In No Particular Order – May 15, 2020
If it wasn’t for albums coming out on Fridays, I don’t think I would be able to keep track of what day it was. Another reason why music is more important than ever right now.
Along with making great calendar reminders, the albums featured in this week’s In No Particular Order are keeping things interesting! When was the last time you read about an emo rock band AND a British ska band in the same page? Exactly.
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Without further ado, let’s dive in.
I’m Glad It’s You – Every Sun, Every Moon
8/10
Alternative/Emo rock
Every Sun, Every Moon has all the fixings for a great emo album. Vocals aching with melancholy, relentless cathartic instrumentation, and inspiration derived from tragedy.
Back in 2017, the SoCal band crashed and rolled their van while on tour. Save for a few minor injuries, the band would survive. Their friend and mentor Chris Avis would not. I’m Glad It’s You frontman Kelley Bader, who was driving the van at the time, has turned the hardship of the accident into an opus of sorts, bringing forth a different aspect of his struggle through loss, guilt, and grief with each song.
Opening with the majestic piano interlude “Desert Days”, it takes the lid off of Pandora’s box of dark emotions, moving into “Big Sound” which starts with Bader looking out the back of an ambulance singing “There’s no coming back from this one”. Every Sun, Every Moon is rich with lyrical candidness and each song has its own anchoring line that resonates with intense sadness. The 11-track release has so many depth to it, it takes some time to fully take in everything Bader is trying to confess and release.
With clear inspiration from emo-alt bands of the late 90’s, like Jimmy Eat World and American Football, I’m Glad It’s You keep the cathartic musical tradition alive with their latest album.
Notable tracks: “Big Sound” // “Silent Ceremony” // “Every Sun, Every Moon”
Nick Hakim – Will This Make Me Good
6.5/10
Alternative/R&B
Nick Hakim’s sophomore release Will This Make Me Good is more than just a question of insecurity and confusion. It’s a connection of thoughts and emotions surfacing from loss, regret, and a desire to be better than yesterday. After losing a notebook of song ideas, The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter spent months trying to retrace his steps before choosing to embrace a fresh start by creating something completely for him. And as is the case with many creative minds, the interior is messy, chaotic, and difficult to navigate; qualities that help Will This Make Me Good shine in a different light.
Unlike his 2017 debut Green Twins, Hakim incorporates more experimental and ethereal elements to his track list. His psychedelic R&B sound has become less ridged moving from the likes Son Little and into more of the range of Unknown Mortal Orchestra and even hints of Childish Gambino’s more absurdist work – most notably is his 7 minute tribute to his late friend Qadir who passed away at 25. “QADIR” is a smokey haze of a track, giving Hakim a sense of boundless space to reflect and pay his respects to his childhood friend.
Afterwards, the album’s tone feels to shift. “Drum Thing” is heavy and more aggressive with the idea of death lingering in the backdrop of the album; his voice hits a distorted scream at some points, reaching a sort of climax in troubled emotions. But the dynamic once again shifts for the droopy, haze of love song “Crumpy”. The dreamy guitar riffs mix in with follow-up tracks “God’s Dirty Work” and “Seeing Double”, making the final 15 minutes of the album blend together with psychedelic and downtempo tropes.
Notable tracks: “QADIR” // “Vincent Tyler” // “Crumpy”
Call Me Malcolm – Me Myself And Something Else
7.5/10
Ska/Punk
“Flooding is rife in the Pacific Ocean as scientists discover it is entirely underwater…A new study shows 100% of divorcees were once married…” opens the album with the makeshift headlines of “Malcolm 24/7 News”. It’s an interesting way to set the tone for a ska album, but as a genre built around dancing and letting loose, having a bit of fun right out of the gates is never a bad thing – even if the album is centred around the crumbling outside world.
Despite the thematic gloom, South London punk-ska band Call Me Malcolm certainly enjoy themselves on their sophomore release, bringing together the vigour of punk with the horn-filled groove of third-wave ska. While the genre has always been predominately American, the British five-piece give no evidence of being outsiders in the genre, making sure to keep things loud and brassy.
While most of the tracks have a rejuvenated, more contemporary sound mixing together hard rock, punk, and even hip-hop, some tracks lean into the retro sound of the genre, with the likes of Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake shining through on “What You Burn” and “Last One Standing Loses”. One of the defining features of the UK group and the genre itself is their personality. Bringing back the news program as intermittent callbacks and titling the beatnik-punk song with the palindrome “NowsirawariswoN” gives the album a comedic quality amongst the gloomy lyrical content.
Notable tracks: “Wake Up, The Monster Said” // “I Bet They’re Asleep In New York” // “Sleepwalk With Me”
Hanni El Khatib – FLIGHT
8/10
Alternative rock
When I use the word “alternative” to describe Hanni El Khatib‘s new record, I mean it. FLIGHT is held together like a mosaic of blues, soul, rock, and even hip-hop, each song finding a different way to exist on a track list of misfit singles. And as the co-owner of legendary label Innovative Leisure and former “skate-rat” living off of SoCal punk and hip-hop, it makes sense. His past comes through as a matured, polished sound on his fifth studio album, one that is a resurgent from a low-point in his career.
Drained from the emotional and physical toll of the cut-and-copy process of write-tour-repeat, El Khatib took time off from his life as a musician for a few years. FLIGHT is the return, accomplished for the sake of creativity. “No one to face but me / I’ve found peace” he sings closing off the record on “Peace” – a realization that scatters the track list implicitly, even if not spoken until the end.
Beck, The Prodigy, Thievery Corporation, Avalanches, Mark Ronson, Madlib – all names from which comparisons can be drawn as he throws together samples, experimental synthesizers, and strange arrangements together to create an array of music. Some uncover the urge to dance, others more introspectiveness. The result is an entertaining and captivating record that can be enjoyed in more ways than one. With 13 tracks hitting just over 31 minutes, the songs are all relatively short in length, giving just enough time to reach its point of existence and draw in listeners, a trait familiar to the proto-punk and street punk scenes. Very cut to the chase.
Notable tracks: “ALIVE” // “DUMB” // “HOW”
