SEVEN music IN SEVEN Soundcheck
Welcome to Seven in Seven, where each Thursday in this space we typically take a look at shows coming to the region over the next week. Due to the coronavirus pandemic though, most venue doors have shuttered, and few concerts are taking place. That doesn’t mean the music stops, and new releases are coming out weekly from artists you know and love and some waiting to be discovered. Whether your musical tastes are rock ’n roll, jazz, heavy metal, R&B, singersongwriter or indie, there’ll always be something to check out on the docket each Friday. Here are seven of the best hitting shelves and streaming services on July 31.
1 Mike Polizze — “Long Lost Solace Find”
The story of “Long Lost Solace Find,” the debut solo album by Mike Polizze, is a quintessential Philadelphia story. The singer-songwriter moved from Media to Fishtown in 2004, co-founding Birds of Maya and subsequently falling in with a nascent scene that included the War on Drugs, Kurt Vile and more. Polizze gradually pivoted to a more pop-inflected idiom that increasingly recalled the classic indie rock of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Then, in 2015, Christopher Smith of Paradise of Bachelors urged him to play the first proper solo show under his own name. The present album developed from that decisive moment, with Polizze, Jeff Zeigler and Vile hunkering down in Philly’s Uniform Recording to chip away at the 12 songs that would become “Long Lost Solace Find.”
2 Thundermother — “Heat Wave”
Swedish high voltage female rock ’n’ rollers Thundermother return with “Heat Wave,” their fourth album and first since the band was founded that sees all four members contributing to the songwriting process. Whether in the lyrics or the arrangements, the group’s heart and brain are ingrained in the music. You can hear the emotional and creative harmony that has existed from the beginning between producer and Danish hard-rock hit-maker Soren Andersen and the band. The result is a more sophisticated version of an AC/DC-meets-Motorhead sound, with fresh modern hard rock elements and a rich ’70s groove. The songs cover the entire musical spectrum, everything from love ballads to blues to raucous party hits.
3 Psychedelic Furs — “Made of Rain”
From its exhilarating opening bars, “Made of Rain” is classic Psychedelic Furs in both its sound and execution. It’s a joy to hear the band again, fresher than ever. Their peerless arrangements of art, aggression and ambience drive the dynamics, and it’s always been this originality that has set them apart, a cut above the rest. The last few years has seen the Furs’ legend growing, highlighted by the fact they have scored over 150 million streams of their songs worldwide. Their influence since arriving on the post-punk, scorchedearth landscape four decades ago has reverberated and resonated with everyone from The Strokes to The Killers to Foo Fighters to Bob Dylan. “Made of Rain” makes it certain that that trend will continue.
4 The Coronas — “True Love Waits”
The Coronas’ 13-year journey has definitely been unique. Having multiplatinum-selling albums and a huge fan base in their native Ireland, they’ve not only had to scrub their entire 2020 game plan for the release of their sixth album and a world tour being totally upended by a global pandemic, they have also been the target of lots of not-so-gentle ribbing. Sharing a name with the virus that has altered lives worldwide has been a challenge, but the rock band, whose name actually came from the typewriter in the Cameron Crowe film “Almost Famous,” has been actively engaging its fan base during the shutdown by posting acoustic performances, participating in online fundraising events and rolling out some of the new music and videos from “True Love Waits,” their first new album since 2017.
Mike Polizze:
Well” Thundermother: “Free Ourselves” Psychedelic Furs: “You’ll Be Mine”
The Coronas: “Cold” The Crests: “16 Candles” Dizzy: “Roman Candles” Wye Oak: “AEIOU”
“Wishing
5 The Crests — “The Best of the Crests Featuring Johnny Mastro: 16 Fabulous Hits”
Though there were other integrated ’50s vocal groups, The Crests demonstrated that musical and racial harmony went hand in hand. Discovered singing in the subway with Johnny Mastro on lead vocals, they signed to Joyce Records, where their debut single, “Sweetest One,” charted nationally. Unfortunately, the label didn’t last long, but one of the writers for Joyce introduced the group to Coed Records, where they became the first signing for the label. It only took a couple of single releases to get to “16 Candles,” the eternal classic doo-wop ballad. Starting out as the B-side to “Beside You,” the track hit No. 2 on the pop charts and No. 4 on the R&B in early 1959, cementing their status in the annals of doo-wop.
6 Dizzy — “The Sun and Her Scorch”
Recorded at Quebec’s Mechanicland Studios and in frontwoman Katie Munshaw’s mother’s basement, “The Sun and Her Scorch” saw Dizzy taking an entirely self-directed approach to every aspect of the album’s creation, introducing a more kinetic energy into their sound through their lavish use of live instrumentation. Tapping into their increased sense of closeness and confidence, the Canadian outfit brings truth-telling to confessions of insecurity, resentment and a fear of failure. Though they formed in 2015, the group’s origins lie in the longtime friendship between Munshaw and the band’s drummer, Charlie Spencer, who met in ninth grade math class and later sang together in the school choir. Upon graduating high school, the two decided to sidestep the university path and start an indie rock band. So far, it looks like the right choice.
7 Wye Oak— “No Horizon”
For multi-instrumentalists Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack, there is no fear of the unknown, no preciousness about rigidity, no hard definition of what their ever-evolving project Wye Oak is. There is no “if” about whether or not they’ll experiment with the format of their musical output, but rather “how?” Case in point is “No Horizon,” a natural progression for a band embracing experimentation. The EP sees them continuing to paint with new colors while building out the sonic universe and people that revolve around the pair’s songwriting. It’s a thematic through-line of songs that zero in on the isolation created by technology, how it makes us feel simultaneously too connected and disconnected, in the presence of an audience of people we wouldn’t otherwise be in contact with if it weren’t for the endless scroll.