before i start this review i want to give a huge ass shoutout to alfie from haal, who somehow found my review of haal's new ep, loved it and is sending me some merch! i feel really inspired to do more reviews of small bands. it's so cool to think that people are actually reading what i write, and especially that my reviews might reach artists themselves. thanks so much if you're reading this.
without further ado! the other day i was dicking around on bandcamp and i found a duet of eps, all my friends have a band and the great patriarch, from virginia band butter swamp. because of this music i felt a feeling i had never feeled.
all my friends have a band sounds like the emotion of pleasant surprise or maybe like a dictionary entry for the word "frolicking." it also sounds like it was produced on a nintendo ds (a wonderful thing). listening to this ep, i imagined a reality in which the mushroom kingdom had collapsed and a group of yoshis formed a band. it has a muted lo-fi sound the band describes as "egg punk", which is as far as i know a newer term for a kind of garage indie devo-inspired synth noise punk vibe. (i am not actually very good at writing about music.) the stars of the show are our muted bass riffs and our omnipresent bouncy synth. the bass and the synth seem to play and weave around each other in this joyful scrambling way, like a game of tag. we also hear tinny, quiet percussion and occasionally a jangly lead guitar. in general it felt like all the instruments were really happy to be there. all the tracks sort of blended together--i particularly liked the bubbly sound of the title track--except the last, a cover of alex g's "whale" which feels a little more laid-back, grungier.
the great patriarch is described as a sequel to all my friends have a band. it sounds more like "whale"--a little less playful and a little more chill. instead of driving the songs forward, the synths here are sparser and atmospheric, creating a weird spacey ambience for the other instruments to play in if that makes sense. the bass and lead guitar (and maybe an acoustic guitar?) work more cohesively together. if all my friends have a band is a thicket of wild blackberries, the great patriarch is a well-maintained vegetable garden, offering something different but equally nourishing. we hear more rhythmic experimentation and more diverse sounds. for instance, i thought "don't!" had a little bit of funk in it. the percussion is significantly more present, and as a result the instrumental has a little more power to groove.
overall i was delighted by both of these offerings. i would say all my friends have a band is my favorite but i also listened to that one a little more. i would like to thank all band members for brightening a stressful day! also i barely even know 'er swamp