This is a light post, as I am going home this weekend. I also might be getting a job, and have started a Civ 6 game with some friends. The getting a job process and the Civ 6 have both really eaten into the writing time this week.
Well, the blog writing time, anyway. I wrote a short story this week, for the first time in I think over a year. Short fiction used to be basically all I wrote, but over the past couple years I’ve gotten way more focused on hobby novels, even though I’ve never finished one. But I want to try to get something published this year, and that means writing something short and publishable. So I’m trying to get back in the short fiction groove. I’ve gotta say, it felt good to actually finish a story. That’s a feeling that hobby novels have yet to offer me.
Now, I’ve done the music segment a little differently this week. I wrote short, succinct reviews of two albums, then crashed out for a little while about how the way I felt about those particular albums made me feel about my silly rating system. It turns out that even if you sand down a rating system to just five categories, assigning art a score still just feels really stupid sometimes.
I’m going to hold off on the baseball segment this week, as I haven’t caught quite as much of the Orioles and the Phillies as I would’ve liked to in order to write about them. I might try to double up next week and discuss four teams, since I really just want to catch one more game apiece for these two teams, which should leave plenty of time to follow two more. No idea which two those will be yet, though.
"Cost of Living Adjustment" by Cola is a tight, snappy post punk album where every song has a catchy hook and not a minute is wasted. It has excellent pacing: the first five songs are all distinct variations on the album’s basic sonic template, then the back half settles into a more uniform sound, with shifts in energy, like the low key, chill, incredibly catchy “Polished Knives” going into the upbeat, almost anthemic, and still incredibly catchy “Much of a Muchness,” keeping things feeling fresh. Initially I thought about saying something like “it gets a little loose in the back half,” but actually every single one of these songs is just extremely solid. I love “Skywriter’s Sigh” as a closer, in particular, and “Favoured Over The Ride” precedes it perfectly. I’ve waffled on what score to give this one, because it really doesn’t have anything mind blowing going on: it’s pretty standard post-punk. But it’s immaculate post-punk, and I love it. So, two stars.
Rating: ☆☆
Now, Fire-Toolz’s "Lavender Networks" is an exactly opposite sort of thing. It’s an experimental album that plays with a few different genres, most notably, to my ears at least, hyperpop and metal. The vocal delivery is, primarily, distorted screaming, while the instrumentals are lush synthesizer forward soundscapes, often with pretty groovy pop beats. It’s an interesting sound. Personally, I struggle a little bit with the metal scream as a vocal style. I respect the hell out of it, but it isn’t exactly my cup of tea. That said, the magic trick of juxtaposing it with these candy-coated synthesizers was still quite a bit of fun.
Really, though, my favourite parts of the album are the parts that lean away from the harsher sounds, and I feel like a massive weenie for saying that. “And Where Is The Heart? I’ve Searched My Entire Home,” with featured vocalist Jennifer Holm, is probably my favourite track on the album. And I enjoyed the opening track’s long ambient stretches a lot, too.
I’m hesitant to rate this one. I could see it growing on me. Confoundingly, I’d say that I really like what it’s doing, I just haven’t enjoyed it as much as, for instance, “Cost of Living Adjustment.” This gets at something I struggle with when writing criticism. Do I value something that fascinates and excites me more than something that pleases me? “Cost of Living Adjustment” is comfort food, while “Lavender Networks” is something actually new. But, well, rating systems are nonsense. As much as I’ve made mine a broad, categorical sort of thing, it’s still subjective. I’m giving “Lavender Networks” the single star rating, because I enjoyed it a single star amount. Don’t take that as me saying “Cost of Living Adjustment” is a better album, though, because frankly a comparison couldn’t get more apples to oranges. Covering these two albums in the same week makes me almost want to get rid of ratings on my reviews entirely, as thinking about them side by side puts the lie to the whole process.
"Lavender Networks" has its hooks in me and might grow on me. I find what it’s doing compelling and challenging. “Cost of Living Adjustment” has simple, rock solid songwriting, and I can’t stop listening to it. I guess I feel like the latter is worth an extra star, but really, who cares? Both albums are absolutely worth checking out.
Rating: ☆