Apologies for the, slightly, late music monthly (you can see the others here). It’s been an exceedingly hectic couple of weeks and over the weekend I had a trip to Leeds for the #BloggersBlogAwards. However, September was absolutely bloody fantastic for new releases. The month started with me binging on Brand New (The Devil in God are Raging Inside of Me, in particular) as I was going to see them at Ally Pally (and later in Edinburgh, they played Deja in full and I can now say I’ve seen them do it twice), so I was already assuming that they’d be one of the main people to go in my music monthly for September.
I was very wrong.
Three different bands all put out superb records and I’ve been listening to almost nothing but a combination of these three records since they have. So here goes.
The world is a beautiful place and I am no longer afraid to die (TWIABP) – Harmlessness
In a group chat I have with a number of friends (sup, Lonely Hearts Club) I received a message from my mate Conor along the lines of “FUCK LISTEN TO THIS IT IS FUCKING GREAT” (probably put more articulately with less swearing). I knew they had a new record coming out but didn’t know how soon it was going to be. I’m a big fan of TWIABP but their last album, Between Bodies (and follow up to the great Whenever, If Ever), didn’t do much for me. The spoken word element fell a bit flat (I love talk music and spoken word but this didn’t work so well for my own tastes) but with Harmlessness they’ve more than returned to form, they’ve released their best record to date.
If you like twiddling guitar, heartfelt vocals and 8 minute long post-rockesque songs then this is one for you. This is a genuine contender for AOTY. Get it in your ears. And then go see them with Mewithoutyou in February.
Key Tracks:
You Can’t Live There Forever
January 10th, 2014
Rage Against The Dying of the Light
Further Listening:
Getting Sodas (Whenever, If Ever)
Gig Life (Whenever, If Ever)
Shit Present – Shit Present
They include Iona Cairns of Great Cynics alongside members/ex members of Gnarwolves, OK Pilot, The Computers and The Smith Street Band. I mean I probably don’t need to say much else after that. But their 5 track debut release is just absolutely brilliant. I put it on and let it repeat through 2-3 times in a row before I bother changing. Iona’s vocals go perfectly well with the punky riot grrrl feel they embrace so readily. It’s one of those EP’s that gets me wanting to dance.
Key Tracks:
Anxious Type
Melbourne
The Front Bottoms – Back On Top
Back in my first monthly music roundup I mentioned a couple of new tracks from these guys and said how excited I was for the upcoming album. Well it’s here now, and it’s just as good as I’d hoped. From the joyful brass in 2YL through to the more melancholic Cough it Out this album is full of hits. I was apprehensive about how they’d follow 2013’s Talon of the Hawk, as it was one of my favourites from that year, but they’ve done an excellent job. I’m catching them in February with Kevin Devine and you definitely should too.
Key tracks:
Cough it Out
West Virginia
The Plan (Fuck Jobs)
Further Listening:
Twin Size Mattress (Talon of the Hawk)
Au Revoir – Adios (Talon of the Hawk
Maps (The Front Bottoms)
What have you been listening to this month?