Djo – Twenty Twenty Album Review “Better Late Than Never”

The album about Steve Harrington’s hair.

2019 was weird, we didn’t know what was coming but yes unfortunately it happened, Stranger Things kept getting worse, Joe Keery didn’t though, his on the side project Djo is a magnificent entry into the glamourous and weird world of Psych-pop from start to finish “Twenty Twenty” blew me away.

The lead up to “Twenty Twenty” was a nice surprise all three leading singles were great and it’s probably what I’ll focus most of the review on as to not spoil it’s 44 minute run time and it’s small and weird tracks like “Showtime”. The first release in July 2019 is “Roddy” one of my fave tracks from the whole year, it’s sweeping chords and heavy vocal effects are truly fab, it’s a great advert for Joe’s creativity and the players around him both matching each other’s melancholy to no end. Thematically it’s a guaranteed gold for us over at Half a music blog we love lyrics dealing with our own insecurities as you will have already seen all over the website! Added bonus is the last 60 seconds collapsing into haunting vocals and and heavy synth chords, very nice! Very nice indeed.

I’m sure we’ve all felt the unlove of a selfish lover at some point, haven’t we?

Not wanting blow smoke up his ass but undeniably one of the strongest songs in his catalogue and it was the second commercial release! “Chateau (Feel Alright)” is a slow and moody beast, a very minimalistic sound, the feeling of going back to just be in that moment again is powerful and the overall repetition of the chorus at the end plays into this feeling, that happy place we all have and for some of us it’s the only thing that bring us happiness, wanting to go back and back is what makes this song so perfect because in parts you also don’t want it’s hook to end.

And finally as singles go we end with “Mortal Projections” released three weeks before “Twenty Twenty”, “Mortal Projections” rounds off the sounds you’re gonna hear on the album from slow synth pop to your more traditional psych-pop it’s all covered within the album just like the singles. Out of the singles it’s the weakest for me and the one I probably have the least to say about but as I sit and type this in a dark bedroom like he did, I understand it more, the feeling of being a throwaway character in someone else’s story, I’m sure we’ve all felt the unlove of a selfish lover at some point, haven’t we?

Overall “Twenty Twenty” is an astonishing debut, I genuinely fell in love with the Djo project and I honestly hope you can too, honourable mentions have to be put towards “Ring” it’s closing couple lines and instrumental are heavenly, something you’d probably find on a rough cut of “Lonerism”, “Flash Mountain” is also a great little stomper and would liven any playlist up, stick it on in front of your grandparents and I can guarantee they won’t survive.

“Twenty Twenty” is great, you should listen to it. I’ll be back soon for Part Deux of my Djo review keep your eyes peeled and enter the Goofinverse!

The Slow Rush: A Year On

Like the album itself I’ve ended up taking too long to actually put thoughts down for this look back! I originally started writing down notes just before the one year anniversary and here I am now nearly a month later finally writing my re-review!

“The Slow Rush”, like “Currents” released with a diverse opinion from most Tame fans including myself, as much as I loved the new House/Psych Pop hybrid a lot of it’s themes and overall quality didn’t match the last three records. While the quality still isn’t on the same level as perhaps “Lonerism” or “Currents” for me the feeling of the album has taken a new shape.

I don’t think I was ready for “The Slow Rush” when February 14th rolled around (the irony considering I’d been waiting for almost five years) I was still as I like to say in my “Currents Phase” things weren’t right for me and that massively effects the feel of a Tame record to me, the best way to experience one is when you can almost know and feel what Kev is talking about, I wasn’t ready to worry about time and the pressure of life passing you by when I was still concerned about not being able to adjust to people and wondering if I’m the problem within relationships. Post March 2020 was the perfect year for me to receive this album, Covid was sweeping the land and I had finally got what I desired so much by finally coming together with my now partner and best friend. The idea of keeping as much time as possible is more relevant to me than ever before.

This theme is immediately thrust upon you from the first track “One More Year” the idea that you’ve got what you wanted but you’re so worried about it becoming stale and repetitive that you put pressure on it and you force the idea of moving things forward in a positive way. Kev talks and alludes to that idea that you can’t be here forever, it’s all finite so we have to make the most of it while we can. Skipping right to the closer to finish the message off, finally accepting that position you’re in, no longer being terrified of that fast approaching future slowly rushing towards you, nothing ever truly lasts forever so why let it frighten you, rejoice in what you remember.

The album is littered with hits of varying success, it struggles to tell a story like say “Currents” but I don’t think it was intended, there isn’t a narrative to be found during it’s twelve tracks, it’s never asking you to feel what Kev is feeling, in a way something that I criticised on release that people can’t always relate to this but now I’ve spent time with it I don’t think you actually need to, previous Tame records have drawn that line of being incredibly personnel to both Kev and you but for me “The Slow Rush” is more open and is a love letter to both his wife and the listener “It Might Be Time” touching on the idea of him not being as important, realising it’s been five years and are these people still gonna be here for me on release of this record? In a way this is the first Tame record actually for fans, not just for Kev to express, this is the first truly commercial record and that shows, Tame have never charted so highly in both the UK and the US sitting at 3rd on week one in both countries and top of the charts in AUS. 

“The Slow Rush” was the best record of 2020 and so far the best of the decade, by narrow margins in both but it has to be said that a Kev produced record that’s a 8 by his standard is still a 10/10 by other artists standards, those that didn’t like the record would probably agree with that sentiment too. If you’ve not yet given it a chance I am so jealous that you can experience it for the first time, a lot of it still gives me goose bumps.  

Lockdown Jams Part II

So my last attempt at pushing new music to folks seemed to work and with the extension of Lockdown here in the UK it would probably be smart of me to try and show off more of my CD rack and recommend more stuff!

Everything Everything – Get to Heaven

Everything have been around for god knows how long now and each album have changed and developed and much like everything I recommend is different, this time it’s not the sound but the lyrical content if you’ve heard “blood dripping down my sunken monkey chin” before in another song I’ll eat your hat. “Get to Heaven” is their third attempt at a full length album and is arguably their best, plus new music being released now is the best time to get involved in EE.

DJO – Twenty Twenty

Ooh baby, I’ve neglected talking about Djo for way too long. “Djo” is a project by Stranger Things Alumni Joe Keery and is by far better than anything the Duffer Brothers have done. If you’re doing one thing this lockdown it should be getting down to these jazz fusion hits, honestly one of my favourite bits of music from last year and 2019 featured music from both Kev and Mac.

Foals – What Went Down

“What Went Down” is by far one of the greatest English records ever written it never slows down, not once. It’s filled with absolute bangers, whether you’re a fan of the heavier side of Foals or their slower and electronically filled stuff you can’t go wrong with “WWD” it mixes both styles excellently, you’ll need a lager and a cig after every listen, it makes you proud to be British

Tame Impala – Innerspeaker

It’s Ten years old yesterday and what better way than to recommend it to y’all. The first LP by Tame Impala is better than anything I can recommend to you unless I tell you to listen to Lonerism or Currents. It’s a love letter to it’s genre by showing how It can be done with a new take and a new stance on how you make Psych Rock, I could talk about any of KP’s records forever and honestly whenever I mention them I have to go listen to them so I shall leave you at that as I go and marathon Tame records for the 20th time this week!

Peach Pit – You and Your Friends Album Review

Another week, another album review! This week it’s Peach Pit, the american four piece flooding your Youtube recommendations but should you give them 41 minutes of your lockdown?

In short yes. “You and Your Friends” is by far their best work to date, I was a fan of their debut but lost interest half way through, this time it’s one of the records of the year, it’s clever, it’s witty and it’s incredibly direct the feel of heartbreak and sorrow and lyrically it’s as strong as some of your favourite post punk bands.

The lead single “Shampoo bottles” is as good as it gets on this record, the not so hidden messages and theming are some of the most insanely down to earth lyrics for a break up are interesting and more natural, the idea of handling a break up song and talking about them so candidly showing how we actually handle them and missing the smallest details of someone. On the other half of the spectrum is “your teeth” again focusing on the smallest of details of someone and how one thing can change how you feel about them with “Your Teeth”.

If you’ve been struggling to find something new during the lockdown this is it, it’s much more basic then the usual kind of record I review, not heavy on layering and more of your normal american alt rock record.

A bit of a shorter review than normal so I apologise for that but It’s actually been a busy week this week, trying to exercise and work on different things for a change and my music listening has for a change fallen by the wayside so much that this review is late! I might have something slightly different in store for next but who knows? I certainly don’t.

 

 

The Strokes – The New Abnormal Album Review

It’s been 7 years since the Indie Rock outfit’s last record and boy has it been worth it!

“The New Abnormal” starts extremely strong with “The Adults are Talking” both sides of the song appear to talk to each other as the title implies but this sets you up for the next 45 minutes, you know within the first minute whether or not it’ll be for you.

It’s the same Strokes you’ve known and loved since their debut in 2001 but now with a bigger synth influence which only improves the sound, marrying the rhythm guitar sections with sharp and crisp 808’s and synth leads only makes this album explode with colour and bullish fun. One of Julian’s other bigger projects “The Voidz” influence shines through greatly throughout this album and Casablancas has hardly ever sounded better than on “The New Abnormal”.

“The New Abnormal” for me is more than just a new album release, seeing The Strokes come back should excite many of us, while they’ve maybe never hit the heights I think we can all think they should have done after their debut but the effect they’ve had on both American and British indie rock is by far way more important than their overall success, without them some of your favourite bands might not even exist, hell I covered someone a couple albums back that mentions them in song. The Strokes are deep seeded music culture and should always be thought of that way.

For once and I blow my own mind by admitting this but I believe they got the singles RIGHT for this record, It’s something I need to address in a separate piece (and I promise I will and if you’re a Tame Impala fan then be sure not to miss that) but singles are difficult especially in this day and age but for me “Bad Decisions” and “At The Door” are excellent choices, both songs show the range of this record, the former sounding more old school Strokes showing off amazing rhythm guitar sections and sharp vocal and the latter expressing it’s weirder side, slow burning, masterfully somber both singles aren’t necessarily the best tunes on the record but are the best at showcasing the sound of it.

“The New Abnormal” is one of my favourite records of the year so far, i’d reccomend it to anyone.

Be sure to come back next friday for another review and to make sure you check the page for that aforementioned piece on “The Slow Rush” Singles!

Why Tame Impala got the lead up to The Slow Rush Wrong

You can say a lot of different things about “The Slow Rush”, I for one love the record and the direction it took but by no means do I talk about it as much as the previous three but one thing I do think about is the singles for it so without further ado join me on this long overly thought out chat about The Slow Rush’s singles and the overall lead up to it.

It’s march 2019 and Currents is nearly 4 years old when out of the cold Kev announces Patience and lively jam with electronic bongo flashing through it, safe to say I was buzzed like a long lost family member finally returning after going out for fags it was finally time to hear new Tame Impala and even more surprising a month Later Borderline dropped and he even made an appearance on SNL.

The album was delayed not long after, we all shed a tear. One more tear was shed when doing a little investigation I noticed that Patience might not be making it’s way to LP4 and this my friends is my first major issue with the singles and it’s picky I fully realise but why just Borderline out of the two? Choose both or non was my initial thought on the subject to which my complaints were knocked to the side when more and more tracks dropped which I don’t think I need to go over seen as took up half the review of said album talking about it’s lead up.

My actual main issue is I don’t believe the singles were the right choice and I’m gonna break down each one before giving the list of singles I think would have worked far better…

So Borderline we’ve already vaguely covered and to be honest it’s on of the two I think were good choices, it’s catchy, it’s fresh and it’s summer release suited it. I can’t grumble with Borderline and to be honest I prefer the single version as opposed to the album cut.

“It Might Be Time” so here we go. Yes it might be a thumper and to be honest I’m a huge fan of it but as a single there is a glaring problem, it’s one of the weirder tracks on the record besides “Glimmer”, the idea of this being used to promote “The Slow Rush” didn’t make sense to me, thematically yes it works but sonically? It doesn’t sound like anything else on the record for me it’d be like using “Past Life” to promote “Currents” which I equally love but it wouldn’t actually represent the album extremely well.

“Posthumous Forgiveness” is an epic and a half, one of the best songs of the year, a good single? Probably not, it suffers from it’s own concept, and while I strongly believe you could argue my point by blasting “Bohemian Rhapsody” but at the end of the day unlike the Queen classic the charts are even more difficult for a psych rock two parter concept song to make it to the charts and while yes it excited Tame fans I don’t think it fits in with a general consumer crowd.

“Lost In Yesterday” the most singly sounding song that Kev has ever made for his Tame Impala project, it’s an instant hit, thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, from it’s fun and interesting bass riffs throughout to even the video. Again like Borderline there isn’t much you can complain about it.

Finally “Breathe Deeper” releasing on the same day as the album it spawns from I would say it rightfully should be a single, one of the better tracks on the record it epitomises the sound and direction of “The Slow Rush” to a T.

So with all that said and done what would I have chosen as the singles for the record? Well to be honest my list isn’t too different but I’d drop two of the singles in favour of a 4 single release window. In Order of appearance is the order of release; “Lost In Yesterday”, “Breathe Deeper”, “Borderline” and finally on release of the record I’d have dropped “Is It True”. For me it was important to show the actual sound of this record, showing off more of that disco vibe for me would greatly improve the overall reception of the record, it was clear from the way fans reacted that they weren’t fully sure what we were getting but as people have discovered over time “The Slow Rush” grows on you and will remain one of the more interesting sounding records of this decade.

Ninja Sex Party – NSFW Review

What?! A comedy band review on our standard and wholesome HAMB site?! The outrage. And one that is mainly dick jokes and sex! Ludicrous.

A bit of a different one this week, NSP have always been a bit of a quirky one in my collection, I’ve been a big fan for years now and only recently have I grown tired of their work but the first two pushing three records I genuinely think are extremely well written and have a decent amount of laughs to them but we’re talking about “NSFW” and boy is it a good place to start!

The funniest thing about NSP is the insane voice of Danny “Sexbang” his vocal range is incredible and while i’m sure you came for comedy you’ll genuinely leave questioning why he hasn’t put more effort into “serious” music.

There are definite highlights to one giant sexual comedy experience from “Three Minutes of Ecstasy” to “Object of Desire” you can have a good little laugh to yourself but it definitely isn’t an album for everyone, after about 9 good songs you feel a great feel of “again?”. The album doesn’t disappoint but more outstays its welcome for the most part, luckily it only lasts just over 30 minutes (innuendo unintentional)

Bit of a break from our usual musical dive into indie and different music but it’s always good to change it up a bit, I hope this weeks album won’t disappoint make sure to check back next Friday for your next dose of creamy goodness (sorry)

Mac Demarco – This Old Dog Review

Mac is my number 2 guy, I say that with the most respect I can give anyone because Mac handles being a musician the exact way I think you should he’s right up there with Kev and I will always support everything he does.

“This Old Dog” is by far the most mature record by the most recognised “jizz jazz” artist it focus’ on his non existent relationship with his dad and it doesn’t always hit you in the face but when it does it makes it apparent, it hits a place you didn’t think Mac could. He created a sub genre of indie rock music that became so much more than him. This is his final goodbye to that sound and further bringing in this soundscape of slow burning and heart wrenching musicality that for me started with “Another One”.

“This Old Dog” is simple but shines because of it, his own way of producing this record really makes it special, it’s not digital (Yes it does feature synths throughout) it all feels very real, it all feels like it was played directly in front of you, it’s incredibly personal and brings you into his wacky but brilliant world. The album is littered with some of Mac’s greatest tracks and for me the standout while not everyone’s choice I’m sure is “Moonlight On The River”, it’s total incoherent finale is what I live for, if uncontrolled chaos and excellently maddening guitar riffs are your thing then this track will never disappoint you, the slow burn, the aching dreamy lyrics and guitar riff that leads you into a false hope to all come crashing down is beautiful.

Tame Impala is how I deal with sadness but Mac carries me onto the other side, this album particularly alongside “Here Comes The Cowboy” and “Another One” will always bring feelings of love to me through the experiences I’ve had with Mac and at the points in my life where I have needed him and Kev. If I can do anything it’d be to get you to listen to the record and his whole back catalog.

Tune in next Friday for another review… Hopefully. 

 

Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino Review

Ah Arctic Monkeys how I’ve annoyed people with my lack of love for you, how I’ve disappointed fellow indie kids when I claim to not like “AM” if only they knew how much I love this record!

“TBH+C” is by far the most Alex Turner Arctic Monkeys record and it shows, his love for the old world of musicians and grandeur shines through in every instance of this record from it’s masterful bass sections to it’s whimsical and fantastical lyricism. The band has never felt so sharp, Alex is very lucky that they let him work on a project so personal and quirky.

I suppose it was always going to take a jazz lobby room album to diversify the Arctic Monkey fan base and it bloody did. I’d never seen something come out with such a mixed reception besides The Disney Star Wars trilogy but the shock on die hard fans face’s whenever I uttered the words “I honestly love it” was both funny and saddening. The record sold well I imagine it did at least but the mixed reception should never be something for the band to dwell on, they should be incredibly proud at how their music can cause such a stir in a scene so littered with big egos and cliches.

I’ve taken my time to really get around to reviewing a lot of records that I’ve appreciated greatly and the reason I say that is to really draw the parallels between my sad little self and this band, they knew the wait from “AM” was scary and daunting, the record that followed that had to be something special, they mastered the Alt Rock band with it and to do the same thing was taking a step back. Making a “AM2” was never going to happen and this is the perfect evolution of a band that loves music, they breathe music.

Albums To Listen To… During The Lockdown

Corona has swept the nation, BJ has it, your nan might have it (hopefully not) but it’s crippled this once great nation and now we must stay indoors! I’ve got a few albums I think you should sit down, grab a glass of red and listen to, so without further ado, here they are;

Oscar – HTTP404

Oscar is one of my favourite solo artists around, I’ve been a huge fan since his debut album dropped in 2016 and I’ve even hugged the lad, that’s not the reason you should listen to his sophomore record but it sure helps! “HTTP404” is a mature record, Oscar Spent most of his hiatus producing other people’s records and singles and that affects this record heavily! It’s chill and it’ll boost your street cred with people who think they know more than you do!

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Infest The Rats Nest

“Infest The Rats Nest” was my first Gizz record and I’m not gonna lie it probably isn’t the best one but if it get’s you into Gizz like it did me then I’ll recommend it till the day I die! Gizz is a lifestyle choice. “ITRN” is heavy, it’s hard, it’s pretty demanding, it’s a full on record with a lot of influences, mainly Metallica but any rock fan will find pleasure in it!

Temples – Sun Structures

Admittedly I always forget about Temples, the band that popped my Psychedelic cherry. It’s not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but what it does is create a brilliant soundscape, you can fill the room with it’s sound, it’s never heavy and at times is incredibly trippy. I don’t say this lightly but anyone who like me love’s “Tame” i’d highly recommend the Temples Discography.

MGMT – Little Dark Age

For the chart warriors MGMT will only ever be remembered for “Kids”, “Electric Feel” and “Time to Pretend” but it’s been more than 10 years since those chart toppers and the boys are 6500 miles ahead of where they were then believe me! This album is so dark and intriguing it almost reminds you of that cute girl that nobody else thought was cute but you just couldn’t talk to her (maybe that was just me but you all have a similar analogy) “Little Dark Age” was arguably one of the best albums of 2018 and yet non of you shmucks listened to it.

Pond – Tasmania

I can’t remember if i’ve talked about Pond before on here or just mentioned it to mates (Yes Ben I am talking about you). Tasmania is a semi political psych pop record, it’s great. It’s one of the best records released in the last 5 years.

Cheers for reading about a few albums you should definitely listen to whilst you’re doing nothing!

More reviews and pieces to come soon… Maybe