MINNESOTA SOUND REVIEWS - 8/3/22
Review by: Jonathan Fuller, Writer @JonnyDarko3 and James Adamiak, Writer @RisingPathMusic
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @PlaylistTC
Top songs on the Minnesota Sound playlist.
Chastity brown "Back Seat"
“Back Seat” opens with a gentle acoustic guitar and synth pad. The vocals enter front and center, commanding the attention of the listener. The song breaks into a simple yet driving electronic drum beat with fuzzy, staccato synthesizers. The chorus has a gentle swing to it, adding a grooving bass line and electric guitars. “Back Seat” is full of textures and sweet melodies. To hear more from Chastity Brown check out their latest album “Sing to the Walls.”
Hippo Campus "Ashtray"
“Ashtray” opens with an aggressive, jangling electric guitar. The song keeps a fairly breakneck tempo throughout and features an infectious chorus melody. Some characteristically Hippo Campus-esque noodling guitar leads provide a nice instrumental break. The song ends with a major energy boost. Shouted group vocals and a nice little step up on the gain knobs for most instruments provides a satisfying conclusion to an otherwise great song.
Foe "Tell Your Friends"
“Tell Your Friends” features fuzzy guitars and prominent, dramatic vocal lines. The song has a lightheartedly dark energy to it, with a twinge of psychedelia. The drums sound big, with a good amount of low end. The back half of the song turns the heat up a notch, with even bigger drums, bigger guitar chords and more psychedelic vocal melodies. To hear more from Foe check out their previous single “Say.”
King Swank "Sony"
“Sony” features hard hitting trap drums, a heavily auto-tuned vocal hook and some witty rap verses. The beat is dark and mid-tempo with a syrupy synth arpeggio and deep bass hits. The hook is catchy and melodic. Overall this song is a great listen. Be sure to check out King Swank’s previous release “Whatever.”
White Line Darko "The Times"
“The Times” is a sprawling indie rock bop with a nice, high quality DIY production sound. Arcade quality synths pierce through a wash of scratchy guitars, drum and bass. The song is full of background vocal harmonies layered under frontman Kenny Zierman’s echoing indie vocal melodies. The song kicks into high gear every now and again with a major distortion boost, breaking up the pace of the five and a half minute track nicely. “The Times” is White Line Darko’s latest release.
Gully Boys “See You See”
“See you see” finds Gully Boys venturing deeper into the world of electronic production. With soft synth pads, glistening chimes and a small, simple electronic drum beat holding down the instrumental for the majority of the track. The song ends up exploding into a massive crescendo towards the end which is quite satisfying. However, most of “See You See” relies on its strong vocal melodies and a lowkey, pleasant atmosphere to draw the listener in. This single is super promising and has us waiting with baited breath to see what the band does next!
