Cheap Thrills - Q2 2024

This quarter: dream pop, fantasy synth, experimental punk, and more!

I'm technically not late with this one! It's a solstice miracle! Hold on--I'm being told that the solstice was actually over a week ago. Well, the point stands--I managed to finish this one at the end of the proper quarter, and I couldn't be happier to present these name-your-price albums for your consideration. 

Pastel Dream - Too Much Too Fast

This Seattle quintet brings you a refreshing round of sweet n' breezy dream pop, awash in reverb and packed with sunny melodies. Jangly guitars and hazy synths provide the melodic backdrop for Caitlyn Whitfield's wistful reflections on summer, past loves, and all the other nostalgic topics that you'd expect from a band with this aesthetic. For an album titled Too Much Too Fast, this collection of tracks is remarkably easygoing and relaxing, which just so happens to be exactly what I needed at the end of a hectic school year!

Meraki - Curiosity: The Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Meraki

It's been a while since I've found something that scratched this particular itch, but luckily, I stumbled across the debut album from Meraki which just so happens to be their only album (I'm a bit sad about that last part). You can't swing a dead cat without hitting some "laid back mathy emo." on Bandcamp, but something about the twin guitars and rough-around-the-edges vocals made this release stand out to me as feeling more earnest and less of a transparent attempt to sound like American Football. That's no to say that Meraki reinvents the wheel with Curiosity, but they sure sound like they're having fun with all the tempo changes and satisfying guitar interplay. Check out the dueling vocals on "Baghdad Ass Up" (also a great song title), which alternate between singsong spoken word and hoarse punk shouts as the track abruptly changes tempo into its dissonant halftime coda. 

Daydream Plus - Escape At Your Own Pace

I only recently learned of this summery instrumental project from Max Klebanoff and Payson Power, who some may recognize as the drummer and rhythm guitarist of Canadian death metal powerhouse Tomb Mold. Daydream Plus is very clearly aiming for a different vibe. It's a nice, smooth blend of prog, fusion, math rock, and even some video game soundtracks, and the band's motto (as well as the first song on this latest EP) says it all: "gently technical". You can jam this in the car as you drive around with the windows down, add it to your pool/picnic/patio playlist, or just vibe in the comfort of your own room. Daydream Plus is not here to judge. 

Frostgard - Coranar

Dungeon synth based on Lord o the Rings? Tired. Dungeon synth based on a specific passage from The Silmarillion pertaining to the elven calendar and its seasons? WIRED. 

As you tell, I am still firmly in my fantasy/dungeon synth phase, and while I cannot sit here with a straight face and tell you that I don't find most of this stuff corny, I am rapidly approaching the point where I just don't care anymore because the vibes are impeccable. Something about synth horns and strings playing medieval-sounding melodies makes for fantastic reading and model-building music. For about $3, you can download a bunch of chill ambient tunes from a guy whose Bandcamp bio reads:

"I am a Dark Elf. I have wandered through the forests of Beleriand without ever having seen the light of Valinor."

Honestly, who am I to question that?

Elastic Riot - Bordernoia

I considered including this one on my latest Invisible Oranges list, but I figured it wasn't "heavy" enough to make the cut. Nonetheless, I am way into what this "disastrous band of losers" (their words, not mine) has been cooking up over the last decade or so, a mix of punk, noise rock, and prog that will leave your head spinning. Elastic Riot describes the music on this album as "Terrible music for nice people, not vice-versa", and while I do not think that this is meant as a tongue-in-cheek and self deprecating comment on Bordernoia's grimy alien soundscapes, fans of that kind of music will find a lot to love here. "Ambaradan" opens with squelching synthesizer and cowbell-accented drums before a filthy jazz rock riff slithers into the mix, fades into a haunting musicbox segue, and then returns even bigger and badder than before. Similar sonic chaos occurs on "L'apocalisse incombe", which juxtaposes meandering keys with drunken, angular guitar stabs and heavily distorted vocals. I don't know where this band has been all my life, but I'm glad that I've got some new avant-garde weirdness to keep me on my toes.

For the brutal stuff, check out the latest metal/punk edition of Cheap Thrills over on Invisible Oranges!