Obscurity Knocks #2: Strange November Days (11/5/23)
The five best songs played on Obscurity Knocks on 89.9 WLCA this week.
Another Sunday, another show in the books! This might end up being one of the last busy weeks of the year as things start to grind to a halt due to Listmas, but alas, let’s enjoy the onslaught of music while we can! So below, check out five of my favorite songs played on this week’s Obscurity Knocks on 89.9 WLCA, plus some honorable mentions:
HONESTY - “NIGHTWORLD”
RIYL: PENDANT, Burial, the especially dancier Strange Ranger material, early James Blake
I became aware of HONESTY earlier on in the year thanks to the news of their signing to Partisan Records, and so far the three singles (+ a remix) they’ve released show a hell of a lot of promise, especially the latest one “NIGHTWORLD.” If you, like me, were a huge fan of PENDANT’s Harp last year, give this one a go, as this really feels like a nice continuation of the work Chris Adams was doing on that record, but just a lot more British this time around.
Footballhead - “Habits”
RIYL: The early-to-mid 90s gold rush of alternative rock in the wake of R.E.M. & Nirvana going mainstream, Narrow Head, snow ellet
You know what was a good album? Fleshwater’s We’re Not Here To Be Loved. While Footballhead isn’t quite as heavy as Fleshwater, they’ve still got a solid level of heaviness & fuzz to their platonic 90s alt rock sound like Fleshwater that’s easy to fall for. They’ve also got a little bit of a Joyce Manor-style philosophy to their songwriting, as sometimes a great song only needs to be less than two minutes long and it can still get stuck in your head when you just stick the hooks everywhere. Really awesome track from a band I’m excited to hear more from in 2023.
Summer Set - “Center of Attention”
RIYL: 70s soft rock/power pop revival with a little bit of twang, Dr. Dog, Fruit Bats, Woods, Kurt Vile
This one was a last minute addition to the show as I had to cut some tracks due to FCC violations, but God am I glad to added it to the show as this song is just charming as hell. While I wrote my own RIYLs for this one, here’s the list the band/label provided:
FOR FANS OF: Beulah, Beachwood Sparks, BRONCHO, Destroyer, Devendra Banhart, Dr. Dog, Drug Cabin, Girls, Good Morning, Grandaddy, Irving, KITIMOTO, MGMT, Helado Negro, The Nude Party, Pavement, The Radio Dept., R.E.M., The Replacements, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The Sea and Cake, Spiritualized, Spoon, Small Black, Steely Dan, TOPS, Kurt Vile, Wilco, Wild Nothing, Woods, Yo La Tengo
That’s a lot of band with some pretty disparate sounds, yet I do hear all of this somehow in this track, as at the end of the day: it’s some great porch beer music. Special thanks to my good friend Taylor Grimes from Swim Into The Sound for recommending this one on Twitter!
Hotline TNT - “History Channel”
RIYL: They Are Gutting A Body of Water, Toner, Sword II, Enumclaw, Blue Smiley
For many, many years, the appeal of shoegaze allured me. I could fuck with some dream pop every now and then but capital S Shoegaze just never grabbed me, even the classics. But eventually something clicked in my brain (I won’t reveal what track caused shoegaze to click with me, because it’s borderline embarrassing, but all that matters is that I heard a song from a big popstar that used shoegaze guitars and I loved it) in the last two years and I cannot get enough of this new wave of shoegaze, with Hotline TNT being the latest to breakthrough from the scene, as from what I’ve read, Cartwheel seems to be a real revelation from them, tying together years of work for something as accessible as it is engrossing. There are lots of great tracks on this album, but “History Channel” is the one that grabbed me most immediately of the non-singles, as goddamn this is just some powerful music in the most literal sense with forceful percussion, intense yet not overwhelming layers of distortion, and frontman Will Anderson providing a solid anchor within all the noise with purely great songwriting. Just an amazing cut off an amazing album.
Actress - “Its me ( g 8 )”
RIYL: Adult Swim bumper music, Hype Williams (the band, not the music video director), FlyLo FM-core
I became aware of Actress a couple of years ago thanks, once again, to the Dean Blunt subreddit/fan community. While their music hasn’t fully connected with me historically, this track just fucking hits. I have not listened to the entire album yet due to Obligations™, but this song is just a really fantastic, borderline vaporwave & plunderphonics track I’d be surprised isn’t already being considered for bumper music between Adult Swim programs. If you wish The Avalanches got a little more psychedelic with it, give this one a go.
And now, some honorable mentions that I also really liked from this week’s show:
Pip Blom - “I Can Be Your Man”
PAPOOZ - “DON’T YOU THINK IT’D BE NICE ?”
Sweet Pill - “The Medic” (Foxing cover)
Narrow Head - “Medicine” (Momma cover)
Daneshevskaya - “ROY G BIV”
Frog - “Black on Black on Black”
Jockstrap, Taylor Skye - “I Touch”
PENDANT - “Jumbo” (Underworld cover)
This Week’s Playlist:
Obscurity Knocks Highlights for 2023:
Listen to Obscurity Knocks every Sunday from 12 - 3 PM CT on wlcafm.com or the Radio FX app (Look for Lewis & Clark Community College).