Musical March Madness: Final Four

By Kyle Halligan-Duffy 

Music Journalist 

March is a time for spring flowers, sports and, in this year’s case, some incredible album releases. From a new Playboi Carti album to a surprise drop from long-time prog outfit Jethro Tull, everybody got a good taste of new music this month. I especially got a good mouthful, and I want to share my thoughts as I sink my teeth onto four heavily anticipated new LP’s.

At number four we have the highly anticipated second full-length album from metal band Spiritbox, “Tsunami Sea”. While this album has some heavy, djent riffed songs with some ethereal, heavy shoegaze tracks mixed in, it lacks a real identity.  There are some songs in here that have potential to be a fingerprint for the band. Tracks like “Black Rainbow” with its robotic vocals and “No Loss, No Love” with a warped breakdown harken back to Courtney LaPlante and Mike Stringer’s previous work with Iwrestledabearonce but with new vibrancy. 

 But other songs like “Fata Morgana” and, the albums namesake, “Tsunami Sea” just feel like watered down versions of other hardcore and heavy shoegaze bands like Knocked Loose or Deftones respectively.  “Tsunami Sea” is a step in the right direction for Spiritbox but leaves behind some growing pains after a few listens.  

At number three we have the eleventh studio album from Coheed and Cambria and third in the vein of the Vaxis narrative “The Father of Make Believe.” This album marks a turning point in Vaxis’ story as well as a retrospective to Coheed and Cambria’s discography. The intro track “Yesterday’s Lost” uses motifs from previous albums like “the Afterman: Ascension/Descension” and “The Second Stage Turbine Blade” which any long-time fan would recognize. 

As we dig deeper into the track list, however, we see Vaxis take the form of Claudio Sanchez, the band’s lead. 

Starting after “Someone Who Can”, which the music video for it is a look back into the bands past, we get into “The Continuum” parts I-IV which express Claudio’s feelings on the passage of time, his own growth as a person and his newfound flock of fans and followers.  

“The Flood” has lyrics like “The choice isn’t mine, to have my time erased, will you remember, I took up this space?” reflecting on his own mortality and my personal favorite chorus from “Welcome to Forever Mr. Nobody” which goes, “I Plead, Is it so hard to see, A better version of me?” which then gets uplifted with “Tethered together”  with another belting chorus “We’ll all sing together, from the first verse, to the last word.” 

But while this album is a testament to who Coheed and Cambria are as a band, it’s still formulaic in its approach with well-known 6/8 arpeggios and clear ballads that have always been the bands go to. That is why it remains at number three. 

At number two we have a surprise drop from Pop Punk powerhouse A Day to Remember “Big Ole Album Vol. 1.”  

A return to form from their previous LP “You’re Welcome” which felt hammy and forced, this new album is reminiscent of the band’s past but brings something new with it. “Big Ole Album” gives us heavy breakdowns, upbeat pop punk anthems, and vocalist Jeremy McKinnon at his upmost peak. 

Tracks like “Bad Blood” are A Day to Remembers bread and butter and give us a catchy pop chorus with a filthy breakdown near the end and the harsh vocals have never sounded better. But there are still new and experimental songs like “To the Death” that go full on, heavy noise rock without chasing the trends of previous bands.  

The album is perfectly rounded as well with songs like “Die for Me” calming it down near the midpoint of the track list and fun, corny party songs like “All My Friends” breaking up the monotony.  From start to finish, this album is A Day to Remember to its core and gives fans everything they want, but there is something experimental and new that number one on this list has that puts it above all the rest.  

Finally, at number one, we have George William Lewis Jr., aka Twin Shadow’s, sixth studio album “Georgie.” This intimate, soft rock album is a masterclass in production as it has no recorded percussion whatsoever. Instead, Lewis uses guitar scratching, sampling and many other post-production techniques to create the illusion of a rhythm section.  

From the very beginning tracks like “Totally Blue” and “Good Times” showcase Twin Shadow’s signature warped synth sound with intimate and echoey layered vocals and guitar licks. But then Lewis then begins to play with our expectations. 

 Tracks like “Funny Games” have scratch muting and specific guitar picking to give a light rhythmic quality. Then it gets even harder to differentiate what is a drum and what is not when we get to songs like “Emily”, which have stuttered vocal samples creating a syncopated beat, and the final track “Hide it in Attraction” sampling mic bumps and buffs to create a bass drum sound.  

“Georgie” is grossly intimate, beautifully written, and should be studied by anybody wanting to get into music production. The creativity here astounded me and put this up at some of my favorite albums of all time and easily number one in this list.