My Dead Girlfriend - Underdrawing for Three Forms of Unhappiness at the State of Existence

I've been searching for shoegaze that I like for a while now. Some things work and some don't. Loveless isn't what my heart desires, but the harshest parts at the center of Deathconsciousness are basically my dreams come true. Some of my favorite garage rock bands have released amazing shoegaze albums. Jesu aren't bad, and last year three real great albums came out under the genre title: one of them, Iroha's self titled debut LP, was a side project of Jesu front man. The other two were Yuck's debut, a 90's throwback album with some shoegazing and some punk rocking and some real generic shitting about, and The Joy Formidable's first album, which was also a lot alike to Yuck's.

Here's something though. After a few pandering releases (Looking at you, Whirr), the pedal heavy, melody light genre has welcomed me back home with My Dead Girlfriend's debut mini-LP. The title and band concept seems depressing, but the music behind it is hopeful and inspiring, and the vocals are twinkly as fuck. This is about as close as I've gotten to real hard punk shoegaze, you know, the type I really want. Each track punches hard, not despite but because there are only six of them. The band members took all of their energy and shoved it into making six thick, amazing tracks.

It feels like everything leads from the strong opener/title track, as if it was a delta, straight into the tip of the river, which ends up being a split between Nasty Mayor's Daughter - the strongest track here by miles, and one which I promise will have tears down your cheeks - and closing track Aki no Hachiouji, which shuts the book with a real positive note.
This album is basically a fizzy anime. I foresee it staying with me for a long while.
Tier: 2 [Playlist]
[fork on plate]

The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet

I've been a Volta fan for quite some time now. All things considered, my musically conscious life has been a bit longer than a year, and I've been listening to Omar's whittling and Ced's howling for about a year now. It's flown by, probably the fastest year I've ever lived, and for quite a few reasons, not just The Mars Volta.
I'll spare any readers a write up on the bands past and get straight to it: this is one strong album. By the time I get to the first single it feels as if I've already listened to one full album, and I'm only halfway done. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I love it. Noctourniquet fills me whenever I'm starving for something real good. The album is strong across the board.
"The Whip Hand" is a magnificent opener, full of filthy synth-guitar and some really cool vocals (I am a landmiiiine). "Aegis" and "Dyslexicon" manage to keep the cool, electronic vibe and the future-punk genre aesthetic steady, however after them I come upon the first real snag in the album. "Empty Vessels" is more of a feels song than a hears song. It's got a real sentimental sound, and it really drags it out. For some it's a tear jerker, but for me, more often than usual it's a snore fest. Luckily, lead single "The Malkin Jewel" follows, and it brings me back up to speed.
"In Absentia" is an island in the track listing - a major change up, an amazing song, stranded between two mediocre ones ("Lapochka", "Imago"). To be fair, both of those mediocre songs bring that funk hard, but they manage just well enough to become more of a breather or a "time to get a snack" in the album than anything, akin to the boring scene in a summer blockbuster. The real trouble in the album begins here, though, I'm afraid. I've thought about the rest of the tracks on this album real hard. Upon release, they confused me quite a bit but I think I've got 'em down now:
"Molochwalker" is a very typical and yet still a very exciting song. Across the whole album, the chorus of every song has been the big deal, and if by this track you haven't noticed then you probably wouldn't find a bard if it was stuck on the bridge of your nose.
"Trinkets Pale of Moon" is a special track to me. It was the first from the album I had heard, and I enjoy the live version very much, but the studio version is such a chore. It's a very quiet track, and it really shouldn't be the one to follow "Molochwalker". It's chorus is very typical of Volta - spooky. In fact, the whole song is a bit to cliche for my taste.
"Vedamalady" is everything that the album tries to be. It's a real great ride, a funky, groovy, electronic thing, with this amazing chorus that outdoes any song before it except maybe "In Absentia". Luckily, "Vedamalady" is followed by the title track, "Noctourniquet", which is the only track here to really outdo it. These two tracks are yet another island.
The closer, "Zed and Two Naughts" is likely the most talked about track on the album. Volta have always offered, possibly among all else, powerful closers - something melodramatic and over the top. I just wish I wasn't so tired of it, so ready for something new from them. "Zed" has the most derivative everything on this album. The instrument parts are all a bore, and the chorus is really just weak. This is the one track I really can't stand on the whole album. Which is a bit disappointing, all things considered.
Still, this is a mighty listen. Noctourniquet is satisfying despite it's flaws. It might not be another Amputechture, but it's still something from the modern prog rock greats, and I still enjoy much of it.
Tier: 3 [Good Shit]
[Don't Step on Me]

Ancestors - In Dreams & Time

Ancestors are a psychedelic metal band hailing from L. A., and In Dreams & Time is their third record. I've received some questions about these guys since I started sharing them, namely, "psychedelic metal? That exists?" People seem pretty excited to sum Ancestors tag up as progressive metal because psych metal can't possibly be a thing. It's happened to me a few times now.
But here's the thing: Ancestors are a mix of doom metal, gothica, stoner rock, psychedelic rock and a lot of other things. Their previous albums have their own place, but something about In Dreams & Time strikes me as an amazing, stealthy, really strong release.
Where it starts, with "Whispers", a straight up psych doom opener with this amazing, sprawling, destructive bridge, the album flows straight into "The Last Return", a piano led gothica-type thematic interlude, full on with female lead vocals. Afterwards comes the bulk of the album. The following three tracks are all just like the opener, "Whispers", except stronger.
"Corryvecan" stresses a mellow, riding guitar riff with a heavy synth right behind it, all accompanied by the return of singers with beards. "On the Wind" combines the interluding gothic pianos and female vocals with the heavy, full guitars to create something totally opposite the rest of the album thus far: an uplifting song. Or, sort of. The track is uplifting, but so unsure of itself. Well enough, "Running in Circles" follows, and it brings that uncertainty with it, and turns it into an amazing, well planned out jam fest, as well as the strongest hook across the whole album. When it comes, you'll hear it, and you'll scream along. Of course, all of this comes together on the closer, "First Light", a twenty minute epic, as per any band with "psychedelic" and "metal" in it's genre tags.

Tier: 1 [Album of the Year material]
[strap your beard on]