Much of my calendar year, every year, is spent sifting through record store bargain bins, estate sales, etc. and digging into the acquisitions. I win some and lose some, but I never write about it on AuxOut even though it accounts for a huge portion of my listening and discovery. In honor of the season of presents, I am celebrating some of the gifts bestowed upon me by the record gods during 2023.
So glad I took a whiff on this one. I lift my voice in praise to the record gods. This sounds exactly like a record Neil Hagerty and Wooden Wand would make, without being a retread. At least in my imagination, don't know Wand stuff too closely and, while I know the Trux discography pretty thoroughly, I'm patchy on solo Neil/Hex stuff. I guess, when it comes down to it, I don't really know what I'm talking about. Except for when it comes to Qalgebra. Because I know this record is a true pleasure. Tightly coiled pop-tinged runarounds (check out the smashing opener "Spindizzy"), slide guitar wandering out in the wilderness, goofy spoken word repartee, breezy wah-wah grooves, wildman collage jammin'. It was the first item in the list that really bowled me over. These songs have legit hooks, pulled off with nonchalant aplomb. Qalgebra is about as good as weirdo-pop gets (and we all know that's really goddamn good). Totally oddball, energetic and super listenable. A steal!
A playlist of tunes from each of the records I wrote about, I'll add a new song each day:
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