welcome back to The Bark List, a weekly feature rounding up a bunch of music from Connecticut songwriters and artists! this week, we will be celebrating our ONE-YEAR anniversary! that makes us age 7 in dog years! we will be celebrating this saturday with a very special livestream event featuring Glambat, Snowpiler, Shy, and Evelyn Gray on instagram! why those artists? uhh, cause i love them? but also, our very first post was to talk about how excited we were for a show in which those 4 bands were performing at MAC 650. so, if you missed that great bill in 2019, now’s your chance to come see them! you can mail me birthday cakes too, if you’d like.
check out this week’s songs below, and as always, if you like what you hear: share it with a friend! and if you have the means, consider buying their music. spotify is nice and all, but unless you plan on streaming a song multiple hundred times, bandcamp is best. you can follow us on instagram and twitter for more music during the week.
figurine – “see you later”
OK the suspense is starting to kill me. First, Ashly LaRosa starting teasing new music for Figurine with instagram tile changes, slowly organizing complex and impressionistic visuals across multiple images. Then, she released “Needing”, a beautiful song that spanned multiple years. She released “See You Later” during the last bandcamp surge, so if you missed this in all the brouhaha, here is your official warning: this is not optional. “See You Later” and “Needing” are both stellar works of music — lyrically spectacular and musically (via Tom Smart) heartfelt. No official due dates have been released about when Figurine’s new album will be out, but we couldn’t be more excited.
chef the chef – “life of the party”
Chef comes at you fast. Not only did he release “Weird” just a couple of weeks ago, but he’s already back with “Life of the Party”, in addition to uploading some old Chef The Chef tunes to streaming platforms. Anyone who is a fan of The Quest Presents or innovative hip hop has to tune in to this.
litvar – “hi i’m andy”
Rex Thurstan (from Eel People) and Joe Lemieux (from Spray Bottle Fever) have wrote a record together! It’s an ambitious concept album, set in the mid 00s, following the online whims of Andy, a stand-in character who is navigating the pitfalls of romance and music through AOL Messenger. And true to its setting, Litvar captures that scrappy mid 00’s, post-Strokes sound. The new album will be out soon, so keep your eye on their playful social media pages until then.
chris cech – “father figure”
Chris Cech, who has played in Cardinal Spins and Mother Tongue, released a full-length album this week: Sloth. There are so many songs on this album that are catchy, smart, and quick, but one of my favorites on Sloth is when Cech slows things down and spaces his arrangements out. The album is gloriously and lovably lo-fi, so if you want a little fuzz in your life, you need to hear Sloth.
blessings divine – “oneness”
It wouldn’t be a Blessings Divine track without an uplifting, important message. And could there be a bigger theme than humanity’s relationship with itself and everything around us? “Oneness” tackles these ideas with style, clever wordplay, and — if you watch the music video — some sweet dance moves.
the story of how – “sightings”
We covered “Say Go”, the debut track from The Story of How, just a few weeks ago. Now they have shared their second song: “Sightings”. The Story of How is a collaboration between poet Katherine Schneider and musician Dave Robertson. “Sightings” is slower and less tangible than “Say Go”, allowing Schneider’s poetry to fit perfectly into Robertson’s impressionistic music.
kevin o’donnell – “letter to andrew”
Y’all remember the Columbia Records Club, right? Where they would send you records back in the 90s? Jason Rule and Kevin O’Donnell are bringing you new songs each week, so it’s basically the same thing as Columbia Records Club except that all of these songs are about the coronavirus. The newest song in the collection is a letter to Governor Cuomo. Somewhere, Ned Lamont is weeping, knowing his dreams of having the guys from Queen Moo write a song about him are put off for another day.
lys guillorn – “dolores & i”
The first new official Lys Guillorn track in a year is now here as part of the Free As Birds compilation! You can read more about the compilation and our thoughts about the song HERE.
the family stoned – “no emotional judgement house”
Michael Slyne and the Family Stoned just released a full-length records a few weeks ago, and they are already back with another sprawling LP, No End No Light. The album was originally pitched as a “punk” album, and it is, but only in the way that the Family Stoned could make one. It is spacious, dynamic, and melancholy. It rages against the circumstances we have found ourselves in, not just related to the coronavirus, but our society more generally.
dawson goodrich – “kissing in our bed”
Connecticut lost Dawson for a bit there. After moving to NY and making music there, Dawson is back in the nutmeg state! Now, I could be wrong about this, but I think their new album, Take Me Away From Here, is not only a cloaked title reference to wanting to come back to CT, but is the first new released music since Bushies’ great EP. Take Me Away From Here is wildly different from Bushies — this is an experimental, ambient sound collage of an album, where each song feels like a memory and mood packaged into a nonverbal soundscape.
kevin ensign – “we are changing”
Zen Lunacy is, in my estimation, one of Connecticut’s most hidden gems. One piece of that collective, Kevin Ensign, just released a double-single this week! “We Are Changing”, one half of that collection, doubles down on the melody you’d find in a Zen Lunacy track, and turns the knob up on the contrast. Where Syzygy can be a mellow, cool vibe, Ensign’s work is a little sharper and more assertive. For fans of Liars’ WIXIW and beyond.
robert james nuzzello jr. – “new years day”
RJNjr’s new album, Traveling Through Time Together is a wild ride. 24 tracks long, it ventures into experimental beats, futuristic pop, and playful stylistic pastiches. The through-line to all of these songs, however, is Nuzzello’s curious and playful songwriting pen. “New Years Day”, embedded below, is only one corner of what Traveling Through Time Together explores, but it is all worth your time and attention.
francie brady – “as i am now”
As part of Institution, Francie Brady’s music is a monolith: riffs so loud and big, you could cut chunks out of them with a butter knife. His solo work, however, is the complete opposite. Lo-fi and sprawling, you can hear the ache in his voice, the echo in the room, and the breaths between the words. His new double-song single, As I Am Now, You Soon Will Be, begins with William Burrough’s “Thanksgiving Prayer”, to put your head in just the right (or wrong) place.
antonino lappostato – “i, too, am flawed”
You may know him as the singer for Con Etiquette, and if you do, Antonino Lappostato’s new EP will surprise you with its tonal and stylistic shift from that band. I, Too, Am Flawed, is a slow, majestic, somber, and serious work — Lappostato has traded the distorted guitars for piano and string sections. That tone is matched by his lyrical themes, which recount internal strife, guilt, and dealing with your own past. It’s a stunning and beautiful debut.
polluter – “listen to it”
The experimental, psychedelic, improvisational weirdos Polluter are back! Their new EP, Kept Afar, mixed every genre and style you could think (except maybe opera, but I’m not sure), and it will keep you on your toes. It’s beautiful, strange, knotty, and naughty. My favorite track of this bunch if “Listen To It”, the opening song, which could almost pass for one of Explosions in the Sky’s best cuts. There are hints that more may be on the way soon…
the house – “w1ndows”
This new cut from Branford CT’s Sam Taber is the genre-smash you didn’t know you absolutely, direly needed. Combining R&B, chillwave, and even blues guitar, “w1ndows” is a short, beautiful track that goes down so smooth. It’s like the Bailey’s Irish Cream of music.
the cryptids are alright – “deaddrunk”
Damn, I love a good mystery. The first recordings from The Cryptids Are Alright paint a portrait of a songwriter with a volatile, creative mind. Of course, we can’t verify that because he is a masked musician, with no formal names attached to the project. The only identifiable information is that they are from Connecticut. Who knows who he is? Maybe YOU, dear reader, are The Cryptids Are Alright!
rosemary – “outside”
File this under “hey, you should come back to Connecticut.” Rosemary’s debut single and music video is a fuzzy, lo-fi serenade. I can’t believe North Carolina is gonna get some of the credit for producing this great songwriter after she breaks big.
elly – “digital beach”
Check out this new jam from Elly, a CT alumnus now living in Florida. For fans of Tycho and just mellowing out, man.
the other realm – “solitaire” music video
We reported on the Other Realm’s new single “Solitaire” in a previous Bark List. The band has a great new music video hot on that single’s heels! Incorporating stop-motion animation with covid-inspired stir-craziness, the music video for “Solitaire” is super creative and fun.
shame penguin – “live in technicolor” music video
Just before the coronavirus quarantine measures took place, Shame Penguin released their debut single to bandcamp. “Live in Technicolor” now has its own anime music video! Check it out, and after that, because you will still want more, check out their just-released live album from the Monsters of Acoustic Rock sessions at Sage Sound studio!
