Foreign Affairs

For fans of Sebadoh, Guided By Voices, The Men, Mike Krol and The Replacements. Fifth album from the beloved Columbus, OH band and first for Trouble in Mind, after four albums on Columbus label Anyway Records. Features former members of 84 Nash. Since 2013, Columbus, Ohio’s Connections have made four near perfect albums of lo-fi pop majesty for the seminal Midwest label Anyway Records, and Foreign Affairs – their latest album (and first for Trouble In Mind), continues that winning streak with fifteen songs packed with sardonic tunefulness and Buckeye bombast, firmly planting them in the canon of the Ohio Sound. Connections sprung forth from the ashes of Nineties pop band 84 Nash, infamous for being the only non-GBV related band released on Robert Pollard’s own Rockathon Records and comparisons to the Indie Rock underdogs seem inevitable, if not a little shortsighted. Connections’ brand of indie rock definitely has one foot in The Nineties but maintains a classicist’s penchant for nuanced and timeless rock’n’roll. Many songs use classic pop structures (see Love Me Still”s quiet / loud / quiet power ballad-isms) but subvert them with a clever melodic twist, a bonkers twin guitar solo or unexpected synth squiggle underneath. These guys have done their homework, but nothing feels studied – they’ve drunk from the waters of the Ohio Underground and the tunes flow forth naturally, with nods to their Nineties brethren (GBV, Breeders, Gaunt) as well as idiosyncratic Midwest legends like Mike Rep and The Quotas or Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. LP – Black Vinyl – No Download. LP+ – Limited Red Vinyl – No Download.