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.
There’s something to be said for keeping things simple.
Not every long-player needs to be a densely packed double album, a capital-S statement or take a big stylistic detour through noisy, experimental brambles. It’s absolutely enough for a band to pick a tried-and-true path that jibes with a project’s skill set and artistic vision and follow that road to the best of its ability.
Tomorrow! Or the Day After That is a testament to the value of consistently doing something well.1 The second album from Wide Orbit, an Illinois-based band led by Ryan Tuohy, is no more or less than 40 minutes of warm, catchy, slightly ragged tunes that would sound right coming out of a tavern’s jukebox or any pre-2000 car’s speakers.2 For the most part, no single song is bowl-you-over excellent, but as a collective, the LP is a thoroughly charming, completely satisfying work of heartland power pop.
Despite near-uniform high marks across the board, a few songs manage to stand out. Album-opener, “Lake,” is perfectly positioned to introduce the album’s sound and sensibility. “Let’s get back to basics,” sings Tuohy in an amiable Midwestern near-drawl that will be familiar to fans of Jeff Tweedy and/or Jason Molina. Strummed acoustic guitar, jaunty piano and electric guitar that passes through the track like a stinging insect in pursuit of a cracked window sketch out what the basics mean for Wide Orbit.
“Fish Fry,” one of Tomorrow! Or the Day After That’s briskest songs uses those tools to build a freewheeling ode to the lynchpin of any community calendar’s Friday listing. The song’s title is sung in outbursts of layered harmony that punctuate verses. It’s a structure that brings the ‘60s and Batman series theme song to mind, and in Wide Orbit’s hands, it’s similarly undeniable. “Tomorrow” is more of a sketch or an interlude than a full-on song, but 84 seconds of guitar picking and whistling stands out on an album that skews toward boisterous.
“Forget How to Talk” and “The Immaculate Conception and The Suicide Death” are more typical of the LP. The former is a driving rocker that pairs the album’s most extensive guitar noodling with wordless backing vocals and pounded keys before coasting to a stop in a pretty place. There’s no one credited with playing the organ on the album, but someone — probably Ethan Machamer, who plays piano and keyboard — figured out how to achieve a convincing approximation of one as group-sung nonsense syllables bring the track to a close.
“The Immaculate Conception and The Suicide Death” is the longest, seemingly most ambitious and flat-out best song on Tomorrow! Or the Day After That. At over six minutes and 30 seconds long, the song reaches a rowdy apex as Tuohy riffs on the phrase, “I think I’m gonna die,” but it takes its time getting there. Along the way are slower, gentler moments of harmonizing, moody guitar breaks and lyrics about lapses in and relapses back to faith. It’s hard not to be smiling as the noise clears like haze, and the song is punctuated by an interrupted guitar chord. Wide Orbit had a showstopper on their hands and picked the right moment to deploy it.
Despite its many virtues, Tomorrow! Or the Day After That falls just short of being the sort of Americana-tinged cult classic like Wilco’s Being There or Songs Ohia’s The Magnolia Electric Co.3 A lot of that has less to do with Wide Orbit’s ideas than how those ideas were captured.
The album sometimes sounds a little muddy, which can play up its simple charms but deflate its grander moments. Tomorrow! OR the Day After That is also a curious listen through headphones. One ear might get guitar strumming while the other ear gets seemingly everything else. These stumbling blocks are completely understandable since the LP was written, recorded and produced by Tuohy, but they do color the listening experience.
These nits are worth picking. Wide Orbit has enough talent to conceivably produce a roots rock classic down the line, so pointing out how they could tighten up feels worthwhile. However, these are decidedly minor grievances. Anyone who plays this album loud —possibly while driving — is unlikely to care, or even notice.
That’s another upside to simplicity.
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 listen to?
Listening to Depeche Mode because the meh American Psycho musical – or the one song I liked – reminded me of Depeche Mode, and hey, I, at 34 years old, might become a Depeche Mode fan! I said the band’s name a lot in one sentence. This live album 101 is good and I like the frontman’s swagger and muscle, which makes them stand out compared to other, more outright morose goth bands of the same era.
Other selections: Carrie, The Musical is fascinating and while not all of it works, it’s ambitious and has some great Jim Steinman-esque songs and one especially standout ballad in “When There’s No One.” Caught up on some 2025 music I missed; Wednesday’s album Bleeds is excellent, as is Westerman’s A Jackal’s Wedding. He’s really in a quieter and less poppy register now.
Depeche Mode have some absolutely stellar songs but I tend to find their albums a bit samey – I’ve not tried a live album but I can see that being a good way to delve into their best stuff!
wallflower’s recommendation for a starter and it helps that they’re evidently a strong live band circa 1989.
1001 Albums, etc.
Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville: heard this one before and only enjoyed it more on this revisit. I hear a huge influence from this on a lot of music I love today, it has some of the aesthetics of grunge (loud, angry guitars, angst) but with a more melodic vocal sensibility and variety of songwriting. Really good.
The Afghan Whigs – Gentlemen: I’ve never understood the love for this band, they have some decent musical ideas but the singer reminds me of an indie-rock Bono, which is a hurdle I cannot overcome.
Aimee Mann – Whatever: really rich arrangements and production. I’m not sure Aimee Mann is my thing exactly but she’s easy to admire, the songs are memorable and the general sound is so lush.
Grant Lee Buffalo – Fuzzy: never really dug into these before, I enjoyed this well enough but probably not enough to inspire further investigations. Again I can see their influence on a lot of modern stuff but it’s stuff I’m not as fond of as the descendants of Liz Phair.
Nirvana – In Utero: I admire the deliberate step away from the mainstream here and most of it is really strong, I do kinda miss the poppy edge that Nevermind has though. I think they’re mostly on a level though, never my favourite band but head and shoulders above most of the other grunge acts.
Jamiroquai – Emergency on Planet Earth: never warmed to this British funk-pop outfit or their annoying frontman but this debut album was actually pretty enjoyable, especially when said vocalist takes a break and the band get to show off their chops.
Pet Shop Boys – Very: final PSB album on the list and it’s another good one, they’re pushing their sound more into dance-music territory and updating for the 90s very well. Maybe the peaks aren’t quite as high as their previous albums on the list but they’re still a great singles band and the deeper cuts are solid too.
PJ Harvey – Rid of Me: the Albini production here is absolutely savage, this really sounds like you’re in the room and the band are on top of their game. I’m still slightly more into the melodic songwriting of Liz Phair when it comes to Angry Women Of 1993 but this has an undeniable power.
—
New Stuff…
Wishy – Nature’s Pill – quite enjoyed the previous album by this Indianapolis indie-rock band but this one feels like a big step up and although it’s early days I feel like this might trouble my 2026 favourites list. They mix shoegaze, punk, powerpop and some 90s indie sounds really well, aided by some real earworm choruses.
300SkullsAndCounting & Jenny Sparks – THIS IS SPA TOWN! – got randomly pitched this by Instagram this morning and had to check it out, it’s a baffling mix of lo-fi electronic production, rap and screamed vocals that I cannot deny I had a lot of fun with. Looks like it got a glowing review from Pitchfork too, it feels too weird to make a real breakthrough but it’s fun seeing something this distinct (and extremely British) get a bit of time in the sun.
Podcasts…
Blank Check, After Hours – really fun, having recently bumped this up to my favourite (?) Scorsese it was fun to hear it dissected at length, I enjoyed the guest too although I still don’t really understand who she is.
Screen Drafts, Hal Ashby, Montgomery Clift – two solid episodes on topics I’m only slightly familiar with. I should really get around to checking out Being There, although I’ve found myself slightly allergic to Peter Sellers elsewhere. Having two editors rank the Ashby filmography offered some interesting insight. Enjoyed Karina Longworth on the Clift episode, I’m not sure I’ll ever click with her style on “You Must Remember This” but she was a good fit for the show.
Cosigning that Wishy endorsement! The new album is great.
Theoretical Aimee Mann is almost always better for me than actually listening to Aimee Mann, but I do adore her team up with Ted Leo under the moniker the Both. Their 2014 album is close to the platonic ideal of power pop.
Interesting, I wasn’t aware of that team-up! Will check it out!
Yeah, what I’ve heard from the new Wishy kills. I liked them fine and I saw them open for Momma last year, but this is great.
I knew about The Both but never really listened to it, which is odd as I am a big Ted Leo fan.
What did we watch?
Superstore, Season Two, Episode Seven, “Halloween Theft”
“Everything is a weapon.”
“What about guns?”
“No, those are fine.”
“Peer pressure from a group of people I don’t respect! How scary!”
Glenn is there saying we’re all trying to find the guy who did this.
Watching Amy actually have fun for a change without it being forced on her is a nice difference.
“Oh Glenn, if I were you, I would have killed myself years ago.”
The older employee chasing the guy dressed as the Grim Reaper made me laugh.
Oof, Jonah talking about jewellery and feminism is an oof.
“Oh, I just meant… the employees. Customers can leave. So unfreeze.”
“Looks matter, Jonah. You should know that, being the prettiest person in here.”
“I heard that she was drinking again.”
“Noooooo… alcohol?”
“… I think so, yeah.”
“You do not have the courage or the intelligence to have stolen anything.”
“Then why are you even talking to me?”
“I just wanted you to know that.”
Really cheap but good gag to have each member of the staff reacting to the same thing (Dina’s interrogation).
“Stop interrogating yourself!”
“Secret meeting.”
“Smart.”
“I have some questions about what Cheyenne said.”
“But my caveman brains says ‘boobs’.”
“You could just not look at her.”
“Have you seen my eyeline?! It’s unavoidable!”
“Fair enough.”
“Look how dim it is! What is this, a nightclub?”
“I’m really rooting for that story to be true.”
“Oh. Sweetie. Hang up.”
“Bye Emma! It’s Glenn. I’m a hotdog!”
“I admit I stole the fruit like some kind of Arabian street rat?”
“And if you don’t like it, you can go kick a cow!”
“I’m going to go home, cut myself out of this costume and make love to my wife! If she’s up to it!”
“By the way, I’m Brexit. How has nobody asked me about that all day?”
Oh, yeah, I recognized a bunch of these lines right away, and then I realized it’s because this one has become a semi-regular staple of our Halloween rewatches, so I’ve seen it quite a bit. (Actually, part of the reason it’s semi-regular is because Superstore has four.) And speaking of holiday episodes, I’m looking forward to Black Friday in two weeks.
The Dina stuff is very funny, the Garrett stuff about Dina is very funny, Glenn telling off Dina is very funny.
Catching up on Sunday and Monday shows and a couple of other things we’d fallen behind on.
Fun theme: Between Sunday’s Grimsburg and Monday’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, we had a running theme of inappropriate behavior, shenanigans, and fiascoes at children’s sporting events. (Although in Grimsburg it’s somehow fueled more by the children than the adults.)
Less fun theme: Catching up on Futurama (one more to go) and realizing both it and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia did a Gilligan’s Island episode within a week of each other. Parodying and referencing a 60-year-old TV show that you may have watched in reruns as a kid is a real sign you’re running out of ideas.
(And yeah, the “Ocean’s Three” episode of Futurama was pretty bad. I had a few legitimate laughs, but the very subject matter of each of the three segments suggested a real empty creative tank.)
Agreed on Always Sunny, Charlie’s perpetual misunderstandings were funny, less so everything else.
Deep into Hacks S4 which is good and it speaks to how much I care about the central relationship that watching them fight and rip into each other hurts. Probably good that they seem to have mended things however as it was just hitting a point where the episodes could have gotten repetitive. Enjoyed Ava having a nervous breakdown after, well, everything, including running a network late night show, and Deborah being truly vulnerable once she realizes how much she’s hurt her. (“That day…you broke my heart.” “Well, you broke mine first, so…”)
Notes: Jimmy Kimmel is much funnier when playing a prick version of himself than the real guy. “I’m engaged but I’m not marrying him!” More of the former Hasidic Jewish assistant who has never seen movies, please. “Do you know Sandra Bullock? We should get her!” “She has really good representation, unfortunately.” Fun to see Julianne Nicholson playing broader and funnier as a mom who’s gone viral on TikTok.
Killer Nun – another cult / horror DVD I’ve had sat around for ages, felt like I should finally clear it from the backlog and it turned out my reluctance was justified. This just isn’t really my flavour of Euro-trash filmmaking alas, the soundtrack is great (show me an Italian genre movie that does not have a great score! It is impossible!) but the plot about a nun losing her mind and going on a spree of sex and murder just didn’t really feel as fun / shocking as it probably should.
I have a similar DVD lying around with almost the same plot that I gotta at least try. (Better longer title however.)
I bought a ton of cult movies back when DVDs / blurays were cheaper and I had a little more disposable income and watched all the ones I was actually excited about pretty quickly, but I’m too stubborn not to watch all of the less appealing impulse buys eventually. Hopefully there are still a few gems in there even if this was not one!
Year of the Month updates:
Here’s all the movies, albums, books from 1998 you can sign up for this October!
Oct. 3rd: Gillian Nelson: Movie Surfers
Oct. 4th: Tristan J. Nankervis: Pi
Oct. 9th: Gillian Nelson: Mighty Joe Young
Oct. 13th: John Bruni: High Art
Oct. 18th: Tristan J. Nankervis: Who Moved My Cheese?
Oct. 30th: Gillian Nelson: Halloweentown
And coming in November, get ready to write about anything from 1968! Here’s some lists of movies, albums, books, and TV to get you started.
Nov. 8th: Tristan Nankervis: Night of the Living Dead
Nov. 22nd: Tristan Nankervis: Slouching Towards Bethlehem