Objects Without Pain is a trick mirror in its aural attack on convention, appearing both flawed and flawless. Dissonant chords make songs sound out-of-tune, song structures writhe like trapped reptiles, vocals scream at the unhinged limit of the human larynx. Listening to the album is akin to watching trains collide in slow motion.
With her new record, Katie Von Schleicher's songs take a softer approach, full of luscious keyboards and a renewed comfort in the stripped down arrangements, punctuated with thoughtful strings by frequent collaborator Gabriel Birnbaum. Von Schleicher is in a reflective mood, touching on personal growth and strengths.
These Are Not Fall Colors lets its emotional power do a lot of the heavy lifting. Sam Jayne's songwriting is vague and occasionally impenetrable, but the execution is energizing and intense. He may have had a bit more success with Love as Laughter, but Lync brought together seemingly odd influences, pushing them in unexpected directions.
The hottest, driest place in America is a fitting reference point for prolific LA beatmaker DJ Muggs — whose trademark production is frequently dust-filled and eerie, with little room for frills. That approach is on display throughout Soul Assassins 3: Death Valley, a new installment in his decades-long series of region-hopping rap showcases.
These reissues demonstrate an implacable sound by a trio deserving of more attention. Icing and Heroin Man have aged well. Though more serious as their erstwhile benefactors, Butthole Surfers, Cherubs point to how the Texas post-hardcore/noise rock scene cannot be reduced to one band, as famous and indispensable as they might be.
Auratone, the debut LP from NY based quartet Raisalka - a band which consists of members of Baked, Anna Altman, Haybaby, and Rats Mouth - is a release full of swirling guitars, as well as haunting and sweet moments. Isabella Ronayne's vocals trill and often soar above the haze, crunching in astonishing fashion.
Less More shouldn’t be confused with the old adage of “less is more,” a saying that rarely applies to Tundrastomper’s nuanced compositions. The theme seems to be more of a contradictory nature, the push and pull between two sides of a spectrum, less vs. more. Whichever way you go, Tundrastomper offer a path.
My America by Insane Urge is a terse, even flying and fleeting, record. The listener can never catch the band. It feels purely intended to be as such. Their commentary through music and lyrics relates to contemporary times and their punk predecessors. All done in a mad-dash pace, the album clocking in at just over ten minutes.
Patter Theme 2, the second EP by the titular Chicago indie rockers Patter, wastes very little time at just fourteen minutes. While much of the trio’s guitar textures, rhythmic shifts, and understated vocals are reminiscent of 90s post-rock acts like Tortoise or June of 44, the project’s pace is anything but.
Their second album Wings of Love (2020) already showed signs of an excellent individual sound, something that is in full force on their latest, Sitting Pretty. It is quite an apt title, as Peter Kegler, who was the leading songwriter on their previous efforts, now gives more limelight to Marley Lix-Jones, both with songwriting and vocals.
Running from the Chase is the sophomore record from North Carolina’s Truth Club, expanding their garage punk sound into knotty and emotional textures that open up the soundscapes innumerably. Their debut album put the listening public on notice, whereas this release shows seasoning and a bit more patience and restraint.
C.O.F.F.I.N haven't so much reinvented the approach of truly vital punk but shown the world another path forward. In a world where everything feels so direct all the time, it's nice to see something truly playful. Not in that it makes drunken slam dancing easier, but rather it says something about this tendency for balance.
Winten, the Naarm/Melbourne based project of Bridgette Winten, uses songwriting more therapeutically than anything on her debut album Waving To My Girl. Writing mostly at night in her bedroom, Winten allows the thoughts that only come to us when we feel alone to map together a cohesive and beautiful journey of recovery.
After dropping Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time, the members of Candy Claws were ready to move on to other endeavors. However, online fanatics couldn’t seem to stay away. This third and final album from the group, while generally well received on release, has garnered cult-classic status throughout the past decade.
The Map and The Territory, EXEK’s latest album, never subsists on dread or tension, the sound is rarely claustrophobic, but the sense of mystery is palpable, we’re wandering the unknown. That seems to be by design, as the band worked to create an emphasis on pop structure, but the atmosphere remains vast and disorienting.
