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Corbin

Corbin | Crisis Kid | 3hive.com
Corbin | Crisis Kid | 3hive.com

Known initially as Spooky Black, now Corbin, Corbin Smidzik has been making bleak, desolate lo-fi hip-hop that accumulated a cult following that’s only been growing since his break-out release Leaving in 2014. Now earlier this year Corbin released his latest record Crisis Kid and in my opinion – it’s debatedly his best yet.

The record opens with Cry Out In Pain, the track features a spacey almost vacant instrumental that carries a steady pace courtesy of strong guitar work as well as Corbin’s vocal delivery. Lyrics such as, “Die in our sleep, calling out for a hero / Watching us bleed, I’m counting the zeroes / Power and greed, more of attrition / Slaughter the sheep, more superstition / The dollar is weak, we’re close to ignition any day” speak to feelings of depression, hopelessness, and lacking the power, ability or means to change one’s own course are supported by the songs chorus, an echoed chant saying, “Cry out in pain / Climb out the window / Try to escape / What are we here for anyway?”

Carbon Monoxide is my personal favorite from the record. It opens with a groovy and atmospheric beat with more smooth lead guitar that’s again elevated by Corbin’s capable and forward vocals. Vocal layering, and this steady drum beat that work to progress the track simultaneously heighten lyrics from the verses, “Counting up every sin again / Guilty as charged, I’m not innocent / Drowning in the memories, sink or swim / Every time you had to see me like this” as well as the tracks chorus, “You can see all the walls I put up caving in / Slowly creep in your lungs, you’re my carcinogen / Fall asleep to your carbon monoxide again.” Corbin speaks on the difficulty of opening up and being vulnerable, holding oneself accountable – maybe even overly so – all while in what might be or is a toxic environment.

The record’s closing track Another Day In Hell genuinely sounds like it could’ve been a B-Side from one of The Weeknd’s latest releases with the synth leads that start the track off before Corbin’s lyrics join, and these balanced drums again work to move the track forward as it progresses into this almost angelic instrumental that showcases the ethereal vocals Corbin delivers as the tracks final stanzas echo, growing progressively more distant as the album concludes.

On Crisis Kid, Corbin has continued pushing himself lyrically, sonically, and personally and the result is a cohesive, fulfilling and honest expression of where Smizdik has been, is now, and where he’s going.

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Wednesday

Wednesday | Bleeds | 3hive.com
Wednesday | Bleeds | 3hive.com

Wednesday was originally formed as a solo project of lead singer Karly Hartzman, blending shoegaze inspired fuzzy guitars and country-twanged vocals that touched on the struggles and traumas of small-town Southern living. This year the now five-piece released what I firmly believe to be the groups best work with their latest record Bleeds.

Bleeds opens with the one, two punch of Reality TV Argument Bleeds and Townies – Reality TV Argument Bleeds acts almost like a sonic black hole, bringing everything around into the mix, creating an all consuming, attention demanding, and layered soundscape before Hartzman’s vocals break through with the first of many Southern-twinged expressions of stories and the people they involve. The track has personal lyrical highlights of, “When I don’t feel like bein’ comforted / Melting outward like a movie burning from the screen / You and your broke dick sincerity.” 

The stories continue on Townies, a track that explores the dramas of small town life where word travels fast. The opening lyrics are literally, “Catchin’ up with the townies / Some have gone but most are still around / The ghosts of them surround me / They hang on tight until they drown.” Hartzman’s spins a harsh and emotive tale of marijuana, shared nudes, death, and leaf blowers in the best and most unexpected way.

The last track I’ll highlight here is my personal favorite from the record, track 7 The Way Love Goes. As I understand it, it’s an expression of some of the feelings after the end of the long term relationship between members Karly Hartzman and MJ Lenderman. It’s short, heart wrenching, and a perfect example of how less is more. It serves as a sort of break in the record with its slower, acoustic sound that’s light on the effects and it truly shows how strong of a performer Hartzman is. The track closing with a self reference saying, “I know it’s not been easy / And I know it can’t always be / and that’s the way love goes.” I mean, c’mon – tearing my heart out and stomping on it would probably cause me less pain than feeling the relatability of those lyrics.

This album to me is almost like a play where each of the albums 12 tracks functions like acts; each containing its own setting, characters and story while the thing connecting them all together, thus creating the play, is Hartzman’s perspective and the way that she and the rest of Wednesday have laid these stories to tape. Not very many records from bands I’ve heard have successfully turned me from a listener into a fan, but Bleeds accomplished exactly that. And I couldn’t be more excited to see what’s next.

You can get Bleeds from us here or via Wednesday’s Bandcamp page.

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Shallowater

It’s not often that I listen to a shoegaze record, save it to my library, and then proceed to stream it again and again; offering whatever additional focus I can muster into subsequent listens trying to glean as much as I possibly can. I’d even go so far to say that this may have never happened before with shoegaze but I’m grateful to have undergone this experience – all credit goes to the Texas based ‘dirtgaze’ group Shallowater and their sophomore record God’s Gonna Give You a Million Dollars.

 Shallowater is a three-piece band of Blake Skipper, Ryan Faulkenberry, and Tristan Kelly who originally hail from West Texas but find themselves now based out of Houston. I hadn’t heard of the group before having God’s Gonna Give You a Millions Dollars recommended to me by a few friends earlier this year, but since giving it a listen I’ve become a fan not just of its deep and emotive performances, the simple but meaningful writing, or the fact that no track ever felt as long as they are but the reality that this album contains all of the above and more in spades and is such a rewarding listen.

The title track and subsequent “Sadie” begin and continue to tell a story of grief, loss, and the long and unique process of adapting to life without someone. From Sadie, lyrics such as “I’ve been writing down / Every word / You said to me / ‘Cause I like the way they look” touch on how unique loss is as well as how hard letting go can be.

A personal highlight of the album follows up “Sadie” in “Untitled Cowboy”. The almost 8 and a half minute long epic that I feel touches on regret, complacency and cycles that can haunt a person and their endeavors, relationships, etc. Lyrics like “Don’t you know I feel like / All that time we wasted / Sittin’ with each other / Would’ve been a whole lot better spent alone?” Lead singer Blake Skipper’s delivery, and the supporting ensemble create a sonic palette that hits like a truck and leaves you as the victim of a hit & run.

In summary, Shallowater has created a harmonious, precise, and rare project with God’s Gonna Give You a Million Dollars that feels to me like equal parts Chat Pile’s debut record God’s County and MJ Lenderman’s incredible 2024 record Manning Fireworks while also representing itself well and staying original.