SOUND BITES

  If you read a certain article leading up to the release of Slipknot's seventh album and saw a red flag or two, that's understandable; when one of your band's members is making pre-emptive excuses for a drop in quality and citing all the factors that worked against them during production (and fanning the flames of inetr-band tension by claiming not to be the only member with doubts about the finished product), there might be solid evidence that there's something on this record in need of an explanation. Slipknot waste no time providing just what Jim Root could have misgivings about; while they've been well known to wriggle out from under the fan base's expectations of heaviness that tug at their ankles like an anchor, gleefully dragging their sound outside the realm of metal despite and/or because of the fickleness of some members of that community, this time they come out of the gates defiant. Adderall starts the album off in shockingly subdued fashion, slow...

  Given the luxury of three years or so to create and promote their debut album, Sports Team found themselves more or less established, at least in their homeland UK by the time Deep Down Happy released in mid-2020. Of course, "mid-2020" implies some supremely dismal timing when attempting to capitalize on your own momentum, and without the ability to tour Sports Team saw little return on investment aside from good reviews and a Mercury Prize nomination for their efforts. Holing up in a rented house to hash out their second record, Sports Team approached things from a more personal, less observational perspective. Gulp! , the resulting album (originally meant for release in July but victim of multiple delays due to production issues), is a leaner and more focused affair than Deep Down Happy ; considering the wide rollout for the former combined with the added time together as a unit, this just makes sense. Clocking in at a compact 33 minutes, Gulp! doesn't really fall i...

  As bands age, there's often a built-in expectation that they'll slow down and lose their intensity the further away from their inception as they get; The Wonder Years were certainly trending in that direction, the howling, anxiety-ridden pop punk of their formative period gradually giving way to more subtle, nuanced sonic palettes. 2018's Sister Cities was the most brazen break from their norm, bringing a darker melancholy and a marked focus on atmosphere into their orbit to mixed reactions. With The Hum Goes On Forever , The Wonder Years have taken cues from all that they've learned over the fifteen years since their debut while sounding reignited and more inspired, thanks in large part to the birth of Dan Campbell's son Wyatt. The younger Campbell is more impactful on the album's lyrics than any of the places, possessions and situations that arise, and for good reason; in his son, Campbell sees the reason for existing that he's previously struggled to d...

  When reviewing the first of Weezer's four seasonal EPs back in March, I talked about how they seemed to be enforcing arbitrary rules of aesthetics in service to the "spring" gimmick, which could be seen as a disservice to otherwise fine songs that didn't need to be twisted toward a concept, as loose as it was; even a quarter of the way through this ambitious exercise, it was clear that not every idea was bound to stick, and this was confirmed by the SZNZ: Summer EP. Choosing not to take the layup and offer up the bright melodies and sun-soaked hooks that they're best at, Weezer went into full wildfire mode for summer, packing the EP with scorched guitars and clumsy genre mashups. For SZNZ: Autumn , one might glance at the spookiness of the cover and expect some touches of goth, new wave or even a little doom metal, and yet it's being talked up as "the dance one", and these seven songs are as likely a soundtrack to your changing leaves and pumpkin ...

  While helping to usher in indie rock's breakout period by creating their most accessible and dynamic work just as the masses' ears were perking up to the Modest Mice and Bloc Parties of the world, Death Cab for Cutie found themselves a go-to for lovestruck listeners who identified with Ben Gibbard's tales of longing and relationships on 2003's breakthrough record Transatlanticism . By the time they made their major debut (2005's Plans ), Gibbard had finely honed the skill of encapsulating love's extremes, from fear and doubt to devotion and commitment. To further illustrate just how well their songs speak to these extremes, just listen to Title and Registration and I Will Follow You Into the Dark back to back with the knowledge that these two vastly different takes on romance were released just two years apart. Such has been the way of Death Cab's records, each more or less mirroring Gibbard's personal ups and downs as he's found and lost love re...

  For fans of The Black Angels, it's been an especially long wait for their sixth album; after setting a new personal record for gaps between albums (the four years between Indigo Meadow and Death Song in 2013 and 2017, respectively), the Texan quintet went seventeen months longer before finally releasing Wilderness of Mirrors . The wait can be blamed on a couple of major contributors, one obvious (gesturing at the world) and one not so much (The Black Angels seem to have used the extra time to branch out from their core sound). Whatever the reasons, this album is better for it, thanks to some particularly engaged performances and some welcome surprises. Whereas some previous albums have spent ample time trudging in thick psychedelic mud, Wilderness of Mirrors reveals more urgency and intensity in the performances; to wit, the leading third of the album, five songs which feature most of the band's fuzzy, established traits. However, the prototypical slower tracks ( Without a...

  Born out of a simple desire to "reconnect with (his) songwriting muscles" during Covid lockdowns, the debut solo record by Marcus Mumford turned into something much more meaningful as it took shape. Through the process of creating (self-titled) , Mumford uncovered and explored childhood trauma, ultimately deciding to use the album as a means by which to talk about what had been suppressed. This makes the stark opening track Cannibal much more harrowing, Mumford seething at his abuser and acknowledging that, as difficult as it may be, speaking openly about it is necessary to begin healing. This thread runs throughout (self-titled) , as following track Grace addresses the revelations of abuse to Mumford's mother; even with its difficult subject matter, though, the bombastic production by Blake Mills allows the song to embody the catharsis that comes with unburdening one's soul. It's a sound that reflects Mumford's words as he struggles to navigate the healing ...

  Taking cues from the scrappy power pop of the '90s, New Zealand based The Beths have wasted no time in building their sound; already having introduced themselves via their 2018 debut Future Me Hates Me and then going just a bit darker on the excellent 2020 follow-up Jump Rope Gazers , there are both subtle refinements and sneaky experimentations to be heard on third record Expert in a Dying Field . At its base, this is the same crackling power pop The Beths have been creating from the outset, the result of what I imagine is a lot of late night headphones sessions with the likes of Superchunk, Matthew Sweet and Liz Phair records growing up. On Expert in a Dying Field , however, the hooks are sharper and the instrumentals more controlled, while continuing to offer the same endorphin rush they always have. The opening title track pretty much encapsulates the record's ambitions with its softly sung, rangy vocal, inviting rhythm and melodic payoff. Even better is Knees Deep , a s...

  A statement such as "first album in a decade" implies a prolonged dormancy for a band or, at the very least, a separation of principal members amended after an extended silence; in the case of The Mars Volta, however, nothing is ever so simple. Originally formed in the aftermath of At the Drive-In's dissolution (just as they broke through with their 2000 all-time banger album Relationship of Command , no less), that band's dominant creative duo formed The Mars Volta as a means by which to explore their expanding creative desires and escape from any and all limitations whether real or implied by the expectations of fans. What Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala accomplished during their initial decade-long run as The Mars Volta cannot be understated; those first six albums, starting with De-Loused in the Comatorium in 2003 and ending with 2012's Noctourniquet , allowed the pair to explore a wide variety of moods, styles and genres, more often than not ...

  The pandemic took something from all of us; in the case of Clutch, one of hard rock's most dependable and hard working bands, it took the crucial lifeline that is touring. What this essentially means for their thirteenth album is that its creation wasn't able to be informed by their normal practice of road testing and fine tuning the songs. Written and recorded in the tentative times surrounding lockdowns, mandates and sporadic performances (including a handful of well-received Live from the Doom Saloon livestreams), Sunrise on Slaughter Beach is, in turn, somewhat of a tentative album by the longstanding champions of pure rock fury. In a way, this album is a welcome retraction from previous record Book of Bad Decisions , which is sprawling by comparison at fifteen tracks over 57 minutes. With nine tracks over 33 minutes, Sunrise on Slaughter Beach isn't just a leaner record, it's the shortest of their storied career by far; this implies a focus on quality over qua...

  Forming in the immediate aftermath of the alternative explosion emanating from Seattle, Built to Spill entered the scene with a pair of albums that earned enough recognition and showed enough promise to land them a three album contract with Warner Bros. Records. Naturally, Martsch celebrated the achievement by creating Perfect from Now On , a critical success and fan favourite but commercial non-starter, in 1997. This third record saw Built to Spill delve further into their progressive rock-adjacent sweet spot, penning sprawling songs that ran counter to the post-grunge that was the style of the time.  A couple of less adventurous, more streamlined records (1999's Keep It Like a Secret and 2001's Ancient Melodies of the Future ) followed, but they weren't the breakthrough that the suits would have hoped for. At this point most unconventional bands that had yet to prove their marketability would be unceremoniously tossed aside by their label; however, in a rare case of ar...