Featured
Alternative Band PRETTY AWKWARD New “Get Weird” Album Is A Stand-Out Debut
The eleven songs on PRETTY AWKWARD’s Get Weird range from reflections on personal experiences to anthemic crowd-pleasers that will resonate with young and old alike. Veteran songwriters and musicians Nicholas Wiggins and Austin Held recruited a first-class cadre of collaborators to flesh out their musical vision and they play as a band rather than a glorified solo vehicle for either man. The stylistic dexterity evident throughout the album likewise coheres rather than sounding like a mishmash of conflicting aims. PRETTY AWKWARD’s songs sound like the results of an outfit that began the recording process knowing exactly what they hoped to achieve and clearing every hurdle with room to spare.
You can hear their confident self-assurance in the album’s opener. “Hang Out” presents listeners with a scenario that’s easily relatable to the band’s target audience but, likewise, cuts across age demographics. It’s youthful, without question, but even older listeners of a certain type can remember staying up into the wee hours intoxicated with friends and/or romantic partners. It’s a song portraying the tightly knit confederacies of friendship in a unique way and the lightly atmospheric arrangement helps bring it to unusual life.
PRETTY AWKWARD continues an impressive run to open the album with its next two tracks. “Misfits” is one of the release’s best numbers and a bonafide anthemic gem. It gains much of its power from the deliberate scaffolding that the band erects for the performance; its steady escalatory pace culminates in a soaring chorus. “Get Weird” is a memorable title song that relies much more on atmospherics than the other ten cuts. The band’s command of manipulating light and shadow excels here and Held delivers one of his best vocal performances.
The simmering and often effervescent pop of “Bad Habit” opens with a brief snippet of piano before segueing into the main body of the song. Alternative music fans will latch onto the slinky percussion driving the tune and it gives the track an irresistibly stylish veneer. “Castle Walls” is an especially inspired songwriting clinic that turns the band once again towards the anthemic. They’ve hit upon their idiosyncratic language, however, and write about self-realization and seizing the day with undeniable flair. It’s one of Get Weird’s most impassioned moments.
“Woozy” is one of the album’s marquee cuts. If you want to put forth one song out of the eleven that sounds and feels truly representative of PRETTY AWKWARD’s gifts, then this is it. Each of their cuts has a clear subject matter that relates to everyday life, and this is no different. This pop-influence romp about a dysfunctional yet addictive relationship crisscrosses multiple genres without ever disorienting listeners and has an entertaining melody you won’t soon forget.
They end the album on a melancholy yet ultimately victorious note. “Burn” definitely embraces a “better to burn out than fade away” spirit, but listeners will come away from this sure that PRETTY AWKWARD won’t be fading out anytime soon. It’s an invigorating and thoughtful tune illustrating their range better than other already outstanding songs on Get Weird. This album deserves your attention and more as they’ve written and recorded one of 2023’s best Alt.Pop collections.
Skyler Voss
Album Review
The Pink Diamond Revue create their own musical universe on “At The Discotheque” album
“At The Discotheque,” a decade-in-the-making album, blends vintage musical influences with forward-facing electronic experimentation. The album fuses 1950s rock ‘n’ roll, vintage blues, surf guitar, synth-punk, acid house, and electronic music into a sound defined by contrast. It looks to musical history while finding new possibilities in modern production.
The album kicks off with “She Is,“ introducing ACiD DoL, the artificial female mannequin that is the band’s frontwoman and central visual figure. “The Fuzz Guitar“ combines classic rock sounds with modern electronic production, while “Portable Radio“ transforms retro transistor radio broadcasts into rhythmic loops.
Elsewhere, “The Ton Up Boy” winks at 50s and 60s British motorcycle culture, adding another dimension to the album’s retro underpinnings. The Pink Diamond Revue also ventures into more experimental and darker territory. “Acid Dol“ delves into the darker side of the mysterious figurehead with industrial bass and fierce electronic rhythms, and “Lux“ conjures a hypnotic atmosphere with smoky club visuals and psychedelic textures.
The title track, “At The Discotheque,” shines a light on the dancefloor as a space of freedom, escape, and musical expression. The tracks “Go Go Girl,” “Way Out,” and “Microdot” take that energy even further, with space-rock influences, rave-inspired rhythms, and gritty industrial sounds.
“Final Meal Request“ feels like something out of a classic horror or noir film, and the three versions of “Milkshake“ each present a different aspect of the band’s sound, ranging from blues-rock to psychedelic dub to atmospheric reverb. “At The Discotheque” feels more like an exploration of musical eras, giving the project its own identity, and keeps the album moving between the familiar and the unexpected.
Artist Spotlight
Tingting Wu celebrates courage and freedom in instrumental piece “Carried by the Wind”
“Carried by the Wind” is an instrumental piano piece by concert pianist and composer Tingting Wu that gives a cinematic sense of freedom. It creates a sense of motion, taking you on a journey across a vast musical landscape where the rush of wind, the far-off waves of the ocean, and a strong sense of possibility come together.
Wu uses the piano to create an experience of courage, emotional openness, and determination to move forward. It has a thrilling character, the feeling of being lifted out of the known, of finding the liberty to embrace new possibilities. It’s a welcome hint of intimacy, a moment where openness and courage can take the same emotional journey.
Tingting Wu’s history as a concert pianist and composer shapes the release’s artistic identity. She founded LUMIMUSIC, a full concert experience that fuses live piano performance with lighting to explore the relationship between sound, emotion, and visual expression. That creative philosophy is reflected in the imagination of “Carried by the Wind,” where the piano becomes a narrative instrument, conjuring vivid scenes without words.
“Carried by the Wind” celebrates progress and inner strength. The most interesting part is the distinction between the fearless cinematic energy and its quieter emotional center, the composition with a sense of humanity under its expansive atmosphere. Tingting Wu keeps searching for ways instrumental music can tell a story, asking you to find your own meaning in every note.
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