Al Harper has been a part of the San Francisco DIY scene for years now, often working with noisy lo-fi projects like Tony Jay and Eternal Drag. She’s set to follow up here solo debut with The Analemma Observation League, due out February 23 via Take a Turn Records, and she just shared the second single “Plaster of Paris.”
Last year saw the release of You Can Do It All, introducing Cusp to a wider audience, the songs equal parts muscular and gorgeous, heartfelt but heavy. Everything about it was well-crafted, Jen Bender’s memorable songwriting the spark. That spark grows ever brighter on Thanks So Much, due out March 15th, a triumphantly defining moment.
The NYC super crew are back with their first full length in six years. Zenith No Effects is out May 10 via Gentle Reminder, Home Late, and Intellectual Birds Records. “Play it Cool,” is a tense and subdued number a few simmering moments from boil. It never quite bubbles over, leaving the listener with a collage of agitation and unease.
Following last year’s excellent BUBBLE (billed as a “mixtape” upon release), the band return with a new proper album, their third full length, Total Reality. Due out April 19th via Marthouse Records and Erste Theke Tontraeger, it’s fair to say that each successive DSUP record is better than the last, and they’ve definitely upped the ante.
Sometimes it’s the songs with the least intentionality that have the biggest impact. Let loose and see what happens. That would appear to be the case with “Nail Biter,” the latest single from Cor de Lux. Originally recorded during the band’s sessions for last year’s Media LP, they scrapped it without much intention on releasing it.
Toronto’s cootie catcher are set to tour across Canada this Friday. The band has a pair of hometown shows tonight and tomorrow with a brand new track to boot. “Sound Out the Vowels” is cootie catcher’s latest single for The Cooked Raw Label and the best way for new listeners to dive into the band’s playful and colorful discography.
Toronto punk outfit Life In Vacuum have a full dance card for 2024 so far. Later this month, the Canada-by-Ukraine trio set out for a great big North American tour; a multi-coast trek you don’t see too often nowadays. Before they hit the road, the band has shared their latest ripper “Soul Crusher” via the always reliable Born Losers Records.
With their self-titled album out in just a few weeks, it would seem that Austin’s Porcelain aren’t holding any punches. The band’s first full length, due February 16th via Portrayal of Guilt Records is jagged and rampant, an album that seems to burst at the seams, a missive of explosive peaks and dynamic arrangements.
“Will Get Fooled Again” is the latest single off SAVAK’s upcoming album, Flavors of Paradise, releasing on March 1st. The track courses with a surf rock groove, upon their trademark post-punk, and is laced with minor key guitar lines. “Will Get Fooled Again” provides an ebb of respite from the band members’ backgrounds.
Warm Dust, the sophomore album of Silt, takes place in the liminal season where blossoms have yet to defrost, the earliest day of spring. Ben Currotto’s initial vision of stripped, acoustic focus – metaphorically, the aftermath of the 2018 album Cold Clod Breaks Up, was transformed into a dynamic gathering of this new five-piece band.
On new single “Hope For Rain,” the band channels the kinetic force that defined their earlier records into a more harmony-saturated, fuzz-laden sound. In the same vein as previously released tracks “Mother Mary” and “Self Control,” their latest single blends melancholic melodies and pedal steel into the group’s usual mix of heavy guitar.
Misery Whip, the hardcore band from Portland, Maine, released their self-titled debut back in 2022, a decimating introduction to band that thrashed between reckless speed and primal density. MWII, the band’s upcoming EP is eight and a half minutes of blistering carnage that feels vital, pointed, piercing, and vicious in its justified scorn.
Providence mega group Mulva (members of Kal Marks, Bethlehem Steel, Ex-Breathers, and Baglady) are back with their full-length follow-up to last year’s crushing Seer EP. Bitter Form is due out March 1st via Sad Cactus, and if “Ward Them Off” is any indicator of what’s to come, it’s best to keep an ear out.
Variety, a new band led by Rhys Woodruff (Borzoi, Leche) has arrived. While best known as a drummer/vocalist, he’s moved beyond the kit to write, perform, and record the entirety of Variety’s debut single, equal parts arty punk and deranged alternative rock. “Plover” is a triumphant introduction, a jittery song that feels knotted yet supremely hooky.
The Philly / New Brunswick band, led by Quinn Mulvihill, have ventured beyond the digital realm into a dense form of swarming shoegaze and layered slowcore. Working together with Tim Jordan (Sun Organ) at Blood Red Sky, Glaring Orchid’s full length debut arrives fully formed, with equal parts graceful nuance and blaring distortion.
