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RUINR: Not Enough Room for Clovers

Strong-voiced distorted rock - FFO: Hop Along, Pearl Jam, Courtney Barnett

Not Enough Room for Clovers by Ruinr

Ruinr is a trio and the group’s latest album, Not Enough Room for Clovers, opens with frontwoman Tasha Beninghof alone but the impact feels as though it projects in a much larger way. With a blur of reverb on her voice, Beninghof sings with a vulnerable but powerful poise, dramatic lines like “I was told that confidence is a privilege” and “I don’t sleep because you taught me not to dream” echoing out. From there the EP kicks in to denser, more intense basement punk tracks. “Wet Feet” starts almost fun sounding before turning into a grimier emo-tinged romp—Beninghof certifies that this is Sad not Fun, singing “I remember I was a piece of shit till 2011”.

Clovers doesn’t try to rewrite the rules but it manages not to fall into the derivative category and evades excessive reference to influences. Think the grungier end of emo. The closest contemporary might be Hop Along but these arrangements feel more spacious with Beninghof searching over relatively simple combinations of guitar, bass, and drums. “Greenhouse” starts with almost dream pop like melancholy and a gentler hand before leaning toward the distorted, roomy rock that makes up most of the album. The grungey ‘90s tint plays most apparent on “Hindsight is MD 20/20,” where Beninghof sings with a vaguely Eddie Vedder like tumble of syllables at points, and “High Horse” with its loud-soft dynamics.

Notably, the album comes largely unpolished, raw as any performance one might catch of the band. But Beninghof’s voice powers the songs, moving from vulnerable to fiery, confident throughout. It’s a solid document of alt-rock in the Columbus scene with just enough character to distinguish. –CC

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WHATCHA DON’T WANNA MISS: BEXLEY MOMS 5/3

BEXLEY MOMS 5/3 @ BIG ROOM BAR

couch surfin usa by bexley moms

Are Bexley Moms the best band in Columbus? No. Maybe. Who cares. Matt McCroskey (of Hidden Places) and Brianna Snider (of Saltlick) make a fiercely scrappy and untamed blend of classic indie rock and distorted, bedroom electronics and it is FUN. A rare live show (or hopefully just the start of more to come) for the group, the lack of live performances has probably helped to make Bexley Moms one of the best little known Columbus acts. Not so familiar with headliner Valley Maker but a quick listen gives a charming impression of a basement indie rocker aspiring toward something between Bon Iver and Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull. –CC

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SIX BLOCKS AWAY

At 7 we were eating dinner and listening to Lucinda Williams sing “SIX BLOCKS AWAY!” and it was joyous and we thought ‘this will be a good night.’ At 8 we were waiting on the porch at punk time thinking ‘oh no, it’s just another night.’ But at 9 we were listening to The Roof Dogs—glowing, blinding, in their final form—singing some new song, yelling “SIX BLOCKS AWAY!” and it was, it was a good night.

It ended with Hydrone spewing Burger Records outtakes, garage rock fun, dressed in jorts. “I’m drunk, I want to dance.” So most everyone kept dancing. Before that Bat Zuppel, playing something Strokes-like between bursts of post-shoegaze-pedal-worship. Lots of guitar solos, lots of rock. A Bowie cover, you know. And to start: The Roof Dogs, regulars. But sometimes it takes something regular to make you feel alive. Is it amazing that we can find things we love just SIX BLOCKS AWAY? Or is it just regular? They were like a folk-rock band that accidentally bought a post-punk album, shrugged their shoulders, and put it on repeat anyways. I was dancing, you were dancing, everyone was dancing. At least I think so. I was in the front. Dancing. So I really don’t know. It was a good night, it was. And just SIX BLOCKS AWAY. –CC, photo by Chlo White Hydrone / Bat Zuppel / The Roof Dogs @ Misfit Manor, April 25, 2019

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HONEY CLUB: POP SCIENCE

Homemade High Art - FFO: St. Vincent, Brian Eno, SAD13

“I am not afraid of the person I’ve become,” starts Pop Science, the debut full-length by Honey Club. It’s a suitable introduction for the project. Rayne Bugg, the artist behind the name, has previously worked with projects like SAP (hardcore) and Human Petting Zoo (bedroom songwriting) but Honey Club steps into a different realm. Rooted in art pop adventurism and veering toward electronics instead of guitar Pop Science is a sonic candyland. The opening mood setting ambience of “I Will Go” fades flawlessly into “Gravedigger,” a snotty lo-fi pop gem. A Brian Eno-esque soundscape “Interlude: Down by the River” follows before “Notes in My Pocket,” an understated track with complexly stitched together layers of vocal lines crossing in and out. Honey Club’s intricate arrangements and unabashed production are the strengths on Pop Science. Vocals squish and distort (“Gravediger”), guitars make interjections with St. Vincent worthy fuzz (“Rough Me Up”, and saccharine synths mediate between pillowy support (“Interlude: Stephen’s Dream”) and invigorating rawness (“Get Over You”). The highlight may be the line that Bugg walks between lo-fi basement charm and though out pop production. The two blend together creating an album that’s as ambitious as it is humble. –CC

Top Tracks: “Gravedigger,” “Pop Science,” “I Think I’ve Got It”

Pop Science by Honey Club

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BEXLEY MOMS: COUCH SURFIN’ USA

My 2003 Chevy Malibu is starting to gather rust on the bottom corner of its doors. I’ve bought myself some mums, which I’ve placed in an old beer mug in my childhood bedroom. I hand crank my windows down and drive through ‘historic downtown’. “couch surfin usa” is the song I wish I had when I first drove down this stretch six years ago. The thick layers of distorted guitars would have been the perfect blanket for my gnawing anxiety, my lack of clarity in what a girl ought to do with her life. The lyrics are delivered with certainty yet muddled in the mix, so characteristic of plucking oneself out of the crowd and declaring, this is who I AM. “couch surfin usa” is an anthem for anyone who has ever had to say “NO!” to an abuser or a societal oppressor. It’s a song of youth, freedom, and humid summer air as you’re walking, running, driving away to recovery. –SM

couch surfin usa by bexley moms

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ABSINTHE FATHER: GOOD ENOUGH

Soft self love – FFO: Grouper, Julien Baker, Kississippi

The basement is now clean. It is still a basement, but the basement is now clean. You can still hear the echoes off the walls like mirrored smiles floating or suffocating as they feel. And you know every song that has been sung here but you’ve never heard a word. In this basement, like in every basement, the songs are crushed beneath the feet with no contempt. More bodies squeeze in. The walls still echo, but the echoes are now smothered.

Haley Butters is like a spirit of the DIY world. They float, they connect, they shape to any form they please or at least any form they need. On good enough Butters is buried in their own dense brush of textures, more a thickly fuzzed carpet than a wall of sound. Its only a little ironic that Butters, who does such much to amplify other voices, buries their own voice. But the result is a lushly present echo like the words come from every part of the body at once. It’s soothing music. Not because it is cheerily optimistic but because it works to soothe oneself and confront struggle and hardship. In good enough there is space made for oneself. The music is lush but never overwhelming, percussion-less and collected in lulled dynamic range like the mood before bed, after the show, when all that’s left in the basement is echoes. –CC

good enough by absinthe father

TOP TRACKS: “i wish i was the one who sent you to jail,” “607,” “three beers deep crying at the metallica documentary”

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YOU ARE AT A PARTY

It is a dark, strobe-lit basement party. Except, it’s only strobe-lit because the cheap lights someone bought for the ‘vibe’ happened to come with a multi-colored flashing function and god forbid any party could make it past 10 p.m. without someone deciding the strobe setting needed to be turned on. Why do people even like these parties? You never know anyone, except maybe the friend who invited you and, of course, knows plenty of people and disappears before you even find where the drinks are. You don’t really want to drink anyways, but you might grab one because you feel more out of place not holding one and, besides, you don’t know anyone and need to do something to keep looking occupied. There’s probably a band playing in the corner but it’s going to take them at least 30 minutes to get setup because no one else seems to be aware of their presence and it is pretty crowded. The beer being spilled on you by the questionably young kid in a backwards baseball hat reminds you of the last several beers that have been spilled on you and, come to think of it, you have had more beers spilled on you tonight than actual conversations, you know the kind that lasts longer than yelling someone’s name as you stretch out the last syllable before offering a quick ‘what’s up.’ Do you think anyone will even stop the generic party rap Spotify playlist before the band starts? No, it doesn’t look like it. Pretty sure no one else is aware of their presence. It’s probably about time to leave the party, no one should stay here this long.

This is when the band starts. This might be the only night you ever hear this band, this might be the only night this band ever plays. If you are lucky, this band might sound like bexley moms, this band might even be bexley moms. It might sound like your own party within this other party. Like it is as cool as you could dream to be, but still a cool that you would want to be. It will sound like it is still learning how to function in social settings. And you will hope that it never learns. –CC

BEXLEY MOMS: D STANDARDS

Cool sounds for the uncool - FFO: John Maus, King Krule, Beach Fossils

Top Track: “d standards”

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BOY REX FACES A FAR-AWAY PRESENT

BOY REX: LIVE! FROM THE FAR-AWAY

Rainy window afternoon tunes FFO: Owen, Death Cab for Cutie, Into It. Over It.

Live! from the Far-Away by Boy Rex

It’s hard to talk about Boy Rex without talking about other bands. Jack Senff, the songwriter behind the Michigan group, has a history. Before creating somber, acoustic guitar-based indie rock with deliberately lush arrangements under this name, Senff spent his teenage years creating the kind of passionately raw music that spurred think-pieces on the emo revival. But here on its third album, Boy Rex comes live and far away from that past. Senff’s writing adamantly takes place in the present while the larger picture, however, almost always returns to the past or the future.

While Senff’s youth has frozen in an internet time capsule, he’s travelled to a relatively distant land musically. It’s a miracle his voice survived the screaming, but it’s made it here with a tender delivery. He sings and speaks not quite slowly but in no way rushed, as if he’s considering his phrasing carefully—much removed from previous habits of pouring unmixed feeling out and smearing it around the canvas into a rough image still raw with its individual parts. Boy Rex intentionally takes different strokes, thoughtfully blending its palette into well-balanced compositions. The Michigan band plays with a daydreaming whimsy, as if living life with a lightweight optimism that Senff’s teenage years never chose over heavier baggage. The songs take root in plucked nylon-string guitar with eclectic indie rock arrangements encircling his words in piano, synths, and echoing guitars. His musical direction has similarities to Mike Kinsella’s route after his own emo years in American Football gave way to a softer side with Owen. Boy Rex plays less into emo and math rock tendencies, but still has occasional bouts with abrupt rhythmic surprises and maintains an open-ended sense of harmony that plays well into the dreaminess of melancholic indie.

Despite holding little connection to Senff’s musical past, Live! from the Far-Away spends a great deal of time talking explicitly of his life as a musician. The lyrics plot how to sell the most merch or escape the venue on time while frequently returning to thoughts of making it, almost obsessively. The Far-Away is littered with dreams of playing bigger venues (“Golden Standard”), critiques of a town that failed him—or at least the time in his life it represents (“Olympia”), and the possibility of a sudden end to his career (“Way, Way Up”). I don’t know if Senff wants to forget his past, forget those bands, and forget the way it made people feel. I don’t think he does. But I don’t think he wants to live in the shadow of his teenage emotional expression. Still, the songwriting here is well aware of the realities of expectations, both his own and his listeners’. The topic is less about his identity than it is about his legacy, constantly pondering Senff’s past relationships and future impact. The title rings harrowingly true: Boy Rex’s here and now is living in a time that’s far-away. He roughly puts this into words on the closing track, “True Believers”: “when you look at me and my eyes are glazed, I’m coming at you live from the far-away.” –CC

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OUR FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2017

We thought that at this point you might be bored of hearing every music blog write basically the same things about basically the same albums on their best of 2017 lists (why do all the best of 2017 lists come out before 2017 is over anyways?), so we made ours a little differently this year and tried to avoid using too many words. Hope you like it and may your 2018 be full of lovely music, lovely people, and delicious sandwich spreads. Love, The Jam. —CC

10. Julie Byrne - ‘Not Even Happiness’

9. The Shins - ‘Heartworms’

8. Lexie - ‘Record Time!’

7. Lorde - ‘Melodrama’

6. Big Thief - ‘Capacity’

5. Bully - ‘Losing’

4. Hurray for the Riff Raff - ‘The Navigator’

3. St. Vincent - ‘Masseduction’

2. Alvvays - ‘Antisocialites’

1. Slowdive - ‘Slowdive’

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REMEMBER THE DECEMBERISTS

THE DECEMBERISTS: SEVERED

A simmering hot pot of synth - FFO:  Sufjan Stevens, Saintseneca, Say Hi to Your Mom

Are The Decemberists the band that the 2000s forgot? They must be as eclectic as Vampire Weekend, Colin Meloy’s literary lyrics rival Sufjan Stevens, and the tidy packaging of emotional content in sometimes-upbeat sometimes-somber indie rock matches Death Cab for Cutie’s mission statement. And don’t tell me it has to do with the folk inspirations because they’re working just fine for Fleet Foxes. To be fair, no one seems to be forgetting The Decemberists, but it does sometimes feel like the band’s been undercredited for its theatrical and diverse discography, one that’s managed to remain accessible and powerful without falling captive to trends even in the indie rock world. The newest song from the band, “Severed,” is the first to really come close to accusations of trend-hopping as Meloy’s crispy vocals simmer over a pot of gently distorted synth. But I assure you: this is not the part where the kinda arty indie band goes synthy, starts playing lots of festivals, and dresses strictly from Urban Outfitters apparel. Somehow it still sounds like The Decemberists, probably because Meloy’s artisanal songcraft lies at least as close to the heart of the group as the ‘60s folk influences. This is The Decemberists with swagger. It’s the first single from the band’s new album I’ll Be Your Girl, due March 22nd, which will be The Decemeberists’ first working with producer John Congleton—a favorite here at The Jam who’s worked on some top notch albums from St. Vincent, Alvvays, Angel Olsen, and Cloud Nothings just off the top of my head. And, honestly, if the rest of the album sounds like this track, I’ll be totally fine with that. —CC

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JOYCE MANOR ALBUMS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST

In honor of the 7th anniversary of Joyce Manor’s debut album, here are The Jam’s hot takes on the band’s four full-lengths.

1. Joyce Manor

Though sometimes remembered as little more than the “Constant Headache” album by much of the band’s fanbase, which has grown astronomically since this album’s release, the 18 minutes of blistering, hook-filled basement punk on Joyce Manor’s full-length debut set the stage for hordes of indie-inspired, emo borrowing punk bands to come (whether they were directly pulling from Joyce Manor or not) but has rarely been matched since. In 2011, emo had converted to a mainstream sect with Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, and the like preaching the adapted gospel. Guitar-based indie rock that spawned in the early 2000s had given way to a major label rebranding of ‘indie’ that bared few resemblances. Joyce Manor harkened back to the college rock and DIY punk ethos of late ‘80s and early ‘90s acts that now define ‘classic indie.’

By the time the California quartet recorded this album they’d mastered simplicity, ferocious energy, and sentimentality. The blink-of-an-eye songs meet somewhere between The Ramones and early Violent Femmes, cutting songwriting down to the hooks and nothing but. Melodies are simple and instrumental breaks are really just melodies without words. “Constant Headache” takes the structure to a fully realized pop song, while others avoid explicitly playing melodies but outline it with quick changing power chords, like the pleading “Leather Jacket”—which eventually gives way to a melody-as-solo finale. Front man Barry Johnson’s lyrics read with just the right amounts of gentle emotion and youthful angst to appeal to the punk kids without alienating the melancholic ones.

Joyce Manor is a pop album in disguise. The production is indisputably lo-fi and the influence of punk and hardcore can understandably deceive on first listen but the taste for melodies and fearless editing make it one of the catchiest punk albums of the last decade. Despite the shameless pop aspects, it’s also one of the quirkiest and most idiosyncratic albums to come from the indie-punk-emo boom of that period (rivaling even The Front Bottoms at times). The lyrics are quotable by being effortlessly odd and unusual: “when you make a decent living will you buy me a train set and a hat so that I can sit alone in my room sending people away from the ones they love or crash them into buildings explosions derailments and screaming children oh my god I think I’m in love,” Johnson sings on “Derailed.” The album is a gem, and one that rarely gets the credit it deserves.

2. Never Hungover Again

Never Hungover Again is probably the best starting point for Joyce Manor. In contrast to the self-titled debut, the band’s third album has finely crafted production, less aggressive instrumentals, and a far clearer pop influence. In an early feature on Joyce Manor in the artists to watch section of Alternative Press, the band cited Green Day and Weezer as influences. Though the fast tempos and relentless drums of the first couple albums threw listeners off the trail, Never Hungover Again delivered on the promise of those references with an accessible and refined sound.

Still clocking in under 20 minutes, Never Hungover Again could again be summarized as quick punk takes on squeezed down pop songs, but the emphasizing and diminishing of certain aspects distinguishes the album. The tempos lean a tad slower, or at least the drums clear up space by tending towards steady beats over rapid-fire endurance tests. The added space makes melodies more easily recognizable and Johnson’s songwriting finds new ways to squish pop songs to half the length. “Victoria” overlaps verses and choruses to cut a straightforward pop song, with bridge and all, in less than two minutes. The lyrics, while still charmingly unusual, have largely traded out stream of consciousness run-on sentences for quirky tidbits with (at least vaguely) more relatable subjects. “Like old friends who’d never ask ‘how can you be happy when you wear all black?’ And they care, because they wanna” Johnson quips on “Schley,” a highlight track that boils the chorus down to one line that eventually explodes in a garage rock ending section.

The touching up of Joyce Manor’s sound is almost flawless. The polished recordings make the music joyfully clear and Johnson’s songwriting is aging beautifully. But there are occasional missteps. “Heart Tattoo,” while a fine hit for many of the mainstream-leaning pop-punkers new to the band, sacrifices Joyce Manor’s tact with cheesy, Tumblr post-begging metaphors that pull the refining process into question. Still, elsewhere the band more explicitly states influences only hinted at before, producing some of their most interesting material: the new wavey “Falling In Love Again” and Smith’s-esque “Heated Swimming Pool” as examples.

3. Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired

If Joyce Manor is under credited, Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired is forgotten. Not present on the band’s Bandcamp or Spotify pages, it’s unclear if the band wants their second album to disappear or some sort of contract technicality has led to its obscurity. When I saw the band less than two weeks after the album’s release in April of 2012, they refused to play almost any songs from the album despite audience requests—my memory leads me to believe they played only “If I Needed You There” and “Violent Inside,” but I’m far from certain. They’ve also reworked “See How Tame I Can Be” and “Bride of Usher,” the two most new wave leaning tracks, as more traditional garage-punk Joyce Manor tunes for a split with Toys That Kill (in my opinion, the reworkings only prove how great the songs were to begin with, despite not fitting the band’s usual style).

Whatever the reason for OATIWSGT’s uncertain legacy, it’s a great album worth seeking out (it’s available on UK label Big Scary Monster’s Bandcamp, iTunes, and in physical formats if you look around). It’s possibly the band’s most diverse collection of songs, though that fact is obscured by the lo-fi glossing that covers all the tracks. “See How Tame I Can Be” and “Bride of Usher” borrow melodic and rhythmic tricks from ‘80s new wave and post-punk, the former featuring a drum machine sound and prickly guitar and the later featuring acoustic guitar and tambourine recalling The Smiths. Explicitly stating some influence or at least awareness of the ‘80s culture, Joyce Manor knocks out a speedy punk cover of The Buggles “Video Killed The Radio Star.” And, alluding to the softer tracks on the band’s most recent album, “Drainage” and “I’m Always Tired” give brief—even by Joyce Manor standards—tape hissing acoustic numbers to the already varied album.

Even with more stylistic variety the band’s standard quick paces, short durations, peppy punk drumming, and Johnson’s signature throaty yelp are all there; it’s actually somewhat misleading to describe the tracks as diverse. “Violent Inside” delivers an easy Joyce Manor hit that never was and opening track “These Kinds of Ice Skates” has all the lyrical peculiarity that one might expect pairing lines like “you can’t make a mistake on these kinds of ice skates” with “don’t you be my black plastic case for your glasses.” Though it could be seen as a collection of miscellaneous tracks and experimentations OATIWSGT actually plays as a surprisingly cohesive whole.

4. Cody

Perhaps it’s their most successful album yet, perhaps it’s their most critically acclaimed, though I’d guess Never Hungover Again takes that title, but Cody is their least endearing work. On their fourth album, Joyce Manor falls victim to many of the common failures of an indie or punk act moving to a major label—except, they’re signed to Epitaph and it’s their second album with the generally reliable punk label. More likely, the group saw the success of the more polished and refined Never Hungover Again (that could be success critically, financially, or personally) and attempted to expand upon it.

Cody combines elements of the band’s second and third albums while continuing to move more into mainstream pop-punk territory. It’s even brighter than Never Hungover Again with even more simplified and relatable lines but it follows less genre constraints, as OATIWSGT did. On “Fake I.D.” Johnson offers witty quips about what seems to be a Kanye West debate following a hook-up, before reducing the death of a friend to “I feel sad, I miss him he was rad.” The songwriting simplicity walks a dangerous line between purposeful and poorly thought out often losing balance and allowing cheap rhymes and easy teenage cool kid references (fake I.D.s, smoking weed, etc.) to slip in.

To the band’s credit, their pop-punk often veers away from the tropes of a genre plagued by stereotypes and clichés. While there is a pitch-corrected tone to the vocals and the music has a certain I-could-spend-hours-debating-which-Weezer-album-is-best sense to it, Joyce Manor opts for less nasally singing and chugging chords leaning instead towards power pop chunky riffs and jangling guitars. Tracks like “Last You Heard of Me” and “Stairs” even nod briefly toward the shoegaze revival and “Do You Really Want to Not Get Better” makes a surprisingly sincere attempt at Tumblr-era sentimentality. Though it’s a definite weak spot in Joyce Manor’s discography, Cody opens up the band’s music to a much larger audience without totally betraying older fans expectations. And, to be honest, if you’re just being introduced to the indie and punk genres now, it’s probably an excellent gateway. –CC

Only full-length (if you can call these 20-minute little spurts “full-length”) albums are included in this list. ‘Collection’ isn’t included because it is a compilation of other releases, mainly ‘Constant Headache’ which isn’t included because it’s just an EP and some of the material appears on ‘Joyce Manor.’ They also have some splits, earlier demo-type releases, and do a great cover of The 6ths “Falling Out of Love With You.” You’re all big kids, use the internet and look ‘em up. If you’re not a big kid, my apologies. Send me a message with a parent or guardian’s signature and I will attempt to guide you through the internet. Also, how the heck did you get here if you don’t know how to use the internet?

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CURRENT JOYS: “BECOME THE WARM JETS” / “FEAR”

FLOPPY, UNCERTAIN, PRESENT - FFO: Car Seat Headrest, Elvis Depressedly, early Cloud Nothings

It’s kind of dumb actually, it’s just a drum machine and some slightly out of tune guitar with these dopey little melodies. But Current Joys’ “Kids” was one of my favorite songs I discovered last year—the type of song I dance to in my room alone. So I’ve been anxiously awaiting the next album from the band, the solo project of Surf Curse’s Nick Rattigan. With the release of two new singles, A Different Page is at last on its way. “Become the Warm Jets” and “Fear” showcase the two sides of the band: slow, drawn out reflections and punchy little garage rock. The keys to both are minimalism and emotional presence.

Rattigan’s songwriting favors simplistic guitars and uber-simplistic drums (I’m not positive if they’re done by drum machines or heavy processing of straight forward beats). Current Joys’ music is heavy on repetition, letting you sink in as a listener and really soak in the mood. “Fear,” the more immediate of the two new tracks, emphasizes this with an instrumental chorus, a synthesized wash reiterating the melancholy of the verses between. “I never felt it when I was young, I never knew where it came from / now I feel it like a hurricane, and it’s so hard to stop the rain”—“it” implying the titular fear. The guitars stagnate on repeated patterns, uncertain where to go, leaving us caught only in the present. —CC

A Different Age by Current Joys

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COREY FLOOD: “FEEL OKAY”

POWER-UP FOR THE DARK SIDE - FFO:  PJ Harvey, Liz Phair, Savages

Wish You Hadn't EP by corey flood

You probably don’t remember who Corey Flood is. If you’re like me you probably haven’t encountered her since you were up late watching ‘80s movies on VH1. In the era-defining classic Say Anything Corey is the heartbroken girl that advises a young John Cusack on his love life. She also writes 65 songs about her cheating ex-boyfriend. But here’s the thing, when Corey plays one of those songs in the movie it’s not some sappy, pathetic plea to win him back. It’s fricken intense and angry and kind of frightening (watch that scene here).

So today when I heard about a new band called Corey Flood I did the obvious and 100% necessary internet research into the movie Corey’s background after I listened. And holy cow does Corey Flood capture the other Corey Flood’s essence—or at least that don’t-fuck-with-me intensity. “Feel Okay” is dark and menacing but not in an overtly aggressive or towering way. The power of the song comes from it’s minimalism and restraint. Corey Flood looms doomily, building toward a horrific explosion that never actually comes. There’s a dissonance to the music, the guitars rarely play at the same time, and the vocals coo in the most gothic of fashions but where other bands would make clear the obvious, Corey Flood makes you wait and wonder. —CC

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BANDCAMP UNVEILS GIFT CARDS: why you should use them

Seven years ago, at the ripe young age of 15, I was discovering a whole world of underground and independent music and almost all of it was coming through Bandcamp. In the not-so-happening suburbs of the not-so-happening Dayton, Ohio, Bandcamp became one of my only ties to an idealistic land of oddballs, punk bands, and artists. Streaming hadn’t quite exploded yet and most of these artists didn’t bother with formal digital distribution at all, even if they were lucky enough to have a small indie label backing them, so they relied on the early blossoms of the vinyl resurgence and sites like Bandcamp, YouTube, Soundcloud, and even piracy platforms like Mediafire to share their music.

For the majority of the world though, iTunes continued to be the place where music happened. Thus, my birthday cards arrived with the saturated colors of iTunes money (which I eagerly, and gratefully made use of). Today, the world has changed. Bandcamp will now offer gift cards for purchase. That’s great for music consumers and musicians as the platform typically features lower prices, higher artists payouts, and more flexibility with releasing music.

On Bandcamp, artists are able to set their own price for each release—anything from pay what you want, which includes paying nothing, to maybe $100 for an album. The site recommends $7 for full-length albums and $4 for EPs as a good starting point for most artists based off of its own sales data. On iTunes, albums typically start at $9.99. That’s not a huge difference as a consumer, though potentially saving $3 per album doesn’t suck, but it pays off even more for artists. On iTunes, artist keep around two-thirds of the money from each sale (to be clear, that’s artists and their label, management, etc., the money then has to be split between those parties, but for ease of explanation we’ll count that entire group as one party here). Bandcamp takes 15% off digital sales (10% off merch).

As an example, let’s look at Alvvays’ Antisocialites, one of both The Jam’s and Bandcamp’s favorite albums of 2017. Alvvays lists that album at $8 on Bandcamp and $9.99 on iTunes. On Bandcamp, Alvvays will make $6.80 per sale. On iTunes, despite the higher charge to consumers, the band will make around $6.67. In short, artists get more support from consumers at an often lower cost.

As mentioned above, artists can choose to sell their music for significantly lower or higher prices, with the pay what you want feature being particularly popular. That allows an artist in its early days to reasonably price its music, and even change that price if it proves too expensive or the artist gains significant popularity. The adaptability of Bandcamp is huge, and creates opportunities for artists to more intimately present themselves to listeners. Artists like Frankie Cosmos, Car Seat Headrest, and, more recently, Clairo have used Bandcamp to post demos and rough recordings before later creating formal releases. Not only that, but artists can easily link to their social media sites, include merch right next to their music, and customize the presentation of their page. Bandcamp also allows artists to recommend music (an underutilized feature).

It’s worth noting, the music platform previously allowed specific products to be gifted—so you could, for example, send your roommate Alvvays’ Antisocialites, but you could not send them $8 to be used on any product of their choice. Though the gift cards appear to work for all digital music, they’ll only work on select merch for now.

Bandcamp’s power and potential as a tool for independent musicians, DIY artists, and alternative subculture is nothing new. But gift cards are another exciting step by the platform that lets it go just a little further. For young people without credit cards or PayPal accounts gift cards—like myself several years ago—the new feature could open up a world they’ve never had access to before.  –CC

[thejamzine-blog]

RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW

LIGHTS GO OUT: EXPLORING NEW LOWS

Fuzzy bummer rock that will support you - FFO: Dinosaur Jr., LVL UP, Japandroids

The first Lights Go Out release was a dirty sounding, lo-fi demo that almost no one heard. In contrast, the second release was a slightly less lo-fi sounding album that slightly more people heard. “If anyone found out what my songs were about, I wouldn’t have anymore friends,” frontman Zac Baaske sings on opener “Ghost Bummer,” a line toying equally with thankfulness and hopelessness. Lights Go Out balances between bummy basement jams and supportive fuzz anthems. Baaske is as quick to wallow in his own pity--“I talk about home like it’s something I’ll never know” he sings on that opening track--as he is to urge friends through their own struggles--best captured in the fiery rallying cry “I wanna be someone who you can lean on, lean on when the lights go out” of “Lights Go Out.”

What makes Exploring New Lows sound so alive is its sense of struggle. While sadster guitar rock and clearance rack-emo have overrun basements with cheap ripoffs of desperate poetry and Tumblr baiting one-liners, real life doesn’t come as a stream of constant hopelessness but a series of ups, downs, minor failures, and pointless anxieties. Baaske’s lyrics captures the moments of falling and scrambling for something to grab hold to. “Let Down,” likely the album’s strongest track, excellently describes the realistic loneliness that many face, the ordinary sadness. “Got up, it hurt, but did it anyhow. Because I had to, the way adults do.” His voice often barely grasps its way past the layers of fuzz and squealing guitars that layer each track, making the sense of struggle all the more real. By burying the lines, the sentiment is amplified.

Last week, Lights Go Out made its way to Spotify, nearly 18 months after Exploring New Lows initial release. Here’s to hoping that even slightly more people will take a listen. Check it out below. –CC

TOP TRACKS: “Bodi,” “Let Down,” “No, Not Yet, Srry”

[thejamzine-blog]

MONDAY MARMALADE

The internet is a big scary world. Most of the time, when I set out to find new music I am met by the horrifying infinite abyss of Bandcamp pages, Spotify playlists, and obscure pop-punk bands that inexplicably follow me on Instagram. So in this new (mostly) weekly Jam feature we’ll be sharing a musical find from the abyss that gave us hope. If you generally like our music taste, you may find this helpful. If you don’t really know if you like our music taste or don’t even understand why this blog isn’t posting recipes and tips for making orange marmalade at home, this will just be another part of a big scary world.

LEXIE: RECORD TIME!

Talking sweetly with a close friend - FFO: Frankie Cosmos, bands that probably like The Smiths, Warehouse

Record Time! by Lexie

Frankie Cosmos is probably my favorite current musical act, so it was with eager anticipation that I first read about frontwoman Greta Kline’s new side project with members of Warehouse, Lexie ...and then I didn’t hear anything else and forgot all about it. After stumbling back into the band’s name a week ago, I finally sat down to listen to the album this week and have been totally enamored. Kline’s lyricism remains just as personal and esoteric but perhaps with less context and more room for interpretation--like an intimate conversation with a close friend where the details are already well-known. The angular, post-punk rhythms of Warehouse can be heard, but with softened edges that call to mind a host of Smiths-inspired guitar bands. Record Time! keeps up the sometimes sparkly, sometimes jittery instrumentals Alex Bailey and Doug Bleichner craft in Warehouse but matches it with Frankie Cosmos’ nuanced simplicity and minimalism. Really, it’s a dream. –CC

TOP TRACKS: “In Us,” “It’s Nothing,” “Home For a Minute”

[thejamzine-blog]

MONDAY MARMALADE

The internet is a big scary world. Most of the time, when I set out to find new music I am met by the horrifying infinite abyss of Bandcamp pages, Spotify playlists, and obscure pop-punk bands that inexplicably follow me on Instagram. So in this new (mostly) weekly Jam feature we’ll be sharing a musical find from the abyss that gave us hope. If you generally like our music taste, you may find this helpful. If you don’t really know if you like our music taste or don’t even understand why this blog isn’t posting recipes and tips for making orange marmalade at home, this will just be another part of a big scary world.

POWER SNUGGLE: COP A FEELING

Warm, whimsical, and snuggly - FFO: Girlpool, Julien Baker, Waxahatchee

Cop A Feeling by Power Snuggle

Hello, hello to the latest greatest in small sounding twee-pop. To be honest, I sometimes try to avoid writing about Z Tapes artists because they’re so consistently good and a lot of little blogs already share their stuff, but Cop a Feeling really spoke to me today. Power Snuggle is one of the prized few that make the two guitars and nothing else thing work and I can’t help but be reminded of Girlpool and the lesser known Jam favorite Honeyuck. But more important than the simplicity is the expression. As the guitars spiral together the two members hand-draw (probably with crayons, but maybe with colored pencils) a telling picture of early adulthood. “Take a little piece, everyday, of myself and put it on a plate. Keep it close at hand just in case, side of fries and a fast food shake.” Chelsea Moore and Sarah Tudzin realistically capture feelings of purposeless and unfamiliarity with lines like “I wasn’t looking for much so I kept on looking” (“Jack”) and “I can’t remember anything, I’m trying” (“Fear & Form”) that skip inside stories about the foreign feeling of a childhood home or struggling with folding sheets even after getting a PhD. Cop a Feeling spans less than 15 minutes with little instrumentation, but in being small it speaks to the small parts of life that weigh significant. –CC

TOP TRACKS: “Jack,” “Ethel & the Royal Scam”