If you're looking for "I Spys," dating or LTRs, this is your scene.
View ProfilesPublished April 3, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.
Listening to and reviewing all the new releases by Vermont artists can be a daunting task. Try as he might, music editor Chris Farnsworth always misses a few. Every few months he dives back into the queue to make sure no record is left behind and finds some gems that deserve their time in the sun.
(Captured Tracks, cassette, digital, vinyl)
Christina Schneider's indie-pop project Locate S,1 dropped Wicked Jaw in 2023, but we didn't feature it in Seven Days because, well, I had no idea that the über-talented singer-songwriter and producer had moved to the Green Mountain State. She and her partner, Of Montreal mastermind Kevin Barnes, left Athens, Ga., for Vermont last year. Her third release as Locate S,1, Wicked Jaw is a sometimes harrowing account of Schneider entering therapy to try to deal with her PTSD from childhood abuse. Musically, sunny indie-pop and quirky college-radio sounds dominate the record, though Schneider always seems poised to lean into more experimental fields, such as on the track "Blue Meaniez."
Key Track: "Go Back to Disnee" Why: Over a breezy, indie-jazz arrangement, Schneider sweetly lambasts the idea of America with lyrics such as "Health food cocoa teddy graham, bitch please / I believe that the children of the future are America / believe they're bored enough." Where: locates1.bandcamp.com
(Self-released, digital)
Brattleboro singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and devotee of lo-fi recording Chris Weisman is nothing if not prolific. His Bandcamp page is stuffed with more than 40 albums made over the past decade alone, many occupying the space between the tentpoles of Beatles-esque pop and improvisational jazz. His recent release Plum Appointments wanders into folk and electronic experimental songwriting. It also features Weisman's vocals prominently, unlike some of his other recent work — especially 2022's instrumental record Pencil Crayon. Like fellow songwriter and former Vermonter Ryan Power, Weisman likes to pull on his vocal tracks like taffy, stretching out the melodies. It's a record suffused with ideas and varied genres, with dreamlike, kaleidoscopic lyrics that paint an almost impressionist scene of modern life.
Key Track: "You're in the Road" Why: The more conventional the scene Weisman depicts, the more irreverent he becomes. When he sees a man walking in the road, he sings, "I wish I wasn't stuck inside this trap / Driving somewhere, parking, driving back / and this irritation never forms a pearl / And this madman in the road could take a pointer from a squirrel." Where: chrisweisman.bandcamp.com
(OnlyBands Records, digital)
It's hard to get heavier than Burlington doom-metal act Komodo. The duo of Adam Dean and Raf Soto create a throat-shredding, drum-pounding conflagration of power violence and stoner rock, marrying heavy, slow stoner rhythms with screaming vocals. Do I know what Dean is singing on "Sorry Is an Empty Word"? Fuck no. But I can assume it's brutal/satanic/about smoking weed — and honestly, that works just fine for me. The draw of an album like Tomorrow Is No Longer a Must lies in the pummeling, head bang-inducing riffs and the overall sense of menace the band conveys. There's a little tongue in cheek in all that doom — on the title track, for instance, which opens with a news report about naked cannibals in Florida. At least, I think that's tongue in cheek? Either way, the album is heavy as fuck, which is the real currency of Komodo's genre.
Key Track: "Stoner Violence" Why: There's something inherently funny about the concept of someone smoking a blunt and wanting to do anything other than melt into the couch, but Komodo shoot for that stoned and angry crossover. Where: komodovthc.bandcamp.com
(Self-released, digital)
Freeway Clyde is the free-jazz project of former viperHouse member and Tony Award-winning musician Michael Chorney. A collection of some of Vermont's best musicians, Freeway Clyde make scores for imaginary films, as on their 2023 release Sunflower. The band is back with another ersatz score, this time for a "lost" remake of a film called Sept Etoiles (French for "seven stars") by a director named Claude Louche. According to the press release, the band recorded the soundtrack in Porto, Portugal, before Louche was arrested on smuggling charges and the film fell apart. Even if the fake film never saw the light of day, the very real soundtrack fortunately did. It's some of the band's best work: a clever, rarely still record that moves between sunny jazz and ambient electronica with ease.
Key Track: "Celaeno" Why: Will Andrews, aka Willverine, adds almost psychedelic touches on his trumpet over a shimmering and pulsing arrangement. Where: michaelchorney.bandcamp.com
(Self-released, digital)
I don't review live albums, in general. But when dealing with a jam band like Burlington outfit Moondogs, you need to go where they live, so to speak. And jam bands live on the stage. The old credo of Phish and Grateful Dead fans — that jam bands are good live and bad in the studio — has spread throughout the genre. Moondogs don't really fit that narrative, however: Their 2021 effort, ACiD TeST, was a pretty solid album. Nectar's 12.16.23 (Live), which was recorded live at jam-band mecca Nectar's, seems like a significant release from the band. Full of brand-new tracks and a slimmed-down power-trio lineup behind main songwriter and front person William Blake Sturcke Jr., the Moondogs' live record is a strong showing from a band in transition. They pepper their jams with elements of funk and blues, occasionally pushing into an edgier rock sound. But, by and large, this is a sound of a young jam band finding its groove.
Key Track: "Sweet Tooth" Why: Moondogs push away from the long jams and focus on tight songwriting. Where: Spotify
(Self-released, digital)
Bristol-based songwriter Patrick Fitzsimmons started his career drumming for folk-rock act From Good Homes. After the band folded in 1999, Fitzsimmons recast himself as a folk singer, releasing five critically acclaimed solo albums, the last being 2018's Bird Tree. Six years later, he's back with Apple Tree Days, a sunlight-streaked collection of pop-folk that showcases Fitzsimmons' clear, melodically powerful singing, heart-on-sleeve songwriting and pristine production. Apple Tree Days shows off new sides to the music of this experienced songwriter with a long catalog, as he swings for the fences with folk rockers such as "Back in the Day."
Key Track: "If You Could Read My Mind" Why: Covering Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, Fitzsimmons perfectly channels the late-night regret of the original. Where: Spotify
Tags: Album Review, Locate S1, Wicked Jaw, Chris Weisman, Plum Appointments, Komodo, Tomorrow Is No Longer a Must, Freeway Clyde, Music From the Motion Picture Sept Etoiles, Moondogs, Nectar's 12.16.23 (Live), Patrick Fitzsimmons, Apple Tree Days
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