Stream: New albums from Irontom, The Neighbourhood, Cayucas, Seth Bogart and Temme Scott
Kevin Bronson on
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Catching up with five — count ’em, five! — albums that were released on Friday:
IRONTOM, “Cult Following”
Irontom — Harry Hayes, Zach Irons, Dan Saslow and Dylan Williams — are rock beasts, but not like the prolific garage- and psych-rock bands that overpopulate L.A. environs. Irontom’s hard glam/proto-metal boasts the clean lines of a muscle car, and the acceleration to match. The rhythm section registers on the Richter scale in album opener “American Gothic,” and its sheer fury is matched by Irons’ riffage and Hayes’ frenetic vocals on virtually every track, including “Big Shot,” “Call Me the West” and “Full Moon.” The follow-up to 2017’s “Partners,” “Cult Following” is one for opening up the throttle.
||| Watch the video for “American Gothic” and stream the whole album:
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, “Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones”
With frontman Jesse Rutherford — pop-R&B stylist, electronic experimentalist and onetime teenage rapper — adopting the Bowie-eque persona of Chip Chrome, the Neighbourhood get more than just a silver paint job. They sound like a whole new band. Remember their 2018 album “It’s Hard to Imagine The Neighbourhood Ever Changing?” Wink. The album’s sci-fi dream-pop, atmospheric folk and ’60s tropes possess a less-cluttered but still-adventuresome beauty that lets Rutherford shine. All hail the acoustic guitar on which “Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones” was conceived.
||| Watch the video for “Lost in Translation” and stream the whole album:
CAYUCAS, “Blue Summer”
Barely a year after their third album “Real Life,” brothers Zach and Ben Yudin return with one for longboards, sand twixt the toes and exhilarating sunsets. Back in the throes of summer when the single “Lonely Without You” was released, Zach had said the duo’s mission for the new record was “back to the beach.” Tracks like “Red-Yellow Bonfire,” “Malibu ’79 Long” and “California Girl” take you there, where many surfer dudes have tread before and many will again. It doesn’t diminish how affecting the short (clocking in at under 27 minutes) but sweet “Blue Summer” is.
||| Watch the video for “Yeah Yeah Yeah” and stream the whole album:
SETH BOGART, “Men on the Verge of Nothing”
Art-punk provocateur Seth Bogart is the whole package — rocker, multimedia artist and queer icon, shaking up the the things that need shaking. On “Men on the Verge of Nothing,” which arrives just a year after a wild and wooly self-titled album, Bogart tosses off broadsides at patriarchy, stuck-in-the-mud norms and “Brainwashers” of all manner. It’s not only catchy as hell, but there’s a cover of X-Ray Spex’s 1977 track “Oh Bondage Up Yours!” that features Kathleen Hanna and Kate Nash. Rock it … he even has a tote bag with a special message for the president.
||| Watch the video for “Boys Who Don’t Wanna Be Boys” and stream the whole album
TEMME SCOTT, “Trust You, Trust You”
The debut album from singer-songwriter-guitarist Temme Scott isn’t just about trusting someone else but having faith in oneself. She proves a thoroughly engaging diarist on the novel-length “Trust You, Trust You” — strong and strong enough to articulate her doubts. Her tough-n-tender vocals are showcased in a variety of styles, all benefiting from a big cast of studio musicians and Grant Milliken’s keep-it-real production.
||| Watch the video for “Understudy” and stream the whole album
[…] Neighbourhood’s Jesse Rutherford says of this countryfied ditty from this year’s album “Chip Chrome & the Mono-Tones.” The Daniel Iglesias Jr.-directed video is a not-so-stealthy marketing pitch for the band’s […]