Teenage Halloween has been an unstoppable force within the New Jersey scene since 2014, playing non-stop energetic live shows and touring relentlessly. Now, almost ten years later, the most fun band in New Jersey is back with Till You Return, the highly anticipated follow up to their self titled debut record.
Oakland’s Feefawfum makes anxious math rock. They’re a five-piece helmed by the uber-talented Farley Miller and their latest release is the full length 100. The album is an unpredictable tour de force of nervous noise, technical musicianship, and startling hooks that taps into the musical chemistry of the five performers.
Infinite Hatch opens up a new realm in SPLLIT’s expanding galactic journey. The Baton Rouge duo dive into the deep end on their second full length, and they’ve created a masterpiece in the process. From songs that sound like bugged out pinball games to laser driven art punk odysseys, the layered eccentricities are tight yet discombobulated.
Over the past ten years, Cherry Glazerr has transitioned through many sounds, aesthetics, textures, and feelings. On their most recent offering, I Don’t Want You Anymore, they enter the realms of sugary indie rock, fuzzy garage rock, and shimmery electro pop, all with a distinctively femme underpinning.
What is experimental rock, anyways? I’m Into Life Records, the LA/Kingston based label, is hunting for an answer, exploring every -wave and no-wave at the same time, building community along the way. With every artist that stretches their limits, we’re closer to finding out. #1 is the cumulation of East Coast Weird contemporaries.
Following I Keep My Feet on the Fragile Plane, NYC based singer-songwriter Allegra Krieger returns with Fragile Plane: B-Sides, the extension to an album that was fortified in personal silence and atypical orchestration. Krieger expands on her poetic observations of humanity's shortcomings, told through her formidable presence in a passing world.
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.
