Lawndry has done an excellent job of surprisingly sneaking up with an excellent new album. Over the course of the past three years they’ve released an EP, fun Oasis and Yoko inspired tracks as well as odes to the Nashville Airport Smoker’s Lounge and their favorite artists. What may have slipped past you in that duration is that the band was focusing in on their delivery, eschewing the garage rock tendencies for the layered, dreamy, pop of Lake Life.

The Banana Tapes release is available on cassette (naturally) and as one single, long playing, digital track. While it’s a bit frustrating in these modern times to not be able to jump to your favorite track or sample an album by skipping around through titles, it’s exactly that restriction that forces you to sit and experience the entire album. And that’s for the best in this case as Lake Life has an aural continuity from start to finish, complete with a production style that feels literal to the album title – recorded in a quiet space near the lake. The album starts with the sounds of a boat and some creaking and hustling before giving way to twenty minutes of perfectly layered organic and synthetic instrumentation.

The tape hiss at the start of the record and the segues of tinkering instruments implies an album more ramshackle and spur of the moment than a detailed listen reveals. The production feels intentional, meant to put you in a specific head space, rather than a disposable veneer of style. The vocals and melodies are forelorn and introspective but injected with a feeling of optimism. WOTT has been accused of being overly esoteric and earnest in its reviews but when the shoe fits, wear it.

Lake Life is a wonderful piece of work and a pleasant surprise from a band that’s been underestimated until this moment.

Kyle Hamlett has been playing under the pseudonym Lylas for over a decade. In that time, there’s been a number of full-length albums, a rotating cast of players and an impressive growth in the style of songwriting. 2017’s Warm Harm is dark and tense without being inaccessible, a gem you may have overlooked.

Despite those accolades to Lylas, there’s always room for re-invention. For the Rabbits recently debuted a song from Kyle Hamlett Uno, the solo undertaking of the Lylas songwriter. “Sense Apart” is taken from the forthcoming full-length album Nowhere Far due March 29th and explores a lighter side of Hamlett. There’s a straightforward drum machine loop flourished with a rather interesting guitar tone, a little harmonica and an overall bouncy feel.

It’s too early to say what the entire record will hold but this first single is a promising indicator of something quite different from Lylas and, one assumes, every bit as captivating.

The latest single, and accompanying video, from Waterfall Wash has a lot going for it. Let’s run down a proper checklist:

• ✓ Relentless running from masked creatures presumably intent on killing
• ✓ A drummer playing in a field of tall weeds
• ✓ Realistic flop sweat and bandana
• ✓ Impressive choreographed hiding inside of an abandoned structure
• ✓ An emphatic and memorable sing-a-long chorus

The track is taken from an upcoming full-length from the band that I’ve had the pleasure of previewing and this track is just a hint at more enjoyable, quality, rock songs coming down the pipe. For now, head over to YouTube, Spotify, Bandcamp or wherever you like to hear your music and enjoy.

The debut EP from New to Nashville Full Mood is an immersive and haunting journey. The lead track “I Thought I Would Never Fit in My Own Body” sets the tone with light piano and programmed drums, enveloping the listener in a crescendo of vocals and a few touches of ominous tones.

From there, the album travels down a darker path, incorporating more foreboding elements the further in you go. “Rodeo” eschews the light piano and doubles down on the hard hitting reverb drums, followed by “Blood” that embraces a chaotic guitar outbreak; all layered by soaring vocals. “Knife” doubles down again with moments of complete cacophony before giving way to “Orange”, the shoegazing ender that drifts away.

The band may have had differing motivations when writing and recording the EP but as an outsider, it registers as a descent into a lost, hellish, place before emerging on the other side. It’s a record that’s easy to imagine seeing live being played top to bottom with a light show that pulls the listener in to the emotional journey.