Author Archives: Joseph Neff

Regarding two person rock ‘n’ roll, few have done it better than Flavia and Martin Couri, the married duo who record and play shows as The Courettes. Flavia, originally from Brazil, is the singer and guitarist, while Martin, who hails from Denmark where the band is currently based, handles the rhythm and some backing vocals. Theirs is a raw ’60s garage sound blended with pop elements from the same era, and they’ve sustained a high level of quality for nearly a decade. Their latest is “SHAKE!” c/w “You Woo Me,” available February 16 through Damaged Goods Records, and it’s a burning groove double whammy.

Half of this gold-vinyl 7-inch is a taster for The Courettes next full-length, which is set for release this September; it’s the flip that’s exclusive to this platter. Excluding Boom! Dynamite (An Introduction to the Fabulous Courettes), a compilation issued last year, and Here We Are the Courettes, a 2021 CD that combines their first two LPs, the duo’s upcoming LP will be their fourth, which is frankly a pretty high number for an outfit specializing in garage punk.

Along with a pair of 10-inch discs (perhaps we’ll call them mini-LPs), The Courettes have a slew of singles in their discography. This isn’t a surprise, as that’s the format where garage punk bands (and duos) tend to excel. The reason is reliably due to short-players capturing quick bursts of inspiration in a relatively timely frame, before the edges get smoothed down and urgency inevitably diminishes.

To expect more than a few short sharp singles from a garage punk act is a set-up for disappointment. And by extension, that’s why The Courettes’ inspired prolificacy over such a substantial period of time is worth celebrating. A big reason for the sustained success comes down the pair’s melodic deftness. Frequent is the praise The Courettes receive for their acumen with retro-’60s pop hooks, and it’s a streak that extends to “SHAKE!” as the catchiness gets merged with strong classic R&B-ish groove stomp reinforcing the Sonics comparisons they’ve garnered over the years.

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Itasca is vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Kayla Cohen’s chosen handle for a string of intimate recordings that stretch back to 2012. Imitation of War is her first release in four years, and it finds her engaging with a rock sensibility more forthrightly than ever before, all while cultivating those folkish roots. Available on 140 gram virgin vinyl and CD February 9 through Paradise of Bachelors, these ten songs should please discerning fans of early San Francisco psychedelia and ears that crave their singer-songwriter platters dipped in edgy acid-folk.

Imitation of War is a significant progression for Kayla Cohen, the album’s songs unwinding with a calm assurance that adds dimension as the foundation gets strengthened by the bass of Evan Backer and the drums of Daniel Swire and Evan Burrows. Backer and Burrows both play in Wand with Robert Cody, who produced Imitation of War. Swire plays in Gun Outfit along with contributing to Itasca’s prior album Spring. But it’s Cohen’s vocals, warm and pretty, and her guitar, expansive yet focused, that make her latest such a pleasure to hear.

Opener “Milk” begins with just Cohen’s guitar, but bass and drums enter the scheme soon enough. The atmosphere is initially calm but with a gradual, subtle rise in urgency. There is a definite similarity to San Fran psych from before the early ’70s rot set in; a direct instrumental comparison can be made to Alexander “Skip” Spence’s masterful Oar.

There’s a tangible late night quality both songs share, though Imitation of War lacks the captivating damaged eccentricity of Spence’s underground classic. But Cohen makes up for this with clarity in execution. The title cut is even more rock focused, indeed the most rocking cut on the record, as the singing glides atop and reinforces Cohen’s folky bona fides.

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Johnny Griffin ranks amongst the very greatest hard bop tenor saxophonists, with his voluminous discography as a sideman and leader stretching from the mid-1940s to the early 21st century. Having moved to France in 1963, he quickly became a fixture on stages and in studios throughout Europe. Live at Ronnie Scott’s 1964 documents the man at the height of his artistic powers at the storied UK club of the title, backed by the venue’s house band including pianist Stan Tracey. Issued as a three-sided 2LP in a numbered edition of 500 (with CDs also available), the set is out now through Gearbox Records.

Today, Johnny Griffin might be best known for his work with Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey circa the second half of the 1950s; one LP, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk, released in 1959 by Atlantic, brought Griffin’s productive relationships together. But the Little Giant (as he was called) was also in the band for Full House, a live recording that teamed the saxophonist with pianist Wynton Kelly’s trio in support of guitarist Wes Montgomery. Originally issued as a single album in ’62, Full House was expanded to a 3LP set just last year.

Griffin’s work as a leader, or co-leader, hasn’t exactly been forgotten, however. To put it plainly, that’s because he was a reliable, high-energy, straight-ahead player. If blowing sessions are your bag, then Griffin is surely (one of) your guy(s). His first records as a leader to hit the store bins came via Blue Note, and especially notable is 1957’s Johnny Griffin, Vol. 2 (aka A Blowin’ Session) which added two more tenors, Hank Mobley and John Coltrane, plus Lee Morgan on trumpet and Kelly at the keys with Paul Chambers on bass and Blakey on drums.

Blowing sessions have sometimes been billed as tenor battles (in the tradition of Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray’s cutting contest approximations “The Chase” and “The Hunt”) and between 1960-’62 Griffin cut ten albums in this mode, many of them live, with fellow tenor titan Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis. A few in this flood of LPs were issued later in the decade, but the majority landed in the retail racks promptly after recording, proof that Griffin was in demand and could be consistently interesting in a casually competitive context.

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Drummer Francisco Mela and tenor saxophonist-flutist Zoh Amba are two leading lights in the current avant-garde jazz scene. On Causa y Efecto, Vol. 2, they deliver some exemplary duo exchange, following up a prior installment released in September 2022. Both sets are available on vinyl (Vol. 2 releases February 2) through 577 Records of Brooklyn, NY. We cover both sets below.

Born in Cuba, Francisco Mela moved to the US in 2000 to study at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. It didn’t take him long to start amassing credits, and like many jazz drummers, he’s versatile, having played with saxophonists Joe Lovano and Kenny Barron, bassist Esperanza Spaulding, and live with pianists McCoy Tyner and Geri Allen, but also, swinging over to the avant-garde side of spectrum, saxophonists Daniel Carter and Stephen Gauci, bassist William Parker, and pianist Matthew Shipp.

A co-leader of many recordings, Mela’s own albums include 2006’s Melao, ’08’s Cirio (Live at the Blue Note), ’16’s Fe and ’18’s Ancestros. And it’s no surprise that Mela is featured on numerous recent releases from 577, including Zoh Amba’s ’22 debut for the label O Life, O Light (Vol. 1) in trio with Parker on bass (Vol. 2 came out last year).

Born in Tennessee, Amba attended San Francisco Conservatory of Music, New England Conservatory and also studied in NYC with saxophonist David Murray. Her debut recording, ’22 O, Sun, was released by John Zorn’s Tzadik label with a guest spot from the saxophonist on one track. Bhakti followed not long after on the Mahakala label, and since then she’s been a co-leader on ’22’s Alien Skin with Parker, Shipp, saxophonists Chad Fowler and Ivo Perelman and drummer Steve Hirsh. Last year Palilalia Records released The Flower School by Amba, drummer Chris Corsano and guitarist Bill Orcutt.

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Releasing three albums and a slew of singles, Heavenly of the UK endures as a standout band from the 1990s indie boom, landing in the sweet spot where indie pop a la Sarah Records tangos with the then budding Riot Grrl experience. LP number three The Decline and Fall of Heavenly captures them at times melodically refined, at other moments raw and rocking. Adding the “P.U.N.K. Girl” and “Atta Girl” singles, the album gets reissued February 2 on vinyl through Skep Wax Records. There is also a Bandcamp exclusive “P.U.N.K. Girl” T-shirt bundle with a CD single, postcards, and a badge available the same day.

Before there was Heavenly, there was Talulah Gosh. This was back in the ‘80s amidst the burgeoning waves of indie pop. The short of it is when Talulah Gosh ceased, Heavenly commenced not long after, with the lineup of guitarist-vocalist Amelia Fletcher, her drummer brother Mathew Fletcher, guitarist Peter Momtchiloff, and bassist Rob Pursey (returning from the original lineup of Talulah Gosh). For second album Le Jardin de Heavenly Cathy Rogers joined, contributing keyboards and vocals to productive effect.

Heavenly’s label on their home turf was indeed Sarah Records, and in the USA they were part of the abundant K Records roster. Given their blend of influences, they couldn’t’ve found a more fitting label home. Decline and Fall opens with “Me and My Madness,” a dose of crisp indie pop sweetness with a few strategically placed punkish bursts and sustained roars dropped in.

“Modestic” is a bouncy pop mover with keyboards aping a horns section and sweeping harmonic vocals. Especially cool is the instrumental break where the keys take on a ’60s Farfisa-ish flavor that underscores the deepest roots strengthening so much of Heavenly’s material. And then “Skipjack” brings in mallet vibes, cowbell, and tambourine to a riffy number where those harmonies really soar and the guitars get a little raucous at the end.

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The Paranoid Style is the band of Washington DC-based vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter Elizabeth Nelson. With the release of The Interrogator on February 2, their discography is now four full-lengths deep, the whole bunch issued by the enduring Hoboken, NJ indie Bar/None Records. The latest by Nelson and crew offers work as intelligent (not a given in the rock scene) and sturdy as ever, but with the added benefit of Peter Holsapple (co-founder of the dB’s) on lead guitar. Featuring 13 crisp songs, the album is available on vinyl, compact disc, and digital.

To expand on the smarts that help to distinguish The Paranoid Style from the pack, it bears noting that Elizabeth Nelson’s a journalist, and a very good one, her work in the pages of The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, and the Oxford American (amongst others) covering a range of topics from music (natch) to film and TV to sports to politics (The Paranoid Style’s name derives from Richard Hofstadter’s 1964 essay for Harper’s Magazine, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics”).

Nelson’s word gush in The Paranoid Style has been compared to John Darnielle, a similarity that hovers around the fringes of The Interrogator but really comes into focus in the record’s finale “The Findings” (interestingly, it’s the only co-write on the record, the credit shared with Nicky Beer). Deepening the Darnielle connection, “The Findings” moves at a slower pace than the up-tempos and middles that dominate the album as it bustles forward.

Yes, The Paranoid Style is a band. Along with Nelson and new addition Holsapple, the lineup finds Timothy Bracy (Nelson’s husband) on guitar, William Corrin on bass, Jon Langmead on drums, and William Matheny on guitar and keyboards, plus assistance from Matt Douglas, Lisa Walker, and Will Rigby in unspecified roles (there is a smattering of horns and additional keyboards in a few tracks, and even a little violin).

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For many who recognize his name, Brion Gysin is an ancillary literary figure in the Beat movement who is mostly associated with William S. Burroughs. But he achieved far more than amassing a worthy bibliography in his lifetime; Gysin was also a painter, and as Wewantsounds’ first-time expanded reissue of Junk illuminates, a recording artist. This LP, initially coordinated by French producer, sound designer and visual artist Ramuntcho Matta, finds the poet vocalizing his words with distinctive flair. It’s a fascinating document pitching a tent at the crossroads of experimental syntax and ’80s avant-funk.

In fact, Brion Gysin was more than just a supporting player in the subterranean affairs of the 20th century. Much more. Credited as the first person to develop and apply the cut-up technique, a method of radically rearranging text, he was a crucial figure. When applied by Burroughs to his own work, the cut-up method carried his early pulp sensibility into the realms of the experimental.

Along with Ian Sommerville, Gysin was also the inventor of the Dreamachine, a phonograph-driven device that produced stroboscopic effects, specifically a flicker (the apparatus was meant to be viewed with eyes closed). Considered together with Gysin’s own cut-ups (first published in the pamphlet Minutes to Go in 1960 and later anthologized in The Third Mind, a 1977 book gathering texts by Gysin and Burroughs), the Dreamachine establishes its co-creator as deeply invested in expanding and altering the human mind.

Unsurprisingly, and plainly established by Junk’s title-track, drugs were part of Gysin’s reality, though not to the extent that the titular substance became ingrained into the life and work of Burroughs. But there’s also “Kick,” which opens Junk, and also “Stop Smoking,” a piece infused with gallows humor that offers up some of the phlegmiest coughing likely ever heard on a recording (admittedly, one doesn’t encounter this element very often). The title of “Sham Pain” references the bubbly stuff.

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The Bay Area-based trio Topographies specialize in post-punk that hits the sweet spot between dancy and chilly. One can gyrate to the ten tracks heard on the band’s second full-length Interior Spring, or one can stand aloof, appreciating the atmosphere. Originality might not be the strong suit of this outfit (a particular predecessor does come to the fore), but Topographies have the moves down pat, and they pull it off without sounding imitative. The record is out on vinyl and digital February 2 through Dark Entries.

Ideal Form, the debut album by Topographies, came out in 2020 via the Funeral Party label, with a pair of 7-inch records and a few cassette EPs stretching their oeuvre back to 2018. One of those tapes offers a four song Part Time Punks session, its A-side holding two originals and the flip two covers of songs by My Bloody Valentine.

Their choice to play those MBV tunes has no doubt increased the frequency of the shoegaze comparison in relation to Topographies’ sound. Checking out the earlier material, the connection is clear, but having soaked up this new album, the shoegaze style is no longer a primary ingredient in their work. Instead, post-punk now dominates, and as said, with a big reference point sticking out.

The antecedent is The Cure. Topographies is guitarist Jeremie Ruest, bassist Justin Oronos, and vocalist Gray Tolhurst, son of The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst, so the similarity is understandable, but impressively, it doesn’t feel calculated. Obviously influenced by The Cure, Topographies won’t be mistaken for The Cure, in part because of a level of danceability that can bring New Order to mind, with this likeness felt in opener “Night Sea,” increasing in “Arch” and becoming even more apparent in “Cleanse” as the Cure-like aura also rises in that track.

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Celebrating Robin Zander on his 71st birthday. —Ed.

‘twas just the middle of last month that Real Gone Music released Cheap Trick’s Live at The Whisky 1977 in a 4CD 2,000 copy edition which has already sold out at the source. However, its rapid-fire scarcity doesn’t mean the release is no longer worthy of appraisal. To the contrary, this generous documentation of four nights in the early days of a canonical band explicates their sustained popularity across a spectrum of fandom that includes classic rock aficionados, power-pop diehards, and even punks with a passion for hooks. Parties interested in obtaining a copy of Live at The Whisky 1977 need to peruse store inventories while perhaps lobbying for a repress, hopefully this time on vinyl.

By the time I’d been fully exposed to Rockford, IL’s Cheap Trick in the early 1980s, they were fully established arena rock stars. Indeed, they had a bona fide frontman with charisma and sex appeal in Robin Zander, as bassist Tom Petersson was no slouch in the good looks department. Adding depth to the lineup, guitarist and primary songwriter Rick Nielsen and drummer Bun E. Carlos were a pair of colorful characters.

Carlos (real name Brad Carlson), with his business suits (complete with loosened neck ties and unbuttoned vests) and smoldering cigarettes dangling from below his moustache, teetered on eccentricity, looking more like a public accountant under duress in the waning moments of a hotel bar’s happy hour than the on-the-money sticksman for one of ’70s power-pop’s defining and most successful bands.

This stature was earned through catchy, smart songwriting and sharp execution. By the early ’80s, Cheap Trick had settled comfortably into rock’s mainstream, getting there through the somewhat unexpected smash sales figures of the live in Japan LP Cheap Trick at Budokan (initially a US import) and the steadily rising chart placements of studio albums two (In Color, ’77), three (Heaven Tonight, ’78) and four (Dream Police, ’79), plus their associated hit singles.

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Trombonist Phil Ranelin has amassed a varied discography, though he’s still something of an under the radar guy. However, on January 26, ORG Music will be throwing an extended spotlight onto Ranelin’s quartet from the late ’70s-early ’80s featuring keyboardist Billy Childs, bassist Tony Dumas, and drummer Ralph Penland. The Found Tapes: Live in Los Angeles is a 4LP/3CD collection capturing three club sets in bold, raw fidelity, the music rooted in tradition as the band taps into the progressions of fusion and the avant-garde. Adventurous jazz fans will find much to enjoy in these eight sides.

Although he’s been quite active in the 21st century, Phil Ranelin is perhaps best known as a co-founder of The Tribe, which was both a Detroit-based record label and a group that also featured saxophonist Wendell Harrison, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, and drummer Doug Hammond. As part of a 1970s movement in jazz toward independence in reaction to the neglect and exploitation of established record labels of the time, The Tribe combined a collectively healthy grasp of jazz rudiments with openness to the creative advancements of the tumultuous prior decade and an eye on building a better future.

There’s no better example of The Tribe’s achievements that Ranelin’s 1973 LP The Time Is Now!, which has been given numerous reissues, most recently in the US by Now-Again Records. The Found Tapes is a clear extension of The Tribe’s approach, as Ranelin compositions debuted on his earlier albums are given fresh readings here. But there is also considerable growth on display, particularly in how the group integrates post-bop, robust grooving, and an avant-garde edge.

The beginning of the opening track “He the One We All Knew” recalls the Art Ensemble of Chicago in little instruments mode but soon switches into fleet boppish momentum amid a few solo-focused downshifts. Then, “Vibes From the Tribe” ushers in post-Miles heavy fusion funk propelled by a slamming beat from Penland and deepened with beaucoup Rhodes action from Childs. There’s even a stretch where Dumas comes to the fore, laying it down heavy on what sure sounds like an electric model bass (at other times it seems he switches to an upright).

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Remembering Sam Cooke, born on this day in 1931. —Ed.

Sam Cooke is one of the prime architects of 20th century music. Concise accolades frequently falter into overstatement, but in this instance the praise is offered sans hyperbole. The easiest way to test this claim is through ABKCO’s Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964; initially released on compact disc in 2003, it immediately vaulted to the forefront of Cooke compilations, and that it’s been available on double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve retaining Peter Guralnick’s splendid liner notes is cause for celebration.

With due respect to Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Sam & Dave, and other worthy belters, the indispensible Soul Gang of Four, Male Division is constituted by Ray Charles, James Brown, Otis Redding, and Sam Cooke. It’s a quartet as firm as Gibraltar, but if a member of this group occasionally receives a nagging quibble, it’s the man born January 22, 1931 as Samuel Cook.

Right now some might even be openly questioning Cooke’s importance as an essential builder of modern music, mainly because much of his discography lacks both the immediate brilliance of invention and sheer virtuosity found in Charles’ best material and the grit and fervor that still partially defines the reputations of Brown and Redding.

All four have been described as soul’s rightful ruler, but Cooke’s the only one who doesn’t also possess an instantly recognizable sobriquet. The Genius of Soul, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, The Godfather of Soul, Mr. Dynamite, The Big O, and Mr. Pitiful are nicknames of specificity; anybody with a basic knowledge of the genre will know exactly to whom they refer. Mention The King of Soul in a crowded bar after a few rounds of drinks and the debate on who most deserves that title could stretch beyond last call.

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Remembering Lead Belly, born on this date in 1888. —Ed.

Of Lead Belly records, there are a ton, and the reasons why are simple. Foremost, this titan of American music possessed a deep reservoir of songs, but he was also something of a crossover artist, robust enough in style to appeal to subsequent generations of blues fanatics as diversity of subject matter and musical approach ensconced him as a godfather-cornerstone to the burgeoning mid-20th century folk movement. Smithsonian Folkways’ reissue of Easy Rider: Leadbelly Legacy Volume Four is a tidy encapsulation of the man’s aptitude for social commentary.

Born in January of 1888, Huddie William Ledbetter was a performing musician prior to the 1920s commercial boom for the blues, which party explains the breadth of his talent beyond the form. Like many early blues players, he’s just as aptly described as a songster (versatility allowing a player to become something of a one-man show in those days), and while an effective multi-instrumentalist, his excellence on the 12-string guitar was matched by the strength of his voice and an ability to consistently communicate the essence of his songs, many of which were handed down from oral tradition.

All of these attributes found Lead Belly fitting nicely into the early US folk scene, but it was probably his relationship to the pre-recording industry roots of folk tradition (he was an eight-year elder of Blind Lemon Jefferson) that sealed the deal. This places him historically in strong and varied company; think Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, and Lightnin’ Hopkins for starters, but with the crucial difference that Lead Belly wasn’t a subject of rediscovery after an earlier dalliance with commercial record makers.

He was discovered, however. Like many others of his circumstance in Jim Crow USA, it was during a stay in prison, with Lead Belly first recorded in 1933-’34 by John and Alan Lomax while serving a term in Angola. These songs weren’t commercially released until the ’60s, but once he’d been given early release in ’34, the man took the ball of interest in his music and ran for a career-securing touchdown.

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Eye Flys are a gang of heavy Philadelphians whose second album, a self-titled effort, releases January 26 through Thrill Jockey. The band specializes in a brand of pummeling brutality that’s likely to turn the crank of both old school noise rock fans and extreme metal enthusiasts. Dishing eight songs in 25 minutes, the unrelenting compactness of Eye Flys’ latest heightens the impact. The record will be available on translucent red vinyl and compact disc with cover art by John Herndon of Tortoise.

The members of Eye Flys have all played in other bands, with guitarist-vocalist Jake Smith and drummer Patrick Forrest having played together in Backslider (tagged as fastcore) and bassist Kevin Bernsten a part of Triac (sized up as a hybrid of grindcore and power violence). The collective experience is felt in Eye Flys’ attack, which thrives on a pounding elasticity.

Eye Flys have issued a prior EP “Context” (2019) and full-length Tub of Lard (2020) on Thrill Jockey plus the EP “Exigent Circumstance” (2021) on Closed Casket Activities, a label out of Troy, NY that specializes in metal influenced hardcore. They’ve shaved down a member for their latest (namely Spencer Hazard, who plays in Full of Hell), but that hasn’t altered the heft of their sound, which was harnessed for the new set at Bernsten’s own studio Developing Nations and at J Robbins’ joint The Magpie Cage.

And regarding the band’s sound, I suspect that the PR likening their sonic thrust to the early, defining era of the Amphetamine Reptile label might lead some newbies to assume Eye Flys are a more discernibly punk-descended excursion into abrasion and nihilism. But no, theirs is a metallic sensibility, in part through well-honed crunch-thud and also Smith’s gruffness of throat.

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A crucial founding member of still extant post-punk pioneers Wire, Colin Newman’s solo discography is substantial. In 1997, he released Bastard, a mostly instrumental collection infused with techno, electronica, and post rock. Although issued under Newman’s name, the set is an extensive collaboration with Malka Spigel of Minimal Compact, who Newman describes as his “partner in life and crime” (they married in 1986). If the styles tapped are now long established, the record’s range is engagingly broad. Featuring a dozen bonus tracks, the release makes its vinyl debut January 26 on the swim ~ label.

The first edition of Bastard, issued on CD in 1997, came with the “Voice” EP as a bonus disc, its four tracks initially issued on vinyl in ’95. They open disc two here. Unlike the pieces that encompass Bastard, the EP’s opener “Automation” and closer “Output” feature Newman’s vocals, with this addition lending these tracks a proper songlike feel even as they embrace the textures of electronica and techno (particularly “Output” with its dancefloor thump).

Indeed, the EP’s overriding focus is on the electronic, with these atmospheres having aged pretty well. The title cut integrates beaucoup guitar burn and looped telephone samples (including spoken passages) to create an ominous mood. Contrasting, Bastard is immediately more beats oriented, as “Sticky” (opening disc one) is an unabashed dance number, even as numerous layered repetitions add depth.

Guitars are present in the cyclical “May,” where the post rock sensibility comes in, though there are also subtle similarities to Wire in the track. There’s also guitar in “Slowfast (falling down the stairs with a drumkit)” but the main thrust is a drum and bass blitz at its most hyperactive. The bass gradually solidifies a dub foundation.

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San Francisco-based jangle-pop four-piece The Umbrellas return with their second full-length “Fairweather Friend” on January 26, a co-release by Slumberland Records of the USA and Tough Love Records of the UK. With alternating guy-gal lead vocals and rich harmonizing from Matt Ferrera and Morgan Stanley (as both wield guitars in the scheme), the record offers an energetic and catchy journey down a well-traversed indie pop avenue of everlasting appeal.

Completed by bassist Nick Oka and drummer Keith Frerichs, The Umbrellas debuted in 2019 with the 5-song “Maritime E.P.” via the cassette specialist label Discontinuous Innovation Inc. and followed up that likeable set with an eponymous LP for Slumberland in 2021. “Write It in the Sky” b/w “I’ll Never Understand” arrived in 2022, co-released by Slumberland and the labels Tear Jerk (Australia), Meritorio (Spain), and Fastcut (Japan).

Emerging with a solid stylistic foundation that’s been sharpened right up to now, The Umbrellas carried over three songs from the cassette to the first LP, with “Happy” something of a Heavenly-esque standout. For the 45, they didn’t futz around with the program, but neither do the tracks sound formulaic. Instead, they dish a double whammy of indie pop, fuzzed-up and raucous, its contents illuminating how The Umbrellas are a comfortable fit on bills and tours with hardcore bands.

To elaborate, on “Fairweather Friend” The Umbrellas maintain the C86 bedrock (though we could go all the way back to The Byrds, I guess), but it’s important to note the band’s attentiveness to indie pop developments circa the ’90s and later, as a toughness is consistently felt amid the jangling and sweetness.

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