Silkworm

Hooray, music!

VHOL, “The Tomb”

The new band of guitar genius John Cobbett (Hammers of Misfortune and Ludicra, who we haven’t hit yet), and featuring various other veterans of the underground metal scene, Vhol came storming out of the gates with their self-titled release in 2013, which might have been my favorite record that year (except whatever I’m forgetting about). Their follow-up, Deeper than Sky, came out a couple years later and didn’t skip a beat. Usually sounding like something close to thrash, but with drums that sound a lot like hardcore punk, there’s something really elemental about this music that just makes me want to break stuff. Anyway, both records are amazing, and it just now occurred to me that we’re about due for a new one.

Some titans of the rock underground today! I really like this set a lot. Shame it didn’t go one more song, Einstürzende Neubauten popped up next with “Vanadium-I-Ching”, which would have been a fun addition to the list. Oh well, can’t go changing the rules any time I like!

Pixies, “Alec Eiffel”

Here, we’re getting a track from the last pre-breakup Pixies album, Trompe Le Monde. At the time, I was pretty disappointed in Bossanova, for whatever reason, but really liked this one. At this remove, it’s not clear what my beef was with Bossanova and it’s pretty similar to Trompe. While both records are off from the peak of their first records, they’re still both excellent and well worth having.

Tons of new releases that I picked up this week!

• Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Luciferian Towers
• METZ, Strange Peace
• The Du-Rites, Greasy Listening
• Wolves in the Throne Room, Thrice Woven
• Moses Sumney, Aromanticism

I think that’s it? Sometimes I get confused about what releases when, because I pre-order things when I hear about them. I haven’t had a chance to listen to them all yet, but that Du-Rites record is tight, and the Moses Sumney record is fantastic. Meanwhile, it’s all rock of various stripes today.

I continue to love this project for digging up things that I just forget to listen to. I should really just devote a certain percentage of my listening to shuffle all the time. Like, maybe a few songs a day? Five sound good to anybody? Music ahoy!

The Housemartins, “Step Outside”

Jangly pop band from Hull, the Housemartins played beautiful songs, driven by Paul Heaton’s singing. They especially were known for witty, often sarcastic lyrics, as well as their leftist politics. They released two proper albums, both fantastic, and later had a singles/rarities collection, Now That’s What I Call Quite Good, which is where this song comes from. I recommend all three records heartily. Paul Heaton would go on to form the Beautiful South, whose first album stands with the Housemartins albums, and Norman Cook would later be known as Fatboy Slim.