Bandcamp Picks of the Week 2/22/17
Bandcamp Picks of the Week is comin’ at ya again with two stellar streaming picks!
Morosity – LOW TIDE
Genre: Grunge, Progressive Rock
Favorite Tracks: “The Answer,” “Ouroboros,” “Moon,” “Low Tide”
Fun fact: the number one track on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart when I was born was by Days of the New, the acoustic grunge act who always sounded like outsiders in a dark, unfeeling rural community from the Deep South or out on the Western frontier. Morosity lists Days of the New as one of their primary influences, possibly due to their shared love of acoustic guitars and deep psychological torment, but LOW TIDE shows a far more ambitious and cinematic side, more on par with Porcupine Tree or some of Opeth’s softer material. It’s an album of pure misery and destructive, violent imagery paired with gorgeous violins and anguished, harrowing vocals that would have killed in the ‘90s. For only nine songs, it’s a dense and dynamic experience anchored by a perfect grasp of agony, loneliness, and unhinged obsession out of some horrific tale in the Wild West or ancient mythology. If you want the soundtrack to Tantalus’s torturous existence, you can find such a thing here. [Blake Michelle]
Triptides – SUN PAVILION
Genre: Indie Rock
Favorite Tracks: “Bright Sky,” “Graveyard,” “Sun/Shine”
Triptides are the quintessential indie surf rock band from Los Angeles. Though the indie surf fad has admittedly seen more original days, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for a band who fetishizes the 1960s surfer aesthetic while pandering to thrift store cool. SUN PAVILION is the perfect album for driving through Santa Monica in a baby blue Mustang on a lazy weekend afternoon. There is something so unapologetically Los Angeles about SUN PAVILION that though it can feel like it wears its surf influence on its sleeve, it never does so in a way that is anything other than likable. In an indie scene that’s getting more and more difficult to classify, a return to bright sunny simplicity is always welcome, and Triptides provide just that. You can listen to SUN PAVILION here. [Ted Davis]
