#leaporcelain

This year’s SONGS OF THE YEAR list is compiled of tasty tracks from albums that didn’t make the TOP TEN Albums cut, press play & enjoy….

THE HORRORS

“SOMETHING TO REMEMBER ME BY”

WOLFTONE  /CAROLINE

 THE HORRORS have finally embraced full on 80′s Pop and may have written their greatest song ever as “SOMETHING TO REMEMBER ME BY” is here to brighten your day and restore your True Faith.

While the group have always had a dancefloor vibe, even when hidden under Goth Rock anthems or Britpop by way of Ride dalliances, “Something To Remember Me By” is a true exercise in dance-ready delight. Simply put, this is the moment where the Essex born quintet merge the heyday of Reagan Era New Romance with Cut Copy-like bliss-pop.

The epic 6:30 track is a step in a whole new direction for the group, one aided by Paul Epworth’s production, as this thing’s a candy coated beast. The rousing howl of singer Faris Badwan has been replaced by something a little more straightforward, somewhere between a soothing whisper & euphoric plea, that floats above the propulsive New Order-esque arrangement (and good luck trying to get the sticky refrain of “something to remember me by” out of your mealy mind)…..

KEEP

“WELCOME TO”

CITRUS CITY RECORDS 

 “WELCOME TO” is a dour piece of guitar laden post-punk courtesy of KEEP.

The Virginia based duo call on some of the darker elements of guitar rock, from shoegaze & goth, to 90′s Alternative on their latest LP ‘For Your Joy.’ While the band’s prior offering would’ve sounded right at home alongside emo-gazers like Nothing, “Welcome To” finds Keep embracing the bigger Alt and Goth sounds of contemporaries like Creative Adult and Fearing.

“Welcome To” shows a group unafraid to bring healthy doses of noise to their gothier moments, with big six-string distortion competing with icy synths for your attention. Dreary vocals giving way to gorgeous harmonies atop crushing instrumentation….

THE KILLERS

“WONDERFUL WONDERFUL”

ISLAND

 Yes, you read that right, how’s that for contrarian!

Look, I understand all the hate and vitriol for THE KILLERS. That being said, “WONDERFUL WONDERFUL” is a fantastic song, sorry but not fucking sorry.  

This is the Las Vegas boys being “out there” and downright experimental in their own weird way, and by experimental I simply mean its quite different than what they’ve been up to the past few years and quite frankly, it’s good. I’ve always had a soft spot for The Killers, and if people are literally going to try and convince me that Drake, Beyonce, or any other shite 90′s indebted R&B is legitimately good, then I can do same for The Killers. 

That being said, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that their new album is good, what I am going to tell you is that the 90’s era U2 / Depeche Mode trip that “Wonderful Wonderful” is on is well, wonderful. The synthetic strings, the menacing bass, the huge chorus, and the fact that frontman Brandon Flowers manages to not be overtly corny across a solid 5 minutes is a huge win.

If I had played this for you without saying who it was, I can almost guarantee you you’d either say it was decent or OK and you’d definitely have to agree that it’s far superior to anything Moz has shat out this year. In fact I actually tried this experiment on a buddy of mine and he had no fucking clue who it was, he just bobbed his head…..

KING WOMAN

“HIEROPHANT”

RELAPSE

 KING WOMAN, the Bay Area based doom merchants, finally unleashed their debut LP ‘Created in the Image of Suffering’ and we’re all better off now.

Created and lead by vocalist Kristina Esfandiari (rounded out by guitarist Colin Gallagher, drummer Joey Raygoza, and bassist Peter Arensdorf) King Woman marry the dusky stylings of Mazzy Star and doom metal, resulting in a heavy shoegaze (or oft-cited stoner-gaze) feel. After a few EPs, most notably 2015′s ‘Doubt’, the project’s profile began to rise, which lead to signing with Relapse Records and enlisting a top-shelf producer in Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Oathbreaker).

“HIEROPHANT” is truly the album’s centerpiece, built around 8 magnificent minutes of slowcore doom. Heartbreakingly beautiful, the track reaches heights that are impossible to reach or maintain across an entire album, which takes nothing away from the other 6 songs and merely illustrates how powerful the track really is. Starting off in a slog, before giving way to the best thing King Woman has been penned. 

Every distorted chord, ping of the ride, ringing string, and echoed syllable is draped in haunting clarity. Esfandiari unleashes a haunting refrain of “If you’re a holy church, I wanna worship…..If you’re a sacred script, I am the Hierophant.” The time stopping breakdown only pulls your further down before spitting you back out amongst mounting instrumental doom….

LEA PORCELAIN

“A FARAWAY LAND”

LEA PORCELAIN RECORDINGS

 The German post-punk duo LEA PORCELAIN are here to do-you-in with the dreamy and moving “A FARAWAY LAND.”

The duo aim to bring you something different as they settle into a throbbing and romantically goth-tinged banger. The overall sound of “A Faraway Land” is very cinematic and grand in scale, with Markus Nikolaus’ vocals elegantly soaring above the proceedings (as well as driving a forceful melody over the verse), yet the execution is built upon little intricacies like the Bernard Sumner like guitar splashes.