Immersive Squad
Dead Deer
In the midst of this introverted malaise we find ourselves in, enter the new album from Nag, a band whose taut live performances have often topped my personal list of best local shows. Dead Deer portrays an evolution of the trio’s tense punk into something richer—but no less fiery—than their previous efforts. From front to back, the LP is a reminder of how much Atlanta music has to give and the critical nature of art in these strange times. From the very first chord, Dead Deer buzzes with untamed energy and the same wild heart that makes even their most misanthropic anthems feel triumphant. – RR
Read the full review of Dead Deer.
Powerplant in Heaven
After releasing a selection of playful and curious demos in 2019, I was anxious to see whether Pike Co.’s next release would see the band tidy up their breezy jam session mentality. Instead of pruning back their sound, the four-piece watched it blossom into something warmer and richer. On their sophomore EP, the country twang has grown into root vegetable psychedelia that’s both simple and consistent. It’s the kind of music that invites euphemisms of comfy jeans and road trips. Tracks like “Cherry Rock” blast clear through any such metaphor however, as the band display plain-spoken exuberance and observational songwriting. Even songs like “Nice Moves” which feel personal and immediate don’t break the spell of the short record. Sit back and contemplate; there’s nowhere to hurry off to today. – RR
Hi-Fi LowLife
Hi-Fi LowLife is the kind of record I scream at friends to listen to while driving windows-down through bent Atlanta neighborhoods. Well, at least I did before the pandemic. For the uninitiated: Matthew Pendrick’s sly eye and sonic adventures go from Muscle Shoals swamp-stank to Daniel Lanois audio collages. Slow Parade cover a lot of ground on the LP (flutes! slide guitar! tape loops!), but at its restless heart is a desire to forge a personal connection despite the tug from the ghosts of your past. Hi-Fi LowLife is full of tenderness, anger, and, at the end, hard-won redemption. – EF
Memories
The heavy punk influences on Memories mirror the raw emotional songwriting of lyricist and founder Adria Stembridge. The classic cold imagery of gothic vignettes melt in the face of Stembridge’s violent and cathartic dreamscapes, but as soon as the listener finds themselves drifting into the haunted abyss, raucous punk tracks like “Lost Girls” and “All for Nothing” hurl us back into our own equally disturbing reality. Religion, misogyny, and social norms all find themselves on the marble chopping block as Tears for the Dying shred and behead with complete abandon. Historical ideations of deathrock are torn between perversion and evolution throughout the EP, thanks to Stembridge’s expansive understanding of the genre and a nearly sensual relationship with darkness. – RR
Thousandaire
So much of what you read and hear about Thousandaire’s self-titled debut delves into how the record sounds. Holy shit! Those tones! How’d you get those tones? And, to be fair, Thousandaire does sound utterly fantastic with guitars that can scale the heavens or level anything in their path. Still, for all its headphones magic, it’s the trio’s all killer, no filler approach to songwriting that truly wins out. Sure, the band is given to the occasional sprawling passage and blistering solos, but everything they do is in service to the song. Whether it’s the majestic space rock thrust of “Fine,” the caffeinated chug of “Downright Sin,” or the colossal Dinosaur Jr. fuzz-bomb that is “Terrifying Dream,” Thousandaire never seem to lose sight of who they are or why they’re here. The result? Seven well-crafted stick-in-your-head tunes that feel (and sound) positively thrilling. – GC