OPM: The Pull of Strange Pop

C.W. Headley – New Language (Boredom & Suffering)

A flashback to the golden age of delightfully addled weirdo indie pop. I am reminded of Mercury Rev, early Ween, even of Daniel Johnston – weird guys with a guitar (or piano) and a lot of thoughts to share. The resulting songs are sometimes goofy, often vulgar, but never uninteresting or dull. 

Much of the music is pretty standard, stripped-down indie pop with a folk flair – guitars and bass and drums, maybe an acoustic guitar or bit of piano. The rest mixes in some trippy production – synths, guitar effects, obscure and odd sampled ephemera. The resulting mix of songs is fascinating and unusual with some nice highlights. 

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Robert Dallas Gray – Missals

A contemplative album of guitar instrumentals that fit into a niche somewhere between ambient and the quieter side of post rock. I sense some strains of post punk in the guitar tone and mood, which is pensive and almost, but not quite, melancholy. That’s not to say it’s quite hopeful per se – but there’s a sense of resolve, at the very least. 

In terms of construction, these tracks are made up of echoing loops of solo guitar and effects, including everything from quiet flurries of plucked notes to sheets of rumbling distortion. The resulting pieces are often quite lovely and meditative, despite the underlying tensions.  

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JOULES – White Lightning

Three tracks of gnarly, drumming-forward, experimental noise rock. All of the tracks focus almost primarily on the drumming, pairing the wild beats with lots of rumbles, some squalling noise and often a vocal buried waaay down in the mix. 

At times it sounds like a Slayer solo tuned down two octaves; at others you get something like the noisy intro of a metal or industrial song before it breaks into the big riffs, only extended indefinitely. What’s surprising about all these is this is subtle noise – there’s a lot going on in that clamor, if you take the time to listen. 

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ella guro – Saint Elizabeth

Off-kilter art pop with a dreamy, lo-fi aesthetic and almost Lynchian vibe. Some of this is quite subtle; some of it as subtle as a hammer. It’s all pretty thoroughly weird. I said it was dreamy, and it is, but like all dreams sometimes it gets pretty creepy and you may run into the musical equivalent of a sleep paralysis demon here and there (complimentary). 

I am reminded in some sense of Bjork, and also of St. Vincent, and while there are some sonic similarities, it’s really more about the vibe of women in art pop who like to peer into lesser used, unknown, and even off-putting corners of inspiration and influence. Smart, complex, weird, and cool. 

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A.R.T.I.S.T – Post Canariedad

A three track EP of perky electro and chiptune that blends those early electronic sounds into a holistic electro-primitive showcase. The stately, epic electro pop of Kraftwerk is one touchstone, and the soundtracks to early NES/Genesis games has to be another, along with a sprinkling of electronic novelty records and sci-fi soundtracks. It’s a solid, potent concoction and my one complaint is it’s all over too soon.

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