Brightest Young Things

The first column back was filled with the uninspired and misdirected (I still can’t get that Yuck cover out of my mind) so I thought we would wade in with some sweetness and light, before allowing any clouds to gather over my sad bald head.

I enjoy a lot of Leif Podhajsky’s work (though not all, being particularly nonplussed with his sleeves for Tame Impala) but he has reached a new pinnacle with his design for all the components of the new Lykke Li record. Bringing his mystical style of imagery and tinted palettes, he simplifies his color choice down to a warm grayscale, and roughs up the overall look, to great effect.

Burns and smudges combine with droplet stains and rips and tears, to add a desperate layer of detail to the sleepy tone of the sleeves. It is the first time that I have really seen him push his images to become more raw and real - and to lose the icy detachment evident in his usual mirrored waterfalls and mannered collages. His use of symmetry had long since gone from being a one trick pony, to a required component, and here he abandons it at the most essential moment.

Covering a record that makes it’s case through two incredible singles, before peeling back and revealing an intimate songwriter laden collection piled with beats - it seems at odds with the delectable drum hook that anchors “I Follow Rivers,” yet fills up with the nighttime vibe and echoey reverberation. As you delve deeper into the dramatic crawl of the second half of the record, the weight of the design seems more and more essential.

I should also note: “I Follow Rivers” is way out in front for my single of the year. There has to be an alternate universe where Lykke Li is the equivalent of Beyonce to some loving population.

The Beastie Boys leaked their new album cover for “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two” this week. I am not sold on the run-on typography (not as a rule, but in this specific instance) and the color choices are having a tough time getting along (tiny black dots are still swirling around my eyes from staring at that red and magenta border patrol battle going on, and don’t even get me started on the cyan and magenta overlap making imaginary dark lines…) but it ultimately wins out for having a fun and vibrant modern art feel. You just know we are going to get an album bed-rocked with funky jazzy instrumentation - and that is a good thing.

Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears just leaked their cover art as well – can you tell what this sounds like already? Does it grab you visually? Do you know if you are going to be into this record before you even hear a leaked track, much less buy it? This is how it’s done kids.

Sub Pop announced a deluxe reissue of Sebadoh’s classic “Bakesale” record (and by “classic” I mostly mean Lou’s songs) which reminds us again why it is such a horrible idea to allow the band to send in snapshots for the record cover BUT it also gives us a chance to show off some baby butt fat wrinkles. So, there is that.

Thank god I am not working on this, as I would still feel an incredible urge to photoshop out that flash reflection – and really, would it make a difference? It’s a baby digging in a toilet…

Yet, it is still better than the upcoming Thurston Moore sleeve, which appears to have been designed (or not designed, as it were) specifically for me to complain about it.

Speaking of bummers – if you are a Replacements nut like me (for three years, Paul Westerberg was one of the most important figures in my life) you have to be ready to go up and sit on the roof until they do a fitting cover for this upcoming documentary. I am honestly not even sure if I will see it now – how could you understand the band you are discussing if you let the packaging look like a 1994 Corel Draw tutorial. Shitenanny.

Speaking of bigger bummers – on the heels of amazing black and white sleeves for Weekend and Crystal Stilts, Slumberland unveiled the tragedy that is the new Pains of Being Pure at Heart artwork. While I appreciate bands making an effort to create a stylistic system around a release (see Lykke Li) marrying them to sad watery paintings does the music no favors. And by sad, I mean sad in execution – I have no idea what the intended emotion is that these dribbles planned to evoke.

As if the images weren’t bad enough, (I know painting can be particularly subjective. I am also a trained painter and know sub beginner level crap when I see it. It’s called “under painting.” Get a book, at least.) they have thin type, that doesn’t jell with the image, occupying a crunched area on top - with no space to breathe – an effect that never works with that type of font selection - unless given distance from the image. Any 3 fashion magazines on the rack could have told you that. That the type is transparent only makes it more amateurish, and immediately questions the source of everything. Does anyone know what the “B” in “Belong” is lining up with on the album? Because I surely don’t – it is maddening.

It is not as if the band’s early Sarah-inspired photocopy style sleeves were all that great either, but they seemed evocative of the time period the music was aping. Much like the over reliance on pedals in the new songs, it all feels like a step in the wrong direction. Bands of all ages often get noisier as they tour continuously. It happens. It doesn’t mean that it has to show up in the recordings though. They were just getting a handle on the jangle side of things when they seem to have gotten stuck on a My Bloody Valentine phase. These things never end well, unless you are actually Kevin Shields. And even then, there is an ultimate price.

(The only good thing about this is that it made me just throw on the “Glider” EP. God that turns me into a quivering puddle of happiness.)

I am exhausted from beating up these poor youngsters, and everyone seemed to have a blast at the Wild Flag show, so that clunky repetitive type block following them around gets a pass for a week – but not much longer. We’ve got work to do ladies! My life long crush on Mary Timony only buys you so much time.

John Foster is the proprietor of his very own design firm: Bad People Good Things. Feel free to go over there and make fun of his record cover designs. He deserves it.

Previously in JUDGING THE COVER BY IT'S COVER:

• 12/20: Best Music Packaging of 2011
• 12/19: Worst Music Packaging of 2011
• 2/23: Judging A Cover By Its Cover 2.0