Habibi “Dreamachine” 2024. Kill Rock Stars Records, limited edition “breezy blue” vinyl. We picked up Habibi’s third LP last weekend from the band after their performance at our neighborhood’s Beet Street festival (hosted by Cactus Club). Habibi is an all-women band with a psychedelic synth sound, super-fun and very danceable. They put on a fantastic show and clearly loved Beet Street’s vibe: alt-kids, aging hipsters, families and dogs on a gorgeous Midwest evening (two of the band members are originally from Michigan and they chatted about how much they loved the non-attitude attitudes of Midwesterners; Habibi are based out of Brooklyn).

Dreamachine, according to Allmusic, “completes their journey from girl group- and surf music-influenced indie pop band to something more nuanced and varied as it adds dance-rock rhythms, loads of synths, and a sense of drama to their still-heavily melodic approach.” I’ll take their word for that as I honestly never listened to Habibi before seeing them at the show, though their aesthetic is clearly up my alley so I was happy to check them out and to add this album to our collection. It mixes dream pop (“My Moon” in particular), 80’s dance synth, lo-fi garage and a more polished riot-grrrl vibe (think Sleater Kinney but a bit more gentle – see the track “Do You Want Me Now” in particular). My top track is “POV,” which is a great ass-shaker. I also really like “Interlude” and “Losing Control” – both songs blend singer Rahill Jamalifard’s Middle Eastern roots and melodies with a trancey psych grooves. The album’s closer, “Alone Tonight” feels snakey and slinky; it mixes funk, 80’s pop (I’m hearing a mix of Michael Jackson, Phil Collins and weirder stuff like Talking Heads) and jazz elements (there’s a horn interlude!) making it super-unique.

Fontaines D.C. “A Hero’s Death” 2020. Partisan Records. Dream-poppy/psychedelic post punk; their second LP. We saw Fontaines D.C. perform this past Sunday at The Sylvee in Madison (I won the tickets from the Sylvee’s Instagram) – our first time at that venue (it’s great!), my first time seeing Fontaines (Joe’s second). The show was….OK. The opener was [yawn] and Fontaines were fine. Both channeling a 90’s sloppy rave kid vibe. I didn’t have that high of expectations because I’ve found their last two releases (Skinty Fia, 2022 and Romance, 2024) to be lackluster and a bit boring. A Hero’s Death is pretty good, though not as exciting as their debut Dogrel (2019). Definitely more psychedelic with some good rocking moments. It went to #2 in the UK and hit #44 on the US Indie chart; it was nominated for a Grammy in 2021 and received widespread critical acclaim including 5 out of 5 stars from The Guardian. As is my preference, my top picks are the rockers. “Televised Mind” is great psych rock, and while pretty messy, I also like the upbeat swirly tracks “A Lucid Dream” and “Living in America” plus the Velvet-esque “I Was Not Born.” They released two singles from A Hero’s Death: the downbeat and angular opener “I Don’t Belong” which only charted in their native Ireland at #86, and the title track “A Hero’s Death” which is one of my other favorites from the LP – it’s an odd pick for a single with a driving beat, fuzzy psych guitars, and some ooo-aaa harmony backing vocals behind more spoken than sung vocals. That track sort of charted – going to #67 on the UK “Download Singles” chart, to #90 in Ireland and #30 in Scotland.

Yard Act “The Overload” 2022. Island Records. Limited edition “Ghetto Lettuce” green vinyl. We caught Yard Act last night at X-Ray Arcade (Cudahy) and holy sh*t what a show! Sold-out, energy to the ceiling, non-stop dancing (I estimate I danced about 1.5 miles from the number of steps my watch tracked). Definitely one of the top performances we’ve seen this year, probably ranks in the top 50 of all time. Lyrically heavy with social commentary, they make politics an all-out party with a combo of funk, disco, no-wave, alt-dance and a stage chock-full with musicians (James Smith-vocals, Ryan Needham-bass, Sam Shipstone-guitar, Jay Russell-drums, Chris Duffin-sax/keys) and two stellar backup singers/dancers/hype-women Lauren Fitzpatrick and Daisy Smith. Fitzpatrick and Smith also provided rhythm backup with tambourines and some device that had the Prince symbol Ƭ̵̬̊  I have no idea what it does or really how to explain it but it was very cool.

The Overload is Yard Act’s debut LP (they released an EP in 2021); it went to #2 in the UK. Just like the show, it’s almost a non-stop party but smart, a little biting and, at times, arty/weird. They played a bunch of tracks from The Overload last night, fortunately all of my favorites. They led off with “Dead Horse” (a sharp critique on capitalism and racism, to a great groovy beat!), followed by another favorite “Payday” and “Land of the Blind.”

My absolute top pick is the title track “The Overload” – I’m pretty sure this one put me over the mile mark for dance steps and by this time I was absolutely dripping with sweat (as was the band); they followed it up with “100% Endurance” (the album closer). Not shown on the set list was the encore, “Witness” – another favorite – which was short, punky, fast and brilliant.

They also played several songs from their latest release, Where’s My Utopia? (2024), also fantastic. Hoping to see Yard Act again soon – though I’m not sure it will be at such a small venue again.