Ata KakObaa Sima (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
DJ ClentLast Bus to Lake Park (Duck n’ Cover)
This anonymous black-metal act, which originally claimed to be from Chongqing, China, recently confessed that it’s based in Minot, North Dakota. But the only thing lost with the unraveling of this fiction is an exotic origin story—the new Moonlover, recorded with Michigan-based engineer Josh Schroeder (one early hint that the band’s biography was bogus), is atmospheric, almost lyrical black metal with no perceptible Chinese character. The music has attracted comparisons to Deafheaven, presumably for its bleak but triumphal melodies, elegant postrock bombast, and wistful, aspirational chord progressions. This is Ghost Bath’s first release recorded in a proper studio, and the drumming is tight and powerful even at blistering speeds, instead of sounding like a bunch of tin cans dragged behind a car. The arrangements shift expertly between torrential blastbeats, meditative passages of lovely arpeggiated guitar or piano (often accompanied by bird calls, running water, or the chittering and buzzing of insects), and monumental, wide-open riffs that feel almost like hardcore breakdowns; this diversity of structure makes Moonlover function more like conventionally accessible rock than the hermetic, ritualistic music of many similar black-metal bands. The band says the album is about “hopeless longing for something unattainable,” and the vocals—mostly deranged, grief-stricken sobs and howls—bear that out. This beautiful, ferocious music demonstrates how fine the line can be between exhilaration and terror—it’s for people who can’t take a walk in the woods without seeing all the decaying bodies feeding the roots of the trees. —Philip Montoro
José Prates and Mieco AskanasyTam . . . Tam . . . Tam . . . ! (Trunk)
Founded in Oxford, England, and initially active from 1989 till 1998, Swervedriver arose from the original shoegaze movement, but their knotty, rhythmically muscular sound contrasted sharply with that of their dreamier peers. In 2008 the band got back together to tour the reunion circuit, and now they’re releasing their first LP in 17 years, I Wasn’t Born to Lose You, where they try their best to recapture the glory days of 1991’s Raise and 1993’s Mezcal Head. They pack the new record’s crunchy songs with washes of fuzzy, spaced-out guitar and richly layered vocal melodies, but the years have clearly mellowed these dudes—their bite has softened, and the air of desperation that helped make their original output so potent is gone. I Wasn’t Born to Lose You is a solid set of pretty, punchy indie pop, but compared to those old albums, it feels a little limp and watered down—it’s not going to move anyone quite like the band did in 1991. Swervedriver play at Thalia Hall on Sat 3/14 as part of Levitation Chicago. —Luca Cimarusti
