Track listing: When the Great King Left, Corporate Man, Living it up in Canaan Till I Die, Contemplating, The Great Equalizer, The Land of One Hundred Million Kings, The Artificial Heaven, Incurable Disease

Eugene, Oregon based Sweetheart just dropped their debut album Love of Money, Fear of Death. The record is a melange of sounds--sort of a Tom Waits social commentary bringing in elements of funk bass, saxophone, call-and-response hooks, and an overall 70s era AM radio aesthetic.

The group's own bio cites their genre including "Rock / Indie Rock / Country / Folk," and that's reasonable enough. There are certainly elements of it all throughout the record. Topically, the lyrics dive into the negative vibes of nihilism and death itself. The doom-and-gloom tone smacks a bit of The Doors. Overall, we don't have the big hit of the summer season on our hands. Love of Money, Fear of Death has much more of a Fall & Winter sentiment to it.

Heavy chorus on the guitar helps to add to the 'thickness' of the album, enhancing the gloom, as it were. Same goes for the chunky reverb smothering the lead vocals. Musically, though, the songs vary from genre to genre. "The Land of One Hundred Million Kings" brings Reggae to the mix while "This Artificial Heaven" is one-hundred percent gloom rock at its core.

 Sweetheart's first full-length album swings in heavy with topics of hedonism, nihilism, and the subtle whispering of death at the door. Imbued with the gravitas of gloomy rock-and-roll sounds, with just a hint of melancholic country twang, "Love of Money, Fear of Death" will take you on a depressing journey of philosophical musings. Oddly enough, you get a sense of an Irish folk song in the closing track, "Incurable Disease."

If any of the above piques your interest, give Sweetheart a follow and a listen. You can find them on Instagram @sweetheart.the.band or TikTok @sweetheart.the.band. Listen now and follow on Spotify.