So last week, while writing up my own little contribution to our ongoing all-time top 50 albums project, I was re-listening to Shihatsu-machi Underground’s self-titled for probably the 100th time and casually adding them to the list of groups that, going into 2020, really felt like they might be on the cusp of great things (before, you know). And I won’t walk that back because I’m a fan, though I will allow that a certain bias may tinge the perspective — the whole reason that Shihatsu-machi made it onto our countdown at all is because of the unique alignment of the people on Team and the spectrum of tastes among us; obviously we aren’t talking about a hugely influential group or release here (not yet), but rather one that holds up in our opinion as just being remarkably good. Continue reading
jazz
This Is the GANG PARADE I Was Looking For
So GANG PARADE released the MV for their new single the other day, and it’s a nice song and all, but — likely due to the fact that it’s a theme song — kind of tame by the group’s recent-ish standards. Perhaps in the vernacular of today’s youth: It doesn’t so much slay as lightly buffet. A little disappointing!
Of course, as we know ’round these parts, the B side is the best side, and the companion track from the single is unexpectedly exactly what I needed not just from this record, but from like all of idol in the past several months:
Oh my goodness. Oh my. Oh. Continue reading
‘love pain’ Is Under Beasty’s New Level
The fine post-indie rock idols in Under Beasty did us all a solid with the teaser for their umpteenth single, “love pain,” and I’ll admit — because they sounded like their third or fourth shift in sound over the last couple of years, I was extremely apprehensive about the result. Like, would it even be good? It’s too easy to either hit a sweet spot as a unit or fall back on lazy tropes to get a release out the door, you know?
I should have just trusted in Yua.
Hauptharmonie’s ‘Fat, Rich & Gorgeous’ Is Exactly What Your Saturday Needs
Man, am I a lucky Maniac or what? Just a few minutes after waking up and surveying a Saturday landscape that doesn’t look all that appetizing, Hauptharmonie tweeted out the kind of track that, among idols at least, nobody else even tries to pull off:
I Have a Big Stupid Smile on My Face and It’s Hauptharmonie’s Fault
I feel a little bit badly that the world’s coolest jazz & swing & whatever they want idols only managed to get a single spot into the Best of 2016 finals, but the truth is that they narrowly missed on the album, video and song finals, and I reckon that they’ll be all up in our business next year.
Perhaps sensing that we, their loyal fans, needed to be placated and/or bribed, they dropped this nice little chunk of live video on us, including the tasty breakout “Kidnapper Blues”:
