Boston’s favorite blown out weirdos, Blue Ray, are back at it yet again, set to release, Live Laugh Love, on November 14th via Illegally Blind and Midnight Werewolf. Noted as their final album as a duo, the band’s sound has always been sort of the opposite of high definition, let’s lovingly call it “lo-def,” and they’ve never sounded better.
Their last album saw the band embracing a slightly funkier sound, and this latest EP, What Would The Odd Do?, is probably the band’s most accessible music to date. They’ve rounded out some of the more aggressive, dissonant edges, but remain as engaging as ever, constantly finding new ways to surprise you and pull you in.
Following last year’s EXO EP (released via Northern Spy), the band are set to return with a new full length, Heavy Tongue, due out in February via the band’s own Famous Swords. Recorded together with Kevin McMahon at his Marcata Studios, the band continue to warp reality with artistic interpretations of all punk music can be.
Toronto’s Deliluh are getting ready to release their second record of the year, Beneath The Floors, a new full length to accompany this Spring’s Oath Of Intent. Due out November 15th via Telephone Explosion and Tin Angel Records, the art-punk band continue to dig into diamond tough post-punk and exuberant experimentation.
It took the duo two years to write and record, and in that time they changed lineups and landscapes, moving from Santiago, Chile to New York, where Appel had lived previously. Now we look back on their record and its b-sides, released this past July, which together create a thorough fuzz dreamscape.
For Brooklyn duo Gorgeous, there are no straight lines on Egg, their debut album, but there’s a whole lot to grasp onto. Due out on November 8th via Sad Cactus Records, Dana Lipperman (guitar/vocals) and Judd Anderman (drums) pound through nine twisting and turning pieces of sweet yet sludgy math-rock.
A Jump From The High Dive signals a change in Henry’s approach to songwriting. The melodies are as strong as ever, but his pop-forward approach is now married with a more patient ear for detail. Where Fink felt like it sprang out of Henry’s fingertips, A Jump From The High Dive feels more considered and carefully crafted.
Following last year’s somber Super Happy, the band return with the equally heartbreaking Finding Peace, Isn’t The Point, due out December 5th via Art of the Uncarved Block. Arriving after a great deal of personal turmoil that included death and depression, the album finds Tang in pursuit of finding beauty in impermanence and sadness.
San Diego duo Blood Ponies are gearing up for the release of their doom-punk debut Hoax. It’s due out 11/15 and the timing of the second single could not be more appropriate. Today we’re happy to premiere the chilling visual accompaniment to the equally unsettling “Submit/Surrender,” a ripping cut filled with white-knuckle melodies.
Recorded during the sessions for the band’s upcoming full length debut but ultimately relegated to a b-side, “People Pleaser” is a big time post-punk corker that recalls early Protomartyr meets Gang of Four. The song opens with Obis and Green locked tightly together in wonky groove just before Walsh’s guitars come spidering in.
Your Name is Curse Word’s debut record, full of slightly angular and aggressive guitar work and a rhythm section that bobs and weaves around each other with aplomb. There are moments of bright pop that appear intermittently, but also a tension that ebbs and flows and keeps itself lurking wherever the melodies go.
Portland’s Lazy Legs are one of those bands who gracefully blend heavy sludge, doom pop, shoegaze, and slowcore to create something sonically immersive and oft-gorgeous. The duo are set to release their sophomore album Moth Mother on November 15th, an excellent record for anyone who misses the dog days of shoegaze.
Horror Movie Marathon is the project of Will Rutledge, a Connecticut-turned-New York musician, and Good Scare is his debut album. It wouldn’t be fair or accurate to call Horror Movie Marathon a solo project, however, as Good Scare features Alex Molini (Philary, Stove, Pile) and Will Ponturo on piano/keys and drums/percussion respectively.
Secret Salts drips with isolation, but of a different sort. Through cresting synths and bare drum sequences singer Candelaria Saenz Valiente embodies sadness as though falling apart, no yearning or desperation. Loneliness doesn’t even do it justice. Emptiness. Fragility. Stepping up to the plate regardless. Unwinding.
“Dig deep and destroy yourself” Max Klebanoff growls on album opener “Beg for Life”. Over the next 40 minutes you can do just that. Planetary Clairvoyance is the band’s most interesting, layered, and tightest album to date. It’s a bright light in a slew of killer death metal records in 2019. One you’ll find yourself returning to again and again.
