Fred Cracklin are about as relentless and absurd as one could hope for from a band called Fred Cracklin. A guitar and drums math-noise duo in the vein of Hella and Lightning Bolt, they’ve released three albums since 2018, and are now back with the song “Head Meet Concrete,” their first release since their 2021 split with First Children.
You can’t escape the heat. In the case of Toronto’s Lavoro and their new single “The Heat,” you can simply give in and let it envelope you. The band, whose members have played in Chris, Animal Faces, Fake Palms, and Sauna, are creating on the colder end of post-punk, their music a mix of woozy dissonance, colossal rhythms, and mechanical menace.
On her forthcoming debut, Attachment Figure, Sarah Morrison aims to capture the unease of hearing the score of a horror film. She’s previously toured as the keyboardist for Locate S,1, and is now working alongside producers and fellow Locate S,1 members Ross Brand and Clayton Rychlik (who also played in Of Montreal).
Ring the damn alarms, Corker have arrived. Following the release of “Lice” at the beginning of the year, the band’s official Feel It Records debut, the Cincinnati-based quintet are set to release their first full length, Falser Truths. Due out September 1st, there’s something about their sound that feels more feral than your average post-punk band.
Spiral Dub are a new band comprised of familiar faces from Almond Joy, Fuckwolf, Rays, DIIV, and beyond. Their self-titled debut album, due out August 4th via Sanctuary Moon, is a lively bunch of sugar-spun swarmers and high-octane proto-punk, built on the strength of three guitars and plenty of psychedelic heft.
“Trouble” is a light and hooky indie rock track, not quite twee, but certainly not aggressive either. The melodic bass immediately takes center stage, locking in with simple folk-rock drums and acoustic guitar strums. Pat Graham describes how he’s “in trouble all of the time,” because he’s the talking kind, hence the band name.
"Party Punks" Sculpture Club recently signed with Born Losers Records, and they're kicking it off with a new era, transitioning from the aura of The Smiths into the fleeting emotions of The Cure. The 80's Romcom-esque single "Cursed or Hexed" is paired with a single shot music video featuring an abundance of glitter and poppy 80's synth.
Set to release Intelligent Design on August 4th via Specious Arts (The Psyched, Multiform Palace, Scott Thorough), the record has the claustrophobic feel of a windowless room on an oppressively hot day, the band’s sound contorted and mechanical, executed with sharp angles and a jagged rhythmic pulse.
With their upcoming album due out on August 17th via Substitute Scene Records, Wetsuit follow-up recent single “Local Celebrity” with “Twiggy,” a song dedicated to the loss of a dear friend. Rather than mourn however, it would seem as though Allison Becker and Anders Nils are choosing to remember the brightness of her life
Released back in February, Media is an interesting blend of noise pop, shoegaze, and post-punk, taking characteristics of each genre and reconfiguring them in a way that doesn’t quite sit comfortably in any of them. Its strength is that it sounds familiar but unique, ornate but subtle, Cor de Lux put the pieces back in new directions.
Half Stack return with Sitting Pretty, their third full length, due out October 6th via Forged Artifacts and Royal Oakie Records, capturing feelings of isolation and the need to reconnect. With clean guitars, easy progressions, harmonized vocals, and dips into power-pop bliss, the band continue to evolve in real time.
Izzy Hagerup (aka Prewn) spent the pandemic writing and fleshing out songs, challenging herself in the seclusion of the studio to expand her ideas. The results are staggeringly beautiful and triumphantly visceral. Those sessions arrive as Through The Window, a solo record that brings her songs to life with a uniquely personal touch.
With a shift in the line-up forthcoming, Gentle Heat come together to create Trick, an EP that maps where they’ve been as much as it highlights where they’re headed. Due out September 8th, the songs approach shoegaze with a swarming pop quality, more concerned with rhythmic pulses and swooning hooks than layered distortion.
Just in time for their on-going tour with Sea Moss, Rong return with a split EP together with Massachusetts’ The Cost Ov Living, released via Mutual Aid Records. The songs are brutal and sludgy at times, piercing with distortion as they break into a sprint, the whole thing always threatening to collapse, but instead shifting directions mid collision.
Slow Salvation may appear a new band, but the project has deep roots in the shoegaze/dream pop world. The band’s songwriter/producer Travis Trevisan is the sole permanent member of shoegaze stalwarts Tape Deck Mountain, while singer Christina Hernandez has her own ethereal electro-pop project Orion Lake.
Today marks the triumphant return of Puppy Problems and the announcement of their second album, Winter In Fruitland. Due out September 22nd via Anything Bagel Records, Sami Martasian and co. recorded the album at Big Nice Studio, and while there’s definitely an upgrade in fidelity, the heart in the songs remains ever apparent.
Melbourne via Hobart quartet It Thing recently announced Constant State / P.C.H, the much anticipated follow-up to their excellent 2021 debut Syrup. Out now via Marthouse Records (AU) and Feel It Records (US), the band come burning out the gate with their signature chaotic energy, but more importantly, their sound is glued in massive hooks.
