By It’s our Bandcamp Picks of the Week, featuring HORSEBATH’s cosmic Canadian country album ANOTHER FAREWELL and MAN LEE’s skittery rock album HEFTY WIMPY!
HORSEBATH – ANOTHER FAREWELL
Genre: Country Rock, Alt Folk, Cosmic Country
Favorite Tracks: “Hard to Love,” “In the Shade,” “Train to Babylon”
Contrary to popular belief, country music isn’t just an American phenomena. It’s a genre that has found success around the world, with many of its listeners and practitioners coming from all corners of the globe, whether it be Australia, South Africa, and even Canada. The last time we let the Great White North dip its fingers into the Country Music Industry, they produced an era defining icon in the form of Shania Twain. Her turbo-charged blend of pop, country, and glam metal revolutionized the genre and in many ways, ruined it (blame the imitators). Now—roughly 30 years since the Queen of Country of Pop exploded on the scene—Canada has offered another transformative figure, HORSEBATH.
Unlike Shania Twain, HORSEBATH’S intentions aren’t aimed at becoming a commercial juggernaut. These guys don’t sound anything like Morgan Wallen, Post Malone or even Chris Stapleton. Neither are they neo-traditionalists that outlets like Saving Country Music would foam at the mouth over. Instead, they’re lineage is derived from Gram Parsons and Wilco, a fact which is evident across their debut album’s tracklist. ANOTHER FAREWELL opens with “Hard to Love,” your standard life on the road song which marries a classic Rolling Stones groove with Travelling Willbury’s style melodies and harmonies. Elsewhere, they go full on Chet Atkins with the fingerpicking licks of “Only In My Dreams,” marry the twang of spaghetti westerns with surf music on “Never Be Another You,” and even manage to blend the spaciness of Pink Floyd with the posturing of The Band on “In the Shade.”
The beautiful thing about the record is that the influences, while apparent, aren’t the be all and end all in each composition. This is a band with a distinct voice and spirit, a group of musicians that seeks to contort country music into its own image while examining the complexities and various emotions of what it means to be a travelling performer. It’s territory that has been explored before, often in more poetic/nuanced fashion, but in an age where the country genre’s most visible stars are feeding the populace a slop of trucks, church, and booze; this is a welcome respite worth saluting. Listen to ANOTHER FAREWELL here! [Connor Shelton]
MAN LEE – HEFTY WIMPY
Genre: Post-Punk, Indie Rock
Favorite Tracks: “Careless,” “Celery,” “Wind”
The adrenaline from an impending deadline permeates each rigidly percussive track on MAN LEE’s debut album, HEFTY WIMPY. The Brooklyn band’s songwriters, Sam Reichman and Tim Lee, went as far as to be its namesake, hinting that they feel this dissonance too. As I’ve returned to studying, my calendar has rapidly become chock-full of jugglable commitments and due dates; I’ve got tons of deadlines crawling on my back. With everything suddenly feeling so big, where do you even begin?
Immediately, on opener “Careless,” Reichman delivers a mantra with a conversational tone atop a steady, catchy drum beat: “Don’t wanna be so careless.” She repeats it once more. Then, she continues: “Say it twice, it might sound right / Or offer a new conclusion”—the tip-tap drums pave way to swirling synths which are an album mainstay, as if she’s manifested that “new conclusion” of squandering weariness from expectations of self and others, as well as work. Listening to their infectious rhythms, I just knew that MAN LEE have got my back among my stressful calendar. On some tracks, they dial down the pace with a slow, disorienting groove (“Party Favor”) or work in dizzying, memorable electric guitar licks (“Best One”). Reichman’s faintly dour vocals continually scaffold the duo’s surreal soundscapes. Expansive singles “Celery” and “Wind” are standouts where the band’s dizzying puzzle pieces fully fit. Particularly on the latter, tackling everything about coming of age as the song briskly evolves with an unhinged, skittery guitar solo mirroring the tumult upon firmly understanding life experience.
It’s no wonder why MAN LEE appoint their indie rock to the “weary masses”—the band’s addictive songs can cure trepidation, which is wonderful. Their hazy, collagelike art-rock has taken me out of the haze from my deadlines, and I’ve now successfully shared my words about it. MAN LEE’s insistent rhythms will certainly free you too. Check out HEFTY WIMPY over on Bandcamp. [Dom Lepore]
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