by Álvaro Molina, Charles Davis, Dan Goldin, Isobel Mohyeddin, Jeremy Zerbe, Kris Handel, Matt Watton, Matty McPherson, Patrick Pilch, Ross Atkinson, Ross Jenkins, Taylor Ruckle, Will Henriksen, and Zach Zollo

As nature and society is healing (we beg of you to get vaccinated if any of our readers are holding out) and things are beginning to get back to “normal,” it’s been a great half of a year for new music… as per usual. Times are still tough and music is still very much what collectively keeps us going, so we’re digging in. The discovery of new artists, bands, albums, etc. remains the best gift we can offer. Interesting music continues to be made even as pressing plants are jammed, clubs are booked, and infrastructure crumbles all around us.

So we present our “Mid-Year Report," a comprehensive guide to our favorite releases of the first half of this year, without any pre-determined length or insignificant rankings. If we loved a record, we're including it (unless we just forgot it or just haven’t spent enough time with it… which happens, in which case our sincerest of apologies). It's impossible to listen to everything released and everyone has different tastes, but we’re here to recommend these particular records. Your next favorite band/artist could be out there, it's just a matter of listening to something new. Journey down this rabbit hole with us. We're not saying these are the best albums, but rather our favorites as picked up by the editors. Discover something new. Buy some records. Support the music you love. Thank you for reading Post-Trash. - DG

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FIEVEL IS GLAUQUE | "God's Trashmen Sent to Right the Mess"

La Loi Records

By releasing their debut album on New Year’s Day, Fievel Is Glauque ensured their album would be the first essential of the year. God’s Trashmen Sent To Right The Mess arrived just as 2021 began, released via new label La Loi, and while the debut project on a brand new label may seem unfamiliar, it should be known that Zach Phillips (OSR Tapes, Blanche Blanch Blanche, etc) is the mastermind behind both. He’s been a creative force within the national and international DIY community for well over a decade at this point, and amongst his many accomplishments, Fievel Is Glauque may be his best project yet. Located out of Brussels, Phillips teams up with the amazing Ma Clément, who handles all the vocals with an undeniable radiance. Together the pair worked with five large ensembles (over 30 musicians) to create their world, with appearances from Chris Cohen, Stephe Cooper, Quentin Moore, Ryan Power, and so many others. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

GATECREEPER | "An Unexpected Reality"

Closed Casket Activities

The mighty Gatecreeper returned with An Unexpected Reality, a surprise album (or EP, depending on how you look at it) that in true Gatecreeper fashion absolutely destroys. This is not your typical Gatecreeper release however, but a chance for the band to experiment, moving away from their colossal death metal sound to something a bit more ferocious (if possible) and a bit more out into the cosmic sludge realm, a tale of two halves. The first half is comprised of one minute doses of brutality, grinding metal with a primal sense of destruction. It’s phenomenal. The second half is a single eleven minute whirlwind of crusty space doom, crawling along with a pummeling intensity. Gatecreeper can do it all. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

GOAT GIRL | "On All Fours"

Rough Trade Records

Goat Girl’s self-titled album was an absolute favorite of 2018, one of the best debuts of the past decade. As the singles of their follow up, On All Fours, began to trickle out, it was apparent we weren’t getting a repeat of their previous record. While the singles could be slightly misleading to the album as a whole, it’s definitely clear that Goat Girl have expanded their sound, moving deeper into synth experimentation, but that smoky charm and dusty post-punk twang that lie at their core remains well in-tact. Songs like album opener “Pest” and “Once Again” are great examples of the band’s knack for taught songwriting opening up to more celestial exploration, an outward reach into cosmic pop that works together with their darker lounge soaked aura. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

MAXSHH | "Feedback & PB"

Sad Cactus Records

Recorded sporadically over the span of five years, it’s a colossal reflection of Max Goldstein’s many impulses, with each idea fully explored and given space to evolve. This is a fantastically weird album and it wears that experimental quality with a cohesive grace. It’s not strange for the sake of being strange, Maxshh’s latest is still built on songs, but the tendency to push those songs further into the abyss of no-wave, manipulated noise, and the progressive beyond is ever apparent. Which is all to say that Feedback & PB is a wild ride, but one that’s been constructed as such from the classical folk swoon of “Song for F” to the impenetrable atonal finale of “Alignment,” and all the cacophony that comes between. There’s no one song that captures this album, it’s a living, breathing statement of shifting ideas, which really needs to be heard in full. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

MJ LENDERMAN & WEDNESDAY | "Guttering"

Super Enema

Guttering may be a low key release between last year’s Wednesday album I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone and their upcoming Twin Plagues record, but it is no less essential. Credited to MJ Lenderman & Wednesday (aka Jake Lenderman and Karly Hartzman of the aforementioned Wednesday), the set captures the North Carolina duo writing swampy lo-fi tunes, heavy burnt out folk, front porch grunge, and dimly light skeletal slacker rock. It has a fantastic vibe, rustic production, frail melodies, and closely murmured harmonies lead the way through rusted twang and droning Americana, the end results nestled somewhere between early Cat Power and Neil Young. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

NOPES | "Djörk"

Magnetic Eye Records

We’ve been huge fans of Nopes over here for the past five or so years and with each album they seem to get better and better. Stapler was among our favorites in 2018 and the Oakland trio return with in 2021 with the wonderfully named, Djörk, a record that is seemingly faster, louder, and generally more mangled than ever before. Built on blistering noise rock with a tinge of SST and a bit of hardcore pummeling, Nopes both SHRED (and we can’t overstate that) and offer a deranged boogie in equal measure, always clawing into the red and hellbent on raw destruction. It’s loud, heavy, and this time around, oozing with a sordid swagger. Sadly the band have since called it a day, but don’t miss their swansong. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

PALBERTA | "Palberta5000"

Wharf Cat Records

Palberta have been inching closer to “pop” with every single release since the very beginning, and they’re more or less arrived in the pop-realm on the exceptional Palberta5000, or at least as close as they’ll ever get. No one is going to confuse Palberta with Lana Del Ray or anything like that (thankfully), but the weird-to-accessible scale is tipping closer to the accessible this time around with some amazing results (“Big Bad Want”). This is still very much the world that Palberta created way back in 2013, complete with detached punk (“The Cow”), inescapable harmonies (“The Way That You Do”), and off kilter progressions (“Red Antz”), but it’s all been sewn together into something “neater” and more digestible, their post-punk bliss shinning like a beam of delightfully unique sunshine. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

POM POKO | "Cheater"

Bella Union

“Poptimism” is unavoidable in 2021. It’s taking over everything in sight, but with it comes sordid strains of what pop could be. Take Norway’s Pom Poko who make the type of mutant pop that is generally reserved for bands like Deerhoof and The Raincoats. Fusing together art-rock influences with post-hardcore and punk isn’t exactly unheard of, especially in this era of fluid genre experimentation, but on Cheater, Pom Poko’s sophomore album, they’ve fused it together with the sweetest of twee pop charm, making sing-song earworms out of the most jagged of riffs and contorted of rhythms. Everything crashes together, ignites, burns, and reforms perfectly in place, a wild hodgepodge of ideas that comes together in perfect unison, all in its delicately balanced discord. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

THA GOD FAHIM & YOUR OLD DROOG | "Tha Wolf On Wall St"

Mongoloid Banks / Fat Beats Distribution

While the pair have collaborated plenty over the past few years, Tha Wolf On Wall St. is their first official record together and the duo delivers with flawless execution. Both Tha God Fahim and Your Old Droog offer their brand of wisdom and slick rhymes, dazzling with lyrics that both stunt on gimmicky cornball rappers and address social justice and class warfare. The way both TGF and YOD are able to seamlessly weave between the two is always impressive, often giving the impression that their deliveries are effortless, but there’s few in modern hip-hop who are operating at this level. The entire record is produced by Fahim, who has an impeccable taste for jazzy loops and dusty soul beats that keep it simple, an easy framework for the duo to lace the tracks with an onslaught of memorable rhymes. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

VIAGRA BOYS | "Welfare Jazz"

Year0001

Following a 2020 EP that took the band in some different directions, Stockholm’s Viagra Boys released their second full length album, Welfare Jazz. If anyone was worried the band had “matured” beyond the sound of Street Worms, their new record should have put to rest any concerns. Viagra Boys’ sound remains brilliantly sleezy and tongue-in-cheek, built on raw attitude and a pointed sense of humor that stings with hilariously repulsive characteristics. The band take a sludgy and deranged approach to danceable post-punk, like a crusty Devo with skronky sax and a permanently sardonic tongue. - DG || LISTEN: Spotify

Further Listening:

F E B R U A R Y:

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EDITRIX | "Tell Me I'm Bad"

EIS Records

On their debut full-length Tell Me I’m Bad, Editrix shifts through permutations of metal and punk faster than you can throw subgenre descriptors at them. For a solid thirty minutes, the lean and loud Massachusetts trio twists and turns through mathy riffs and pummeling breakdowns, phasing in and out of pocket grooves--they’re noisy, they’re poppy, they’re sludgy, they’re technical, and out to rock whatever type of socks you’ve got. “Brainy” is a word that comes up a lot in the conversation around Wendy Eisenberg’s music. It applies to Editrix too, and I mean that thoroughly; listening to Eisenberg jam it out with bassist Steve Cameron and drummer Josh Daniel will engage most every part of your brain, from left to right and from the deepest pleasure center up through the wrinkles. - Taylor Ruckle || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

MISTER GOBLIN | "Four People In An Elevator And One Of Them Is The Devil"

EIS Records

It should be known by know that Mister Goblin (aka Sam Goblin, formerly of Two Inch Astronaut) is a great songwriter, but it’s never been more evident than it is on Four People In An Elevator And One Of Them Is The Devil. With lyrics that are both tongue-in-cheek and sincere (often simultaneously), the project structures everything with the utmost impact, diving into hooks that don’t wait until the chorus to seep into your memory. It’s like a moving playbook on how to write a great song, from the album’s conceptual opener “The Devil” to the reflective “At Least,” each song explores genuine emotion and the complexities that come with it. Songs wander into sweeping crescendos and back into swooning acoustics with a graceful simplicity, each moment driving the next and building upon the last. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

NIGHTSHIFT | "Zöe"

Trouble In Mind Records

There’s nothing quite like a record that gets better with every listen and Nightshift’s full length debut Zöe continues to grow on me toward the point of obsession, due in large part to its dynamics. There are a lot of great songs and perhaps the best thing about it is that each one stands out in its own unique way. There’s a unity that allows it sound cohesive, but their blend of post-punk, psychedelic rock, and motorik dream pop takes many shapes from the mesmerizing sprawl of “Piece Together,” the transcendental boogie of “Power Cut,” and the nervous post-punk of “Make Kin.” The disorientation of “Outta Space” is what sucked us in, a song that grooves and drifts out of time from their usual sharp focus. It feels formless, a cloud of lush harmonies and a crackling framework that’s steeped in jazzy touches with a French-pop sort of malaise, as hypnotic as it is mysterious. Zöe is made up of great moments but it’s something impeccable when listened to in full. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

POISON RUÏN | "Poison Ruïn"

Urge Records

Philadelphia death rock/dungeon punk band Poison Ruïn consolidate their two EPs into one ten-song, self-titled album. Brained, fleshed, and recorded by Mac Kennedy, this effort is one of a personal nature. The sonic nature of the album has a human looseness, apparent like a cassette tape warbling from being wound and rewound. At times the songs sound thin and brittle, as though they are breaking apart simply by being played. The lyrics walk the same path and describe a world of cosmic horrors and environmental disaster. With their soft, eerie, medieval-hall introductions, each song transports the listener to a world of runes and swords, but staves off dorkiness with the relevance of a chewy post-punk center. Rife with sweetly stark guitar hooks and drums that flail like a death march, this self-titled LP gives off black metal at first glance. On further inspection, there is a gradation of inspirations ranging from pond-hopping blues guitar solos, heavy-handed punk drumming, gothic ambiance, and progressive song structures. - Corey Sustarich || LISTEN: Bandcamp

SILICONE PRAIRIE | "My Life On The Silicone Prairie"

Feel It Records

Silicone Prairie is the solo outlet for Kansas City artist Ian Teeple (of Warm Bodies and the Natural Man Band). Their first full-length release My Life on the Silicone Prairie is accidentally a perfect record for the lockdown era. Recorded at his home on 4-track over the last couple years, it would have been a solitary effort regardless. The eponymous track “Silicone Prairie” plays like a mission statement: tongue in cheek lyrics of exurban decline, with a jaunty melody of pounding drums and spacy synths, and some subtly virtuosic guitar work. “Born into Trouble” and “Open Module” embody that bouncing, midwestern, Devo-influenced punk we know and love from bands like the Coneheads, Erik Nervous, or the Minneapolis Uranium Club. Silicone Prairie treads their own path, with hints of an older slanted pop sensibility, like Ray Davies combined with the whimsy of Zappa. - Matt Watton || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

SPODEE BOY | "Rides Again..."

Goodbye Boozy

Nashville’s weird and wild garage punk odyssey Spodee Boy has returned in a way we’ve never heard him before. While most of the band’s catalog is very much in the “Devo-core” pocket of the egg punk world, Rides Again… is something else entirely, an oddly twangy sort of slow moseying outlaw cowboy punk… and it’s amazing. The fidelity is easily the best we’ve heard from the project and the song’s feel a bit more realized, at least in the regard that there seems to be a conceptual theme tying each of the EP’s four songs together. It’s like an acid bender through the desert, imagine Morricone meets The Butthole Surfers, delivered with a reckless brand of Western dirt. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

THA GOD FAHIM & YOUR OLD DROOG | "Tha YOD Fahim"

Mongoloid Banks / Fat Beats Distribution

The “Dump Gawds” just keep on dumping. Following their Tha Wolf on Wall St collaboration in January, Your Old Droog and Tha God Fahim didn’t even wait a month to release Tha YOD Fahim, one of the our most anticipated hip-hop records of the year. While Droog hails from Brooklyn and Fahim from Atlanta, the two are kindred souls as far as modern hip-hop goes, with a tireless work ethic and the desire to keep banging the illest verses over dusty beats. Droog has become one of rap’s most clever lyricists, inspired by MCs like Redman and MF DOOM, while Tha God Fahim goes in with bars that hit direct and clear with an often radiant positivity and knowledge (he’s also an incredibly gifted producer, delivering many of the album’s beats). Together, they are unmatched. With already proven hits like “Mailman” (a favorite hip-hop track of 2020) and “Charles Barkley,” the duo expand for a full length where every line hits and each artists brings their personal flare, forever intertwined on stand-outs like “Icee Shop/Entrées,” “Slam Dunk Contest,” and “Disney World.” Free of commercialism in a way unlike most, this is pure hip-hop, through and through. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

Further Listening:

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ALIEN NOSEJOB | "HC45-2"

Iron Lung Records

Australia’s Alien Nosejob aren’t wasting any damn time. After three records in 2020, the band returned with HC45-2, another hardcore punk ripper that could only come from Jake Robertson. While he’s released punk and hardcore as Ausmuteants and Leather Towel, it always feels extra exciting when it comes from Alien Nosejob, as his solo project truly has no genre boundaries, bouncing between releases that include garage pop, lo-fi fuzz, and some disco influenced releases. The sequel to HC45 is as reckless and repulsive as the original, with a breakneck speed and intensity that shreds and thrashes for just over eight minutes of punk disdain. Robertson’s music has always been a gift for the subversive, but the sheer amount of blistering riffs crammed into this EP is truly something to admire. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

ARMAND HAMMER & THE ALCHEMIST | "Haram"

Backwoodz Studioz

Some phantoms project themselves from the depths of the multiverse, acting as celestial conduits to Earth's relative place in time/space - exposing the moment for what it truly is - such is Haram, the most recent release from The Alchemist & Armand Hammer. Though it is an otherworldly, glooming ambience which first envelopes the listener, such pensiveness is reflected with an off-kilter sanguinity, entrenching one in the ever-changing, hypnotic soundscapes and incantatory wordage. These swift flows run gauntlet after gauntlet of abstract rhythms and atmospheric textures, each more dangerous and demanding than the next, inviting and challenging one to take part in the adventure. Armand Hammer’s Billy Woods & Elucid are offered room to truly spread their wings, casting resplendent, sunset-esque visuals amidst the greater, lush-forested, mountainous horizon of grooves and textures. - Charles Davis || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

BENNY THE BUTCHER & HARRY FRAUD | "The Plugs I Met 2"

Black Soprano Family / SRFSCHL Records

The ascension of Benny The Butcher from the underground to the mainstream is a fun one to watch as he continues on a rise that shows no limitations. While he and his Griselda cohorts continue to flood the streets with rap that takes us back to the early 90’s glory days, they’ve done so on their own terms, keeping things relatively grimy in the process. Last year’s Burden of Proof album was the exception. Benny’s most high profile crossover album was entirely produced by Hit Boy, and as a result, it certainly felt like a push toward the Top 40 hip-hop crowd. Benny still did his thing, but it missed the raw production he’s spent all these years rhyming over. The Plugs I Met 2 however puts him right back to hustling and hard, dusty production courtesy of Harry Fraud. While it doesn’t feature the caliber of guests as the original (Pusha T, Black Thought, Jadakiss), it’s a welcome reminder why he’s one of rap’s best and most consistent MCs. - DG || LISTEN: Spotify

COOL GHOULS | "At George's Zoo"

Empty Cellar Records

Like all of the best albums, I wasn’t so sure about Cool Ghouls’ latest LP upon first listen. After growing obsessed with 2017’s Gord’s Horse LP, expectations were high for At George’s Zoo, an album that takes repeat listens to fully grasp. Those repeat listens are worth every moment though because Cool Ghouls have created something profoundly special, a record that shines with a Pet Sounds level brilliance while sliding between enormous psych-pop (“Smoke & Fire”), fuzzy folk (“Flying”), crooning and lackadaisical prog (“Land Song”) and full blown harmonized psych that rivals the best of Brian Wilson (“Look In Your Mirror”). It’s a record that really shimmers on repeat listens with each song delivering its own earworm voyage into the sunset, pulling from a worn record collection and fusing it together. We’ll have this on repeat for the remainder of the year. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

ESTHER ROSE | "How Many Times"

Father/Daughter Records

New Orleans’ Esther Rose always finds that perfect spot between country music and indie rock in her music. How Many Times, her third album (and second full-length for Father/Daughter Records), highlights once more what make Rose’s music so special, and it’s the sincerity of the songwriting. It doesn’t matter the genre when you’re writing songs this good. What started as a break-up album feels like a new lease on life, developed over some home-cooked country tunes. Her songwriting remains built on a warm jangle, an infectious smokey twang, and confident vocals, but it’s the enormous hooks, melodies, and silky strings that make her heartbreak feel so radiant. You feel her emotions break and twist, rooting for the better days to come, which are never too far behind. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

FAKE FRUIT | "Fake Fruit"

Rock In Your Head Records

Fake Fruit deliver their self-titled debut after a few semi-nomadic years for band frontperson Hannah D’Amato and with it they introduce their jittered and tense punk. Her vocals easily slide between ranges as the bobbing bass of Martin Miller drives the music forward between skittish guitar fills. Fake Fruit embrace the sounds of late 70s-very early 80’s post-punk filtered through a skewed pop sensibility found in well-known and oft-cited mid-90s ‘indie rock’ bands but with a more modern and aloof disposition. D’Amato and bandmates shift between fast paced and nervy songs that come in a blur of about ninety seconds and tunes that manipulate a larger amount of space while maintaining an underlying unease. - Kris Handel || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

FLOATIE | "Voyage Out"

EIS Records

Floatie operated in a constant state of unfinalized growth for the better part of their existence, becoming a bigger band, a sharper band, a better-every-time-you-see-them band. Voyage Out is the culmination of these pursuits, an excellent and cohesive collection of skittering “frog rock” enveloped by the quartet’s clever arrangements of balmy six-string bass and twin guitars. The songs on Voyage Out deftly balance Floatie’s punctuated instrumentation and offshore aura, combining and oscillating between spindly math-rock and a cog-like wash of the band’s moving parts. Floatie make the most of entwining these seemingly opposing approaches on the record’s standout bookends—mood-setting opener “Shiny” and highlight closer “Lookfar.” Voyage Out is an exploration in itself. The record relishes in experiment and traverses toward understanding, as the band makes strides toward self-assurance and acceptance. The destination has always been out there; it just takes someone to find it. - Patrick Pilch || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

M.A.Z.E. | "II"

Lumpy Records

It’s not often a band gets harder and lower-fi with time--not without sounding contrived, anyway--but on their new LP II, Japanese post-punk band M.A.Z.E. tap into their hardcore influence with unqualified success. Their 2019 self-titled outing, their first on Lumpy Records, was raw in its own way, luxuriating in the open space around their singsong melodies and clean-ish guitars (on the opener, “I’m Grey,” you can hear the bass amp rattle the beads in the snare drum). II is faster, furiouser, and more fun, filling in singer Eriko’s vocals with fuzz and throwing some real punch behind guitarist Tatsuya’s oscillating riffs and scorching chord swipes. The record benefits on every level from the newfound distortion, which makes for M.A.Z.E.’s most hot-blooded material yet. Drummer Chiba is compressed to hell and back on “311,” where the snare hits burst like firecrackers. Bassist Tanji steals the spotlight on “Psycho Eyes” with a thick, clacking lead. Eriko’s shouted vocals always gave the project a clear punk attitude, but with the un-polished production edge, they’re downright acidic. - Taylor Ruckle || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

MAL DEVISA | "Wisdom Teeth"

Self Released

Any time we’re graced with new music from Mal Devisa is cause for celebration and the impact of her latest album can’t be ignored. Wisdom Teeth is the first new full length from the Amherst based songwriter in three years, a triumphant return built on profound songwriting, powerful performances, and that same assuredness that blesses all of Deja Carr’s music. Poignant and poetic, she moves between the heart wrenching jazz of “JD’s Tune/The Spring,” a song that feels both immaculately fragile and emotionally shattered and the neo soul of “The Room Is Spinning/Rough” with natural grace. The songs complement each other while highlighting Mal Devisa’s continued evolution, a blend of timeless music that plays to every whim. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp

THE PEACERS | "Blexxed Rec"

Drag City Records

I never expected to love The Peacers as much as I do but I consider their sophomore album, Introducing the Crimsmen to be a genuine under-appreciated classic. The band, led by Mike Donovan (Sic Alps) create lo-fi psych that feels as though it could either crumble into the dust or cosmically explode at any minute. Its casual fuzz and analog sound is gentle but the band draw upon a progressive touch at times (often courtesy of former Thee Oh Sees drummer Mike Shoun), subtly bending time and space. The quartet returned with Blexxed Rec remaining true to the form they last established (with the band’s line-up in tact), both subdued and soaring way up in the clouds. Donovan and co. keep it warped, relaxed, and always a bit unpredictable in the way everything lands. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

PINK SIIFU & FLY ANAKIN | "$mokebreak"

Lex Records

Following last year’s excellent FlySiifu’s LP, Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin teamed up once again to bring us the record’s companion piece, $mokebreak. The extended record draws on the themes of the original and the general vibe, as the MC’s continue to prove why they are among the underground’s best. Over relaxed beats and psychedelic synths, the pair often go in over tracks void of drums, offering bars through clouds of dreamy drifting soundscapes, bringing along peers like Chuck Strangers and Koncept Jack$on. There’s a general haze that resides over the production, the smoke of the title offering thick clouds that recline as they slide beneath Siifu and Anakin’s freeform deliveries. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

RENÉE REED | "Renée Reed"

Keeled Scales

While Renée Reed’s debut album arrives after a flurry of songwriting and stray single releases over the past year, the story of its genesis goes back to her early years. Reed is very open about her upbringing, describing herself as “unselfconsciously Cajun.” Growing up surrounded by Creole musicians and folklorists, she might have been primed to follow in their footsteps. Since then, she has broadened her palette, taking inspiration from a wide range of folk and popular musicians. Her self-titled debut album is a surprising, subtle joy to listen to, showcasing both her roots and a path forward. Any references ought to come with a warning: a game of “spot the style” won’t reveal the world of twists and turns and careful composition that are uniquely Reed’s. It’s not easy to balance stylistic diversity with a clear musical voice. With one foot in the past and another constantly on the move, Renée Reed is already showing that she’s a winner. - Will Henriksen || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

SMIRK | "LP"

Feel It / Drunken Sailor Records

Over the past few years Nick Vicario has released great punk records, excelling at both noisy hardcore with Crisis Man and post-punk with Public Eye. During that time he’s also released a string of EPs from his solo project, Smirk. Having released a pair of cassettes in 2020, those efforts were remastered and released together on vinyl as the cleverly titled LP. The music definitely leans closer to Public Eye than it does Crisis Man, but the hypnotic grooves of the former are replaced with a bit more agitation and punk experimentalism, that’s more Devo influenced than say Wire. It’s a great collection of songs that show a depth in propulsive songwriting and Vicario has never sounded better. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

THIRDFACE | "Do It With A Smile"

EIS Records

Blending all things hardcore, Thirdface – led by the fiery vocals of Kathryn Edwards – exudes sheer agility and intensity. Do It With A Smile is a 22-minute continuous tour de force filled with blistering riffs, blast beats, ear-piercing feedback, and roaring vocals. Bangers like album-opener “Customary” and “Grasping at the Root” will surely get your fists pumping, feet stomping and head banging with straightforward, zero-fucks-given, crossover thrash. This album is no customary or self-satisfying testimony of the genre. Thirdface are aware of this and they bring a load of twists and turns throughout the brutalism and vividness of the songs. The crass mixtures of grindcore and atonal, noisy passages in tracks like “No Requiem for the Wicked” or the savage groove of “Villains!” makes you think these four are not in this game just to screw around. - Álvaro Molina || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

WRITHING SQUARES | "Chart For The Solution"

Trouble In Mind Records

Philadelphia duo Writhing Squares transport us to another reality altogether on Chart For The Solution, perhaps the best escape of this world we’ve been given in 2021. The double LP is cosmic travel in audio form, a sinister blend of psych, kosmiche, krautrock, prog, and no wave that feels both retro and light years into the next millennium thanks to hypnotic synths, bleeding sax, and warped vocals. From mesmerizing to sonically arresting, the band have created an escape but not necessarily toward the better, with tales of annihilation and a caustic tension, this one is a voyage best experienced in full with attention undivided, but it also makes a great soundtrack for any creative adventures. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

Further Listening:

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BIG | BRAVE | "Vital"

Southern Lord

Montreal based trio Big|Brave’s previous record, A Gaze Among Them, was one of our favorite albums of 2019. The band have followed it up with their fourth full length, Vital, another beautifully heavy record built on piercing feedback and soaring melodies. With each song’s expansive framework, Big|Brave take the opportunity to get stretch out (as they do more often than not), letting every drone and drift careen endlessly. The band’s use of minimal rhythms is always stunning, with the placements carefully chosen, bringing a primal lurch to the otherwise meditative sludge. As always though, it’s Robin Wattie’s vocals that really pull everything together, her voice both commanding and cautious, the perfect way to cut through their atmospheric doom. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

BRONZE NAZARETH & RECOGNIZE ALI | "Season of the Se7en"

Mello Music Group

Last year introduced me to the Recognize Ali, an MC from Detroit via Ghana, and one half of the duo Dueling Experts, who dropped a pair of albums in 2020. The beats on those albums were handled by Lord Beatjitzu whose take on RZA’s production is near perfection. Ali has now teamed up Bronze Nazareth, the Detroit based producer who is an actual member of the Wu-Elements, as reliable a RZA disciple as they come. Season of the Se7en proves to be a perfect match for Recognize Ali’s gravely rhymes and Bronze Nazareth’s dusty loops. Over rolling drums and slow strings, Ali attacks the beats, running over samples and proving himself to be one of the underground’s best voices, bringing a prophetic street knowledge to his lyrics. It’s an impressive statement of a record from start to finish and one of the best hip-hop records so far this year. We hope to see these two continue working together. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

CONWAY THE MACHINE | "La Maquina"

Griselda / Drumwork / Empire Records

These days it’s starting to look like Westside Gunn is the industry figurehead (a la Puffy), Benny The Butcher is the mainstream crossover, and Conway The Machine is the beating heart that remains forever hard, or as he refers it “grimiest of all time.” While last year’s From King To A God played to certain mainstream appeals, La Maquina could be Conway’s most solid effort to date, a record that stays gutter from start to finish with diamond hard beats that don’t even flirt with pop tendencies. This one is a street record and Conway is laser focused, crushing any obstacle with stories from the struggle to the lavishes of success, but it’s with a chip on his shoulder attitude like he still has something to prove, rather than rest on all he’s done so far. Conway still sounds hungry, preparing for the takeover, and pushing himself over a great selection of beats from Bangladesh, Don Cannon, The Alchemist, Daringer, and more. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

CRUMB | "Ice Melt"

Crumb Records

New York’s Crumb are back with Ice Melt, their first new album since the release of Jinx. The band created an enormous buzz with that album and a heavy touring schedule and it’s well deserved, as their music is instantly enjoyable yet complex and nuanced. Swirling together jazzy psych and dreamy pop, they are a rock band at heart, but all edges have been melted and shape is only a concept. Ice Melt takes their signature formula and adds a bit of fuzz into their hypnotic sprawl, grooving through the verses and bending into the static of the space aged echo in the hooks. It’s as smooth as butter. Crumb don’t sound like Stereolab or Broadcast, but they do occupy a similar headspace and a shared brilliance. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

DINOSAUR JR. | "Sweep It Into Space"

Jagjaguwar

About two years ago we said that J Mascis’ Elastic Days was the best thing the legendary musician had released in about a decade. Thankfully that same sentiment can be said about Sweep It Into Space, the latest album from Dinosaur Jr. After a pair of albums that always felt slightly amiss for the trio (maybe due to the high expectations that follow an album as great as Farm), the band sound triumphant on their latest, picking up the same magic they’ve been offering since the 80’s and 90’s. Lead single “I Ran Away” is a gorgeous bit of the band’s “ear-bleeding country,” with a subdued twang, a dense rhythm and some great Mascis lyrics. The remainder of the album follows suit, capturing the band in a return to form, with sharpened songwriting that leans a bit closer to Mascis’ solo efforts and the band’s softer tendencies but with the ever thick rhythmic heft of Lou and Murph. Lets make no mistake though, every song shreds because we are talking about Dinosaur Jr after all. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

LAUNDROMAT | "Red EP"

Brace Yourself Records

Following the great Green and Blue EPs last year, Laundromat complete their EP series with Red. While this is not a collection of King Crimson covers (though that would be cool), we’re always excited to hear new music from Toby Hayes and his Laundromat project. From lead single “Flat Planet,” another slinky gem of dreamy krautrock and heavily “vibing” slacker pop to the slowed sizzle of “Milky,” Hayes has a gift for writing songs like these, with beats you can sink right into, colored with perfect noise pop bursts and earworms of blistering distortion and fuzz, giving us the texture we’ve always dreamed of. Things run in reverse, there’s slightly buried samples, and feedback that becomes downright silky. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

MOONTYPE | "Bodies of Water"

Born Yesterday Records

Bodies of Water introduces a band that have a well-crafted vision of what they want to achieve and the ability to execute that vision almost immaculately. Margaret McCarthy’s brand of no holds barred songwriting is striking and beautiful on so many levels that it’s hard to fully fathom, and her way with words displayed on this record leaves quite an impression. There’s a flow that is mesmerizing and the trio show off their adept takes on alt-country and melodic noise pop with a lingering familiarity that you can’t fully put your finger on. Moontype have produced a confident record that rarely misses the mark on any standard of excellence, which for a debut is pretty astonishing. McCarthy’s vocals are enchanting as Emerson Hunton and Ben Cruz mesh seamlessly as the trio relentlessly hit transcendent moment after transcendent moment. - Kris Handel || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

SOUR WIDOWS | "Crossing Over"

EIS Records

On Sour Widows’ second LP, Crossing Over, there is a departure from the alt pop-infused sound of their debut, instead deriving their power from a place of sheer tenderness and meditation. Despite being recorded remotely due to the pandemic, the Bay Area trio has managed to create a harmonious and expansive atmosphere in just four songs. Soft, stirring and serene, Crossing Over seamlessly glides from track to track, showcasing the group’s slowcore sensibilities and ability to craft deeply immersive tracks out of simplicity and lightness. Simply put, Crossing Over is a small collection of infinitely expansive tracks. - Isobel Mohyeddin || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

SPREAD JOY | "Spread Joy"

Feel It Records

Chicago’s Spread Joy have released their self-titled debut and it’s one of our favorite albums of the year so far. Clocking in at a very lean ten songs in thirteen minutes, it’s a quick listen, and subsequently quick repeat (you’re going to want to listen a few times, trust me). Released via the always dependable Feel It Records (Qlowski, Smirk, Silicone Prairie), the album is expertly delivered tightly coiled post-punk that seeps with the band’s personality, primarily to be found in Briana Hernandez’s charmingly animated vocal performances. Yelping, engaging, and at times utterly deadpan, Hernandez gives a sardonic character to the band’s razor sharp compositions. While only lead single “Unoriginal” breaks the two minute mark, the songs feel fully realized with structures that complete in sub-two minute glory, leading directly into the next. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

WASTE MAN | "One Day It'll All Be You"

Feel It Records

If you were to describe Waste Man’s latest album, One Day It’ll All Be You, as New Orleans’ street-punk, you’d be painting the picture, but leaving out much of the details. The album is undeniably full of rambunctious punk anthems that, while not having gang vocals, could most definitely be shouted by a large group of people. There’s a real dexterity to the band’s music though, part slurred noise rock, part swaggering rock ‘n’ roll, part propulsive garage punk, the band toss elements into the blender and spit them back out in a spirited way, full of frenzy and yet oddly nuanced too. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

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BACHELOR | "Doomin' Sun"

Polyvinyl

Bachelor, the duo of Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner have offered the world a string of well-crafted hits. Their debut album, Doomin’ Sun, seems to bring out the best in both of their respective songwriting styles, fusing together with their friendship radiant from the core. It’s ever apparent and the songs really do thrive as a result of feels like a relatively carefree project. With songs that capture the glory of classic alternative rock, there’s a great chemistry the two have that oozes into the twangy guitars, the circular riff patterns, and the heavy hum of the low end. It’s sugary and intelligent, shinning like the sun, doomed or otherwise. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

BLACK MIDI | "Cavalcade"

Rough Trade

London’s Black Midi truly are the most unlikely of buzz bands. The quartet play a borderline inaccessible blend of prog and post-punk with a graceful technicality and a penchant for off-kilter melodic sensibilities. The praise is well deserved though and it’s always impressive when a band this strange is accepted into mass culture. Their sophomore album, Cavalcade, remains every bit as freaked out and progressive as the best moments of Schlagenheim, but goes further, weirder, and jazzier. From the stuttering stop and start pounding of “John L,” the band launch into the unknown with a complexity that’s always well-constructed, with a composers attention to detail. It may not hit as immediately as the band’s debut but the challenges the band present are more than worth the time to takes to sink in, entering their world and leaving this one behind us. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

CZARFACE & MF DOOM | "Super What?"

Silver Age Records

Originally set for release in 2020 before the devastating passing of MF DOOM, the trio of Czarface (the legendary Inspectah Deck, Esoteric, and 7L on the beats) teamed up once again with the metalface super villain for their second collaborative effort, Super What?. Much like the Czarface Meets Metalface album before it, the three MCs sound like they are having a blast, rhyming circles around comic book culture and boom-bap glory. Songs flow directly into one other with patchwork production that hits hard and loose, allowing DOOM to do his thing in great company. While it feels like a posthumous release due to timing, this one isn’t a cut and paste effort, and while DOOM might not feature on every track, he does deliver some gems that sit with his finest work. - DG || LISTEN: Spotify

FACS | "Present Tense"

Trouble In Mind Records

Present Tense doesn’t have time for a meet and greet. It opens in media res; percussion bomb blasts, a gristling base, and snaring garage riffs and bloodshot vocals. If you know FACS, and by that I mean Noah Leger’s blown out drums, Alianna Kalaba’s doom drenched bass grooves, and Brian Case’s sputtering ellipses and noise pulses, then you’re already home. Over the past few years, the Chicago trio’s annual dispatches (on Trouble in Mind) have seen significant augmentation that parallel FACS’ previous form, Disappears. Where the latter practically took the post-punk playbook until they arrived at a void-driven strain of post-post-punk, FACS continued tinkering with that strain. Reveling in it enough to the point of becoming both gothic cyborgs and brutalist jam machines. - Matty McPherson || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

L'ORANGE & NAMIR BLADE | "Imaginary Everything"

Mello Music Group

A new record from L’Orange is always a reason for excitement, as the producer has given us modern staples like Marlowe (with Solemn Brigham), his work with Jeremiah Jae, and collaborations with vets like Kool Keith and Mr. Lif. Imaginary Everything finds L’Orange teaming up with Nashville’s Namir Blade, an MC and producer that has a colorful spectrum that was explored on last year’s spaced out Aphelion's Traveling Circus. Together they seem to bring the best out in one another with beats that crackle open and hit hard on the boom-bap vibes and funky wah-wah soaked guitars. It’s the perfect psychedelic set for Namir Blade to cruise over, kicking out rhymes with a playful style that tramples the beat but never comes across self-serious. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

MACH-HOMMY | "Pray For Haiti"

Griselda Records

After several years doing his own thing (and releasing a slew of modern hip-hop classics in the process), Mach-Hommy has teamed up with Griselda Records once again, the immediate result his new album, Pray For Haiti. Executive produced (or “curated” as they like to say in the “high art” world of Griselda) by Westside Gunn, the album finds Mach-Hommy doing what he does best, spitting hazy raps over warped production that works with his dexterous delivery, punch lines and abstract bars swirling together for what he describes as “Mach-phonics” on “The 26th Letter.” The real highlight of the album may be “Magnum Band” pairing Mach-Hommy together with co-conspirator Tha God Fahim, the pair going in over a tough as nails piano beat that’s both dreamy and mountainous thanks to the echo of the rhythm. Mach-Hommy delivers triple folded rhymes of braggadocios fly shit like this gem, “catalog one in a trillion, Dumplestiltskin, odds stacked against me and I still win.” You gotta give love for the Dump Gawd gifting the world, “Dumplestiltskin.” - DG || LISTEN: Spotify

MCKINLEY DIXON | "For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her"

Spacebomb Records

For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her unabashedly expresses the totality of the artist in a project that succeeds at combining aggression and cynicism with the message that pure love, sincerity, and vulnerability are some of the most crucial feelings needed to survive and thrive. McKinley Dixon delivers this range of emotions with confidence as he submits the conclusion to a trilogy of projects that present Dixon’s processing of his own and others lives as a part of the greater Black experience. As For My Mama jumps from quick and poignant raps to lingering and catchy hooks sometimes incorporating other vocalists, Dixon can be heard processing his trauma and anger in context to the passage of time and progression of life. It’s the confidence in voice and sound that creates an incredible atmosphere in each song that allows for constant variety and complex tracks. With For My Mama, McKinley Dixon has created a project that tells a tale of deep emotion and vulnerability. Through an incredibly versatile use of sound and an incredibly honest dictation of his own life and his own struggles, Dixon delivers an amazing piece of work. - Ross Atkinson || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

MESH | "Mesh"

Born Yesterday Records

Mesh are an awesome new post-punk band from Philadelphia, one that gets better with every repeat listen. Having released a three song demo back in 2019, the band’s official self-titled debut EP is here and everyone is rightfully taking notice. The record is tightly wound, with hard and jittery rhythmic coils and guitars that peel away at the foundation. They make post-punk in the vein of Wire and Swell Maps, but where most of the “revival” bands go for a steely disposition, Mesh seem to prefer their attack to be rattled, fuzzy, and delightfully melodic. There’s more of a spiritual similarity with bands like Uranium Club or Research Reactor Corp as Mesh lay on their conspiracy theories and cultural disdain with a thick tongue-in-cheek charm. Rolling over mesmerizing rhythms, their debut is punk with a krautrock touch, steadily ripping, constantly grooving. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

PACKS | "Take The Cake"

Fire Talk Records

For any long time readers of the site, you’ll know that we’ve been singing the praises of PACKS (formerly known as PAX) for quite a while now. The Toronto band make dreary lo-fi and tapey pop among the best of them, warping sounds and layering on just the right subtle touches to keep it all interesting. Now the group has joined Fire Talk Records and released their stunning “proper” debut. It finds all the hallmarks of a great PACKS songs in place, dizzying vocal deliveries from Madeline Link, flashes of blunted sunspots and aural squiggles, everything wrapped together for a wondrous calm. There’s a certain kind of stoned joy that comes with every song, pulled from their woozy mystique that makes Link’s songs so infectious. Chilled out yet never boring, the drums stutter around, the guitars come in and out of focus, the warble of the recordings accent the syrupy downer vibes that sit somewhere between bands like Helvetia and early Cat Power. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

PET FOX | "More Than Anything"

EIS Records

Boston band Pet Fox, composed of Theo Hartlett and Morgan Luzzi of Ovlov and Jesse Weiss (formerly of Palehound), continue to expand on their respective styles. More Than Anything, the trio’s latest three track EP, is in line with their previous releases, but this time around, they keep the songs shorter, sweeter, and embedded with a tried-and-true, upbeat indie energy. Theo Hartlett’s vocals and songwriting may be what’s most remarkable here, as there’s a noted, natural progression in his approach that wonderfully entices. The EP feels both expected and promising. It continues to tread in the same waters of the members’ other projects - which is a great thing - but makes steps towards a more mature, astutely crafted and accessible sound. While refined, it’s not too simple or even stale. - Zach Zollo || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

SQUID | "Bright Green Field"

Warp Records

If you only have room to embrace one buzz band, let it be Squid. After a string of exceptionally great singles and then an EP that didn’t quite live up that promise, Bright Green Field is the bold and chaotic masterpiece full length we were always here for. The band’s mix of wonky motorik rhythms, art-rock influences, and punk abandon come together brilliantly throughout an unapologetic record of songs that are both hypnotic and ruthless. It’s “psych rock” for a generation of shattered mental states, a never ending parade of delusion with a cosmic persistence. With one of the best agitated yelps there is, Oliver Judge’s croons and shouts blend together seamlessly, a rollercoaster of sonic and mental disparity. The manic outpours coupled together with the band’s locked in grooves make for one of the year’s best records. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

SUPREME JOY | "Joy"

Self Released

Following a great solo album in 2017 and amid an impeccable run with Cool Ghouls, at some point Ryan Wong moved from the Bay Area down to Colorado. While little has changed but the scenery, he’s back with another project, Supreme Joy. Their debut album’s title, JOY, could be a bit misleading. While it’s most definitely a joy (even a “supreme joy”) to listen to Wong and co.’s songs, they don’t necessarily come from a place that oozes happiness and excitement. JOY was written by Wong during a time of civil unrest and a great deal of identity crisis. However heavy those feelings and soul searching may weigh, the band’s mix of psych pop, slacker fuzz, and dreamy punk jangle give everything an uplifting sheen. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

TEKE::TEKE | "Shirushi"

Kill Rock Stars

Shirushi, the debut full length from Montreal’s TEKE::TEKE is a wild amalgamation of sounds, a perfect vision brought to life by a seven piece band where every element plays an essential part in the cinematic wonder. The album is a boiling mix of traditional Japanese instrumentation, surf-rock, retro psych, no-wave, punk, and maybe a touch of free jazz and noise rock. It shouldn’t work, but it does, and it’s fairly incredible. It could come across as gimmicky, but TEKE::TEKE’s music is the embodiment of sincerity, this is who are they are and where they come from. With vocals performed entirely in Japanese and inspiration from Takeshi ‘Terry’ Terauchi’s guitar playing, the band slink between unglued chaos and horn assisted soul, sultry one moment and boisterous the next. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

YAUTJA | "The Lurch"

Relapse Records

There is no force in metal and its many sub-genres quite like Yautja, a band who defy all odds and simply crush at all times. The band’s new album and first for Relapse Records, The Lurch, is nothing sort of a masterpiece of artful sludge and metal at its most intelligent, putting them in a similar league as forward thinking bands like Sumac and Botch. Which isn’t to say they sound like those bands, but more share that spirit of pushing down boundaries. The Lurch is immaculately dense, moving with the force of a herd of elephants and a relentless ferocity burning a trail of never ending riffs and fills in its wake. The three members shred with a shared complexity, each one encouraging the other in terms of pushing technical ability, raw aggression, and a dynamic brutality rarely seen. For those keeping an AOTY lists at-home, put Yautja at the top. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

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BIRDS OF MAYA | "Valdez"

Drag City Records

Before there was Purling Hiss, Spacin’, or Watery Love, there was Birds of Maya, a reckless garage psych band that plays blown-out caveman punk that was both loud and free. The trio’s sound was dangerously lo-fi, rattling speakers with bluesy distortion and extended jams that went way beyond the point of mind-melting. They never released anything that had even a passing “studio sound,” until now. Valdez, recorded back in 2014 but never previously released, is out now on Drag City, and while no one would dare describe the sound as clean (it’s far from it), there’s definitely a higher fidelity, a positive development. The band’s bleeding distortion sonic cocktail and power-trio fury is still as chaotic as they come (think Feral Ohms but further off the rails). Slurred vocals and surging guitars battle against pounding rhythms, everything awash in feedback and a layer of fuzz so thick you could swim in it. The band lock into free falls of blistering shredding and peel away the rust with sheer force. It’s a swarm thick enough to get lost in, perfect for the summertime heat. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

HELVETIA | "Essential Aliens"

Joyful Noise Recordings

After two fantastic releases in 2020 (which ranked among the best of last year), we were mentally prepared to have a 2021 without a new release from the majestic Helvetia. Thankfully for us all, Jason Albertini’s creative well knows no limits and his long running project have released their tenth album, Essential Aliens. Albertini sounds as vibrant as ever, with another batch of incredible warbly lo-fi psych, beautifully produced and carefully textured. It’s both dreamy and anxious, swirling feelings and mental concerns together into something like slow dripping cosmic meandering psych. The gravel ripped tonality feels undeniably warm, subtly dense, and loaded with the lite touches that make Helvetia one of the best bands going. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

L'RAIN | "Fatigue"

Mexican Summer Records

Destined to be one of the year’s biggest break-through artists, Brooklyn’s L’Rain hardly needs our support but we’d be remiss not to praise her majestical new album, Fatigue. The collaborative project of multi-instrumentalist Taja Cheek takes a kaleidoscopic approach to song creation throughout her sophomore album, a collection that feels much like a beautifully surreal collage. In conversation you’ll hear L’Rain’s music described as anything from R&B to prog, and incredibly enough, it all makes sense. She’s not creating with a sound in mind but a spirit of creativity, putting pieces together to create the overall shape of her music, wherever it may fit. The mix of glitchy pop, synthetic psych, and textured R&B is an escapist ambiance, with L’Rain’s words and gorgeous voice at its heart. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

MARINA ALLEN | "Candlepower"

Fire Records

Mystical and mysterious, Marina Allen’s debut album Candlepower feels like a spirit winding and warping its way through the alleys of San Francisco or the canyons of LA at the hazy tail-end of the 1960s. Allen conjures up phantasmagoric melodies that clink and clash with haunting chimes and radiant guitar strums, questions and superstitions hovering over groovy bass with touches of saxophone, flute, and keyboard. Percussion casts a spell under Allen’s swirling voice, a fall in slow motion, words reflecting a desire to leave, to begin again, renewed and on a quest for refuge and clarity. Contemplation in a comfortable space, on the verge of knowing a serene sense of confidence. It’s the soundtrack of someone searching for something, always on the brink of finding it, just in sight of the light. - Joe Gutierrez || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

MOUNTAIN MOVERS | "World What World"

Trouble In Mind Records

The latest in Mountain Movers’ deepening discography, World What World shows the New Haven, Connecticut band continuing to explore their own beautifully distorted landscape. It’s single, “Way Back to the World,” is a Crazy Horse-esque anthem that at first gives the impression that this might be the record where the lyrics and structure come to the foreground - a feeling that is quickly dismissed by an oscillating, overdriven solo that threatens to derail the entire ensemble. Where most bands would fall apart, Mountain Movers thrive. This willingness to deconstruct such climactic moments is what makes the band’s records exciting, and always worth revisiting ... Crucial to the band’s sound is the live and unrestrained form that each album takes; a performance that’s tastefully edited to fit the LP format. An editorial hand guides us through tracks that start (what feels like) midway through a longer jam, and others that fade out not long after achieving altitude. - Ross Jenkins || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

OPTIONS | "On The Draw"

Self Released

Chicago-based studio whiz Seth Engel has put out a steady annual drip of self-produced bedroom-rock since 2013. On the Draw is not only one of the best Options releases so far, it’s one of the best pop rock collections in recent memory. Presented as a “summer 2021 mixtape,” Engel’s latest is a nimble and gripping batch of bass-driven tunes that rarely breach the two minute mark. Hit repeat: On the Draw confidently leans into brevity, and will only leave you hungry for more. Options’ latest is all hits, no filler. Seth Engel crams pop appeal into every moment of On the Draw; melodic bass hooks, lead-tone arpeggios and cranking solos coexist in colorfully tight quarters. - Patrick Pilch || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

PART CHIMP | "Drool"

Wrong Speed / Learning Curve Records

With Drool, Part Chimp’s third release since their break, the South London band seem to make the case that their first six years were just a lead-up to the earth-shaking post-hardcore they’d produce during their second coming. The looser, faster songs from their earlier catalog have, by Drool, all but entirely been supplanted by the thunder-heeled, mid-tempo thumpers that always were Part Chimp’s real speciality. Focusing on those big, head-banging grooves have given the band a shape and a fullness reminiscent of Torche or any number of Relapse bands, from the first drop of “Back from the Dead” to the marching beat of the title track. Even the noisy transitional tracks that dot this sixth full-length feel more controlled and complete than their squealing counterparts on the earlier run of records. So, too, do the vocals of frontman Tim Cedar. Where he once could sound overly choked (and, often, completely buried), Drool finds Cedar at his perhaps most confident and developed. - Jeremy Zerbe || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

POM POM SQUAD | "Death Of A Cheerleader"

City Slang Records

Mia Berrin - the lead singer, songwriter and driving force of Pom Pom Squad - wanted to be a cheerleader. As a person of color discovering herself in a position of disadvantage at a John Hughes-esque high school, Berrin was infatuated with the social power these girls carried, their expressions of femininity coveted by the male gaze. They were a constant reminder of everything she wasn’t... or at least, what she was led to believe she couldn’t be. With Death of a Cheerleader, all these horrid, asinine assumptions are laid to rest in an enthralling fusion of 90s emo, riot grrl and grunge. Berrin, with a blistering attitude and personal freedom indebted to self-discovery, establishes herself as a songwriter of raw pathos. The kind where every plucked string is a “fuck you.” The kind where snark and melodrama are cherished tenets of a sound and style. The kind that’s so fundamentally queer, it’s inspiring. - Zach Zollo || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

SEPUTUS | "Phantom Indigo"

Willowtip Records

The long-in-the-works new Seputus album does not disappoint. The savagely experimental sophomore album is the masterwork of Pyrrhon drummer Steve Schwegler, who plays both guitar and drums for the band, in addition to composing their menacing chaos, while his Pyrrhon bandmates Doug Moore and Erik Malave handle the vocals and bass, respectively. Give the drummer some, damnit. Phantom Indigo is dense and brutal, an album with death metal at its core, but the rules of genre have been dismantled and disintegrated in the name of colossally heavy extreme metal. It’s technical and psychedelic, a ruthlessly crushing record that twists and twists and twists until you have no idea which way is forward and what was happening in the first place. It’s decisively brilliant and jaw-dropping more often than not (see “Tautology”). - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

SOURSOB | "Soursob"

HoZac Records

Having formed in Glasgow, Soursob’s roots are spread between the UK, Australia, and Europe, bringing global ideas of punk together to create one brilliantly raw debut album. Their trio’s self-titled record is minimal punk at it’s most skeletal, but there’s not a thing missing from their spirited dismissal of modern luxuries, as they take the piss out of everything from TV to shoegaze music. It’s funny music that never even hints at being funny, the band deliver their disdain with stone-faced sincerity. The minimal structures work so well with sludgy bass tones, doubled vocals, and post-punk beats to build the framework. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

SWEET WILLIAMS | "What's Wrong With You"

Gringo Records

The syrupy sludge of Sweet Williams is instantly identifiable and yet nearly undefinable. It’s slow, tense, heavy, and often abrasive, creating something with the dexterity of post-hardcore, the patient beauty of slowcore, and the raw tonality of noise rock, and yet all those genre tags feel somewhat off. It’s that artistic blend that becomes something else altogether that has been at the core of Thomas House’s project since he formed the band a decade ago in England. Now based in Spain, there has always been a collective approach to Sweet Williams with House as the one constant, the ragged soul of the music, scraped across the layers of distortion, feedback, and that impenetrable sludge that really defines their sound. What’s Wrong With You finds House joined by the members of Picore (a band he also plays in) to flesh out each song, with a mix of atonal drifts, dragged-through-the-mud melodies, building motorik tension, and plenty of colossal dirge. - DG || LISTEN: Bandcamp | Spotify

THA GOD FAHIM | "Dump Gawd: Stock Lord"

Self Released

As of writing this post the only way to hear Tha God Fahim’s latest album, Dump Gawd: Stock Lord, is to go ahead and buy yourself a copy via his Bandcamp page, which we certainly recommend to anyone into Fahim’s music. While many of the songs are also on his Youtube page, the collection pulls together a prolific few months for him, with the bulk of the record self produced. As always, Fahim’s flow and style of delivery feels off the cuff and effortless, an MC rapping because it comes natural and he’s got stories to tell. The mix of jazzy beats and simple soul samples allow Tha God Fahim to deliver old school hip-hop at his absolute best, spitting lyrics like he still has something to prove. There was a period where Fahim’s music got me through a tough time in my life and with each new release it feels like a reminder that things will ultimately be okay if you manifest it. - DG || PURCHASE: Bandcamp

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Post-Trash's Best of 2021 | The Mid-Year Report

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by: post-trash staff