INDISPENSABLE NEW MUSIC PICKS
July 2024
Kristine England
July 31, 2024 at 4:00:00 PM
Color Green
Fool’s Parade
Fool’s Parade has the depth of an album from the late 60s/early 70s, with elements of psych rock, melodic touches that harken back to the folk-rock bands like the Byrds (the vocal harmonies too). The band itself has been through some things, exploring loss, grief, frustration and resolve.
FEATURED TRACK: “Four Leaf Clover”
Lord Buffalo
Holus Bolus
Touted as “a sleep-deprived road trance through High Plains iconography,” Lord Buffalo delivers guitar-driven rock with a serious demeanor. It’s not light-hearted fare, but heavy psych isn’t meant for teenyboppers. The group has a sound a that sets them apart from many others in the genre, and I have soft spot for stoner doom bands with Buffalo in their name. The album cover feels very Hipgnosis too. Another plus.
FEATURED TRACK: “Holus Bolus”
ORB
Tailem Bend
ORB is part of Australia’s psych-rock scene. The vintage vibes are there, with trippy atmospheres and occasional funky flavors. Back from a longer than expected break (six years have passed since The Space Between -- a prescient title, it turns out), the group is back with its fourth album. A mellower affair than previous outings, the mood is still groovy.
FEATURED TRACK: “You Do”
Dearthworms
Sapsucker
Far Out dubbed Sapsucker as “weird rock,” and the kind of works. The Sheffield band’s debut explores different ideas and moods with dissonant guitars with a “stirring Yorkshire dialect.” Stylistic progeny of band’s like The Fall (my first thought), thezband’s debut is an intriguing, offbeat listen by a group that’s sure to demand attention in the future.
FEATURED TRACK: “Strike Low”
Elsy Wameyo
Saint Sinner
Based in Adelaide, Australia, Elsy Wameyo also spent formative years in Kenya. She artfully incorporates flavors from Africa with rich rhythms and bursts of tasteful horns gliding beneath as she raps about her dual cultural identity, often with backing choirs for even more depth. Critics are rightfully enthralled: “Elsy Wameyo Dazzles” (Clash) and NME lauding the “assured, cathartic debut” to name but two examples.
FEATURED TRACK: “Conquer” featuring Ywaya Tajiri