Issue 36: Love Is the Fing
The best albums I listened to in February featuring IDLES, serpentwithfeet, and more!
Welcome back to Band Practice where I search the mountains high and the valleys low for the best new music, sharing my favorite discoveries with you. I listened to 27 new releases in February. Some were great! And some…not so much. But I’ve picked the best of the best to share with you.
In this issue, I’ve got four excellent albums that I’ve been excited to tell you about. We’ll spend some quality time diving into my top album: TANGK from the British rock band IDLES. I’ll also share some brief reviews of new albums from sensuous R&B singer serpentwithfeet, Americana troubadour Hurray for the Riff Raff, and the *true* winner of the Super Bowl: USHER. These four albums, though different in sound, carry the same message: love—whether it be romantic or altruistic. I think we could all use a little bit more of that right now. Yes? No? You get some anyway.
With that, we’re going to dive right in, so let’s get to it!
Februrary’s top album
IDLES — TANGK
Alternative/Rock [Released 2/16/24]
When I first listened to TANGK, it was both not what I was expecting and exactly what I was expecting. The Brit band is outfitted in snazzier production duds, that bring to mind bands like Radiohead, U2, and even Coldplay. But their unshakeable guts are still present, offering reassurance that they are still the same band that I have loved for years. They explore a new sound while remaining steadfast in the message that they have been preaching since the beginning: love is the fing (thing, said in a British accent).
The band was formed in Bristol by Adam Devonshire (bass) and Joe Talbot (vocals) in their college years and has grown to include Lee Kiernan (guitar), Jon Beavis (drums), and Mark Bowen (guitar, and also a producer for this album). Their four previous albums—which span all of the hyphenated genres of punk and hardcore—racked up much critical acclaim, with 2021’s CRAWLER (everything must be all caps!) earning them a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.
TANGK is an evolution beyond the air-punching punk of their early albums and sits as their most diverse and experimental album to date. There were hints of this new direction in CRAWLER, whose sound was shaped by producers Mark Bowen and Kenny Beats. This time they’re joined on the sound boards by Nigel Godrich who is most well known for his work with bands like Radiohead and U2.
Godrich lends a heavy hand on the album and it is welcome, adding texture and depth to the mix. This is most pronounced on tracks like “POP POP POP”—which sounds like it was playing in Radiohead’s Kid A toy box—and in “Jungle,” which even pulls a line from OK Computer’s “Karma Police.” “I lost myself again,” Talbot sings. The collaboration between the band and its producers has extracted softer, more complex sides of their songwriting. What might be one-off songs on previous albums—like Ultra Mono’s “A Hymn”—are fully fleshed out, using the additions of piano, strings, and even saxophone (which is the last instrument I expected to play out the final track).
Talbot’s shift to more melodic vocal performances—an uncommon mode for the singer—is also a welcome addition. He is at his best in “Roy” as he pleads with every muscle for his partner’s love, belting in Bono-esque form. In the prayer-like “Grace,” he chooses a restrained and devotional performance. He emphasizes the album’s thesis: “No god, no king / I said love is the fing,” singing over laminated layers of distortion.1
Fans who are worried that IDLES’ diversified sound means they have lost some of their edge can be assured there is still plenty of growling vocals, chugging guitars, and beastly drumming present. True to form, some of the most rowdy songs on the album are also the most reverent. On “Gratitude” bent notes and sizzling hi-hats erupt into mosh pit madness. “The gratitude cuts through my veins,” Talbot roars. And “Gift Horse” has its own tender meaning. Talbot wrote this “beast of a tune,” as he calls it, about his daughter. Within the same breath, he shares his love for her and disdain for the monarchy. “Fuck the king / He ain't the king, she's the king.”
What never wavers is the band’s convictions, which have always been the core of their music. The boys are outspoken opponents of toxic masculinity (Bowen often performs in a dress), the monarchy, and are one of a list of bands who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza. With this album, they hold firm to their message of love and joy. In “Hall & Oates,” Talbot expresses love for his mates, and in “POP POP POP,” they speak of “freudenfreude,” or finding pleasure in someone else’s joy.
Central to the album is the tenet of communion, expressed in the feverous hit, “Dancer.” “The best form of dance is to express yourself freely within a group who are also expressing themselves freely, the true embodiment of communion,” Talbot tells Apple Music. The bassline is ridiculously right, dialed up to 11. The guitar follows with a mimicking riff as Talbot juices the words out of his mouth, rolling his r’s and shouting “Cut waves, make change!” defiantly. James Murphy and Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem join for backup vocals, leaving their dance-punk imprint on the track. The song is visceral—full of sweat and movement.
“[My] intentions of the album were: to make people dance and not think, because love is a very complex thing that doesn’t need to be thought. It can just be acted, and worked on, and danced with. I just wanted to make people move, and get that physicality of the live experience in people’s bones,” said Talbot in an interview with Apple Music. Love is expressed in every measure of the album. You can feel it in their passion and in the care and ingenuity they have put into their ever-evolving sound. Whether air-punching, dancing, or deep in reflection, they preach what they practice and practice what they preach. Joy, grace, gratitude, love, and communion with others. This is the gospel of IDLES. Amen.
Tracks on repeat: Dancer, Grace, Gratitude
Available on Spotify, Apple Music, bandcamp
Also worth a listen
If you have an appetite for seduction…
serpentwithfeet — GRIP
R&B/Soul [Released 2/16/24]
Sung between silk sheets, the latest album from serpentwithfeet (aka Josiah Wise) is not only a celebration of queer love but lust. Sex and sensuality are exalted in all of their facets. Wise, who has a background in gospel and opera, opts to convey his passion through hushed vocals. His smooth voice slithers between club beats and neo-soul stylings, delivering raw and tender performances. The tracks range from sweet love stories like “Spades” to serenades that would make USHER blush. “If God is a god at all, He lives in your grip,” he sings in “Lucky Me.” (I write, blushing.) Whether you pay attention to the lyrics or not, the sultry vibes will get your body humming.
Tracks on repeat: Safe Word, Spades, Hummin’
Available on Spotify, Apple Music, bandcamp
If the open road is calling you…
Hurray for the Riff Raff — The Past Is Still Alive
Alternative/Folk/Americana [Released 2/23/24]
I had the pleasure of seeing Hurray for the Riff Riff (the moniker of singer-songwriter Alynda Segarra) live when they opened for Mitski a couple of years ago. Segarra had a mystical freeness about them that grabbed my attention away from the merch table. In their latest album, they bring that free spirit feeling, reminiscing about riding freight trains across the country. Segarra takes us along their journey from Stonewall (“Vetiver”) to the Castro (“Colossus of Roads”), looking for love and dodging trouble. Their cool voice and evocative storytelling puts you right on the road with them—stargazing around campfires and sipping from bottles of vermouth. Some strays are picked up along the way; Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes joins for the waltzing “The World Is Dangerous.” In the eruptive closer, “Ogallala,” Segarra sings, “I used to think I was born into the wrong generation / But now I know I made it right on time / To watch the world burn.” Pass the vermouth, friend, let’s watch it burn together.
Tracks on repeat: Buffalo, Colossus of Roads, The World Is Dangerous
Available on Spotify, Apple Music, bandcamp
If you’ve got love in this club…
USHER — COMING HOME
R&B/Soul [Released 2/9/24]
Listen, you may be just as surprised as I am to find me writing about this album. I have not, traditionally, been a USHER fan save for those hits we were forced to listen to at school dances (‘Yeah!’ will always and forever slap). But this had me hooked. USHER, or URSHER if you’re nasty, is at his best delivering juicy hit after juicy hit, with an all-star lineup to join him. Pop, hip-hop, and Afrobeats are all in his blend of R&B—hot and heavy romance always at its core. (The man is sex.) It is, admittedly not a no-skip album. I could do without the pop-heavy “Keep On Dancin’,” which sounds like it was made for the Troll movie franchise, but he kills it on flirtatious tracks like “Good Good” where he’s joined by R&B singer Summer Walker and rapper 21 Savage. The “King of R&B” brings plenty to love, and plenty for lovin’. (Am I going to regret the corniness of that last line? Maybe.)
Tracks on repeat: Good Good, Kissing Strangers, Ruin
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
Coming up
Coming up next is my meticulously crafted Spring playlist that is sure to bring some lightness into those grey early spring months. Beyoncé’s new album is dropping later this month (mark your calendars for 3/29!) and there’s a 99.9% chance that it will be the first thing I write about in April. But there are also a few other great March albums I’ve already listened to that I may also write about. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss any of it!
The playlist!
If you’re new to Band Practice, I keep a running list of my favorite songs from every new album I listen to throughout the year (one each). I just added 27 songs from my February listenings for you to peruse with your ears. This batch starts with “Sinner” from The Last Dinner Party (it’s a good one). Other highlights include “A Girl, Running” from Ducks Ltd. which gives strong Belle & Sebastian vibes, and MGMT’s acoustic-synth hybrid, “Nothing To Declare,” which was, sadly, the only track I loved on their album. Happy listening!
Albums of 2024 - Apple Music playlist
Albums of 2024 - Spotify playlist
I love hearing what you have to say! If you have feelings about this issue, questions for me, album recommendations, or any other thoughts, send them my way by leaving a comment or replying to this email. You can also reach me at bandpracticenewsletter@gmail.com
These boots are made for stomping, and that’s just what they’ll do…
The song is nicely punctuated with a nod to “A Day In The Life” from The Beatles.
The Tiny Desk concert was fantastic! Thanks for, as always, broadening my musical horizons. Also…Day in the Life. The crashing D major chord. And, Lancashire. Always remember the loquacious docent at the mill in Sudbury.
Excited to check these out! And fully didn’t realize that usher came out with a new album toooo! Interested to see what u think of Ariana’s new album. 🤗