RDR Essentials - Local Music (11/11)
RDR Essentials is a weekly newsletter of alternating genres that outlines key releases of the past month, upcoming events around Seattle and happenings in the specified music genre.
Made in collaboration between Rainy Dawg DJs and the Music Director.
Heavenly Bother - Trinity
Trinity opens with “Heavenly Bother the Band,” a Sgt. Peppers-esque invitation to come listen and explore. One might question why a group who has been together for three years would introduce themselves, as if for the first time, on their third major release, but listening to the lyrics provides an answer. This is “Heavenly Bother’s new band,” a fully united and thoroughly unholy Trinity.
The band’s confidence is made obvious by the album’s sheer variety of musical styles. The opening track is followed by “Chemistry,” a soft, sweet, juvenile plea for a love interest to see the potential so obvious to the narrator. Then comes the tragicomic “Gassy” and the subtly ironic “Normie,” which utilizes discordant basslines and punk lyrical flow to describe a “simple girl” so excessively plain as to become abnormal. “Homebody” sounds like depressing plod through an unduly bad hangover, carrying a deeper meaning if anyone cares to look deeper than the chorus, instantly relatable to anyone involved in their local music scene, of “Are we really even having any fun?/ Can we go home?” The album ends with “Sex Freak,” which could have been ghostwritten for Summer Walker, and a twangy, mellowed out version of the rousing house show favorite “Rodeo.” Trinity proves what Heavenly Bother is capable of, and asks how much more they might have up their sleeve.
Psychedelic, skate, acid and classic rock are a few influences Low Hums invoke in this new release. On the whole, Zzyzx delivers a chill, groovy vibe, ideal for lazy, hazy, late-night contemplation and relaxation. Songs like “Ghost Babe” and “The Heat” are short, sweet and upbeat, while “Neo Spiritual” and “Spaced Out Mind” wander for longer in a pool and riffle sequence.
You will not find that this album strays far from Low Hums’ home-brewed brand of rock. However, it is comfort food for the rock-enthusiast, hot out of the oven, ready to appease your waiting ears. Trying times call for wavy-gravy, low-key jams, and Low Hums are here for us.
Fortress’s tone is set from the first line, as lead singer Mariko Ruhle’s emotive, warbling voice shines clearly over softly fingerpicked guitar to ask, “Shovel and bucket in her hand,/ Will her sandcastle stand?/ Will the waves wash it away before she’s done?” This is an album of contemplation and introspection, of revisiting the past in order to shape the future.
The production on Fortress is simple and cool, a slight yet noticeable shift from the hazier, grungier sound of their first two releases. Al Reiter’s percussion and Jason Shao’s strings blend together the dark blue clouds against which Ruhle’s silver lyrics sparkle. While Ruhle’s narrative verses are the focal point of the album, Shao gets a chance to shred on the power ballad “I Tangled With the Serpent” and both he and Reiter compete with Ruhle for center stage on the synth-pop influenced “Desire”.
Nearly every track on Fortress approaches or exceeds 4 minutes, but none drag on or become repetitive. With Fortress, Temple Canyon have asserted themselves as belonging to an emerging class of artists such as Weyes Blood and Big Thief who are embracing the simplicity, poetry, and pure beauty of their music, and whose listeners are being richly rewarded for following them down that path.
~ 11/14 Night Hikes - Chalice
~ 11/15 Aaron Semer - Cape Disappointment
~ 11/16 Great Grandpa - Four of Arrows
~ 11/16 ings - Lullaby Rock
~ 12/14 Crazy Eyes - It’s Over, Everybody
11/16: Rachaels Children / Don Forgetti / Flying Fish Cove / Garden Chat @ Push/Pull
12/7: Hoop / Medejin / Artem/s / Sheridan Riley @ Brunch Box
12/11: Velvet Q / Bernie & The Wolf / Plum @ The Kraken Bar & Lounge
