Reviews

Inscrutable

Lo and Behold Onward Journey cassette

Debut release from LO AND BEHOLD, the solo project of Louis Harding. In a list of bands too long to name, Harding’s tenure as a songwriter really shines through on this heartfelt, ten-track masterpiece. I recognized his name from his bass work in BELGRADO, whose 2023 Intra Apogeum made quite a splash. That said, there’s no synth/dance vibe present on Onward Journey, instead we get a beautiful, sweeping reverie, reminiscent of the shimmering guitar and despair on something like Paul Westerberg’s “Answering Machine”—trading Midwestern sensibilities for downcast British shoe-scuffing. This will make my top ten albums of the year, easy. I just hope the cassettes are quality, because unlike many raucous, lo-fi recordings, this one wants to be listened to loud and clear. Buy the ticket, take the Journey.

Permanent Opposite Permanent Opposite LP

Debut from PERMANENT OPPOSITE, the solo project of Jared Leibowich. This eleven-track album is highly personal and emotional in a confessional poetry kind of way. I don’t quite want to call this indie, but it fits somewhere in that vein, as the songs are on the slower, softer side, with clean instrumentals and production, and may have just made it through the MRR criteria for inclusion—but that’s an uninformed speculation. I could see this being passed around a crowd who’s bored with KURT VILE, or those wanting more DEERHOOF (as John Dieterich engineered this album). I like a lot of the heart-on-the-sleeve sentiment within, but it’s not necessarily for me.

Soup Activists Mummy What Are Flowers For? LP

This is some amazing weirdo-punk post-pop out of St. Louis—think ’60s-inspired TELEVISION PERSONALITIES-adjacent stuff if they let Gordon Gano write lyrics and play xylophone for them. The band is helmed by Martin Meyer of LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS notoriety, and takes the energy and angsty shock of that project and gives it the JONATHAN RICHMAN treatment with sinisterly sweet storytelling lyrics and simple melodies that get stuck in your head like a food stain you can’t get out. Slightly reminiscent of Devon Williams leaving OSKER after their antithetic punk scene opus “Idle Will Kill” to form FINGERS CUT MEGAMACHINE and whatever else he’s doing these days.