By It’s our Bandcamp Picks of the Week, featuring Diary’s kitchen sink psych album SPIRAL BOUND and Sharp Pins’s starting point throwback MOD MAYDAY 23!
Diary – SPIRAL BOUND
Genre: Psych Rock, Jangle Pop, Madchester
Favorite Tracks: “Keep Comin’ Up,” “Drive It,” “The Same Door,” “Spook Rock”
“It’s such an interesting case study, like what in the end will yield people success? Eventually it’s just kind of like, ‘Shit man, what if it doesn’t happen?’”
Miranda Lee Richards’ is, in many ways, summing up the ultimate thesis of DIG!—the 2004 documentary about the feud between rising stars the Dandy Warhols and underground phenoms the Brian Jonestown Massacre. A war of ideas is on full display: major label vs. indie, sellout vs. struggle, mainstream vs. cult. Certainly several decades of 20/20 vision has solidified the right or wrong decisions made by both bands (and frankly, by the industry), but that’s all heard in the music as much as it is their sales. Don’t worry: “Bohemian Like You” is still getting synced up the wazoo.
Diary are an indie band from New York City, and signed to the great Kanine Records. SPIRAL BOUND, their debut album after nearly 10 years of releasing music, is post-DIG! music in the most complimentary of ways; the press shots, the packshot, the tone and influences of the album, each a mirrored sonic and aesthetic projection of those bands somehow fused together—this record could just as easily be the minorly successful pet project of some post-Tame Impala A&R tip for Columbia as it is an exciting developing act for Kanine.
Diary offer a vision where the Brian Jonestown Massacre had successfully (and happily) had a crossover moment. Some of the album’s most exciting songs are drifting art pop, like the listless “Spook Rock,” or the spaced out, sitar-led campfire song “In The Tarot.” But there’s plenty here answering the question, “What if METHODRONE was a massive pop success?” The twinkling “Blue Sunshine” has a more polished, slowly melting interpretation of the neo-psychelia that band perfected. But in equal measure, Diary also offer a vision of where the Dandy Warhols’ edge and cultural cache outpaced the brief moment they had manufactured around THE DANDY WARHOLS COME DOWN. They, with seeming ease, produce a whirring, groovy Madchester arena tone that would’ve suited a better-received version of WELCOME TO THE MONKEY HOUSE. The big moments feel big, and at times even markedly polished, without losing their artful cool factor—“Asterisk” is shot out of a wiry, Echo and the Bunnymen, post-punk stadium rock cannon, ”Drive It” could be a U2 song from the mid ‘80s, and the album’s best cut, opener “Keep Comin’ Up,” envelopes you in this rich, colorful, but entirely unrelenting post-modern psychedelia sound, each meant to be played loud.
Fittingly, Miranda Lee Richards wasn’t in the Brian Jonestown Massacre for very long—just from ‘95 to ‘99. So how successful anyone involved in DIG! was … Well, that’s not really any of her business anymore, I suppose. I adore SPIRAL BOUND’s edgy pop instincts and psyche oddities because, unknowingly, it acts as a sonic bridge to a moment of conflict over 20 years ago. We can only hope Diary can navigate their moment of potential pop success, if and when it comes, better. You can listen to their debut over on Bandcamp. [CJ Simonson]
Sharp Pins – MOD MAYDAY 23
Genre: Mod, Lo-Fi
Favorite Tracks: “It’s A Mod Mod World,” “Days of Change,” “Race For The Audience (demo)”
Sharp Pins MOD MAYDAY 23 is the soundtrack to Kai Slater’s 18th summer riding around the streets of Taqueria Moran on his Chinese Taotao 50cc scooter. The album consists of covers and derivative works from mod bands Squire, the Mods, Secret Affair, and Beggar. In order to achieve the beachy sound, Kai utilized a TASCAM Porta One audio plugin, recreating the famous Portastudio sound.
“It’s A Mod Mod World” brings to mind a summer road trip. Slater adds fuzz and ups the tempo from Squire’s original recording. He gives “Days of Change,” originally by Secret Affair, a totally different vibe. He slows the track and strips the fullness with acoustic guitar and vocals. The closer, “Race for the Audience (demo)” is the only original on the collection, but still technically a reimagination. Originally released in 2024 on Radio DDR, the demo on MOD MAYDAY 23 has a rawness. The demo is brighter, and filled with echoing vocals that conjure a trance-like state. “I know you don’t call me your friend / I know your secrets,” he sings. Once you step into the spotlight, everyone knows everything about you, and it becomes stressful. The track groups the covers together, hinting that many of these bands had hits that boosted them into the spotlight. Hopefully, the same will happen for Sharp Pins. Listen to MOD MAYDAY 23 on Bandcamp and see if you can spot the differences from the originals. [Isabella Basile]
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