On Shadow Talk, Cafe Racer leap into a new era. On their 2018 debut Famous Dust, the Chicago natives proved themselves capable and well-versed proponents of psych and space rock. On their new record, they have pushed their penchant for the psychedelic forward into tighter playing, vast structures, and blossoming arrangements.
In Bandcamp’s ongoing quest to better the world, they are once again waiving their cut of all sales on Friday, June 5th (PST). There are literally hundreds of thousands of records that deserve your attention on Bandcamp. We are highlighting some of our favorite black artists on Bandcamp, though it’s just a drop in the ocean.
The prolific Car Seat Headrest have returned but not in the guise one would have envisioned. Once again backed by Matador Records, the indie icon has now taken his studious approach to electronica on the band’s 12th album. For this isn’t solely a Car Seat Headrest record, rather it’s a collaboration with the bizarre 1TraitDanger.
Chicago quartet Bruges are set to follow up last year’s An Erasure of Form with a new album, A Thread of Light, due out Friday, June 5th. Their sound is a dark mix of noise rock and primal minimalist repetition, comprised of droning low-end and plenty of tension. The heaviness of their sound relies as much on atmosphere and dynamic as it does physical heft and volume.
Having released their debut EP at the start of 2019, the duo are ready to share their full length debut, Service Provider, on August 25th via their recently formed label. The band are sticking with their charitable deeds, donating 20% of all proceeds to The Trussell Trust, plus an extra 10% on Bandcamp’s upcoming fee waiver days.
As a song that expounds on loneliness and isolation, the current global state of affairs injects new meaning into the deeply personal “Bad Words.” Though written before the current pandemic, in the video, the band applies the song’s themes to the new collective normal that many are experiencing with a hopeful and inspiring message.
Blessed Fruit is easily the most violent and deranged the band have ever sounded. The entire record is sonically threatening to bury you under a mountain of high frequency feedback and piercing levels of gain. Coincidentally, it’s also the first to be professionally mastered, with Will Killingsworth of Dead Air Studios to thank for this one.
Chicago four-piece Stuck is a torrent of biting guitar riffs and desperate vocals twisted and held together by a precise, curious rhythm section. Their stripped-down and raw approach is evident and effective on their debut album, Change is Bad. We had the pleasure of meeting and talking with them via video chat.
Formerly a collaborator of Guerilla Toss and Wei Zhongle, the Minnesota via Eau Claire based songwriter’s solo music is based within folk, but the inherent ease in his songs is built on a wandering state of reinvention. Following last year’s Oakland Ave, Keen returns with new full length, Cells Remain, out August 21st on Birdwatcher Records.
Diving, the band’s new record is due out July 17th via their new label home at Pittsburgh’s Crafted Sounds (Spooled Up, The Zells, Bat Zuppel). The album, which while optimistic, deals with both anxiety and self-improvement, is based around the urgent attention that is needed in regards to the environment and the role of humans in it.
The use of dynamics on This Is The History make it seem like a more deliberate and comprehensive album than their past releases. Vocals swell in and out of screams and quiet croons, while the guitars bring a sense of controlled chaos. The bass and drums keep a heavy pulse that often erupts into pulverizing bursts.
Silk Road, the band’s third LP, sees Toner far more polished than ever before. While a refinement in sound is expected after five separate records, the most striking thing about their songwriting this time around is not just its maturity but the amount of variety the band manages to pack into Silk Road’s brisk twenty minute runtime.
Paved Mountain is the bi-coastal band’s fourth album, due out on June 23rd via Uninhabitable Mansions (Annie Hart, Sat. Nite Duets, Pursesnatchers), and picks up their subtle glory, shining a light on their muscular brand of indie rock and introspective songwriting, with more than a few new tricks up their sleeve.
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