We’ve been away for a while. This was a project that was born during the COVID pandemic as a way to pass some time in quarantine. As life got back to normal it became harder and harder to keep up with the deluge of new releases. I got burned out just trying and admittedly found myself listening to less and less music.
So why return now? Two reasons.
First, the music journalism ecosystem seems to be falling apart. While I wouldn’t put Undrcurrents in the same rarified air as some of our shuttered compatriots, having trusted sources recommend music is important for discovery. I want to make sure that good music can find an audience; even if we only turn one person on to a new album, it’s worth it.
Second, I think my brain is atrophying from the amount of AI slop I’m subjected to on a daily basis. This website will always be fully written by humans for humans.
So here’s the deal; we’ll try to post every one to two weeks going forward. Each post will be newsletter style, with featured album(s) and some other recommendations (new or old). The format may get tweaks but we’ll only recommend the good stuff. I’m going to try to keep this sustainable but keep the recommendations flowing.
So, without further ado, the music.
Album of the Week
The Tubs have been a longtime favorite around these parts. Their debut Dead Meat (one of our favorite albums of 2023) and its followup Cotton Crown contain some of the jangliest melodies and stickiest hooks you can find on wax. Their third album, Hard Life, shares that same talent for crafting earworms but expands their sonic universe in subtle ways. It’s a level up for a band that was already firing on all cylinders.
Hard Life largely shares the lyrical preoccupations of previous albums: deep despair, mental illness, failed relationships. What’s most apparent here is the band’s sonic evolution. Emerging from the ashes of Joanna Gruesome, their earlier albums shared the same scrappy DIY ethos as that band; the songs here sound fuller and more bombastic than ever before, from the crashing riffs of opener “Hard Life” to the anthemic choruses of “Do Yourself A Favor” and “Stoop To Me”. They also give their songs more space to breathe. Closer “As Long As You Leave”, an ode to leaving a depressed ex, is one of the most delicate numbers the band has ever recorded; “In Your Place” stretches out to nearly six minutes without overstaying it’s welcome. The addition of fiddle player Chris Haigh is also notable; though frontman Owen Williams has always sounded a bit like Richard Thompson, the additional instrumentation pulls the band more explicitly into British folk rock territory. It’s as Fairport Convention spent some time in New Zealand with the Flying Nun roster.
Hard Life would succeed simply on the strength of its songs, but all of these elements come together to create something distinctive. Jangle pop bands are a dime a dozen these days, but even in that crowded space there’s no one doing it quite like The Tubs. This is easily my favorite thing the band has produced yet as well as one of the best things I’ve heard this year.
Quick Hits
Curbside Lambsear – Put Rings On All My Fingers To Weigh Down My Hands
Weirdo outsider rock that twists slowcore, post rock and folk into novel shapes. A glitchy triumph.
RIYL: Caroline, Still House Plants, Tara Clerkin Trio
Angela Autumn – Believer
If Lucinda went indie rock, it might sound a bit like this. I’m most drawn to Autumn’s voice, which ebbs and flows over her eclectic instrumentals.
RIYL: Lucinda Williams, Wednesday, Mary Gauthier