Pelican
Nighttime Stories
Southern Lord
2019
Rating: 8 corporate trend reports out of 10
This "review" is more a note of me saying that (a) Pelican have a new record out called "Nighttime Stories" and (b) it's really good. For the uninitiated, Pelican are an instrumental metal band from Chicago that occasionally include prog, sludge, and post-rock tendencies into their sound. They've released at least a half dozen consistently great records in their 15+ year career, and I'm not entirely sure what words I can throw out there to spice up what they are - you either like this type of music or you don't. Pelican are one of the godheads of the genre, and "Nighttime Stories" is a damn fine continuation of their legacy. I'm particularly a fan of the second track "Midnight and Mescaline," but the whole damn record is in top form.
House Of Large Sizes / Treepeople
Split 7''
Toxic Shock
1991
Rating: 6.5 slapped bastards out of 10
I bought this split seven inch for one reason - Treepeople. I mean, I guess the max number of reasons would be two so I'm not sure why I pointed this out, but...yeah. Their track is "Neil's Down," which is also available on their second album "Guilt Regret Embarrassment," but it's not like I paid much for this slab of repitition. Like most Treepeople songs it just sounds like a noiser, more chaotic version of Built To Spill (an inevitable comparison given I worked backwards from Built To Spill to this band). This particular track is almost a little Jawbreaker-ish, which is not something I've ever thought before when listening to Treepeople.
The other side is a band called House Of Large Sizes with "Bankrupt In Hoven." I had literally never even heard the name of this band before buying this, which is actually an accomplishment given the number of years I've been listening to exactly this genre of music. This track is mid-tempo, grunge-adjacent, and has a weird time signature...it sounds a bit like an old Chapel Hill band called Capsize 7, but since almost no one remembers them or even knew them in the first place, let's just say this band is definitely influenced by Sonic Youth. It's not bad - I'd be curious to hear more of their music.
Superchunk
AF (Acoustic Foolish)
Merge
1994 / 2019
Rating: Subdued perfection.
Superchunk are easily one of my top three favorite bands of all time. “Foolish,” their fourth record released in 1994, is easily one of my top three favorite albums by Superchunk. You want to make an educated guess on how I feel about a reworked, fully acoustic version of this classic album?
Given the nature of “AF,” there’s no real reason to rehash the content, but rather what makes it different and worthwhile. First, and most importantly, it sounds goddamn fantastic - any avenue with which you choose to listen to “AF” is a perfectly cromulent choice, but do yourself a favor and ingest this with some headphones at least once. It is perfection. Second are the guests – to no surprise, many members of the Merge family show up: Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock Of Dimes) and Allison Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) add backing vocals, Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire, Hidden Cameras) provides strings here and there, Matt Douglas (Mountain Goats) does his saxophone thing, and finally none other than the legendary Peter Holsapple (The dB’s) plugs away on the piano on a couple of tracks. On top of that, many of the songs have been slightly reworked – as an example, “Saving My Ticket” is almost a bossa nova song now. Third – it’s fucking Superchunk. Don’t be an idiot, buy everything they put out, it’s the only way to live life successfully.
Christian Fitness
You Are The Ambulance
Self-Released
2019
Rating: 7.5 skull tongues out of 10
It’s pretty exciting to come across an album from a new band that immediately sounds familiar – it sounds like a record you might already have in your collection, only you don’t know these particular songs. I had that feeling with the ridiculously named Christian Fitness and their newest release “You Are The Ambulance.” As is typical for me, my very next thought is who does this new band sound like? I hear elements of PIL, some Devo for sure, the Fall in their quirkier moments, but what it sounded most like was McClusky – a little less agro than McClusky could sometimes be, but the comparison was undeniable. Now, being a learned man of science, my next step was to do a little research on Christian Fitness (aka punch their name into Discogs) – it appears this is a solo project (it doesn’t sound like it), or they were just too lazy to list the rest of the band. The one member listed? Andy Falkous… and if that name sounds as familiar to you as it does to me, it’s because he used to be the frontman of… McClusky. I’m not sure If this means my band comparison skills are incredibly accurate, or it’s more of a “no shit they sound the same you simpleton, it’s the same dude playing basically the same type of music just under a different name.” Regardless, I like it, it scratches that spazzy/post-punk/angular/noise rock itch that I pretty much always have in the back of my brain, and that’s good enough for me. Also: apparently this is Andy’s sixth album under this moniker (all of which seem to be self-released & digital only), so not only is the artist not new, this particular outlet for him isn’t new either. Well it’s new to me, dammit!
