HYLI Vol. LXX - Wednesday and Victory Over The Sun
It's Midyear AOTY week: Patrick sends Andy his favorite record of the year, Wednesday's Rat Saw God, and Andy sends Patrick one of his favorite records this year since he's dumb and already did his #1
Hello my good friends. Welcome back to another installment of Hope You Like It. I Hope You have been enjoying Hope You Like It. Patrick and I have liked writing Hope You Like It. Since we’ve started this we’ve had 2 kids (Patrick: hey, it’s Patrick here, I’d like to clarify that we didn’t have the kids together, alright that’s it thanks, also it was my birthday yesterday thanks for subbing), we listened to around 70 new albums together, we yelled at each other a bunch (both in this newsletter and in text), and hopefully made a few of you laugh along the way. Listening to what Patrick sends me is one of the best parts of my week (Patrick: :) so same bestie). Hope he can say the same (Patrick: I did)!
Wednesday - Rat Saw God
Patrick: This is a fun one because, in the circle of the indie-rock internet that I frequent, it seems like there is a general consensus that this is one of the best, if not thee best, records of the last handful of years and yet my good friend Andy, I’m sure, has read none of those pieces and seen none of that discourse since he’s a little metal freak (Andy: true, never heard of them until now). Of course, this opens me up to him coming back with his usual “this doesn’t go hard why don’t they go hard wah wah wahhhh” shit, but if he doesn’t realize how hard Wednesday the Band goes, he needs to get his head checked (Andy: jesus give me a chance to speak before you come at me).
This is perfect music to me. Equal parts shoegaze and alt-country with enough just general Rock Music thrown in, as well. “Hot Rotten Grass Smell” sets the tone perfectly, letting you know exactly what you’re in for and then “Bull Believer” - in all of its 8 1/2 minute glory - burns the house down. I saw Wednesday live here in Charlotte - about 2 hours away from their home in Asheville - and they closed the set with “Bull Believer” and it was truly one of my favorite concert-going experiences in a long time. Just ample amounts of catharsis coming through with deafening amounts of fuzz pedal riffs. I fucking love the pedal steel guitar. I’ve never heard it do shit that it does when Xandy Chelmis plays it. Instantly legendary performances.
I predict Andy will dislike “Formula One” and “Quarry” and that would be stupid of him as they’re the two best songs on the record. When MJ Lenderman joins Karly Hartzman to do the little duet part at the end of “Formula One,” that’s one of my favorite moments in music this year. “Quarry” has the hook of all hooks this year imo. There’s a fun music video where they rock out the chorus inside of a U-Haul truck. I love North Carolina so much. “Chosen to Deserve” has maybe the best riff of the year that is an instant earworm, with fantastic lyrics taking inspiration from one of my GOATs - Drive-By Truckers - who are also namedropped on “Bath County,” one of the best and most intense songs of the year. It’s a Drive-By Truckers Summer, folks.
I think this is pretty much the perfect record. There’s heaviness and screaming if you want that, there’s absolutely nutso guitar work from the electric and the pedal steel if instrumentation is your thing, and there’s so many fucking melodies here. Melodies on hooks on choruses. I really, truly, do not know what else you could want or need from music. I love it so much. I Hope You Like It. If You Say Shit About Them, Retribution Will Come Swiftly and Without Compromise, Your Body Will Have to Be Identified Using Dental Records (Andy: buying this shirt immediately).
Andy: I get no credit here. Not an ounce. Patrick is out here taking shots at me before he’s heard a single word about what I have to say (Patrick: :) love u). I partly wanted to rewrite this entire review bashing it to pieces just to ruin his day. But I won’t because I have a strong, honest brand to uphold. You’re lucky.
I loved this. This is one of the best things Patrick has recommended in the history of this Newsletter. He’s such an Idiot for thinking I would maybe not like this.
My limited exposure to MJ Lenderman makes me feel like his influence is felt all over this album. I get the same sort of fuzzy, hyped-up feeling listening to this as I did to his Boat Songs last year. Guy just knows how to write music (Patrick: he’s the lead guitarist here and I believe all, or maybe just most of, the songwriting is done by his partner, the vocalist, Karly, but I think I get what you mean). The build-up on these songs is intoxicating. The melodies here are great.
Karly Hartzman, the lead singer, is unique enough to satisfy me without being “too classicly good” or whatever. She delivers such a stunning performance here, commanding the softer sections while fearlessly diving into the album's more intense and dramatic moments - a balancing act that the album does a great job at. "Bull Believer" is an 8-minute banger that starts slow before erupting into a post-metal-inspired noise breakdown (Patrick: it’s more shoegaze to me but I get that you’re trying here, appreciate you). Honestly, that track has a chance at being a top song of the year for me (Patrick: wow!!!). The ending is unreal. “Turkey Vultures” takes a similar approach. “What’s So Funny” slows it down but still pulls at you the right way.
I loved this. Give me more like this. I Loved This.
Victory Over The Sun - Dance You Monster To My Soft Song!
Andy: While not technically my mid-year album of the year (we’ve already covered both Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean and the Acacia Strain), Dance You Monster To My Soft Song! is on the shortlist for sure. None just dropped a new album that is sure to make the shortlist but we did their last record on here already as well.
There will be obvious similarities drawn between this and Liturgy as they’re both extremely good, solo-project, avant-garde black metal by trans women. Honestly, what Vivian Tylinska has released might eclipse anything that Liturgy has done. She’s managed to make it somehow both more simple and more complex than previous albums.
Tylinska has taken the most aggressive black metal and melded it with all sorts of flavors - post-punk, industrial, alternative, and hell, even threw some dance and funk. She’s not just dipping her toes in the avant-garde pool, she’s soaked in it. You can practically hear the blood, sweat, and tears that went into creating this beast. I mean, Tylinska's vocals on this thing? Stellar. It's clear she's pulling out all the stops. Everything from the insane production quality to the ambitious composition and on-point execution screams passion. Spend some time with this album, let it wash over you and seep into your bones. It's worth it, I promise.
Hope You Like It.
Patrick: This is so crazy. I haven’t heard anything like Victory Over the Sun. The first track here, “Thorn Woos the Wound,” contains in its 16-minute runtime moments that remind me of Deafheaven, the jazzier moments of Between the Buried and Me, and the experimental post-metal of Rosetta on their latter albums. It threw me for such a loop listening to it for the first few times, but, when you land on this single song lasting the length of some Joyce Manor albums, it makes sense that they’d shake it up a bit.
Andy mentioned that this is a solo project and that really blew my mind. “The Gold of Having Nothing” at times reminds me of what I’d imagine Black Country New Road would sound like if they were a metal band, complete with saxophone, trumpet and strings, along with your typical metal band instrumentation. I realize that in the studio and in the age of digital recording, anyone can do anything on their own, but the sheer amount of layers here accomplished by one person was really impressive to me.
Honestly, I wouldn’t say I loved the rest of the album. “Wheel” almost feels like an afterthought compared to the other four tracks on the album, all totaling over 10 minutes each. “Madeline Becoming Judy” is a track I think I appreciate more than I enjoy, with its second half including almost dance instrumentation, with synth, a borderline beat and a massive tempo increase. Ultimately, though, this felt the first time where there was just a little too much going on. But between “Thorn Woos the Wound,” “The Gold of Having Nothing” and “Black Heralds” - maybe the heaviest and most traditional track here - we’re running at around 38 minutes and the length of most albums anyways. I probably would have cut the other two tracks but I get it. Really cool album that I probably respect more than I love, while having some really cool moments. Cool shit!