It's hard to believe it's been four years since the debut release of The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty's kick excellent debut "Ways of Hearing." But growth takes time and rather than rush a follow-up album to market to capitalize on their newfound success, the group opted to take their time and focus their efforts at their own pace. It paid off.

On their much anticipated sophomore album, ambition is key. The name of the album itself "The Iliad and the Odyssey and the Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick" spans a glorious 71 characters and is bound to swallow the screen of whatever device that attempts to display the text. The essence of the album is built upon delicate, pleading vocals that sit atop stirring dynamic movements that seem to move between small and vulnerable to full-on symphonies that are bursting with emotion.  

"The Iliad and the Odyssey and the Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick" will be released by veteran indie label Count Your Lucky Stars on April 25th, 2024 (an homage to their first released single of the album) during the dead time when the cold end of winter is transitioning to a hopeful and promising spring- an apt metaphor that seems to encompass the heart of the album.

The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick-  Clair De Lune

The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick- Mr. Settled Score

The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick- Wild Rose

The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick- April 25

Drunk Uncle isolated themselves into a cabin on an East Texas farm to write and record the follow up to their debut Look Up in 2022. The result "O, brittle weather!" is a thoughtful, probing album that explores a cacophony of sounds in a playful and whimsical way. The album feels like a telling of a great story- songs like pages colored with splashes of acoustic and electric guitars, floating bass, keys, horns, and percussion that ranges from a whole kit to a single tambourine that succinctly cues up the next chapter. Narrated by melodic vocals belting out emotional poetry, "O, brittle weather!" seems to plead with you to keep listening until the last word. Then, it begs you to listen again.

Most bands are content to just collect a handful of songs and group them together as an album. Drunk Uncle strived to make something bigger than themselves. And wouldn't you know it, they succeeded. 

"O, brittle weather!" comes out 5/24 on Count Your Lucky Stars. Available digitally and on vinyl.

Drunk Uncle- Bed Our Mouths

JEFF is a split featuring original songs from Mt. Oriander, Topiary Creatures, Superdestroyer and Hey, ily!.

Released by Lonely Ghost Records and Count Your Lucky Stars on May 23rd, 2024.

Hey, ily! - Sunsets

Superdestroyer - Knife Fiight!

Topiary Creatures - William Bonneville Salt Flats

Mt. Oriander - I'm Sorry, but That One Is Just a Snake

One long song from Keith Latinen, two shorter songs from Daniel Becker in a beautifully handmade artwork featuring a drawing from Tommy Lester (diddums doodles), all revolving around themes of loss and letting go.

I’m not going to waltz around facts here, this is a sad record, and once Mt. Oriander’s sole but lengthy song ‚You Chip Away Everything that isn’t an Elephant‘ starts twinkling multiple clean guitars through your speakers or pods, you will be swept away by its melancholy. Before you know it Keith Latinen, well known from his former, genre defining band Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) jumps head first into an instrumental, soaring upbeat part of Mineral-esque or Penfold-ish intensity that sets the stage for a partly twinkly, partly head-nodding and beautifully told story of childhood nostalgia, as if JD Salinger and Douglas Coupland had a love child, a short story, so vivid, you can almost grasp it. The seemingly everyday setting lulls you in, only to break your heart with its final sentence, fully revealing this is about more than nostalgia.   On the flipside Daniel Becker takes over the narrative of loss and abandonment and turns loss into letting go, and nostalgia into sad acceptance. His first song „Field of View“ is a brooding, slow paced testimony of a man who is beginning to make peace with ending a fight that can’t be won, for the sake of staying healthy, staying alive, but aware of what made him who he is, for better or worse. The short sophomore song „Hypothetically Speaking I“ serves as a passage into Amid the Old Wounds’ contribution to last year’s split 7“ with Australia’s No Action, picking up sentiments of not being accepted and expressing awareness that the life settings we grow up with are ok – potentially required – to be questioned, in order to provide peace for your inner child.

This may not be your perfect soundtrack to this summer’s open window ride to the beach, but let’s be honest, life isn’t always a ride to the beach, is it? Within many of us lies sadness, lies anger, and very often these are symptoms of trauma response caused by loss or negligence, among others. So if you find yourself dealing with sadness, this record might provide one thought that could be most instrumental in getting through: You are not alone.

Rounded off with remarkably detailed artwork, specifically handdrawn by Tommy Lester aka Diddums Doodles (most prominently known for his work for Chalk Hands) this 7“ will be available September 19th 2024.

Press write up by Magnus Jaschke.

Co- release with Count Your Lucky Stars, Rufen Publishings, Shove Records, Slow Down Records, Civic Duty, Time as a Color, Friendly Otter, strictly no capital records, and New Knee Records.

Amid The Old Wounds - Hypothetically Speaking I

Amid The Old Wounds - Field Of View Digital

Mt. Oriander - You Chip Away Everything That Isn't An Elephant

Count Your Lucky Stars is a record label based out of Fenton, Michigan.  You can visit us at www.cylsrecords.com.  <3

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