If there’s an art form to deconstructing art-punk syllable by syllable, Leeds trio Beige Palace stand at the vanguard. There music seems to look at the bigger picture in scope, just before it’s shattered into drawn out shards, dangerously crafted with sharp edges and puzzle pieces that delight in never quite fitting the way they should.
So Long Before Now by The Woods is a charming artifact of 1980s underground culture and music. Only fully seeing the light of day just this year, the record feels remarkably contemporary. There’s something to be said about culture and styles repeating themselves, but there’s a special air to this record.
On Attachment Figure, the Florida based Sarah Morrison works all the angles of the ever changing moods in her music to near perfection. She drenches her songs in layers and layers of sound that bounces from jazzy classicism to ominous and somber synth driven laments, reaching into the furthest depths of desire and memory.
Brooklyn-based trio, Sister. have released their full-length debut, Abundance. Three years in the making, Abundance was largely self-recorded in a cabin up in Woodstock and overdubbed in Hannah Pruzinsky’s apartment closet, proving that Sister. capitalizes on the intimacy of home recording when in good company.
“Cannonball” became NME’s Single of the Year and, even thirty years later, has one of the most recognizable bass lines in indie rock history. What’s more iconic is the album it’s from. Last Splash celebrates its 30th anniversary with a new reissue that includes remastered versions of its original fifteen tracks and two previously unreleased songs.
“Chill Pill” is the coldest and sharpest track on Glaswegian quartet Dancer’s latest EP, As Well. The video is no more warm than the song itself. In 1.5x speed and interspersed with blasts of a lo-fi painting filter, Gemma Fleet tromps around like a disaffected teenager kicking pebbles at flocks of sheep.
We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is an intense listen at 53 minutes with psychedelic rewards. Most of the production puts the listener into a daze—instrumental transitions jump to and fro alongside snippets of telephone calls. If you’re dialed into the album enough, you may wonder how soon the apocalypse is arriving.
Marnie Stern's name remained stuck in the minds of modern rock fans. With a mention of Stern comes her always incredible guitar technique, never showing off, but always played with purpose. She’s back with another incredible offering, aptly titled The Comeback Kid, pushing forward without sacrificing her musical sense.
Dippers came for a chat with Post-Trash’s Chris Liberato during their recent US tour. Drinking iced tea and petting the dog, Matthew Ford and Innez Tulloch talked about the process of making Clastic Rock, the freedom a sampler has given them in the live setting, and using a thesaurus to drill down more precisely on certain feelings.
Teenage Halloween has been an unstoppable force within the New Jersey scene since 2014, playing non-stop energetic live shows and touring relentlessly. Now, almost ten years later, the most fun band in New Jersey is back with Till You Return, the highly anticipated follow up to their self titled debut record.
Access to the Lonely is certainly aggressive, but it lashes in a way that’s too carefully considered to be pure rage. Sure, “Libertarian Noise Rock” flies off the handle, with a shredding 80s thrash metal guitar solo from World Below’s Alex Cheskis, but many of the album’s best moments are more patient.
Oakland’s Feefawfum makes anxious math rock. They’re a five-piece helmed by the uber-talented Farley Miller and their latest release is the full length 100. The album is an unpredictable tour de force of nervous noise, technical musicianship, and startling hooks that taps into the musical chemistry of the five performers.
Following a great record with The Beta Blockers and the subsequent Bugs!, the time has come for Immaturity, out November 3rd via Feel It / FatCat Records. A fixture of Indiana’s punk scene and beyond, Erik Nervous is back doing his thing, marking a new level of achievement for his animated post-punk and power-pop squalor.
