Been waiting for LA musician Adam Anderson, aka Rraaiillss, to drop his first full-length album ever since he stunned me with his demo tracks a couple of months back. Mathematically entitled 1098 (which, for a numbers nerd like myself, got my brain spinning), the 12-track digitally released record spans a wide range of genres — shoegaze, lo-fi rock, indie-pop, noise — making it almost a chronicle of 90s/00s musical trends. What’s crazy is that he doesn’t fall short with his wide-reaching goal of the LP. I mean every track is an insta-hit, and it’s not just me saying that.
Interspersed throughout the album are some of Anderson’s well-received demo tracks, however, his new tracks pack just as much punch. “Out of the Bag” sounds like an old school Raveonettes song (circa Whip It On) with simple driving drums, a catchy-as-hell guitar line, and anthem-ready hazy vocals while “Kissoff” (no, not a Violent Femmes cover song) is cut in much of the same fashion. No doubt, the most interesting track in them mix is “Halogen” which features some shredding guitar licks and semi-whispered vocals reminiscent of the more raucous Spiritualized songs.
Although Anderson’s music reminds me of so many of my all-time favorite bands, he’s still able to cut out a sizable section of never-before-discovered sounds, and that’s what makes his music so exciting to listen to. It’s like you get a hint of the past and a taste of the future with every track. Below, you can listen/download “When You Feel Like…”, which is one of my top-five tracks of the year so far, as well as see a cool vid composed of, what else, archive.org footage! After you’ve been easily won over by the tune, head on over to Rraaiillss bandcamp page where you can stream the album for free or purchase it for a measly $9.99 (of course, I recommend the latter).
