In No Particular Order: Reunions All Around in 4 Must-Hear LPs (6/19/20)
In No Particular Order is the place to find the week’s best new album releases. Discover the latest from veteran UK hip-hop artist Gee Bag and Canadian art rock trio Braids, and get loud with the return of math-rock group We Vesus The Shark and prog-metal mainstays Protest the Hero.
You can find Dusty Organ on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Spotify to stay up to date on new releases. Also, you can find tracks from these albums and more on our Monthly Spotify playlist.
If you enjoy something, don’t forget to share it around!
Gee Bag x Illinformed – Respect Ya Elders!
7/10
Hip-hop
UK hip-hop veteran Gee Bag has returned with his latest solo release Respect Ya Elders!, produced entirely by his longtime friend Illinformed. Featuring a handful of fellow underground artists such as Doug Sure, Downstroke, and the legendary Rodney P, Respect Ya Elders! is a testament to a multi-decade career, returning to the stylings of the early ’00s underground hip-hop of old school sampling and even retro flick samples as interludes, as Gee Bag and his entourage reflect on the lifelong struggles of the Black community and political conflict.
Notable tracks: “Benjamin Button” // “I Can Be” // “Chinese Whispers”
Braids – Shadow Offering
7.5/10
Art-rock/Indie pop
On Shadow Offering, the latest from Montreal-based art rock trio Braids, the band explores the humanistic trials and errors of love and lust. The pain, heartbreak, and hopefulness of relationships comes through in shimmering detail and candidness on the 9-track effort, lead by the angelic voice of frontwoman Raphaelle Standell-Preston. Produced by Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, the sonic and musical balance of the album helps elevate the direct lyrical messages to more tangible and personal heights.
From lustful young love on “Young Buck”, to the open-arms of friendship on “Eclipse (Ashley)”, the emotional insecurity of relationships on “Just Let Me”, and the effects of toxic partners on “Fear of Men”, Shadow Offering is a journal entry of sorts, replacing the poetic use of metaphors with real, honest lyrics that capture both the internal and external conversations of love, confessing to the failures and leaning into the hope of something better whether someone is listening or not.
Although it moves past the theme of love, Standell-Preston flexes her spoken word muscles on “Snow Angel”, a 9-minute opus about the dizzying and consuming anxieties of the world. It is a standout track that feels both out of place and inline with the rest of the album because of her compelling performance.
“Note To Self”, a somewhat nihilistic acceptance of the ups and downs of life, brings the album to a close, accentuating the band’s ability to provoke emotion from brutal honesty.
Notable tracks: “Young Buck” // “Snow Angel” // “Ocean”
We Versus the Shark – Goodbye Guitar
7/10
Math-rock/Alternative
It’s been twelve years since Athens, Georgia math-rock band We Versus the Shark released music together. The influential four-piece had a boisterous career together from 2003 to 2008, releasing three full-lengths before branching out to other musical acts. Goodbye Guitar is their long overdue reunion, bringing back their energetic, instrument-swapping style to the world of indie rock.
For those that enjoy order and consistency, stay away. Goodbye Guitar is like a child with ADHD at his own birthday party. With different members taking turns with vocal duties, the tone of the album is in a constant state of flux, not to mention the array of style and genres that criss-cross like a Cola-fuelled activity circuit. A sugar rush opens the album with the post-hardcore “No Negative Space Rules Forever”, suddenly switching gears to a face painting booth of post-punk on “We All Get A Raise”, before a game of hide and seek on melodic alt-punk lead single “Righteous Vibes”. This is all within the first ten minutes.
Keeping with the metaphor, their song structures seem to be based after a bouncy castle, jumping from one arrangement to another, interlocking styles seamlessly with changing time signatures and colourful charisma. “I Am Never Going Home For Christmas Again” and “In Reverse” mix in punk, shoegaze, and alt-pop, the latter coming to a close on a chaotic, sonic grab bag. The rest of the album follows suit, sparking up random burst of punk on “Who’s Got the Chrome” and the frantic album closer “Creme Brulee”.
Notable tracks: “No Negative Space Rules Forever” // “Righteous Vibes” // “Who’s Got the Chrome”
Protest the Hero – Palimpsest
7.5/10
Progressive metal/Hardcore
Whitby, Ontario natives Protest the Hero are back with their sixth album Palimpsest, a fitting term as the band moves forward in their career, but not without losing sight of their invigorating beginnings. After frontman Rody Walker lost his voice following their last tour, he struggled to get it back. Training and rehearsals eventually helped strengthen his vocals, but there is still a lingering rawness.
Fortunately, Protest the Hero are still crafting wildly fast-firing melodic hardcore music, using their whirlwind musicality to shape their narratives. Historically driven, Palimpsest touches on subjects such as the Hindenburg disaster on the 6-minute prog-metal opus “From the Sky”, post-World War II recovery on the mouth-full “The Fireside”, and the infamous bank robber Baby Face Nelson on “Soliloquy”, a song that would feel at home on their earlier records.
Lyrical content aside, loyal fans of Protest the Hero will be pleased to hear the melodic and mathematical precision of the band remains, featuring complex guitar solos and dazzling percussion throughout the album (and of course, piano interludes in true PTH fashion). The details in the music were the band’s main focus on the record and in this case, meticulousness pays off.
Notable tracks: “From the Sky” // “The Fireside” // “Gardenias”
