Lapdogs - Zoo EP (self-released)
Ah, the demo. I love it. Unpolished, unhinged, unprepared. One of the best ways for bands to keep fans appeased between gigs. The members of Lapdogs know this, which brings us to their new demo EP, Zoo. Only four tracks long, it embraces the natural rawness in their garage-y sound. Lapdogs play like their songs' life expectancies are rapidly diminishing and they've got to get them into the world before they finally go. Another plus of the demo is its tendency to capture the energy of live shows. The trio explodes on each track; a personal favorite is the ending of "so long." The cacophony shatters a crevasse in the earth and swallows them. All across Zoo, there are tiny eruptions of sonic bliss. Jack Daily of Fox Theory and Eric Cuevas contributed production.
Oklahoma - "Sharp Dressed Love" (self-released)
The pop-rockers in Oklahoma (the band, not the state) are finally set to release their debut record Fever Dream after teasing it for the past year. The group stays in their wheelhouse of Killers-influenced songs, but now they lean more into the Sam's Town side of things. "Sharp Dressed Love" is as relentless as a gust of wind, brushing across a Minnesota (or Oklahoma, I suppose) plain. There's almost a pride in how relentless it is. Melodies scramble over each other to be the hook that gets stuck in your head. Yet again, I find that Oklahoma takes inherently played-out elements and makes them engaging. They find ways to combine lovelorn lyrics, capital-I "Indie," and pure momentum in a way that sets them apart from their influences.
Spelt Melk Collective - Spelt Melk Collective (self-titled)
Why yes, we do cover jazz, because we here at Ear Coffee are cultured. The Twin Cities' preeminent teenage jazz visionaries are back with their self-titled sophomore album almost exactly one year after dropping their debut. This is exactly what you want from a second album: more ambition, more experimentation, more everything. The core Spelt Melk quartet brought it in a huge cast of collaborators and expanded their instrumentation to include strings, trumpet, trombone, and more. As before, the band's compositions ebb and flow with a livewire sense of energy. Keyboardist Ari Pentelovich and saxophonist Orion Simione continue to guide the band with their cosmic lead melodies. Spelt Melk Collective is just as much an example of preternatural talent as it is a group of friends coming together to make some killer jazz fusion.
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