Hailing from Leeds, Britain, the punk rockers known as Yard Act traveled across the pond to air their grievances at an American audience. Fortunately for us, they made a stop…
King Krule’s The Ooz starts out modestly with “Biscuit Town,” leaning more towards the jazzy, hip-hoppy, slow-talking side of his elusive persona than the urban stoner aesthetic he embodies on, say, “Bleak Bake” from his 2011 self-titled album. Its quiet and enticing first track is a good palette cleanser for the rest of the album: The Ooz meanders through a staggering hour and six minutes of pleasantly cohesive yet disparate directions, taking us from peaceful piano to ethereal cacophony and back again. It’s, in fewer words, nothing short of beautiful.
After an eventful day one, Pitchfork Fest day two promised an even more saturated schedule. And it certainly delivered on that promise: first of all, with A Tribe Called Quest headlining, all the other bands could have tanked and this day still would have been certifiably historical. Fortunately, however, we were lucky enough that not a single one of the other acts disappointed.
Parquet Courts released Human Performance April 8th, and admittedly, after their last album, I can’t say my expectations were very high. Perhaps that is why Human Performance was so easily lovable—or, perhaps, it was because it was the band’s most innovative album yet, exploring new territory and playing with sounds they hadn’t ever touched before.
Carson Cox of Merchandise recently formed Death Index, a side project that seems to unleash the musician’s inner hardcore sensibilities. The project’s debut album, released on February 26th, uses a post-punk template that one would expect from Cox, but adds plenty of hardcore punk elements to the music. With all of the vocals done by Cox, the album certainly reminds listeners of modern post-punk outfits such as Viet Cong, but several of the tracks contain hardcore and noise-rock tendencies that I embrace with open arms.
There is a possibility that Monastic Living won’t make you angry, of course, but I’m willing to bet to the contrary. Angry, hurt, or—at the very least—a little cheated.
Recently, a friend of mine has gotten me into Viet Cong, the Canadian post-punk band that just released their self-titled debut album in January. So when I stayed with that same friend in Los Angeles over Spring Break, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see the band while they were in town at one of LA’s fine venues, The Echoplex, last Friday night. And what a show it was. I decided to spontaneously purchase my ticket the same day as the show, and I couldn’t have made a better decision on how to spend my last night in LA.
