If you're looking for "I Spys," dating or LTRs, this is your scene.
View ProfilesPublished April 24, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.
(OnlyBands, digital)
Burlington alt-rockers Sudden Unknown Signal (sometimes known as SUS) carry the torch for '90s guitar rock, once the dominant force in the Queen City music scene. Gone are the days of the Pants, Wide Wail and Guppyboy, and the city needs some new blood. Enter the quartet of Stephen O'Brien (guitar and vocals), Tobias Yandow (drums), Raven Aoyagi (guitar) and Tim Woos (bass), who dropped their debut album, Missy, toward the end of 2023.
Existing somewhere between the grunge-meets-post-punk of Los Angeles rockers Health and shoegaze pioneers Swervedriver, SUS can go from a whisper to a scream in a heartbeat. On "Stain," which features O'Brien howling, "I want to be something / But I know I'm nothing," all the lyrical angst and sonic dread are collected into a tidy package. "Our August Evening" is another highlight, showcasing the band's ability to get heavier as it gets slower. "I Hate Models" is the record's standout, edging into new-wave territory.
Missy is a dark, surprisingly melodic collection of music and a promising debut from SUS. It's available now on all major streaming platforms.
(Self-released, digital)
Hartland's own Lilly Golden dropped her debut LP in March. No tepid, dip-a-toe-in-the-water introduction, the six-track Instar is the product of a theater-trained vocalist and music student at Bennington College. A natural mezzo-soprano, Golden puts what she describes as a "sapphic spin" on indie pop, and tracks such as "Cigarettes" sound exactly as described.
"I think you should quit cigarettes, get hooked on me instead," Golden sings. "I'll knock the air out of your lungs / And I promise, the addiction will be more fun."
It's a candy-coated mix of indie pop and Americana, blended with skill by a capable and intriguing new songwriter.
"Back to the Mountains" is an anthem for the underdog, as Golden writes about returning to a town where she always felt like a bridesmaid, never the bride. "And you know, wherever I go, you'll be wondering what could have happened / if you'd bet on me," she sings.
Golden took the name of her record from a phase in the metamorphosis of insects, such as caterpillars transforming into butterflies. Instar serves as her emergence from the chrysalis as a singer-songwriter, a talented and ambitious new voice on the Vermont music scene. Give it a listen on major streaming platforms and at lillygolden.bandcamp.com.
(Self-released, digital)
There are those who like their folk music to have a modern edge, incorporating country, pop or even rock. Then there are musicians like Jason Baker, who performs traditional folk music on his trusty banjo in the same spirit as Earl Scruggs, Ralph Stanley or his own Vermont mentor, Rik Palieri. This is the kind of folk music embedded in American DNA: a rolling banjo peeling off notes while Baker sings of societal woe and the plight of the common person.
Baker's devotion to the art form has not gone unnoticed, garnering him New England Music Awards nominations and shout-outs in American Songwriter magazine. His latest record, Shutdown the System, will only solidify his bona fides. On "What Would the Prophets Say?," Baker looks at the hypocrisy of so-called "holy wars," and the title track is a full-on anti-capitalist anthem that would make Woody Guthrie proud.
While it's fascinating to hear all the ways musicians can reinterpret traditional forms to synthesize them with more modern sounds, there's also something so effective about a timeless-sounding record that addresses age-old human problems with little more than a banjo and a human voice.
Listen to Shutdown the System on major streaming platforms and at jbakervt.com.
Tags: Album Review, Sudden Unknown Signal, Missy, Lilly Golden, Instar, Jason Baker, Shutdown the System
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