NON ULTRAS, Ritchot Textiles, Cult Crime, and Boutique Feelings
NON ULTRAS - BULWARK EP
Here’s just what we need… another post-punk band!?! Hmmmm…. In a music landscape seemingly dominated by said genre, why you ask, do we need this? Well I thought the same thing at first as I’ve grown weary of the genre but when it comes to Lethbridge’s NON ULTRAS, I’ll give my full stamp of approval. Comprised of members of past great Lethbridge bands Body Lens and Biloxi Parish, NON ULTRAS spice up their jagged post-punk sound with enough art-rock to deliver a flavour blast on their debut offering. Atmospheric sounds in the background of most tracks and other flourishes like synths on “Scumbag” or the saxophone on “Breathe Easy” breathe life into these tracks. I’m also a sucker for what I call the “holler” vocal delivery which exists here, even when vocal duties get split. All this and more make this EP interesting enough to come back to again and again
Ritchot Textiles - ii
Winnipeg’s Ritchot Textiles released their second EP in March and it showcases where this band is going when compared to their debut EP. For those who don’t know, RT is made up of 3/4 of the band Blessed who were wildly popular in western Canadian indie circles. I wrote on a previous edition of the Quick Picks that the debut EP from this new band sounded like a continuation of the final Blessed album. This latest EP moves them even further away from their previous band as the synthesizers are much more prevalent and they’ve steered the van further away from the mathy post-punk sound of Blessed and hit the gas towards the land of Krautrock and electronica.
Cult Crime - Self Titled
This is as refreshing as it gets. Sometimes you just need it. I’m talking about punk in the form of its heyday… my version of its heyday, that is. This new Toronto band channels 80s hardcore. It’s rough, it’s ragged, it sounds like it was recorded in a basement in the midst of a night of debauchery. And I love it. Out on the tiny punk imprint Ugly Pop Records (who also released the Golden Shitters album that I reviewed a while back), who has now released the two best straight ahead, no gimmick bullshit, ripper albums of the year.
Boutique Feelings - Self Titled
Boutique Feelings is the hip-hop project from Montreal’s Karim Lakhdar. The debut EP from Lakhdar is different than a lot of other hip-hop releases, likely due to the music he makes as the lead singer/guitarist/keyboardist from Atsuko Chiba. You hear the psychedelic leanings on this three song effort but make no mistake, it’s still, very much, a hip-hop release. Big beats, funky licks, vintage samples, and spicy synths offer the backbone for Lakhdar’s prose to shine. This is a unique rap EP that’s worth a spin.
- Jeff MacCallum