Album Review: FREE I.H: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For by Illuminati Hotties

Album: FREE I.H: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For
Artist: Illuminati Hotties
Release Date: July 17, 2020
Label: Self-released
Favorite Tracks:

• freequent letdown
• melatonezone
• content/bedtime
• reasons 2 live

Thoughts:

Singer/songwriter Sarah Tudzin’s pioneering work in “tenderpunk” takes a turn in this brief (12 songs in 24 minutes) but eclectic collection. This is the band’s sophomore effort after Kiss Yr Frenemies and shows a willingness to experiment.  The album comes in the wake of their record label’s demise explaining why it is self-released and probably why it is so short.  Still, if this is just a place holder until the next “real” album comes out, then we can expect great things.

Rating: ****

Album Review: Fongola by Kokoko!

Album: Fongola
Artist: Kokoko!
Release Date: July 5, 2019
Favorite Tracks:

• Likolo
• Azo Toke
• Singa

Thoughts:

Kokoko! is a collective of artists from Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  They use instruments fashioned from trash to create sounds for a musical style that blends electronica with dance punk.  The synths layered on by their French producer Débruit also gives it an 80s freestyle dance pop sound.  Kokoko! makes refreshing music that functions equally well at a dance club or a political protest.

Rating: ****

Album Review: Cut & Stitch by Petrol Girls

Album: Cut & Stitch
Artist: Petrol Girls
Release Date: May 24, 2019
Favorite Tracks:

• Big Mouth
• Monstrous
• Weather Warning
• Naive

Thoughts:

I have a soft spot for punk rock that features women’s voices shouting over shredding guitars.  The Petrol Girls website bears the tagline “Raging Feminist Post Hardcore from the UK and Austria” which about sums it up.  And while the shouted lyrics may not always be easy to understand, I appreciate that they’re saying important things, the emotion behind them is clear.

Rating: ****

Monthly Mixtape: May 2019

The Monthly Mixtape for May will take you on a journey!

Sarah Pagé :: Ephemeris Data
Kick it off with some experimental harp music.

The Silver Lake Chorus :: Tabu
Follow up with some tight choral harmonies and hot rhythms.

Black Pumas :: Colors
Then slide into some classic psychedelic soul.

 

Sass :: Spoiled by Rotten
Nex, some aural time travel to 1991.

Sleater-Kinney :: Hurry on Home
And while you’re in the 90s, pick up Sleater-Kinney and bring them to the present to work with St. Vincent!

Is there any great new music I missed along this journey?  Let me know in the comments!

Previous Mixtapes:

• February 2018
• March 2018
• April 2018
• May 2018
• June 2018
• July 2018
• August 2018
• September 2018
• October 2018
• November 2018
• December 2018
• January 2019
• February 2019
• March 2019
• April 2019

 

Album Review: It’s Real by Ex Hex

Album: It’s Real
Artist: Ex Hex
Release Date: March 22, 2019
Favorite Tracks:

• Tough Enough
• Cosmic Cave
• No Reflection
• Talk to Me

Thoughts:

This is the second album (following 2014’s Rips) from the Washington, DC based trio of Mary Timony on guitar, bassist Betsy Wright and drummer Laura Harris.  It’s got a mix of 80s punk and hardrock with touches of power pop and 60s girl groups thrown in.  There’s nothing quite original here, but it is a well-crafted collection of raging guitar solos and sweet harmonies.

Rating: ****

Album Review: Encore by The Specials

Album: Encore
Artist: The Specials
Release Date: February 1, 2019
Favorite Tracks: B.L.M, The Lunatics, Blam Blam Fever, 10 Commandments, The Life and Times (Of a Man Called Depression)
Thoughts:

The Specials, the 2 Tone UK ska revival band from the 1970s and 80s, are back with a new album!  I remember back in the 1990s, the band released Today’s Specials, which was good enough but since it was all covers it felt more like UB40’s Labor of Love than anything The Specials had done before.  Encore has three covers, but the rest of the album is new material.  And just as they did back in the Thatcher Era, The Specials have something to say to our times with tracks focusing on Black Lives Matter, gun violence, and women’s rights (the latter with guest vocals by Saffiyah Khan).  The opening track is firmly in the disco genre which made me wonder what I was in store for, but the rest of the album falls into the more expected ska/reggae/punk sounds.  I’d say overall, that the album is hit and miss, but tracks like “B.L.M” and “10 Commandments” make the whole thing feel more relevant than one would expect from a 40-year-old band.  The deluxe version of the album features live versions of The Specials’ classic tunes.

Rating: ***1/2

Album Review: Cost of Living by Downtown Boys

Album: Cost of Living
Artist: Downtown Boys
Release Date: August 11, 2017
Favorite Tracks: “A Wall,” “Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas), “Lips that Bite” and “Clara Rancia.”

Thoughts: The Providence-based, bilingual punk band is back with an energetic new album filled with hard riffs and pointed lyrics.  I particularly like it when the horns kick in.  This is the music for our fraught political times, filled with anger but leavened with hope.
Rating: ****

Song of the Week: “Pink White House” by Priests

The new release from D.C. punk band Priests is dark and cynical and features a casually violent video. It seems all too fitting for our times. 

Song of the Week: “Transition” by DIRTYGIRL

The lo-fi punk band from London DIRTYGIRL offers “Transition,” a track with a tight power pop sound and vocals reminiscent of early Liz Phair.  It’s off their Junk Food EP released in October, and made known to my by The Sounds in My Head podcast.

Song of the Week #1: “Wave of History” by Downtown Boys

Bilingual socialist punk rock with horns from Providence?  Sign me up!

“Wave of History” is the lead track off the Downtown Boys most recent album Full Communism.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T23wfhddpYY]