A light dose of nostalgia from a ’90s emo revival, with some vibrant psychedelia and hard-hitting indie. What’s good this week consists of 20-somethings gazing back on the past while eyeing up the future.
Francis of Delirium – Let It All Go
Luxembourg duo Francis of Delirium deliver the emo/indie ’90s teen-com clash of your dreams on ‘Let It All Go’. From its gritty opening riff, you’d believe that Francis of Delirium were actually a classic ’90s US group hailing from Seattle or New Jersey, not from one of Europe’s smallest nations. The size of their homeland is about the smallest thing of Francis of Delirium, summoning more noise than should be feasible for only two people, matching the intensity of post-hardcore groups such as La Dispute or even Cloud Nothings. The ’90s revival is on, and this time it’s kicking off in Luxembourg.
Deb Never – Someone Else
Released last month, Seattle born and now London based artist Deb Never continues her golden combination of trap and indie with love fuelled track ‘Someone Else’. Having only just come across Deb Never with this track, she immediately struck a chord with her genre-mixing, sounding like YouTube gold. The Seattleites sound ranges from grunge, pop, to indie and further, all combined with contemporary trap beats for a sound that is firmly planted in the world of social media fantasy/buzz, realised through real-life experiences. Think of ‘Someone Else’ as Sky Ferreira’s ‘Everything’s Embarrassing’ for the TikTok generation.
Dorvin Borman – Pressure Valve
A mixture of psychedelia with dream-pop, Dorvin Borman crafts the perfect piece of ‘bedroom pop’ on ‘Pressure Valve’. Looking back to the early ’10s and the rise of dreamy-indie-pop, LA’s Dorvin Borman would have comfortably fit in with the biggest names of the time. ‘Pressure Valve’ rides the slow and steady wave of Real Estate, with the lucid synth hooks of Wild Nothing casting a blast to the past for anyone in their early 20’s (hey there) of teenage years spent on Tumblr and getting lost in ‘the good side of YouTube’.
Abbie Ozard – Breakdowns
Taken from her recent “Let’s Play Pretend” EP, the Manchester artist talks about making big steps in life on ‘Breakdowns’. Stepping out on your own and the reality of being able is something most, if not everyone in their 20’s will know about. Ozard discusses the dilemma and voicing the stress on social media, casting the decision as ‘having a breakdown’ under the guise of glittery ’90s pop. “Going about the song in a sarcastic way felt appropriate as we’re all guilty of announcing breaks from social media and complaining. I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s found the word breakdown relatable recently”.
Post Profit – When You Think It’s Right
Closing in this week’s edition of What’s Good is Texan alt-rock group Post Profit, with ‘When You Think It’s Right’. Taken from their upcoming LP “When You Think It’s Right It’s Always Wrong”, Post Profit discuss mistrust and broken expectations on their latest single. “The song was originally about relationships platonic or romantic”, says vocalist and guitarist Matt Jackson, “but as 2020 would have it, the meaning evolved with the times. That mistrust could be against your own government, the authorities, or even other governments. Lyrically it’s pretty straight forward, but emotionally could be related to many different things.” Balancing somewhere between heavy metal with its guitar riffs and alt-rock sub-genres thanks to vocalist Matt Jackson, ‘When You Think It’s Right’ should firmly plant Post Profit on your radar.
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