Exit Stencil (2021)
If you've been following the sort of records I've been writing about lately, a trend is emerging... The vast majority of them are records from the 90s. Be it reissues or finally tracking down an album that I only had on CD, I've spent far more time chasing down old hits than buying albums that were just being released this year. I'm not totally sure why, but I have hypothesized before. Is it just that there are less good records coming out this year? Or is my old age finally catching up to me. It's easier to blame things on the pandemic or bands for not hitting that sweet spot I'm looking for, but it's definitely possible that it's just me slipping.
Then I hear a record like Fiction Writer and absolve myself of all responsibility. This is an amazing record and it came out this year. Go figure. I've been a fan of Herzog for a while and have loved the way they've built their vocal harmonies over instantly catchy, fuzzed out guitars. A little bit early Weezer and a little bit Here's Where The Strings Come In era Superchunk. This is their third album and might be my favorite of the bunch.
In particular, the first half of the record is just on fire. From the opening "Na na na na na" of title track "Fiction Writer" to the scratchy vocals of "Money," it's just hit after hit. Not that the B side is any slouch either, but man that stretch of songs on the A side is something special.
There's not a lot of albums that have come out in 2021 that I'm all that excited about. It's a very select club at the moment, but Fiction Writer is firmly in there with Cloud Nothings and Czarface as the records that I'm listening to the most.
Herzog - Fiction Writer:
https://herzog-cleveland.bandcamp.com/album/fiction-writer
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