“Tastes Good With The Money” – Fat White Family
The best way I could describe the theme of this video is the meme of the dog inside the burning house saying, “This is fine.” Paying homage to Monty Python’s Flying Circus, “Tastes Good With The Money” laughs in the face of the world spiraling out of control into a dark abyss. Directed by longtime fan of the band, Róisín Murphy, this dark humor is inspired by the unstable, appallingly laughable current state of politics across the pond as well as in the states. Seeing the well-to-do erupt in bloody spurts at what should be a posh get together is a delightfully absurd contrast to the dark, slick, and scuzzy song.
–Lauren Khalfayan
“Offering” – Versing
Every band I talked to when I was in Seattle last summer was like, “You should listen to Versing,” and they weren’t wrong. Recently signed to Hardly Art (Lala Lala, Chastity Belt), the four piece’s latest singles, “Offering” and “Tethered” are their strongest to date. They sound exactly how I would want Seattle to sound in 2019: a little dirty, a little fuzzy, spacious, 45 degrees, cloudy. “Offering” spirals with distorted guitars and tons of feedback — appropriately so as the song’s about traveling through portals to different dimensions. “Tethered” speaks on our interconnectivity to one another and our responsibility to the greater good over the individual as chords clash and ignite against one another.
–Lauren Khalfayan
“I Wanna Keep Yr Dog” – illuminati hotties
Feelings are hard to come by — for humans at least. Always clever and tongue in cheek, Sarah Tudzin laments the hardship of loving a dog more than the relationship she finds herself in. It’s another example of the perfectly crafted balance of sweetness and scuzz that’s so quintessential to the projects sound.
-Lauren Khalfayan
Another Land – Lucille Furs
Lucille Furs’ sophomore album, Another Land, allows listeners to get a taste of what Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett era may have sounded like if it happened in 2019. This is because the sonic stylings of both artists share a rich and ethereal nature, yet Lucille Furs influses a sense of flair and modernity within it. Another Land further cements their skill in curating a sound that finds its distinction in thoughtful lyrics, melodic vocal hooks, and experimental instrumentation. What manifests is the album emulating a sense of timelessness. The clearly detectable callback to the sonic stylings of the mid to late 1960s successfully circumvents carbon copy status through the layers of artistic individuality Lucille Furs have finely mixed within this sound. Whether it be the flourishes of flute in “Sooner Than Later,” the jovial pulse of “Paint Euphrosyne Blue,” or the way the keys effortlessly interplay with the melody in “First, Do No Harm,” Lucille Furs is able to self-distinguish through their strong attention to nuance and detail. These details, of course, play an integral role in making each track pop and bubble over with a life of its own. Another Land has all the components of a beloved classic sound – yet with modern and individualistic nuances. The result is a lovely album that was clearly crafted with care.
-Lindsay Teske
“Future Shade” – Black Mountain
Black Mountain’s Stephen McBean quipped in a 2016 interview that the band had toyed with calling their then-upcoming fourth album “Our Strongest Material To Date.” IV was indeed colossal and saw the band expanding their signature heavy psych sound with out of this world electronics and space age synths, but after that massive achievement the Vancouver rockers fell silent, hibernating for what has felt like an age.
“Future Shade” is the first single from their upcoming and hotly anticipated LP Destroyer and what a welcome return it is. A guitar forward wall of sound, tall and imposing, its peak enshrouded in wispy clouds of analog synths. The track is organic and primal, like an ancient thing that has never been vanquished but dares to be conquered by its sheer magnitude. McBean’s vocals forge a path to the summit, encouraged by the Valkyrie-like wail of Sleepy Sun’s Rachel Fannan on the chorus riding an avalanche of icy riffs and punishing rhythms.
Destroyer is out May 24th via Jagjaguwar. If IV was Black Mountain’s strongest material to date, this album could very well be one of the best of all time. Get ready.
–Clayton Pacelli
