INDIE ROCK - GARAGE / LOUD

Singer-songwriter-guitarist Alex Peterson (they/them, says the band’s lengthy Bandcamp profile) leads a Texas-based quartet called (ironically?) alexalone: others provide drums, guitars, bass, keys, effects, and a female backing vocal. Their profile calls the music “soft songs played loud.” That sums it up well; the moody but under-mixed singing is washed away in a full-on, glorious, shoegazey (even if that word is passé) flood of hard rock sound.

FCC clean (though lyrics are sometimes hard to discern).

1 ** “Electric Sickness” - mid-fast. Steady grinding rhythm supports subdued duet vocals. Play it loud. (3:31)
2 “Where in the World” - mid-slow, loud guitar & drums surround short, quieter, slower vocal segments. (6:11)
3 * “Unpacking my Feelings” - mid-tempo. Loud power blues with a melancholy feeling. RIYL Jack White. (3:34)
4 “Can’t Sleep” - slow. a long crescendo. sort of dreary in comparison to the rest. (3:35)
5 * “Let it Go” - mid-tempo. Quite different: by far the most melodic & listener friendly “song”. (4:06)
6 “Black Rainbow” - mid-fast. Raucous guitar & drum surround two verses of spoken poetry. Very dark. (7:11)
7 ** “Ruins” - mid-tempo to slow. Lots going on here: a very moody tone; spooky two-voice unison singing; the only real lead-guitar solo of the album. Challenging but intriguing. (6:00)
8 ** “Eavesdropper” - mid-fast. An instrumental sonic thunderstorm: loud, driving & intensely rhythmic, featuring guitars, drums, synths, space sounds, the works. (5:57)