Welcome to Something Old Something New! Every other Friday, you can find new releases and music recommendations here on the SOR Zine.
Who Let The Dogs Out
I remember in the early 2020s, there was a mild femme-punk revival fronted by bands like Dazey and the Scouts and VIAL. While this revival had an undercurrent of controversy and exploitation, it was at its core something beautiful. The Lambrini Girls, an all female trio, take the UK end of this revival and keep it alive with their debut album “Who Let The Dogs Out.”
The first track “Bad Apple” sets the tone for the rest of the album with quickly spewing anti-police lyrics and a drumline that transitions well into the second track “Company Culture”. “Company Culture” highlights the ever-present predatory nature of corporate culture. The album highlights a lot of issues that are present right now such as misogyny, homophobia, and nepotism which is great to see in new-age punk. My personal favorite tracks are “No Homo” and “Love”.
The Human Fear
Franz Ferdinand is one of the key players in the indie rock revival of the early to late 2000s. Their hit song “Take Me Out” captures the coming of age type music that was prevalent around this time period and was a commercial breakthrough. Their new album “The Human Fear” brings this energy back for the new year.
The first track on this album, Audacious, has a hopeful, upbeat sound reminiscent of late 00s indie rock. This sound carries through the majority of the songs, most notably Night or Day and Bar Lonely. Although rooted in rock, some songs are nothing but party music; the tracks The Doctor and Hooked exemplify this. In the age of the decline of new age rock, this album definitely stands out against what is currently trending in the music world. I have been sensing a 2010s revival and I wouldn’t be surprised if this album pushed it further–especially with my favorite songs on the album, Cats and Build it Up.
Mass Teen Fainting
Halifax-born band Plumtree was made up of four girls in their mid-teens, which added to their bubbly, innocent yet rebellious sound. The members of the band had varied tastes that spanned from R&B to heavy metal, which makes their distinct sound all the more impressive. Their most popular song “Scott Pilgrim” was the namesake of the ever-famous franchise and the song “In The Sink” from the album “Mass Teen Fainting” gets a shoutout at the end of the comic.
“Mass Teen Fainting” is one of my favorite albums of all time, mainly because of the insolent girly sound it carries. “Songs like Open The Window” and “The Phone, The Phone” are so pure and nostalgic, though still decidedly punk. Plumtree uses a relatively stripped-back sound on this album, allowing the ‘girls in a garage’ vibe to shine through. Although the melodies are beautifully layered, especially on the song Aquarius. My favorite songs on this album have to be “I Don’t Know” and, of course, “In The Sink”.
Split Personalities
Ohio-based band 12 Rods came onto the alt-rock scene with their EP titled “Gay?” in 1992. This band unfortunately never reached commercial success due to the heavy grunge focus of the early 90s, but still hold their own sonically and lyrically. Their genre is almost impossible to pinpoint as their sound varies from project to project. An album that exemplifies this is the album “Split Personalities”.
This album is the definition of dynamic for me. The sound ranges from Weezer-reminiscent “incel rock” on tracks such as “Split Personality” and “Makeout Music V1.1” to Beach Boys-esque psychedelic on tracks like “Lovewaves” and “Girl Sun”. Many of the songs on this album come from the “Gay?” EP, though they are changed to be much more lush and layered than the originals. They are tied together with a sense of yearning, weather that be for a sense of belonging or people. My favorite tracks on this album are Makeout Music V1.1 and Red (4/9 New Version).
