Cover me in Bliss.

I’m passing up the chance to see Charly Bliss later this week—believe me, you don’t know how painful the decision was, but it’s only because The Breeders are playing the same night and I agreed to cover their show a while ago.* Dagnabbit, why is it always true that when I am looking for something to do there’s nothing going on, but when there IS something I want to do, there is so much other awesome stuff going on at the same time?! It ain’t fair!

Anyway, Charly Bliss released a new video today so watch it along with me, fall in love with it, and then lament the fact that I’m missing them this time around.** (But not over-lamenting, I am getting a chance to see The Breeders, fer chrissakes.)



*YOU can still see Charly Bliss in Chicago though! Tickets for their Lincoln Hall show Saturday night are still available. They are SO good live!

**Speaking of Charly Bliss videos, they’ve been crushing it with content promotion-wise for this latest album. And in most other bands’ hands this would be annoying, but they are so vibrant and creative I’m left jaw agape at the sheer output of excellent stuff instead of being agog with annoyance with so much PR. Case in point? See below.

One of my favorite albums of the year is out today! Check out Charly Bliss!

Charly Bliss, photo by Jacqueline Harriet

I mentioned Charly Bliss a while ago, and their length debut Guppy is finally out today. It is easily one of my favorite albums of 2017, and if you are a fan of sunny harmonies and fuzzed out guitar pop featuring female vocals, then you will also love this too.

The New York quartet is on tour all over and hits Chicago to play Schubas on May 13, a show I am positive will sell out.

Seriously, this album has been in my personal high rotation for months and I've been eagerly waiting for the time everyone else can tell me how good they think it is as well, so get to it and get Guppy right now!

FINALLY! Some new music from Charly Bliss!

Photo Credit: Ebru Yildiz

Charly Bliss just announced their new album Young Enough is coming out in May! I've been a huge fan of the band since I first saw them (opening for Veruca Salt, I think?) so I am very excited. I actually saw 'em play a few weeks ago at the Tomorrow Never Knows fest and, as usual, they fully delivered. If you haven't seen them, you are missing out because they are one of my favorite live bands out there right now.

The group is previewing one track, "Capacity," from the album and it has me even more excited to hear every other track. It's got a great groove and is a little more downbeat and complex than their previous work. But I think it shows a band that's growing their sound in new and exciting directions, and who wouldn't get excited about that?!

Since they were just in town the obviously don't have any Chicago dates right now, but I betcha they'll be on one of the festival bills this summer, so keep an eye out.

Stream "Capacity' or watch its video below.

Big sounds from a Tiny Desk courtesy Charly Bliss.

Photo by Beth Eisgrau-Heller/KEXP

We were trying to remember a show from last winter we were both at, and K kept telling me, "You know their name. They're your favorite band! You played them all the time when we were in my car back then!"

We finally remembered the band in question was Charly Bliss, and based on how much I have listened to them over the past few years, K categorizing them as my "favorite band" seems accurate, even if at the time my brain immediately leapt toward the groups with longer histories I'd usually jump to based on that description.

Charly Bliss recently stopped by the NPR studios and today they've released their own contribution to the excellent Tiny Desk Concert series. So, everyone, enjoy this unconventional show from my favorite band!

Rockin' My Turntable in 2019.

Photo by Travis Wiens.

Well, I'm still 6 months late with this, but at least I'm getting closer to being back on track since my 2017 list took almost a year to get up. Progress? Progress!

It's worth noting that in the intro to my 2018 list I mentioned my listing habits had returned to normal when it came to new music. Of course I wrote that at the end of 2019 and since then they have returned to normal (as of yesterday, I've logged 344 albums so far this year).

2019 was a year for me slowing down, regaining control, and leaning on the familiar to get me through uncertain times. In this case you'll see "the familiar" has to do with sonic connections of the bands more so than. litany of old faves. Sure, there are a few stalwarts in here, but the vast majority are newer artists who hew to the sounds of my personal nostalgia and sentiment. So that's the basis of a lot of how these wormed their way into my head and heart, but if these were just bands trading on their influences it'd bore me (and you) pretty quickly.

The albums below are in total random order. The only potential organizing principle was that if the music is available on Bandcamp (my preferred platform for buying and streaming but mostly buying music) those are grouped first. Honestly, I haven't a clue why every band isn't on Bandcamp since I think Spotify is not a musician's friend and Soundcloud is fine but, again, doesn't seem as financially supportive to musicians as one would like.

So, let's go!

Bob Mould - Sunshine Rock

The granddaddy of indie punk shows no signs of slowing down. He's taken many detours over the years but he always seems to land in the power trio format and simply can't help himself from writing chunky guitar pop masterpiece after chunky guitar pop masterpiece.




Foxygen - Seeing Other People

Foxygen decided to take a trip down the groovier lanes of '60s pop psychedelia and I was and still am all in.




Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

Don't kill me for saying this, but this is the album I always knew The Carpenters had in them if they'd just unleashed Karen.




Brat Curse - Brat Curse

Power pop on trucker's speed, with a vocal delivery that will have people singing Tripping Daisy tunes from their past. Urgent, immediate, and so much fun. Chugga chugga chugga!




PUP - Morbid Stuff

These cats never disappoint with raucous party punk that keeps the blood and sweat glands pumping.




Kitty Kat Fan Club - Dreamy Little You

Imagine a lottery ball machine filled with tiny globes of perfect indie pop bouncing all over the place and nudging against each other to be chosen unknowing that in fact they are all winners. That's Kitty Kat Fan Club.




Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center

You've heard this. Everyone has heard this. And there's a reason for that. But hopefully you didn't just hear the singles. Better Oblivion Community Center also put on one of my favorite shows in 2019, even though I think I went solo since my friend who was supposed to go that night canceled at the last minute. Big mistake!




Ex Hex - It's Real

This power trio whips out the polish and applies an '80s gleam to their indie power-pop numbers to take you down right in the solar plexus.




Dude York - Falling

This trio gets sharper and sharper and I've enjoyed watching them grow, especially as the guitarist and bassist have slowly started to more evenly split the songs they sing on.




Charly Bliss - Young Enough

One of my newer friends thought Charly Bliss was my favorite band of all time because of how much I played their music and talked to anyone who would listen about how terrific they are in 2019. While they aren't my favorite band of all time, over the years they have swiftly risen up my internal rankings ever since I saw them open for Veruca Salt way back when. They get better and better and better and if they top this album I just might explode.




Great Grandpa - Four Of Arrows

Another gang of youthful types who love '90s indie rock and explored the noise corners of that sound on their last album, only to shed much of the volume in favor of finesse on this huge step forward.




The Dollyrots - Daydream Explosion

I keep saying this because it's true: if Josie and the Pussycats released new albums they would sound exactly like this.




100 gecs - 1000 gecs

This was certainly the most memorable show I saw in 2019. If you have to ask yourself if you're too old to "get" 100 gecs then you're doing it wrong. You don't need to "get" them, you just need to submerge yourself in them. Also, I'm sure the duo behind the group's music has never heard of Atari Teenage Riot, but they are the spiritual sonic forefathers of 100 gecs—even if the gecs get the last word when it comes to crafting backward hooks.




Bleached - Don't You Think You've Had Enough?

These albums are indeed in random order, but I'm noticing a trend: Bleached also put on one of my favorite shows in 2019. Their set focused mainly on this album, so it was a slicker and more "disco" affair than one would expect from a band whose work often sounded as if it was made to bounce off garage doors and basement ceilings. But it was great, even if I think the singer in the band and me were the only people in the room not drinking that night.




Extra Arms - Up From Here

Ryan Allen and his crew never disappoint. Just listen to the whole thing already. Also a really fun show even if the cozy confines of the Montrose Saloon didn't seem entirely sure what to do Wirth the band when they started playing, everyone in the room was a convert bye the end. Bonus points fro keeping one of the owners of said Saloon dancing near the front of the crowd for most of their set.




Yeasayer - Erotic Reruns

It figures that just when Yeasayer releases an album that trims their flabbier tendencies towards excess in their music it would also be the band's final release. This deserved more attention than it got.




Starcrawler - Devour You

Another band with a phenomenal 2019 live show. They injected more glam into their tunes but the gutter is always half a step away in their music as it teeters on the edge of the abyss.




White Reaper - You Deserve Love

This is the album that should have made these cats an arena act. This is also the album that made me realize that the vast majority of groups the music press writes about and focuses on are much smaller than you would think when it comes to broader cultural awareness of their music, and that can set lopsided expectations divorced from reality. So while yes, in a different world You Deserve Love should have made these cats an arena act, in our world it's just a fan-fucking-tabulous album.




Telethon - Hard Pop 

These folks from Milwaukee are just cranking out hit after hit, and I can't get enough. Luckily they pace of their output is pretty speedy so I never have to wait too long for new goodness. Also? The album sounds just like it's title.




Tacocat - This Mess Is A Place

Yes, I think it's funny a band based in dreary (allegedly) Seattle would create such a terrific beach album. But they did, and it's great!




Radar State - Strays

When I wrote about this sorta supergroup I said,"The sound is all energetic, classic riffle and sing-along prompts that you'll fall prey to halfway through any given chorus. It's the sound of four people who share enough of a common background to keep things cohesive, but are different enough that none of this sounds like a rehash of their own bands." Yup.




Angel Olsen - All Mirrors

Grand. Eloquent. Stately. Baroque. Angel. Olsen. Outdoes. Herself.




Masked Intruder - III

According to my play counts over 2019, I played this album A LOT. It's pure release, and on top of it, Masked Intruder is just so much funny fun.




Dark Thoughts - Must Be Nice

As simple and loud as it gets. 'Nuff said.




The Regrettes - How Do You Love?

Sugar laced with cyanide and topped with bouffants hovering over sleeves of tattoos. At least that's what the latest album from The Regrettes sounds like to me.

The Regrettes · How Do You Love?

Love In October - Shapes

These Chicago-based siblings continue to show a knack for kicking out condensed blasts of guitar pop bliss that, at the right moment, could also get you onto the dance floor.

Love in October · SHAPES

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

This album is a total '70s soul throwback that is absolutely sublime and made me immediately fall for Michael Kiwanuka. Don't worry though, even though it's got its dusty roots in a retro sound, KIWANUKA's immediate effect is all modern.




Miss June - Bad Luck Party

When Miss June played to a room of about a dozen people last year these kids from New Zealand could have just phoned it in. Who wants to play to an empty room? Wisely, they chose to rock the fuck out. (This is a tactic that works. The last time I saw a band play to so few people in that particular room while treating it as a stadium-sized sold-out crowd the band's name was Cage The Elephant. They turned out O.K.) Oh yeah, the music is great too. Still bummed I didn't have enough dough to buy a t0shirt at that show though.




The Futureheads - Powers

Still tighter than a wire even if they're not changing the formula. But if they did, then they wouldn't be The Futureheads.




Carly Ray Jepsen - Dedicated 

Did you get more and more frantic as you read, wondering how in god's name I could forget Carly Rae Jepsen?! I didn't!



You made it to the very end! Congratulations! And thank you! I promise my best of 2020 list will actually be published in 2020, or a week within its ending, at the very latest—we shall see!

The supergroup you didn't know existed, with the holiday song you didn't know you needed.

Charly Bliss and Pup have teamed up to create a new soon-to-be holiday standard. Watch the just-released video above, and stream or buy (it's only a buck!) the track below.

Ho ho ho! Happy holidays, y'all!

You should be very excited for this Charly Bliss album.

Photo Credit: Beth Eisgrau

I’ve been wracking my brain trying to remember how I first heard of Charly Bliss and just remembered they opened for Veruca Salt back in the summer of 2015 at Beat Kitchen. I loved their set and was sad that they only had a couple singles on Bandcamp, and even those didn’t quite catch the infectious energy of their set.

Next month they finally release their full-length debut, Guppy. And It’s an album I’ve been turning to frequently as a pick-me-up. Yes, yes, yes it is very indie guitar-pop ‘90s—and I am a sucker for that— but when the songs are this good I don’t think you'll care where the style is sourced from.

Here’s a new video from the band. And here is where you can pre-order the album. Do it now!

 

Rockin' My Turntable In 2017.

Photo by Travis Wiens. 

Yup, it’s February, but with the demise of Chicagoist I felt no need to rush this list. And then I felt no need to really expound on each choice. So I was left with the simple quandary of what do I write?

Below are the albums that got me through 1917, arguably the worst fucking year of my 45-year existence. I mean, truly a terrible year. And I think that’s reflected in the music I clung to. Even a cursory glance establishes that I returned to my comfort food roots. Most young indie bands grew up on the indie bands I listened to in college and young adulthood. Only these new bands also grew up on hip-hop and pop so while much of the music I liked when I was younger certainly had hooks, they weren’t often as sugar filled as the approach these new kids take.

There’s also a marked absence of hip-hop and pop, which is unusual for me. But both those genres are running ever faster for the word of streaming ingles and Soundcloud, and avoiding albums, so if you think about it their absence isn’t so strange.

Also, there’s the usual caveat: these are the albums I liked the most and I’m making no artistic judgement on “the most important” or “the actual best for all listeners.” Also, I literally shuffled them in an iTunes playlist to determine their order, because order doesn’t matter. These were all just really fucking good. And they made a difficult year a trifle better every time I listened to them.

These are literally the notes from the spreadsheet I keep throughout the year, so welcome to an inside look at how I initially write stuff

Dude York - Sincerely
Dude York—the Seattle trio of bassist/singer Claire England, guitarist/singer Peter Richards and drummer Andrew Hall—write RAWK songs. Big guitars, big choruses, big feelings, big cymbal crashes; there is nothing subtle about this band. And I love it. Now more than ever is when we need music like this. Joyful, loud, timeless, and reminding us that sometimes a band's job is to make a euphoric noice that connects us to the moment and makes us forget about the world around us, if even for only three minutes.





Foxygen - Hang
Full on orchestra on this album. Lush and lovely. A complete departure from their trainwreck of a last album. VERY swinging sixties groovy.





Cayetana - New Kind Of Normal
Power pop at maximum volume. Trio that tours with bigger punk bands but has more a '90s alt-rock indie guitar vibe.





Snowball II - Flashes Of Quincy
Whoa, major Teenage Fanclub and Nada Surf vibes! Noisy and apparently mostly a 1-man band in the studio. So impressive layers of guitars and harmonies going on here. Sounds like sunshine.





Charli XCX - Pop 2
Icy pop that still remains fun. Packed with guest vocalists. Even if she won't release "albums" any more, these mixtapes are great.





New Pornographers - Whiteout Conditions
The new album delivers on the promise of a band you can depend on to deliver the hooks, but it surprises by packing the album with no missteps and plenty of surprises. Because of this the band feels reinvigorated. After seven albums, even a supergroup can fall prey to falling into a rut, and while much of their recent output was strong it still felt a little overly premeditated. On Whiteout Conditions the band comes across as if they’ve awoken from a comfortable slumber with the intention of mining those corners of their talents that drove their earliest and most honest artistic explorations. In other words, The New Pornographers got their groove back.





Woods - Love is Love
Recorded November - January 2017. Six new songs in 32 minutes. A reaction to the election, but instead of anger the band is exploring love. A beautiful little document. The lyrics are pretty potent and really reflect the uncertainty but do so i n a way that tries to uncover hope where there seems to be only despair.





Dan Auerbach - Waiting On A Song
'60s and '70s vibes as Auerbach mixes Southern Cali vibes with Motwon swing.





San Cisco - The Water
Fizzy  and jaunty rock pop from Australia. SUPER young. And this is WAY more assured and polished than it should be, while still exuding a bouncy and authentic glow of youth.





Broken Social Scene - Hug Of Thunder
Fine return! Excellent album. Still lots of smeary walls of noise but there's also a new crispness to the songqriting. It's like they tarted drinking coffee while still smoking enough pot to keep 'em lose. Not sure who all is in the lineup, no liner notes or credits came with the album.





The Foo Fighters - Concrete And Gold
Perfectly serviceable. Has bits and pieces of the last two albums so it doesn't feel like a complete success though. Needs a few more listens from me... UPDATE: It's a grower. Now I really kinda like it!





Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest
Electro based French pop that's super sexy and catchy. One of my faves from this month.





The Bombpops - Fear Of Missing Out
If Josie and the Pussycats had a sister band with a few tattoes it would sound like this.





Charly Bliss - Guppy
Heavy guitar indie pop with great female vocals and tremendous hooks. Scuzzy around the edges soundwise to keep things feeling sharp and not slick. Love this.





White Reaper - The World's Best American Band
Stomin' swaggerin' punky take on '70s rawk. Excellent. Lives up to its title, just about.





Gorillaz - Humanz
A party for the apocalypse.





Partner - In Search Of Lost Time
EXCELLENT! Super crunchy power pop a la Weezer from Canada, female duo, so so so so good.





LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
Darker and more intense than their other stuff. It's fucking intense. But don't worry you can still dance to it while you shiver and cry.





The National - Sleep Well Beast
Berninger is the face of The National, and his mumbling baritone is an unmistakable part of the band’s personal power. But it appears that bringing his wife Besser into the mix has opened new vistas of vulnerability and sheer truth to the group’s work. It’s hard to pinpoint the power of her influence, but Berninger and the band have never sounded so appealingly vulnerable and honest as he does here.





Warbly Jets - Warbly Jets
Blur + Super Furry Animals + The Verve + Primal Scream = Warbly Jets. I REALLY LIKE THIS.

A quick shot of (Charly) Bliss while things are still settling down.

Everything is still upended by Friday's big purchase so please enjoy this relatively new video from one of my favorite bands of 2017.

Like the song in the video? Then download it for free in exchange for a Facebook follow!

(Which, by the way, while I enjoyed judging the battle of bands I skipped their show for, I am still smarting over missing that show. I bet it was amazing. Maybe the best show of the year. They better come back through Chicago soon!)

How much new music did I listen to in February 2017? Let's find out!

I wonder what I'm listening to here.

Time for that monthly check-in wherein I share the numbers and a few nuggets related to the new music I listen to.

February saw a bit of a dip, and not just due to the shortened month. Current political events are wearing on me and I find myself turning more and more to reassuring music from my past to help refill the ol’ emotional tank. Don’t worry, I still managed to fit a bunch of new records into my listening schedule.

I explain my ratings here, if you're interested.


Total number of new/upcoming releases listened to in February 2017: 45

Number of those releases that rated 7-10: 4

Number of those releases that rated 4-6: 31

Number of those releases that rated 1-3: 13

Highest rated album: Charly Bliss - Guppy (Surprise!)

New band I’d never heard of that caught me off guard: The Bombpops. Total power-punk ear candy.

Most surprising discovery: That there is such a thing as a boring Sleater-Kinney live album.