I've been enjoying Cherry Peel especially, and I picked up Sunlandic Twins which I like, but not quite as much. What else should I pick up?
Of the earlier stuff, The Bedside Drama and Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies are about as good as Cherry Peel, from a quality perspective. My favorite record of that period (and I think this is widely agreed on) is The Gay Parade, which you should probably check out immediately. It is glorious lofi psychedelia. It's like what Brian Wilson would make if he were poor.
Of the second period albums, well, Satanic Panic in the Attic has lots of supporters, and while it definitely, 100% has some great great songs on it, I find it to be kind of sterile. Same goes, except moreso, for the Sunlandic Twins. Sunlandic Twins does have some cool songs. I like Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games, aka the Outback Steakhouse song:
[youtube=425,350]0Mvm6KfJDE0[/youtube]
the original, of course
[youtube=425,350]7PoJv4N1Too[/youtube]
I like Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? an awful lot. I would probably end up ranking it highly among last years new releases, and I think it is the best album from this portion of their discography. The lyrics are kind of introspective and more personal, a drastic departure from previous releases, and I think it works pretty well. Yes, he is emoing it up lyrically, but as an art-damaged dumbass sometimes it sounds like he's writing songs for ME! As far as music goes, it's a refinement of the sound of Satanic and Sunlandic, but it's more confidant sounding, like the band actually knows what it's doing outside of using gee whiz electronic and production gimmickry. So yeah, it's a bit indulgent lyrically, but the changeup, along with the refinement of technique, ultimately produced a better and more interesting record. The accompanying EP Icons Abstract Three is also pretty good, but you can tell the songs are basically leftovers.
There are a few releases by them I still have to check out.
