First Encounters is a journey from the very first second. The first track, “Evidence of New Gravitation,” starts off already walking, as if you had been following the sound through large corridors until finally reaching the right one and opening the right door to catch the exact right second of the Spiral Wave Nomads jamming.
Shame’s new album is a tale of two contradictions: it’s named for an allegedly soothing shade of paint color but the music on the album is anything but nullifying; it’s another sophomore album focused on the exhaustion and disillusionment of extensive post-debut touring that manages to avoid the cliched pitfalls of that album type.
The Deals are now your new favorite family band. The Chicago-based quintet released Clear and Severe at the end of January and holy cow. If you’ve ever enjoyed pop music in the slightest, you will find something to enjoy on The Deals’ debut. The band discuss their album, Fountains of Wayne, The Beatles, and more.
With the wild live performers now castrated, their album does enough to capture the energetic essence of a Viagra Boys gig. The Stockholm band’s music must always be taken with a pinch of salt and, luckily, the chaotic, ecstatic, and lurid Welfare Jazz manages to be sleazy and provocative without descending into full caricature.
Lande Hekt has a lot of questions. On her debut solo album, Going to Hell, the Muncie Girls’ leader fills the space by speaking uncertainties. The album’s lead single, “Whiskey,” is made entirely of questions and finds Hekt asking them over distorted strumming. While none of them get answered, that’s more the point.
“Me Or The Party #165” is the second single off Yukon artist Whitney K's debut record Two Years, out February 19th on Maple Death. The first single was a strolling AM radio groove reminiscent of the best of Smog. This is a sing-along ballad, with liquified country western slide guitar and a vocal delivery reminiscent of 70's Waylon Jennings.
Since Maxshh’s debut (a gorgeous split with Lrrr) and last year’s essential Half A Loaf, the project has been pushing the envelope of avant-garde pop and mutant post-hardcore. With Feedback & PB, due out January 29th via Sad Cactus, Maxshh has thoroughly blown “the envelope” to bits and the freaky results are utterly compelling.
The germination of An Unexpected Reality dates back to 2019, when the band was fresh off the release of their second record Deserted. At the time, writing a followup record felt like a daunting task, due to internal and external pressures. Instead, they decided to try a new creative exercise—make their version of Black Flag’s My War.
David Settle is set to release The Fragiles’ latest On and On via Living Lost Records on February 12th. While most of the recordings so far have been exceptionally lo-fi, Settle teamed up with Justin Pizzoferrato to mix and master the album. It’s still recorded to cassette, but the boost in fidelity can’t be understated on The Fragiles’ best record yet.
Groupie has zoomed in on its vulnerabilities to examine what they’re made of while zooming out to apply those examinations to a larger social critique. Ephemeral says so much without condescending, a testament to lyricists Ashley Kossakowski and Johanna Healy for handling complicated subject matter with introspection and empathy.
Post-Trash is premiering a new track from the brainchild of K Nkaza. The song is called “Set Up A Camera” and it’s pretty wild. Not a lot of people are making the kind of music Nkaza is making right now. Her self-described queer metal/they/them-core/post-emo tunes shuffle prog, nu metal and “alternative rock” with taste and grace.
It would be intriguing to know what goes on in the mind of Dave Scanlon, an experimental composer/musician perhaps best known for his work with JOBS. His newest effort, Pink in each, bright blue, bright green, steps away from the instrumentally cluttered music of his band, venturing to a more minimalistic, spacey side of production.
“The Stax, not the Motown” was the way Mike Sniper described the 28 cuts showcased on Strum n’ Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987 in an interview. His label, Captured Tracks, has quietly cultivated several reissues, big and small, dedicated to overlooked gems. The promise of this new series, Excavations, is intriguing.
When he’s not producing efforts for other artists, Henry Terepka been putting his focus forward a new solo project under the name Henry Grant. Following his full length debut, City Mouse, witch features from Jamell NYT and Alejandro Salazar-Dyer among others, Henry Grant returns with a new EP, Sensations, due out February 5th.
Learn to be Alone is a document of a band that is starting to grow and blossom into a powerful force of nature lyrically and musically, and one that is developing its own voice with each outing. Squitch have a connection that is clearly evident, allowing them to anticipate and move with each other seamlessly through tricky transitions.
