Mid-Year Means More Music: The EPs

Why review records we've already talked about, when there's so much more out there-here are some great short players from Softcult, Teen Daze, crushed, Lake Haze, Jasper de Cuester, and Nia Archives.

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If you’re a longtime reader of Check This Out!, you know I typically don’t like to use the middle of the calendar year to pick my favorite records of the past six months. Instead, it’s an opportunity to give you even more music you may have missed that I haven’t discussed yet. There are only so many newsletter opportunities in the week, so a lot of what I have in regular rotation doesn’t make it on here, and now’s a great time to go through them.

I’m dividing this up this year into a list of EPs today, while the LPs review will drop Friday. Know that just because I may only have a sentence or two about an album doesn’t mean I like it less than the stuff I save complete reviews for - it’s very possible to love an album without having many notes on it. With that being said, here are some enjoyable short players that I’ve been into, with a lil’ somethin’ for everyone… for the record, my favorite EP of the year is still Billy Tibbal’s amazing retro power pop with Stay Teenage. Here’s what I had to say about it when I reviewed it in April:

Londoner-turned Angeleno Billy Tibbals landed on my radar last year after releasing his excellent debut double a-side of “Onwards and Upwards” and “Lucy.” Now he’s back with Stay Teenage, a six-song outing that is pure whiskey and bubblegum-scented glam rock perfection. “Hollywood Baby” shares some Bowie-esque qualities to draw you in, but it’s the haywire combo of “Best Day I Ever Had” and “Hurt So Bad” that seal the deal. Even when things slow down on the string-drenched “Three In the Morning,” Stay Teenage is soaked in classic rock glory. Freshly out of high school, Tibbals is already well ahead of the game and a rising talent in the retro-dyed Los Angeles scene - I can’t wait to hear what’s next.

If you haven’t listened yet, you’re really missing out!

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Softcult - See You In the Dark

If you prefer your shoegaze to be Canadian with pop moments, look no further than See You In the Dark by Kitchener, Ontario’s Softcult. Consisting of twin sisters Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn, the duo has played in bands together for the past decade, but Softcult is genuinely theirs. Everything from the cover art to the self-published zine is under their creative direction. See You In the Dark is their third EP in three years, consisting of songs left off from last year’s Year of the Snake. That doesn’t mean they’re leftovers. In fact, for my taste, the shoegaze turns on the EP works in their favor. Highlights include “Drain” (not a Nirvana cover) and the gorgeous “Love Song” (not a cover of 311 covering The Cure). While we wait for the full-length debut, the Arn-Horns continue to show why the EP format is so fun, with a fresh taster every year.

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Teen Daze - Fountains of the World

Any time Jamison Isaak releases something under his longstanding Teen Daze moniker, I’m there. We last checked in with him in January with the excellent Natural Movement EP, and Fountains of the World continues his further experimentations with house music. This one took a bit more for me to get into than usual, but digging it back out this summer has given me a new appreciation for these four songs. “Persona” is a dip into acid house with a distorted Roland TB-303 bassline and soothing piano chords working in harmony, but “Proof” is where it’s at with its funky bass and handclaps drifting off into the cosmos. The title track and “Have a Nice Time” encourage just that, as Isaak finds the sweet spot between his atmospheric past and house present. With four EPs scheduled this year, including this summer’s Wind Surfer, Teen Daze is building to have quite the 2023.

crushed - extra life

This time from Los Angeles, more excellent shoegaze, with crush’s debut EP, extra life. The short player collects their three previously released singles in “Waterlily,” which plays with the shoegaze formula by adding some trip-hop beats, “Coil,” which rides that hot nineties wave, and the lo-fi beats of the drifting “Milksugar.” We also get three new songs, each marking progression in the duo Bre Morell and Shaun Durkan’s sound.

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Lake Haze - Coordinates Of A Decaying World, Pure Movements, and Everything Was Melting

Here’s a threefer from one of the most underrated producers at the moment. Lake Haze released my second favorite record of 2021 with Sun Rising On Concrete Landscapes, and after last year’s pretty good Henosis, the Lisbon producer is already three EPs deep in just six months. Each has its unique vibe, with Coordinates Of A Decaying World being atmospherically darker (highlight track: “Acid Genesis”), Pure Movements is gorgeously ambient (highlight track: “Ephemeral”), and Everything Was Melting (highlight track: “Vamos al la Playa”) full of club-ready acid and breakbeats. If you like Lake Haze, prepare to be spoiled, as his next one, Ionosphere, is out at the end of July.

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Jasper De Cuester - Wavelength

If blissed-out balmy chillwave is your thing, Jasper De Cuester will take you to your happy place (and if you don’t know blissed-out balmy chillwave is your thing, it’s time to hit play and enjoy the summer).

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Nia Archives - Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against Tha Wall

Between a few EPs and a bunch of singles over the past two years, Nia Archives has quickly gained a ton of buzz across the pond, and her latest Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against That Wall sounds ready for primetime. Now on Island Records, Archives intends this latest EP to be the appetizer for her upcoming full-length debut, and I’m enticed. Mixing classic jungle and neo-soul is her wheelhouse, like on “Baianá,” which pays tribute to samba and bossa nova mashed together with drum and bass. Still, Archives also incorporates more indie elements on this latest release, like on the remarkably catchy “So Tell Me…” which features a chorus guitar, and strings.

Dig any of these EPs, or have a favorite short player from this year that I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments!