Yesterday’s Ring – Goodbye Nightlife LP (Little Rocket Records)

Today, I got two new excellent records from Graeme of Medictation, Leatherface, and Little Rocket Records, so let’s start with this gem first. Yesterday’s Ring is a long-running trio consisting of Hugo Mudie, Fred Jacques, and Louis Valiquette, who played in The Sainte Catherines together. This album also includes Frankie Stubbs on vocals and guitar, and it was recorded by Graeme Philliskirk, both known for being members of Leatherface, among many other bands and solo projects. Although I listened to their previous releases, I was entirely unaware of their new record, so I immediately rushed to listen and write a review about it.

Goodbye Nightlife is, what I believe, their sixth full-length release, but the band also released split releases with Leatherface and Tumbledown, plus a couple of EPs. This particular album carries eleven excellent compositions that burst with an entire specter of emotions. Besides a heavy dosage of emotiveness, which is vividly hearable in each track, you’ll notice a confident, sincere, flawless music performance that equally plays a significant part in the brilliance of this release. For those not familiar with the music of Yesterday’s Ring, you can expect ear-appealing folk-punk songs empowered by the whispery, semi-distorted voice of Hugo Mudie. Still, Yesterday’s Ring have many tricks up their sleeves, so you’ll also notice several other complementary music genres such as Americana, bluegrass, country, western, and indie. All these additions enhance this record to the point you will undergo an otherworldly listening experience while listening to these songs.

There’s no way this record will not be up your alley if you’re into folk-punk or indie-folk music. Goodbye Nightlife possesses so many qualities that I will probably forget to list some of them. Besides the tremendous dueling on acoustic guitars, you’ll hear loads of other instruments and playing technics applied over the acoustic base. Instruments like banjo, trumpet, or maybe a slide guitar make a big difference in some songs. They shapeshift calmy, relaxing, soothing performance into a nearly cathartic ambiance, which will melt your heart and force you to spin this vinyl record repeatedly until the stylus drops off. Goodbye Nightlife would be an ideal folk-punk record even without these additional instruments, but they really enhance every song on an entirely new level. Personally, I adore how slide guitar melodies are applied over chord progressions. It’s also good to mention that each number possesses perfect song structure and arrangements, so there aren’t really any flaws on Goodbye Nightlife. I wouldn’t wait any minute if I were you. Grab this record immediately at Little Rocket Records. You won’t be disappointed.