Labels: Tiny Engines
Review by: MH
This one is a hard one to pigeonhole and I was a little thrown by the RIYL section that came with the press release which mentioned Superchunk and Built To Spill as I hear less of them than I was expecting to on listening to this. They are ex-Post Post and Titus Andronicus and play 90s-esque indie rock with female vocals. The album is littered with nice and bright guitar flourishes and hooks but what really separates this from the pack is the unconventional vocal style of Michelle Zauner which have a ragged charm to them and she jumps quite easily from more gentle singing to more ragged, almost wild outbreaks. They are something I think will be an acquired taste for some but I am certainly enjoying them. It’s a contrast that is also reflected in the lyrics which are darker than you might expect on initial listens. As far as standout tracks go, I would pick “Sportswriting” as my favourite despite it clocking in at close to 6 minutes. It highlights both her quieter and more anguished vocals and has a nice drifting guitar section halfway through – the build and variation in this one allows them to get away with the lengthy track time.I’m torn between that one and the anguished “Dark Matter” but there is also a strong ending to the album with the bright “Tokyo Drift” running into a more distorted ending on closing track “Never Have I Walked Away When The Time Was Right” with its questioning lyrics and abrupt, sudden ending. I’m impressed – they’re doing something different with an old genre I enjoy and really don’t sound too much like anything else right now.