Obscurity Knocks #15: The Universe Is Shown (3/10/24)
The five best songs played on Obscurity Knocks on 89.9 WLCA this week.
And we’re back! Really missed doing the show last week but y’know I was too busy developing my Uncle Magic powers so I was pretty occupied with that.
Oh and before I forget, if you wanna hear full episodes of Obscurity Knocks, become a supporter of the Indieheads Podcast on Patreon! This week’s episode will be up there for all of our paid supporters tomorrow, so if you wanna hear the songs and my commentary live, bam, it’s there!
Anyways, we’re back in the saddle here at Obscurity Knocks and once again, I’ve got five great songs (plus some more if you’re feeling really adventurous) heading your way, so let’s hear the best of what I played this week on 89.9 WLCA:
Mo Troper - “The Billy Joel Fan Club”
RIYL: 2nd Grade, Tony Molina, Diners, Elvis Costello, Wreckless Eric, power pop revival
Power pop maestro Mo Troper is once again back with another god damn heater of a song, all in tribute to the late Billy Joel (RIP Billy Joel we love you Piano Man forever and ever baby). Just kidding of course, but the hilarious music video posits a scenario where he has passed away, and so once again RIP Billy Joel you aren’t dead yet but this blurb is there for when you it does happen. Anyways, I love this song so much because it’s about sharing a specific special interest with someone you’re crushing on, and that’s one of the most relatable things in the world to me, so I am very glad there is finally a song all about that feeling.
For the sake of transparency, my place of work, Planetary Group, is working Mo Troper to college radio right now.
Dana Gavanski - “Ears Were Growing”
RIYL: Cate Le Bon (the album Reward in particular), Weyes Blood, Aoife Nessa Frances, Kristine Leschper, Mega Bog
One of my most anticipated records of the year (only because I still haven’t listened to the advance in full, sorry Mike!) is Dana Gavanski’s LATE SLAP, which seems to promise some amazing baroque pop, as she’s currently 3 for 3 on the singles with the kooky “Ears Were Growing”, with its bouncy rhythm that splits the difference between David Byrne, Kate Bush and Cate Le Bon. I love my sad depressing shit just like any other guy, but sometimes you want just want a fun song, and this is that.
Hannah Frances - “Keeper of the Shepherd”
RIYL: H.C. McEntire, Rosali, Adrianne Lenker, Joni Mitchell, Haley Heynderickx, Jeff Buckley
Like many folks, I immediately flocked to Hannah Frances’ Keeper of the Shepard upon it getting Best New Music from Pitchfork earlier this week, and while I don’t love this record like they do, I do love the album’s title track. It’s an Americana-styled ditty that’s as devastating as it is driving. Despite its 6 1/2 minute runtime, it doesn’t feel that long at all, as the song just breezes past me. If you wish Adrianne Lenker got way more country with it, then this is a must-listen if the Pitchfork BNM co-sign wasn’t enough.
Mildlife - “Forever”
RIYL: Babe Rainbow, Tame Impala, Dungen, Orions Belte, Parcels
Look if you know me, you know that I fucking hate Tame Impala. In particular, their 2015 album Currents, an album that I find truly overrated at best, and detestable at worst (I go in-depth on why on an episode of the Indieheads Podcast). So to see Tame Impala in the RIYLs here might make you think it’s Opposite Day, but I assure you it’s not, as while this band might share a home country with Kevin Parker and a similar fascination with psychedelic music, Mildlife take a much more jazzy, borderline jammy approach compared to the 60s wall of sound & 80s pop pastiche stylings of Parker. Intro track “Forever” off their recently released Chorus is an excellent song that weirdly reminds me a lot of Young Jesus’ Welcome to Conceptual Beach (still a great album, btw), but just much more Australian.
For the sake of transparency, my place of work, Planetary Group, is working Mildlife to college radio right now.
Bleary Eyed - “2 True”
RIYL: They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Full Body 2, Hotline TNT, Sword II, Blue Smiley
So this was a very good week or two for fans of the Philly shoegaze/shoegaze-adjacent scene, as we got new music from a lot of bands in said scene this week (some of which is posted below in the honorable mentions), but my favorite of the bunch was Bleary Eyed’s “2 True”, which falls more in the weirdo TAGABOW camp of shoegaze more than your downer Knifeplay kind of shit. Look if you’re a big fan of TAGABOW like me, you’re gonna like this track a lot, not much more I can say!
Honorable Mentions:
St. Vincent - “Broken Man”
For the first time in a long time: St. Vincent has made a good song. Money Makes You Stupid is a curable disease after all!
Jimmy Montague - “No New Starts (For Broken Hearts)”
Look at this album cover. Imagine what an album/song with this album cover sounds like. It probably sounds exactly like this song, and that’s a high compliment.
Tomato Flower - “Do It”
Palm by way of Cate Le Bon’s Mug Museum.
They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Greg Mendez, SUN ORGAN - “krillin”
It’s a TAGABOW song with Greg Mendez, of course it’s bait for guys like me.
HOMESHAKE - “Smoke”
Homeshake is the last artist I expected to hop onto the shoegaze/slowcore-wave, and he does it better than he has any right to. Shockingly extremely good.
Porij - “Unpredictable”
For the sake of transparency, my place of work, Planetary Group, is working Porij to college radio right now.
Chastity Belt - “Chemtrails”
I have been very split on Chastity Belt’s whole deal for a long time, but this is on the good side of said deal.
This Week’s Playlist:
Hour 1:
St. Vincent - Broken Man (from All Born Screaming) [Virgin]
Gouge Away - Spaced Out (from Deep Sage) [Deathwish]
Footballhead - Rug (from Overthinking Everything) [Tiny Engines]
Mo Troper - The Billy Joel Fan Club (from Svengali) [Lame-O]
Perennial - Art History (from Lemon On Plastic) [EJRC]
Jimmy Montague - No New Starts (For Broken Hearts) (from Tomorrow’s Coffee) [Self-Released]
Dana Gavanski - Ears Were Growing (from LATE SLAP) [Full Time Hobby]
Kim Gordon - Psychedelic Orgasm (from The Collective) [Matador]
Bolis Pupul - Doctor Says (from Letter To Yu) [DEEWEE/Because Music]
Yard Act - Down By The Stream (from Where’s My Utopia?) [Republic]
Been Stellar - Passing Judgment (from Scream From New York, NY) [Dirty Hit]
fantasy of a broken heart - AFV (single) [Dots Per Inch]
Dehd - Light On (from Poetry) [Fat Possum]
Hannah Frances - Keeper of the Shepherd (from Keeper of the Shepherd) [Ruination]
Hour 2:
Mildlife - Forever (from Chorus) [Heavenly/PIAS]
Faye Webster - He Loves Me Yeah! (from Underdressed at the Symphony) [Secretly Canadian]
Rosali - Bite Down (from Bite Down) [Merge]
Tomato Flower - Do It (from No) [Ramp Local]
Maxband - Lines (from Maxband On Ice) [Holm Front]
They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Greg Mendez, SUN ORGAN - krillin (single) [Julia’s War]
HOMESHAKE - Smoke (from CD Wallet) [SHHOAMKEE]
Joyer - Fall Apart (from Night Songs) [Hit The North]
Bleary Eyed - 2 True (single) [Born Losers]
A Country Western - The Dreamer (from Life On The Lawn) [Crafted Sounds]
Mei Semones - Tegami (from Kabutomushi) [Bayonet]
Bad Bad Hats - TPA (from Bad Bad Hats) [Don Giovanni]
Porij - Unpredictable (from Teething) [Play It Again Sam]
Chastity Belt - Chemtrails (from Live Laugh Love) [Suicide Squeeze]
Hour 3 (2007 to 2005 Deep Cuts, skipped 2008 because that year is a wash for me, sorry folks):
St. Vincent - Your Lips Are Red
Animal Collective - Cuckoo Cuckoo
My Chemical Romance - Sleep
Scott Walker - Hand Me Ups
Björk - Vertebrae By Vertebrae
Sufjan Stevens - They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh!
Panic! At The Disco - Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks
Mount Eerie - The Universe Is Shown
Animal Collective - Bees
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Obscurity Knocks Highlights for 2024:
Listen to Obscurity Knocks live every Sunday from 12 - 3 PM CT on wlcafm.com, the Radio FX app (Look for Lewis & Clark Community College), or the Radio Garden app (search for WLCA).