The beginning of 2017 has already offered us some very, very good indie rock with two great releases from Japandroids and Ty Segall. Much like with Ty Segallโs album, I kind of stumbled acrossย Cloud Nothings through YouTube. It was the fantastic โEnter Entirelyโ that put them on my radar and when I learned that they had just releasedย Life Without Sound with that aforementioned track, I had to see what else they had to offer.
Come to find out,ย Life Without Sound is right up my alley, with the kind of raw, almost garage band quality, guitar heavy rock that I love so much. You wonโt find any pop rock here or really arena anthems, just a couple guitars, drums, and vocals. It all feels earnest and genuine, and done for the love of rock, in a way that feels missing from a lot of bigger releases. I mentioned โEnter Entirelyโ earlier and itโs honestly one of the best songs Iโve heard all year; the drums are crisp, guitars are sharp, and itโs so good when it breaks down into the hook. โDarkened Ringsโ is frenetic and in your face and โUp to the Surfaceโ is a great soft opening that makes great use of the piano. The only song I wasnโt feeling was โRealize My Fateโ, which was a little too all over the place for me.
โAnd now the lights are turning on here
My mind has fallen
And taken everything it knows now
About belonging
Thereโs someone I would like to be if I could be but
The path is frightening
So when I fall away then I would like to see
I enter entirelyโ
The vocals while not the best Iโve heard, are strong enough to carry the album and he commits with such conviction that it makes it easy to overlook his shortcomings as a singer. The whole ofย Life Without Soundย is dripped with emotion and uncertainty about life, belonging, and trying to move forward. All in all, itโs a very strong album that mostly delivers that intimate, earnest rock that I love and is easily one of the best rock releases so far in 2017.
Have you heardย Life Without Sound? Whatโd you think about it? Do you like this sort of indie, garage rock? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to leave your rating for the album.
