SOUND BITES

  Fontaines D.C. have come a long way in a short time; barely a year removed from a post-punk debut that garnered loads of attention and immediately pigeonholed them as a young, feisty band on the rise, they'd already started looking to broaden their horizons and seek new influences on their 2020 sophomore record, A Hero's Death . It might not have stuck with fans in the same way Dogrel did, but in retrospect it seems like a necessary recalibration heading into third record Skinty Fia . With most of the band now having relocated to London from Dublin, Skinty Fia deals with not only the pressures of adjusting to a new home, but also the pressures of expectation; after watching their star rise so quickly in the UK and gaining plenty of followers on this side of the Atlantic, it feels as though Fontaines D.C. are continuing to discover themselves. Further exploring darker, moodier textures and elements of new wave and shoegaze, with Skinty Fia the group create even more artistic...

I've done variations on this theme several times in the past, usually after a long period of time during which I abandon my responsibilities around here and allow unreviewed releases to pile up high. Now that my "reviews" are shorter and without much deep thought involved, I kind of figured we wouldn't get to this point again so soon; and yet, here we are. Anyway, here are some albums I've checked out over the summer but not yet shared my opinions on; I could have done haiku just as easily as dropping one or two sentences as I have below, but it turns out I'm too lazy to even arrange this shit into the proper lines and syllables. Shrug. MONDO COZMO New Medicine June 12, 2020 • Last Gang Highlights Black Cadillac • Upside Down • Come On For his second album as Mondo Cozmo, Josh Ostrander got help from some heavy hitters; Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes features heavily, both as a guest guitarist and co-producer, and previous single Come On was co...