The Unscratchable Itch is a cavalcade of character studies and personal exhortations, shouted and yelped over a constant stampede. The noise and fury never relent but the hooks find their way in, and there’s room to interpret the scorn and disdain in Sniffany’s world. The band sat down to offer a track-by-track insight into the album, breaking down themes and lyrical inspirations.
There are times in Taciturn’s “Wretch” where it seems like the intensity might be letting up–the screaming tremolo guitars might be leveling off, the bass throb might be bringing it back down to earth–but each time, the Phoenix and LA-based noise punk trio only let the distortion ripple out for a brief moment before charging forward again.
After a few years playing together around Canada and the Pacific Northwest, Vancouver’s Megamall have released their debut EP, Escape From Lizard City. Out now via Fanta Records, the band (which includes members of Supermoon, Dumb, etc), play a catchy strain of indie rock that’s as indebted to 90’s alternative rock as it is lo-fi pop.
EIEIEIO released four EPs in the span of a year, each with a frantic chaos, mixing technicality and a reckless nature with accessibility and brevity. Their songs are short, hooky, and utterly wild. This past weekend saw the first anniversary of their split with Gorgeous, and for all who celebrate, we have two brand new videos from the team.
New Haven-based quartet The Tines deliver an exquisitely-arranged piece of urgent indie pop on lead single "Collarbone," from their upcoming self titled debut album. Led by the boundlessly melodic songwriting of S.G. Carlson, the track glides through peaks and valleys under the power of soaring Western-inspired guitar leads
Back in May we premiered the excellent double-sided single “Feelin’ Far” b/w “Everybody” from the increasingly prolific Chicago project Old Joy. It’s been a busy year for frontman Alex Reindl, who has since released the Go Away Evil EP while gigging aplenty. Today, we’re excited to premiere the accompanying “Feelin’ Far” video.
Melbourne’s Heir Traffic make brooding post-punk reminiscent of hometown legends The Birthday Party and The Drones, combing a sinister sense of gothic folk into the well-crafted dissonance. They’ve shared a pair of singles since forming back in 2019, but this year marks their full length debut, No Hearth, out 8/26 via Marthouse Records
Mushfoot arrive like “a rose from the concrete,” a band making beautiful music out of harsh production and thickly layered noise pop. Comprised of Greg Albert (The Rainbows, Spite FUXXX), Katie Vogel, and Ian Davis, what began as demos eventually became Time Before Land, the band’s debut album, out September 30th via Moone Records.
Alayne May’s exceptional songwriting is in revelatory form and if the singles are any indications, this record is shaping up to be real special. No doubt a choice cut, “Beast” contains a chorus boasting an inescapable hook where May’s twangy vocal intonations and moving chord progression propel the song into ear worm territory.
The teenage band, part of the same burgeoning scene as Horsegirl, play with an adventurous sense of volume, tonality, and the kind of raw musical insight that drove the catalogs of legends like Fugazi and Unwound. Lifeguard chase their own tangents, digging between post-hardcore dexterity and the refined sense of post-punk precision.
Sophie Weil’s solo project is rooted in stark minimalism, but where her previous album embraced an almost ambient/drone approach, she’s pulled away on upcoming album The Code. Due out 8/19 via Post Present Medium, Syko Friend’s latest favors skeletal string performances, focusing on both acoustic and electric compositions.
Philly/NYC five piece The Human Fly are gearing up to release their third studio album Thrill of Living on August 5 via the always reliable Dead Definition. While it feels like Robert Mathis is the primary songwriter, The Human Fly is very much a band and Thrill of Living is their tightest and most ambitious project yet.
Me You Us Them are starting anew, set to follow 2010’s Post-Data with new album, Sound Confirms. The band have been working on and off over the past decade, which included a break-up after the initial sessions. They couldn’t stay away though, and persisted in building on their shoegaze, post-hardcore, and 90’s “space rock” influences.
This year marks the return of Eerie Wanda, but like much of her career to date, Marina Tadic is once again taking a shift in her sound. Internal Radio, due out 9/23 via Joyful Noise Recordings, pulls away some of the buoyancy and breeziness of her past work, instead opting for something shadowier, with heavy keys and smoky atmospherics.
Having shared a slew of great singles, MISZCZYK is unleashing “Lunar Days,” a collaboration with Motorists’ Craig Fahner. The song has an effortless chemistry, as MISZCZYK taps into a kinetic motorik pulse, pulling from the krautrock and jangle pop textures of Motorists, while offering something decidedly different.
By the time Swimming Feeling, the new album from Seth Engel’s Options, reaches the point of it’s slinking finale, we’re fully engrained in his world, with slow drawn guitar buzz, rhythms that are always locked into service of the songs themselves, and a forlorn sense of melancholy feeling almost second nature.
