OPM: Rock Persists

Quarksplitter – Surface Glow

Chewy experimental oddness and glitchtastic mutant breakbeats turned inside out and run thru the wringer for maximal novelty. Honestly, these breaks are often chopped, processed and manipulated well past the point of them remaining breakbeats. Often they turn into glittery, glitchy textures, or disintegrate into skipping CD player/granular territory. 

Occasionally, the vibe slips into something more like traditional ambient: placid and flowing and almost shapeless. One track goes full-on four-on-the-floor EDM bordering on hardcore; a few others approach drum and bass. None of that is a problem unless you were expecting something like “normal” breakbeats. This is a lot closer to one of a kind, and far more interesting than the typical breakbeat offering.

(Listened to the entire album)

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Junking – cyborg

Intense lo-fi folktronica with an unusual and distinctive approach to arrangement and songwriting. The acoustic and electronic elements are often kept separate for long portions of the song, and when they do mix it’s always clear which is in charge and which is decoration. It works, tho – all pieces carry their weight and contribute to the whole. 

Waves of synth, distortion, sound effects, spoken-word samples and lots of acoustic guitars are the key ingredients. The songs made out of those things are pretty out there and idiosyncratic – reminiscent of some of Elephant 6, Grandaddy, Badly Drawn Boy, the Books and the Microphones at moments, but without aping any of them. 

(Listened to the entire album)

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Martyrs – Halloween Dream EP

Smart and sophisticated art pop/rock with lush production and some nice surprises. This album has deep roots in the rich, rich history of British art rock – from OGs like Eno, Bowie, Peter Gabriel/Genesis thru stuff like Super Furry Animals (referenced via a cover song!), Radiohead and beyond. 

Those are rich veins to mine, and the material Martyrs come up with is definitely worth the effort. The topper is the excellent, lush production, which crackles with presence and vibe in a very vaguely nostalgic way. Hard to put my finger on what exactly it has me nostalgic for, but it sounds great. 

(Listened to the entire album)

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Shadow Person – Chronic Disappointment

A weirdo-rock take on classic singer-songwriter tropes, with a bit of psych thrown in for good measure. Reminds me a bit of a less chaotic early Flaming Lips, or maybe an American answer to Robyn Hitchcock. Weird and whimsical songs, all delivered in a sort of off kilter but not too out there fashion; some nice guitar work to be found here, in particular. 

Some blues, some pop, some folk and that aforementioned psych are among the ingredients, and the results have a fun out-of-time quality – it feels like a weird bit of lost media from the mid ‘80s or early ‘90s maybe, something recorded with great fanfare and then shelved because an AOR guy thought it was too weird. But hey, don’t let that (imaginary) guy’s opinion stop you!

(Listened to the entire album)

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Malachite Riot – “The Plan”

Old-school indie rock banger with thumping drums, squalling guitars and an impassioned, punk-influenced vocal. Notes of the Screaming Trees, Fugazi, Dinosaur Jr and maybe a tiny bit of Helmet? This would have fit in beautifully in what I now think of as rock’s last stand – the indie boom of the ‘00s-’10s. 

That era produced a lot of stuff in this vein – deeply passionate rock forged from a crazy quilt of influences from across rock’s history. Cool to see it’s still alive even as its natural habitat – dive bar venues that book original bands on a Tuesday night – disappears.

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