Cool Records From January 2024.
This is a little thing I’d like to do instead of holding on to all these records until the end of the year. Every month I plan to mention records that I didn’t quite sit down with and dedicate a longer “ReViEw” to, but still feel like there’s some merit to them that I was excited to share.
Kali Uchis — Orquídeas
I think this was one of Pitchfork’s first Best New Music posts of the year, if not the first one. She isn’t an artist I typically would check out, but as someone who eats up new releases like I’ve been experiencing some wild famine, I had to check it out. Absolutely was NOT disappointed with the music in any way. The Colombian flair is absolutely there with a majority of the record being in Spanish. This whole record is laced with hits, but I would say that the front half of it is absolutely jam-packed with a winning sound. Smooth grooves, quasi lo-fi beats and a delivery that feels boiling with restraint make this entire album a great listen. This was the first time I’d been introduced to her and when I shared it with a friend, it sounded like her reputation preceded her. He said that she may have even reminded him of a latin-music Lana?! Okay!
Check Out: Igual Que Un Ángel ft. Peso Pluma
Moving Boxes — The Things We Leave Behind
Got put onto these guys from a little post by the boys in Letters to Part. After a little dialog track, the album jumps off with an absolutely sick modern pop-punk sound with aggressively acrobatic guitar parts and a full and robust vocal that sets the tone for the rest of the record. Love how the band goes back and forth between a heavy and powerful sound but has the capacity to slow things down and take advantage of the full palette of talent that the band has at their fingertips. One thing I noticed again and again throughout the record is that vocalist Sophia Biancofiore reminds me a lot of The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan which adds an almost ethereal and nostalgic quality to the band. It’s no surprise that Will Yip had his hands on this one, capturing such a rich and full bodied sound.
Check Out: Stop Signs Are Merely Suggestions
Raffaella — Live, Raff, Love (Act II)
A record of excellent indie-alt-pop song-writing that came my way via Samia who features on one of the songs on the EP. This genre of music has kind of slipped into my repertoire slowly and easily, giving me a nice reprieve from some of the more belligerent and balled-up-fist sounds that I typically would default to, but now I’m finding myself listening to this style more and more. This is whispery and defiant, flirty in a way, but doesn’t spend its time worrying about being a siren as much as it does with empowering itself with the feminine joy that comes with the celebration of its sadness. The Act I of this record came out last August and I’m mad that I missed it!
Check Out: Fucking Smiling
Valley Girl — Demo
So, okay, I’m going to get the weird part out of the way. This is a side project of fact that this is a melodic-hardcore side project of Jesse Rutherford, the dude from The Neighbourhood. Cool. Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you that this 10–11 minute demo on YouTube knocked me on my ass. It’s exactly what I wanted out of a record and when I tell you that I had my doubts, BOY, let me tell you I expected this band to be the cringiest, most try-hard wannabe aggro, MGK-adjacent sound… but unabashedly DO NOT CARE how much I loved this. It rules. I hope that this band goes on to properly record these songs and get a pressed release together. Because man, this rules. There are some corny things on the songs like some mosh calls that seem to fall flat and some Tough Guy bullshit but the riffing is right on point, and as a friend pointed out, even sounds like it has some little sprinkles of “old hard rock” on there, kind of like some Pantera chugging, etc. Has to be said also that without Turnstile, this record (and likely this project) doesn’t move forward. It is heavily influenced by GLOW ON. That’s definitely not a dog on the release. Stoked for this to move forward.
Check Out: The Demo
