It's with a heavy yet full heart that I bring you all the final newsletter of this semester! This eclectic array runs the gamut from surf punk to soundcloud rap to french disco. Check 'em out below, have a lovely holiday season, and I'll see you in 2020!

- Lucy Talbot Allen, Music Writing Director

The Growlers - Natural Affair

I vividly remember my first time hearing The Growlers. While I was in one of my “I need new music” phases, desperately searching the bottomless pit of sound that is Spotify, I stumbled upon their track “One Million Lovers” and I was hooked. It has all the components of an Indie Rock song with a splash of reverb-charged beach punk, classic rock, and a hint of folk to complete their vision. The group was formed here in southern California circa 2006, and consists of vocalist Brooks Nielson, bassist Scott Montoya, guitarist Matt Taylor, and drummer Brian Stewart.

One thing I find especially unique about this band is not only the distinct sound of each record, but their stage appearance and particular choice of wardrobe when they perform. When I saw The Growlers for the first time live at Outside Lands in 2018, they wore matching white onesies with the antichrist symbol embroidered into the center, which gave them a hint of disobedience in their style and method of performance. In 2012 the band created their very own festival called Beach Goth, which takes place on October 31 and now runs until November 2 at the Hollywood Palladium. Since its creation, Beach Goth has grown immensely in popularity and sells out in minutes upon releasing tickets. This year the lineup at the festival featured incredible artists like the Australian trio Skeggs, garage rock group Black Lips, and the hip-hop group 69 Boyz. The Growlers followed afterward, debuting their newest album, Natural Affair.

This album was produced by their very own Beach Goth Records, and features songs heavy with social commentary and stories of the trials, tribulations, dangers, and pleasures of love in this generation. The album is similar in sound to their past records, but focuses especially on its lyrics. My personal favorite track on the album, “Foghorn Town” can only be described as inescapably groovy. It tells a story about a fantasy town where the boys and girls are “beautiful and doomed,” presenting a sort of dreamscape of exaggerated reality. Track 4, “Social Man” is another which is filled with commentary on the extroverted socialites of our generation combined with the overuse of technology and social media as a main form of communication. The raspy voice of Brooke Nielson reminds the eponymous man to “remember how to disconnect,” in reference to his technological escapades. Lastly, track 11, “Try Hard Fool,” has several layers of synthesizer, experimental riffs, and Nielson’s natural golden vocals, which flow together into what becomes a track about not taking the game of life too seriously. Natural Affair is an album that took me to a place of feeling and emotion in the past, but also to a generation that does not quite exist yet. The Growlers tend to play the truth, and they do so through a sound that is not quite skater, not surfer, not punk, not goth, and not boho, yet it is a helter-skelter of all these influences working together to create one of the coolest and most revolutionary bands in the world. I highly recommend listening to this album on repeat, and grabbing some tickets to their upcoming shows!

- Emma Goad, DJ

RIYL: Black Lips, Beach Fossils, Foxygen, Arctic Monkeys, The Black Keys
Recommended Tracks: 3, 4, 5, 11
FCC: Clean

Various Artists (selected by Charles Maurice) - French Disco Boogie Sounds Vol. 3

Frenchie? Francophile? Disco Lover? Owner of a French Bulldog? Owner of a disco loving French Bulldog? (You get the picture.) This album pick of the week might be for you. Though a compilation is a unique choice for an album review, this decision is one which has been spurred by a recent discovery from my 2019 Streaming Wrapped—thanks Spotify, you cutie ;)—in which I learned that two of my top genres were Disco and Chanson (which literally just translates to ‘song’ in French??). What I inferred from this sneak attack on my data, is that some of this probably came to be from my obsessive listening to this one French disco compilation, French Disco Boogie Sounds Vol. 3. A riveting title to be sure.

I stumbled across this playlist as I was packing in March to visit my friend, living in Paris , and out of genuine curiosity and intrigue, I thought to myself, well, what does French disco even sound like? Many of the English-language disco jams have been played and overplayed to the point of being corny (e.g., Saturday Night Fever), that often the genre is dismissed by the non-Boomers. An attitude which surely should be corrected by everyone ASAP.

Anyway, the point is, in hearing these oogie boogie jams for the first time, you will undoubtedly find these songs novel not only in language, but in hearing these oogie boogie jams for the first time. Listening to these songs got me in the groove despite being in the midst of the tedious act of packing (much to my neighbor’s dismay). I hope in listening to them, you will begin to shake your worries off if only momentarily, at a time when I’m sure we all need it most, that time of Hell on Earth, a.k.a. Finals. Even if you are not a student, I’m sure that in listening to these songs, the burden of daily stress will begin to drift away.

As for my favorites, I really jam out to Silence’s “Un peu d’amour” and “Ségrégation” by NST Cophies. From the very start of the track by Silence, you are hit by a synthy bubblegum beat which through its very nature will begin to work it way through your body: tapping of the foot, a bobbing of the head, etc. and for the most continues in the same vein. A female vocal emerges, pleading for “just a little love” (look guys I’m only at Duolingo level French), with long notes that serve as a nice contrast to the peppy beat.

The strong opening beat is the same story in the track by NST Cophies, hard drums announce the show is about to start, and the groovy bass line kicks in. Throw in some sax and oh baby! A cursory Google search has informed me that the song’s lyrics are at the social-justicey end of racial discourse, which, yes! But the language is a bit outdated and on the cringey side. Tu es noirrrr is the lyric that gets repeated throughout the song. This literally translates to ‘you are black’, but the context of ‘noir’ in modern French is one which is not the most P.C. term in modern French. Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is what I learned in the school of Google. Great bop though, by a group coming out the Ivory Coast.

The takeaway here is that learning about other genres and cultures can sometimes be confusing, but it’s ultimately beneficial to our growth as listeners of music, and simply as people. Now that I’ve thoroughly exhausted you dear reader, here’s the important info!

- Violet Ames, DJ

RIYL: The O’Jays, CHIC, A Taste of Honey
Recommended Tracks: 1, 2, 10, 13
FCC: Clean (at least for English speakers)

Lucki - Days B4 III

In 2013, Chicago drill powerhouse Chief Keef released what would go down in history as one of modern rap’s most enduring and formative mixtapes, Almighty So. At the time of its release, Chief Keef had already released Finally Rich and become nationally known amongst rap listeners as the face of the arisen drill movement while simultaneously embodying a different type of success for the youth of America’s murder capital. If Finally Rich was the story of Sosa’s come-up and incredulity at his success, Almighty So represents his reason for staying there. It was to lay the foundation for and exemplify the style of Keef’s career to come; relying heavily on the strength and ferocity of the drill production from his wheelhouse of producers, the tape showed a new side of Keef’s cadence and intensity. He wasn’t hungry anymore; he was eating.

In 2019, Chicago (alternative) trap artist Lucki released the third installment in his series of mixtapes, Days B4 III. The cover (and by extension, the entire tape) is a love letter to Almighty So, carefully crafted to match most every element of the original cover. Lucki and Keef have a lot in common: both from Chicago, each the voice of a new generation, each with a long story behind their success. The striking difference between the two covers to me wasn’t the coloring behind them, but their facial expressions. Keef looks content, almost smug, counting his bills; Lucki looks downwards directly at them, sullen. And like it says on the tin, Almighty So revels in its success, while Days B4 III almost laments it.

Lucki just can’t seem to shake his blues, in far more ways than one. Through 13 tracks of incredible production from BrentRambo, Working On Dying, DJ Eway, StupidXool and more, Lucki uses his flow to ride effortlessly through the tape, contrasting his alienation and disillusionment with getting “sorta rich.” Even despite issues with his friends, girls and drugs, there are still moments of light and levity (“Randomly,” “Last Time Mentioning”).

Ultimately though, the world is Lucki’s. Let’s hope he can find a way on that blimp.

- Sean Morgenthaler, Music Director

RIYL: Earl Sweatshirt, Danny Brown, Da$h, Unotheactivist
Recommended Tracks: 2, 4, 5, 10
FCC: Explicit (all tracks)

Lerado Khalil - Mildly Happy

Independent Texas rapper Lerado Khalil first caught my attention with a personality packed music video for his lead single, “Bro Nem.” The track features laid-back, eerie production that Lerado raps over with a lazy, precise and grimy flow. The song’s many pop culture references and the high quality of the video led me to check out Mildly Happy, which dropped in early June 2019.

The album is made up of just 10 tracks that all rely on vocal distortion, tight flows, and eerie production elements. The opening track, “Back and Forth,” perfectly sets the tone for the album. Lerado is depressing and gritty, using multiple flow switch ups to convey the dark and twisted, yet contrastingly tongue in cheek tone.

Lerado wears his influences, artists such as Earl Sweatshirt, on his sleeve. This influence sometimes becomes distracting as it sounds too derivative on a handful of tracks. “Girl Go Be a Star” sounds like a track off of Earl, except far more repetitive.

One of my favorite tracks from Mildly Happy is “Analog,” which features a glitchy instrumental and Lerado showcasing a half asleep comatose delivery that compliments the track well. Unfortunately, a lot of the tracks following this one are uneventful and so laid-back they become boring. The tracklist is inconsistent, but shows promise that Lerado will make a project that becomes essential to experimental rap in the future.

- Tyler Borland, Music Department intern

RIYL: Earl Sweatshirt, Lou The Human, Zelooperz
Recommended Tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6
FCC: Explicit (all tracks)

NEW ADDS: The Growlers, French disco, Lucki, Lerado Khalil