5 new releases we love: Tennis’ simmering piano pop, Beach Bunny’s explosive debut, and more
Music Features A-Sides
Tennis Photo: Luca Venter
Beach Bunny, Honeymoon
[Mom + Pop Music, February 14]
It seems all too fitting that Beach Bunny’s debut full-length is named Honeymoon and comes out on Valentine’s Day. On every track of the Chicago band’s positively explosive record, singer-guitarist Lili Trifilio sounds like she’s vibrating with so many feelings that she’s bubbling over. Bliss, pain, jealousy, love, it doesn’t matter—it’s all messy and it’s all glorious, the tunes propelled in wild fashion by punchy, rocket-fueled guitars and Trifilio’s delivery, recalling the reckless abandon of Hop Along’s Frances Quinlan. The abundance of righteous riffs (“Ms. California”) and swooning, wordless melodies (“Dream Boy”) never get old, and they make the sparse solitude of a song like runner-up lament “Racetrack” all the more heartbreaking. Besides being deliriously fun, Honeymoon is a power-pop reminder that, in a time when it’s easy to get defeated by our feelings, it can still feel really goddamned good to rage against or alongside them. [Matt Williams]
Iyla, Other Ways To Vent
[3T Entertainment/Astra Velum/EMPIRE, February 7]
Iyla’s 2018 EP War + Raindrops was both a velvety-toned revelation and a tough act to follow: Tunes like the lo-fi wonder “Juice” and the whimsical “Flowers” left little room for error. Follow-up Other Ways To Vent complements her previous, tightly curated collection of anthemic cries with something that is somehow even more emotionally raw. There is less playfulness here, leaving plenty of room for growth by way of soul-baring confessions and unpredictable beats. While War + Raindrops bore the lessons she’s learned from romance gone wrong, this new seven-track EP actively wades through the messier aspects of love and relationships. “Bad Side” strips away most of the slick production, leaving behind nothing more than a gently strummed guitar and Iyla’s syrupy vocals to broach the end of a precarious relationship. Other Ways To Vent balances anguish with clean melodies, turning heartbreak and frustration into vibrant catharsis. [Shannon Miller]
21 Comments
Tennis gross me out. the both of them. The music’s fine, but theyre nasty.
I’m waiting for Iyla to blow up. She’s gorgeous, has a silky-smooth voice, her videos always have sharp, crisp, and beautiful visuals, the songs are solid, old school R&B.
Are those real people in the header image? They look computer-generated or something.
Heard of: 2/5Listened to: 0/5
Welcome to the real world, where people have different tastes! These lists are always a good chance to broaden your horizons.
It wasn’t a comment on the quality of the music or denunciation of it due to my not having heard of it. It was an accounting of what I’ve heard of and what I’ve actually listened to – something people who read this column often do (especially the aged like myself who are falling more and more out of touch – another reason I look forward to this column). I thought of it as a good-natured offering rather than a statement of ignorant defiance or whatever you’re reading into it. It’s the internet, and there ought to be space enough for both of us to offer up a comment or opinion, no?
No worries dude! I’ve done the same in one of the most recent weeks’ version of this, and it was misconstrued. I wasn’t sure which direction you were meaning for your comment to be taken, so I opted for the more positive approach. I’ll admit that “welcome to the real world” makes me sound much more of a dick than I intended, so sorry for that.
To be fair, your initial post comes across as a statement of ignorant defiance. You left very little context to show that it was “good-natured”, and if you don’t mind, I’m going to call into question your motives.
I’m thinking you were hoping that someone would express outrage so that you could swoop in and claim that you were just misunderstood all the while perched on your perceived moral high ground.
My motives were to start a fight on the internet. You’re right. Looking at it from your perspective, I’m an arrogant prick. This is true in real life, but I didn’t know it was obvious from my comment. I suppose any attempt to justify oneself just takes a deeper hole. Context is everything, and I failed to provide it.
Nice to see Tennis get some love here. I’ve been a fan for years.
Tennis’ commitment to a look is not to be denied.Hair game on fleek, as the kids used to say.Iyla sounds great. But, to be cynical, she’s the fantasy of white music execs come true. A white girl doing soul with a sound and lyrics like past proven big selling white girl soul singers, Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse, respectively.I still plan to look her up because, again, she sounds great.Brent Faiyz was just on the cusp of sounding interesting to me and then he did the SAME FUCKING SHIT I’ve heard from too many young male artists lately. The first frigging words are “I got too many hoes”. Humble brag much? Then showing aforementioned “hoes” packing up bags. *rolls eyes* Oh, wow, another singer slangin’. So transgressive. Oh, I know, it’s your truth. Whatever.BUT, the sound is great. If I just heard the song without the wack ass vid, I could just vibe. But the video is some mad humble brag typical young Soundcloud motherfucker “Ohhhhhh, I’m soooo messed up ‘cause I got too many zannies and cash and these hoes won’t leave me aloooone.” Get some therapy already.Frank Ocean has a lot to answer for.
I haven’t listened to a Pop song since 1983. And I still hold a grudge that CD’s went on to replace cassettes.
That new Tennis record is fantastic sophistopop. They’ve never made a bad record, but feels like they kicked it up a notch. I can almost forgive what a nightmare the band name/album title combo is for Google searches.
Here’s my list (which is better than the AvClubs):Calibro 35: Momentum. It’s just good. Durand Jones and the Indications: Young Americans (single) best Bowie cover in years.
Tomar and The FCs: Rise Above. It’s the evolution of an artist before our very ears.Alexandra Savior: The Archer. Freed from the bonds of a record contract Alexandra gets experimental and personal. Tre Burt: Caught it From the… A rare release from John Prine’s studio is a throwback to early Dylan. It’s nice to hear Folk without all the bells and whistles — just a guitar, harmonica and a shitty voice that takes some getting used to. Destroyer: Have we Met. Ya’ll already know that one I assume.
Elegy: Jeremy Cunningham. Still unpacking this one, but it’s weird enough I’ll listen to it a dozen times before I know how I feel about it. Coco Rosie: Restless. This is like a cleaning the house EP. Inoffensive, fun, and then there’s a little something under the surface.
Beach Bunny is excellent and everyone should be listening to them. That is all.
I love Tennis, but they look like Kristin Wiig and Steve Carell started a comedy folk group.
It was a dry release week for me, but there was good singles released in anticipation of full albums: SWMRS released “PEOPLE”, featuring FIDLAR; Violent Soho has “Everything is A-OK” coming out, and they released a few singles; Hockey Dad has a few solid tracks released in anticipation for “Brain Candy”; Jason Isbell & 400 Unit released “Be Afraid” in anticipation for “Reunion”. Also, it’s been weeks since it’s out, but Dune Rat’s “Hurry Up And Wait” is a great punk album.
My goddam band put out a new single/video on Friday. I know we are not cool enough to be noticed by the A/V club or anything, but here is the goddam thing:
That’s a pretty goddamn cool tune!
Thank you. Please tell 10 people and have them each tell 10 people. We could all end up DOZENAIRES.
So now that people have had time to listen to it: Tame Impala’s new album, what do you think? The first half sounds like rejected tracks from Currents to me, so pretty meh, but the second half gets more back to the Innerspeaker/Lonerism style and I dig it. Lost in Yesterday especially has a killer bassline.