Ichika "she waits patiently" (2018)

I found ichika through a friend of mine, one who has been mentioned on this blog once before, they're the same person that introduced me to Feed Me Jack and again, she didn't disappoint with the recommendation of this Japanese Math Rock artist. This EP, because it's and EP, not a full album, is likely one of my favourite works of ichika, the gentle and clean guitar tones are used well, they help accentuate the intricate guitar work.

ichika also goes by another name, 'Nito' both of these Spotify artists are actually the same person and it shows in the feel of the music, it's spacious yet the gentle guitar tapping is tight, this goes for both accounts, Nito has more electrical and synthetic use but the resemblance is there. Why ichika felt the need to have 2 accounts I'm not sure.

The 5 song EP is something you can have on repeat for a whole day, it's relaxing and for lack of a better word, magical, angelic is another word I'd use. I have a hard time describing this record, it's intricate yet feels simple, something that is no doubt caused by the fact that all these songs were played on a clean electric guitar and polished up with some great mixing, production and a skilled player.

There are no lyrics in this EP and I don't feel like we're missing them, this record is one you'd have on in the background while you're busying yourself with other matters, it's there, it has a presence and makes itself known, but it's not demanding, it doesn't require your attention for you to be able to understand it's vibe.

8/10

 Bears In Trees "I Want to Feel Chaotic" (2020)

Listening to this EP has given me some inspiration and motivation to write again so hi there! Bears In Trees is one of those bands that I didn't appreciate enough upon first encounter, yes Ramblings of a Lunatic was an incredible song but I didn't bother to look further than that until recently and when I did I wasn't disappointed by what I found, the British band has several EPs full of intricate songs with huge Dodie, Cavetown and The Front Bottoms influences, fun vocal runs being supported well by drums and guitar.

I Want to Feel Chaotic is my favourite EP from the band's discography so far. It is also their first record under the Counter Intuitive label and Bears In Trees delivered. Weighing in at 5 songs and 16 minutes of listening time it feels a bit short yet these songs all tell a story. Coming to terms with your own being, personality and the loss of close friends are all a part of theme of the record, it manages to clear up all the fog in your mind, the sound striking your bones and soul. 

Like mentioned before, the band has taken great influence from Dodie, Cavetown, The Front Bottoms and more, with clean guitar vocal runs, harmonies and fun drums their sound never feels overwhelming, creating the mind clearing experience I talked about above. It's not all whimsical though, the hooks remain fun, energetic and stick in your head urging you to dance and sing-along in your bedroom. Overall they sound like what a cold starry night looks and feels like.

My words really can't do this EP justice, plus my rustiness in writing these subjective reviews make it so I feel like there are things missing here, but oh well!

8/10

 PUP ''Morbid Stuff'' (2019)

Pup is a band I've found about a year ago now, with their explosive sound, earnest screams, and lyrics I could do nothing but love them, with their objectively amazing debut album ''PUP'' and the slightly more experimental and lacklustre ''The Dream Is Over'' I was interested what the next album would hold for me but I was pleasantly surprised to hear more of the same quirks that this band made their own. With heavy and angsty themes such as anxiety, depression and death and the Punk Rock sound this record holds was driven home further.

Utilising songs like ''Closure'' and ''See You At Your Funeral'' PUP addresses that having things left unsaid and that unhappy endings are always an inevitable part of life, along with other valuable life lessons, something the band felt necessary to do seeing they've gone through a few changes since their first album, mainly in numbers. 

With this record PUP refuses to be held back by the Pop Punk label often held against them, embracing pop-tinged melodies on ''See You At Your Funeral'' or going for the whole campfire sing-alongs on the start of ''Scorpion Hill'' and let's not forget to mention the incredible ''Full Blown Meltdown'' which tip toes the lines of Metal with their sludgy, heavy guitar and drums, this record does it all without shame. That's one of the many things to love about this album, frontman Stefan Babcock wasn't afraid to write about his struggle with mental health. Depression and anxiety isn't something to glorify and PUP talks about it the way they do best, through dark tones and tunes that go straight for the jugular.

The guitars are something to embrace from this 4 man band, even if lyrics get a little dull the guitar stays energetic and interesting throughout. PUP has had a knack for memorable riffs and small licks since their debut, on this record they've done it tighter, darker and better resulting in the catchy song ''Kids'' or like mentioned above the sludgy and heavy ''Full Blown Meltdown'', one of my personal favourites on this album. ''City'' also has a different tone for the majority of the song, slow drums and playful guitar strums over sad vocal tones only for the song to start building up around the 2 minute mark and crash into spastic breakdowns near the end. 

8/10

 Challenger Deep ''Challenger Deep'' (2019)

Showing up in my Spotify Weekly not too long ago this band pulled me in with their allure of strong basslines and powerful instrumentals. I'm glad I've got to know Feed Me Jack and Polyphia before listening to this, getting to know Math Rock better, this band uses a slightly more aggressive and sloppier sound than what I've gotten to love from Feed Me Jack, and in comparison to Polyphia they don't quite have as genius riffs. Another comparison I'll make is to Intervals and Plini, both instrumental bands I've discovered quite recently, Intervals a bit more energetic than Plini but still not on the level of Challenger Deep.

This 4 man boy band's biggest asset on this debut album is their powerful basslines, often taking the front stage for a while with rhythmic riffs, droning onwards, though the main attention is still on the electric guitar, this band's main skill lies on merging technicality and earworm worthy melodies into beautiful songs. With their catchy hooks, electric energy, and graceful technicality these song jump out at you catching you by storm. 

The intro track 'The Bloop (It Begins)' sets atmosphere, a good reference to the geographical name Challenger Deep, the deepest natural point know to date, it gives us a mystical welcome before we get dragged into the frenzied finger tapping guitar work and aggressive machine gun like drumming of 'Welcome to the Show', that's not all they know to do though, punctuated stops and punchy basslines grab you by ear once you start to decipher the sound a little.

For 30 minutes of completely immersing, amazing sound and skilful guitar licks this record has surprisingly little listens, a real shame. In 8 songs the band has outdone itself, selling their point of beautifully merged punctuated technicality and their catchy hooks for their debut album to us like real masters.

8/10

Wilbur ''Your City Gave Me Asthma'' (2020)

 Listening to this album always manages to get me in the feels, it's an incredibly therapeutic one with it's Singer-songwriter genre and sad emotional tones, I discovered this record because Wilbur Soot is actually an entertainer on YouTube as well, hearing this for the first time right after I had binged some of his content struck me hard, how did someone so jolly sing something so sad.

Back when Wilbur used to live in London he quickly got disgusted by it's environment, the city quite literally gave him asthma and the scarily high mortality rates on the undergrounds made him sick, this album was him expressing his distaste for it all which is why it's so emotional, London ate away at his mental health throughout his stay, luckily he's moved away since then.

Like I mentioned before, the singer-songwriter style fits perfectly with the tone of this record, simple guitar progressions and on occasional tracks some brass instruments. His soft voice combined with very faint harmonics and supporting vocals really drive home the idea that this was all recorded in a bedroom by someone fresh out of college.

8/10

STARSET ''Transmissions'' (2014)

Me from 3 years ago was busy discovering new music when he landed on Transmissions, STARSET's debut album. I was instantly hit with the hard rock and electronic synths in the form of a beautifully crafted sound wall. This 1 hour long album was one of my early encounters with hard rock and really cemented my love for the genre. STARSET's front man and vocalist Dustin Bates blew me away with his incredible vocal range and screams, something I had never heard before at the time. Transmissions was the first album of a book and story written by Dustin, the cohesiveness of this record might just be it's most amazing part.

The aesthetics of this album and story is set in an alternate universe with sci-fi, space and astronomy galore! Instrumentation wise this band plays around with simple drums, ongoing synths and electronics on every track which drive home the theme of the record, additionally the electric guitar almost get drowned out which is a shame, but the cello and violin you can hear in the background of some tracks truly make up for it.

My favourite part of some of these tracks have to be Dustin's screams continuing throughout build ups and drops, his voice will drown out and synths, electronics and harmonics will take it's place, only for you to notice that the scream is still going on 30 seconds later, upon re listening you'll realise that he never stopped. The build ups and drops on these tracks are never disappointing, the wall of sound I described earlier doesn't actually exist, it's so well mixed and layered that you can perfectly pick out individual bits and pieces that form the intricate and complicated sound, it makes you wonder how this was their debut album with no previous releases of individual songs.

 

 Apart from sound STARSET has also mastered the lack of sound, with the layering falling away leaving only some white noise and giving the attention to an individual instrument or Dustin's voice which speaks deep lyrics only for it all to build up again and crash into something beautiful. STARSET is a band you can come back to anytime and listen through an album you've heard tens of times before yet there will still be new things and layers for you to pick out and put your focus on.

8/10