Dig ‘in: Friendship, The Gotobeds, Say Sue Me
Check out what the No Wristbands team is listening to and what’s in our show calendars this month on our latest Dig ‘in.
INCOMING
Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up (Merge Records LP)
Friendship is back, and that’s a very good thing for us, dear listeners. Hailing from Philly by way of Maine, this four-piece indie band is led by Dan Wriggins. Wriggins picks up where predecessors like David Berman left off; with witty lyrics sung with the backing of alt-country indie instrumentals in a deep baritone. Similarly to Berman and Aaron Dowdy of Fust, Wriggins has explored higher education and has an MFA. This is one of my favorite hyper-specific forms of music: deep-voiced, expertly crafted lyrics matched perfectly with indie instrumentals, and Friendship does it exceedingly well.
Following up on my favorite album of 2022 (Love the Stranger), Caveman Wakes Up finds Friendship finding perfect arrangements that are the equal of Wriggins’ lyrics. “Free Association” is an early album highlight that has a strong back beat on top of a bed of glitchy synths. Thematically, it’s about searching for love and meaning—true introspection. This is a band in the true sense of the word. Wriggins may write the lyrics, but everyone is given their moment to shine—whether it be 2nd Grade (and friend of the pod!) Peter Gill’s synth work and guitar playing, M.J. Lenderman’s touring guitarist Jon Samuels’ steady bass lines, or Michael Cormier-O’Leary’s drum fills. “Wildwood in January” does what Friendship do best—introspection, contemplation of the beauty found in everyday moments—backed with a rich arrangement led by clean guitar melodies, piano flurries, and subtle drumming. Late album highlight “Resident Evil” explores depression through the allegory of the Resident Evil video games. This is a band continuing to ascend, and lucky for us Chicago music fans, they’ll be playing with 2nd Grade (Peter Gill pulling double duty!) at Schubas on July 9th. -Mark Joyner
The Gotobeds - Masterclass (12XU LP)
Having the recordings of Masterclass sit on the shelf for a couple of years didn’t slow the inertia of The Gotobed’s freight-train-forward music. After Sub Pop choose not to extend their initial two album deal, they circled back to Gerard Cosloy and 12XU, who had released their Poor People Are Revolting sophomore album in 2014. With an already crowded release schedule, it would take another year before Masterclass hit the market this May.
The Pittsburgh outfit’s feistiness is on full display. Their John “Fante” tribute to the under-the-radar 20th century L.A. writer who profoundly influenced Charles Bukowski declares “These critics have no taste”—a retort not only in support of Fante, but also aimed at the mainstream music press. On the turbulent opening track, “Starz,” frontman Eli Kazan downplays out-of-reach aspirations; preferring to exist in the tangible here and now. “All Leaves Turn” has a smoldering intensity that wraps up with some wicked licks from new guitarist Zach Bronder. Kazan and Bronder spar back and forth on the ending “Mirror Writing”—a nearly six minute slice of aggro expression that has set closer written all over it. Despite the title’s inference, Masterclass isn’t about elevated execution, its power resides in staying true to one’s authentic self—real expression trumps expertise when it comes to music that matters. -Bruce Novak
Say Sue Me - Time is Not Yours (Damnably EP)
Since emerging in 2014, Say Sue Me—from the seaside city of Busan, South Korea—has readily accepted the “surfgaze” moniker, layering booming surf guitars over melancholy, murmured self-examination, a la Yo La Tengo. But experience, maturity, pandemic uncertainty, and personal loss have led the band to a deeper, more complex sound and bright sense of possibility.
Building on the outward gaze of their 2022 album The Last Thing Left, the new five-song EP, Time is Not Yours, acknowledges that no one is promised tomorrow, so it’s imperative to fully engage in today. Vocalist/rhythm guitarist Choi Sumi’s diaristic lyrics still embrace doubt, but the questions aren’t rhetorical—no longer so dreamy, but rather more hopeful, self-assured. The title track resolves: “Time is not yours, is it about your future? / Your mind is yours but better not to lie to yourself / Hear what you said even when you don’t believe in yourself / Don’t be afraid, I think you know what I don’t know.”
“Vacation” churns slowly and (with harmonies by Silica Gel’s Kim Hanjoo) suggests: “Take a deep breath / No more hate, no more desperation / Haste will be less / It’s time to go on vacation… / Now you know what you feel.
”New pathways wind intriguingly into the powerful surf base: indie rock drive, jangle, twangy breaks, even Ride-like treble lines. The marvelously insistent “In This Mess” has an extended, echoing opening riff and backseat driving vocals: “I’m not empty, I find my way… / Don’t you let today end, let’s drive away.” The instrumental “Mexico” steps on the gas before “Bone Pink” rests back on sweet, sinuous guitar lines and a few unexpectedly mellow “hmm-hmms” and “do-doos,” then remarks gently, “Promises I made to myself / Don’t get stuck in the past.” The ocean is ever-present, but Say Sue Me raises its confident gaze to the horizon. -Tina Woelke
UPCOMING
Dutch Interior
Where: Empty Bottle / Directions
When: June 4, 9:00 PM
Dutch Interior arrived at their name from a trio of 1928 paintings by Joan Miró that reinterpreted postcard images taken from 17th century Dutch Master artists. While not following in Miró’s surrealistic path, the Los Angeles sextet do take a painterly approach to their take on Americana—adding bits of flourish here and there and then taking a step back to evaluate their work before diving in again. Their latest album for Fat Possum, Moneyball, was leisurely recorded over a period of six months at their Long Beach group studio; reflecting the unhurried nature of songs themselves that emerge organically without being too fussed over. Each member of Dutch Interior has songwriting chops, but their ability to coalesce on the same page provides them with a unified focus that’s regularly on point. -Bruce Novak
Alison’s Halo
Where: Beat Kitchen / Directions
When: June 6, 8:00 PM
Like many of their peers in the genre, Arizona’s Alison’s Halo fell by the wayside as grunge and Britpop overtook shoegaze in popularity. The band fielded a few offers to return to the stage since originally wrapping up in 1996, but it wasn’t until a post-COVID TikTok shoegaze movement exploded with Gen-Zers that they jumped back in. As guitarist Adam Cooper relayed to Phoenix New Times: “It’s not a place we inhabit very much. But when I start hearing the friends of our kids mentioning, ‘Oh, that’s your parents’ band?' There’s a lot of weird degrees of separation that keep getting tighter all the time.”
Unlike some of shoegaze’s more prominent acts, Alison’s Halo didn’t have a backing budget to support recording at a professional studio, so their DIY ethos led to them to get creative with their own Tascam cassette porta-studio, which falls in line with newer genre practitioners that rely on cost-effective bedroom technology. As self-described introverts, the group’s insular creations strike a chord with a new generation of fans that are dealing with the aftereffects of imposed isolation. Guitarist and vocalist Catherine Cooper rails against characterizing this second act as a rote reunion and the imminent release of a new 5-song EP titled Skywide should see them sticking around for a bit of a spell to come. -Bruce Novak
Cusp
Where: Empty Bottle / Directions
When: June 9, 9:00 PM
The year following the release of Cusp’s debut EP, Spill in 2021, band members Jen Bender (guitar/vocals), Gaelen Bates (guitar) and Matt Manes (bass) decamped from Rochester, NY to settle in Chicago. Since then, they’ve released a full length album (You Can Do It All) and second EP (Thanks So Much) and have currently solidified their line-up with Tommy Moore (drums) and Tessa O’Connell (keyboards/vocals). Their music offers a cozy embrace behind Bender’s relaxed delivery, spackled with keen observations and twisting wordplay. They’re able to insert a bit of bite when needed without unduly harshing the mellow. Cusp wrapped up recording for their second album at the beginning of the year, so this free Empty Bottle show will provide a test run for some new, well-anticipated reveals. -Bruce Novak
UNCOVERED
Minus the Bear - Menos el Oso (Suicide Squeeze Records LP)
Minus the Bear broke up 2018, and it hit me harder than I would have thought. They were the first indie band that felt like they were mine. They’ve announced in the past month that they were getting back together and doing a 20th anniversary tour of their sophomore LP Menos el Oso, and this has sent me back down the memory hole. I listened to them for the first time as high school was winding down, and they floored me from that first guitar tap. This was a highly skilled band that had a silly streak to them that I felt mirrored my own. Song titles like “Pantsuit...Ugghhh” and “Get Me Naked 2: The Electric Boogaloo” painted a picture of a band that didn’t necessarily take itself too seriously, but who had all the chops to make mathy indie rock of the highest order. I was all in.
Each new release from This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic onwards only got better in my mind. It’s been so long since I thought about how I discovered music back then. It wasn’t via music publications or social media, which was in its infancy, yet I somehow knew when they were touring and when they had new music coming out. Seeing them in New Orleans in the fall of 2004 was a huge deal to me. I remember asking friends who’d seen them if they sounded like they did on the records, and they said better, and it was true!
Menos el Oso felt like a transitional period for the band. They were making the leap, their music was leveling up, but the silliness seemed to be getting turned down a bit. The songs were tighter—gone were the minute-long segueways between songs—and the synths were turned up. I remember a friend saying their material live had a demonstrably stronger synth presence than the earlier records would lead you to think, and Menos el Oso reflected that with songs like “The Fix” and “The Pig War.” The potency of their lineup is reflected in their ability to downshift to slower tempos on the haunting “El Torrente,” but also being able to ratchet up the pace with album standout “Pachuca Sunrise” that finds our narrator thinking of a past relationship while observing a beautiful landscape, all paired with exquisite guitar playing by Minus the Bear’s not so secret weapon Dave Knudson. This record hit me exactly where it needed to. It somehow still made it to me after having ordered it to be delivered to my apartment in New Orleans the week of Hurricane Katrina. It has long held a special place in my heart, both sonically and emotionally, no doubt rooted in the surrealism and horrors that Katrina brought, but also fond memories of being in college and hanging with friends listening to music with minimal responsibilities. The boys getting back together is something I had not anticipated, and the opportunity to see them in November at The Riv is sure to bring back a lot of feels and memories for many fans who are lucky enough to attend. -Mark Joyner
We recommend listening along over at our Spotify page. Here’s this week’s content: