Liam Reviews: The Femcels, Jessie Ware, Lamb of God, Earl Sweatshirt, and more!

 The New Pornographers - The Former Site Of

For whatever reason, Canada has something of a track record for emotive indie supergroups - The New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene, and Arcade Fire to name but three. Despite the latter two being slightly more well-known, The New Pornographers pre-date them both, having formed in 1997 and released their debut Mass Romantic in 2000. Now, some 26 years on, they've released album number 10 The Former Site of, and the name is quite telling as to what kind of record this is.

That is primarily due to the fact the album is a clear departure from the band's earlier, more energetic and boisterous material. Introspective is the perfect word to define this album, with brooding and emotive also equally suitable descriptors.

While it does take a while to reach its stride, when it does, it's truly magnificent. 'Wish You Could See Me I'm Killing It' is a beautiful lament to lost loves, familial or otherwise. 'Votive' is perhaps most typical New Pornographers with its emphatic chorus and triumphant New Order-style guitar riff, and then there's the haunting 'Bonus Mai Tai' - another gorgeous reflection on mortality, a dominant theme on the album. The album closes beautifully with the epic title track, summing up an album that reflects its cover art perfectly - sometimes it's okay to wallow in our mortality. In fact, it's highly encouraged.

7.5/10

A Place to Bury Strangers - Rare and Deadly

This latest effort from shoegaze veterans A Place to Bury Strangers marks album number eight, almost twenty years on from their self-titled debut, and over ten from their excellent fourth record Transfixiation. On Rare and Deadly, however, such excellence is few and far between, if at all.

With the band recently playing Brno and myself being too skint to go, a listen to this latest album gives me a sense of relief rather than regret at having missed out. In all honesty, it's a bit of a mess that doesn't really come off well. It's effectively noise without substance.

The most notable point is 'Dead Inside', but not even necessarily for positive reasons - the cantankerous chorus riff sounds like a clown contemplating his own mortality. To its credit, at least it's doing something memorable - the remainder of the album aims for dreamy but just ends up sounding sleepy. Moreover, it's too long to just pass you by, so it just ends up becoming a slog. A rare mis-step from a generally consistent band.

4/10

The Femcels - I Have to Get Hotter

A cursory glance at the tracklist of The Femcels' debut album had me wondering what I was letting myself in for - 'You're Gay And You're In Love With Me (Please Let Me Touch Your Boobs)' for example. But often, as bands like Mogwai have proven, the more ridiculous a song title, the more profound and brilliant the track is beneath it. A rose by any other name and all that...

The difference between The Femcels and a band like Mogwai though (in fairness there are many differences between a Gen Z duo from London and a veteran Scottish post-rock outfit), it's that the song titles actually bear some relevance to the songs themselves, and yet nothing on this album feels out of place. None of the irony or humour is too much, and the band have, as well as excellent musical prowess, an amazing sense of self-awareness. But then I Have to Get Hotter showcases its emotional fragility just as brilliantly as this sense of humour.

The first instance of this more raw emotive power is on 'Is Loser An Emotion You Feel Too?', and despite its distinct, more downbeat nature on the album compared with other tracks, it doesn't feel out of place in the slightest. 'She Seems Kind of Stupid' picks up the pace, maintaining that emotiveness and adding pure defiance. 'Not Ur Friend' toward the back end of the tracklist goes full day-glo hyperpop with uncannily whispered vocals giving it a haunting edge. Without a doubt, the best track, however, is 'He Needs Me', which is unhinged in the best way possible, as Gabriella outros the song lamenting and justifying the end of a Snapchat streak, while overthinking the reasons - Like, you can't really be like on your phone and skateboarding at the same time, that's stupid. It's hilarious, and yet there's so much relatability there in the digital age, even for a now relatively ancient milennial like me.

So while you don't have to encessarily get hotter, you do absolutely need to check out this album. In a world that's going to absolute shit, it's nice to have an artist not taking themselves too seriously, and in doing so creating something profound and downright brilliant. 

9/10

King Tuff - Moo

King Tuff, real name Kyle Thomas, has been doing his garage-rock thing for a good couple of decades now, and the excellently titled Moo marks album number seven for the Vermont native. Generally his music can be paralleled with the likes of Ty Seagall, who he's worked with on previous occasions. So while it's not exactly re-inventing the wheel, his music is a lot of fun.

Moo is pretty typical of that - an album of just over half an hour in length that is pretty tight instrumentally. While it's rare for a track to truly stand out amongst the pack, none of them really need to. Some albums tend to flourish just based on an overall vibe, and this very much falls into that category with its blend of garage-rock with a hint of blues.

If I were to pick some highlights, however, opening track 'Twisted on a Train' sets the mood perfectly, where 'Unglued' later in the tracklist has its charm. As mentioned though, the album isn't necessarily distinctive between tracks which is perhaps its main downfall, but it can also be seen as testament to a solid, cohesive album - I guess it depends on your perspective.

7/10

Earl Sweatshirt, Mike, and Surf Gang - Pompeii/Utility

The double album is always a risky endavour which, to my mind, rarely pays dividends. Even the much lauded likes of Mellon Collie and the Infnite Sadness are undoubtedly filled with some majestic cuts, but can feel just a tad bloated. Perhaps the most shining example of a double album done well is Speakerboxx/The Love Below - Outkast's seminal 2003 album.

The reason for its success? Probably because both genuinely feel like disparate albums in their own right, and yet they combine so effortlessly - the Speakerboxx part the work of Big Boi, and The Love Below part showcasing Andre 3000's talents. Pompeii/Utility is similar in terms of scope, in that the Pompeii side is the work of New York undergroudn rapper Mike, and Utility is Earl Sweatshirt's time to shine. Both are combined in their shared use of producers Surf Gang, whose beats are generally pretty solid throughout.

The flows are just as you'd expect too, though clocking in at just over an hour and 33 tracks in total means it's quite an exhausting listen. It makes picking any highlights nigh on impossible, as the tracks seem to blend into one another, and usually they're over before they've even had the chance to begin. 'AOK' is the overall highlight on Earl's Utility side - the beat is haunting and complements Earl's woozy flow to perfection. That said, at 33 tracks, it's hard to really connect with the project as a whole, but the ambition is hugely admirable.

6.5/10

Jessie Ware - Superbloom

Ever since Jessie Ware dropped her debut record Devition all the way back in 2012, her stock has continued to rise, and it's easy to see why. Since 2020's That! Feels Good! and 2023's Devotion, Jessie has been one of the most innovative pop stars around. That said, it still feels as if she is criminally underrated.

With the release of Superbloom, Jessie has stepped up yet another level with arguably her best record to date. Once eagain the production is lavish, and the performances are just the right level of extravagent without feeling overly so.  Though a consistently strong album throughout, highlights appear further down the tracklist, such as the punk-funk of 'Mr Valentine' that instrumentally could easily be something from an LCD Soundsystem album. 

Subsequent track 'Love You For' is brimming with soul, while retaining that disco vibe Jessie has pretty much become renowned for in recent years. Similarly, 'No Consequences' builds to a gorgeous crescendo toward the end of the album. It's an album that really shines bright through these darkest of times, and is all the better for it.

8.5/10

Lamb of God - Into Oblivion

...and now for something completely different! Regarding Lamb of God, they're a band I've never really listened to despite generally enjoying various strands of metal, so their latest Into Oblivion is my introduction, despite it being their tenth album. Technically if you count releases under the name Burn the Priest, it's their 12th.

In any case, the band have been active since 1994, and could certainly be described as a band at the forefront of the genre as we know it today. Clocking in at 39 minutes, Into Oblivion is a clean, crisp album, and yet it lacks none of the punishing brutality that (I assume) has made the band so renowned in metal and beyond.

From the perspective of someone that isn't necessarily a connoisseur of metal, it's usually the more melodic moments that shine through here, such as the sinister, bass-driven snarl of 'Sepsis', or the less brutal ('softer' doesn't feel an appropriate word for this albim) 'El Vacio', which feels like the eye of a pretty enjoyable hurricane. In any case, it's clear to me from this listen that a deeper dive into Lamb of God's discography is a must.

7.5/10

She Past Away - Mizantrop

She Past Away first came to my attention when I saw them support Drab Majesty in Glasgow, and from that moment, I was somewhat hooked by the Turkish duo's dark-wave post-punk that feels somehow timeless despite its obvious foundation in the 1980s. Once you get passed (haha, get it?) the annoyance of the name, they're well worth checking out.

Mizantrop only clocks in at half an hour and seven tracks, so it can just about be called an album. It can also be said that it just about passes the threshold of being worth checking out, despite perhaps sounding a little more laboured at times than previous efforts.

The title track and the excellent 'Sessiz Orman' are the definite highlights, with the latter track using the fade out technique to superb effect. Otherwise, the rest of the album kind of floats on by with immaculate polished vibes and excellent production, but little else beyond that. Perhaps it's too brief a project to truly allow itself to shine properly. Then again, it could easily be something that grows on you with time and attention.

7/10