This week, we've got reviews of new releases from AG Cook, The Mountain Goats, Flo Milli, TV Dinner, and The Chats! Enjoy, and stay safe <3

- Lucy Talbot Allen, Music Writing Director

TV Dinner - The Hits

TV Dinner formed back in 2018, composed of multi-instrumentalists Campbell Williams and Andrew Poole, from Chicago and San Diego respectively, who started making music together at the University of Alabama. The indie band's sound captures the essence of DIY garage rock, mixing elements of lo-fi and traditional punk music with lush orchestration and unconventional instrumental arrangements.

This past April, TV Dinner released a compilation EP, The Hits, which featured every song in their catalogue, remastered by the members of the band. As the two members have gained more DIY experience with bedroom production, they wanted to service their fans by putting their library through the same audio mastering process; trust me when I say the subtle differences make their tracks that much more special. I’ve caught more moving drums, occasional saxophone licks, and sweet guitar riffs that I had never noticed on the old recordings.

The collection also included a brand new song, “F.U.A.,” which was released as a single on April 7th. A favorite from the band’s live set, the track showcases a more rowdy and energetic side of the group, expanding on the signature raw sound of their quickly growing discography. “F.U.A.” is a fun and exciting rock song about broken hearts, broken necks and stolen kidneys (according to the band’s Instagram). It contains exciting and unpredictable instrumentation, with a mix of saxophone, piano & synthesizer constantly shifting above the straightforward punk lineup of guitar/drums/bass. It’s instantly catchy, and full from start to finish with big hooks and jazzy breakdowns.

“F.U.A.” is a killer track for the summer, perfect to be blared with the windows down and to drown out all the woes of this eternal today. Their sound captures a movie-like nostalgia, as if the main character has reached the climactic moment where everything finally makes sense and the world is care-free. Be sure to check out what these guys are cooking up down in Tuscaloosa--check out “F.U.A.” and the rest of their remastered library with The Hits (2018-2019 Remastered Collection) on all streaming platforms.

- Mitchell Alcoser, External Street Team Director

RIYL: Car Seat Headrest, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Black Keys
Recommended Tracks: 1, 3, 7
FCC: Explicit (tracks 1, 2, 7)

The Chats - High Risk Behaviour

I have been on an extreme Australian band binge lately and my latest discovery is one that combines my appreciation for the Aussies with some beautifully anarchic beach punk flavor: The Chats. Their 2020 release, High Risk Behaviour, contains some of the most chaotic--yet impressive--dissonance I have heard in a long time. The band comprises drummer Matt Boggis, bassist and vocalist Eamon Sandwith, and guitarist Josh Price. Together the three of them give zero f*cks and rock loud and clear with each and every release.

High Risk Behaviour, along with the band’s other two albums, were produced by their own record label, Bargain Bin Records, which very much encapsulates their DIY spirit and independent nature. Track 6, “Dine N Dash” is a favorite of mine, as it perfectly showcases the carefree nature of committing a reckless crime without the fear of getting caught and dancing around with your best mates. This is a recurring theme with The Chats--they do not make music for people to dig for a deeper meaning; they make music for getting belligerent and smashing into people in an epic mosh-like fashion. This is surf rock with punk flare, with its quick and simple rhythms and chaotic upbeat riffs. Track 4, “Identity Theft” is another crime story turned into the perfect jump-up-and-down song.

The Chats are raw, and not just in their attitudes, but also in their musical production process. Oftentimes they will put the first cut of a recording straight on the album, without any tweaking at all, in order to keep the unprocessed feeling vibrating throughout the record. Track 12, “4573,” is head banging madness, with its slow intro into pure electric adrenaline through the “4-5-4-5-7-3” repeated until it’s all you can hear. Every track on this record summed up in one phrase is absolutely relentless, and I guarantee will lift any mood in the room and transform it into a high energy sweat fest.

There are, of course, artists like The Chats who emulate this punk rock atmosphere just as fast and hard as they do. However, the bands within this genre of music are difficult to compare to one another, because regardless of the lyrics, if you can blast the album beginning to end with your friends and not a single person requests another track, then the artist has successfully created a banger of an album. That is exactly what The Chats did with High Risk Behaviour. Track 13, “Do What I Want,” is a prime example of the message the three members are trying to tell their listeners: to never let anyone walk all over you, and ultimately do whatever you want because in the end it won’t matter as long as you had fun. I love this band and think they deserve more hype all the way from the United States. Go listen if you want an instant mosh pit.

- Emma Goad, DJ

RIYL: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Frights, FIDLAR, Skegss
Recommended Tracks: 4, 6, 8, 14
FCC: Explicit (all tracks)

AG Cook - 7G

Most artists would use their first full-length LP to showcase a curated selection of their best, possibly most overworked tracks -- but it’s not surprising that AG Cook, founder of one of the most innovative record labels and music collectives on the scene today -- PC Music -- should chose to once again flout tradition by doing the exact opposite. After years of building his hyperpop empire (and catalyzing the genre’s mainstream success) in addition to producing for Charli XCX, he has finally released 7G, a 49-track epic.

Despite not currently existing in any physical form, the LP is divided into 7 discs, each with 7 tracks focusing on a distinct sound: drums, guitar, supersaw, piano, nord, spoken word, and extreme vocals. Each disc is like a pillar of PC Music’s distinctly over-worked, futuristic sound explored in its own right. Paired with a number of unconventional covers (Blur, Taylor Swift, The Strokes, Sia) and vocal features (Tommy Cash, Caroline Polachek, Hannah Diamond), the album successfully encompasses the scope of AG Cook’s abilities.

Some songs, like the 46 second clip “Drum Solo,” feel more like sound bytes of AG messing around in his studio, whereas album closer “Alright” could be its own single pulled fresh from a PC Music compilation. It’s this juxtaposition of rougher sounding cuts with more touched up tracks that allows the finished product to serve as a true magnifying glass into AG’s creative process, one that is emerging as the sound of a moment, having inspired a string of breakthrough artists including 100 gecs, Rina Simayama, and Rico Nasty.

At 2 hours and 39 minutes, diving into 7G can feel like a bit of an ambitious undertaking. Rather than being a digestible piece of work, it explores the unique sound of AG and his collaborators while giving him a more commercial space to flex his creative muscles. A deep dive into the album is evidence that AG’s talents extend far beyond merely producing and into songwriting, curation, and more. To name a few of the surprises nestled within the robust tracklist: there’s a glitched-out Smashing Pumpkins cover, a stripped down version of AG’s own “Superstar,” the Beethoven meets 100 gecs weirdness of “Waldhammer,” and tracks like “Idyll” that flesh out iconic sounds from AG’s pre-existing canon. It’s not likely that I’ll ever endeavor to sit through all two and a half hours again, but there are certainly enough individual hits to guarantee that I revisit the project -- at least within the context of a more listenable playlist. Like PC Music itself, 7G is overwhelming and likely divisive. However, its sheer scope almost guarantees that anyone the slightest bit intrigued by their soundscapes will find something to love.

- Barbara Rasin, Music Director

RIYL: Hannah Diamond, Charli XCX, 100 Gecs
Recommended Tracks: 12, 26, 33, 44, 45, 49
FCC: Clean

The Mountain Goats - "As Many Candles As Possible"

One of the many things I love about The Mountain Goats is their stamina. The mileage of their familiar cluster of old reliable melodies, vocal rhythms, and chord progressions has lasted for over twenty albums without losing any potency. They’ve stretched fictional universes across releases and let listeners piece the narratives together for themselves, like the bittersweet tragedy of the unnamed Alpha Couple. Frontman John Darnielle regularly posts grinning selfies and live updates from his long-distance morning runs to share his interval times for the day. Needless to say, a global pandemic is not nearly enough to stop The Mountain Goats. “As Many Candles As Possible,” their most recent single from upcoming LP Getting Into Knives, is a heady track that showcases the band’s staying power.

On the album announcement and single release day, Darnielle was quick to tell stories of its creation on Twitter. He discussed the song’s introduction, in which the entire band slowly tunes into an A minor chord. While sharing his hopes to one day perform that tune-up in a live show, Darnielle said “the temptation to stretch that out to four or five minutes is strong…settling into a single minor chord together is such a luxury.” The introduction’s suspense gives way to a galloping anthem carried by the tried-and-true TMG core of acoustic guitar, drums, and bass. It also features sublime organ work by the legendary Charles Hodges, who, in Darnielle’s words, “slays the track until there's blood on the walls.”

Darnielle’s lyrics paint a grim picture of someone living among a number of feral characters, including stray dogs, shrieking pigs, and a vaguely biblical risen beast. Fearsome as they may be, the menagerie is not an enemy to the song’s central figure. Even the apocalyptic beast has the decency to pretend he doesn’t recognize the narrator when passing by on the street. When Darnielle sings the refrain, “no one gets too much light,” it feels like a timely reminder that even when we feel atomized, pain affects us collectively. Even if the track doesn’t offer hope, it does offer advice for torching the old and beginning anew: “Once you’ve saddled up your pony/Burn down the paddock.”

“As Many Candles As Possible” is an indicator that we’re due for another hard-hitting album from The Mountain Goats, and is rollicking enough on its own to carry us to October’s LP release.

- Anna Podkowski, Co-Program Director

RIYL: The Decemberists, Neutral Milk Hotel, Okkervil River
FCC: Clean

Flo Milli - Ho, why is you here?

When 20 year old Alabama native Flo Milli started her second single, “In The Party'' with the line, “D*cks up when I step in the party,” the world stopped to listen. Tamia Monique Carter, known professionally as Flo Milli, was first introduced to the world when her debut single, “Beef Flomix,” a remix of a Playboi Carti and Ethereal collaboration, went viral on social media. It became the soundtrack for thousands of stan Twitter edits, fancams and Tiktoks. The opening lyrics, “I like cash and my hair to my ass,” are boastful yet playful. Flo Milli was able to perfectly capture a tongue in cheek flex set to a catchy beat.

The same can be said for the rest of the songs on her 12-track debut album, Ho, why is you here?, released July 24th. The album is filled with songs to hype you up before a night out. Tracks to make you feel, as the third track puts it, “like that bitch.” It includes several of the 7 singles she’s dropped since early 2019 (though notably missing my personal favorite, “My Attitude”). It’s a short project, only 30 minutes, but each cut of the half hour maintains Flo Milli’s signature fierceness and is crafted to show you exactly why Flo Milli is the next big thing.

Flo Milli begins the album confidently proclaiming “I’m the shit and that's my mood everyday” in “Mood Everyday (Intro)”. But, she knows that with her unwavering confidence will come doubters, so on “Pockets Bigger” she says with a laugh, “I get a new hater like every single day.” Flo Milli is so unphased by the hate and envy at this point, it's comical. The 6th and 7th tracks, “Weak” and “Send The Addy” respectively, explore Flo Milli’s relationship with men which, much like her relationship with her haters and competitors, isn't of much significance to her. On “Weak” she samples the classic SWV track of the same name and expresses her annoyance with the gaggle of men who want her and won't leave her alone. To Flo Milli, they’re weak and just won't let her be! The rest of the album consists of more energy- and confidence-boosting tracks to rap along to. Ho, why is you here? shows that Flo Milli still has room to grow as an artist, but she knows exactly who she is.

- Tia Richards, Assistant External Street Team Director

RIYL: Rico Nasty, City Girls, Kash Doll
Recommended Tracks: 5, 9, 10
FCC: Explicit (all tracks)

NEW ADDS: TV Dinner, The Chats, AG Cook, The Mountain Goats, Flo Milli