Write-Up by Erin Christie
As a practice in 'Substack-esque' personal writing, I've written the following quick-fire reviews of some albums I've been enjoying recently! See below and let me know if you take a listen and have your own thoughts! x
julie - my anti-aircraft friend
In some cases, what I really NEED is a ‘multi-tasking record’, and I’ve found such in julie's my anti-aircraft friend.
Off the bat, I totally understand how praising a record for its ability to seamlessly blend into the background of your life while you complete your silly little tasks such as laundry and writing your mindless little emails might seem derogatory; like the music is not compelling enough for active listening or that it’s lower-tier in the grand scheme of piquing interest. However, to me, this is a great quality in a record — this means it’s not super disruptive, has no skips, and is consistent! From my perspective on top of this hill I’ve chosen to die on, that’s pretty commendable and not necessarily easily done. So yes, it's a compliment (to me!).
Beyond fitting into this category, my anti-aircraft friend is also, simply, a good album; it perfectly fits into my preexisting shoegaze-heavy autumnal rotation. I also weirdly saw julie live before I got really into them (back in 2022), and that experience blew me away — the compelling on-stage synergy that I found that night is easily translated into their recordings, and I’m reminded again of that here. I’m sad I’m missing their show in New York later this month, but we persist :(
Either way, this record is definitely going to remain within my cast of repeated records for the foreseeable future, almost certainly filtering through my headphones as I trek up and down the million-step staircases connecting various factions of my office every week.
Favorite Tracks: tenebrist, feminine adornments, i’ll cook my own meals
Fat Dog - WOOF.
Since WOOF.’s release (and during the waterfall of singles shared over the course of this past year), I’ve attempted to explain to a handful of people why this album — and the existence of Fat Dog, in general — has catastrophically shifted the tectonic plates. Not everyone has totally understood my point-of-view, but that’s okay, because I’ll absolutely keep trying.
Before this year, I had no idea my listening rotation was severely missing a presence of electronically-infused polka turned post-punk and smashed through a Bollywood blender; thank god I’ve been enlightened, and this fucked-up mish-mash of technicolor is scratching my brain on a daily basis today (perhaps at a sound level detrimental to me AND those sitting in close proximity to me on the train). Needless to say, I’m gnawing at the bars of my enclosure in anticipation of my very first Fat Dog show at TV Eye in Ridgewood in just a few weeks, and writing this is reminding me that I seriously need to acquire a bolo tie for the occasion.
PS: it's only fair to express a sincere thanks to all of my friends who attended this year's SXSW and put me on — I think I owe all of you my life?
Favorite Tracks: All the Same, Running, Vigilante
Trophy Wife - Get Ugly
I think it’s generally the norm for people to, in the grand scheme of social politics, adopt a nonchalant “congrats, dude” type of energy when your peers and/or friend-of-a-friend acquaintances release a new album, but I’m genuinely not into subscribing to that — if we’re friends even a little bit and I admire what you’ve put out into the world, you’re going to know and I might even be a little bit embarrassing about it!
In turn, I’ve been an unapologetic champion of the band Trophy Wife since my Boston college days, and I’ve been fairly vocal about how truly cool I think they are (notably, their debut album Bruiser is featured in Penny's third print issue and "Knife Fight" was my most-listened-to track in 2021). Cringey to admit or not, it’s honestly been really inspiring as a peer and a music fan to witness their trajectory in real-time, and this is especially true with the recent gargantuan release of their debut album, Get Ugly, a little over a week ago.
Despite any bias I may have, Get Ugly is truly masterful in many respects, not only succeeding as a tracklisting composed of infectious and absolutely NASTY passages of distorted guitar and propulsive drum patterns (RIYL artists such as Blondshell or Momma), but also as a heartwrenching, gut-spilling portrayal of 20-something turmoil via moments of hot-girl lustiness and ghostly lamentations on growing pains. It presents an unafraid snapshot of this aptly 'ugly' period in life, written from the depths of learned experience decorated with falling-down-the-stairs-and-pretending-you-didn’t-bruise-your-tailbone and sending-that-horny-drunken-text-and-regretting-it-immediately-after temperament. If you're not yet convinced, listening to the record's full 40-ish minutes is sort of like listening to Wunderhorse's Midas if frontman Jacob Slater was a sexy lady belting from a void of rotted limerence inhabiting her soul (see: “Again” and “I Will Be Here”). To me, this is literally the ideal listening experience.
Congratulations, Trophy Wife, for almost certainly securing a spot on my Spotify Wrapped top 10, once again. Love and admire y’all <3
Favorite Tracks: Spit, I Will Be Here, Magnet
MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks
Unfortunately, I am THAT ‘Bushwick-coded,’ and I too have fallen victim to MJ’s curse. Even more unfortunately (and maybe embarrassingly), I have been stricken by MJ since I started listening to his band Wednesday and quickly got into the whole she-bang of the extended group's material, including his solo LP Boat Songs. So yes, MJ, I love you.
Manning Fireworks, his first LP on Anti, is a triumph not just because it succeeds in its continuance of MJ’s pre-established lore in goofy-but-sentimental / ultimately real songwriting and his simple but captivating musical cornerstone of strummed guitar and airy drum patterns. It succeeds, too, in the fact that despite its somewhat “basic” folk / slacker rock musical formula, it permeated the Internet zeitgeist with ease, dethroning ‘brat summer’ in favor of ‘MJ fall’. It does make sense that this happened though, as this record ultimately stands out, earning the respect of resident indie-heads exhausted by over-produced and self-indulgent LPs of recent history. It has a distinctly warm, homegrown, and autumnal atmosphere, too; one that's been largely needed, reminding us to touch grass and squint at the sun filtering through our blinds. More specifically, it evokes the following collective imagery: bare feet on a splintered back porch decorated with forgotten bottle caps, an elderly dog snoring somberly in your lap, the smell of citronella dancing with cigarette smoke, romance spilling from your heart and onto the back of takeout menus and the Sunday comics, and later heading back inside to get into bed and touch yourself by candlelight.
From the perspective of a listener-base largely located in absolutely NOT suburban or laid-back neighborhoods like Bushwick (where the above experiences might fall to the wayside), MJ’s Manning Fireworks essentially serves as a reminder of life’s simple pleasures and simulates a return to them. He thusly uses this new collection of songs as a vessel to say ‘fuck you guys, I’m chilling and you take everything too seriously.' This, at least, is what I imagine he might say.
Favorite Tracks: On My Knees, You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In, Wristwatch
Nilüfer Yanya - My Method Actor
If you could have a crush on an album, I might have one on this one.
My Method Actor presents a visage of British singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya in advanced, contemplative form, recognizing her previous reservations in 11 tracks that are utterly sincere, self-assured, and subtly beautiful. There's a quietly venomous sting to its tracklisting despite its ethereal and silky quality, as well. Amidst Yanya's wispy vocals, lush harmonies, and sparsely intricate rhythms, she portrays a sharp-tongued yet melodically tender critical prognosis of her own innermost self-critic; a cohesively powerful and introspective confrontation of her intrusive doubts, fears, and woes. Where you might find yourself swaying along to the record's deeply infectious yet not-too-in-your-face oscillating alt-R&B / purely indie-rock hooks and getting lost in Yanya's heavenly vocal delivery, you might also feel compelled in cultish fashion to follow in her unabashedly earnest footsteps. While we can't all be cool-girl musicians crafting contenders for AOTY, we can still take a page out of Yanya's book in our everyday lives: perhaps the rest of 2024 should be all about admitting our faults, gassing ourselves up, and also calling out our naysayers. If anything, I'll keep it in mind and do my best!
PS: The strings on "Faith's Late" ... dude ...
Favorite Tracks: Binding, Just A Western, Faith's Late
Sabrina Carpenter - Short N’ Sweet
I fear I’ve been greatly missing some digestible and ultimately fun girly pop music in my life, and thankfully, Short N’ Sweet checks this box with ease. These songs, decorated with sleek earworm-inducing hooks and shimmering pop production, perfectly soundtrack my WFH socks-on-hardwood dance sessions and remind me that it is extremely worth it to wholeheartedly get behind a “trendy” artist and that I’ll immediately feel better for it as a result.
Also, I'm keeping this review on brand hehe
Favorite Tracks: Taste, Juno, Good Graces
Allegra Krieger - Art of the Unseen Infinity Miracle
NYC experimental folk singer-songwriter Allegra Krieger’s music exists somewhere in the Greg Freeman-Merce Lemon-ML Buch general conversation, and that’s 100% not a dig; she’s in great company! I came across this record when it was recommended to me by a coworker, which encouraged me to attend her LP release signing/performance at Rough Trade a few weeks back — crammed like a sardine in the front area of the record store, I was immediately captivated by how expressively visual her lyricism is, and coupled with her simple yet effortlessly evocative stripped-back performance (being just Krieger, her guitar, and a pin-drop silent room), I couldn’t help but shut the hell up and listen. Needless to say, I dove into the record for deeper listening on my way home :)
Favorite Tracks: Into Eternity, Never Arriving, Over and Out
ADDITIONAL TRACKS I’M OBSESSED WITH RN:
The Cure - “A Fragile Thing”
Starcleaner Reunion - “Plein Air”
Tanukichan - “City Bus”
King Hannah - “New York, Let’s Do Nothing”
Porches - “USA”
The Garden - “Ballet”
Sharp Pins - “Sychophant”
Liily - “SWALLOW”
Sydenham High Road - “We don’t have relationships, we take hostages”
Dean Blunt, Nova Varnrable - “chucking it”
Maria Somerville - “Projections”
spirit blue - “desire machine”
Clinic Stars - "Kissing Through the Veil"
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