digital archive

southern california’s uni boys’ self-titled fourth album shimmers with echoes of 1970s power pop founders like shoes, the beat, and flamin’ groovies. it contains all the ingredients to make a genre pundit fall instantly in love. tracks like “victim of myself” blast off with bristling guitars and exuberant melodies, while others feature punky new wave rhythms, beatlesque energy, and vintage falsettos. with bright harmonies from the lemon twigs, earnest vocals, and intertwining guitar jams, this gem delivers everything an ardent fan could wish for. these twelve tunes will stay implanted a long time.

one of the best debuts of the 2020’s japanese collective trooper salute debuts with 友達がいました [tomodachi ga imashita]. not to get too hasty, but i’m already in love with the sound and ideas brimming forth from this project. there is an endless wonder captured by the various styles blending harmoniously into entities of sound uniquely their own. hayato komiya’s lyrics are pointed and nostalgic without being overbearing or heady. the penultimate title track (i had a friend) is original in its structure as it is ambitious.