Local Music Round-Up | The Florists & Fragile Canyons

The Florists - Prayer Starter

Prayer Starter, the debut full-length from Minneapolis trio the Florists, is a Jackson Pollock painting. Tracks overflow with surrealist, theatrical glee, then immediately nosedive into chaotic noise. There's an honest-to-God five-minute post-punk experimental rap meltdown ("Churches"), and it slaps. Absurd, queer, hilarious lyrics flow in and out of the listener's consciousness like the math from that one scene in The Hangover. There's a song about indie rock, and yes, it was one of the singles. It also has one of the best bass lines I've heard in a punk song in a while. They sample the 1975 and what sounds like the Roblox "oof." The Florists are loud. They're unapologetic. And they're one of the most unquestionably creative and independent bands in the Cities.

Prayer Starter is out now. Listen below.

Fragile Canyons - Slow Dancing Beyond Silverdome EP

I'm a sucker for an album that starts off with a long song (especially if the ensuing tracks are comparatively shorter). "The Shade," which kicks off Fragile Canyons' new EP, fills its seven-plus-minute run time with an expansive sense of wonder and space. It breathes as it unhurriedly heads to its destination. There is a brief exception to the carefree pace - the band creates a jammy and joyous chase sequence right in the middle of it all. By the time it slows down again, the song is out of breath and laughing. While "The Shade" is a definite highlight, the remaining tunes continually showcase quality songwriting, a love of atmosphere, and peaceful, delightful music. Lead vocalist Andy Engstrom sings with grace and melds with the fluid guitars beneath. "Light Upon Light" boasts some gorgeous harmonies from Engstrom, Nick Baker (guitar/flugelhorn/keys), and Noah Welter (bass/keys). However, virtually none of the EP's five songs would work without the dual electric guitars of Engstrom and Baker. At almost any given moment, one is anchoring the song with gentle strumming while the other plucks notes out of the air like falling leaves. Fragile Canyons' sound is rounded out by Chase Wackerfuss' percussion - without his sensible drumming, the quartet wouldn't sound nearly as focused. Slow Dancing Beyond Silverdome abounds with vibrant, grin-inducing moments. At times, they sound like the War on Drugs on muscle relaxants (I mean that in an exceedingly good way); at others, they echo the looseness of the Dead. No matter what, they always sound like Fragile Canyons. Futile Crayons forever.

Listen to Slow Dancing Beyond Silverdome below. All proceeds go to benefit the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.