Bandcamp Picks of the Week 3/28/18

This article previously appeared on Crossfader

Bandcamp Picks of the Week, as large and in charge as ever

BABY! – SUNNY, F.L.

Genre: Surf Rock

Favorite Tracks: “If I’m Sorry,” “Still There,” “Cold Tides,” “Getting Out”

BABY!

The Boston-based indie rockers’ name contains levels of emotion, and that exclamation point could serve as the basis of either excitement, fear, or coolness. Once “If I’m Sorry” kicks in, the lead single from their eight-song debut, SUNNY F.L., it’s clear the exclamation point of their name serves, most immediately, as the underpinning of a lackadaisical, perhaps sarcastic, greeting. Founded by songwriter Kaley Honeycutt, BABY! have made a memorable, if brief, debut that captures the melancholy beach vibes of a coastal winter or an isolated summer. The guitar tone and drum fills conjure images of rays of sun spilling across stale, pink motel wallpaper, and Honeycutt has figured out on songs like “Cold Tides” and “Still There” how to channel dark, sad, and cozy corners into proper vacation indie rock. They hit surf pop like “Bite My Tongue” with just as much delightful, head-bobbing eagerness as they do lingering end-of-summer heartbreak on “Getting Out,” and neither feel out of place next to the other. In many ways, the charm of their debut comes from the lo-fi production, which has admirably been pushed to the max but still magically exists in the Sanford, FL living room where they recorded. The sad sunshine vibe that carries SUNNY F.L. makes the exclamation point that concludes the groups name all the more appropo, vibing on excitement, fear, and coolness with equal measure. BABY! have become essential May to September listening. Check out their debut on Bandcamp. [CJ Simonson]

Photograph Your Aura – S/T

Genre: Conscious Hip Hop

Favorite Tracks: “Tear; Smile,” “Never Runnin,” “Twin Flame”

Photograph Your Aura is a collaborative hip hop project between Australian-based rapper Dialect and producer Alnitak Kid, who are making careers defined by aura photography with their self titled debut. Seeming like a perfectly plotted mixtape, PHOTOGRAPH YOUR AURA is an experience tied to aura-themed interludes like “Auranomics,” “Laura,” and “Transfauramation,” each featuring a woman in a deep sea of ethereal sounds. She explains each aura as defining you, even becoming an expression of currency, as she drifts in and out of English and French. From the start, it seems like it could have been smartly made in a back alley, with Alnitak Kid mixing beats that are nowhere near obvious, making use of sparse guitar chords and chaotic drums. After the intro, “Say What You Will” demonstrates how the album was stitched together, with different instruments playing notes that make up parts of the whole. The album is always changing in pace, especially as Dialect’s delivery changes in the middle of songs, showing off tons of versatility in flow. “Tear; Smile” is stupid cute, upbeat in forming a series of firsts in a relationship and is the only song that has any type of notably catchy chorus. It reflects the rest of the album’s flow, where he starts to get more intense and the melody cuts out to increase the significance of the base before snapping back into the chorus. Out-of-tune chords lead “Never Runnin” before becoming more warped and distorted while he talks about his status with his creative team who just want to make music. Playing with echoing, lo-fi beats to start off “Twin Flame,” Photograph Your Aura gear this closing track as the most definitive part of their story, a come-up piece that grows in complexity, layering disjointed beats over each other, each with their own melody. Boasting knowledge in how to be self-referential and gaining psychedelic influences, the aura theme becomes Dialect’s character, a cinematic essence. PHOTOGRAPH YOUR AURA is worthwhile with a clear vision and motto about paying attention to the energy fields within us all. Check it out on here. [Nikki Reifler]