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13 Notable Releases to Look Forward to in 2017
Elf Power
Title: Twitching in Time
Release Date: May 12
What to Expect: The successor to 2013’s Sunlight on the
Moon “combines experimental arrangements and sublime
songwriting with their powerful live bombast, [creating]
their strangest, most cohesive and most exciting-sound
ing album yet,” according to a press release. Frontman
Andrew Rieger also promises hints of Sunn O))) and Laurie
Anderson, which means Elf Power’s 14th full-length might
be its weirdest yet.
ByGabe Vodicka music@flagpole.com
we gushed at the end of December,
a*9 2016 was a heck of a year for
Athens music. Online marketplaces like
Bandcamp seemed to burst at the seams
with Classic City sounds, while local tape,
CD and vinyl releases flew off area record-
store shelves and, in some cases, made noise
nationwide.
“Sure,” you say, “but that was then,
this is now, and 2017 is just going to be a
big ol’ bummer all around.” To which we
say: Poppycock! We may live in a brave
new world, but until Trump installs 3
Doors Down as Secretaries of Streaming
and starts shipping local musicians off
to Guantanamo, there’s still plenty to
celebrate.
We’ll prove it. Here are 13 upcoming
albums we can’t wait to spin for the very
first time:
Brent Gash
Title: The New High
Release Date: Jan. 27
What to Expect: Recorded with engineer Joel Hatstat and
out this Friday, the acclaimed indie-pop singer-songwriter’s
first album in six years features “stripped-down production
compared to the previous ones,” says Cash. “I played and
sang everything this time, except for the strings. Melodies
still dominate, but [the] lyrics [are] less transparent this
time around.”
“While still very much a musicians’ record,
we’ve made a painstaking effort to [make
it] listenable for people who don’t work in
music stores.”
Monsoon
Title: TBA
Release Date: Spring
What to Expect: Not a whole lot is known
about the pop-punk trio’s new record,
tracked at Full Moon Studio in Watkinsville.
“It will sound relevant to the times at hand,”
singer and guitarist Sienna Chandler offers
cryptically. The group has undergone several
lineup changes since 2015’s Ride A’Rolla,
with Chandler’s fiery energy a blessed
constant.
Nihilist Cheerleader
Title: Riot, Right?
Release Date: Mar. 10
What to Expect: Local imprint Perfect Attendance Records
will release the buzzworthy dance-punk band’s first full-
length, which should turn a few heads in town and out
side of the Loop. Guitarist and singer Flynne Collins says
the album will feature “lyrics seeking solutions to all the
messed-up things that happened in 2016,” adding that it
will be “raw, alive [and] honest.”
Oak House
Title: TBA
Release Date: March
Dead Neighbors
Title: TBA
Release Date: TBA
What to Expect: The shoegazey garage-pop act is painfully
tight-lipped about its first release since 2015’s self-titled,
self-recorded stunner of a debut. “We can’t really talk about
it too much yet,” says the band’s frontman, Sebastian
Marquez, before assuring us it’ll come out this year. OK.
We’re still excited.
Deep State
Title: Thought Garden
Release Date: Apr. 7
What to Expect: The pop-punk band’s new record is gaining
momentum even before its release, thanks to a solid word-
of-mouth campaign by the group’s new label, Sacramento-
based Friendship Fever. Asked to describe the album’s
sound, frontman Taylor Chmura is succinct. “Fuck, I don’t
know,” he says. “I think it’s good rock and roll.”
Double Ferrari
Title: Double Ferrari
Release Date: April
What to Expect: The riff-rockers’ debut was recorded with
renowned engineer Tim Green, and comes courtesy of
battle-tested Jersey label Ernest Jenning Record Co. “It
sounds like kite-surfing with guitar strings, except the kite
is a fighter jet that drops pizza instead of bombs,” says gui
tarist Jace Bartet. “It’s meant to be an ode to the inclusive
potential and universally adrenalizing nature of electric
guitar harmony.”
Five Eight
Title: Songs for St. Jude
Release Date: Spring
What to Expect: The Athens rock legends will release their
newest—a sprawling double-album that’s been in the
works since at least 2015—via Austin, TX label Chicken
Ranch Records. Recent performances have showcased
a newly energized Five Eight, and an early taste of the
upcoming record reveals a similarly dynamic sound. The
album will feature brand new tunes as well as established
staples of the group’s live show, including bangers like “The
Hollow.”
Juan de Fuca
Title: Solve/Resolve
Release Date: Fall
What to Expect: The first full-band release from Jack
Cherry’s eclectic indie-rock project will reportedly show
case a whole new sound. Cherry says engineer Drew
Vandenberg played a big part in shaping the LP, explain
ing that “we explored a lot of textures on the record... [it]
reflects a wider range of influences, from shoegaze and
post-hardcore to ’70s punk and soul.”
Maximum Busy Muscle
Title: Apply Yourself
Release Date: TBA
What to Expect: MBM’s Adam Hebert says the band’s
upcoming record “is a departure” from the math-rock
band’s previous work. “There’s a heavier emphasis on song
structure instead of guitar and bass acrobatics,” he says.
What to Expect: The Athens/Atlanta post-rock band’s
follow-up to 2014’s Plastique Cash will be “much more
exemplary of our current sound,” says frontman Gresham
Cash, adding that the three-piece “made sure to produce an
album that is as close to our live sound without sacrificing
the creative elements and textures available in studio.”
Tunabunny
Title: PCP Presents Alice in Wonderland Jr.
Release Date: Mar. 2
What to Expect: This long-rumored double-album, featuring
28 songs spanning 75 minutes, is finally here. Per the art-
rock outfit’s Scott Creney: “You can hear echoes of T-Rex,
Slits, Electrelane, Chills, Human League, John Cage, John
Cale, GBV, Beefheart, Ono, Eno, Fine Young Cannibals,
Fleetwood Mac, Luc Ferrari, Bananarama, ? and the
Mysterians, Smiths, Syd Barrett, and on and on. So, basi
cally, it just sounds like us, only more so.”
Wanda
Title: TBA
Release Date: TBA
What to Expect: “A small, magical world in which we peek
into scenes of humans and creatures, featuring vignettes
especially of feminine relationships,” says the pop group’s
leader, Avery Draut. In addition to the standard guitar-
bass-drums instrumentation, the ambitious record features
synths, horns, woodwinds, a harp, strings and more. Much
is up in the air—the album remains under construction,
and not even the band name is set in stone. “I’m thinking
of changing [it] to Avery Leigh’s Night Palace,” says Draut.
“Who knows!” ©
12 FLAGPOLE.COM | JANUARY 25, 2017