Single Takes: Automatic, Actors, Heavy Lungs, Weval, Hælos, Lazurus Kane

Single Take is a Reviler feature where multiple people give a passing glance at some new music and causally rank it somewhere between 1 (Justin Beiber) and 10 (really amazing). Fun, right? Check out the latest installment below and feel free to tell us who stupid and out of touch we are based on our opinions. Arguing on the internet: the greatest of American traditions.

Helen: 4/10

Hm. Hmmmmm. It’s. Fine? Not bad. But no AH. No OOMF. It has that aloof, bored singing, which some people enjoy. Sometimes I do too, but it’s rare, and there has to be more oomf/support then with the instrumentation if someone is gonna go softer/light on the vocals like that IMO. I do enjoy in the second half of the song the playing of cutting out the instruments.

Chad: 7/10

This song and video has tongue-firmly-inserted-in-cheek on the normalizing of post-punk music in this day and age. With such a stance I’m happy to see this up-and-coming band won’t fall prey to the bright lights of bland punk.

Josh: 7/10

Some solid, jittery post-punk. It reminds me a bit of if you did a live band version of old Beat Detectives music. I did the casual ambiguity of it. The moral of the story, kids, is that it isn’t cool to look like you are trying or care.

Tyler: 6.5/10

A playlist-worthy track that I would gladly bump for a month, forget about completely, and hear a year down the road and dance my face off to. Huge synths fill in the middle ground left open between a toe-tapping bass line and understated vocals. 

Jon: 8/10

Solidly digging this. Dig the fantastic bass line, the electronic effects, the deadpan vocals. Basically everything. Curious about staying power but I guess we’ll see…

Helen: 6/10

6/10 very Depeche Mode, very 80s gothy dark synth, with a great video to boot. I appreciate those LAYERS, oh that harsh guitar. Mmmf. I watched their KEXP session, and I enjoy the song being played live a bit more. Adds a layer of liveliness to the lyrics. Docking them points tho because white people throwing the word Slave around, even if in reference to… emotions. It’s just VERY overdone, like sorry but I’m pretty sure these musicians have not experienced the extremity of any kind of slavery. I GET it’s like hyperbole, but it’s something worth mentioning/discussing/dissecting.

Chad: 8/10

Electro Dark Wave at its finest. I was too young during the 80s to really enjoy this sound, so I’m glad such a band exists so I can get my proper fix. 

Josh: 5/10

A bit more literal of a reimagining compared to the Automatic track, with some dark 80s goth-pop feelings. This genre was never my jam, but I assume if you were a fan of this sound this song will be attractive to you. 

Tyler: 3/10

A brand of pop rock that isn’t vanilla enough to be mainstream, and not interesting enough to find an audience of indie rockers.

Jon: 5/10

I could easily imagine this song playing on a commercial for a brand who is trying to sell itself as edgy but without actually having any edge. It’s not a terrible sound but it feels like something recycled and sanitized.

Helen: 9/10

Okay. Hell yeah. This is great, I love that heavy guitar popping in and out, singer’s voice is kinda… so british punk rock, which I find meh. But I can get over that. I really appreciate how tight the drum intro is, then just brings in that real heavy guitar right there. ….. BAM BAM BAM !!!!

Chad: 7/10

This just rendered singing ‘Happy Birthday to Me’ an ancient act of futility – what a rip-roaring fertile sound that should get anyone with a pulse excited and feeling young again. 

Josh: 6/10

Not a statement I say often, but I agree with the Youtube comments on this one. Some strong Queens of the Stone Age-gone-British vibes to this jam. Like the above song, use that to decide what you think. 

Tyler: 5/10

By far the hardest rocking song about a birthday that I’ve ever heard.

Jon: 4/10

Snotty British punk has never really been my thing so I am probably not the target audience for this particular jawn. It kinda has me until the vocals but then i’m out for the count.

Helen: 10 or 6/10

Music video is 10/10, I don’t even wanna think about what that working video file looks like. Song itself, 6/10. I think that part towards the end at 3:30 is great, like a chilly bell chiming. There isn’t a beat in here though that stands out/gets my attention, feels like I’ve heard most of its components before.

Chad: 10/10

What an absolute gorgeous video and song. Mesmerizing effects in sight and sound – this gives me a smile in my chest as I watch and listen.

Josh: 10/10

Well this is my wheelhouse for sure. Dusty ambient pop with a trippy, hold-on-to-your-chair video that leaves you feeling more than a little discombobulated. Could see myself diving into this record late at night, but for the moment let’s just stop and make sure everyone is watching this fucking amazing video.  

Tyler: 5.5/10

The most sonically interesting of this set. Satisfying downtempo electronic music that doesn’t rely too heavily on its beat. There are some very hearty synth patches that somehow work nicely over a delicate drum loop.

Jon: 8/10

Some comparisons to Radiohead’s later output seems inevitable. This is interestingly done though – tons of interweaving of texture in the music as well as video. It grabs ahold of you and draws you in.

Helen: 3/10

Kinda generic chill, don’t care for the lyrics about cherry blossoms, I find it’s overused when white people make songs about Japan.

Chad: 8/10

Putting a siren on a cutting board says something about what we’re doing to the earth and environment these days. At first we didn’t know any better, but warning after warning came and went and we’ve become the definition of insanity in our blind consumption and ignorant convenience. 

Josh: 6/10

This is pretty standard downbeat electronic pop. I enjoy the instrumentation more than the vocals, but that is the case with most songs I listen to these days.

Tyler: 3.5/10

The delicate four-on-the-floor beat and quiet vocals is a lush starting ground for this song, but it never really grows into anything interesting. The soil is fertile and the seed has been watered, but it just doesn’t want to blossom. The sprinkling of gimmicky noises throughout doesn’t help much either. 

Jon: 4/10

This just doesn’t do much for me. While probably fine on paper, the production just seems crystalline and sterile, the vocals don’t sound like they have much heart, and the hook isn’t very memorable.

Helen: 3/10

Okay sorry I’m laughing at my desk while listening to this because his voice reminded me of Walking on the Sun by Smashmouth to me, which ISN’T BAD!!! Hmmmmm, 3/10. That generic chill synthy beat/vibes…. with that generic acoustic percussion sound. Maybe a 4 because it did make me chortle.

Chad: 6/10

I absolutely love rock that doesn’t take itself too seriously while still creating a serious sound. From what I can tell this gang is new to the scene and I’m excited to see what they deliver next.

Josh: 3/10

This feels like an idea that isn’t fully developed. Actually maybe it is fully developed and it just isn’t that great? 

Tyler: 2.5/10

Was this song recorded in a factory that makes auxiliary percussion instruments?

Jon: 3/10

Another one that kind of has me until the vocals kick in. Seems like lead vox is going for a kind of George Thorogood sound but it’s not working in this tune. I also feel a bit bad for the guy in the band whose only job is tambourine (though its probably the only job I would be qualified for myself).