The pandemic has caused a lot of inward searching. It's caused a lot of isolation. It's caused a lot of boredom. It's caused a lot of sadness.
It's also inspired a lot of creativity, which brings us to Modern Cynics' debut, Auditory Postcards. As its name implies, the point of the project is succinct songs that get to the point. There are 18 songs on the album and each song sticks to 12 lyrics or less. There may be as many songs as unique words on this sucker.
Born out of pandemic restrictions, Matty Grace wanted to write songs but couldn't get together with Future Girls, which kicked off this concept where Grace handles everything -- all the instruments, all the production. It seems that the number twelve was somewhat arbitrary but it's not a limitation. Song songs are super short; others run longer. All in all, it's tight and fast punk rock. The artist was subject to restrictions, so it's only fitting that the songs are too.
And who said word counts mean anything? The Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is only 14 words and that sucker in almost 8-minutes long.
Am I saying that Grace has outdone The Beatles? Listen and make up your own mind.
(Hit the + sign for the full playlist.)
Auditory Postcards releases on February 15 courtesy of Dirt Cult Records. It's available for pre-order now, on cassette and digital format.
---
Also check out:
https://moderncynics.bandcamp.com/
https://mattygrace.bandcamp.com/
photo by photo by Invidia Obscura
