By It’s our Bandcamp Picks of the Week, featuring Suitor’s lively and theatrical indie rock album SAW YOU OUT WITH THE WEEDS and NORMAN’s darkly mysterious post-punk record FAUST DEMONICA!
Suitor – SAW YOU OUT WITH THE WEEDS
Genre: Indie Rock
Favorite Tracks: “Factory,” “Still Life,” “Dull Customer”
Suitor appear to be stuck. The Cleveland outfit readily own up to their fate, describing their new album, SAW YOU OUT WITH THE WEEDS, as a “push and pull between elements of noise pop, post-punk, and indie rock.” So is it an album that seems to want it all, but can’t actually decide in a way that fosters consistency? Or is there some semblance of magic and power to this specific indecisiveness?
Luckily, the 10-track release leans closer to the latter than the former. “Model Actress” might be entertaining spoken word, but that sleek, sexy indie fuzz dancing in the back lends it something especially potent. “Factory” can’t discern if that cutting bass line or sexed-up guitar should be the song’s defining focus, and that back-and-forth makes for a rich, unpredictable experience. “Sentimental Talk,” meanwhile, also leaps about effortlessly—between a confessional ballad and a proper jam—and we’re all the better for the resulting, evocative chaos. “Generator” seemingly wants to be a dark, sultry Nick Cave-like anthem, until the song seems to give up halfway through. Still, none of it is as irksome or infuriating as it might be with many other bands, because Suitor have the grace and brains to bridge their self-imposed divide with “densely worded vocal melodies and strong, captivating hooks.” Also noteworthy are the “Gen Z Pat Benatar” ballad that is “Still Life,” and “Dull Customer,” or “alt-rock via Off-Broadway.” There’s this sense of genuine presence and gravity afforded by these lively flourishes, and they cut through different moods and ideas with the same undeniable charisma and playfulness.
Suitor clearly aren’t unique in their genre-obsessive behaviors. Rather, it’s refreshing for a band to not only fly their specific, multicolored freak flag, but to remain unapologetic about how this approach actually lives and breathes across a 34-minute record. It’s the sense of humanity and intention that defines that album (even more than those snappy hooks), turning SAW YOU OUT WITH THE WEEDS from a collection of catchy, mostly scattershot tunes to something with a defining worldview. What sparkles isn’t the album’s many textures, but rather the band’s endless curiosity to smash it all together and never once care about a definition or a roadmap or an end goal.
So yeah, Suitor are stuck. But in the best way imaginable. The musical truth that they are chasing requires eternal momentum and excitement, and by never completely landing on whatever’s residing in their collective brain, the band remains refreshing in their enthused pursuits. SAW YOU OUT WITH THE WEEDS isn’t a record that demands you to be a fan of any one genre over another, but instead asks that you remain open to the joy of a life lived between ideas, goals, and energies. Hey, let’s all get stuck way more often. Listen to it now over on Bandcamp.
NORMANS – FAUST DEMONICA
Genre: Darkwave, Post-Punk
Favorite Tracks: “Mexico Unlimited,” “Ankle Biter,” “Urge to Merge”
If I see the word “Darkwave,” I automatically picture tight pleather pants—and then proceed to mentally check all the way out. I get that’s not fair whatsoever; there’s plenty of great music that comes with the genre tag. Unfortunately, there’s also a lot of washed-out theater kids posing as New Age Nick Cave, and Darkwave is as much a descriptor as a warning for a special brand of needlessly hokey goth-tronica where the hooks are underemphasized for the darkness of one’s suit jacket.
Fortunately, Los Angeles’ NORMANS use their second album, FAUST DEMONICA, to utterly restart my mind regarding the true scope and power of Darkwave. If you seek only the purest offerings, “Mexico Unlimited” is NORMANS channeling Peter Murphy amid a soundscape ripped from a haunted Western disco. Meanwhile, “Gold” plays like a Depeche Mode song echoing from the club basement out into eternity. There’s an icy stoicism to these tracks, a borrowed power baked right into every beat. However, by nailing these tentpoles, NORMANS create a baseline that still gives them the right kind of wiggle room. And from said wiggle room, the band emote effortlessly across the sonic spectrum. “Destruction” injects a dash of hope and shimmer to the formula, making it undulate with layers of life. “Broken Moon” splits the difference between mega-lo-fi Darkwave and barren country, the desolation a joy to tumble into. And without doing much beyond proving especially earnest, “Urge to Merge” takes on all new levels of accessibility (but never predictability).
It’s not as if NORMANS have outright deconstructed their musical core; it’s maybe closer to installing a large mirror or swapping some doors. It’s all subtle but meaningful gestures to use their space as effectively as possible. Sometimes they go extra expansive (as with “The Magic Touch”) and really play with tone and texture to explore grander emotional hues. Or, “Ankle Biter,” where they bring it all in and let everything coalesce in this glorious patchwork. By tweaking and not rebuilding outright, NORMANS make something new with the bones of deep familiarity.
But FAUST DEMONICA doesn’t just sound good; with the LP intended to favor “structure and tension over conventional release,” NORMANS aren’t obsessed with mood-centric posturing. Each song gives us something to explore and fill with ourselves as we see fit, our ideas and emotions contained in a way that makes our immersion meaningful in a new way. It’s not all about one hue of life, but rather something far more vibrant for its many textures and layers. If Darkwave is about embracing your inner vamp, then NORMANS show that the true goth lords can also embrace the light as a counterbalance. Be you a Darkwave devotee or not, FAUST DEMONICA exudes a curiosity and organic tendency that’s cooler than even an entire leather outfit. Listen to it now over on Bandcamp.
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