. Since then other bands have followed, carving out new spaces for themselves to do what they want to do. None has measured to up to Idols in my opinion..until now.

French trio Mad Foxes sophomore album, Ashamed, has struck a nerve with many including myself. As a band, Mad Foxes are as 'brutish and committed as Idols, but with more self-mockery and complexity.' (Side B). They are also more playful, mixing in other musical genres, such as Garage, Punk, Grunge, and even Indie Folk, as they see fit. What really struck me with Ashamed was the band's cleverness and dynamic sound which features 'clanging guitars, pounding rhythms, often-shouted vocals, angst-fueled lyrics and anthemic song hooks.' (KEXP). 

This is a band carving out a new music space for themselves and it's a space where I definitely want to be hanging out and listening to Ashamed.

Japanese Breakfast, Jubilee

Michelle Zauner and her band Little Big League had finished their second album when she learned that her mother had stage four cancer. Zauner immediately moved back home to Eugene, Oregon to care for her. During that time, she made a few lo-fi recordings under the name Japanese Breakfast. Zauner also started writing a memoir about her life as a half white, half Korean American and whether she could lay claim to that identity anymore.

Following her mother's passing in 2014, Zauner took on the Japanese Breakfast moniker in earnest and released two albums over the next few years. Both centered around  grief, loss, and identity. Both received wide spread attention and praise. For me, I appreciated them both, but never returned to them after a listen or two. 

Earlier this year, Zauner's memoir, Crying In H Mart, was published. It became a New York Times best seller. A few months later, Zauner followed it up with the release of her third album, Jubilee. And as the title implies, things are feeling quite different for Zauner these days. And you can sense it from the opener Paprika as the synthesizer kicks things off and then, as the song builds and the chorus rises, the horn section comes in. It's an '80's inspired synth-pop delight that Kate Bush would love. And then there's her lyrics. Drawing inspiration from sci-fi film maker Satoshi Kon's movie of the same name and its opening psychotic parade dream sequence, Zauner's lyrics paint a surreal world where real life and dreams blend together. It truly feels like a different artist at work here.

Jubilee is by far Zauner's best work to date and an album that should be celebrated.

Charlie Marie, Ramble On

The first time I heard Charlie Marie's debut album Rambling On, it just blew my socks off. This does not happen that often with me. But right from the beginning I knew that I was discovering and experiencing something special. 

"I wanted the record to sound like if Patsy Cline and Dwight Yoakam had a child...It doesn't just symbolize everything I'm working toward: it symbolizes where I come from, too."

Marie, who grew up in Rhode Island, fell in love with country music at a young age. By her mid-teens she was fronting a band and playing fairs and festivals in New England...a far cry from the heart of country music land. That all changes when she made her way to Nashville for college. There, Marie honed her songwriting skills. Writing songs about her own experiences, Marie portrayed herself not as some 'guitar-strumming southern belle, but as a proud outsider who had fallen in love with country while living far from the genre's Bible Belt headquarters.' 

You can hear Nashville by way of Rhode Island in Marie's songwriting. While she no doubt pays homage to her musical idols and influences, she is not afraid to step outside their very traditional country lanes. It is how she so perfectly balances the two that sets her songwriting and songs apart from so many others. 

I will say that Marie's debut album is simply a stunner. It's a classic country affair for the times that we are living in today and by far one of best albums that I have heard so far this year.

Birdy, Young Heart

It's a bit wild to think that Birdy is now..and only 24. Since she won the open Mic Uk competition in 2008, at the very young age of 12, Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde  has been a tremendously successful singer-songwriter who seems to have no limits to her talents....or success. Yet in 2016, after finishing her Beautiful Lies tour, Birdy hit her own limits in terms of energy, creativity, and feelings of authenticity with her music.

Three years, and a personal breakup later, Birdy escaped to a cabin in Topanga, CA. With it's"kind of Laurel Canyon, seventies-like feel," Birdy found herself listening to Joni Mitchell's album Blue and finding new inspiration. With it came Young Heart, what Birdy describes as a "heartbreak Album" which she used to navigate and work through her own failed relationship. It's a beautiful and mature piece of work and seemingly well beyond Birdy's young age. It once again shows the talent or I should say gift, that Birdy possesses. And I'm thankful that she is sharing it with the rest of us. 

Joe And the Feels, Unsupervised

I'm going to admit that I'm a bit of a pushover for a good story behind a band. So when I ready the 'product notes' for Joe And the Feel's Unsupervised, I was ready to be all in before even hearing a note or chorus. 

"Joe & the Feels is equal parts band and coping mechanism. The only band made entirely of healthcare professionals; their music is dripping with natural, cathartic energy. Staples of the Little Rock music scene, Joe Yoder (vocals, guitar), Dave Hoffpauir (drums), Andy Warr (lead guitar), Steve Blevins (bass), and Gaines Fricke (keys) channel their highs and lows into a loud beautiful noise. Confronted with life's most vulnerable moments, Joe & The Feel's debut record, Unsupervised, offers the musical equivalent of a good cry, a lively cheer, and a warm bearded hug."

After this read and many listens of Unsupervised, I will say that I am ready to be all in. Joe And the Feels brought me back to the college radio days of the early nineties, where alt, Southern, and indie rock fused together into a really cool laid-back sound while thought provoking lyrics made you sit up and think. Joe And the Feels is an incredibly polished band that also exudes genuineness and authenticity, and Unsupervised is a gem of an album. 

 

Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall, The Marfa Tapes

In 2016, after a tough few years, Miranda Lambert, along with Jack Ingram and Jon Randall hit the road to get away and write some new music. Along the way, they 'stumbled' upon Marfa, Texas. Pulling into town at 4am, they were struck by the landscape. Lambert recalled looking up and asking, "Oh my gosh. where are we?" Looking like a National Geographic photo, Ingram has said that that moment is embedded in his brain forever. For his part, Randall said that he has never gotten over that star-gazing stop on their road trip.

 Three years later, the three returned to Marfa. Lambert said that she 'missed music'. And Marfa was the perfect place to re-connect with the pure joy that comes from sitting on a porch or around a campfire with friends, writing and playing music. With two guitars and two microphones in hand, parking themselves where ever it fit their fancy, the three went about playing and recording a handful of new and old songs. Captured mostly on first takes, these field and demo-like recordings are unvarnished and unfashioned or as Ingram has said, 'music that just is what it is.' And what it is is music in its purest form and it's wonderful.