The melodies are big and memorable, sounding something like Elliott Smith writing Weezer songs, every hook hitting just between sugary exuberance and self-reflective introspection. The band self-released their latest album, I Never Said I Didn’t Care, a fully realized LP that hangs heavy on the blistering anthems.
When the Tree Bears Fruit is the very impressive debut full length from Australian quartet Parsnip who combine eccentricity and a wide-eyed innocence with agitating and crashing garage pop. The quartet prove themselves quite adept at ramshackle melodies indebted to the late 60’s psych scene via early Flying Nun bands.
Across the albums eight songs, Drab Majesty reinforce and build on their claim as one of the best at what they do. These dark tinged synth pop anthems are infectious, re-listenable, and relatable. “Does anybody understand these times?” Deb sings on “Out of Sequence.” Modern Mirror leads one to think that Drab Majesty just might.
Set to release Looming, their first new full length in four years on September 27th via their new home at Dirtnap Records (Marked Men, Proud Parents, Dusk), the duo have expanded into a trio, but their psych pop induced garage fuzz remains quintessentially their own. It’s fun. It’s dirty. It rattles the brain with a sugary glory.
Disorientation seems to be the key for Brooklyn’s ESSi, the duo comprised of Jessica Ackerley and former Yvette drummer Rick Daniel. Set to release their full length debut, Vital Creatures, on October 4th with Ramp Local, their sound is mechanical and alien, an experimental post-punk dive in the dark shadows of the future.
That thick low end, the cymbals hissing like a blown speaker, the guitars cranked as high as they can go with every squelch and squeal blasted right into your ear. This record looks and sounds excellent. Fuming Mouth’s sound is punishing. Mixing elements of death metal and hardcore, there are few chances to catch your breath.
“Rist” is built on a repetitive bass loop, one that has the band claiming the song is “the closest we’ve gotten to dance music,” though we’re not talking pop here. It’s a sordid and dark track, that builds with occasional stabs of guitar and melody, mostly careening with a mechanical grind and outstretched feedback.
Set to release their debut album, Carnage Hall, on September 27th via Upset The Rhythm, its a gloriously kaleidoscope dose of post-punk and psych explorations. The entire thing feels like its covered in a hyper-glow, the detached skronks and spirals of the sextet sounding minimal in essence while there’s a lot going on in actuality.
From the first seconds of opening track's solitary and close-feeling percussion, Horoscope's third album feels like an immediate and intimate exploration of Rene J. Nunes-Cabrera's Cuban roots. There's no shortage of identity-focused work these days but Horoscope's work on Carne. has a more complex and interrogative tone.
There are few groups currently making music that can capture the feeling of absolute insanity of living in the current moment and watching the final stages of pretty much everything—Tropical Fuck Storm is absolutely one of those groups, and with the experience of an album under their belt, they are back more confident than before.
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.
The Portland, ME trio are keeping true to their lo-fi roots however, and with that comes prolific schedules. The band will release a new 7” single on August 23rd via Salty Speakers (Rick Rude, Greed Island) and that ramshackle, this-could-fall-apart-at-any-minute, spirit remains alive and majestic on our first taste of the record, “Cup.”
