Graham Repulski: Lineman Poems EP/Liquid Pig Heart EP

It’s hard to understand why, in a time where plenty of middling lo-fi acts get all kinds of press, that a project like Graham Repulski gets so criminally overlooked. This band is the real deal, delivering lo-fi pop hits that don’t rely on their fidelity so much as they cut through it. Their latest, a pair of EPs titled Lineman Poems and Liquid Pig Heart, is a short but excellent set of songs that finds the usual power-poppers getting a bit more isolated and introspective. Both EPs ring out with brittle guitars like the acoustic gem “Rancid Hearts” or the jangling mood piece “Nude Man (I Don’t Feel Alright)”. Then you also get more fully fleshed out pieces, like the rolling rock tune “Rip Van Winkle” or the white-noise fuzz of “Asleep at the Deep”. As on previous albums, Graham Repulski doesn’t use their hissing recordings as a way to hide, but rather as a way to stretch song structures within tight borders. In this way, these EPs brilliantly expand the possibilities of home recording while also knocking out some serious hooks. You’re not likely to find another band that can do this much with 13 minutes of music, so pick it up and see what you’ve been missing.