Top8 - 11/11/24 - WTSQ 88.1 FM

November 11, 2024 - 02:39 AM

Welcome back to Top8. Hell of a week. I want everyone to know that we love you and we are on your side. I have no idea what else to say. Send hugs to wtsq.org/contacts

The Cure - I Can Never Say Goodbye

Well, here we are talking about The Cure again. I am really just checking in with you all to let you know that the new album, "Songs of a Lost World" is extremely legit. The band manages to do things here that you really don't expect – this is very much a Cure album, in the vein of classics Like Pornography or Disintegration. It also doesn't sound like its outtakes from previous albums. This is a band who know exactly who they are, but are not quite done figuring out all the ways they can explore what that sounds like.

This week, I am looking at "I Can Never Say Goodbye". The song is anchored by a piano motif that felt a little unexpected to me. The band has certainly used keys before, but this felt different to me. Like many Cure songs, and many of the other songs on this album, "I Can Never Say Goodbye" builds to a dramatic crescendo of layered sounds. Some people may think that six minutes is a long runtime for a song. And sometimes, that's right. But when it's The Cure, each track is a carefully constructed miniature world. An aural snow globe with flurries and glitter spinning around until the resolution.

It feels silly to tell you not to sleep on The Cure. One of the biggest bands of all time. But some people might not really take a late-career record from a "legacy act" seriously. Such people would be missing out. This song, this album, are instant classics.

Ethel Cain - Punish

I just wrote about an Ethel Cain song a few episodes back. That was a cover though, and "Punish" is a single being released in advance of a new album, "Perverts", set to release in January 2025. Cain is a bit of a sensation at the intersection of indie and queer music. With only one album under her belt, she's already iconic. "Punish" is a slow and sparse song with strange, uncomfortable sounds swirling around in the background. Cain's whispery vocals are the only thing holding everything together until some giant, fuzzy guitars show up a little more than halfway through. Cain's music seems to be getting more and more comfortable with this droning, doomy sound. And that suits me just fine.

LCD Soundsystem - X-ray Eyes

LCD Soundsystem is back soon with a new album. "X-ray Eyes" is the first single released from it. I would honestly have expected a flashier lead single. The song never really goes harder than a brisk walk. Still, it's very catchy and has all the sound and vibe of classic LCD tracks.

Ezra Furman - Tie Me to The Train Tracks

"Tie Me To the Train Tracks" is a standalone single from Ezra Furman (the B-side is a track from Alex Walton). This track is braided together from very disparate pieces. There are strands of classic rock like Tom Petty, but also 80s new wave like Echo and the Bunnymen. More important than the specific composition of influences is Furman's determination to combine them in a way that fits together this perfectly.

Sorry - Waxwing

North London's Sorry comes off like Phantogram with more guitars and drums. That works for me. The song "Waxwing" synth-stomps its way through three and a half minutes of hatred for a dude's girlfriend. Cool.

Opinion - Mains

Opinion is a French shoegaze band from Bordeaux. Their new single "Mains" is a decidedly sunny way to look at one's shoes. I really like this. Makes me think a little of the gazeier side of The Smashing Pumpkins. Also, because this is shoegaze, you won't need to figure out if they are singing in French or English.

Hannah Juanita - Fortune

Hannah Juanita is a Tennessee country artist originally from Knoxville, but now in Nashville. "Tennessee Songbird" is her second album, and "Fortune" is my favorite song on it. Juanita is a very unaffected vocalist. She's not trying to be country, she's country just like sugar is sweet. This music fits her like a glove. "Fortune" dances and sways with cajun accordion and little bits and pieces of fiddle or piano.

There was a time, not that long ago, when cool punk indie people often felt like they needed to apologize for enjoying country music – or just pretend they didn't. Eventually, people started calling the best, usually independant, country music Americana. And yeah, that helped people find the music they actually liked. It was always just country music though. You should call this song whatever suits you, as long as you give it a try.

Girl Scout - I Just Needed You To Know

As soon as you hear Dry Cleaning, everything with a femme vocal and an angular, post-punk guitar feels like it's in that mold. There are two options. Either you acknowledge that Dry Cleaning is awesome or else you decide that you don't care who Girl Scout sounds like, just that they are great.

The band is from Sweden. They have a string of good singles and EPs going back a couple years. "I Just Needed You To Know" is from the most recent of these, called "Headache". The song starts out at a gallup and dances until it's had a damn panic attack. My favorite thing about this track is that the guitar solo sounds like a cat walking across the strings. More like this.