Last year’s Do You Like Salt? takes a magnifying glass to consumerism, careerism, food systems, entertainment, and animals, blending it all up and radiating mystifying turns of phrase over frantic, angular collages of noise and melody. Throughout our conversation we discussed BRNDA’s history as a group, their relationship with D.C., and the albums they treasure most.
Rae’s songwriting covers practically the full spectrum of sophisticated pop genres. There’s the jazzed-up introduction of “Candy & Curry” and the soulful R&B oriented “True Love Face” to the seventies singer/songwriter west coast stylings of “Gonna Be Strange” and “Drift Away” to full on baroque pop of “Cosmic High”.
Science Man returns once again with Nines Mecca, due out March 18th via Swimming Faith and Feral Kid Records. The album is faster, nastier, and a bit more direct, offering a pummeling that sits somewhere between hardcore and blistering punk, and with it comes ten new videos, one per song that piece together the Nines Mecca story.
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.
