The way that Richmond VA’s Ing (just “Ing”, like the suffix) is experimental is a straight-forward way. They seem like a band that is genuinely curious about what kind of music they make. Songs change structure at the drop of a hat, varying in speed, volume, and rhythm. This variation – these dynamics – never feel self-conscious though.

“Hands of the Devil” is emblematic of Pet Town as a whole: Tadic’s voice moves in the rhythm of a playground chant, her guitar picked in a lilting, whimsical manner, and the scant handclap percussion giving the recording an intimate, live feel. What I value most about “Hands of the Devil” is how tactile the song feels.

On one hand, you can throw a Dido cover into the “surprising choices” catagory, but on the other, Mister Goblin’s rendition feels like it could have shown up on Final Boy. The original “White Flag” is a perfect pop song, gloriously overproduced and saturated with polish, but Woodring has reduced it all to double-tracked guitars and vocals.

In “Summertime” noodly bass and polyrhythmic drums jumpstart the song and remain almost unchanged. Aside from a couple of quick transitions, the rhythm section holds down a jam, alongside guitar parts that revolve around reiterations, post-punk chord progressions, and a solo section.

“Gravity” was the last track written (and ordered) on Zeiguer’s debut, Old Ghost. It’s a fantastic song, and it shows up again on Faraway Business in an alternate form. On first listen, it sounds stripped back, with much of the production and arrangements of the original removed to make the song even more intimate than it was before.

Cheekface’s cover takes this classic Elliott Smith song and conveys a grittier approach. The tempo is slightly ramped up and acoustic guitars are replaced by fuzzy electric tones, while maintaining a majority of the original, memorable riffs.

Forty tracks were handpicked for the Volume Four RAICES Benefit compilation promo, among them being Pllush’s “Soft in The Dark (1st Version)”. Out of all the exceptional songs that were chosen, Pllush holds a space in my heart ever since they became a member of my musical sphere years ago.

The band are heading out on a West Coast tour in May and in celebration will release …Trample The Cross Underfoot…, another tour tape consisting of four new songs and a pair of demos. In true Exhalants fashion, it’s another essential recording from out their practice shed, low in fidelity but absolutely rattling in tone and overt fury.

In a new weekly feature that explores the artists on the Post-Trash Volume Four compilation, Niccolo Porcello shares his thoughts on what makes Snakeskin such a special band. We paired his feature together with the premiere of the “Cloudbusting” music video.