By It’s our Bandcamp Picks of the Week, featuring foot foot’s disparate and dynamic rock record STILL WATERS, EMPTY HOUSE, and Bedridden’s towering noise pop album MOTHS STRAPPED TO EACH OTHER’S BACKS!
foot foot – STILL WATERS, EMPTY HOUSE
Genre: Progressive Rock, Math Rock, Indie Folk
Favorite Tracks: “Army Wives,” “Rivers Phoenix/Macauley Culkin,” “Everyman”
One element that allows songs to fully stick is the use of contrast, pairing textures and tones that are unlike one another, eventually meshing when combined with a fully composed melody and fully produced sound. Interesting and distinct, this rings true for foot foot’s debut, STILL WATERS, EMPTY HOUSE.
Across these seven tracks, there is an immediate sharpness that comes through the band’s skill as instrumentalists. With robust, progressive math rock structures and a folksy sound palette, the melodies burst forth with delightful dynamics and arrangements; hear the slow delicacy of “Slow Song,” where the prominent presence of the violin paves the way for the drums and guitars to rip apart past the five-minute mark, or the chaotic progressions churning through the distorted guitars, screeching horns, and accelerating grooves on “River Phoenix/Macauley Culkin.”
It’s worth noting how that all contrasts with the writing and vocals from Esther Pollock, providing a prim (never disaffected, as there is a weary tone that she manages to adopt extremely well) delivery that complements her observations of distant married couples and how the sense of loneliness and detachment is felt by the wives who see their husbands not caring and staying with them despite wanting to do anything to keep the marriage afloat. A hushed narrative, but one where the ache is still visible, just presented with briefly direct lyricism.
With that prim tone now accompanied by the expansive melodic flourish, that contrast results in the emotions being intensified, Esther Pollock’s vocals directed every which way: swept away amidst the tide (the frantic melodic crescendos of “Crawl Ball”), coasting along when the melodies give her space to breathe (the sorrowful violins of “Everyman”), or getting pulled along as the melody gradually builds (the stable grooves leading to the muscular climax of “Army Wives”).
STILL WATERS, EMPTY HOUSE is quite the striking display of how differing elements of the album can play off with one another, where the contrasting tone between the writing, vocals, and instrumentation blends to make a fascinatingly dynamic record. Pulled together with rich melodic structures, it ultimately intensifies the subtle ache that’s waddling beneath the surface. Despite what the title might describe, this record is the opposite of still and empty. Listen to this lively and detailed album on Bandcamp. [Louis Pelingen]
Bedridden – MOTHS STRAPPED TO EACH OTHER’S BACKS
Genre: Shoegaze, Noise Pop
Favorite Tracks: “Uno,” “Chainsaw”
The continued ’90s alt-rock renaissance is interesting, mainly because now there’s almost a tendency to consider this endless retromania in abstract terms; as if trends just circle through time, landing every couple of decades like cicadas emerging from the ground. Only, if you’re like me, you saw your 19-year-old stepdaughter, in real-time, start rocking a Pixies tee and falling for Smashing Pumpkins. It’s very, very real for these youngsters, and these cultural landmarks offer a ready-made language for their politics, feelings, experiences, etc. That’s why I really like what Brooklyn’s Bedridden have done with MOTHS STRAPPED TO EACH OTHER’S BACKS.
On the surface, the 10-track LP is fairly standard ‘90s-aping alternative. With its walls of fuzzy noise, anthemic guitars, and wailing, heart-on-sleeve emotionality, opener “Gummy” is the band’s baseline (that equates to Fugazi + Soundgarden + The Stone Roses). Now, that’s a tad reductive (maybe harmfully so?), but it’s clear that 1) the band knows their influences with true profundity and 2) there’s a clear reason for that sustained consistency that would be irksome in many other bands/records. If said commitment harms any part of the record, it’s that the band’s emotionality really has one speed (whiny poetry, but even that’s maybe part of the shtick).
Bedridden’s genius flourishes, then, with the details of their ‘90s rock extravaganza. The melody of “Chainsaw” is a touch more complicated, adding heft to those huge guitars. “Mainstage” has a touch of garage-ian might, and that sliver’s enough to resonate. Meanwhile, “Uno” is the record’s most peppy and accessible tune, and that swing and romance are massively appealing. Even slight modulations in volume and intensity (“Ring Size”) create layers and texture. It’s not anything especially novel, but it’s done with precision, intent, and genuine excitement.
It’d be enough to say that Bedridden have learned from their rock foreparents and improved with a light touch. But even that ignores a key truth: It’s a process not as deliberate as you’d assume. There’s this sense that, as they bash along from one aching dispatch to the next, Bedridden are following the joy and love of it all. That’s not to say the four million other ’90s-inspired bands nowadays are faking it—rather, there’s a directness and heft across MOTHS that feels deeply invigorating. As if there’s enough power and devotion abounding here that we forget what we know and allow ourselves the sheer magic of discovery/re-discovery.
Each of us have a different connection to ‘90s rock, but Bedridden approach the past with new thrills and sensibilities. It’s a record as a statement, yeah, but also a roadmap for how to connect with the past and not bleed it dry like some indie rock vampire. Or, how to celebrate what came before, contextualizing it for right now and what it means for subsequent generations when discovering this niche. It’s as much an experience in community as mere artistic expression, and it makes me excited to know we’re all working through our nostalgia in a glorious celebration of life and art. Now, bust out that Pearl Jam tee and get your tuchus moving. Listen to it now over at Bandcamp. [Chris Coplan]
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