#15 on the 2020 Bacon Top 31 — Nation of Language

Introduction, Presence by Nation of Language

Throughout 2020, when I wanted to listen to something released in 2020, but be swept back to the simpler emo/goth days of the late 20th century, Brooklyn’s Nation of Language would be there for me. If I were to play their fantastic debut album, Introduction, Presence, for you, and I didn’t tell you who it was, I fully believe you’d wrinkle your brow and say, tentatively, “is this… Joy Division?” or “…Depeche Mode?” or “…The Cure?” depending on the song I put on. Yes, the band’s impersonation of our synth-pop heroes from the 80s and 90s is really that good.

No, I haven’t put any eyeliner on while listening to them, but lord I hope the kids are (please, somebody with a connection to teens or 20-somethings, gather intel and report back). The trio, Ian Richard Devaney on vocals, guitar, percussion; Aidan Noell on synth and background vocals; and Michael Sue-Poi on bass; started on their pilgrimage to another era back in 2016. Since then they’ve released amazing single after amazing single, slowly building up enough songs to compile it into this lovely debut album.

Introduction, Presence doesn’t really have a breakaway hit for me to point you to. Rather, the feeling the album evokes is an entire world I wish I could go back to. I know I’m being exceedingly glib about the late twentieth century (hello white privilege!) but it’s less of an era and more of a younger age sort of longing. The freedom, lack of responsibility, and excess amount of disposable income that comes with youth is what this music reminds me of. But that’s also a great reality check, as I put it on the page. Yes, life was different then. But I also didn’t have my son, who is twelve now. Or my daughter, who is three. Or my lovely wife, who is… not three. Listening to Nation of Language allows me to think of that previous life fondly, and to spread that joy around my currently life. Give it a listen, as I know you’ll find that joy, too.

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1. Saint Cloud by Waxahatchee
2. Fetch The Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple
3. Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
4. folklore + evermore by Taylor Swift
5. Untitled (Black Is) + Untitled (Rise) by Sault
6. RTJ4 by Run The Jewels
7. Shore by Fleet Foxes
8. Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger
9. The Ascension by Sufjan Stevens
10. Making a Door Less Open by Car Seat Headrest
11. Dreamland by Glass Animals
12. A Hero’s Death by Fontaines D.C.
13. Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez by Gorillaz
14. Mordechai + Texas Sun EP by Khruangbin
15. Introduction, Presence by Nation of Language
16. Free Love by Sylvan Esso
17. Miss Anthropocene by Grimes
18. 3.15.20 by Childish Gambino
19. Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM
20. The Third Mind by The Third Mind
21. Superstar by Caroline Rose
22. Impossible Weight by Deep Sea Diver
23. We Will Always Love You by The Avalanches
24. Ultra Mono by IDLES
25. Visions of Bodies Being Burned by clipping.
26. Thin Mind by Wolf Parade
27. The Loves of Your Life by Hamilton Leithauser
28. Palo Alto (Live) by Thelonious Monk
29. color theory by Soccer Mommy
30. Fall to Pieces by Tricky
31. Quarantine Casanova by Chromeo

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#11 on the 2019 Bacon Top 31 — TR/ST

The Destroyer (Parts 1 + 2) by TR/ST

Here’s another two-part album, each part released on a different date within 2019, similar to the Foals albums featured at #15. TR/ST, a musical “project” headed up by Canadian Robert Alfons, released The Destroyer (Part 1) in April, followed up by (Part 2) in November.

These albums are similar to the Foals albums only in release format. Alfons stays in the same general vicinity of goth-pop electronic music that Billie Eilish resides in, but with a hefty helping of deep dark and sultry vocals. The closest modern comparison I can make to TR/ST is somewhere in the Majical Cloudz / Alt-J realm, both of whom have appeared on the Top 31 a combined numerous times. Outside of that, you’d have to go back a lot further for true comparisons; think Bauhaus, or maybe Depeche Mode.

Those connections are probably why I love it so much. Goth music was where my head was mostly at back in the 90s, and The Destroyer (Part 2) hits on all those lovely, drippy black tones for me. “Iris,” featured in the video above, is the first song I heard the band (via the always-great and Seattle’s own KEXP 90.3 FM), and it was love at first listen. The rest of (Part 2) doesn’t disappoint. It’s worth noting that (Part 1) doesn’t evoke that same feeling in me, but it’s nonetheless a great album. I recommend starting with (Part 2) and then working your way backwards.

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12. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? by Billie Eilish
13. Cheap Queen by King Princess
14. Anima by Thom Yorke
15. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Parts 1 + 2 by Foals
16. Gallipoli by Beirut
17. My Finest Work Yet by Andrew Bird
18. Four of Arrows by Great Grandpa
19. Designer by Aldous Harding
20. Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey
21. Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow
22. Juice B Crypts by Battles
23. Pony by Orville Peck
24. Hyperspace by Beck
25. Eraserland by Strand of Oaks
26. Dogrel by Fontaines DC
27. You’re the Man by Marvin Gaye
28. Big Wows by Stealing Sheep
29. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs
30. In the Morse Code of Brake Lights by The New Pornographers
31. Radiant Dawn by Operators

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#26 on the 2016 Bacon Top 31

A Corpse Wired for Sound by Merchandise

Circling back to the 80s again (see #31), we find ourselves listening to Merchandise, from Tampa. This is not the kind of music you’d expect to come out of sunny Florida. It’s dark and brooding, somewhere in the vicinity of gothic icons like Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, and Joy Division, with industrial noise, synthesizers, drum machines and well-produced guitars filling in the melodies. Throw in a little INXS-esque pop hooks, and you’ve got a good basis for what to expect with the album. The eighties are alive and well in Tampa, apparently.

This is technically the band’s fifth album since forming in 2008, but I’ve not heard nor am I compelled to seek out their previous work (the description of this album and the band’s history on the 4AD website essentially says that even though the trio that made this album was responsible for the previous albums, this one is entirely unlike anything they’ve produced before it. There’s also a mysterious lack of information about this band; for a band to have five albums, even with a stupidly generic name like Merchandise, you should still be able to find a wikipedia page on them. NOPE.

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27. Away by Okkervil River
28. case/lang/veirs by case/lang/veirs
29. Love Letter for Fire by Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop
30. Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future by Underworld
31. Preoccupations by Preoccupations