Sprezzatura

I'm reviewing another offering from Trickhouse Recordings - this time it's the third release from Lancaster duo Cake & Menstruation. Public Egg-nemy Number 2 (2) by Cake & Menstruation "This is our dark release. If you can't handle it, you'll wanna go FUCKING OUTSIDE!" screams guitarist Alex George at the beginning of Public Egg-nemy Number 2 (2), thus cementing his bands reputation as confrontational iconoclasts. Over their past three releases, 2018s Public Egg-nemys number one and number two , and now this project, Cake and Menstruation have carved a niche out in the art-punk world. Their philippics contra eggs, the menstrual cycle, and anything else foolish enough to displease them, are impressively vitriolic, not to mention catchy. This album is (mostly) no exception. Before we begin, a word on lore. The events of this album take place before the events of the first two Cake and Menstruation albums, making it a prequel. Singer Chloe Arbury...

I'm reviewing a couple of projects from the local record label Trickhouse in the modern critical style - think Pitchfork, Stereogum, etc. First up, it's the debut EP from the indie project Sweet Embrace. Isabelline by Sweet Embrace In case it isn’t clear from the black nail polish and eyeliner he insists upon wearing at appearances, London-born, Lancaster-based Phillip Johnson is an emo at heart. It’s clear in the over-reliance on proper nouns ( Mitcham ? St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham ?? The IJsselmeer ???) that we so detest here, it’s clear in the rapid time-signature changes and histrionic coda of “Isabelline” ( cribbed directly from Sunny Day Real Estate, natch ), and it’s clear even in Johnson’s choice of alias (his full webpage title reads ‘Sweet Embrace… of Death’ because of course it does). Most importantly, however, it’s clear in the fact that the entire project is misogynist garbage. You know, like his heroes make ! Opener “Isabelline” starts off strongly enough...