Album Of The Week

SWIMWEAR DEPARTEMENT – Join These Punky Houston Madcaps’ Hot Summertime Pool Party

Posted on by JL

Standout albums

6 August 2023

Band: SWIMWEAR DEPARTMENT
Who: 4 kooky indies from Houston

“We play rock and roll exclusively about swimming
pools and shopping malls. It’s conceptual.”

New album: THE POOLEST OF THE MALL.

“It’s their sophomore LP. Recorded with Grammy-winning producer Steve Christensen.
The 10 tracks discuss only two topics: swimming pools and shopping malls. Although
the themes initially appear whimsical or even trivial on the surface, Swimwear Department skillfully sculpts experiences laden with emotional depth and profundity.”

“Several of the new songs are purely silly. There are elements of the B-52s,
Beastie Boys, The Strokes, and The Dead Milkmen in their sound – but absurdity is still
truth, even if it’s coming through a distorted theremin. This daring dance between the sober and the ridiculous is mirrored visually in the album’s cover art – a striking diptych conceived by Rebecca Elise Cook that draws inspiration both from the recorded material and “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by iconic painter Hieronymus Bosch.”

Let’s go. It’s hot. It’s SO HOT!
Summertime hot, air conditioner’s broke
Get up to the mall
And do the Cool Mall Stroll

Below, a word about the band.

TUTV: The summer is not over until it’s over. Enter Swimwear Department and their new jump-up-and-down pool party soundtrack. Expect bouncy, brisk, and bold stuff you can hip-and-hop to like a kangaroo on E. Think postDevo-punk weirdness combined with rap-rant Beastie Boys lunacy translated in 10 instantly infectious tunes (except for coming down closer Memall). If you’re a punk surfer, this is your kind of stimulant to brave the waves.

They spice up all the excitement with schizo 70s-organ glow, non-stop pumping bass turbulence, steadfast drum hits, agitated guitar fragments and an expressive vocalist sneering a bit like The Fall‘s late legend Mark E. Smith used to do for a living. Frequently
all-together-now chants pop up, which you want to be a part of. Sounds like big fun, right? You betcha.

I’m quite sure that British hype Yard Act listened a lot
to SD before writing/recording their debut album.

Get up, stand up
and fight for your right
to party in a bath-suit.

STREAM


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BUY


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SD: Facebook – Instagram

BDRMM – Dream Pop Explorers Confirm Sonic Grandeur In Symphonic Style And Starry-Eyed Sound With Second LP ‘I DON’T KNOW’

Posted on by JL

Amazing longplayers

6 July 2023

Band: bdrmm
Who: Shoegazy pop dreamers
from Kingston Up Hill

New album: I DON’T KNOW
Second one following their arresting
2020 debut Bedroom.

Ryan Smith (songwriter vocalist in an interview with NME: “I’d describe it as the second chapter, the themes are still the same, I definitely had to hone it in because some of my lyrics were pretty to the point. That was an important part of it though. It’s a way of vocalising my own fucking inner turmoil and sharing it with three of my best mates. They understand and they help me shape it into something that people can really enjoy. The listeners can make their own mind up and that’s what we were striving for.”


(Press photo)

Uncut Magazine about I Don’t Know: “bdrmm have expanded their sound, retaining that youthful energy and combining it with ambition and impressive marshalling of dynamics that creates a strangely serene album.” Score: 8/10.

TUTV‘s impressions: I Don’t Know is a wondrous joyride for daydreamers, a spacey trip with starry-eyed pop symphonies (Alps / A Final Movement) and moony wanderings (Be Careful / Advertisement One). Less shoe-gazing than before, more Pink Floyd-esque cinematic than before and some Radiohead turbulence here and there. I do know this Hull team is here to stay. So should you.

Key single: standout stunner It’s Just A Bit Of Blood

STREAM/BUY Album


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bdrmm: Linktree – Instagram