Favorite New (to Me) Albums of 2020: Part II

Part 2 of 5:

Two Inch Astronaut - Personal Life (2016)

I discovered Two Inch Astronaut, the 3-piece from Washington, D.C., through their last and final album, Can You Please Not Help. That was a couple years back now, and I’ve since had time to delve into their entire catalogue, none of which has disappointed.

But the one that really stood out to me this year was 2016’s Personal Life, a wild 10-song ride through the mind of singer and guitarist Sam Rosenberg.

This album is a first for Two Inch Astronaut in a few ways. Most importantly, it’s the first of 2 albums produced by Baltimore’s J. Robbins, formerly of Jawbox and Burning Airlines. This gives it a particular amount of credibility, right off the bat.

Second, it’s the first Two Inch Astronaut record to feature Andy Chervenak on bass. It’s also the first album on which drummer Matt Gatwood plays cello, a touch that nods back at a couple of D.C.’s post-hardcore veterans, Smart Went Crazy and Faraquet.

And lastly, it’s the first record on which Rosenberg’s vocals have been opened up tonally and equalized in such a way that we can hear all of the clarifying details of his voice. (As good as they are from the perspective of composition and performance, the prior two albums bury Sam’s voice under a low-pass filter and some subtle distortion so that he constantly sounds like he’s screaming at us through a walkie talkie. Now he sounds up front, where he’s truly meant to be.)

My two favorite songs on Personal Life are “At Risk Student” and “Woodstock ’99,” though it’s quite hard to decide, given that the album is so consistently good from start to finish.

“At Risk Student” kicks off with Rosenberg’s signature dissonant guitar picking and then dives right into a smart, catchy vocal line that locks right into the bass and drums. The song is a pretty obvious critique of America’s public schooling system, but the music is cleverly wrapped around its forthright lyrics.

“Woodstock ’99” is Two Inch Astronaut at their best. It features lots of challenging time changes, a key change between the verses and the chorus, a progressive bridge section, a screeching lead guitar riff to bring us into the last verse, and even an outro with a tempo change. It’s one of those songs where everyone in the band knows exactly when to play and when to shut up, and it’s a beautiful thing.

Personal Life is perfect for fans of the D.C. punk scene of the 90s, combining the artful guitar riffs of Burning Airlines with the frantic drumming of The Dismemberment Plan and the dynamic vocals of Fugazi and Bluetip. The fact that it was produced at the Magpie Cage in Baltimore makes it that much sweeter.

Shiner - Schadenfreude (2020)

Leave it to Kansas City’s Shiner to stretch an 8-track album to nearly 40 minutes, with three songs breaking the 6-minute mark.

I’ve known about and have enjoyed Shiner’s music for a long time, but I’ve honestly only ever really explored their last album The Egg (produced by none other than J. Robbins), which was released all the way back in 2001. Granted, singer and songwriter Allen Epley has been busy (five albums busy!) with his band The Life and Times since then, but even still, Schadenfreude is Shiner’s first release in nearly two decades, which made it a high priority on my list of albums to check out this year.

And it certainly didn’t disappoint. Schadenfreude features basically the same lineup as Shiner’s last two records, and these guys sound just as good as they did back then. All of the familiar elements are there, from Epley’s gritty crooning to Paul Malinowski’s pulsing bass lines, from Josh Newton’s howling guitar riffs to Jason Gerken’s insanely precise drumming.

But there’s a subtle maturity to the music this time around. Maybe it’s the lush guitar tones that make it a little less post-hardcore and a little more indie prog than the Shiner I remember. Or maybe its the effortless way the band plays with time signatures that seemed so painful to pull off before. Whatever it is, Schadenfreude is a fantastic new chapter for Shiner, and it fits perfectly into their discography, at least from the perspective of a casual fan.

My two favorite tracks from the record are “Life as a Mannequin” and “Swallow.”

Halfway through “Life as a Mannequin,” everything cuts out except for a repeating palm-muted bass note and the same guitar progression we had already become accustomed to in the verses. Then we hear wailing guitar feedback in the background before the drums cut back in, slowly building in complexity until the hi-hat opens up and the guitars really begin to drive. Finally the bass starts playing at peak volume, and the lead guitar distantly screams in a moment of glorious texture. This was the moment I knew Shiner was back. “Swallow” is a near 7 minutes long, but there’s never a dull moment in this song. The overdriven bass line is the foundation for one of the most interesting vocal melodies we’ve ever heard from Epley. There’s a short chorus after the first verse, and then the guitars break out into competing riffs, on top of a key change. Finally, we go back to the verse, but this time, the drums challenge the former triple meter of the song by playing in quadruple meter, while the rest of the instrumentation stays the same. An extended fadeout comprises the last minute or so, making this one of the most powerful tracks on the record.

Schadenfreude somehow picks up right where Shiner left off nearly 20 years ago. It’s a great listen for anyone who appreciates their work from the late 90s and early 2000s. Personally, I now feel an obligation to go back and explore their pre-The Egg releases. Maybe one of them will show up on next year’s list.