On their Hyperdub debut, Nothing to Declare, there's enough gusto and finesse for anyone to latch onto and jump forth from. Moor Mother releases are time-travel ready. Nothing to Declare is the rare moment that really sees her grounded to the present, in step with both her own and DJ Haram's sound of this moment.
Otoboke Beaver make music that should, in theory, get stuck in your head. The incendiary Japanese punk quartet do not bide their time racing to a refrain, and when they get there they tend to sing it loud, over and over. As determined as they are to discover some infectious new chant or groove, they appear just as determined to move on to the next one.
Following last year’s Death Takes A Holiday split with Nyxy Nyx, Bad History Month returns with Recycling Myself, a collection of two EPs, due out June 25th via Julia’s War Recordings. Side A, aka Recycling Myself, is six brand new songs with lyrics pulled from the BHM/FHM back catalog, reimagined in different moods and context.
On Diaspora Problems, Soul Glo's first LP for Epitaph Records following a string of increasingly daring EPs over the last several years, the Philadelphia hardcore punk band is taking its largest swing to date. At once manic, deeply affecting and celebratory, this is Soul Glo at the height of their powers.
The Umbrellas latest single continues the band’s instantly catchy songwriting while adding in a bit of fuzz, beefing up their sun soaked jangle ever so slightly with added grit. Make no mistake, this is still indie pop at its most welcoming, there’s just a triumphant layer of feedback added for some shoegazy textures.
The music speaks for itself, and on Site Out Of Mind, the music says a lot. The band itself calls it “garage-soul,” and that's definitely a nice way of tying it together, but the palette of sounds on their new record reaches far beyond garage and far beyond soul, where 70s style psychedelia fuses with the guitar tones of 60s garage.
On Blue Skies, with the increased recording budget offered by Fat Possum Records, the group builds upon their sonic foundation for the first time. Synthesizers, shimmering guitar overdubs, and more vocal layers than possibly live-performable combine to transform the songs into larger-than-life versions of themselves.
Each track exemplifies Alex Reindl’s knack of working songs into both solo and full band arrangements. “Feelin’ Far” plays like an all-timer party, “Everybody” like the sobering comedown. The first track is an expanding, upbeat piano tune with a full band breakdown. The acoustic B-side is raw and grounding, an honest and melancholic counterpoint.
A Light for Attracting Attention lives an independent existence, and yet carries with it a baggage that comes from a sound that touches on OK Computer, The Bends, and even Amnesiac. The baggage is comprehensive, complex, but not weighty, because Yorke and Greenwood's cross-media paths offer an endless array of suggestions.
Portrait of a Lady stems from Shilpa Ray’s own experience as a survivor of abuse and works outward through the larger cultural context. In wry, slow-burning ballads and synth-laden scorched-earth rockers, Ray comes on unfiltered and unequivocal. After the release, Ray spoke to Post-Trash about the struggle to be heard among her fellow musicians and the troubling political landscape her Portrait was painted on.
Fuck Money (Future Death, BLXPLTN) embrace noise in all its shapes and forms, weaving together punk, industrial, no wave, and elements of hardcore. Having just wrapped up a string of dates with Deaf Club, the band are sharing their latest single, “Heart Throb,” a song that obliterates your senses with a wall of manipulated sound.
Cola started with friends trading song ideas and demos over the course of lockdown and what better time to announce new music then when you are retiring an old band? What resulted is the record Deep in View, and fans of Ought will be delighted to know that it has a very similar appeal, due to Darcy’s distinct vocal delivery style.
It’s been less than five months since Green/Blue released their excellent sophomore album, Offering, but the Minneapolis based band are back with a new record, their second of the year. Paper Thin, the latest from the quartet led by Jim Blaha (The Blind Shake) and Annie Sparrows, is due out June 10th via Feel It Records.
