On their 2021 EP ‘Trying To Reach You’ Canadian alt-rock band Love Language found themselves dabbling with a number of different styles. On the release’s lead track ‘Design’, they gleefully placed a sixties pop twang beneath a lax vocal that created something that sounded like Kim Gordon fronting a surf rock band. Throughout ‘Lucked Out’, they took the 90s slacker vibe and fused it with music that never seemed a million miles away from Cowboy Junkies supplied with extra reverb. It was one of those EPs where, no matter where you dropped in, the music had a pleasingly nostalgic feel, whilst still feeling relevant.
Tag Archives: alternative
WEST WICKHAMS – Magenta EP
In May 2022, alternative rock duo West Wickhams released ‘She Will Have Her Way’, an excellent EP driven by very retro goth, dreampop and synthpop sounds. Their ‘Magenta’ EP (released in November the same year) finds the band recycling a lot of the same moods, yet at the same time, the material conveys a feeling of moving forward. It’s safe to say that those who enjoyed the previous release will glean a similar amount of enjoyment from this timely follow up.
WAX ON WATER – Ghouls & Fiends And In-Betweens… EP
Wax On Water’s full length album ‘The Drip’ (released in June 2022) presented an interesting mix of electronica, light goth and occasional industrial sounds. With a broad but dark sonic palate linked via a strong vocal, the album’s best tracks brought back memories of a vast array of alternative music from the early 90s . With it’s most mechanical bits not too far removed from something you’d find on Trent Reznor’s vanity label Nothing Records, and a more melodic streak presenting itself as if taking a moody swipe at Garbage, it was a recording that managed to mix the arty with a surprisingly commercial edge.
Watch the new video from Davey Lane’s band, The Pictures
At the end of September ’22, Davey Lane’s band The Pictures made a long overdue return. The release of the ‘I Can’t Hold Back’ single marked the end of a fifteen year silence for the band, but in many ways, the track played as if it’d been a mere heartbeat since their previous release.
VARIOUS ARTISTS – A Future Of Bad Men: A Melvins Tribute
Few bands have been more influential to the alternative scene than (the) Melvins. Since their arrival in the early eighties, the noisemakers from Washington have forged an uncompromising musical path which has inspired punk and doom metal bands alike. They’ve encouraged many to twist the elements of rock music into unfathomable shapes. Their early work laid the formations for what many consider “grunge”. Somehow, in the mid 90s, they even managed to score a recording deal with a major label, which inspired them to become even more obtuse, first releasing a single that had a lyric in a made up language (‘Hooch’) and promote a slightly later release with a track that included a drawling vocal, a sludge metal riff and an atonal jazz solo played on the trombone. Even more bizarrely, that single (‘Bar-X The Rocking M’) even had its video shown on MTV. The Melvins’ career has taken many forms, and it’s rarely been pretty, but it has never, ever been dull.