Hello fellow Sputters, this month is special because we have a brand new crop of contributing reviewers! Brickhed, iswimfast, ShartHarder and AlkemestRedux have prepared their favorite songs of February for us all to enjoy. Here they are!

iswimfast’s SOTM – Salva by Karnivool

“Unlike any other closer in Karnivool’s back catalog, ‘Salva’ plays like a finale. Ian Kenny glides so naturally over its build that it’s almost haunting, delivering a forlorn stare over a restless ocean. It’s subdued; built off of acceptance and hope for a questionable future. But there’s comfort, as “there ain’t no place I’d rather be”, and his bandmates are steadfast by his side. The basslines give pulse and guitar crescendos cascade, affording each other space while pulling forward and upward through foggy uncertainty. Karnivool of old would tease and disassemble, balking at the beauty of the moment, but not now. When the soaring release of the bridge hits (and the bagpipes-by-guitar burst), it lands like a true conclusion. Not just for In Verses, but for Karnivool as a project. It’s hard to not feel moved in that moment, as the band limped out this 4th record after 13 long years, and feel genuine acknowledgement that this might be the end of the road. And if it is, what an end it made.”

 

AlkemestRedux’s SOTM – Grace Notes by Iron and Wine

“Sam Beam’s songs keep finding their way back into my life. Listening to “Our Endless Numbered Days” now conjures memories of being young, of cigarettes with friends, or late night house parties in the waning days of summer with the smell of sagebrush drifting up from the high desert and through the open windows. Even back then the subject of finite time was understood, but in a distant, sing-along sort of way. Aging would happen one day, but hey, maybe not, and definitely not now. After “The Shepherd’s Dog,” I kind of lost touch with Mr. Beam. Sure, I’d throw on the “Woman King” EP now and then, or retread his first couple albums, but I didn’t have much interest in diving into his more recent work beyond listening to, and shortly forgetting, a new single here or there.

That estrangement lasted until a few days ago when I gave his latest album a spin, and oh brother, did I remember how good his music can be. The whole of “Hen’s Teeth” is more than worth checking out, but the track ‘Grace Notes’ really is one of the zeniths. Everything about it whispers peak Iron & Wine with gentle rhythmic guitars spindling along and flourishes of violin peeking through the mix. It’s classic Iron & Wine, but a little more fleshed out and a little more refined. It’s confidently laid back, comfortable and infinitely easy to sink into. The lyrics of ‘Grace Notes’ provide another meditation on passing time and inevitability, but now north of 50, Beam’s insights feel more reflective than immediate. It’s even more poignant considering his daughter provides the accompanying vocals.”

 

brickhed’s SOTM – Overwhelming Gonorrhea Expansion by Placenta Bukkake

“Many layers of filth and grime surround this album, but none near as putrid as an Overwhelming Gonorrhea Expansion by Swiss pornogrinders Placenta Bukkake. This song has all you want from extreme grind. Indecipherable pitch-shifted vocals (maybe for the best), that distinct ping snare, and tasty grooves all over. Only the most brain-dead grooves shall do, and PB does it enough to be strangely catchy.

None of the songs from their second album reach over 3 minutes, and this one in particular is only a 1:56 minute museum of depravity. What gives?! In this case, the drums keep up via punk and groove centered rhythms. The bass plucks and plods behind the guitar, and that ping snare stabs through the mix just right to keep an organism like me happy. If you want varied and crazy songs, this is nowhere near that. You get a handful of very groovy riffs for the entire track, with only the drums doing more than a few tempo changes.

Sludgy, groovy, and just a good time. If you’re the tightly wound music enjoyer, maybe this can loosen you up a bit. Just don’t look at that cover too closely and vibe.”

 

ShartHarder’s SOTM – Make Me Forget You by Converge

“Make Me Forget You is the emotional high-point of Love Is Not Enough, an album packed with sonic and emotional devastation. It features some of the most galling lyrics Jacob has written in years, from:

‘We age faster than I care to admit,

Where memories lived now silence persists,

Everyone chooses when they submit,

I am so tired of abandonment’

to the chorus refrain of ‘I never said what I meant to’, this is a heart-wrenching lesson in telling those we love how we feel before its too late. To live with openness and invite others in, not to shy away from vulnerability. It’s a lesson Converge have been preaching their whole career, but never laid out as bare as it has been here.

For such a punishingly heavy and abrasive band, it’s the emotional weight their music carries which has always packed the heaviest punch. Love, respect, honesty and humility are the grounding of this album even in it’s most pointed and furious moments. A deceptively titled track, the climax explodes with passion as Jacob screams ‘nothing can make me forget you’ – words that will ring out at live shows for years to come no doubt.

Love may not be enough to save us, but we should make the most of it while we’re here.”