Under The Radar
Some terrific records you may have missed
My friends Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, on their long-running radio show Sound Opinions, call these records “Buried Treasures,” music critic hear and enjoy but that just doesn’t seem to get covered in the usual course of events. Just because something isn’t brand new is no reason not to spread the word, though, so that’s what I’ll be doing in “Under The Radar.” And believe, everyone of these releases is well worth a listen.
SLOW BUILDINGS - Crash Landings, Coincidences, Chaos (Bandcamp)
This is the seventh album from songwriter Jason Legacy as Slow Buildings. Legacy writes that the album “is the culmination of 2 years of personal upheavals, making bad decisions, and unwisely trusting the wrong people.” All of which sounds awful, but like its predecessors, this is an album of twangy indie-rock which, as I wrote about Slow Buildings’ last album, “translates the vicissitudes of twentysomethingism into infectious and entertaining pop tunes.” Song titles like “Cruel Girls Are Wrong,” “Everyday is Just Like High School,” “Insane Fucker,” and “Emotional Honesty Gets Me Nowhere” hints at Legacy’s wry wit, and his songwriting draws from a variety of international styles and sources to make each song distinctive, including punchy garage-rock on “Betsy is a Caveman,” roller rink organ on “Rescue You,” and a Latin beat in the intro to “Sweet n Sour Luv.”
COULDN’T BE HAPPIER
”Couple(t)s - Side A” EP (Spotify)
I was actually disappointed to see that this delightful EP by Winston-Salem marrieds Joni Hildebrand Lee (drums, vocals, harmonica) and Jordan Crosby Lee (vocals, guitar) wasn’t on Bandcamp. You’ll have to stream it, but please do. The first half of a planned album, “Couple(t)s-Side A” features six song pairs: two love songs, two protest songs, and two folk-story songs. Joni sings “Come Back Tomorrow,” with a frothy New Orelans beat accented by what sound like an accordion and a simple lyric with a luscious singalong chorus. The band says the song was meant to capture the sense of joy and freedom you feel “driving down the road with your first love right after you got your drivers license.”
Jordan sings “When I Die,” a plaintive folk song about wanting to leave this world having done more good than bad. “If there’s a ledger, or somebody’s keeping track, I hope I leave this world in the black.” A sweet sentiment beautifully expressed. The protest songs include “Plastic Bag Odyssey (I’ll Never Die)” with Joni on lead vocal, a song about the environment (sung from the point of view of a plastic bag!)
Jodi’s “Tear It Down” is a jaunty bit of America with a lively call-and-response chorus, Jordan’s Americana-tinged “Devils Tramping Ground” retells the age-old story of meeting the Devil at the crossroads, while “Pretty Polly” showcases Jodi’s evocative vocals and Jordan’s finger-picked guitar. Couldn’t Be Happier reminds me of Hoboken’s Cucumbers, a married couple whose individual talents mesh to form a perfect whole.
DAY FOR NIGHTS - Self-titled (Bandcamp)
Like most things we don’t understand, spoken word scares me a bit. Karen Schoemer used to be a rock journalist with serious credentials (Newsweek, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and, um, Jersey Beat) but left all that to write books… and write/perform this spoken word stuff with friends in the Hudson Valley. Day For Nights consists of Karen’s poetry backed primarily by Zak Boerger on guitar and bass, with contributions by a slew of guest musicians (including Mike Watt on bass.) Let me quote the band’s description of the album: “Composed, improvised, left-field, modal rock, Sprechgesang rock, punk if your punk is the 3rd Velvets, ambient if your ambient is Wire, folk if your folk is Love, hard rock if your rock is Fairport Convention.” The musical accompaniment - electric and acoustic guitars, electric bass, bowed double bass - might best be described as minimalist jazz; Karen’s words as inspired nonsense. She talks of pandas, doors, calendars and pilgrims, spiders… shoes and ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings, if you get my drift. Schoemer’s conversational tone and the swirling miasma of the music creates a hypnotic effect; I find this album calming and relaxing, which does not mean boring. Inspirational verse: “Calendar pilgrims waist deep in Mayflowers, tissue paper knots of red and green. Stocking hooks above the fireplace, tree-stands out of storage already. I want to wear the lines between days, lasting into a long ago future.” Who could argue with that?
ZACK’S MUSIC BOX - Zack (The Extended Play) (Bandcamp)
I saw Zack Schiavetta do a song at the memorial service for Ryan Damian and was so impressed that I walked up and introduced myself. Then I found this 6-song EP from last October on Bandcamp, and boy, is it good. The songs date from 2018 to 2023, or that period in Zack’s life when he matured from post-adolescence to young adulthood. There’s a youthfulness to his voice, but sophistication in his melodies, and I love that he writes in rhyming couplets.
“Group Control” finds him adrift in the Brooklyn DIY scene and wondering if he belongs there: “This is why I bother not to drink /For the damned stupid actions people will think /And I don't want to laugh, I want to know If I ever had a voice in this/ group control.” “Stupid Prizes” has the simplicity and calming melody of a lullaby, but it’s focus - the wealth gap, America’s unspoken caste system - is anything but babytalk. Ditto for “Pressured To Be/Missing,” a sad melody with tinkling percussion about the unforeseen consequences of an Ivy League education. “Pressured to be Legends at 18, who did I not please / to make sure, I don't succeed?”
That’s followed by “Community,” a gloomy threnody about what should be a happy topic, the selfsame DIY scene of the first song, and if you’re not depressed yet, hang around for “Who Am I,” a disquieting, 90-second vocal chorale that repeats “Who am I? Who I am.”
Multi-tracked vocals, clattering percussion, and a lively indie-pop melody drive “King of the Kruel,” another fierce stab at self-examination and recrimination, and the best summation of what it’s like to be a struggling young musician that I can remember: “This industry Is built upon poverty/ Its hustle tends to break you.”
Zack Schiavetta is a young man with a great deal to say and the tools to say it. He calls this album “the start of new beginnings.” I can’t wait to hear what comes next.
MOTHERHOOD - Thunder Perfect Mind (Bandcamp)
Canadian trio Motherhood transcend genres and easy categorization on this entertaining concept album that’s basically a sci-fi tale of alien abduction and human enlightenment. To be honest, though, you don’t need to parse the lyrics and follow the narrative to get a bang out of the band’s musicianship and inventiveness. Motherhood crosses genre lines with warp speed, each track sounding completely different from the last. Ween and Flaming Lips offer some reference points, if you toss in World Music beats, screaming hardcore, and a Spaghetti Western instrumental. Fans of the woolly and weird, apply within.
THE DAVENPORTS - You Could Have Just Said That (Mother West)
The CD’s sold out and the vinyl’s not in yet, so you’ll have to stream this delightful album from Brooklyn multi-instrumentalists, singer, and songwriter Jordan Klass, aka The Davenports. A hybrid of Americana and power-pop, You Could’ve Just Said That was mostly recorded by Klass except for album open “The Annabellas of the World,” done in a studio with some serious guest stars, including TMBG bassist Danny Weinkauf, Fountains Of Wayne’s Chris Collingwood, and Winterpills’ Philip Price. Swaddled in harmonies, punctuated by handclaps, propelled by a strummed acoustic guitar, it’s the template for what Klass does best - homey and inviting indie-pop songs with literate lyrics and memorable melodies. The first six tracks, twangy and mid-tempo, include “If You Put Me Next to Patti,” in which Klass inveigles a friend to sit him next to the girls of his dreams at an upcoming wedding. The funky “We’re Talking About You” and “When Everything’s Over” offer a welcome change of pace, followed by the folkie “When I Tell You That I’m Sorry” and title track, both wry and catchy folkie pop tunes that buoy the spirit and leave you wanting more.
DAZY - “I Get Lost (when I want to get found)” EP (Lame-O, Bandcamp)
James Goodson, aka the one-man studio band Dazy, released two EP’s in quick succession in 2024, “It’s Only a Secret (if you repeat it)” and the 3-song “I Get Lost.” This is power-pop cranked up to 11, with drum machine, loops, layered guitars, and Goodson’s multi-tracked vocals that’s equal parts bubblegum and grunge. The Phil Spector sugar rush of “Get Out of My Mind, and the whipcrack spunk of “I Get Lost” are followed by a duet with Eight's Mimi Gallagher on the noisy pop shoulda-been-a-hit, ““The Crush.” The three songs on “It’s Only a Secret” include the Nirvana-esque “Big End,” the percolating electro-pop and big booming sound of “Weigh Down on Me,” and the title track, a killer rock anthem with post-hardcore outfit MSPAINT that’s have you pumping your fist (if not bouncing off your walls.) Fuck me for overlooking this on release but I’ll be eagerly awaiting whatever comes next from this guy
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