Carpenter’s songs feel like they’ve existed forever, swirling loosely in the ether until called forth the moment he picks up a guitar. End of the Kicks, his newest collection, is due out September 29 via Durham, NC label/collective PotLuck Foundation. It’s his best work yet, adding a gentle psychedelic shimmer to his classic songwriting.
Detroit’s Sugar Tradition ooze classic garage rock jangle and rock ‘n’ roll excess. Set to release More Sugar on October 13th, the band sound absolutely revved up, their Motor City fuzz fine tuned and never out of fashion. There’s an unfiltered quality to the songs, skidding between MC5 inspired grooves and caterwauling distortion.
Released via Iron Lung Records, the West Coast purveyors of some of the finest anarcho punk this side of hell on Earth, Buyer’s Remorse wastes no time in uninviting you into its harsh soundscape, filled with diatribes against modern contradictions, life debts, paranoid anxiety, addictive decay, and traces of assorted human wastes.
Set to release their full length debut, Migration Magic, on November 24th via K Records (Beat Happening) and Perennial Death (Hartle Road, Ribbon Stage, Almond Joy), the ten songs make good on the promise of their debut, and then some, proving Feeling Figures to be one of the most exciting new fuzzy punk bands around.
The band’s document of near-impending implosion, Live in Brooklyn 2011, is perhaps the most giving and gracious accidental greatest-hits and entry point to Sonic Youth they could have asked for. It was given a digital release in 2020, but now is the first of any of those digitals to receive a proper physical treatment in this decade.
Tomb Mold have pushed boundaries since their formation. With The Enduring Spirit, they’ve decimated form in favor of exploration, from caustic prog to jazzy psych expanses, and dare we say they’ve done it without alienating metal purists. Their latest album favors an open mind, a collision of primal force and deranged technicality.
Josiah Collins’ offerings are experiments in top-notch beat making; engaging electronica and techno pieces. On “Spiral,” more of his musical interests appear. He reflects, “After having some of my favorite shoegaze artists on constant rotation for months I fell so in love with the raw and engulfing feeling you get from the distorted guitars and soft vocals.”
The constant tinkering of their songs gives the impression of a restless band always reaching for something better than the last time, and in reworking an older batch of songs on The Leaves of Autumn Symmetry, they concede that the best that you’re capable of at any given moment is a shifting target.
Tea Eater and Waltzer are set to release a split 7” single via A Diamond Heart Production / Amethyst Trax (Symphonic Distribution) in collaboration with La Fam Recordings on September 15th, and it’s readily apparent that their sounds compliment each other well, each offering something decidedly unique, delightfully askew, yet captivating.
On their new EP, I’m So Lucky, blood-curdling screams over abrasive textures stir up dissonance and paranoia. As uneasy as it is to listen to, they make it worth every second through rich layers and dazzling samples. As the “Philly shoegaze” landscape and subculture begin to crystallize, Spirit of the Beehive continues to hold their own.
Stepmother is boiling over and ready to shred with reckless abandon. Their sound is big on boogie, ripping solos, and sun-fried riffs as vast as desert expanse. Led by guitarist/vocalist Graham Clise (Witch, Annihilation Time, Lecherous Gaze), the sound of Detroit and California is alive in the trio, even from their Melbourne origins.
Drolomon is CS Cleaners’ debut EP, concocting a hypnotic combination of classic punk, a la Black Flag, the art rock looseness of Tropical Fuck Storm, and the optimism of Sports Team. After their debut single “Income Pain,” a gritted teeth love letter to hardcore, the group planted their feet in warehouse floors sticky with beer and sweat.
Be Your Own Pet has reunited and released their third record, Mommy. Teasing another unapologetically piercing garage rock experience, the album opens with searing guitar solos and thunderous drum patterns. However, it’s in the second half of the album that the band’s experimentation takes center stage.
