Laverne, the band’s upcoming third album is due out February 2nd via Midnight Werewolf Records and Best Brother Records, shows that the kinetic friendship energy that has embraced Rick Rude’s music over the years is in fine form. Heck, they’ve never sounded better, offering equal parts force and warmth.
Following “Middling,” our introduction to the new line-up back in May, Candace Clement’s All Feels return with a new two song single, Shoreline / Absent, out today via Flower Sounds (See Jazz, The Lentils, Bobbie), a gorgeous pair of thoughtful alternative rock songs that could and should be FM gold.
Brunswick, Australia’s Hooper Crescent are relying on a formula with their second album, Essential Tremors. While the quintet could have returned to the guitar heavy tangled post-punk of their debut, they’ve opted to push into new territories, exploring a different set of sounds while keeping their established framework in tact.
Soul To Burn, is a wild ride of high voltage rock ‘n’ roll grooves and swaggering hooks, but it’s also inherently complex, the sound in a constant state of contortion. These songs are accessible from first glance (“Rhodia” is a smash hit), with dissonant vibrations and riotous rhythmic shifts bending to create something casually digestible.
In Hindsight, the full length debut from St. Louis’ Algae Dust is out this Friday, December 1st, just in time to bring some warmth to the oncoming chill. Following a split with Hennen back in 2021 that mostly featured Alison Setili playing solo, their Sad Cactus Records debut moves away from the gentle sound of bedroom pop.
Big Mess come roaring back to life on Heroic Captains of Industry, a new full length album due out on January 1st. The album, initially recorded in 2018 saw some delays as life and pandemics took the focus away from the band, is pure Big Mess, colossally heavy with nuanced writing that see-saws and tugs in opposing directions at will.
Sprite are a new band comprised of some familiar faces, the quartet formed by Sam Brown (Flesh Panthers) together with Josh Rodin (Cel Ray), Kinsey Ring (Lollygagger), and Donny Walsh (Wallplant, ex-Stuck). Inspired by the fuzz and syrupy melodies of bands like Ovlov and Hotline TNT, Brown decided to pick up a guitar and give songwriting a shot.
Following last year’s II EP, the band are back with… you guessed it, III, out today via Swimming Faith and Steak and Cake. In true Ismatic Guru fashion, the music is equal parts deranged and groovy, sounding something like a mix between Devo, US Maple, and This Heat played on fast forward. There’s not a moment to think.
“Chill Pill” is the coldest and sharpest track on Glaswegian quartet Dancer’s latest EP, As Well. The video is no more warm than the song itself. In 1.5x speed and interspersed with blasts of a lo-fi painting filter, Gemma Fleet tromps around like a disaffected teenager kicking pebbles at flocks of sheep.
Access to the Lonely is certainly aggressive, but it lashes in a way that’s too carefully considered to be pure rage. Sure, “Libertarian Noise Rock” flies off the handle, with a shredding 80s thrash metal guitar solo from World Below’s Alex Cheskis, but many of the album’s best moments are more patient.
Following a great record with The Beta Blockers and the subsequent Bugs!, the time has come for Immaturity, out November 3rd via Feel It / FatCat Records. A fixture of Indiana’s punk scene and beyond, Erik Nervous is back doing his thing, marking a new level of achievement for his animated post-punk and power-pop squalor.
Zoë Wyner has been busy writing for Zowy, a new solo project. Taking shape over the past year, Beware Magical Thinking is the first release under the new moniker, due out January 12th via Lost Sound Tapes. The project finds Wyner handling all the instrumentation, with a vision that feels beautifully nuanced.
Throughout their debut album, Queen Serene sound fully realized, dipping between dream pop, post-punk, krautrock, shoegaze, and fuzzy indie rippers, each song offering something new. There’s cohesion in spades, but the self-titled record feels like an unraveling of ideas, expanding as it plays, providing a welcome sense of dynamics.
See Jazz is decidedly not jazz, but reality does feel augmented throughout Is This Anything?, the debut album from Aaron Pfannebecker’s solo project. With a sound rooted in bedroom pop, See Jazz is wandering beyond the walls of confessional and dreary pop to create lo-fi music with a sense of adventure.
Age, out January 26th via Moone Records and Anxiety Blanket Records, is an album transfixed on life’s changes, a farewell to the one’s past self and an appraisal of where life’s lemons have left him. While the path of his life is obviously deeply personal, Dailey isn’t alone throughout the record, bringing some stalwart musicians along for the journey..
