Saw a few new show announcements that I wanted to follow up on - Courtney Barnett coming back to town, Primus playing again (no clue if they can still do their thing or if it is off the rails), and an announcement that Metallica is going to play The Sphere in Vegas. I have no clue if that show would be worth the time and expense to go see in the immersive dome, but I can see it being pretty rad.
The Beths - Straight Line Was a Lie. If you read me much, then you know that I deeply and genuinely love this band. The Aussie accents that sneak into the vocals, the great harmonies, the catchy tunefulness, the snippets of hard rock that sneak in sometimes. It's all very pleasing to me. I've seen them three times that I can recall right now, and am ready for more immediately. I really like the goofy chumminess that they show on stage, although I have to say that my reaction to that sort of thing that kicks off this album, with someone apologizing and saying they were "thinking about something else" is kind of annoying. Just make a good clean song for the album? This disc also pulls back from the more straight-forward rock on a few tracks, like the stripped-down and lovely "Mother Pray For Me" but also for parts of second song "Mosquitoes" and "Til My Heart Stops", but much of this still goes for the poppy and pleasant rock and roll that hooked me originally - the title track, "No Joy," or "Metal." It is a quick listen at 43 minutes, but I really like the varied tones. Because the world only loves pop rap and AI music now, the stream count is criminally low. The top track is "Metal" with 1.7 million.
See? How pretty is that? Strummy like an old The Sundays classic. The lead guitarist gives off Dwight Schrute as a serial killer vibes. I was wondering if the "short word" she is singing about is iron, but maybe I am missing the point of this song. Nice catapult though! This is not their best album (Future Me Hates Me, FWIW), but it is still very enjoyable!
Deftones - private music. There is something about the Deftones that has never clicked for me. Something about it is too harsh (and I like some really harsh stuff!). I have tried to come up with other descriptors, but they don't make sense as much as harsh. Something about their songs is metallic and difficult for my ears. Although, I will readily say that "milk of the madonna" on here freaking jams. That one sounds more like Royal Blood or one of those sorts of bashing alt-rock bands. The top track is the first one, but I'll give the second-most streamed because the first one maybe gets extra streams without being deserving. This is the fourth track on the album, "infinite source, with just over 20 million streams.
The end of that one jams. Has some of those same guitar tones as the only song that has really stuck with me from the band, that unsettling "Change (in the House of Flies)" tune. The opening riffs of this album, coming right as the Beths have finished their last lovely note, has been jarring for sure. I think I will let it go away and not hear any more.
Madi Diaz - Fatal Optimist. Did you ever watch that show Shrinking? Quick digression here, that I promise will come back around to this album. There is a scene in that show that is fantastic, because of the cleverly pieced juxtaposition of humor and grief into one little bit. I couldn't find a YouTube clip of it, so this is just memory... The main character of the show (Jason Siegel) is grieving the death of his wife and listening to the Phoebe Bridgers song "I Know The End" while riding a bike and having a good cry. As he weeps, he yells out "FUCK YOU PHEOBE BRIDGERS!" twice, and then smacks into an opening car door. It has stuck with me in my head, because both that song and that show were excellent for me. So, fast forward to about two weeks ago, when I get the news that one of my son's college roommates and best buds was killed in a late night car accident. So freaking awful. Delightfully quirky and polite 20 year old kid just snuffed out. The next day, I have to go pick up some firewood from my Dad and as I am driving home, the song from this album called "Ambivalence" pops up in my mix and I just start leaking. It was the line of "you're always right here, no matter who I'm with," and even though that wasn't what she meant (for it to affect me after a death), by God I had a hard time getting it back together. Woof. I think, also, her voice is so damned beautiful that it really got to me in an unexpected way.
Anyway, I got hooked on Diaz because of her song from the 2024 album called "Everything Almost," which I feel like may be a perfect song. A lot of these have killer lyrics, sung in a wonderful voice, over completely basic acoustic accompaniment. The lowest-streamed tune on here is a great message too - or at least it speaks to me and my wife's thoughts about flirting (and hey, that's the name of the song!). The top track is one called "Heavy Metal," with just 247k streams.
Well, watching that video and listening to that song again just nailed me all over again. Dammit. FUCK YOU MADI DIAZ! The closing tune, which is also the title track, finally kicks in guitars and drums and whatnot, and it almost reminds me of those Beths songs I was championing up above! Really a pretty album and worthy of keeping.
Snocaps - Snocaps. When this was first announced, I was freaking PUMPED because it is Waxahatchee (Katie Crutchfield), MJ Lendermann (who as you likely know I love way too much), and Katie's sister Allison Crutchfield. Hell yeah. Just "Right Back To It" over and over like that amazing song was one album. Sadly, that isn't what I received, but it is a good disc of indie rock tunes anyway. Lendermann is only used for his guitarwork, which I find to be a mistake, but they didn't ask me. Jerks. This disc is a masterclass in diminishing streams - with two exceptions, every song on here has less streams than the song before it. So, the top streamer is the first track, a buzzy jam called "Coast." 1 million streams.
That tune is sort of giving me Breeders vibes - nothing that is just blowing me away with the new and exciting style of it, but I still end up bobbing my head and sort of grooving along. That feels like the smell of the entire disc. Nothing that is revelatory, but a good groove anyway. If Lenderman was given some microphone time to add harmonies, I think it could have been sweet.
