Quick Hits, Vol. 212 (Hop Along, Turbowolf, King Tubby, Sleep)

Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog.  Instant winner for favorite album title of the year.  I can't stop saying it out loud, in a very disdainful voice.  Almost a Napoleon Dynamite voice.  Bark Your Head Off, Dog!  GOSH!  I'm in love with that title.  I plan to take it out for a nice dinner at a fine new Austin restaurant and let my eyes linger just a touch too long on its comma.
This is a Philly band, with a female lead singer, and kind of a sad, confessional bend to their indie rock tunes.  Sorta Sleater Kinney- ish, but less grating and more pleasant, with the vocals frequently sounding like they are straining the lead singer's voice right up to the edge of her ability.  The top track is the album opener, "How Simple," with 2.7 million streams.

I especially like when the dance breaks out right about 1:15 - that is when this one keeps grabbing my attention at work and making me look over to check the band name.  Follows in the footsteps of indie ladies like Mitski's "Nobody."  "Somewhere a Judge" is also a good one, as is "Prior Things."  Pretty solid album.  I'll hold on to it, Dog.

Turbowolf - The Free Life.  You know something is tasty when you look up from work to exclaim: "fuck yeah!  kick a hole in the sky, baby!"  This just actually happened to me as I listened to "Capital X" from this album.  Gimme all that fuzzed out rock and roll.  Just crush it up using the bottom of an old whiskey bottle and dump it right into my ears.  This is in the wheelhouse of Royal Blood (check out "Domino") and White Stripes (try "Cheap Magic") or Death From Above, and a bunch of other balls out cock rock stuff.  And I'm eating it up.  I think this one came to me from Keith Law, and I'm bummed that I didn't know it better at the end of the year because it might have cracked my top ten for 2018.  (aside, someone please remind me to make a list as I go this year, it will make year end so much easier next year).  "Domino" is the hit so far, with 1.4 million streams.

Crunchy and fuzzed out guitar, throbbing and vein-y bass.  Very into it.  Going to keep this one and hug it and then keep it in my pocket so it will stay warm.

King Tubby - King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown.  [sic]  If you dig some reggae shit, and you want to go deeper into the glorious hole that is dub, then this is the good shit.  He's got about 80 billion albums, but this is the the one that was suggested in Rolling Stone the other day, so I went with it.  Very cool.  Reminds me a little of some of the Gorillaz stuff they have done with these sorts of sounds.  I expect that just about every one of these songs has been used to back up a rap, but if not, then people need to get on their horse and make it happen.

Like that one ("Keep on Dubbing") all of these are generally instrumental, with maybe some random-sounding vocal yelps and fillers.  Anyone who is into reggae even a little bit should dig this stuff.  Also, his Spotify bio says he was murdered outside his house in 1989.  Which is a bummer.  I'll save it and break it out the next time someone tells me they love reggae (which is an event I think will almost assuredly never ever happen).

Sleep - Dopesmoker.  I just feel like you should know that an album exists that is 2 songs long, with the first song lasting one hour and three minutes, and it is just a droning, sludgy, grinding, throbbing shipment of molten psych metal meditation.  Not necessarily suggesting it, just kind of amazed by its existence.  Although, its kinda rad in its own way.

Pretty sure he keeps saying "proceeds the Weedians to Nazareth!!!" which mixes all sorts of story lines in a pleasing way.  Just finished it again, and its kind of freaking amazing.  I think you'd go insane if you actually listened to it consistently, but you should try it just once to see what happens.