The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Every Tuesday, the Sounding Board is a space for a short-ish review of a recent-ish release and conversations about new-to-you music. We’ll get things started with a write-up about a newer, likely underheard album, and invite you to share your music musings in the comments.
On paper, Sweeping Promises have gone through sweeping changes.
The team-up of guitarist-producer Caufield Schnug and bassist-vocalist Lira Mondal emerged from a Boston-area concrete lab in August 2020 with a sweaty, cramped and melodic LP just right for sheltered-in-place shimmying.1 Six years later, Sweeping Promises are based in Kansas, have brought touring drummer Spenser Gralla into their recording process and just released their third album, You Say I Romanticize, the byproduct of 18 months of stop-and-start work.2
Despite the ruby-hued semaphore flags signalling potential bloat, the new album finds Sweeping Promises almost as lean and mean as they’ve always been.3 You Say I Romanticize sounds a bit cleaner and more complex than its predecessors — but it’s clear the garage is still where Sweeping Promises feel safe. Bass rumbles, guitar snags on the ear like unsanded wood against fingertips, and percussion palpitations add a steady energy to proceedings. The instrumentation is simply louder and more defined than on Sweeping Promises’ past LPs, leaving plenty of room for even further cleanup and separation between stringed instruments if Schnug and Mondal decide to make a searing hard-rock album down the line.4
The incremental improvement in fidelity intensifies rather than blunts the music’s impact. Instead of relying on muddy mixing and compressed buzz to produce a sense of menacing darkness, Schnug finds the right riff to conjure a water-stained, dimly lit and rocking space while Mondal rattles its walls with her bass and provides a captivating centerpiece with her voice. Throughout the album, Mondal is a versatile force of nature She growls, brays, coos, howls, lets loose a defiant alveolar trill and delivers lyrics with a Frances Quinlanian flair that turns odd phrases into an instantly memorable melody.
The album highlight “Cocoon” showcases all of You Say I Romanticize‘s strengths. It’s a shiny rocker with edge. It manages to cram a couple of tasty and tasteful guitar solos and a slick dance-punk groove into its short runtime before finding a new level of intensity to wrap things up. It’s both simple and inexplicable. A quatrain describing the creation of a literal, tangible cocoon in pursuit of a figurative rebirth recurs throughout the song. Each time it comes back, intensity, speed and elision are increased. Mondal pushes the words “Hand over the wires/ Hand me those pliers/ Hand me that string/ Give it all up to me” in surprising directions depending on whether she’s mining for a bouncing rhythm within those syllables or slur like a raw-throated monster who also happens to be a longtime heavy smoker.
There are other triumphant moments to be sure. “Rapture, Or…” has a pleasantly pounding urgency that pairs well with Mondal’s Debbie Harry roar, “Abduction On Camera” builds up an aura of menace on darkly agile guitar before keys approximating a woodwind defang the vibe, “Shooting Shadows” kicks the LP off with an enjoyable thrash and “Write Lightly” provides a satisfying literary-minded capper. However, the unhinged energy of “Cocoon” is an unmatched pinnacle.
If You Say I Romanticize included a couple of songs, it’d be toeing the line of instant-classic status. Instead, it’s merely an extremely enjoyable 10-song, sub-40-minute testament to the primordial power of barely refined rock music.
About the writer
Ben Hohenstatt
Ben Hohenstatt is an Alaska-based dog owner who moonlights as a music writer and photographer.
For more information, consult your local library or with parental permission visit his website.
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The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Department of
Conversation
What did we watch?
Tales from the Crypt, “Dead Right” and “The Switch”
Two very fun episodes. “Dead Right” gives us a vibrant, ferocious, money-hungry Demi Moore who–on the advice of a seemingly trustworthy psychic–hitches herself to a filthy, obnoxious, fat-suited Jeffrey Tambor, who’s supposed to come into some money and die any day now. Like “Collection Completed,” this feels gleefully comic bookish in a way that 100% works. (Even all the “he’s fat and that’s both funny and disgusting” material feels of a piece with the ghoulish, cartoonish style in a way that works. Deliberate comic grotesquerie stings way less than more offhanded takes.) And Moore grabs the screen with both hands.
“The Switch” is equally cartoonish, if less ghoulish, and still very good fun: it stars William Hickey as a wealthy old man who swaps out his aging body, piece by piece, to try to win over his youthful love, but he forgets that there’s a lot more to life than being a pretty face. The cynicism here feels … perversely optimistic, really. Funny and fun, with good directorial and co-hosting work from Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Babylon 5, “The Parliament of Dreams”
G’Kar deals with a potential assassin–one avenging some unsavory political behavior in his earlier years (this show consistently accomplishes the rare feat of having bits of backstory that I actually care about)–and Sinclair deals with an ex. (While also possibly marrying Delenn via a Minbari ceremony.) And I finally get to meet Lennier! I’ve been waiting for this!
Various clever bits here, including how G’Kar and his aide set the assassin up at the end (about which the less Sinclair knows, the better), and I will admit to feeling surprisingly moved by Sinclair’s demonstration of Earth’s “dominant belief system.” It’s corny and obvious, but it’s still good to see. (Even if all the aliens are probably like, Well, shit, our planets also have cultural diversity, we just thought we had to pick one thing because you guys, WHO PLANNED THIS, kind of implied that.)
The main strength of B5 is being able to set up these plots that end with revelations of wheels-within-wheels scheming, and a side effect of this is that it’s so good at dropping huge revelations that actually do feel huge and cool just for their own sake. It fascinates me that Lennier and especially Garibaldi are the characters with little interesting backstory at all; the former has a one-line joke about it that lives in my head forever, but the latter is more subtle, having exactly the backstory you’d expect from him. Actually, if I had to pick a favourite backstory, it would be Sinclair; such a juicy, specific situation to find himself in.
I think it’s also something that works much better here than elsewhere because of the storytelling context, where the show leans into its space opera setup. Seeding these kinds of hints of a larger, more complex universe and its history is one of the pleasures and even points of the SFF genre (the character backstory hints are just another kind of worldbuilding, in effect).
Very intrigued by what you’ve mentioned!
This and The Substance convinced me that Demi Moore isn’t wooden at all when she’s in an angrier, rougher mode. She’d have been great in 40’s/50s noirs.
Oh, yeah. I could see her killing it in Detour.
Superstore, Season One, Episode Eleven, “Labor”
“Am I looking weak to you?”
“Okay, we get it, you know the term Braxton-Hicks, we’re all very impressed.”
“Well, my training kicked in.”
“I played the abortion doctor in a Hell House once.”
“I touch myself here and I pee myself a little bit!”
“No no no, you are not gonna forward us another article.”
“Nobody’s talking about unions and nobody’s going on strike!”
“Old rap on the knuckles from a big swinging weiner.”
“… Steve.”
“I just want you to know I know names beside Steve.”
“This company that couldn’t even spring for full donuts, just donut holes?”
Extremely good staging of Cheyenne actually giving birth behind Jonah and Amy arguing.
“Oh, could you just not baptise the baby?”
“You think I’m doing it wrong, but if I stack them five wide and low, they’re less prone to toppling.”
Fascinating to me how Jonah is completely correct – and history would almost immediately back him up given this aired before the Starbucks unionising – but also I get why nobody’s listening to him; partly because nobody wants to be the one to take the hit that would come with getting fired, but mostly because he’s a giant weiner. In fact, it takes Glen taking a bullet first when he ‘suspends’ Cheyenne with pay, only to get fired, for everyone else to jump on. And I’d absolutely trust Amy to pull off a strike but also get that, as an American, she’s got the basic “when do I get to bust a nut?” problem compounded with being a Hispanic woman, where just the shit we know indicates how few nuts she’s busted.
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, Season One
Kept this to myself until I finished because I correctly had the instinct that it would be worth going through the whole thing before dropping any analysis, and also I just couldn’t be fucked pausing it to write down lines. This is, obviously, great comedy that continues the tradition of 30 Rock. I was suspicious because the mockumentary format is not only old hat at this point, it’s actively dying; one can track the post-Office creatives slowly letting it go while retaining much of its spirit, with Parks & Rec retaining the format but throwing out literally everything else about it, and Brooklyn 99 keeps the basic idea of the filmmaking while throwing out even the talking heads.
I was intrigued because I trusted Carlock/Fey (though this is more of a Carlock joint) to brighten up the genre right when it was dying in much the same way 30 Rock did with the single-camera format, and lo and behold, they did exactly that. There’s a reason these people are filming a documentary and allowing themselves to be filmed, and there’s motivation behind everything – to the point that it only uses footage that could plausibly be found in the show’s universe, like Instagram feeds. It’s to the point that one scene skips over a section that would obviously not allow cameras, and another where Reggie interrupts a completely nonsensical and unnecessary interview. Naturally, I get a real kick out of this, particularly because they make jokes and character out of it.
I’m fascinated, too, by the subtle ways the show arguably builds off 30 Rock. Obviously Reggie Dinkins himself is basically Tracey Jordan revamped, and there’s no complaints there – Morgan is funny and more of his kind of humour is great; in a lot of ways, Brina is a revamp of Jenna Maroney (shallow) with much more intelligence. I was intrigued, though, by how Liz Lemon is kind of split between two characters, and for the better; I say that her particular neuroticism has been split between Arthur and Monica, with Monica mainly getting the desire for a normal, buttoned down life and Arthur getting the creative ambition and both, in different ways, acting as comic foil to everyone else.
I think the main reason people get frustrated with Liz Lemon is that she acts superior to everyone else but is, in many ways, criminally insane (like stealing a baby). Reggie Dinkins makes it work a lot better by splitting possible arcs for such a character; Monica is a normal person who lightens up a touch without ever really crossing the line, and Arthur is slowly revealed as arguably the most insane and unstable character (“I am not an organ donor! Do not take my organs!”), especially with his whole episode with Narcissa.
The cast is uniformly funny and my favourite tends to be whoever is onscreen at the moment. Radcliffe brings a very sincere energy to his character; I love his looks to the camera, because he looks like his soul is genuinely dying. Bobby Moynihan tends to steal most of his scenes though, partially because he tends to get the most insane lines (and I love that this is coupled with a completely straightforward sense of self-awareness, like his annoyance at being presented for the Hall of Fame), but also because he perfectly modulates to be too loud, but not so loud as to annoy the shit out of me. Like, Rusty is desperate to be taken seriously, but Moynihan isn’t. Precious Way tends to sneak up on me with her line readings too – she never breaks sincerity.
Precious Way and Alexander stood out to me and the show messes with what you’d expect of both characters; Monica isn’t bitter about Reggie or carrying a torch, and Brina’s reasoning for being with an older guy actually made sense. (“GIRLFRIEND SNAKE PRANK!”) My brother in law similarly observed like you that this is the first sitcom in years to mess with the mockumentary format in a creative and cool way. Community’s hospital episode digs at how shows like Modern Family use montage to wrap up plot neatly and in a sweet, standard way, this one doesn’t.
Notably Reggie is a lot saner and wiser than Tracy, in part because he isn’t (as) spoiled; he has a real goal too where Tracy is a chaos demon of a man.
The End of Oak Street – I wish these directors who want to make a loving homage to classic 80s adventure movies would step back a little and think about what it is that people actually enjoy about those movies. For me a big part of it is the witty screenplays and strong characters, the gloriously ornate practical FX, and often an emotional synth soundtrack by Dave Grusin or whatever (but I guess I’ll also accept John Williams orchestral opulence). This film is clearly going for full-on Spielberg magic but the characters are flat and uninteresting and the dialogue feels a little perfunctory, so the film grain, retro outfits and cars feel like surface-level nostalgia rather than really conjuring up that authentic feeling. There’s still some decent dinosaur action here, which the Jurassic sequels have proved is NOT easy to pull off, but it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity to me.
As I was first away and then busy yesterday with an eye doctor appointment, I am behind on writing up Elementary. I will thus just do a longer post about things on Thursday. But hey, they sort of adapted The Hound of the Baskervilles.
The Twilight Zone, “Hitch-Hiker” – Yeah, this one did nothing for me. Obvious twist, and boing as heck.
Lol I’m sure Elementary did better than Sherlock’s weird Baskervilles version!
Always Sunny, “Frank Marries A Corpse” – My god, the episode is even more than you’d expect from the title. The sheer payoff of the puppeteering here is great. Got distracted a bit however by how obvious it is that at least two of these people have had work done. Side note: My cousins started showing me some of the celebrities who have had surgeries (Bradley Cooper has the kind of eyes where this is not flattering) and while I am fine with plastic surgery in theory, my god, fucking stop, you rich fucks, stop, you looked FINE and now you are starting to look like extras in the movie Brazil. Age naturally!
What did we listen to?
1001 Albums, etc.
Depeche Mode – Violator: pretty great, this seems to be the consensus pick for Peak Mode and I have no objection. I do find their gloomy sound a little tiring at album length but the songwriting here is really strong.
Pixies – Bossanova: I like the Pixies but having THREE of their albums on the list but nothing by (for example) The Breeders feels like one of the major flaws of the book to me. This has some high points but it’s a fairly hefty step down from Doolittle and tells me very little new about the band.
Megadeth – Rust in Peace: still find these mildly more appealing than Metallica but it’s a lot of endless shredding without much to hold my interest.
Digital Underground – Sex Packets: the opening track / main single is one of the most annoying songs I’ve ever heard. Thankfully things pick up a little from there but this is a concept album with a pretty uninteresting concept and the phrase “sex packets”, which is heard 1,000 times during this album, is pretty unappealing.
Pet Shop Boys – Behaviour: I don’t think PSB will ever fully turn me around from the opinion that they’re one of the all-time great singles bands rather than producing great albums, but this one is a little more consistent than Actually. And, uh, the singles are amazing.
Happy Mondays – Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches: good fun. To critique the book a little more, why did we also need “Bummed” on the list? It’s very much a rough draft for this, where they’ve fully found their sound. Never one of my favourite bands but they’re unique and entertaining.
George Michael – Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1: a bit disappointing, his voice sounds amazing here but it’s largely in service of some pretty lukewarm ballads.
Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted: excellent energy, punchy production but the lyrics are so relentlessly, exhaustingly misogynistic that it’s a bit of a tough listen. The opening track with the “fuck you, Ice Cube!” chorus is fantastic though.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Ragged Glory: I’ve not really dug into 80s Neil (I think I did check out Trans at some point, out of curiosity) so can’t really comment on this as a return to form but it’s a really enjoyable, fuzzy record with killer gnarly guitar tones and only the one cover feeling a bit pointless to me.
Jane’s Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual: still a very odd band, who bounce between terrible and pretty damn good from song to song. I like them when they’re a bit more spacey, the funkier stuff is maybe less objectionable than RHCP but still not my thing at all.
LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out: not quite as strong as Ice Cube on the energy / production but the lyrics aren’t as relentlessly unpleasant so I’m gonna call it a tie.
Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet: really great, love how experimental they get on this one with instrumental tracks and wall-of-sound production. The more traditional rap stuff puts Ice and LL in the shade too (although I didn’t mind Cube turning up for a guest spot here at all). Feel like I might possibly prefer this to It Takes a Nation… but it’s close.
Sinéad O’Connor – I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got: this was a pleasant surprise, obviously “Nothing Compares 2 U” is an incredible single but I thought the rest of this might fall a bit into the same “great voice, weak ballads” territory as George Michael but it’s actually a really fascinating album with a wide range of sounds from traditional folk to catchy pop-rock, basically all of which I enjoyed.
A Tribe Called Quest – People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm: this has a good vibe but it felt a little samey and overlong to me. I did listen in the car though, it might benefit from a closer listen where I can pay more attention to the lyrics.
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Screen Drafts, The Reiner Run – a fun and heartfelt episode with plenty of drama, including one of the GMs just vanishing from the call unexplained. I’ve had some issues with Bryan Cogman on this show in the past but his defence of The Princess Bride after somebody attempted to play it ridiculously low brought a tear to my eye. In the end I was happy with the top two films, but Harry Met Sally got a little screwed. I should probably see A Few Good Men at some point, odd blind spot.
Blank Check, interview with Andrew Stanton and most of the Finding Dory episode – really fun getting the director on board for a bonus episode! And the Dory episode is fun, I like Zach Cherry as a guest.
Ford Focus is covering The Frisco Kid this week, and Jordan Hoffman (who revels in Jewish content in movies more than any other critic I know) is the guest. I really enjoy him as a guest, but the idea of listening to one of his weekly podcasts is unappealing. There are people who are best taken in small doses. And his high energy is perfect opposite Keith Phipps’s low energy.
A couple of new releases from last week are worth a shout.
Kiwi Jr. – Blowin’ Up
This Canadian band continues to make affable, warm slacker rock. This time there’s a bit more theatricality than usual and not coincidentally more organ. An extremely impressive array of people helped out on this, including Graham Walsh, Joe Casey and Greg Ahee of Protomartyr, Margaux Bouchaudon of En Attendant Ana and Kerri Maclellan of Alvvays.
The album-closer was my personal favorite track.
Real Numbers- Was It Always This Way
The Smiths by numbers in a totally pleasant way.
The Rialto Report – Giving this a try as it’s a long-running podcast on an interesting niche subject, namely 70s and 80s American porn, and the episode in question is on an even more interesting subject: Kathy Harcourt, considered the first British star Stateside…until she was apparently murdered possibly by the mob in a drug ripoff gone wrong. The truth isn’t as glamorous and still we get some insight into how it must have felt to be in sex work and entertainment in the 70s with plenty of drugs, sex, and travel to the extent that you need a break from the whirlwind.
Listened to Ceremony’s new album so The Sounding Board got results! Unfortunately was not a huge fan still though I liked the closer “Paradise” a lot; not coincidentally it felt very personal and had some variety in the structure.
I refuse to believe “Caufield Schnug” is a real name. And I’m undecided on the bassist and drummer’s names too if I’m honest.
(More seriously – I struggled to get into the last album when everyone was raving about it but I’ll give this one a go now)