Midwife - "Luminol"

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Droning shoe gaze dream pop with smart lyrics opens the first song. Less is more here as melody and ambiance are given enough room here so when the pulse comes in it all works together. The lyrics are pretty clever as well. But will all of these elements still work if what you see is what you get here? Can this sort of thing make this sound work for an entire element or will it fall dynamically flat ? . The second song does not offer a clear answer for this , thought guitar is added and gives more movement, there is a sense that this could be an extension of the first song. 

I am a little confused with "2020" it is basically a cover of "Gone Away' by Offspring the only thing is rather than covering the actual song it is just the chorus, it works in a weird way but I am mixed on the principle of it. Part of me is like ... if you are going to cover a song then just commit and do it. "Colorado" finds her doubling down on the sound, more than the song. It is surreal and dreamy with heavily effected vocals blending their sing song chant in amid the minimalist strum of guitar. There are other layers of effected guitar that creep in , but as far as dynamics go it just kind of works off this throb. 

"Promise Ring" runs of a simple drone of piano and the distorted sing song chant of the vocals, which does have a quirky charm to it in some sense, but when it comes to songwriting, really just runs off one trick. The song does transition with new sounds added, but no other compositional shift like even from a verse to a chorus until the Jesu rock kicks in at the end which is a key selling point. The drumming is pretty decent here. The last song is similar to this one, though the faint breathy melody is not as interesting. I tried to reserve judgement until more layers of sound were added. .But they never really go anywhere so I am left to sit in my disappointment . Overall for what this is the album is an easy listen , if you just let yourself get lost in the sound and do not think to much on the lack of actual songwriting, for this reason I will round it down to an 8.5, which is still better than most. It makes sense this is being released on the Flenser.

Midwife ; "Forever"

Here is an interring album by Denver based multi instrumentalist Madeline Johnston. She has more of an edge to her lyrics than the dreamy haze of the music she sings in a breathy tone over. Sonically falling somewhere between the slow core of bands like Low and the shoe gazing of the 80s. Not as dark as say Chelsea Wolfe. More like Cat Power on harder drugs. I often complain about bands having more focus on a sound than songs these days, but her sound works with the song. It's a simple drone , but catchy enough to keep my interest. There is a melancholy maze around the sentiments of keeping 2018 the fuck away from her. "Anyone Can Play Guitar" is not a Radiohead cover. It has more of a rock n roll shuffle to it. The guitar is strum with a grunge distortion not unlike many of the indie rock bands from the early 90s who were more rough around the edges than the indie rock of today.

"Vow" breezes past. It might as well have been the intro to the following song. Very minimalist arrangement. "Language" is almost to swept up in the wind of it's own atmosphere to be much of a song, yet stays pleasing to the ears . "C.R.F.W" focusing on what might be sample of a teenage reading from weird social speculation. It sounds like something William S Burroughs might have written, The kinds of tings I pondering when on a bunch of acid. Four and a half minutes later actual music begins to simmer to life. When it does come to life, it's idea of life is a droning pulse rather than creating an actual song. This is on the more experimental side of post -rock. If you smoke a ton of weed I am almost certain you will love this album.


The album closes with "S.W.I.M". This is closer to shoe gaze. A minimal programmed beat. The vocals are draped in effects that set them back into the mix. They still manage to hold melody. This melody is what makes this song work . I will round this down to an 8.5, as it could be more focused on the songs than the drone, but over all the album works for what she tried to accomplish here.  If can see the metal press giving this a nod as she throws the word metal around in describing her sound, but be forewarned if that is why you are interested , there is nothing metal about this. That's ok, there doesn't have to be just have reasonable expectations when you sit down to listen to it. Once again the Flenser proves themselves a label who delivers the goods. Different than their other artists , but she would be at home on a bill with any of her label mates.