they wept, for there were no more vibes left to check

feat. kelly lee owens, lcd soundsystem, sharon van etten and more!

Helloooo welcome to the Unskippables, where we’re still thinking about the phrase “grateful for the God tea.”

I was going to drop it in the Good Links, but I was really taken by this essay by Nemesis on “BRANDS AFTER VIBES” – the trajectory of what a brand *means* and what we might be left with after 2024’s Peak Vibes. Vibes has been the dominant organizing principle for brands and culture this year, leading to some of the softness in boundaries between what is or isn’t A Vibe. For example, it results in things like Kathy Hochul glomming on to Brat Summer with minimal penalty. Killing congestion pricing is not a vibe, but because the borders of the Brat vibe are permeable by design…here we are:

When it's a vibe, it gives you a feeling and a fleeting sense of coherence and possibly of belonging, the sense of fitting with something, a flash of recognition. But the set-of-things that constitutes a vibe field also has open edges, borders. It's blurry and can be expanded. (This is why dupe culture relies on vibes.) The vibes bleed into content – more and more messily – till the original signal ceases to exist, or to make any sense at all…Eventually it all dissolves into an amorphous, vibey puddle.

Their POV on what might be next is interesting – and worth a read, even if brands aren’t your thing!

A few other fun links, not vibes, I promise:

• Father Jawn Misty – FJM talks to Blackbird Spyplane for his first interview in years

• Up late upstate? – Then you might know the Chosen Family zine/showpaper, which got a great writeup in the Times Union…right as they announce they’re closing up shop. RIP!

• Evidently it’s pronounced Yazz Flu-tay – kidding, but Bandcamp did a primer on jazz flute for those new to the genre thanks to Three Stacks.

• Diamond Jubilee is now available for download on Bandcamp! TBH I didn’t even know the track names from listening to the album in its YouTube form, so this is a big day for me.

As always, you can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter. Enjoy!

Kelly Lee Owens – Dreamstate

I really liked all of the pre-release singles from Kelly Lee Owens, but her album’s title track truly blew me away this week. Her mix of ethereal post-gaze dreampop vocals and physical, Kompakt-esque beats slays on “Dreamstate,” which also throws a curveball drop in the song’s final minute that’s harder and funkier than most producers’ singles.

LCD Soundsystem – X-Ray Eyes

LCD Soundsystem are back for a low stakes, very 2004 12” B-side version of James Murphy, which, to be clear, is a very high compliment. You can hear “X Ray Eyes” at about the 19:45 mark on Anu’s Soup to Nuts NTS show, which leans on a swung drums and bass synth groove, dressed in reverbed noodling and a bone-dry deadpan vocal. I would take a steady of diet of one-off damp, groovy tracks like this over any Very Important Album from LCD at this point in his career, so I hope it’s a sign of what’s to come.

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory – Afterlife

Sharon Van Etten decided to “jam” with her band for her new LP, hunkering down in London to shape up a new record that builds on a moodier palette for her songwriting. Luckily, her voice and lyrics are in fine form, and the synth-y dramatic backdrop still works amazingly well under her singing.

jasmine.4.t – Elephant

“Elephant” is a surging, gorgeous indie rock anthem from jasmine.4.t’s debut full-length You Are The Morning, out this January on Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory label. The arrangement leans heavy on shifting drums to build up the melodrama, but the final reverbed refrains backed by the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles are the song’s shimmering high point.

Dazy ft. MSPAINT – It’s Only A Secret (if you repeat it)

Sugary power-punk-pop? Big hardcore chorus chants? Insistent, weird electronic drums? It makes sense that Dazy have tracks with Militarie Gun, as “It’s Only A Secret” has the same kitchen sink approach to post-post-everything indie rock, where the only requirement is a prescription-strength hook delivered with max Dudes Rock great vibes.

throwback

Mazouni – Ecoute moi camarade

I have nothing to say here except that as the internet enshittifies, I truly hope nothing happens to Shazam, which still rewards me weekly with track IDs on stuff like this. “Ecoute moi camarade” is a French-Algerian pop track from the 60s re-released in 2019 by French label Born Bad Records that absolutely swings.