Masterpiece

Heavy, swaggery rock ’n roll four-piece anchored by the razor sharp singing and autobiographical songwriting of Adrienne Lenker. They’re on Bright Eyes’ old label Saddle Creek, which makes sense because they play a lot with emo bands but have more of a 90s heartland alt-rock sensibility. Cathartic, emotionally bracing, with brief folk moments among the full-on rock. They’re getting big pretty fast, and for good reason. RIYL Magnolia Electric Co, Mitski, Angel Olsen, Pinegrove. FCCs on 2, 3 (borderline), 7. Favorites: 4, 5, 7, 12.

1. (1:58)—Lo-fi recording of acoustic guitar and vocals.
2. (3:51)—FCC (“this place smells like p***”). Loud, slow strut, reminds me of Heartless Bastards.
3. (2:19)—Borderline FCC (there’s no obscene language, but it’s pretty obvious what her lover’s doing). Mid-tempo, driving, pretty.
4. *(4:17)—Slow and loud, epic. Builds twice in four minutes. Great noisy guitar breakdown.
5. *(3:24)—Mid-tempo, tight, catchy, a little surfy. Whispered vocals. Last 30 seconds sound like they came from a childhood home video.
6. (1:54)—Slow, melancholy guitar picking. Heavy Marissa Nadler feel.
7. *(3:04)—FCC (s***), but this song is so good you should play it all the time during safe harbor. Slow, smooth, seductive, chill-inducing, with lava flow guitar and the catchiest chorus on the entire record.
8. (3:23)—Mid-tempo, propulsive bash-out. High-pitched, strained vocals.
9. (2:36)—Multitracked fingerpicked guitar. Freak folk-ish.
10. (3:06)—Alternates between slow, somewhat mathy verses and fast, sunny choruses.
11. (3:09)—Simple ballad with woozy fingerpicked electric guitar. Ends with recording of bird sounds.
12. *(4:23)—Slow, warm, sad, grand. If it’s not safe harbor and you can’t play track 7, this is similar.