Numbers Game is an eclectic record that builds upon last year’s Delete If Not Allowed, mining the sound of 90’s alternative rock but reshaping it for modern times. With the band comprised of three vocalists and songwriters, there’s a good deal of dynamics to their music, each one offering a different spin of the cohesive whole.
The band are set to release their sophomore album, Don’t Wait For A Sign, on April 22nd via Slumberland Records, a record that takes the formula of their already great debut and improves it in every way. The production is more radiant, the arrangements are top-notch, and the vocals are full of warmth.
Scrunchies return with Feral Coast, their second album, due out April 1st via Dirtnap Records and State Champion Records. The new album picks up where the first left off, big enormous riffs (that often serve as hooks), melodic earworms cutting through the dissonance, and a heavy pummel that grinds with wall of sound density.
The Baltimore/DC project formed in late 2019, sticking together through a global pandemic and many, many, wildly convenient MARC train rides. Sun Hymns is the name of their brief and easy debut and today we’re premiering “My Oh Mind,” a warm and steady lo-fi pop number that shows how Posmic makes things look easy.
We’re premiering the Jhariah, Marco Sah, and Sam Goblin-featuring track “O Kristi,” a cutting punk number aimed at South Dakota governor Kristi Noem. A former South Dakota resident themself, they express disappointment and rightfully criticizes the representative’s voluntary decision to turn the state into a record-breaking COVID Petri dish.
Naja Naja are a post-punk duo based in Beijing, China, set to release their self-titled debut EP shortly via Wharf Cat Records (US) and Bié Records (China). With their introductory single, “Dong Dong,” the duo of Gou Gou and Yuhao are creating music to escape within, experimental pop songs with a krautrock core.
Aside from the album’s stand-out singles, “Parricide is Painless” is another highlight, on an album that’s spoiled with them. The song opens with a slinky bass and clipped snares, the entire atmosphere given a Lynchian lounge treatment. The video, directed by Alexandra Millen, sits somewhere between surrealism and dread.
To commence 2022, Feeble Little Horse have released an expanded reissue of Modern Tourism via Crafted Sounds. The new ten track EP features all the original material, unreleased demos, and a My Bloody Valentine cover. Here, Feeble Little Horse and label-mates Gaadge share covers of each other’s songs.
“Shot Down” is the album’s second single, a rapid fire blast of feedback riddled psych-pop. Despite the song’s hurried tempo, this one feels like classic jangle pop at its core, reminiscent of a grittier version of the band’s noted influences, The Shop Assistants and Black Tambourine in the sing-song melody.
Sonny Falls is back with the first single from their just announced full length Stoned, Beethoven Blasting. “Wringing Out My Brain” is the first preview from the Chicago-based project led by Ryan “Hoagie Wesley” Ensley. Written after nine months of no-gigs-a-go-go, “Wringing” is an impulsive celebration of collaborative creativity.
Hex Sign, the debut album from Ann Arbor via Nashville’s Brianna Bartelt aka Bri Barte has been a long time coming, but the album has a sense of nuance and grace far beyond your typical debut. WIth influences that include legends PJ Harvey, Fiona Apple, Björk, and Cat Power, the collective strengths are channelled throughout.
Set to release Paint By Numbers, Vol. 1 on February 25th, Goon have shifted away from the fuzzed out grunge-pop they are best known for in favor of something a bit more abstract and softly psychedelic. Together with a new line-up, it’s a welcome change that finds them shedding away generic edges and coming into their own.
Psychic Graveyard are one of the best bands making noise rock in the US and they’re teaming up with USA Nails, one of the best in the UK, for a new split 12”. The bands are in fine form with eleven new songs between them, bringing different but complementary styles together for something viscerally aggressive and disarmingly disorienting.
Science Man returns once again with Nines Mecca, due out March 18th via Swimming Faith and Feral Kid Records. The album is faster, nastier, and a bit more direct, offering a pummeling that sits somewhere between hardcore and blistering punk, and with it comes ten new videos, one per song that piece together the Nines Mecca story.
DIM COMP Vol. 3’s first single comes courtesy of CS Cleaners, a new band featuring Adam Sierz (Should've), Ben Petrisor, Sergio Falvo, and Jacob Saxton. “Income Pain” is their debut single and it’s one hell of an introduction. Influenced by noise rock, post-punk, and hardcore, the band dive right in with refreshingly sordid basement punk.
Eva Lawitts’ band colors way outside the lines and it’s all the better for it, swerving between art rock, grungier tones, and a kitchen sink of noise ridden indie weirdness. It was on full display with Goofballs, released back in 2019 and Lawitts’ and co’s sound continues to embrace unpredictability with their latest single, “Geek”.
