Fresh Tracks: 3/16/23
New music from Kelela, Blues Lawyer, and more
Music better watch its back this week.
Your internet farm cat is out for blood.
Today’s treats get a little crazy. We have a little Japanese chaos, some house-infused R&B from D.C., and of course an indie rock track or two. Hope you enjoy.
GEZAN, Million Wish Collective - “もう俺らは我慢できない (We Can’t Stand It Anymore)”
Yes, this song is in Japanese. Yes, it’s by two Japanese bands that perform mostly in Japanese. They listen to plenty of English-language music over there, so I thought we could all return the favour. Also, the album’s awesomeness transcends translation.
The craziness of “We Can’t Stand It Anymore” is an accurate taste of what to expect from the rest of ANOCHI. It’s collective and anarchic and joyful (the album opens with bagpipes and trombone forcryingoutloud). It sounds the way protest music should sound. I’m in love with it.
Spiral XP - “Deja Vu”
Is this shoegaze? It’s on the cusp, at least. You can make out Yo La Tengo’s influence, but that doesn’t really clear things up any. It doesn’t have the signature drone delivered by My Bloody Valentine and other pillars of the genre. But it has the noise and the soft-spoken vocals.
Who cares. It rocks. The Washington band makes you want to see them live with their high-energy riffs and “doo-dodoo” background singers in “Deja Vu.” An old guy like me would bring earplugs, but I don’t think anything could stop their show from being a fun one.
Wesley Joseph - “Sugar Dive”
UK singer/rapper Wesley Joseph joined the stellar lineup on indie label Secretly Canadian in mid-February with his new album, GLOW. You might be more familiar with the label’s alternative signees like Jens Lekman and The War On Drugs, but their venture into hip hop and R&B has proved impressive, and Wesley Joseph adds to that reputation.
Just try to keep your head from bopping with the infectious groove in “SUGAR DIVE.” The expertly paced single sounds prepped for a club set while offering a just the right dose of Drake angst in the lyrics to keep you engaged through your earbuds.
Kelela - “Contact”
When everyone made a big stink about Beyonce combining her R&B with house and other LGBTQ+-owned sounds, I thought to myself, why? It’s not like this hasn’t been done before. Kelela takes a similar path here without nearly the same fanfare, and in my opinion, she does a better job.
Case in point: “Contact.” Please use this to soundtrack your next fashion show runway. In fact, press play and let the whole album do the job. Much of Raven blends seamlessly together to give a DJ-set effect while also offering the kind of journey you want from an LP.
Blues Lawyer - “Nowhere to Go”
When you’re a lonely traveller through the thickets of the internet, you wonder sometimes if there’s anyone else out there whose ears are responding to this stuff the same way as yours.
answered that question for me the other day when he wrote about this band on .Blues Lawyer isn’t breaking much new ground with “Nowhere to Go.” They’re just doing what they do well—college garage rock. No matter where music goes, I think we can all agree that we’ll always need a few bands doing this.
Thanks for the shout out/signal boost! I'm really digging the Blue Lawyer record (Spiral XP too, for that matter). You nailed it with your description-- that they're doing what they do well.
I was lucky enough to get a chance to chat with them recently, so keep an eye out for that coming up.
Awesome variety of picks! "We Can't Stand it Anymore" is willllld. Love the chilled out rock of Spiral XP and Blues Lawyer. Also well done on the bandcamp embeds!! Especially helpful for an old school guy like me who still doesn't stream haha.