Birthmark
Birth of Omni
(POLYVINYL)
Birth of Omni, the fifth album by multi-instrumentalist Nate Kinsella under his Birthmark moniker, is an astonishing artistic statement. Begun during the Trump presidency in 2018 and worked on through the isolation of the pandemic and with Kinsella, nearing his 40th year, married with a newborn daughter and another on the way, Birth of Omni is a lush, exotic, genre-defying, multifaceted work that simply astounds in both sound and scope.
In it, Kinsella examines fatherhood, its effects on personal and spousal relationships, what it means to be male, fear of mass shootings, and reckoning with one’s sexuality. Weighty themes all, but in the context of these 10 songs, they are simply a backdrop to the magnificent sonic cornucopia.
Upon first listen, Birth of Omni is overwhelming but in the most wonderful way, written and performed by Kinsella with more than two dozen additional vocalist or musicians. Sounds bounce in and out, sometimes identifiable, sometimes not, funky, soulful, and brilliantly pop, with more than its share of innocence and childlike wonder.
Birth of Omni is an album that requires, nay demands, multiple listens. It’s a marvelous artistic statement by an artist who’s been doing it for years. This is his ultimate work. (www.natekinsella.com)
By Frank Valish
The Black Crowes
Happiness Bastards
(SILVER ARROW)
It’s been 15 long years since The Black Crowes have released an album, brothers Chris and Rich Robinson seeming to have parted for good after the release of 2009’s Before the Frost…Until the Freeze. Happiness Bastards marks their long awaited return, and the album faithfully recalls the best of the band’s early work.
“Bedside Manners” sums up the history of The Black Crowes in one soulful three and a half minute romp. “Rats and Clowns” is as much of a propulsive rocker as the Crowes have in its catalog, and “Wanting and Waiting” is nothing less than classic Shake Your Money Maker-esque— built of a stellar guitar lick, augmented by a brief but essential organ line and female background singers, and featuring the best Chris Robinson vocal since the band’s heyday.
The Black Crowes might have been at their best when mixing in a bit of the sublime, and there’s not a whole lot of that here. Country star Lainey Wilson’s guest on “Wilted Rose” is one of the album’s highlights, and “Flesh Wound” might be the poppiest Southern rocker the boys have ever recorded. But other than these, Happiness Bastards is simply a successful and much needed return of The Black Crowes of old. (www.theblackcrowes.com)
By Frank Valish
Cheekface
It’s Sorted
(SELF-RELEASED)
Come gather round children and I’ll tell you a tale of a band they called Cheekface. America loved them well. Borrowing a melody from Woody Guthrie’s “Pretty Boy Floyd,” or some other ancient folk tune, Cheekface’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” and all of It’s Sorted for that matter, would no doubt find favor in the baby faced gangster’s collection of 78s. Four albums in, the Greg Katz led trio take more than a handful of swipes at late stage capitalism while still letting nothing get in the way of a well-timed joke. The Floyd of old robbed banks and burned up common folks’ mortgages while he was at it. Short on heroes at the moment, “Don’t Stop Believing” bemoans an era where “what lives on is the destruction caused by market economics.” But as grim as that sounds, every other track on It’s Sorted comes at you like a sonic invitation to boogie like you’ve never ever boogied before.
As enjoyable as the band’s prior albums have been, It’s Sorted finds the Los Angeles-based trio at peak cheek. Look no further than the funk breakdown on “I Am Continuing to Do My Thing,” which contains the rhyme of the year to come— pairing up the Badger State with America’s most beloved wrestler turned Hollywood star. That song rolls right into the chicken picking notes of “Grad School,” which is punctuated with an extended percussion jam, trumpet solos, and a schoolyard whistle to boot. And to close out a more than solid three-song run, you get album highlight “Life in a Bag,” with Katz singing about Heaven being nothing more than “wiggly air” over a slinky rhythm.
Katz and his partners in crime (Amanda Tannen on bass/vocals, Mark Edwards on drums) sound their tightest and most pointed yet. Though much of It’s Sorted contends with the uncertainties of the day, Katz isn’t afraid to get downright declarative when it’s warranted. “Success is cringe!” Katz let’s us know on the opening “The Fringe,” which celebrates art on the margins. While “we got it on lock” is the phrase that pays on the anti-capitalist “Life in a Bag,” where Katz does ironically reveal “we got a raise and a promotion at our job.” Later standout, “Largest Muscle,” borrows a mid-’80s INXS intro before launching into the spongiest song on offer here. Perhaps appropriate for an exploration of the pliable parts of our body.
Singing along to lyrics about the dangers of “unifying theories” (“Largest Muscle”) and a “reversion to the mean” (“There Were Changes in the Hardcore Scene”) have never been this much geeky fun. And with a nod to modernity, extolling the virtues of living life on your neighbor’s Blink cameras (“Popular 2”) and having all your PII out on the dark web (“Grad School”) make such matters seem something not to worry too much about. In fact, the whole affair has the air of Nero fiddling while Rome is burning if you pay attention to the lyrics. But who needs those types of headaches, when you can just enjoy yourself and remain blissfully unaware of the societal decay around us. As long as there are words left to rhyme with dude (here you get “multitudes” on “Life in a Bag”), there will always be a Cheekface. That’s a bit of verisimilitude for you, dude! (www.cheekface.bandcamp.com)
By Mark Moody
Dehd
Poetry
(FAT POSSUM)
Dehd’s excellent and playlistworthy single “Bad Love” (from their 2022 album, Blue Skies) had a surf-punk vibe, but the band’s new album, Poetry, largely eliminates the punk in favor of the more relaxed breezy twang of surf. While the original compositions are built with pop sensibilities in mind, most are a familiar and comfortable blend of retro styles and hazy dream pop, similar to contemporaries Beach Fossils, The Drums, Surfer Blood, etc. Occasionally seeking the adventurous, most tracks are pleasingly uncluttered, well-produced indie pop consisting of light and airy melodies and breezy guitar strums.
The exceptions are the album’s lead single “Mood Ring,” as well as “Light On” and “Shake.” All three show off some keen songwriting as they shape the music in new and catchy ways
