2019-07-01_Uncut_UK

new albums

30 • UNCUT• jULY 2019

jambiNai

Onda

beLLaUNiON

8/10

FusingtraditionalKoreanmusic

withear-punishingpost-rock

Heavymetalmight

bethe“whitest”

formofrock’n’roll,

but– likewestern

classicalmusic– it’s

beenenthusiastically

embracedbymusiciansfromBrasilia

toBangalore,oftenwithoutanynative

inflection.SouthKorea’sJambinai,

however,havealwaysintegrated

authenticKoreaninstrumentation

intotheirproggybrandofmetal,and

LPnumberthreeis boththeirheaviest

andmostauthentically“Korean”yet.

“Sawtooth”startsasanambientwash

ofhammereddulcimersandbamboo

oboesthatmutatesintoa pieceof

grindcore;thetitletrackis a galloping

pieceofgothicmetal;while“Sun.

Tears.Red”is a riotofoverlapping

zithersandpost-punkbeats.Clever

andthrillinginequalmeasure.

JohnLewis

jameSTOWNReViVaL

Sanisabel

THiRTYTiGeRS

7/10

Texasduo’sthirdLPbrings

traditionuptodate

Withtheir

immaculatetwo-part

harmonies,spare

acousticsettings

andintrospective

songsthatstretchout

likeribbonsofhighwaytowardsthe

westernhorizon,JonathanClayand

ZachChancearezealousthrowbacks

tothemid-centuryfolkmovement.

OnSanIsabel(namedafterthe

ColoradoNationalForestadjacentto

therecordinglocation),thelongtime

partnersgravelyponderthestateofthe

world.Butmuchliketheirforebears,

theyimbuesongslike“CrazyWorld

(JudgementDay)”,“ThisTooShall

Pass”,“HarderWay”and“Winter’s

Lament”witha stubbornbeliefin

thehumanspirit.Thelonecover,a

stripped-backrenditionof“California

Dreamin’”,isolatestheexistentialache

inthelyric’ssenseofdisplacement,on

analbumthatradiatesauthenticity.

BUDsCoPPA

jimLaUDeRDaLe

FromanotherWorld

YePROC

8/10

Progressive,prolific,acidic:veteran

Carolina-borntroubadourona roll

Cuttingmaterialat

anartist’spaceà la

the1960sNashville

Sound,Lauderdale

haslongcurated

hillbillymusic’smost

waywardsoul,frombluegrasstoblues,

jam-bandrocktotingesofpsychedelia.

Here,hebringstogethersongwriters

• bothlegends(MelbaMontgomery)

and whippersnappers (Logan Ledger)

• investigating affairs of the heart
  and seeking peace of mind in a world
  all jittery. Steel guitars swirl, rich
  harmonies coalesce and Lauderdale’s
  vocals echo Montgomery’s off-time
  pal George Jones’s epic quests for love.
  From the raucous “Some Horses Run
  Free” to “The Secrets Of The Pyramid”,
  an ethereal wonder, From Another
  World just glows. LUKe Torn

DYLaN LebLaNC

Renegade

aTO

8/10

oneofmoderncountry’smost

interestingvoices,in bothsenses

oftheterm

The1980swasnot

a gloriousdecade

forcountrymusic;

it takesa braveman

togobackthere.On

hisfourthalbum,

Louisiana-bornDylanLeBlanc

acceptsthischallenge,alchemising

cavernousdrums,spectralkeyboards

andharmonisingleadguitarsintoan

albumofwistfulmajesty.LeBlanc’s

fragile,yearningvoiceis letgloriously

looseontheswoopingchorusesof

thelikesof“BangBangBang”and

“Damned”.Superstaralt.country

producerDaveCobb(SturgillSimpson,

JasonIsbell,ColterWall,CorbLundet

al)drapesthesefinesongsina glossy

mid-’80ssheen,oftencallingtomind

DonHenley’s“BuildingThePerfect

Beast”(a compliment,justsowe’re

clearonthis).AnDrewMUeLLer

FRaNKieLee

Stillwater

LOOSe

7/10

Folksy,intimateAmericana,

recordedin thefamilyhome

FrankieLee’sdebut,

AmericanDreamer,

wasoneof2015’s

losttreasures:a

composed,confident

albumofold-school

Americanadeliveredwitha careworn

croonevocativeofJoeElyorJimmie

DaleGilmore.Stillwater, namedafter

Lee’sMinnesotahometownand

recordedinthehousehegrewupin,

is a somewhatmorepolishedand

realisedversionofthesamething.

Aswasdoubtlesstheintention,Lee

andhisbandfurnishanatmosphere

somewherebetweenTheBand’sMusic

FromBigPinkandBruceSpringsteen’s

Nebraska– andthebestofthesongs

here(“DowntownLights”,“OneWild

Bird”)arenotoutrageouslyflatteredby

thecomparison.AnDrewMUeLLer

LUSTFO RYO UTH

LustForYouth

SaCReDbONeS

6/10

MoreofthesamefromDanish

synthpopoutfit

LustForYouthhavean

airofthedisaffected

aboutthem.Even

whenexploringPet

ShopBoys-esque

synth-ladenpop,

thesombrevocaldeliverycanseem

atoddswiththeeuphoricelectronic

explorations.Asa resulttheband

oftenendupsoundinga littleboredof

theirownmusic;therisingelectronic

beats– aspresentedbrilliantlyonLP

highlight“Insignificant”– oftenfeel

draggeddownbytheaccompanying

one-notevocaldelivery.Thisdistant,

removedapproachworksonthe

slower,moodiertrackssuchasthe

Cure-meets-MagneticFieldscharmof

“VenusDeMilo”,butoverallthere’s

littleevolutionfrompreviousalbums

here.DAnieLDYLAnwrAY

GiamaRGaReT

There’salwaysGlimmer

DaLLiaNCe

7/10

Plaintivebutpositive:promising

debutfromChicagosongwriter

Acclaimedupon

itsUSrelease,

GiaMargaret’s

uncommonlyreticent

2018 debuthastaken

anappropriately

longwhiletoearnUKrelease.Hushed

andhumble,it’sdominatedbyher

StinaNordenstamvocalstyle,with

opener“Groceries”’firstline– “It’s

safetosayit’sbeena hardyear” –

establishinghercontemplativetone,

andharmoniesdouble-trackedagainst

sparsebackingonthesweet“Sugar”.

Folkguitardominates– thereare

evenfainthintsofNickDrakein

“Looking”– buttheadditional

useofkeyboardslends“Smoke”

a crepuscularBlueNileintimacy,

andeven“ForFlora”’sanswering-

machinemessagesbestowgratifying

poignancy.wYnDhAMwALLACe

KeViNRiCHaRDmaRTiN

SirensROOm40

7/10

ThemaverickbehindTheBug

andKingMidassounddelivers

a soundtrackofhighanxiety

Inspiredbythehealth

crisissurroundingthe

birthofhisfirstchild,

Sirensmaybethe

mostacutelypersonal

anddeeplyunnerving

musicKevinMartinhasevermade.

Thatexplainswhyit’sthefirstwork

he’sreleasedunderhisnameinstead

ofoneofthehandleshe’susedforhis

manyexcursionsintothemurkiest

regionsofdub,metal,hip-hopand

electronicmusic.Asif theverytitle

of“LifeThreateningOperation2”

weren’tanxiety-inducingenough,

thetrack’sthickfogofambientdread

andrisingtensionis almosttoomuch

totake.It justgetsdarkerfromthere,

withMartincreatingmusical

analoguesforthemachinesinthe

ICUandothernoisesnoparent

wantstohear.JAsonAnDerson

m aT T i e L

SatisFactoryHeaVeNLY

8/10

sassyvintageAmericanafrom

Jackwhite-endorsedlo-fiqueen

Atlantagarage-rock

sirenMattielBrown

firstdemonstratedher

skewed,knowingtake

onvintagejukebox

Americanawith

her 2017 debut,CountYourBlessings.

Hersecondalbumpushesthisarch

analogueaestheticevenfurtherwith

itstwangysurf-rockguitars,bone-

shakingcountry-bluesrhythmsand

reverb-drenchedSpector-ishrumbles.

Farfromreverentialretropastiche,

Brownblendsold-schoolingredients

withpunkylo-fiattitudeandwinningly

deadpanhumour,asonthesardonic

spoken-wordlife-lessonstrack

“FoodForThought”andthemighty

“Millionaire”,whichcouldalmostbe

theShangri-LasjammingwithThe

VelvetUnderground.A lusty,witty,

charismaticracket.sT e P h e nDA LTo n

mattiel:

lo-fiplatter

Alysse

GAfkjen

majestic

ride: Dylan

Leblanc