ALBUM REVIEWS: Rex Orange County, The Districts, & Drug Church Are Still Making Great Music

This week is a wonderfully consistent round-up that features some long-standing favourites.

UK singer-songwriter Rex Orange County, Philly indie rockers The Districts, and American punk act Drug Church are all back with more music, and are making sure it counts.

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The Districts – Great American Painting

Philadelphia indie rockers The Districts are now onto their fifth album Great American Painting. With well over ten years of music-making under their belts, their latest offering is a matured and consistent nine track collection that holds their DIY spirit in tow.

While their earlier records – most notably their astonishing 2015 sophomore album The Flourish and the Spoil – possessed an admirable and alluring coming-of-age melancholy (a natural characteristic as they had only just graduated high school), this new collection breathes a more jaded optimism – an oxymoronic similarity that could be shared by a parent telling a white lie to their child as a protective measure.

Topics of gun violence in America, the poison of capitalism, and more personal strokes of introspection and growth find a consistent upbeat rock n’ roll energy. Sustaining itself throughout the record, the catchy riffs and driving energy find its momentum through fuzz-filled guitar riffs and underdog vocal style. Not to mention the chuggin bass grooves and steady percussion that holds the pillar of the album together.

I have yet to be disappointed by a Districts’ album, and fortunately enough Great American Painting continues that streak.

I’m going to give this one an 8 out of 10.

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Rex Orange County – Who Cares?

To be completely frank, Alex O’Connor is not the greatest musician in the world. He’s a very average singer, his songwriting is stripped back and somewhat basic you could say.

But in the same vein as his fourth album’s name – Who Cares?

That hasn’t stopped him from finding his audience of unbelievably loyal fans and those looking for music that just feels genuine and real to its core. And for those reasons, Alex has found worldwide success as Rex Orange County, his bedroom indie pop project. Now onto his fourth album, Who Cares? rings true with his welcoming homegrown songwriting style and sincere delivery, but with a bigger budget. He recorded the album in just 12 days while escaping to Amsterdam to work with Dutch producer/songwriter Benny Sings, and managed to grab Tyler the Creator for a feature.

And what is so wonderful about Who Cares? Is that while Rex continues to become a bigger name, his sound really does stay the same. It’s candid, it’s reflective, it’s personal, and all the while deeply relatable and humble.

There’s some great hooks on this record as well, although I feel that his biggest hits are definitely on some of his early stuff. Needless to say, there is still plenty of things to enjoy on this record, and having Tyler on there was actually a nice touch.

Another solid effort from Alex so I’ll give this one a 7.5 out of 10.

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Drug Church – Hygiene

American punk group Drug Church are now onto their fourth album Hygiene.

There’s been a wonderful resurgence I feel that has helped push punk back into more mainstream music radars, and bands like Drug Church have been putting in their time for it to pay off.

Bands like Turnstile, PUP, Anxious, One Step Closer, Fiddlehead and of course Drug Church are keeping the next generation interested.

It feels calm, cool, and collected while simultaneously searing their way through topics of getting older and finding a purpose in the world, delivered in the form of aggressive guitar riffs and crunching vocals.

It’s a perfect sized punk album, just over 26 minutes, and it’s a wonderful balance of aggression and universal appeal – for the most part. It’s melodic, anthemic, surprisingly articulate and overall an invigorating listen. I really appreciate how it crams together a lot of millennial frustrations of hyper-stimulation and the exponential growth of uncertainty with each passing day.

Hygiene might be for a slightly more acquired taste, but definitely a solid record overall.

Happy to give this one a 7.5/10

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