The Bollard Bulletin for April 28, 2025
Local Music Monday: The supergroup Finger Food wins Album of the Summer!
Local Music Monday
Write enough local music reviews and you, too, can develop some really bad habits! I’m not just talking about the physical ones (smoking, alcoholism, gummy addiction, nose-picking) or the mental afflictions (e.g., the typical progression from hipsterism and boosterism to cynicism and nihilism as it dawns on you that the local audience for interesting music could fit inside your unregistered car). This work can also give you some really terrible writing habits!
I know I’ve got a slew, like using the term supergroup to describe new combinations of local players whose past band affiliations are appreciated only by me and their moms. And this bit years ago when I’d declare a new release the Local Album of the Summer, as if that’s an actual competition and not a fleeting post–bong hit epiphany.
Portland’s Tyler Jackson received the worst of this crappy criticism over the years, but in my defense, he was practically askin’ for it. Dude kept forming new bands with great collaborators (Foam Castles, Endless Jags, Golden Rules the Thumb) and releasing warm and dreamy-sounding indie-rock records perfect for summers in Maine.
So, without further ado, I present the Album of the Summer 2025: the self-titled EP by local supergroup Finger Food! [Scattered applause from the backseat]
OK, seriously, I love this record. Jackson and his partner, Dana Guth, who plays bass and sings in Little Oso, teamed up with Lana Cooney (of Montreal acts Caveboy and No Joy) to make five tracks of surreal synth-pop. They hook ya with the opener, “Zesty,” an instantly likable song with a candy melody and simple drum beat disguising some sophisticated sonic clockwork. Guth, who’s a backing/secondary singer in Oso, is at the forefront here, with Jackson and Cooney confecting clouds around her pillow-soft voice.
The acid really kicks in on track 2, appropriately titled, “Something in My Mind.” This is shoegaze club music with all sorts of strangely enticing sounds floating beneath the surface. And unlike shoegaze proper, no mopey side effects!
“Evil You” hits that early ’90s psychedelic house vein all those English kids with the bangs and stripy shirts were vibing on in Manchester or wherever. Except it’s 2025 and somehow cooler now. “Coke on Ice” slowly melts in a languid atmosphere perfect for you-know-what-season, and the more experimental “Dial Tone” sends you off into the pre-dawn streets with a glazed grin.
Local music criticism may not make you any money, earn you any respect, or help you become a saner and healthier person, but when it gives you fantastic new albums like this, it’s worth it.
Highlights
If our “criminal justice” system actually reduced crime and promoted justice, it’d be pretty terrible to keep calling for its abolition. But it don’t, so we do. Catch the Imaginary Crimes Tour as it stops at The Apohadion Theater (107 Hanover St., Portland) for a film screening and discussion of ways we can really have public safety and treat everyone fairly at 7 p.m. Donate somethin’ (all ages).
Mainstream synth-pop duo Magdalena Bay raves at the State Theatre (609 Congress St., Portland) with Sam Austins opening at 8 p.m. Tix: $39.50 (all ages).