Chicago’s Courtesy have been doing their own thing for a decade now, making indie rock that’s both electronic and experimental, but also draws from key elements of lo-fi production and slacker punk songwriting. The band return with their latest full length, Check The Milk, due out November 19th via Seasick Records.
The Aisles EP finds Olsen journeying away from her usual songwriting and into the world of covers. Specifically, it features covers of songs from the 1980s: everyone’s favorite mullet and big sleeve decade. Everything from the songs chosen to cover art—which features Olsen sporting a mullet and bright blue eyeshadow—oozes 80s nostalgia.
Nolan Potter is an exceptional musician and an exceptional songwriter, and the wide expanses of his progressive psych come into view repeatedly on Music Is Dead as he shifts from movement to movement. Darting between ethereal moments of progressive beauty and tension to cosmic pop, there’s a heavy dose of psych coating it all.
Celebrating their 20th (!!) year making music together, NOATS are making the most of it with the release of their latest album, Ceasefire Violations, due out 11/8. The record marks their first new release since 2015’s split LP with Palberta, but as the six year draught comes to an end, it becomes immediately clear that it was worth the wait.
Los Angeles’ I’m Into Life Records is getting ready to release Creepy Covers, a compilation of well… creepy covers. With submissions from Sad13, Helvetia, Kal Marks, 100 Watt Horse, and more, the proceeds from the record will be donated to Trans Defense Fund LA, providing safety kits for trans women across the city and general mutual aid.
A.D. Flowers are ready for their self-titled sophomore EP, due out October 15th via Infinite Weed Records. The band make pop-infused music in the classic sense of the word, naming The Beatles as a core influence, but their sound skews closer to 90’s alternative rock with maybe a pinch of early punk swagger.
Happiness’ approach to “the slow” has been touted as a “90s Chicago throwback,” which is not too far off in terms of general description of their approach to sludgy slowness. The trio stretch their perpetual sonic muscles, remapping an indie lineage that feels further drawn out of frame. Every track becomes its own little sonic nugget.
While they were only together for three years time, Archeology proves to be an essential find, a collection of the band’s self-titled EP with six previously unreleased songs, two live tracks, and more. Regardless if you’re familiar with The Stick Figures or not, this is a great listen of a band making taut post-punk in the era of The B-52s and Pylon.
The unrelenting force that is Full of Hell has returned with their latest album, Garden of Burning Apparitions, showing why they are the biggest band in grindcore right now. In only twenty minutes, the band packs idea after idea without letting up for a single second. The riffs, the vocals, the percussion, everything is as intense as ever.
Alien Nosejob already released the blistering HC45-2 and now he’s back with his next full length, Paint It Clear. Due out November 12th via the excellent team of Anti Fade and Feel It Records, the album continues Alien Nosejob’s streak of never releasing the same record twice, warping Robertson’s signature punk with new-wave.
Hovvdy, the indie duo featuring Charlie Martin and Will Taylor, has released their fourth record in five years, True Love, which, cliché as it sounds, is a perfect fall record. There’s something about open tunings and vocal harmonies on a delightfully slow-fi record that pairs well with the transition from warm to cold.
Full or snarky, anti-establishment, society skewering, oft political bite, Hadley’s Stoner Will & The Narks are set to return with their sophomore album, A Narxist Critique. Due out 10/15 via Tiny Radars, the band’s sardonic post-punk is razor sharp in intellect and sense of humor, appealing to fans of both Cheekface and The Cool Greenhouse.
Quitter has the primal sound of a group cut loose in the wilderness with only their inventive wits and sheer, screaming force of will to survive. Before the release, David Shellenberg sat down with Post-Trash to talk about recording sessions as glorified hang-outs and unintentionally becoming a straight-edge vegan in the making of Quitter.
Zelma Stone, fronted by Chloe Studebaker, is notable for her disarmingly vulnerable lyrics and dynamic arrangements. The Best explores themes of loss, discovery, and evolution; the project is sonically reminiscent of artists like Sharon Van Etten, with poignant lyricism comparable to the likes of Phoebe Bridgers and Adrienne Lenker.
