Aster Tracks

Did you know the AsterTracks blog runs a playlist? This year we started a playlist to keep track of everything we've talked about and also showcase some singles by artists we think are worth following right now. I haven't been the most active on the socials this year, so it seems a lot of people missed out on this. To bring attention to it, here are four songs you can hear on the AsterTracks playlist right now! It's here, by the way. Halfloves - “Just Wanna Sleep” Halfloves has been an AsterTracks favorite band for quite a bit now and every time they drop a song we sort of feel the need to pause and listen. On this new one, “Just Wanna Sleep” the band shows us a side of themselves we’re not too familiar with and had this to say about the song’s creation. “Grappling with yet another bout of serious depression & exhausting burnout, songwriter Trevor Polk remembered the sunshine while biking through Iowa hills blaring 60s rock & roll, singing along to the likes of Chuc

  I’m trying to be less harsh on mainstream music this year. I’ve always sort of shut it all out, half inspired by my ex, half from adolescent bitterness. I heard some tracks of some Taylor’s Versions this year and figured maybe I was being a little harsh on top forties pop as an enterprise. When I saw a lot of mutuals enjoying this record I figured it was a good place to start. I can appreciate this questioning of being right in where you are. The album intro, “end of the world,” is sort of a fully realized song even at a minute and a half and has Ariana wondering if the current relationship she’s in is healthy and being down on herself for asking at all. There are certainly hooks here, the chorus to “bye,” the heartfelt belting of the title track. What I’m trying to say is some of these songs do hit. “True story” has a nostalgic R&B feel and sings of the demise of a relationship. It sort of reminds me of the stuff my aunt used to have on in her house and car so it takes me back.

Deleting this entire review and starting over, whatever. I’m caught very much off guard by the level of country influence on Kacey Musgraves newest album, especially since this is the first one, I’ve actually listened to in full. Opening track “Cardinal” is a sad girl tune with a melody lifted from bardcore. And, yes, there are of course country moments on the record like the riffs on “Giver/Taker,” various vocal melodies especially on “Dinner with Friends” and the general feel on “Jade Green.” I guess my surprise was I always figured when I finally dove into this artist it would be a country record through and through but there’s so much range and genre depth on Deeper Well. Regardless of what genre the album is, I do know my favorite part of it are Kacey Musragves’ lyrics. The opening line of the record is absolutely killer, and the entire song attached is a great draw-in track. Here Kacey talks about looking to, and directly speaking with, birds around her for hope and inspiration.

I am willing to admit when I’m wrong. In 2020’s DIY-COVID boom a lot of bands in the scene blew up in the social media sphere, seemingly out of nowhere. One of the biggest of those was VIAL, a three-piece punk outfit from Minneapolis. I listened to the band’s 2021 album LOUDMOUTH, saw a live set, albeit online, and was time after time utterly not impressed. Still, a lot of my friends and people I respect in this space think very highly of VIAL, so I wanted to give them another fair shot. Off the bat, it feels like VIAL have expanded their palette in a big way on opening track “two-faced,” a thrash punk banger with a slow climb. The momentum keeps on following track “falling short.” This one is a punchy, catchy skate punk cut which has you in and out in just a minute and a half. A major element of the previous record which wasn’t working for me was how the attitude of it all felt totally phoned in. The rage here is so real and genuine. Screaming for the subject of a track to “fall on bo

In Portland, OR, sandwiched between the Crystal Ballroom and what I now know only as a prom venue is Lola’s Room. I found convenient parking right next to a highway exit, awkwardly asked the box office boy if I was in the right place and made my way upstairs, where I found myself in a modest room with a sizable bar, cool lanterns on the ceiling resembling the sun, and to my surprise, plenty of places to sit. Who I was there to see was Eliza McLamb, an artist who is making a huge impact on me this year. The North Carolina-born indie artist released Going Through It this year, which is still in my regular rotation. I first saw Eliza at Wonder Ballroom, opening for illuminati hotties, whose front woman also produced this new record, and remember having been left with a positive impression. I have to admit, I felt pretty old here, amongst a crowd of mostly college-seeming kids and mid-twenty-somethings, this thirty year old woman felt like she stuck out. Still, I got into a groove, listene

Who even needs intros anymore? I’m just gonna start talking. Carpool opens their third record wearing their influences on their sleeve. I never like the direct point out, but the key arrangement they chose to open the record is almost directly lifted from My Chemical Romance’s “Disenchanted.” I’m not calling this out because I think it’s wrong to sample. It's just the first thing I think of everytime I spin this one. In fact, the transition from the title track to “Can We Just Get High” also plays like “The End” into “Dead” on the same record in being a dreary short song seamlessly transitioning into an enthusiastic sad boy anthem. Again, I do not think any of this is a bad thing I just wish it wasn’t so blatant. On influence,  “Can We Just Get High” is a great entry point to this band on its own even if, to me, this brand of PUP-esque emotional unwellness isn’t my go to. I also feel the track relies on a lot of emulated crowd participation which I feel if Carpool didn’t feel the n

How many unintentional hiatuses can one music blog go on? As it stands, I don’t know how we here at AsterTracks find music anymore. We disappeared for a minute there, which we’ve probably explained in an earlier post. My previous primary source of information is currently a bit uninhabitable. I can tell you I discovered this record on a friend’s Instagram story, months ago, which is about the amount of backstory you need. It’s difficult, at least in the context of this album, to pin Topiary Creatures to a mood, let alone a genre. Opening track “Trader Joe’s Frosted Mini-Wheats” starts off soft and beautifully and turns heavy in under a minute, not wrathful, but heavy. There are two vocalists present here and when the second comes in it's like a set change, the instrumentation present is as clear an image in my mind as if I were watching a play. When Elizabeth sings, every time, it’s as if time itself stops to listen. On “God is a Scared Kid at a Middle School Science Fair” they sa

So, we went silent again, all of the EPs shown here are months old at this point. All but one of these reviews are as well. The truth is; I don't think this way of running the blog is sustainable. Going month by month sounded appealing at the start of the year, but now it's June and we're writing March reviews because I'm just not motivated on all of the March albums. So, I think anyway, this little experiment is over, and we're going to go back to doing what feels right day by day. Hopefully this means less silences. In other news for the blog, we have our first ever show review coming out this Friday, which also took a comically long time to come out. We're also working on the next AsterTracks episode currently, so it'll come out pretty much right when it's done. Until then, check out these four EPs from the month of March. Fast Fashion by Cheem released via Lonely Ghost Back in late September I took my first trip back home to RI after living on the we