Mering once again achieves the magic of Titanic Rising on her fifth album And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow. Addressing it as the second in a trilogy, it feels like the earthly successor to its watery predecessor. We’re no longer swimming in an ocean with our fears above sea level: we’ve risen to the shore and have to live alongside them.
Comradely Objects is arguably the most platonic release of the quartet's quintessential style they have concocted to date; everything falling in its right place doing exactly what music is supposed to. The sound on these seven cuts accomplishes a task the band has been inching towards and actively ace.
Full of Hell is back if only for a brief moment, six minutes and 44 seconds to be exact, with what was a tour-exclusive EP, Aurora Leaking from an Open Wound. For what this release lacks in length, it more than makes up for it with intensity, noise, and riffs, an excellent addition to Full of Hell’s catalog of death metal-influenced grindcore.
Jake Robertson has made all types of music throughout his relatively short career as Alien Nosejob. From punk and garage-rock to power-pop, we now get Stained Glass, a celebration of rock n’ roll music in its purest form. Punchy classic rock riffs, catchy melodies, and absolutely blistering guitar solos kick this adrenaline-filled record into an untapped level of marvelous frenzy.
With the Glasgow, Scotland collective Nightshift, it seems we can actually talk about both intellectual lyrics and music. The band only started in 2019, comprising four musicians already playing elsewhere - Eothen Stearn, Chris White, Andrew Doig, and Georgia Harris. We encounter that intellectual tag right from the start.
In the years since we last heard from Graham Brouder, he’s returned to Virginia, this time situating in Richmond, and the music that he previously wrote solo has turned into a new band, Hearts In Exile. With a self-titled album in the works, the band introduce themselves over the jangly crawl of the record’s lead single, “Language Is The House”.
Ten tracks of tangled, anxious but melodic punk, Material is the latest from Smirk, the solo project of Los Angeles guitarist Nick Vicario (Public Eye, Crisis Man). The followup to two 2021 releases, the album typifies the punchy, lo-fi aesthetic of the Feel It roster, while embracing both ‘70s-flavored rock guitar jams and jittery new wave of the ‘80s.
Melbourne’s Delivery evolve their sound and vibe with debut album Forever Giving Handshakes. Channeling wiry post-punk as much as psyched-out garage and hooky power-pop, Handshakes rides a wavering line between tightly-wound momentum and raucous partying, the result a collection of nervy, shout-along earworms.
The Melbourne post-punk outfit creates flashing art pop and whip-smart dance grooves, pulling influence from its members’ backgrounds in jazz, punk, and rave culture. Electric Party’s sub-three minute tracks cut to the chase, sticking to a superb, hip-shaking formula while taking subversive, non-adhesive notes from no wave.
Hearing new Tony Molina albums, such as his latest, In the Fade, brings me back to being a teenager, fully immersed in Weezer's Blue Album, the Beatles, and pumped to hear and learn more, setting off exploratory paths to underground bands. His music is a modern day starting point of “the good shit”.
On their fourth record, they continue to do things nobody else's way but their own, continuing to refine their unique style of oddball shoegaze with an uncompromising vision of noisiness and weirdness. Through its all too brief runtime, Lucky Styles ranges from the crushingly loud to the stunningly serene, never settling on the easy choice.
With brevity always at the forefront, EIEIEIO create tangled music that never feels grandiose or overthought. Everything seems off the cuff, potentially combustible from one moment to the next. Following a split with Gorgeous, EIEIEIO return with “Gentleman Stop!”, a new cassette due out December 2nd via Sad Cactus Records.
Music should be impactful, wide and universally relatable. For almost twenty years, The Black Angels have done this through six long players and four extended plays. Five years since the profound Death Song, the Austin legends blast back onto Mother Earth with fierce textures driven by drummer Stephanie Bailey, who has never sounded larger.
On the heels of two solid 7” releases, Melbourne five-piece Delivery evolve their sound and vibe with debut album Forever Giving Handshakes. Channeling wiry post-punk as much as psyched-out garage and hooky power-pop, Handshakes rides a wavering line between tightly-wound momentum and raucous partying.
