Akron/Family

hello hello! It's been a while since I posted about new bands, and unfortunately the band featured in this post is hardly "new/unknown". However, I'll briefly mention two bands, Harlem and Cloud Nothings who I've been listening to a good bit. They're both quite fun, check 'em out.

Aaanyways, here's Akron/Family. They're a freak folk group that put out their self-titled debut five years ago. Of course, it was only this year, about a week ago, that I actually gave it a listen. Well, technically, I may have heard some songs off it before. I saw them last year at a music festival, and I didn't really know who they were. I just thought they'd be a good group to which I could relax and rejuvenate. They were. Since then, I'd always planned on checking out their stuff, and I only just got around to it. I'm incredibly glad I did though. They've also done a split album with Michael Gira (of Swans) and have played as his backing band, so they obviously have loads of talent as well.



The above song is "Italy", my fave song off their debut. I like their debut the best of what I've heard, it's mostly down-tempo, pretty relaxing songs. They've all got an outdoors/woodsy kind of tinge to them too, which I really like. Also worth checking out "Running, Returning" from their debut as well. The album flows together surprisingly well for a debut, and the songs all have a sort of constant theme to them, so much that it can be sometimes hard to tell when one song ends and another begins.

The only other full album I have by them at the moment is Love is Simple. My favorite song off this album is definitely "Don't Be Afraid, You're Already Dead" (uploaded below). It's a incredibly good, sad song, that constantly builds up to a harmonized refrain declaring "Love is Simple". Apparently it was featured in the recent movie World's Greatest Dad, although I haven't seen it, so I can't tell you if it was featured well in the movie or if the movie itself was any good either. Another song I'd recommend from this album is "Ed is a Portal", a much more upbeat psych-y kind of tune that really reminds me of something people would dance around to at a bonfire or something. I didn't like Love is Simple anywhere near as much as they're debut, it was actually sort of disappointing, but overall it's not a bad album by any means.



- Alec