We ultimately desire that unshakable foundation of truth we once knew amidst this mosaic of chaos that surrounds us - real recognizes real, as they say. Imaginary Everything, the collaborative effort from Namir Blade and producer L'Orange, offers this truth, one way or the other - it offers us a sanctuary from the greater storm of insincere pathos.
Fingers Crossed is the first album by the new project of Christina Riley, formerly of Burnt Palms. The record is packed with jaunty and bouncing pop melodies full of heartache and reminiscences done with a deft hand. Riley truly has a way with harmonies that resonates, triggering memories of past artists while adding enough twists.
On Dissolution Wave, Cloakroom shows that they know the assignment and end up delivering the best album of their career. The band seems ready to reel in some of the riff-driven songwriting of their previous records and hone in more on atmosphere and soundscapes accompanying more bare boned songwriting from Doyle Martin.
ROCK formed after MALK’s tweet and Chris Adams’ (Hood/Bracket) reply. The former was in search of a vocalist and the latter obliged. The proposed task: MALK was looking for autotune vocals on a “10 track Elliot Smith/Alex G album.” Adams said ‘done’ and does a proper good job and more on the duo’s excellent self-titled debut.
Tetchy have never been shy to tackle issues that are important with their music and songwriting, and after a trying couple of years, the band have an exciting and fruitful future to look forward to. In a recent interview they discuss their new video for "Backyard,” the struggles of dealing with grief and trauma, and the path forward for the band.
Reptaliens’ latest release Multiverse is a kaleidoscope, refracting the daily minutiae of lockdown life into a technicolor vision. You may recognize the band’s work from their sci-fi tinged catalog, which explores everything ranging from post-humanism to conspiracy theories to Philip K. Dick’s tales of techno-dystopia
DIM COMP Vol. 3’s first single comes courtesy of CS Cleaners, a new band featuring Adam Sierz (Should've), Ben Petrisor, Sergio Falvo, and Jacob Saxton. “Income Pain” is their debut single and it’s one hell of an introduction. Influenced by noise rock, post-punk, and hardcore, the band dive right in with refreshingly sordid basement punk.
Self-labeled as “a poor man’s jazz” and “working-class krautrock,” Oruã released their third record, Íngreme, on October 29, 2021. The krautrock influence is apparent, but you’ll hear more psychedelic rock than jazz. Regardless of labels, self-applied or otherwise, Íngreme is an eclectic mix of songs.
Eva Lawitts’ band colors way outside the lines and it’s all the better for it, swerving between art rock, grungier tones, and a kitchen sink of noise ridden indie weirdness. It was on full display with Goofballs, released back in 2019 and Lawitts’ and co’s sound continues to embrace unpredictability with their latest single, “Geek”.
When our last great hope is good music then we should look to bands like Yard Act for it. The Overload proves itself as something important by acknowledging its unimportance. Yard Act doesn’t take themselves too seriously, and it’s refreshing to hear an album that doesn’t think it’s the most important thing in the world.
Luggage’s Michael John Grant has self-released his new solo album, Just Like Smoke, on his personal Bandcamp. Today we’re looking at the track “Be Amused,” which is a straightforward guitar-pop blast. Grant’s loaded it with call-and-release vocal harmonies that beget you singing along with your laptop.
Comprised of members of Cloud Nothings, Profligate, The Mind, and more Cleveland rock legends, Fashion Pimps & The Glamazons lunge forward with mutant post-punk, blending no-wave, noise, and more into an alarming yet danceable seven tracks that clock in under twenty total minutes. Each track is infectious, curious, and off-kilter.
Favoring that lo-fi Guide By Voices type approach of recording anywhere you can, from basements to practice spaces, Settle does remix the material professionally (this time around Justin Pizzoferrato, to give it a more polished sound while still retaining that buzz and rush his combination of power pop and punky garage creates.
