Richmond hardcore band Downfall — not to be confused with Richmond indie rock band Downhaul — regularly get people to go absolutely buckshit when they play live. But up until now, Downfall have not released that much music — a demo in 2017, the EP Dead To Me in 2019, nothing else. This summer, however, […]
Boris – “She Is Burning”
At the very beginning of the year, the unstoppable Boris released a new album, W, a companion to their 2020 album NO. They’re already back with another one, and it’s also something of a sequel: Heavy Rocks (2022) shares its name with two other Boris releases, which were came out in 2002 and 2011. It’s […]
Object Of Affection – “Through And Through”
The members of LA’s Object Of Affection have long histories of playing in hardcore bands, including Fury, Warfare, Lock, and Death Bells. But Object Of Affection don’t make hardcore. Instead, the band goes all-in on gloomily fuzzed-out alt-rock hooks — the kind of dour melodies that sound best when they’re surrounded by densely vrooming guitar […]
Sound Of Ceres – “The Glare”
Back in 2016, former members of Candy Claws started a new New York-based art-pop project called Sound Of Ceres. Next month, Sound Of Ceres will release their third album Emerald Sea, a concept album about the history of the universe that features narration from the performance-art great Marina Abramović. We’ve already posted the singles “Arm […]
Screamo Powerhouses Crowning & NAEDR Share Tracks From Their Upcoming Split 12″ Rayau
Crowning, from Chicago, released one of the best screamo albums of 2020 with their full-length debut Survival Sickness. NAEDR, from Singapore, also released their debut album Past Is Prologue in 2020, and it was also one of the year’s best in the realm of skramz. Now the two groups are teaming up on a split […]
Automatic – “Skyscraper”
The Los Angeles trio Automatic are releasing their sophomore album, Excess, next month. We’ve heard “New Beginning” and “Venus Hour” from it already, and today they’re back with another single, “Skyscraper.” “It’s about spending your life making money and then spending it to fill the void created by said job,” the band’s Halle Saxon-Gaines said […]
SOAK – “swear jar”
On Friday, Bridie Monds-Watson, the Irish singer-songwriter who records as SOAK, will release their new album If I Never Know You Like This Again. We’ve already posted the early singles “last july” and “purgatory.” Now, with the LP release looming, Monds-Watson has dropped one last pre-release single. The new “swear jar” is a vulnerable and […]
Cola – “Fulton Park”
At the end of this week, Cola, the band that rose from the ashes of Ought, are releasing their debut album, Deep In View. We’ve heard a good chunk of singles from it already — “Blank Curtain,” “So Excited,” “Water Table,” and “Degree” — and today we’re getting one more, the itchy and impressionistic “Fulton […]
Plague Skater’s New psep EP Is A Compact Lo-Fi Tour De Force
New Jersey lo-fi rockers Plague Skater’s Plague Skater II was one of my favorite albums of last year. Today the self-professed “scuzz pop” act is back with another efficiently titled project, an EP called psep. Will Schwester continues to handle mostly everything where Plague Skater is concerned; in this case that means “vocals, guitar, bass, […]
Ty Segall – “Saturday Pt. 2”
Ty Segall released Harmonizer, his last proper album, less than a year ago. A few months ago, Segall also released his soundtrack to the documentary Whirlybird. But Segall’s not about to take a vacation or anything. Instead, later this summer, Segall will follow those two records with the new LP Hello, Hi. We already posted […]