In an era of popular music where genre labels have become largely arbitrary, it isn’t particularly novel to record something that defies categorization. That’s why it’s so exciting when a band like Background Character comes around and takes things a step further than defiance to record an album so stuffed to the gills with ideas and contrasting genre trappings that it sometimes plays as a meta-commentary on the concept of “genrelessness” itself.
Creativity often lies in bringing disparate parts together, and Background Character has mastered just that. It’s all fair game on Recordings 2024, and in that sense, this album is more akin to hyperpop than anything coming out of indie rock today. It’s an inspiring spirit to adopt and one that’s reinvigorated my love for making music in 2024, where anything is possible if you’re as adventurous as Background Character is.
From the opening track (which plays like an homage to Metallica’s Black Album before transitioning into an indie rock banger with doo-wop harmonies and a drum break that seemingly nods to SpongeBob) to the closing ballad (one of the most delicate and poetic the band has ever recorded), there is no guessing where this album is going to go.
But it’s not just that lack of guessing that keeps Recordings 2024 engaging. Jenny, Salem, and Bash all bring a unique virtuosity to their instruments that coheres the many sonic left turns this album takes so that it never feels like a collection of separate explorations. Taken as a whole, this is an artistic and wildly entertaining work worthy of being included among Background Character’s best.
Photos by Bash (@trash_man64)