My Life Story’s first new studio album in nineteen years, 2019’s ‘World Citizen’, was a great comeback. Although the orchestral elements may not have seemed as prominent as those that drove the band’s earlier work, the album’s best material still demonstrated how Jake Shillingford’s distinctive indie pop still possessed a pleasingly grand heart. With orchestral arrangements recorded remotely in Hungary whilst the “rock band” contingent of MLS worked in the UK, the results could’ve sounded disjointed, but its to the band and producer’s credit that everything came together flawlessly. On reflection, a few of the more obvious vocal filters made some of the material feel a little shiny, but, as a complete work, it held up well over repeated listens following its release, proving that the fans and critics’ early enthusiasm for the album was certainly not without merit. The live shows surrounding the record continued the My Life Story tradition of giving audiences an indelible experience – even without a full orchestra in tow – and then, having gained even more traction, any future plans were cut short by the 2020 global pandemic.
THROAT – We Must Leave You
On their 2018 album ‘Bareback’, noise rockers Throat created a sound that took the darkness of goth, the angular elements of post punk and the abrasiveness of industrial to create a record that was one of rock’s most confronting since The Birthday Party bowed out with ‘The Bad Seed’ in the early 80s. Sometimes sounding like Die Haut, sometimes like Fugazi crossed with something much darker, It’s fair to say, the album wouldn’t have been for everyone, but the way Throat took their influences, pushed forth and created something contemporary for the time of release was more than admirable.
WYOMING YOUNG AND STRONG – Wicked Upon You EP
Recorded and mixed by Bloodhag’s Jeff McNulty and mastered by the legendary Tad Doyle, this EP from Seattle stoners Wyoming Young and Strong has a huge, live in the studio sound that makes similar works by renowned producer Jack Endino seem half-arsed. Presenting a wall of distortion coupled with sludge/hardcore riffs that sound like early Tad battling with ‘Ozma’ period Melvins, the band take the stoner metal sound from their earlier ‘Black Wire’ LP and ramp everything up about three fold. The results are absolutely devastating.
JEREMY PORTER AND THE TUCOS – Five Foot Three & Tiger Eyes / While You Spiral
Jeremy Porter’s 2016 EP ‘Barrel of Tears’ was a three track gem. Its two original cuts shared some great guitar driven rock pop that harked back to the slightly rootsier end of the 90s, and the big hooks showed a huge love for material from the Soul Asylum and Kevin Salem catalogues. Best of all though, the release shared a superb cover of ‘Blue Letter’, a tune best remembered in its Fleetwood Mac incarnation from ’75, given slightly more of a country rock twang, and showing off Jeremy and The Tuco’s gifts for tight melodies with ease.
KMFDM – Let Go
It’s hard to believe that the release of ‘Let Go’ ties in with KMFDM’s 40th anniversary. In some ways, it’s just as hard to believe that this record comes a whole decade after the brilliant ‘Kunst’, which at the time of this release, still felt like a recent work. No matter how much time passes, though, there are few things as reliable as a new album from Sasha ‘Käpt’n K’ Konietzko and his team. Fans know that a KMFDM record will give them pretty much what they’d hope for, and occasionally more…and that’s very much the case with this disc. Even after four decades on the road, on the bulk of ‘Let Go’, the KMFDM machine shows no sign of burnout.