Federico Stock’s “Paper Plate” is a meditation on the world’s fragility, a world where something as steady as the moon can be ripped up like a paper plate. In spite of this, the song is immovable, anchored by a warm, fingerpicked guitar that doesn’t let up until the song’s final seconds.

There’s a careful balance between Cor de Lux’s distortion and melody, wonky textures and glistening immediacy, captured with great effect on the band’s new single “Long Face People,” an expansive song that pierces and surges through locked-in grooves.

While it might not have a “pop” immediacy, Alpha Hopper’s corrosive sound is still bright and accessible, poking at our spongy brains with a pointy stick and a mischievous smile. Let Heaven and Nature Sing II, their first album in nearly five years, is oddly mesmerizing, picking apart blistering riffs and pounding drums, constructing a rampant onslaught of boundless energy.

La Sécurité’s “Ketchup” is a spring-loaded post-punk shuffle; a high-energy, no-bullshit, all-French number built around the wonderful Québécois phrase “l’affaire est ketchup” which means “all is well.” 

Following the album’s release and a split 7” with Heavy Meddo, Queen Serene are sharing the Taylor Browne directed video for “In a Rut (I’m Stuck)”. Browne brings a brilliant mix of stop-motion claymation and a acidic charm to the natural world as good and evil forces battle it out under waves of psychedelic chaos.

“Peace” is an immediate song, blasting out the gate with a dreary wall of sound, the tone bleak but massive all the same. Lee eschews abrasion though as “Peace” sounds heavenly, the dirge of distorted guitars and pounding drums embedded in swollen melodies.

“Agglutination” feels cathartic, working from a general ease toward a mounting tension, but glistening all the while. The video, shot by Bryan Hamill and animated/edited by Rick Rude’s own Ryan Harrison, pairs together live performance footage with delightfully scribbled cartoons.

The video, directed by Luke Csehak and Madeline Rose Carter is delightfully strange and equally as wonderful as the single itself, a “Lentil-pilled” trip that only gets more surreal as time passes and the “drugs” take hold.

Considering the fact that Chicago’s Bursting features members of Yautja, Stress Positions, Thou, and Coliseum (among others), it’s fair to have expectations in terms of quality. The good news is that beyond having pedigree for days, any expectations are blown away.

Miami’s Winded are back, and they’ve come to rip. While Thrin Vianale recorded each of the previous releases solo, the project has expanded into a quartet for Double Single, an enormous reintroduction to the band, recorded together with Jon Nuñez (Torche, Shitstorm).

Eight months after the release of their last single, the band return with the hypnotic “Snare,” a song tangled in detached grooves and pointed lyrics. Ringing with distortion and a minimalist structure, the band dive into sustained noise, clamoring beats, and swirling momentum.

“Magic Mind,” one of the record’s brightest shining moments, fuses together country twang with a melodic power-pop glue. It’s the kind of song you want to belt out among friends on a hot day with cold drinks. The video matches the good spirited vibe of the song to perfection.

With soft melodies and focused lyrical ease, Bo White and co. make the inhabitable sound hospitable. Much like Protomartyr or The Bad Seeds before them, Patois Counselors reside in the middle of the serene and the immediate, Limited Sphere as gorgeous as it is disarming.

Chicago-based artist Morpho just released the second single from her debut EP, a tantalizing indie rock track called “Half of Two.” The artist behind Morpho, Kristyn Chapman, leans into a 90s sound reminiscent of her guitar inspirations Yo La Tengo and Smashing Pumpkins.

Ian Davis is turning his attention back to his band as they get to release their sophomore album Alternate/Opposite. The record expands on the framework of his first album, moving away from the focus on synths into a swarming power-pop glow that’s as dreamy as it is fuzzy.

Hard to believe that it’s seven years since Riverless, but the time hasn't gone idly by. The once core quartet of Night Idea has expanded into a sextet, now including multi-instrumentalists Reggie Pace and Reyna Pannell. New textures abound on their upcoming album, Rocky Coast.

Venus Twins' new EP, /​\​/​\​/​\​/​\​/ (Pronounced Stitching), requires a parenthetical definition just as much as it requires a dismantling of all senses. The duo of Jake and Matt Derting have been making freaked out noise punk for the better part of a decade before finding a new home at Three One G.

We all know those classic splits where the pair of bands cover each other, a testament to camaraderie With their matter of factly titled Split out later week, Glasgow’s Dancer and Portland’s Whisper Hiss take things a step further, opting to make videos for one another.

With Quatro Muchachos out October 18th via Feel It Records, they’ve come to shred and there’s little that can stop them. This is primal, sweaty, liquor soaked punk rock as though it had been laid to waste by the rawest of 70’s stoned fuzz miscreants.

Blue Zero, Chris Natividad’s new project, eschews the angularity of his other bands, opting instead for fuzzy beauty and muscular density, pop songs with blistering shoegaze strength and slow dripped melodies.