Gold Cage - Social Crutch (Coke Bottle Color Vinyl) - VINYL LP

Social Crutch' is the debut full-length album of Los Angeles-based post-punk-tinged slow-core trio Gold Cage. Comprised of singer/bassist Mony Katz, singer/guitarist Cole Devine, and drummer Sage Ross, the band combines dreamy guitar loops, delicate, dueling vocals, and slow, driving tempos to create spacious arrangements that shimmer with atmosphere. Warmed with tape saturation, 'Social Crutch' is an exercise in measured minimalism, with every tone carefully sculpted to fill the vast space of each track. Shoegaze, reverb-drenched guitars evoke Galaxie 500, Yo La Tengo, Deerhunter and even Rowland S. Howard. Yet 'Social Crutch' remains very much in the present, thanks in part to the band's ability to marry a range of influences into thoughtfully structured songs. Throughout the album, Katz's and Devine's equally laconic, whispery vocals elevate each song as they drift in and out of each other, sometimes softly colliding in gorgeous harmony. Album opener InchRepeater KemberInch captures the band's ethos with a decaying guitar loop that sustains and repeats for nearly all of the song, save for a heavy climax. The crest fades shortly after it begins, highlighting the band's penchant for subtlety and restraint, even during the album's crescendos. While 'Social Crutch' is full of satisfying slow burns, upbeat moments such as InchHalcionInch and InchShadowsInch showcase Ross' drumming, which provides a sturdy backbone with enough allowance for the catchy guitar 'hooks and vocal melodies' magnetism to shine.

La Horde is an allegory of darkness and light created by 26-year-old French trumpeter David Enhco. His debut album is a epic, human quest - a long poem that ponders the eternal question of transcendence. A collective quest with the desire to be followed to it's end, the album features Roberto Negro on piano, Florent Nisse on bass, and Gautier Garrigue on drums.

Caged - From Roving About The Earth [VINYL LP] date 11/10/2023