Holy Shit its almost 2020 already? Where the hell have I been? Oh that’s right here writing album reviews till the cows come home. Well over 2019, CPRA has accomplished a shit ton. We wrote over 70 news, reviews and concert related items, started our own TV show, and started CPRA Skates! Don’t forget also our team up with AKA Just Miggy and The Kids Are Alright All Ages At Goosetown! On that note don’t miss the next Kids Show with the Potato Pirates on December 15, 2019, 2pm! Check out my Top 5 List of the year below!
Best of 2018 Albums and Ep/Lp Picks by CPRA’s Skabones
It’s been a crazy year here at CPRA. We’ve reviewed so much amazing music this year. We debuted our very first show, “Happy Skanksgiving” at Tennyson Tap. By the way our last show of the year, “Merry Punxmas” is on December 29, 2018. I know we all get a bit tired of these end of the year lists. As admins we all couldn’t possibly agree on overall favorites. So we are going to individually announce our own personal picks.
We reviewed almost 100 albums in 2018. So picking only a few was very tough on me. Happy Holiday and don’t let Krampus get ya! Be sure to pick up a CPRA shirt, patch, or sticker before Christmas! Email soon if you want one by Christmas!
Sounds Like:Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, X-Ray Spex, early New Order and The Cure.
Band Bio: Taken from Svart Records website: “As the earth turns toward a colder era and humans struggle to adapt to a bleaker autumn breeze, a new music shivers in the shadows. There stand Weathered Statues. The group convened in early 2017 in Denver, Colorado, with three members having previously performed together in the post-doom outfit Cloak of Organs (along with members of Planes Mistaken for Stars and Wovenhand).
Singer-keyboardist Jennie Mather, guitarist-keyboardist Jason Heller, and drummer Andrew Warner (also of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club) recruited bassist Bryan Flanagan, and the newly dubbed quartet of Weathered Statues began forging songs of mutation, betrayal, dislocation, erosion, and decay, subsequently playing shows with everyone from Boy Harsher to Pelican. Years ago, Mather and Heller had served in a short-lived shoegaze band called Hyacinth with Anthony Couri (previously of Minsk and currently of the Locrian side-project Lake of Violet), and the two of them began to sculpt lush sounds into something far more stark.”
Review:
Emotional, raw and well crafted post punk from Denver, CO. Like a lot of post punk, this checks all the boxes of having a solid rhythm section, providing the backdrop for the guitar and keys to create harmonies that are beautiful, but not overly florid. The clean lines those parts create give way to the perfect space for Mather’s vocals, which have strong melodies, without being overly dramatic. Her lyrics are dark but not brooding, which is what I like the most about them. I enjoy how directly she sings about lost love, death, betrayal, and the like, while the band provides the perfect musical backdrop.
The production is great also. The drums are mixed very well, and the overall balance of the band is stellar.
Favorite tracks: Corpse Candle, Betrayal, Dark Tides, Ossuary
On a personal note, I thoroughly enjoy this album and since writing this review, and find myself coming back to it time and time again. I want to play a gig with Weathered Statues!
About the Reviewer: Megan Kelley is the front woman for Denver based post-punk band Married a Dead Man. She is an accomplished pianist, keyboardist and singer, with a full time private music teaching studio. She is also a composer, songwriter and holds degrees in classical voice and piano, as well as a second degree in sound engineering. Music is her entire existence.
