Various Small Flames’

Songs of 2017

Anamon – Kneel Old
Android Automatic – Dark Roads*
Angie McMahon – Slow Mover
Basement Revolver – Johnny Pt. 2
Baxter Roy Long – Paribanou
Bea Troxel – Let Them Know
Big Thief – Mary
Black Belt Eagle Scout – Soft Stud
Bully – Running
Cayetana – Mesa
Charly Bliss – Percolator
Chastity Belt – Different Now
CHUCK – Happy Birthday
The County Liners – Maria
The Courtneys – Tour
Craig Finn – God in Chicago
Crumb – Locket
Crushing – Emery Board
Cut Worms – Like Going Down Sideways
David Bazan – Care
Distant Reader – First Try
Emperor X – God Save Coastal Dorset
Fits – Ice Cream on a Nice Day
German Error Message – 2017*
Gleemer – Soothe Me
Great Grandpa – Favorite Show
Haley Heynderickx – Oom Sha Lala
Hiccup – Teasin’
Horse Culture – Texaco
Illuminati Hotties – ‘(You’re Better) Than Ever’
Japandroids – No Known Drink or Drug
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit – If We Were Vampires
Jay Som – The Bus Song
Jeremy Squires – Night Cars
Katie Ellen – Drawing Room
Lizzie No – Monuments
Lomelda – Bam Sha Klam
Mike Pace and the Child Actors – Audits & Surveys
Meursault – The Mill
Mount Eerie – Crow
Nice Legs – Mighty Three
Oceanator – Nowhere Nothing
Ohyeahsumi – Daisy
Old Earth – Pit Dynamics
PASTEL – Stammer
Peter Silberman – New York
Phoebe Bridgers – Motion Sickness
Pope – Talk Me Out of It
Protomartyr – Windsor Hum
Rainwater – Place
Ratboys – Elvis is in the Freezer
Rick Rude – Bald & Fat in Houston, TX
Roadkill Ghost Choir – Classics (Die Young)
Rose Dorn – Dirt
See Through Dresses – Lucy’s Arm
Shannen Moser – A Funeral, A Friend, My Sanity
Sinai Vessel – Died On My Birthday
Slaughter Beach, Dog – Phoenix
SOAR – Fort Funston
Soft Fangs – Jordan // Jackson Elementary
Spartan Jet-Plex – We Believe
Strange Ranger – House Show
Strawberry Runners – Garden Hose
Timid, The Brave – Alice
Us and Only Us – Bored of Black
Vagabon – Cold Apartment
Viewfinder – Instant Moonlight
The Washboard Abs – Veil
Waxahatchee – Never Been Wrong
Wild Pink – Albert Ross
William Ryan Fritch – In Our Blood
The Wooden Sky – Swimming in Strange Waters
Ylayali – Cherry Tomatoes

*Strictly released in 2016, but barely, and we covered it in Jan. 2017.

If you missed it, you can see our Favourite Albums of 2017 list here. Also, the curious can find such lists from previous years here.

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The record sees Roadkill Ghost Choir flesh out their sound with keyboards and synths, taking as much inspiration from 80s Springsteen as contemporary acts such as The War on Drugs. As if to reaffirm their right to the music, the band decide to open with a ten-minute epic, ‘Vision on Vision. Undo’. The track feels like a warm and dusty road trip, part sepia-toned country, part neon bathed dream pop, headed for the shimmering mirage that never leaves the horizon.

First single ‘Classics (Die Young)’ has some of that The War on Drugs-esque hip-swaying psych rock, the big 80s kick drum and crystal clear synths painting the track silvery white as summer moonlight. Lead Andy Shepard’s vocals sound all up-close-and-confident in the verses before soaring in great arcs across the chorus, giving things a breathless, cathartic feel. This 80s pop hit vibe is accentuated during the outro, all noodling Paul Simon style sax and floating “yeaaahh”s, the final indication that Roadkill Ghost Choir have written a real jam.

‘Cassette Memory’ has a warm and grainy texture, the vocals syruped over shuffling percussion and gently wheezing harmonica, adding a sense of smooth melody before the entrance of languid guitar and snappy toe-tapping drums. ‘Dream Shiver’ is another pop song for long warm nights, as textured and refreshing as a fragrant summer dusk, the quicksilver chorus as smooth and fluid as tropical waves lapping on a shore.

The opening half of ‘Severed Hand of God’ is more reminiscent of the band’s earlier, folk-tinged work, playing over the sound of barroom conversation, relatively spare guitar supporting Shepard’s voice as it rises and falls. This is joined eventually by drums and a barrage of instruments, kicking things up into a deranged frenzy. Eventually the song settles back into its original mood, with subtle piano and the original hubbub and chatter, as if what came in between was just a daydream. The EP then ends with ‘KLP#1’, a short instrumental outro that shimmers and swells, a cerebral palate cleanser after the journey of the previous five tracks.

The collection is packed with strong songs and certainly raises the anticipation for Volume 2. All signs point towards Roadkil Ghost Choir being back and, perhaps, better than ever. You can get False Youth Etcetera Vol​.​1 now from the Roadkill Ghost Choir Bandcamp page.

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