Blue Ruin - Hooligans Happy Hour - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Meanjin/Brisbane alt-country/indie-folk five-piece Full Power Happy Hour first captured hometown hearts with their heartfelt, high-energy live shows and now they've parlayed that momentum into their self-titled debut album, an enchanting collection of great depth and beauty based around the beguiling songs and bewitching vocals of singer-songwriter Alex Campbell. The band's unique aesthetic mixes the intimacy and fragility of '60s folk singers like Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez with the ramshackle bonhomie of The Pogues, tempered by a more modern indie-rock sensibility akin to The Clean, with results that are purely and defiantly Full Power Happy Hour. Equal parts confident and vulnerable, these eight tracks demand attention with their impassioned lyrics, joyful instrumentation and heart-stirring harmonies, the perfect antidote to these turbulent times and a fitting reminder of life's inherent beauty.1. Old Mind of Mine2. Heart Fell Out3. Morning Juju4. Golden Eggs5. Woohaa Everyday6. Crying Over Stitches7. Peter8. Steely Fences

With Happy Hour, her ravishing new LP, Hollie Cook matures into the queen of modern-day Inchlovers rockInch-the rich girly harmony reggae style beloved in Britain since the 1970s. Evolution rings from the bittersweet opening title track; tender yet assertive, Hollie's voice caresses evocative lyrics through the arrangement's tumbling changes.

The dark spell of Ritual Howls' sixth album, Ruin, is cast in the first moments of lead single, InchFollow the SunInch, as the clarion call of Paul Bancell's reverberating guitar is anchored by the pulsing kick and flitter of Chris Samuels' drum programming and the snarl of Ben Saginaw's taut, fuzzed-out bass groove. More than a decade into their career, the trio continues to refine it's nuanced alloy of industrial, goth, and post-punk to a new level of all-consuming fullness, and more than ever, the results embody the contrasts they have become known for, at once hauntingly bleak but kinetically catchy, intimately raw but tantalizingly mysterious.Hailing from Detroit since their foundation, the band have always loosely incorporated elements of old school rave culture in their work, yielding a deeply physical experience from their heavy, brooding, melodic, and meticulous constructions. After their last outing (2023's Virtue Falters), Bancell relocated to Los Angeles, and much of Ruin came together over the wires, culminating in a series of intensive recording sessions with long-time sound engineer Adam Cox back in Michigan. InchIt started with Chris presenting musical ideas - beats, melodies, sounds, riffs - and a couple of complete tracks; he and Ben would get together and jam, and I contributed some guitars remotely,Inch he notes. Fundamentally unchanged by distance, Ritual Howls operate as a truly collaborative unit, and Ruin provides abundant, undeniable proof that they remain at the top of their game.