Wherein Post Animal crosses into personally sentimental sonic territory previously carved out by The Pursuit Of Happiness.

Photo by Courtney Sofiah Yates

I'm working up a full album review of Post Animal's latest release Love Gibberish that will run closer to its May release date for Third Coast Review, but had to share this track because it's stuck in my head for an entirely personal reason I just had to share.

In the late '80s I was big fan of The Pursuit Of Happiness. Moe Berg and his crew hit on the perfect blend of noise and pop and angst on that group's debut that ensnared my teenage brain right away. And the new Post Animal album bounces around approaches to its songs quite a bit, and one of their new tunes is very reminiscent of early TPOH to these ears.* That riffage and that speak-sing delivery—in this particular ratio those elements jettison me right back to junior year in high school. Yipes, but also fun!

So, I present to you, "No More Sports!"

*There is actually quite a bit of '80s-influenced sonic territory covered on Love Gibberish that I think many will find both surprising and refreshing. 

Particle Kid's 'Time Capsule' gleefully rips free of time's bonds.

Photo by Randi Malkin Steinberger

The less you know about Particle Kid, perhaps the better. That way Time Capsule can unravel and reveal itself on its own terms.* I will note that the "Kid" is J. Micah Nelson—son of Willie Nelson—and I share that ahead of time so you don't listen and find that out afterward and feel like you've been had. While his last name certainly seems strong enough to pull in some heavy duty guest appearances, the album is weird and wooly in ways that can't just be attributed to a close proximity to fame. In fact, I still believe my initial response after my first listen is all you really need to know.

Ho-lee sheet this new Particle Kid (aka @jacmnelson3) is an eye- and ear- and brain-popping sprawl of messy, marvelous music. I thought it’s length would be a weight, but no! It unravels outside of time so never feels too long a listen.https://t.co/AjcoSycztz

— Tankboy (@tankboy) April 24, 2022

I will admit that late in the album, there is one track I would have probably removed—I won't tell you which one but it's got a real Funstyle flair to it—but even that song makes sense as far as the natural trajectory of the album is concerned. So I guess that's a long way of saying I probably would not remove it after all, eh?

Strap on some headphones and get ready for a ride, ya'll.

*As a 26-track double album, letting it reveal itself on its own terms is kinda key. Y'know?

On the edge of a new world.

I can feel it in the air. FINALLY. A change is coming. Spring is actually near. I'm cautiously optimistic major waves of the COVID epidemic may have finally subsided (even if there is absolutely no way to predict the future on that front, yet). I'm on a 300+ day step streak and am looking forwards to the majority of that walking moving outdoors instead of pacing in my apartment. Despite my inability to actually get out of the house and attend a show so far this year, I have not given up hope and want to remedy that within weeks if not days. 

Even if I'm not entirely sure how, I am 100% devoted to exiting my hermitage of the last couple of years. I've accepted that whatever insane human drive I had, that just allowed me to pile on activities far beyond what should have been a reasonable breaking point, was interrupted by my social isolation and is never going to return at that volume. (This is actually a relief. I don't think I knew how exhausting that was until all that nervous energy had nowhere to go when I stopped. It's taken a few years, but I've finally settled into a more realistic, human, mortal approach to what it means to be "active.") 

And here I sit, on the precipice again, waiting for the sign it's time to drop my metaphorical skateboard into the bowl and start to LIVE again. I've spent a lot of time in my head over the last 3 years, and while it's still not an entirely fun place to be all of the time, I've grown more comfortable being an unadulterated version of  me all of the time. I can be intense and earnest and sometimes throw people off with my weird energy, but I think the core ME—the one who has always been there since the earliest days of wandering South Texas farmlands and orange groves solo looking for adventure and living in a world of imagination—that me is one I like being around. Can't wait for you to meet him again too!

Primer's brainy but fun 'Incubator' is a perfect fit for these (and all) times.

Photo by Rik Horoky

Alyssa Midcalf performs under the Primer moniker and her debut album Incubator is just the laser beam of synth-driven sunshine we all need right now. Especially if you're in a region where spring appears to completely resists springing, for now.*

There have been a few pop albums that sprung up throughout the pandemic that delivered solid, positive, uplifting (but not vapid) touchpoints to hold onto amidst a sea of desperation and depression. Incubator is the latest entry in this more personalized musical genre of mine, but I believe its appeal to be universal!

Tl;dr—this is a ton of super-duper solid electro-pop, bursting with burbling and bubbly rhythms bouncing underneath Midcalf's sweet and assured but unshowy vocals.

Highly recommended!

*Ahem, Chicago.

That's a mighty fine set of steak knives, Man's Body!

Man's Body has a show coming up in Chicago playing with Hushdrops. I had planned on seeing Hushdrops the next time they played, so I took a swing through the Man's Body 2021 release A Set Of Steak Knives to see if I should plan on sticking around late enough to catch their headlining set.

The answer? A resounding YES!

Man's Body packs A Set Of Steak Knives with music that's catchy and buzzy in the earlier indie rock vein, and was honestly a surprise to me. Based on the band bio I thought this would be more of a "middle-aged dude" album* but this is almost power-pop in a scuzzier form. Lotsa those riffs that chunk-a-chunk-a-buzzsaaaaaaaaaaw all over the place, and that's the kinda thing that hits me squarely in the solar plexus of vibez.

So I'll definitely be sticking around to catch their later set when they play The Burlington on April 22!

*NO offense meant to middle-aged dude albums, though!

2022 is shaping up to be a mighty fine year for new music.

I think the logjam created by the pandemic slowing down releases has finally broken. After two years of weeks and weeks where there was really only one or two really interesting releases amidst a sea of reissues and compilation albums and live albums and whatever anyone could create to keep the music moving even when there was little motivation to create new music. And even less motivation to promote it in a world where touring was impossible for the longest stretch of time in my own lifetime (if not ever).

I look through my spreadsheets from the last couple of years, and very, very, very few albums rose above a 5, while this year there are already an unusual number of 6s, 7s, and 8s. (FYC: A handy reminder of how I personally rate music as I track albums each year.) So that's great news!

I still haven't seen a live concert in 2022 though, so that's not-so-great news. But I like to balance that with the fact that whatever old sense of FOMO I ever had is still completely absent in my life, and I don't think it will ever return. So that ain't so great as far as creating blast-off levels of anxiety over missing something to get me out of the house, but it's awesome as far as avoiding those heightened levels of anxiety over, basically, nothing. So it balances out in the end.

I will tell you this though: I am determined to see a show in the month of April!