Last updated on January 6, 2022
It has been a while since I have been able to consistently post album reviews. I hope I will be able to get back to a more stable pattern of posting soon. Until then, here are four releases that I have been listening to for a while but haven’t had a chance to write up.
Mike Crawford and His Secret Siblings – Bright Hopes!: This double album is chock full of the type of sun-dappled, hectic indie-rock that Switchfoot was great at before they turned into arena rock all-stars. The overall vibe is light and bouncy, but there’s some serious melodic and instrumental chops lurking underneath the mood. The songwriting is complex and surprising; there’s not a dull moment throughout the extensive run-time.
The centerpiece of the record is a song you may have heard before if you’re into Christian music: Crawford wrote “Be Still (Psalm 46),” which is treated to a lush version here with lazy horns and tossed-off, jazzy keys. Somehow, it doesn’t jar against the indie-dance-rock of “Balm of Gilead” and the chiptune-inflected “Grace and Peace.” Wild.
Eerie Gaits – Bridge Music: John Ross is as adept at organic, instrumental post-rock as he is at fronting electro-pop (Challenger) and punk (Wild Pink) bands. Bridge Music’s post-rock features an acoustic guitar instead of an electric guitar or keys. This means fans of Goldmund, Balmorhea, Seryn, and The Album Leaf will find much to love here.
The album is serene at heart: you can put this one on and relax effortlessly. It’s got a very autumnal sound, so it’ll be great for those of you who will soon see leaves start to turn. (I live in Phoenix now, so it’ll be a while before any temperatures shift, much less leaves fall.) Beautiful and warm.
Make Sure – Town Runner EP: Josh Jackson (Fiery Crash, Summerooms) has a new outfit. Make Sure builds on Jackson’s strengths of evocative vocals and bright arrangements by adding in even more ethos in the arrangements. The indie-rock/early ’00s emo of the four tracks here has twinkling guitars, delicate vocals, and punchy drums to spare, but it’s the subtle touches (a bass run here, relaxed keys there, an unexpected chord change now and then) that finish the puzzle.
The tight interactions between the trio of instrumentalists in “Basement Halloween” evoke the adventurous instrumental ideas of early Appleseed Cast. “If You Were Mine (Shady Glen Session)” hearkens back to Fiery Crash work, stripping out some of the instrumental gymnastics for a quiet little pop song that yet retains the mood of the whole work. It’s only about 15 minutes long, but Make Sure’s debut holds up way past 15 minutes of listening. Definitely a band to watch.
Billy Shaddox – The Record Keeper: Shaddox’s work synthesizes folk, indie-pop, AM radio rock, and even some country (“When I Hand Myself In”) into a big-hearted, good-natured sound that goes down easy. His latest work focuses on a quieter side of his oeuvre, dialing down some of the crunch and substituting mellow moments. An instantly friendly, approachable, memorable record results.
“Blame Your Eyes” is a perfect example of the approach The Record Keeper takes. Shaddox sings guilelessly over a smooth acoustic guitar line, shortly joined thereafter by strummed mandolin, shaker egg, and distant piano. A whirring organ piles in, and a brass instrument caps it off. Each of these instruments pull the arrangement in slightly different genre directions, but never get the song off track. It’s a lilting, assured piece that would fit seamlessly on unknowable numbers of chill mixtapes and playlists. “Saint Vrain” and the title track both have this sort of genre-defying act going on as well. If you’re into (such diverse acts as) Bishop Allen, David Ramirez, and Jason Isbell, you’ll find lots to enjoy here.