A Britpop, a psychedelic, and a pop

I don't know what it is about most indie rock that comes out in the winter. Almost all of the albums are overhyped so I'm almost always disappointed. Smith Westerns' Dye It Blonde had the biggest hype of them all. I think the problem is that these songs were written in the immediately prior summer, recorded in the late summer to early fall, mixed in the mid to late fall, produced for however long it takes to get the right sound, and then released sometime in the winter. So it's summer music. Not all summer music released in the winter is bad though. It's really only the rock music. And that's also not to say that music written in the winter that comes out in the summer doesn't agree with me, because winter is notorious for bringing out the best in musicians. I don't know, maybe it actually is the season. The Smith Westerns in Dye It Blonde strive to emulate 90s' Britpop, and they do it very well. But it's not good winter music. Yeah, it's definitely the season that's doing it for me. I even cut short Big Troubles' Worry earlier in the month. I'll whip out these albums in early April and see how they play. I'll probably really like them. Verdict for now: 1.5/5. Favorite songs: Zilch, and I'm miffed; I wanted to like this album.

Psychedelic is just what it sounds like... late 60s' hippie music, but now with a modern twist. White Fence's Is Growing Faith is crazy good if listened to intently with a great sound system or decent headphones. This group is keen on playing with the pitch center of sounds that are really annoying when being centered to the desired pitch, but then the song plays around that pitch and the sound is incorporated into that song. It's actually pretty cool. They'll also play with pitch in other ways: bending the note, playing with the volume, speeding up the track randomly, slowing the track randomly, bending or speeding up only certain instruments simultaneously, and sometimes different instruments are altered differently. Bottom line is these guys love to play with pitch. They also love to burst into cacophony at times. And to go off beat randomly. And to play with contrasting instruments. And to play with different effects on their instruments. And to play with random noises. And their lyrics are hilarious. But all psychedelic music is kind of ridiculous. I don't think I could listen to this album unless all I was doing is listening to this album though. It demands attention, which means you have to be in the mood for it. But if given attention, it's an audible odyssey. So it's kind of a mixed blessing. I give it a 3.8/5. Favorite songs: Sticky Fruitman Has Faith, Lillian (Won't You Play Drums?), Art Investor Collector, and You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory.

Okay. Summer Camp's Young EP. I really like this brief record. Its 6 songs run for less than 20 minutes. There is passion in the lyrics, and at the same time, they're so simple. They convey basic human emotions in the plainest of ways. For example: "I lost all my friends / Who are these people? / There's nothing for me here / Never be young again / But it's okay / I got so much more than this." It goes from sadness, to curiosity, to indifference, to regret, to acceptance, to hopefulness all in one refrain. As for the music, the only real instruments are the bass and the guitar when there is one. Almost everything else is manufactured sound, although I'm pretty sure the drum track is an electronic kit and not just pads. Everything about this album screams pop: the percussion is tinny, the bass is punchy, and the lead singer pushes her diaphragm to the limit. Picture the style that made Madonna who she is today, then crumble that into a ball, raise the volume slightly to add the slightest distortion to the overall sound, remove the pomp, and you have Summer Camp's Young EP. Definitely going to be listening to this one for a while, thus a 4/5. Favorite song: Veronica Sawyer.

Best, Jonathan