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SCENES FROM LATE SPRING, 2016

when you feel like the unluckiest person in the world, it’s not good to browse your notebook filled with pages of forgotten moments and forgotten experiences and cheap sentimentality. 

“i don’t know how to do anything,” i say. “i smile and i laugh and that’s all i’ve got.”

i don’t know if i’m ahead or behind but i’m unstuck-- a glitch

SCENE: it was rainy. (stop.) we met at kichijoji station. (stop.) the park gate. (stop.) she smiled. (stop.) she smiled, and in that moment she controlled gravity itself. (stop.) she smiled. (stop.) she smiled, and the clouds parted. (stop.) she smiled. (stop.) she smiled, and i stood upright. (stop.) she smiled. (stop.) she smiled, and the sun obliged. (stop.) now it’s gray again. (stop.) it will be gray again tomorrow. (go.)

Quelle surprise, a new Lush song! “Out of Control” finds the reunited forebears of all things dream- and fuzz-addled picking up without missing a step. It’s more “Spooky” (1992) than “Lovelife” (1996) to my ears, which is certainly pleasing. I’m excited to hear more.

Boyish - “Second Summer of Love”

Tokyo jangle-pop crew Boyish (Dead Funny Records) put out an incredible collection of sunkissed indie pop last April in the form of LA LA LU. The songs on that record flirt with various sounds on the indie pop spectrum (it’s dreamy! it’s jangly! it’s twee!), doing so with enough precision to make for a fluid and immensely enjoyable listen. They’re back now with a new single, “Second Summer of Love,” and goodness is this thing a shot to the arm. Bursting with their signature blend of jangly guitars and effervescent melodies, “Second Summer of Love” rounds out their sound with a dose of pristine saxophone embellishments.

It looks like this song is only going to stay up until February 19th, so make sure you listen to it plenty of times before then. And look out for more from Boyish in the future.

Whisper Voice Riot - “Stargazer”

Here’s a sprightly, colorful rush of youthful exuberance from Osaka’s Whisper Voice Riot. The band is made up of four teenagers who craft tight, driving rhythms topped with soaring melodies. “Stargazer” doesn’t offer many new sounds, but it does prove WVR’s keen understanding of the genres to which it’s indebted.

If you’re in to talented young groups like Sunflower Bean, keep an eye on Whisper Voice Riot.

submerse - stay home

submerse’s 2014 LP slow waves was one of the most impactful records of that year for me. As a foreigner living in Tokyo at the time, slow waves’ echoes of modern urban Japanese life resonated with my deeply. Some of my favorite memories from that summer are at shows where subermse brought his glitchy, soulful, downbeat instrumentals to packed crowds of undeniably happy people. It soundtracked several moments, both formative and mundane.

So it’s no surprise that, upon its release in May, stay home hit me like a ton of bricks. Barely a month removed from my life abroad, and still in the process of readjusting to life in the States, this EP arrived with a flood of forced nostalgia. Upon listening I was immediately transported back to the crowded Metro on a Saturday night, back to the club in Shimokita, back beneath the neon blurred on the EP’s cover image. And listen! There’s the train announcer on “bokeh”! Feel free to roll your eyes.

Nostalgia can be a cheap currency. In some senses, it was almost too perfect, too obvious, too blatant to be genuine. But stay home transcended the momentary utility due to its brilliant arrangements. It hits many of the same sensory receptors as slow waves-- romantic, gooey, introspective-- albeit in a more soulful, nuanced fashion, and I played the shit out of it while staring at a computer screen in a cubicle last summer.

Favorite song: “bokeh”

BUY IT.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - The High Country

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is one of my all-time favorite bands, and The High Country is maybe their most fun record to date. And for some reason, I find it difficult to write about “fun.” Remember that band Fang Island? Remember their self-titled album, and how they described it as “everyone high-fiving everyone”? That description applies aptly to The High Country-- only one song here breaches the three-minute mark, with nearly every one ripping through its collection of hooks and riffs and fills dutifully and with boundless joy. 

SSLYBY has always made music fit for sing-alongs, but I’d argue that The High Country tops their previous output in this category. I will always remember driving around in an almost-dead 1991 Infiniti G20 with half a working stereo, blasting this album on repeat and shouting along to every word.

Favorite song: “What I Won”

Favorite memory: January 26th, 2015: Obergefell v. Hodges grants same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry in the United States-- arguably the most significant Supreme Court ruling in my lifetime, the kind of momentous occasion that will spawn “Where were you when ____?” thinkpieces and anecdotes for years to come. On January 26, SSLYBY played at Off Broadway in St. Louis, giving what ended up being one of the most energetic and life-affirming performances I witnessed all year. I went by myself, stood by myself in the middle of the crowd, and smiled so hard for the duration of their set. I sang along to every song, I bounced balloons, I had fun. Halfway through the show, lead man Phil Dickey paused to recognize the landmark ruling that had taken place earlier in the day. It was a rare moment of shared excitement to cheer along with so many strangers, one that I won’t soon forget.

April was split neatly into two halves, neither of which felt complete. The former saw me saying goodbye to people and places when I didn’t want to, the latter saw me experiencing the singularly discomfiting process of re-acclimation. Returning home after an extending period abroad and dealing with it is well-documented and I won’t attempt to add any drops to that bucket. But reverse culture shock is real, especially when the culture to which one is returning is wrought with so much volatility and violence and tension. Still, I remember April fondly for its associations with friendships new and old. There’s something warming about saying goodbye and saying hello, even if doing so is not ideal.

Braids - Deep in the Iris

With that it mind, I was so excited when Braids announced/released Deep in the Iris, their third full-length album. I fell deeply in love with their debut, 2011′s Native Speaker, an album that remains in heavy rotation now five years later. But where Native Speaker sparkled with sharp guitar melodies abetted by slick production, Deep in the Iris revels completely in its electronic palette. The songs gurgle, they glide, they whirl around your head and pound in your heart. And at the forefront of this, as always, is Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s truly unmatchable vocal performances. On Deep in the Iris, Standell-Preston proves yet again that hers is the most powerful voice on display in this or any genre. Lyrically, too, she excels, as these songs bring a personalized touch to topics such as loss, growth, depression, and abuse.

Favorite memory: Visiting extended family for a weekend in Minneapolis, escaping for an afternoon to buy the record at the Electric Fetus.

Favorite lyric: On “Miniskirt,” a powerful exploration of femininity and gender equality, Standell-Preston quips: “I’m not a man hater, I enjoy them like cake.”

The Beach Boys - "All I Wanna Do" from Sunflower (1970)