Looking for new music? DJs at student-run radio station WVAU share their thoughts on a range of recent releases.
Wilco
The Whole Love
Between producing back-to-back albums and maintaining a stable line-up for the longest time in their existence, it was starting to look like Wilco were slipping into complacency. Fortunately, “The Whole Love” dismisses that notion by the end of the opening track “Art of Almost,” a seven-minute epic that features bubbling electronics, Radiohead-like strings and lead guitarist Nels Cline absolutely abusing the guitar for the final three minutes.
The 11 tracks that follow never come close to this sense of experimentation, but that doesn’t stop them from being the best collection of songs Jeff Tweedy has written since “A Ghost Is Born.”
Wilco has made music in a variety of styles, and they all make appearances here: “Dawned On Me” is an insanely catchy sing-along, “Sunloathe” recalls “Summerteeth”-era Wilco with its layers of harmonies and keyboards and “One Sunday Morning” is an absolutely beautiful, hypnotic acoustic number. A definite return to form, “The Whole Love” holds its own among Wilco’s storied catalogue and shows this band has plenty more to offer.
Recommended if you like: My Morning Jacket, Spoon, John Lennon (Big Beatles influence on this record)
Recommended Tracks: 1, 4, 6
— By Cameron Meindl
Gem Club
Breakers
Critics oftentimes throw around the term “dream-pop” to any band with whispery vocals and reverb infused melodies. But on their debut LP “Breakers,” Gem Club takes a more purist stab at the genre, honing the breathy, emotional piano-pop crafted on their first EP.
Their minimal instrumentation, which consists of a piano, cello and vocals allows for the group’s melancholic lyrical underpinnings to seep through and finds moments of poignancy in the space between the notes.
Gem Club understands that a beautiful melody is more important than layers of dense instrumentation, and uses this strength to craft an album that creates a contemplatively wistful album.
Recommended if you like: Perfume Genius, Porcelain Raft, Bon Iver’s “Blood Bank EP”
Recommended Tracks: 2, 5
— By Maxwell Tani
The Kooks
Junk of the Heart
The Kooks can sound like a lot of bands, often to the point where they flirt with falling into “forgettable” territory. This is a group that is not trying to break any ground with their songwriting, but you can forgive them when they deliver the melodies and hooks that are present on this album’s highlights.
Many of the songs here are radio-ready. The opening one-two punch of “Junk of the Heart” and “How’d You Like That” are feel-good, bubble-gum earworms and it’s hard to resist the large “la-la-la” finale of “Eskimo Kiss.”
Although the band rarely deviates from standard classic rock instrumentation, “Runaway” makes good use of its blend of acoustic guitars, bouncy synth lines and falsetto hooks. “Junk of the Heart” might be guilty of having a few filler tracks, but when it gets into a groove, the results are pretty infectious.
Recommended if you like: Arctic Monkeys, Phoenix, Oasis
Recommended Tracks: 2, 7, 11
Track 01- Junk of the Heart (Happy)
Track 03- Rosie
Track 09- Is It Me
— By Cameron Meindl
Dum Dum Girls
Only in Dreams (Sub Pop)
Now that we live in a world without R.E.M., somebody needs to fill the void left in the jangle-pop world. Luckily, Dum Dum Girls seem up to the challenge: “Only In Dreams” is their third release in about 18 months, and it maintains the high standard the previous two have set — the guitars are still chiming, the melodies are still sunny and the songs are as strong as ever. Things start off with a bang as “Always Looking” piles on surf guitar riffs, call-and-response vocals and some white noise for good measure before leading into “Bedroom Eyes,” a lovesick tale about life on tour. Even with slightly glossier production by Richard Gottehrer and The Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner, “Only In Dreams” proves that Dum Dum Girls are no longer just a promising young act, but a musical force to be reckoned with.
Recommended if you like: Best Coast, Wild Flag
Recommended Tracks: 1, 2, 4
Dum Dum Girls - Only in Dreams by subpop
