SOUND BITES

Many, many moons ago, I had a weird idea pop into my head; how hilarious would it be to sum something up not with a long winded review, but something short and directly to the point? At the time, I didn't act upon the idea of the Haiku Review, but I wish I had; of course, someone else acted upon their idea and beat me to the title "pioneer of haiku as a form of critical thinking". Such wasted chances I could have gotten more hits If only I'd haiku'd. Anyway, I have published haiku reviews before; when Arcade Fire released their super-pretentious double album Reflektor back in 2013, I went about the business of reviewing it not on this site like a normal person would, but with haiku on my old personal Twitter account. I did a few, but my favourite was: The first half was great What happened on the second? Think I fell asleep. You get the idea. So, with that spirit in mind alongside the knowledge that I've been really, really terrible at keeping up m...

Of all the rock bands to achieve widespread mainstream success this decade, you'd be hard pressed to find one as simultaneously radio friendly and weird as Cage the Elephant. They've been able to cover all sorts of sonic ground in the decade since Ain't No Rest for the Wicked smashed, and they've done it by hiding hit singles inside albums where they've fearlessly followed their muse. The title track of their fifth album acknowledges this in a way, as Matt Shultz sings about his anxiety over "play(ing) this part" and struggling with his thoughts about the true cost of success, summed up at the end of the chorus, "at least you're on the radio". Indeed, throughout Social Cues , there is a tug of war between commercial acceptance and the freedom to experiment. Much of the album resides in a dark retro vision not too different from the territory Arctic Monkeys traveled to on their breakthrough AM , although Cage the Elephant deals less in r...

One of the most endearing, enjoyable moments on PUP's excellent 2016 album The Dream is Over was the fiery single If This Tour Doesn't Kill You I Will ; over a rollicking, jagged musical backdrop, Stefan Babcock despaired about his bandmates and the tensions that come from spending long hours in a cramped space with sweaty dudes on tour. It was as funny as it was biting, and its dramatization of trivial problems helped establish PUP as one of the most exciting young bands of the decade. On Morbid Stuff , the focus shifts to the internal, addressing Babcock's mental health and the pitfalls of growing older in these harsh modern times. Musically, the band is maturing as well, drifting away from the punkier tendencies of their previous releases in favour of ragged indie flair, though they do prove by times that they're still willing to throw down, such as on the incendiary Full Blown Meltdown . However, even the most melodic moments on Morbid Stuff are plenty ener...

Over the course of their first six albums, Wintersleep have risen from earnest Maritime upstarts to become one of Canada's most dependable bands and somewhat of a revered export, earning a growing following in the U.S. and Europe. That they've done so without surrendering their identity or steering their core sound into the mainstream is a minor miracle in these modern times where bands are encouraged to bend to the will of taste makers and corporate interests. Their seventh record firmly upholds their status as one of the nation's most exploratory and consistent bands; In the Land of finds them not only stretching their sound toward experimental new territory, but also taking the time to reflect on their roots. Forest Fire , for example, lilts along a pleasant piano-led melody while employing multi-tracked vocals and lush harmonies, making for one of the band's most beautiful songs. The Lighthouse , meanwhile, is both a lyrical and musical throwback to some of Wi...

Foals' fifth album (or, rather, the first half of it) could have been a brash attempt at mainstream acceptance, a dulling of edges resulting from the unexpected success of 2015 single Mountain At My Gates and a bid at wider appeal. Credit is due because not only is their follow up a two-part album, it's a record that finds them continuing to evolve and explore rather than mining for gold. Their balance between stadium-shaking rock and dark, dance-able pop remains intact here, and is best felt in lead single Exits and (especially) current single In Degrees (with honourable mention to the percussive and hypnotic Cafe D'Athens ). They're no mere chart-seeking missiles, however, and the layers underneath these songs allow as much experimentation and off-kilter harmony as Foals wish to provide, the end results being songs that offer surface level satisfaction as well as deeper sonic roots for more attentive listening. Elsewhere, Foals don't hold back on energy an...

At this point, a quarter century into their career and with a dozen studio albums of original material under their belts, it's kind of shocking that anybody still gives a shit about Weezer. Their best days are long behind them at this point, and they've spent the better part of the last fifteen years or so alternating between underwhelming artistic detours and outright awful attempts at relevance. Before the release of this, their sixth self-titled record, Weezer earned their biggest hit in years in the form of a faithful cover of Toto's Africa , as spurred on by a tweet and the eventual endgame for which became a full album of covers that was surprise released mere weeks before dropping "the black album. That "the teal album", a meme-worthy but painfully on-the-nose collection of covers garnered more attention than their new album of original songs says a lot about Weezer's current status; the majority of fans would rather hear them play cheesy song...

Only a decade removed from their debut, Rival Sons' sixth album isn't a grand departure from what came before; still purveyors of fuzzed-out, Zeppelinesque rock as filtered through modern times, it's not like they've earned a reputation as rock chameleons. However, with the recent rock revival wrought by the thunderous (and just a little preposterous) success of Greta Van Fleet, if there was ever a time for a band like Rival Sons to take advantage it's now. They've more or less seized their opportunity on Feral Roots , though not at the expense of their own growth; there are new and excellent examples of the immediacy they can bring to their songs, as evidenced by the opening trio of songs on this album; Do Your Worst , Sugar On the Bone and Back in the Woods are all no-muss no-fuss, thick and groovy rock and roll songs, aimed right between your ears and effective in their potency. However, as the album progresses things get much more interesting. The aco...