Think of all the famous duos you can. Who do you come up with? The White Stripes, The Kills, Batman and Robin. Simple, yet effective teams that gave their all so effectively, you’d have expected more people to have been involved. Our latest talented twosome: Jack + Eliza.
There’s a dusky nostalgia in Jack + Eliza (…though I may just associate the thought of summer with nostalgia because I’m writing this as the northeast is ravaged by an enormous blizzard). Their debut EP was released last summer, and is exactly the sunny disposition everyone (except LA) really needs right now. Aside from the light and bright melodies, I also really love the earnest youth in their voices and lyrics. Think of Jack + Eliza as Best Coast’s younger sibling. That comparison works sonically as well, with their songs generally being upbeat and reverb-laden. All around, feel-good tunes.
Rudyard Kipling, the author of the Jungle Book series and creator of Mowgli, the feral child protagonist of the novel and namesake for the California-based alt/rock band, once said, “I always prefer to believe the best of everybody, it saves so much trouble.” Before I even get to the song that is currently in my ear, I want to focus on Kipling’s quotation and the purpose of me placing it in the post. The 7-member Mowgli’s pair their wall-of-sound blend of Indie/Pop with a campaign to “Be a Mowgli” and do good deeds for other individuals – a social network of kindness. The Mowgli’s truly believe the best of everybody. The band also creates some tremendous tunes.
A few years old and only growing in popularity, The Mowgli’s employ a Grouplove-like Los Angeles sound that combines melodies and vocals together into incredible amalgamations of sound. “Say It, Just Say It” is a quintessential example of the band’s draw. The song begins with a chorus of voices – much in the same vein of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – over a smiling guitar riff. The band plays an infectious type of power indie/pop that bands like American Authors and Young Rising Sons has found recent success with. The Mowgli’s, though, just have so much people power, and it has developed such tremendous unity, almost like Polyphonic Spree. It’s like a family band. And the music is awesome. I love listening to it, and it is currently in my ear (and will be for a while).
Vowel-averse GRRL PAL has embarked on a year-long mission to release a new song every month. Their most recent installment is NGHT, an in-your-face romp that at times sounds like it is imploding. The accompanying video watches the duo recline and dance intermittently as the sun sets.
Short licks of high vocals ring throughout the intro, and follow well into chorus, along with many other quirky noises that GRRL PAL has molded into a song. There are distinct similarities between this and Purity Ring, if Purity Ring inhaled a little helium. There is also a very subtle, yet handsome bass line that holds everything together with grace. And for these reasons this hyper-sweet jam is irresistible. Even if you’re not the type to spontaneously start dancing, “NGHT” will make you want to frolic with GRRL PAL in your front yard in the dusk.
Download “NGHT” for free on GRRL PAL’s Soundcloud page, where you will also find its predecessor, “Paradise,” also available for download. For more info on GRRL PAL, visit their tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter.
Back in November I lauded Bleachers as the purveyors of ridiculously catchy music that refused to leave the musical amalgamation that is my mind. My opinion of the band has not really changed; although, I must say that Jack Antonoff’s project has moved in my mind from just plain catchy to musically skilled and complex; Antonoff melds a theatrical pop sound fit with expeditious percussion and dulcet instrumentation with the essential quality of catchiness, which the songs most certainly have.
Bleachers released its debut LP Strange Desire in July of this year and several singles have been cherry picked from the album, each cherry perfectly ripe and delicious. Singles like “I Wanna Get Better” and “Rollercoaster” have hit the charts with a mini fervor, similar to Antonoff’s last uber-successful project (Fun). I think the songs have also just scratched the surface of popularity; in fact, I see a remarkably successful 2015 for Antonoff and his fellow bandmates.
Strange Desire is an 11-track affair with tracks featuring Grimes and Yoko Ono – yes, Yoko Ono. The first four tracks are all super hits in my mind; seriously, the tracks are each monumental jaunty pop pieces that get feet tapping and heads nodding. The ethereal, heavenly keys and 80s-esque harmony of “Wild Heart” is followed by the key-driven, percussion-soaked harmony-laden swooning “Rollercoaster,” which is the perfect hit-the-road-and-drive-anywhere song. This is followed by an Arcade Fire-like “Shadow,” which moves with a creative rhythm section and ends with a twangy guitar riff that leads into this:
“I Wanna Get Better,” which is one of the best songs of the year, is a melodic agglutination of anthem vocals, sprawling harmonies, infectious keys, and rock-out percussion. The song just kicks some much butt, and it is tempting to just listen to it on repeat. Plus, I must say it fits the New Years theme quite well because doesn’t everyone want to get better.
What a year for Aphex Twin. Syro in its own right is an instant classic, making it onto many of these top ten lists that are going around. He also released a set of tracks that could easily have made up another double-album on his Soundcloud. I’m sure it took a load off, finally releasing material he had written and been working on since the 90s. Coincidentally (or serendipitously?), it was also a good year for longtime fan, Evan Shornstein. As well as probably celebrating new Aphex Twin, Shornstein, under the moniker Photay, celebrated his own (mini) album release.
The eponymous record begins with a detox. I found this ironic, because, rather than have signs of painful withdrawal, the track builds up and foreshadows what is ahead. Then I realized I wasn’t cleansing myself of the toxins of the music, I was using the music to cleanse myself. I let Seafloor lift me up during “Deconstruct”; the sassless horns were my scripture. The brass on the entire album is stunning, complementing the smart basslines and beats. I shuddered at the static tickling my eardrums. “Illusion of Seclusion” is the vinyl finale, promising a wondrous infinite unknown. But the digital bonus tracks won’t just leave it there.
The final three tracks are their own act, all part of the epilogue. It is the evening in a dusty town, where you can hear fun being had without you. You let your nostalgia warm you. (But the seclusion is an illusion.) You are invited inside to dance, and suddenly there are people around you, so many people. You had no idea this many people could even be near you, how many people are there? How small are we in comparison?
Photay (the mini album) is out now via Astro Nautico. (Photay is also a full length release available on his Bandcamp.) For more information on Photay, follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Soundcloud.
The Music Court 