In its own manner, compiling Pavement’s “tortured context” comprised of the self-released Slay Tracks 1933-1969, early singles, and flexi-disc cuts made Westing (by Musket and Sextant) a 7" gold mine of exciting dipshit noise whose collage cover and phrases and song titles alluded to its own canon subversion.
After the more experimental endeavors of recent years, A Foul Form both carves out new ground for Dwyer and company to dig into while also calling back to the raucousness and comparative simplicity of Coachwhips and the Thee Oh Sees era. A Foul Form is taut and crackling. It burns white hot; the path it blazes is direct.
Boon says “Candle” is about how hard we’re all working to toe the line between being functional and overwhelmed, a dizzying task that seems to produce more anxiety than it quells. It’s a whirlwind of a tune, bursting at the seams with manic energy. Brendan Principato’s lyrics evoke the stress that surrounds us like thick humidity.
Goon have the cure for what ails us. Sadly, it’s not systemic reform across both public healthcare and our two-party system. It’s their new album, Hour of Green Evening, an 11-track smorgasbord of earnest folk and lush psych rock that’ll have you feeling something beyond white-hot rage and/or emotional impotence.
For future fans of Kal Marks, My Name is Hell will likely serve as a starting point, as it displays the band at their most accessible yet. Since its inception, Kal Marks has gone through many changes. My Name Is Hell is their first official release since Let The Shit House Burn Down in 2019, and in that time, there have been a few changes in the band.
Fairy Rust is the second full length release from Kentucky based 'art-punk' trio Wombo, widening the scope of the band’s angular and twisted powers that have grown immensely in a relatively short amount of time. Wombo have always relied on inventive scrambling of song forms, but there is a bit more development and depth at play this time.
Chat Pile have made an album that’s as terrifying to listen to as it is deeply lyrically unsettling. To call the bowel-loosening low end of God’s Country the century’s sludgiest is not hyperbole; they deploy a lethal arsenal of detuned sonic bombardment that is nauseating, beautiful, punishing, an ideal foil for the ravings of Raygun Busch.
Following their 2019 album, Up from Here, Detroit’s Extra Arms have returned with the aptly-titled follow-up, What Is Even Happening Right Now?, with Ryan Allen and co. pulling out all the stops on this one. Allen and Daniel Stover answered some questions about the album’s fruition from writing to recording in a time of social distancing.
Never slowing down, their fifth album, Hologram, is on its way, due out August 19th via Feel It Records (Why Bother?, CLASS, Green/Blue), picking up where last year’s Power Station left off. The band’s nervous and taught brand of synth punk is definitely heavy on the punk and post-punk side of that description, keeping a terse edge and hypnotic din.
An undeniable electric current runs through the music of Mapache, the LA-based cosmic folk duo comprised of songwriters Clay Finch and Sam Blasucci. Their fourth album, Roscoe’s Dream, is their most fully-realized release to date, a sprawling opus that captures the coastal bohemian charm of their distinct California sound in its purest form.
Following 2019’s full length debut, Throwaway return with Hand That Takes, out now via FPE Records (The Miami Dolphins, Yea Big, Kamyar Arsani). It’s an album that’s bizarre but bizarrely focused, highlighted through the many jumps and skips in overall tonality, pulling at straws to keep it interesting on their way down into the depths.
There’s no denying the cult status Park has grown over the past few years. A status so remarkable, it captured the attention of acclaimed independent label Get Better Records, who chose to release Pictoria Vark’s debut LP The Parts I Dread. On it, she does nothing but deliver one of the best indie rock debuts of the year.
Philadelphia's Nine of Swords put out one of the year's best punk records with BEYOND THE SWORDS. Today they premiering a full-length visualizer for the album, directed by Shannon Brooks, founding member of Hook&Loop, a Philadelphia-based accessible artist collective and network led by Disabled and Chronically Ill people.
"Deep End Dive" is the first single from the Cincinnati based singer-songwriter, with a charismatic summertime video as well. This single is a precursor to her upcoming debut full length Goose, produced by Sima Cunningham. She sounds resigned, but there is a dark thrill in her voice, she's quietly excited for what's coming next.
It is everything you could want a Viagra Boys album to sound like. The thing about Cave World is that it probably won’t convince anyone to change their beliefs, but it’s not trying to. What it does do is point out how absurd some of these things are. It does this perfectly and on top of that it lets the listener have a great time while it does this.
