Top8 - 09/02/24

Welcome back to Top8. Hope everyone has had a good holiday weekend. Before I worked for the county, I worked basically every single Labor Day, while my boss had the day off. It's worth observing how deeply wrong that is.

It's also unmistakable how great new music is (that's what we call a fluid transition in the business, kids). Lots of great stuff this week, including the new Fontaines D.C., Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and The Last Dinner Party. Send your Labor Day vegan BBQ recipes to wtsq.org/contact.

Fontaines D.C. - In The Modern World

I want to start by looking at the entire new Fontaines D.C called "Romance". This is something of a departure from their previous efforts. The band is recognizable as the same act that gave us "Dogrel" and "Skinty Fia", but they are certainly trying new things here. To cut to the chase here, as of today I believe this is their worst album. It's far too torpid and loses a lot of what made the band one of my favorites. This is the kind of album that music journalists will flatter by saying that it's "mature".

That said, it is far from a bad album. In fact, it's only disappointing compared to the extremely high standard that the band have set for themselves. And yes, it's miles better than the boring and forgettable recent Idles effort, Tangk. There are a number of stand out tracks including "Starburster" which I previously reviewed in this column. Overall, I am glad the band is trying new things. I want them to keep doing that. I just don't want them to end up sounding like mid - late era U2. I don't know. Maybe I will keep listening to "Romance" and eventually come around on it. That's happened to me plenty of times in the past.

If I do, it will be because tracks like "In The Modern World" brought me back. This is the sort of dreamy and poetic song that we can always rely on Grian Chatten to deliver. Chatten's vocals here are perfect as usual. I want to hate the strings but I just can't. They fit perfectly with the slightly ethereal background vocals, both of which are buttressed by a massive drum sound which comes in and reminds you that this is a proper band. And not just a proper band – a band that's easily in my top five current acts.

Styrofoam Winos - Angel Flies Over

I am pretty massively into the recent wave of young bands playing distinctly modern music with americana influences. Acts like Wednesday, MJ Lenderman, Slow Pulp, and Why Bonnie. Styrofoam Winos fit right into that. I am reminded of hearing very early Wilco or Lucinda Williams and thinking – "oh, yeah. Country music can be awesome."

Styrofoam Winos put out an album back in 2021 and have a couple singles counting "Angel Flies Over." There is a satisfyingly heavy honky-tonk twang here with an equally wonderful three part harmony. Part of what makes Styrofoam Winos so cool is watching them live; the trio all play everything and change instruments on literally every single song. You can't help but be impressed. I saw them play this at their recent show at The Snack Institute and I was absolutely blown away.

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - Hashtag

Sometimes I take these two for granted. It's safe to say that the modern Americana movement would simply not exist without them. They don't always get the same attention as people like Sturgill Simpson, but they have been an essential part of the musical firmament for decades. More often than not, they are a duo as they are here. "Hashtag" is from their new album "Woodland". It's refreshing to hear something that isn't retro, isn't any kind of affectation, but is just a song performed beautifully and perfectly by people interested in conveying something. The subject matter of "Hashtag" is an incisive perspective on how inherently silly the world of social media is when compared to our real lives and our true selves. 

Lutalo - Oh Well

Lutalo is all over the place. Sometimes you'd swear he's Beck, other times he sounds like Nothing. "Oh Well" is one of the Nothing times. (Sidebar: I reference Nothing a lot in this column, don't I?) This is a perfectly crushing bit of shoegaze, but it maintains some of the jangle that you find elsewhere in Lutalo's work. 

JH Burns - One Last One and Then I'm Done For Good

JH Burns is, I am pretty sure, a new musical project from John Harouff who I've been following since his days in the Harrisonburg, VA act The Cinnamon Band, and later in Dead Professional. I love his voice and guitar on absolutely anything. On "One Last One and Then I'm Done For Good" he sings about trying to quit smoking but also about life and other vices. The result is something in the vein of JD McPherson – a spirited vamp with a Johnny Cash-ish chugging rhythm. This is good fun, but with some genuine soul and grit. 

The Cactus Blossoms - Statues

It occurs to me at this point that I have selected a lot of rootsy stuff this week. Which is fine. I do listen to a lot of this kind of music, just not only this. In any event, The Cactus Blossoms are like if The Everly Brothers got high and introspective. Songs like "Statues" have a gorgeous harmony vocal and a spare, lonely, minimalist musical element.

Jagged Baptist Club - Slid Out in the Sunroom

"Slid Out in the Sunroom" makes me think of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. And that's usually a good thing. The new one from Jagged Baptist Club takes a 1960s organ sound and combines it with a more contemporary beat and vocal. This works for me. 

The Last Dinner Party - This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us (Sparks Cover)

Indie people make you feel like you have to apologize for liking something that becomes popular with people who aren't indie people. The hell with that. I love The Last Dinner Party. Fight me.

This is a Sparks cover for godsake, and they play the hell out of it. If you are a fan of TLDP, pay attention to the choice of cover here. The insanely long running Sparks are a big influence on their music. This cover is spirited and leans into the dramatic elements that The Last Dinner Party shares with Sparks while offering a little more of a musical theatre quality. It's also nothing like the Siouxie cover, which I appreciate just for variety's sake.

And this week's extra innings – just a few other things I am listening to, including the other two versions of "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us", and an amazing song from Cleveland band Pal. If I had been turned onto Pal sooner, 2023's album "PALS" would have made my top 10 for the year. Check out their whole discography.

Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us (The original version)

Siouxie and the Banshees - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us (Sparks Cover)

Pal - WW2

And a playlist with everything - 

Thank you for reading and listening!

-emily