Dummy - "Mandatory Enjoyment" | Album Review
It’s not always easy for a band with such a plethora of ideas to integrate them so smoothly. Without the strength of their songwriting, Mandatory Enjoyment could come off as a hollow list of reference points that dissipate the moment the record ends. That is decidedly not the case here, as each touchpoint is confidently held in veneration.
Ruah - "Dead Friends" | Post-Trash Premiere
Following a digital split single with Bad History Month earlier this summer, Ruah returns with Dead Friends/Feeding Demons, a new lathe cut 8” vinyl single (yeah, one more inch than a measly 7”), due out November 12th via BLIGHT. Records. The single’s a-side is a baroque rock song with Schurr’s main melody played on Marxophone.
Mal Devisa - "12pm Rosewater" | Album Review
Ducks Ltd. - "Modern Fiction" | Album Review
Modern Fiction, their latest release and their first full length, is jangular. Its bread and butter are trebly clean or chorus-pedaled guitar riffs combined with infectiously crafted open chord melodies. However, the attack of these riffs is frantic, and the album’s lyrical themes belie the initial optimism of their tone.
Good Looking Son - "The Neighbor Girl" | Post-Trash Premiere
After six records, Keith Harman is taking a rare pause from The Cowboys to introduce his solo project, Good Looking Son. Set to release Fantasy Weekend, the project’s debut EP on November 18th via Feel It Records (Qlowski, Alien Nosejob, The Cowboy), Harman has never sounded quite so radiant as he does amid these silky AM psych-pop tunes.
Emma Ruth Rundle - "Engine of Hell" | Album Review
Big Heet - "Octogenarians" | Post-Trash Premiere
Set to release Playing The Bug on November 19th, the latest effort finds David Settle joined by his former EXBX bandmate, Adam Berkowitz, on drums, and the pair have shifted Big Heet’s sound once again. Scaling back a degree of the aggression, this one is still full of intensity, textured distortion, and Settle’s knack for memorable songwriting.
Joyer - "Perfect Gray" | Album Review
The Rizzos - "Breslin" | Post-Trash Premiere
Back in 2019, Brooklyn’s The Rizzos brought us all on Spring Break, and now the trio take us back to How It Was, a time when little mattered more than listening to music you love. Due out November 12th via King Pizza Records (Teen Mortgage, Daddies, Milk For The Angry), the record isn’t bogged down with modern anxieties or despair.
JOHN - "Nocturnal Manoeuvres" | Album Review
Take two men named John, a drum kit and a guitar and you’ve got the makings of a powerful, noisy new record, Nocturnal Manoeuvres. The eponymous JOHN hail from the UK and have channeled a brooding and primal sound on their third full-length album. Like the title suggests, the vibe is dark throughout the album’s ten tracks.
Screensaver - "Expressions of Interest" | Album Review
Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (October 11th - October 31st)
Alexalone - "Alexaloneworld" | Album Review
Vanishing Twin - "Ookii Gekkou" | Album Review
The band claims many influences from the 1960s and 70s, such as Alice Coltrane and Art Ensemble of Chicago, and most listeners can detect echoes of Stereolab and Broadcast. However much Vanishing Twin honors the past, Ookii Gekkou swirls these genres into something else ever-changing, as we would hope music in the future would.
Personal Space - "Supine (And Feelin’ Fine)" Video | Post-Trash Premiere
Mo Troper - "Dilettante" | Album Review
Everything about Troper’s style is designed to deceive and confound; it’s difficult to take what he sings about at face value but, in all honesty, that’s where the fun lies. Consider that he named his latest album Dilettante, a word which means, “A person with an amateur interest in the arts without real knowledge.”
Nylon Smile - "Painless" | Post-Trash Premiere
The densely layered album features a host of key collaborations from artists that Nikolas Soelter has worked with over the years, featuring production from Melina Duterte (Jay Som) and various instrumental and vocal contributions from like-minded artists like Taylor Vick, Chris Adams, and Pascal Stevenson.
Cheekface - "Emphatically Mo' (B-sides)" | Album Review
The four songs come from the Emphatically No writing sessions, culled when the band wanted to create a good flow for the full-length. There might not be anything as mesmerizing as ‘“Listen to Your Heart.” “No.”’ but that’s not to say there’s no charm to be found in the B-sides; charm is something that comes to Cheekface effortlessly.
Silt - "This Feeling" | Post-Trash Premiere
Silt feels every bit as introspective as Ben Curratto’s former collective, Cold Clod, and yet dials up the heaviness while retaining a sort of woodsy good nature. Recorded together with Jesse Moy (formerly of Giants) on drums, the duo have been working out their first batch of songs, with “This Feeling” marking their official debut.