There’s little in this world that can prepare you for Thank, one of the UK’s great saviors of noise rock in its most deranged and brilliant form. While there are those that would turn the genre into radio-friendly butt rock, the Leeds based quintet keep it dangerous and fractured, experimenting with genre by adding in earth shaking electronics.
With companion albums released in 2018, Washington DC’s Luna Honey continue to ride a creative spark on an upcoming split together with Minneapolis’ own Wax Lead. Due out this Friday, October 11th via BLIGHT. Records, the quartet offer “Psalm,” a dark and minimal song that crawls under your skin burrowing in for the long haul.
Phoenix by-way-of Tempe, Arizona’s Twin Ponies have returned with their sophomore full length, Body On Credit. Due out Friday, October 11th, the band continue to flex their knack for knotted post-hardcore and sleepy slacker-pop charm, creating something that feels warm and familiar, but unpredictable and slightly on-edge.
Curse Word, a new band comprised of Matt Powell (Bulletin, Trespasser, a stint in Grass Is Green), Darl Ferm (Speedy Ortiz), and Jake Waldman, are a scrappy trio that have warped and bent the sound of bands like Polvo, Jawbox, and Faraquet adapting it into their own, opting for accessibility in the face of complex progressions.
Melbourne’s Program are set to release Show Me on October 18th via Anti Fade Records, an album that has been several years coming for a pair of musicians that have been grinding away since their earliest days. Recorded and mixed by Anti Fade’s own Billy Gardner, they find a sweet spot between 90’s “college rock” and motorik post-punk.
Mayer & Mayer is the new brother and sister duo of Atlanta’s Mick Mayer (of Red Sea) and Elle Mayer. While Elle contributor guest vocals to the last Red Sea record, the pair have decided to start their own project with their debut album set to arrive sometime in November, a record dedicated to their families Golden Retriever, Tulsi.
With a new video for “Hydraulic Saint," directed by Larry Bovick, the band breath new life into the record, a stirring reminder of the band’s deranged charm and caterwauling minimalism. For all the insanity and experimental nature of their sound, the construction remains fairly simple, an elastic riff that rings hard as warped rhythms.
Freezing Cold’s debut album, Glimmer, sounds like a lot of things: muscular art-rock, power-house emo, refined post-punk, and even mid-90’s alternative rock. One thing the album doesn’t sound like, however, is a debut. Glimmer comes to us confident & perfectly realized; the trio’s chemistry could not be more complementary.
Bursting out of the Japanese knotweed of intersecting rhythms and notes is the wonderful new track “Against Nature” by Portland band Lubec. They carry that same kind of punk dressed in dream pop vibe you’re used to, but the composition this time around feels more complicated and frustrated, properly mirroring its subject matter.
Seattle’s Ian Kurtis Crist returns with the latest Béret record, Jesus White, due out on October 18th via the project’s new home at Born Yesterday Records, a record that captures the broad scope of post-punk among its nine tracks. While so much of the genre has become stagnant, Crist’s sonic vision is one peppered with variety.
For the past six years New Jersey’s own Francie Moon has been standing proudly in a class all their own. Led by Melissa Lucciola, their mix of soul, folk, country twang, garage punk, and psych pop is brilliantly unique, bolstered by the undeniable strength of Lucciola’s vocal howls and melodic swells.
New Paltz’s Chris Sunshine make that good mopey slacker rock, the kind that’s engaging and detached, similar to bands like Peaer and LVL UP before them. Set to release their fourth release of 2019, the young band are churning out syrupy rockers that stick like glue as they blend dreamy melodies with a fair bit of shoegaze.
Led by Joseph Farago, the queer pop band started playing together in 2016, and has since expanded into a quartet to bring to life the unabashedly pop-centric songs. Dealing with the anxieties of being queer, Joey Nebulous use sparkling lo-fi and what they describe as “Nintendo-inspired synth melodies” to capture both love and heartbreak.
Following Big Ups’ hiatus and Lal’s move to Oakland, he’s set to release his debut solo album, Gardening, on September 27th via Never Content. After years of noisy output, Gardening, much like the album’s title, is a calming effort, an ambient record built on a backlog of tranquil ideas, field recordings, and gorgeous textural synths.
Oakland’s Half Stack find that perfect space between the alt(ernative) and country in “alt-country.” While the band are a decent way from the South, their dusty twang and down-home hooks feel natural, authentic, and easily settled. There’s no tension, just open sky and big melodic relaxation, the type that never feels stagnant.
Woongi’s video for their single “Antiques” starts off on a good foot and then just keeps getting progressively more fun until it’s thrilling (yet casual) finale. It’s a real cinematic experience of the highest variety, kinda like Repo Men condensed into three minutes… with more dancing. Okay, it’s not really like Repo Men, but both are excellent.
“Self-Love” is a warped pop exportation accompanied by a drifting, playful video. In Clay’s words: “This exercise was a great learning experience for me as I began to understand pop production, sound design, composition, & songwriting on a fundamental level, taking the genre's various elements & altering them to fit within my own style.”
