Tag: Indie Music

Laundromat

June 22nd, 2023

Pickle Darling

GENRE: folk/dream-pop LABLE: Father/Daughter Records

In a bedroom somewhere in Christchurch, New Zealand (the largest city in the South Island), sits multi-instrumentalist and producer, Lukas Mayo, known as their musical project Pickle Darling. New Zealand, a country that frequently pumps out alternative innovators, such as The Clean, Tall Dwarfs and Aldous Harding, also finds that Pickle Darling fits neatly into this estranged group. After years of formidable DIY sustenance, Mayo finds comfort again in making lo-fi bedroom pop songs from the comfort of their own home.

Finding success amongst EPs and two full length albums, Bigness (2019) and Cosmonaut (2021), Mayo felt the extension of pressure that comes from the public eye. Pickle Darling has been a bandcamp favorite for years now, having both full length releases being labeled as ‘Album of the Day’. Also having toured with acts such as The Beths, Fontaines DC and Lucy Dacus while gaining a lot of attention to their homemade pop songs, Mayo began to feel lost. The release of Cosmonaut in 2021 brought Pickle Darling to large production heights, fitting for the theme of the outer spaces, but with intricate composition and the expectation of perfection, Mayo no longer felt like they were making music for themselves anymore. Feeling worn down, Mayo retreated back to the bedroom to record their newest album, Laundromat.

Laundromat, Pickle Darling’s first release off the San Francisco label Father/Daughter Records, is Mayo’s journey back to finding comfort in art. Still creating lighthearted songs embellished with several finger-picked instruments, the dreaminess of synths and drum tracks and coyish autotune has shown that Mayo has perfected the clean and sweet bedroom pop tune. Graduating with a degree in audio production, there is no denying the quality that a Pickle Darling album sounds like. Writing, recording and producing each song on their own, these songs live in Mayo’s personal world, crafted and mastered within the walls of their home; sometimes reluctantly released out into the world. Laundromat finds Mayo in their first comfortable living situation; sans problematic roommates and peevish landlords, offering a place for Mayo to fully thrive in the writing process.

The first single for Laundromat that Pickle Darling let sit in the world was the brief “King of Joy”. Scraping over a minute long, “King of Joy” dangles in its simplicity; running low tones with driving percussion that resolves in the lightness of synthesizer melodies. There is undoubtedly a sweetness that it leaves behind; a smile on your face or a daydream to a more honeyed time. This single acts as a reminder to Mayo to not overcomplicate art. Pushing themselves to utilize ideas in the moment relieves the pressure of making something overworked in the name of perfection.

There is a large amount of Nostalgia that Mayo paints within their tunes. Considering the lengths that Mayo takes to ‘homemade’, I am taken back to the extent of childlike imagination. Laying on the floor with a box of broken crayons, no care as to what is produced, resting on the expected approval from adults and the confidence in what our little minds can make. Mayo litters Laundromat with songs that soundtrack this homemade and pressure free artistic exposure. With folk tunes built in dreamy atmospheres, Pickle Darling brings the listener back to the bedroom; our own space of solitude and comfort, decorated without the pressures of the outside world.

The music video for “Head Terrarium” is built within its own DIY world with paper mache hilly landscapes, cardboard trees, cotton ball clouds and dancing plastic creatures. Overlooking this dream world is Mayo, whose face rests amongst the clouds, taking pride in all the self-constructed beauty. As the song shifts into the chorus, the video takes a turn to the real outside world, much darker in its aesthetics, where a malformed mannequin is made out to be Mayo. The only resemblance to Mayo’s humanity is the lower half of their face on a screen attached to the body, singing along to the song. This shell of Mayo repeatedly sings “I’m not as brilliant as I like”, an acknowledgement to the feeling of despondence from the art they are creating.

Mayo’s electronica intuition has been a signifier through all the music they have released into the real world. The song “Invercargill Angel”, beginning with folky string instruments housing Mayo’s whispery autotune, is a beautiful reminder of the sonic instincts that prop up a Pickle Darling song. Two different sonic styles that gracefully blend together to create a unique and playful sound that is reminiscent of early Sufjan Stevens or a late career Wes Anderson soundtrack. “I hope he makes you feel at home” Mayo repeatedly insists before the song breaks off into an electronic setting of retro synthesizers and drums tracks that build upon each other until there is a harmonious chorus of arcade nostalgia and internal comfort.

Pickle Darling sings about finding art in the mundane; having an open mind to the beauty when you don’t over complicate things. It’s this simplification to the writing process that fills Laundromat with so much charm and affability. Caked in sunny major intonations and culminating melodies sets Pickle Darling light on the chest. It’s a meaningful listen that flows from track to track with the hope that it doesn’t end.

Written by Shea Roney

Pickle Darling bandcamp
Big Picture

April 26th, 2023

Fenne Lily

GENRE: Folk/Rock LABEL: Dead Oceans

There is an aspect of growing up when love becomes a step-by-step process rather than starry-eyed, on-and-off episodic moments of life we see in movies. Bristol artist Fenne Lily allures her newly determined definition of love through charming and light-hearted folk songs on her new album, Big Picture.

Fenne Lily’s overall themes are no stranger to the overstimulated idea of love. Lily’s previous release, BREACH, a collection of songs entrapped by heartbreak, was released in 2020 during the pandemic, squashing her ability to tour and share what she worked so hard on. This induced severe writer’s block, that Lily discussed, took a long time to shake. What makes Big Picture different from other Fenne Lily releases is that all ten songs were written and cultivated within the bookends of a relationship. Lily goes through stories and phases of new love, branded ideals of giving yourself up to someone else, and then the final fall out to make an entire album something familiar and truly convoluted.

One thing that Lily wants to be clear on is that Big Picture is not a sad album. Lily has talked about the oversimplification that has branded so many artists into a new and now popular sub-genre; sad girl indie music. Although Lily has always been boxed into this corner with artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Mitski and Lucy Dacus, she wants to be clear that slow music does not equal sad music. It takes personal growth and emotional maturity to come to this conclusion not only as a listener, but as an artist too. The ability and confidence to blend songs of hopeful intuition with a soft and slow burned sound creates an active voice to relate to life’s more complex feelings honestly and candidly. That brings us to Lily’s overall point on her new album; emotionally honest music can be a muse for self-soothing and the reintegration of joy back into life.

How does Fenne Lily make a collection of songs entirely about a failed relationship into an album of reassurance and self-fulfillment? Lily states, “these songs express worry and doubt and letting go, but those themes are framed brightly”. What it comes down to was refusing to fixate on the overripe feelings’ leftover from an expired love and to take away what felt needed. That being either memories or lessons learned to carry on. “So it’s alright/if you don’t want a shoulder/If you don’t wanna get over it all”, Lily sings on the song “Dawncolored Horse”.

The album begins with a subtle pop bass line that molds into a soft and playful track titled “Map of Japan”. Lily sings about the hindsight’s of a relationship with an airy vocal approach and electric guitar that grounds the lightness of the tune into the reality of the tough situation. What follows track after track is a beautiful, warm expression of Lily’s understanding and self-acceptance of where her life was currently at and displays it within lighthearted folk songs with mature melodies and conscious instrumentations. “Lights Light Up” is sung as a hardening conversation between two lovers who are not on the same page, but surrounded by bright and static guitar work that embodies both restlessness and independence. The dilemma of wasting time and the time it takes to heal is calmly addressed on “In My Own Time” where Lily sings “In my own time/I’ll brighten up the corners/Temporarily”. A nod to the impatience of healing and the universal fear of a wasted life.

Big Picture is also a demonstration of Lily’s creative growth from her first two albums in that she took on a collaborative approach with people that she trusts and loves. As past projects go, Lily has been very adamant about doing everything herself. But in the case of these 10 songs, Lily wrote and demoed each track herself and then brought them to her live band to flesh out together. The entire album was recorded live in Brad Cook’s North Carolina studio with special help from artists like Katy Kirby, Melina Duterte (Jay Som), and Christian Lee Hutson. In the case of the track “Red Deer Day”, Lily wrote the song after the rest of the album was finished and her relationship was over. All-in-all, what Lily offers is the clearest analysis of a breakup that she has, yet it is the most confident and self-projecting song on the album. “I’m alright or I will be in time” sums up the cleverness behind Lily’s pre-determined ambition to a hope-filled album. It is such a perfect conclusion to Lily’s Big Picture, that friend and musical contemporary, Christian Lee Hutson, helped record the whole song in one day to assure its inclusion to the project.

Big Picture is flushed with love songs that are emblematic of what it really is; confusing, vulnerable, arduous, fragile, blissful, affectionate and desirable. There is no complete linear story starting at the initial crush to the inevitable breakup that Lily experienced in the process of writing the album, but more of a stream of consciousness that occurs when a relationship isn’t working. The back and forth between passion and doubt leads to more complex feelings of guilt and personal endowment that is truer to a love story than what is usually glossed over. “I tell you I don’t know but sometimes I can’t help but picture a whole different life” Lily sings on the album’s closing track “Half Finished”, barely wincing at this decree.

It’s refreshing to hear an artist rework the social constructs that surround the slow song. Even upon a passive first listen of Big Picture, there is no hiding the subtle expressions of joy and contentment that poke their head out often. No drama is white knuckled and no names are dropped, provoking an album of soft contemplation and euphonic understanding. The contrast between these beautiful and laid-back instrumentations and the cut-throat lyrical persuasion that Lily embodies aren’t there for contrast’s sake; but for a deeper and more mature way to accept a failed love.

Written by Shea Roney

Fenne Lily bandcamp
Crispy Crunchy Nothing

April 19th, 2023

PACKS

GENRE: rock/folk LABEL: Fire Talk

An apple with a rotten core can have beauty on the outside, giving off the falsehood of a pristine piece of fruit. This doesn’t mean that there can be no joy from this apple but a balance between the beauty and the crumbling core within. Canada’s own, PACKS, have returned to the scene with their sophomore album, Crispy Crunchy Nothing, setting boundaries between vulnerability and understanding while all having a good laugh about it in the end.

Returning from her soft solo acoustic project, WOAH, Madeline Link found herself in a confusing state of will-they-won’t-they until she reunited her band mates to return to the muddy and gritty groove that defined PACKS since their 2021 debut album, Take the Cake. In the meantime, what came about was 18 months of sending demos back and forth until the fourteen songs were fleshed out in one week of friendship and creative endurance. What emerged was Crispy Crunchy Nothing and a nod to the crummiest of situations while still grasping on to optimism, certainty and laughter from our day-to-day surroundings.

Elevated by drowsy melodies and the fuss of electric guitars, in a way, Crispy Crunchy Nothing is a return to the basics for PACKS, but it shows that the band is reaching for more. The new sonic sketches that the band indulges in help build a fitting home for Link’s sincerely humorous yet frank lyrics and mumbly double-tracked vocal approach. With no song surpassing the three-minute mark, Link’s offbeat imagination and select attention to detail, combined with loads of dry wit, produces songs that drown reality in plump bar chords and minor lo-fi garage rock-band instrumentations to create something from nothing. The stand-alone singles “Abalone” and “Brown Eyes” follow the band’s moody takeover of slacker-rock and the good-humored attitude that comes with it. Dexter Nash’s harsh yet calculated guitar riffs add a layer of boldness in the same fashion that Joey Santiago brings to the Pixies. Noah O’Neil’s bass hides within Link’s fat chords while also bringing new melodies to the songs. Shane Hooper’s punctual and tireless drumming acts as a steady hand while maintaining the sloppy sound of garage rock. The loose song structures only illuminate the hidden melodies that Link sneaks into the shortly lived songs. From the “lalalala’s” on “Dishwasher” to the soft choruses in “Cheese” and “Rag Doll” showcase a collection of warm lo-fi songs that represent the small and buried bliss that comes out when least expected.

Within these tender lo-fi songs, though, there is no hiding the loss and discomfort that is brewed on the surface of Crispy Crunchy Nothing. “EC” takes a song about the death of a coworker and masks it with a soft, twangy folk song that resides in the warmness of our hearts. With emotionally exhausted vocals, Link sings about a failed long-distance romance and the feeling of complete loneliness on “Say My Name”. The song barely scrapes over a minute long but still manages to come off as heart-breaking and sincere when you hear Link plead “Never thought I’d say I just wanna hear your voice say my name”. “Smallest One” plays into frustratingly taking apart nesting dolls in the hopes for a obtained sense of closure when holding the smallest one in your hand.

Slumping through songs about loneliness, frustration, loss and the tumultuous feelings of being stuck, the band’s moody disguise doesn’t completely mask the moments of confidence and ambition that Link has hidden throughout the album. Link’s knack for humor in lyrics that are derived from the mundane world around her make a PACKS song stick out when you hear one. “Fourth of July/fireworks and fountains/Shattered dreams and cotton candy”. As funny as a Canadian singing about a sacred American holiday, the song “4^th of July” tells of feelings of loneliness derived from holidays and festivities mixed with an already present internal sadness that feels oh too familiar. Even on the minute-long track “Late to the Festivities” shares the line, “cause’ like an apiary in a cemetery/I was fooled by the flowers”, which in and of itself induces a nervous laugh to the situation.

Crispy Crunchy Nothing is less about purposely seeking out joy from life, but letting the joy sneak out from where we least expect it. There is a mutual understanding between Link and her bandmates that these collections of songs are not an appropriation of bad feelings, but more of a celebration of the small things in life. Even through topics of loneliness, heartbreak, loss, wasting life and unfortunate fixations, there is a warm feeling that Link and company coat over each song. Whether that be the charmingly unpolished sound of the band or the allurement of sincere anecdotes, there is a sense of hope categorized finely by Link’s imagination of her banal existence that when she sings “Laughin’ till I cry/Sometimes it feels like life is on my side”, you can’t help but to feel it too.

Written by Shea Roney

PACKS bandcamp
I Just Want to be Wild For You

February 7th, 2023

Tristan Paiige

MAITA

GENRE: rock/folk LABEL: Kill Rock Stars

Dear Portland, Oregon… you are no stranger to lyrically cutting and icon allotted artists at your disposal. But as of 2017, you have a new artist making a name for herself while keeping the dream of Portland music trapped within her big comforting hug. MAITA, with core member and songwriter Maria Maita-Keppeler, first released an EP in 2017 titled, Waterbearer. After that, she was quickly picked up by Portland profit makers, Kill Rock Stars. Her first full length album, Best Wishes, was one of my personal favorite albums from 2020. As an artist who started in indie folk roots, she was used to playing as a solo artist. But the more she wrote, MAITA morphed into a high dynamic and cathartic sounding group, adding Mathew Zeltzer, Cooper Trail, and Nevada Sowle. I Just Want To Be Wild For You, MAITA’s second full length release from Kill Rock Stars, continues on the path of personal storytelling of regretful disappointments and unmatched love in the eyes of someone who feels lonely.

The opening track “Loneliness” starts the album on a self-reflective and exhausted story of time spent in Kyoto, Japan. Having Japanese roots, Maria finished college with a degree in traditional Japanese woodblock printmaking. In 2013, she spent 6 weeks alone in Kyoto receiving private woodblock printmaking classes. In that time of solitude, Maria learned first hand what it means to be lonely in another country (only depicted up to this point by Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray). “Loneliness” perfectly describes the feeling of catching your reflection in a shop window and seeing how pissed you look at the fact that you feel lonely in such a beautiful city. As the closest thing that MAITA has released that could be considered dream pop, “Loneliness” starts the album with an atmospheric daydream sound that strays from the normal sound of the group.

“Pastel Concrete” showcases what makes MAITA’s songwriting so absorbing. With her long winded and melodic phrases leading to short, catchy choruses bathed in 90’s crunch guitar style chords, poignant and rhythmic drumming, and fingerpicking electric guitar, MAITA can sing a song about a broken heart caused by a distant romance and make you want to dance to it.

There are a lot more tracks that use thrashing guitars than the previous album; asking the question who does MAITA want to be wild for? Tracks like “You Sure Can Kill a Sunday Part I” have the flashing guitar work right out of the gate, with fuzz filled bar chords and dueling staccato guitar notes. Songs like “Road Song” and “Honey, Have I Lost It All” save the loudness for the end, almost in a strategic and manipulative way to keep listeners emotionally overwhelmed that they feel the sudden need to punch dance out all of their pent up feelings. So who is going wild at these points in time? Is it the band, the listener, or does it go deeper into the world of Maria?

Closing off the album, the song “Wild For You” is a look at the role of women in a marriage, especially in the modern day concept of a legally binding relationship. Maria takes reference from her life to try to piece together a tale of a loveless marriage. She sings “And when I am gone you stray/And when you are here you are nothing”. Going wild can mean a number of things. It can be a reactionary to what can be seen as oppressive, or it can be finding youthfulness again when there is nothing left. With dynamic swells of strings and the driving rhythm of the drums and Maria’s words, “Wild For You”, pushes us to think about who makes us feel like going wild, and, to that point, is it worth it?

When listening to Maria’s lyrics, it is hard to imagine how she can make this beautiful cluster of elongated phrases into a melody that is enjoyable to listen to. But Maria is well versed in making the words work for her. Her intimate lyrics are chalked up with specific and intricate details that can only come from her personalized artistic thought process. Coming from indie-folk roots, Maria is duty-bound by her need to tell a story. Whether these are stories of love in turmoil or the mundane feeling of killing a Sunday with someone other than your own thoughts, MAITA’s charm of narrating is key to their draw. Stories are only as good as the one acting as the storyteller. In her own style of playing, MAITA proves time and time again that she is one hell of a storyteller with a lot left to be said.

By: Shea Roney

MAITA information:

https://maita.bandcamp.com/merch
Talking Quietly of Anything With You

February 6th, 2023
Free Cake For Every Creature

GENRE: folk/pop LABEL: DOUBLE DOUBLE WHAMMY

“Talking Quietly of Anything With You”

At the age of 22, I am at the stage in my life where I am roughly teetering between the stages of uncompromising adulthood and the inscrutability of being a young kid. I’m required to make my own doctors appointments and I drink black coffee, but yet I pick the tomatoes off my sandwich and my mom still offers to do my laundry when I’m home.

No one has captured the minimal obscurities of everyday life and the inconsistent feelings of getting older such as Katie Bennett and her project called Free Cake For Every Creature. The Philly based soft pop group released their album Talking Quietly of Anything With You in 2016. With a runtime barely over 20 minutes, the album goes through a collection of tracks that soothe and excite the listener, almost like a soundtrack to their own life. On this album, Katie leaned into textures of warmth with her soft voice that almost resembles a close friend whispering to you. Her voice, mixed with the playfulness of her bandmates, make even the catchiest pop songs seem like a closely guarded playground secret.

I didn’t find this album until I was 21 years old. This could not have come at a better time. Not only was it fun to have a giggle with my friends when I told them my new favorite band was called Free Cake For Every Creature, there was something about this album in particular that really resonated with me. What I found to be a common theme throughout this album is that it is okay to be unsure about where you’re at in life.

Most pop songs are upfront with how the writer is feeling. Love songs brag about hopeless romantics drooling over their latest attraction and presenting their dream life. Sad songs hold no question as to what emotion is being told. With Katie’s music, she tells us that she doesn’t know what she’s feeling. In her writing she focuses on the miniscule details of the world around her to cement herself in the present rather than worrying about an overarching situation or emotion.

Lyrically this whole album tells the story of a young adult figuring things out. On the title track, “Talking Quietly of Anything With You”, Katie sings, “we’re not old/but we’re getting older”. This line in and of itself can strike fear in any twenty-something year olds in the midst of a PBR induced all-sharing hangout session. Sitting with a pal and talking about the future and rehashing the days of past laughs and stories. Scientifically speaking, you’re not old at the age of 21, but, fuck, does it feel strange to think of getting older? Following that mini-crisis, the following track happens to be when Katie slows down and takes a breath with you. She sings, “All You Gotta Be When You’re 23 is Yourself”, assuring stability in knowing who you are and where you’re at in life. At 23, it’s okay to be a part-time artist and part time Whole Foods grocery bagger. It’s okay to walk three miles in no direction just for fun. It’s okay to move to a new city and go out wearing funny clothes and make friends with other people wearing funny clothes. You have time at 23.

When I first came across Free Cake and Talking, I was madly in love. The type of young love where you don’t even know what to do with yourself. It seems too big to comprehend and place it into one person. The song “For You”, takes a leap of faith into interpreting what it means to be in love. Katie puts focus on the tiny, silly things you do when you’re in this state of tenderness. Instead of the generic and muddled expressions of sexual attraction, Katie sings about saving the brownie from her TV dinner for her love, or writing a “shitty poem on the wall of a dressing room at JCPenney”. She then goes into the reoccurring dream of any two young lovers of leaving town together, committing crimes, and being on the run. But in Katie’s world, this consists of stealing a 50 cent machine and living a life hiding from authorities and surviving off of gumballs. Her view of love turns this scary concept into a simplified, almost childish, game of enjoying life with the person you like like a lot.

Since finding this album, I have gone through major life changes. My long term relationship ended and I graduated from college with no idea on what to do next. It might be cliché to say that I have found comfort in Katie Bennett’s music, but it couldn’t be more true. Taking a step back and focusing on the miniscule parts of life that you find joy in is the only way of surviving change, as well as, family, friends, enemies, school, jobs, and acts of god. What better way to go about that than a collection of soft pop songs singing about kissing your crush with margarita lips or doodling chubby cows in your journal.

By : Shea Roney

Free Cake For Every Creature Information:
- https://freecakeforeverycreature.bandcamp.com/
- https://dbldblwhmmy.com/store/free_cake_for_every_creature