I listened to Ron Gallo’s Foreground Music on repeat today while hustling around New York City for the various required peregrinations of my own late-stage-capitalism gerbil-wheel (I have a lot of jobs), and I have to say, there are many moments on this album that land extremely close to home in a rough week. Gallo tells the truth about the sorry state of the world, and sometimes a very harsh truth. But he’s not a hypocrite or a megalomaniac; he turns his sharp and poetic critical eye on himself, as well. And somewhere down deep, under the fuzzy guitars and quest for something better, Gallo finds love, and not the saccharine corporate bullshit that pushes spending insane amounts of money on Valentine’s Day, but a love of humanity, and our rare but real potential for beauty. In his own words, “The world is completely fucked, but the universe is inside you.”
However, before you arrive at Gallo’s unique affirmations (that are a perfect blend of hopeless and hopeful for these times), Foreground Music takes you on a tour of the post-modern Western world through Gallo’s ironic and philosophical lens. Society may be dealing out a lot of shit, but Gallo is not taking it lying down. He’s dancing, he’s crooning, he’s pumping out the distorted guitar riffs. He’s telling it like it is, and few are spared. The first ones he brings to the fire of his words are all the toxic men out there. “Entitled Man” rocks out with urgently, and aims its energy to call out sexism in a way that few cis men do or can. Gallo practically growls on the chorus: “Entitled man / Keep your hands down your pants / Entitled man / Keep your thoughts in your head / Just because she’s talking to you / Doesn’t mean you mean anything / To her now.”
The album’s title track is up next and rushes at you with a frenzy of guitar noise balanced with sparkling synth and mellotron fills (masterfully played by Jerry Bernhardt), as Gallo confesses over it all: “I take my life pills one day at a time / My favorite thing to do is lie awake and panic.” I can relate! Can’t we all at this point? The existential dread has built up and exploded over the top of this overstuffed blender of an American Dream, and whether it’s the constant comparison of one’s life to other people’s (that always ends with you coming up short and really unhappy), or Gallo’s hilarious but eerily accurate analysis of how many T-shirts we all have, this song will get your heart racing from anxiety, while also coaxing you to bounce around and laugh out loud.
Other stand-out tracks include “At Least I’m Dancing” (which we previous reviewed here) and “Anything But This,” the album’s penultimate song, where Gallo beg-croons over the gale of guitars: “Anything but this for a little while… I stroll the streets / Everyone I see has just lost it / There’s garbage everywhere / It’s snowing sideways / It was 80 and sunny yesterday.” Yep, sounds like my everyday reality, and I’d love a break, too!
My two favorite songs on Foreground Music, though, are the ones where we see the most of Gallo’s true (and sometimes broken) heart. “Can My Flowers Even Grow Here?” presents some of the album’s most poetic and plaintive lyrics: “Can my flowers even grow here / When the ground is bullshit and the air is smoke…We come from a place where honesty comes off as crazy / And trying to be something real / Feels like constantly running up a wheel.” (Yep, I’m right with you, Ron…see the first paragraph and my mention of my own gerbil wheel…uh huh.)
But the final track, “I Love Someone Buried Deep Inside of You,” the most poignant of the album, puts into words perfectly the terrible but too-frequent experience of losing someone you love to their addictions: “I can’t believe you let it get this far / I can’t believe you don’t have any control / Here I am, there is nothing I can do / I love someone buried deep inside of you.” Chiara D’Anzieri’s gorgeous slide-and-slink bass line really shines on this final song, as well.
Foreground Music hits hard, while also making you smile and shimmy, showing Ron Gallo’s true range as an artist. The album was recorded at REALLY NICE Studio in Philadelphia and Jerry’s Place in Medford, NJ, and everyone in the band participated in the production (including Josh Friedman, who often holds down the tight rhythms on the drums). I strongly suggest you take a listen (or ten) to Foreground Music . Ron Gallo may be the philosopher poet of his generation, and having him in your ears might just get you through all the crap.
Foreground Music is out now via Kill Rock Stars and is available on all major streamers. Ron Gallo will next play NYC on 4/6 at Baby’s All Right.
After years of homemade tapes and EPs, Brooklyn mainstays Fixtures have finally dropped a full length album, and it packs a punch. Hollywood Dog was recorded and mixed at a combination of Greenpoint’s Studio G (Jeff Berner), Black Dirt Studios (Jason Meager), and Ardent Studios (Mike Wilson), and mastered by Sarah Register.
It begins with horn laden “21/1,” birthed from a dream visit from the late Sam Jayne who named the track himself, about which lead singer K. Liakos has said “I wanted to give the pretty song to him.” The record is out the gate rather quickly with “Jimmy Needs the Money” and “Bull of Heaven,” setting the tone at chaotic and darkly fun. “No One Calls Me Al” was re-mixed for this record after its previous life as a secret track; kind of New Order if it was on a speeding train careening towards a bottomless ravine.
All that momentum builds into “Song of Last Summer” which is now technically Song of Last Last Last Summer, a callback to protests of 2020 that will get stuck in your head for several reasons. The autobiographical “I Keep Getting Murdered in My Sleep” has one of the catchiest refrains I’ve heard in a while, with bass player Jason McGuire holding down a bomb riff throughout. Hollywood Dog rounds itself out with “21/1 (Reprise),” bookending a tribute to friends loved and lost.
Now a six-piece, Fixtures has expanded sonically, but the clever songwriting has remained at the forefront, sharp edged but sincere. It’s deep but uncomplicated (you can sing along to the title track the first time you hear it!); dark, but fun as hell. A co-release on Bobo Integral and Naturally Records, go give it a listen and feel less alone.
Following their first two singles, Brooklyn’s own Horrible Timing is back with their debut EP, Late To The Party. Billed as “anxious pop punk” the band makes good use of their punk, alternative and emo influences, blending them into a satisfying mix of riffs, bounce, and anthemic vocals, sure to please fans of groups like Jimmy Eat World and Alkaline Trio.
Starting off with a bang is the kinetic lead track “Things Could Be Stranger,” which really highlights the driving guitar sounds of Patrick Saccenti and vocals (and harmonies) of Melissa Licciardello. Bassist Christian Lovrich and drummer Anthony “Smallz” Strano keep things pinned down on the rhythm section.
The previously released single “Inconceivable” is a high point, and according to the group’s Bandcamp is “a song about trying to say “I love you”, with Licciardello getting personal and singing “Just kiss me goodnight and see where this all goes / Don’t throw it all away because I can’t say- / I try my best to bend, but I just can’t break / Give me time, a song, and a line / I’ll let you know that I-“
Producer and engineer Jerry Farley (Sick of It All, Lamb of God, Every Time I Die) has really done a great job with this record, bringing out all the grit of the guitars and fullness of the rhythm section without burying the vocals, letting them fill the space. It’s a slick sound without being overproduced. The energy is high right up until the end on closer “Nothing To Write Home About,” with soaring choruses of ‘woah-oh-oh’s’ that will certainly have crowds singing along at live shows. Their release show will be on March 11th at Young Ethel’s.
On February 17, 2023, beloved New Jersey heavyweights Screaming Females released their eighth full-length record, Desire Pathway, out into the world. The record’s name refers to the natural occurrence of an unplanned trail that develops due to repeated erosion from human or animal foot traffic through a specific area. “Maybe there was one in your neighborhood growing up, a corner where everyone decided it took too long to go around, so they made their own pathway to cut through,” says singer and guitarist, Marissa Paternoster. “There’s this cool unsaid group consciousness that comes together where everyone decides, this is the right way to go.”
Now in the eighteenth year of their inception, the band show no signs of slowing down and are continuing to forge their own path with plenty of epic shredding and bellowing along the way. It is safe to say that Screaming Females are one of the best bands out there and they are able to keep creating excellent music by leaning into their strengths and knowing which direction to push their sound. In thirty-three minutes and thirteen seconds, Desire Pathway addresses the difficulty of letting go, the perceived safety of isolation, and allowing oneself to mourn.
Screaming Females in 2021, see more here. (photo by Kate Hoos)
Worth noting are the parallels between “Brass Bell” opening this LP and “Glass House” kicking things off on their 2018 release All at Once, as both songs are predicated on being stuck in a controlling, undesirable relationship with no ability to dream past the present. Romantic hardship is a recurring theme throughout Paternoster’s work with the band as well as in her solo work, which I wrote about last year.
“Mourning Dove” was one of the album’s singles and its here that Paternoster gets candid about her experience with immense heartbreak. Catchy and reflective, the song features a shifting emotional arc as Paternoster works through her grief. She shares, “It is seldom that any Screaming Females song is about just one thing. ‘Mourning Dove’ is the only exception that I can really think of, a song about being profoundly in love while simultaneously being profoundly heartbroken.” The music video for the track features the band performing onstage in front of a backdrop designed by Paternoster (who is an incredible illustrator as well as musician), with dancers fluttering around with pairs of white wings on their backs in the later part of the video.
With ten songs over the course of the album, what emerges are various forms of relating to vulnerability. In “Desert Train,” Paternoster wants to protect herself from being hurt, proclaiming that she’s “a freight train in the desert dragging chains.” On “So Low,” she poses a series of questions pertaining to the perceived diminishment of her worth, ”If your car spun out while I was at the wheel/Would you keep me anyway?/If I broke both knees while I tried to kneel/Would you keep me anyway?”. Sonically, one of my favorite tracks is “Beyond the Void” which features a grungier tinge with ballad-like vocal delivery.
This was also their third record to be produced by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Pearl Jam, Foxing) and was recorded at Minnesota’s legendary Pachyderm Studios where PJ Harvey made Rid of Me and Nirvana made In Utero. While the record certainly is polished, it is still distinctly Screamales. The album art of paths cutting through dense neighborhoods in black and white was also designed by Paternoster, who has created all of the band’s past album covers.
Desire Pathway is a tight and well-written album from one of the best bands out there. We are so glad to see that Screaming Females are still going strong after all these years and can’t wait to catch them on tour soon!
Desire Pathway is out now via Don Giovanni and is available on all major streaming platforms.
Each week a ton of new music comes out, and between our weekly singles column that gets posted every Friday, and the full album reviews throughout the week, plus live show reviews and news announcements, we get to a lot! Here’s a quick fire list of even more great albums and EPs that came out this week(ish) that we dug and think you should get on your radar too.
Algiers– Shook. The thing I love most about Algiers is you never quite know what you’re going to get from one song to the next. And I mean this as a supreme compliment as it is a direct reflection of their strength and skill as musicians and songwriters. Rare is the band that can do so much without getting lost along the way and be so impactful in the process. SHOOK is out today via Matador and is a document of a band that was already at a high level, reaching even further. The album features guest appearance from Zach de la Rocha, Mark Cisneros, LaToya Kent, billy woods and more, with many highlights across 17 songs including “I Can’t Stand It!,” “Bite Back,” “Out of Style Tragedy” and “Cold World.” They will next play NYC at Racket on 4/6. [KH]
Death Valley Girls– Islands In The Sky. The latest from the LA garage rock greats and we had a lot of thoughts on it! Read them here. [KB]
En Attendant Ana– Principia. The Parisian dream pop outfit has just released their latest album, Principia, which follows up 2020’s Juillet. It’s got plenty of jangle to spare and big standouts for me are “Black Morning,” and “The Cutoff,” a bouncy post punky jam, as well as the title track which kicks off the album. I’d love to see them soon so I’m sure hoping a US tour is in their 2023 plans. [KH]
Fat Heaven– Trash Life. The latest from the Brooklyn pop punk stalwarts,Trash Life, collects the previously released tracks from their 2018 Crybaby EP as well as two songs from their 2021 split with fellow BK pop punkers, Trashy, and adds in four brand new songs. This is a short and sweet blast, like any good pop punk record should be and to quote our earlier review of one of the new tracks, these songs are “hanging on the corner of Rancid and Social Distortion.” You can catch their energetic live show next on 3/2 at The Kingsland. [MB]
Fat Trout Trailer Park– Live At The Creamery. The Brooklyn based band has a knack for catchy, fuzzy indie pop grooves and self describe as “a post-punk response to modern life, where beyond the noise lies an incisive critique of contemporary society.” They just released a four song EP which includes live versions of the series of singles they released over the course of 2022 and it’s a fun, punchy addition to their existing catalog. [KH]
Gruff Rhys– The Almond and The Seahorse soundtrack– Super Furry Animals lead singer Gruff Rhys has released a double album today and it serves as the soundtrack to the film The Almond and The Seahorse which stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rebel Wilson and Celyn Jones. The album contains 22 songs, featuring both original songs with instrumental score interspersed throughout, and it was recorded in 2021 and 2022 with members of the National Orchestra of Wales and other guests. As per Rhys’ Bandcamp: “the film tells the story of archaeologist (Rebel Wilson) and an architect (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and their fight to re-imagine a future after a traumatic brain injury leaves them adrift from the people they love. The title of the film itself refers to the nicknames given to the parts of our brains that lay down new memories and hold on to the old ones.”
He also notes that the album was “recorded largely in pandemic conditions so it was a matter of recording in bursts of possible activity in various friends’ studios, homes and even scout halls as chance permitted. It’s a varied quilt work as a result.” An ambitious project for sure, but no match for the prolific Welsh singer/songwriter. Gwaith arbennig, Gruff! [KH]
Gina Birch– I Play My Bass Loud. The legendary founder of The Raincoats has just released her very first solo album, I Play My Bass Loud, proving that old punks never die. Read our full review here. [CW]
Gorillaz– Cracker Island. The long running cartoon fronted band (aka Damon Albarn from Blur and Jamie Hewlett of Tank Girl fame) has just released their eighth album. I’ve been a fan since day one and they were really one of the first electronic bands I really took a shine to, after coming off of years of grunge, punk and ska devotion in the 90s. I still love their very early catalog and the first three albums in particular, so it’s exciting to see them still at it (albeit it with some bumps in the road along the way).
22 years down the line from their self titled debut, and they’ve made a fun record that is packed with special guests like Stevie Nicks, Bad Bunny, Adeleye Omotayo, Beck and more; it has plenty to keep your feet tapping and your head bobbing. Is this one a revelation now like their debut was in 2001? No that it is not, but it still has teeth and at this stage of their career, it doesn’t need to be anything more than a solid electro pop record which it certainly is. With the one two punch of the title track opening the album with a guest spot from Thundercat, followed by “Oil” featuring vocals from Nicks, that pairing alone proves they’ve still got it. [KH]
Human Potential– Hoosi, No! I admit I may have perked up a bit when I saw the title of this album (my computer immediately autocorrected it to Hoos) but what really got me to check it out (since I had been unfamiliar with this project previously) was that it is from the creative mind of Andrew Becker, who once upon a time played drums for The Medications. They were an absolutely stellar mathy, post hardcore band that put out some of my favorite releases of the first decade of this century, the 2004 EP, Medications, and the 2005 LP, Your Favorite People All In One Place. (If I dig through my archives, I have pics of them from 2005 at NorthSix which was the precursor to Music Hall of Williamsburg.)
Human Potential is very, very different from the work that I had been previously familiar with though and that surprised me. The genre descriptors on Bandcamp are listed as “pop” “ambient” “experimental” and “weird pop” among others. But that’s of no mind to me because I rather like weird and experimental stuff so it was pretty cool to re-discover an artist who I had loved in the past in a totally new and unexpected context. There’s a lot going on across these nine songs and I really enjoyed the trio of songs “I Have to Leave Because There Are No Rivers Here,” which might be the most straight forward on the album before it gives way to the dark and forbidding instrumental “Zwunck” which then shifts to “Some Small Anti-Christ at the Art Show,” a deeply experimental track that goes from gentle and abstract with individual percussion elements to heavier post punk with a full drum kit just before the three minute mark to build to a shattering crescendo.
Becker has an extended discography as Human Potential, Hoosi, No! is his fifth album overall. I’m very much looking forward to finding out what mysteries lie in store on the other four albums. [KH]
Jenny O– Spectra. Part electro, part psychy garage rock and a whole lot more, Spectra is out today via Mama Bird Recording Co. It is the follow up to 2020’s New Truth and Jenny O’s fourth album overall. There’s a lot to sink your teeth into on this record, O is “a classically trained composer and double bassist who studied jazz and experimented with trip hop in the early 2000’s before making her way to California and back to rock n’ roll” and it shows in the nuance and layers contained throughout. She performed the guitar, bass, synth and organ parts on the album and had production help from Kevin Ratterman. Via a press release O says Spectra is a “contemplation on what it means to be a weirdo, to communicate, and ultimately, to be useful.”
I’m a big fan of the tracks the warbly acoustic fueled “The Big Cheese,” bouncy rocker “Solitary Girl,” the smooth and subdued “Prism,” and the positive anthem “You Are Loved Eternally.” She is soon to embark on a Midwestern tour. Here’s hoping we see her in NYC soon, too. [KH]
Miss Grit– Follow The Cyborg. The Brooklyn based artist has released their debut full length, read all about it here. [CW]
Mui Zyu– Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century.Eva Liu (who also fronts Dama Scout) has released her debut solo album as Mui Zyu today via Father/Daughter and it resides in an ambitious dream pop landscape, a kaleidoscope of electronics, subtle guitars and piano; it is a sweeping diary of identity, folklore and self exploration.
Per her Bandcamp “As mui zyu, Hong Kong British artist Eva Liu navigates the tricky territory of ever-changing identity, merging fantasy and folklore to create a stage for self-acceptance and deliverance. On her debut full-length Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century, Liu utilizes chopped-up soundscapes, delicate industrial ambience and sweet pop melodies to introduce a character––a guide––who can be stretched across worlds to offer the catharsis of patience, perseverance and understanding. This isn’t a character formed from a desire to escape or flee the real world, but rather a way to submerge even deeper into ourselves. Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century is a reflection of everyone, and everything, that made us who we are.” [KH]
Model/Actriz– Dogsbody. The Brooklyn based experimental industrial art noise band released their debut full length, Dogsbody, today via True Panther after several singles over the last seven years and it’s a ten song diary that is the culmination of many years in the Brooklyn underground scene. Chock full of a range of feels from rapid fire beats and jittery, gasoline doused guitars to walls of fuzzy electro noise like in “Sleepless,” which starts out on the subtle end (for this band anyway) before it consumes you. The big highlights for me are “Mosquito” and “Amaranth” both of which are on the more chaotic end of the spectrum. The band will play new NYC venue, Racket, on 4/20. [KH]
Plëzher– Stick It In. Raw AF crusty dbeat from Amiskwaciwâskahikan, Treaty 6 territory (Edmonton, “Canada”), this band “crack[s] the whip at colonialism with their hard and fast songs and their poignant feminist/anti-fascist lyrics.” Interestingly—and awesomely—the band features a dual bass, no guitar, buzz saw attack and boldly declare “an evening with Plëzher will bring you to your knees.” Their lyrics mince absolutely not one shred of a word and these four songs will get you fired the fuck UP. My favorite is the closing track “Traitor Bitch,” the pro choice anthem we need everywhere and particularly south of the US/Canadian border right now. [KH]
shame– Food For Worms. The third album from the London based band is here today on Dead Oceans and sees the band really hitting their stride. In his review of their previous single, “Fingers of Steel,” Mike said “It’s obvious shame makes music for them, and everyone else just happens to be on board.” I’m inclined to agree AND be fully on board because that’s the best possible ethos a band can have, if you’re doing it for any other reason than for yourselves, then it’s the wrong reasons (once a punk, always a punk!). “Six Pack” is a wah drenched number with frenzied drumming I love, and it’s my favorite song on the album, other standouts include the postgazey “Yankees,” “The Fall of Paul” and the building “Different Person.” They’re on a run of UK/European dates now and will next hit NYC on 5/14 at Warsaw when on the North American leg of their tour. [KH]
Uncle Pizza– Frog Era. Uncle Pizza is a “silly queer emo punk band based in Brooklyn” and today they have a brand new album. Read all about it here. [CW]
Check out these other recent reviews for even more new music:
Hi! Hello! Here we are with some bite sized goodies and a taste of a some new things that we dug that came out in the last week (ish), quick fire responses to some great new music we think you should check out. This week “the Kates” aka Kate Hoos and Kate Bell teamed up and weighed in on some killer songs— give ’em a listen!
Basil’s Kite– Bak Vark. The latest from the Sydney based group’s upcoming album, Shooting Tsars, due out 3/24 via Dark Trail and its equal parts mathy, prog and frantic metal, like wild chaos in a bottle that’s ready to shatter from within. [KH]
Body Type– Miss The World. Bringing a little more thunder from Down Under, Body Type have just announced their second album, Expired Candy, and released the first single “Miss The World.” It’s catchy as hell with some really sweet opposing guitar riffs intertwining around each other and deals with the reality we all faced during the Covid lockdowns and the resiliency we all had to make it through. [KH]
Bouncing Souls– Shannon’s Song. This one is catchy and the production is crisp and air tight. The NJ stalwarts are a well oiled machine after decades of being at it, and the latest single from their upcoming album, Ten Stories High, will have you humming along, the perfect punk meets power pop showcase of everything they’re masters of. Ten Stories High releases in full on 3/24 via Pure Noise. [KH]
Catbite– Healthy Body (Operation Ivy cover). The up and coming ska band from Philly has been making lots of waves and working relentlessly over the past few years. They have a hectic touring schedule this year (you know I had to go there, wink) but found time to contribute a song to an upcoming OPIV covers collection, mooorree than just another comp. The album pays tribute to the seminal skacore band which launched the career of Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman and inspired legions of punks for decades to come, myself among them.
It will feature ska luminaries, We Are The Union, covering “Sound System” with Eve 6, plus contributions from Middle-Aged Queers, The Hellas, Scene Killers and many more for 33 overall songs aka one band doing each and every OPIV song. The comp will arrive in full on 4/7 and is being released jointly by Sell The Heart and Lavasox. Pre-orders are up now and a portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the legendary club that spawned OPIV (and Green Day), Gilman. In addition to Catbite’s song, “Uncertain” by Michael J. O’Connor is also available now. [KH]
Covet– Firebird. The Bay Area mathy prog rockers have just announced a new album, catharsis, and released the first single along with a very fun in the sun style video, complete with its muscle car namesake. Yvette Young’s massive and unique guitar skills are of course front and center here and she shares: “We did a lot of risk-taking on this album, I try to follow what excites me without heeding anybody’s expectations. I’m leaning into melodies, tones, and textures and trying to use them to transport listeners. The whole concept is escaping into a fantasy realm where the songs depict different characters and their own worlds. Each song is like their theme song. It’s mostly instrumental, but when you close your eyes, I hope people will be transported into the character’s story.” catharsis is out 4/7 via Triple Crown Records [KH]
Desert Sharks– Sleepy Pie. The long running Brooklyn based gloom grunge quartet has just announced a new EP, The Tower, due out 3/31 via Substitute Scene and we premiered the first video, “Sleepy Pie” this week. Read more about it here. [KH]
Forty Feet Tall– Shout (Tears For Fears cover). I recently found out about this band when I got a press release about their single “We Can’t Go Back To Normal” and I immediately fell in love with the infectious energy of the song (read my review). The Portland post punkers have a new EP coming next month, Tunnel Vision, and ahead of that they have lent their touch to the 80s Tears For Fears classic and released it as a stand alone from the EP.
I absolutely love a cover that takes a song from its origins to make it the newer artist’s own and they have certainly done that here. While they have maintained the darkwave feel of the original, they’ve taken the iconic new wave track from low-key and a little subdued to a bouncy grooving romp driven by angular, gritty guitars and intricate drum fills. This was a super fun stroll down memory lane and I’m more than ready to rock the new EP next month. [KH]
Frankie Rose– Come Back. The airy second single from Rose’s upcoming solo album Love As Projection (3/10 Slumberland), and it’s a bouncy sythpop plea to a lost love that would have felt right at home in 1987. Check out our recent coverage of Rose playing in her other project, Fine Place. [KH]
Gal Pal– Mirror. The latest from the experimental indie band, this one is dreamy and ethereal. The drums are herky jerky, the guitar spinning around on itself, and the vocals soaring with all of these elements meeting in a beautiful convergence of sounds and feelings. The band’s Emelia Austin shares: “‘Mirror’ formed from Nico playing cyclical guitar riffs over and over again. It helped me form the theme of being stuck in a pattern. I then wrote lyrics that were cut-off sentences, repeating again and again to express that feeling. For me, ‘Mirror’ is about the ways we allow our identities to be misshaped by people in our lives, how we are used as reflections for others, and the anxiety over being able to control it or not.” This appears to be a one of for now but we’re certainly ready for more. [KH]
Gel– Honed Blade. Gel is here with the second single from their upcoming debut full length, Only Constant (3/31 Convulse), and it is full of the raw heavy riffs they do so well. They will be touring a good amount over the next few months and will play a pair of release shows in NYC on 4/21 at TV Eye and 4/22 at Saint Vitus. Check out our recent coverage of night two of Screaming Females annual Garden Party where they played an opening set. [KH]
Handcuff– El Ganso. A fun punk romper from the brand new London based band. On their Spotify bio, they’re described as “short songs for bored people” with their origins as “coming together from different corners of the South East’s [England] DIY punk and indie scenes, they find a home somewhere between noisy indie rock and fast punk and hardcore,” I’d also throw in some shades of no-wave in the mix if I were in charge of describing it too. This is their second single, the lead guitar work here is tight and catchy and the song will have you pogoing around your house. Looking forward to hearing more from this new group. [KH]
Jayda G– Circle Back Around. “Circle Back Around” pulses with the electronic energy that the Grammy-nominated Jayda G is famous for, but the lyrical focus here is intensely personal and profound. The track is the first single off her upcoming album, Guy, which is dedicated to her late father, William Richard Guy (who passed away when she was only ten). On “Circle Back Around,” we hear actual archival recordings of the artist’s father telling stories about his life interspersed between the sparkling synths and pulsing bassline.
Jayda G said in a statement about the upcoming album, “I wanted the album to be a blend of storytelling, about the African American experience, death, grief and understanding. It’s about my dad and his story, and naturally in part my story, too, but it’s also about so many people who wanted more for themselves and went on a search to find that. This album is just so much for people who have been oppressed and who have not had easy lives.” Clearly, the celebrated house music producer and DJ is plunging into deep emotional territory, and if “Circle Back Around” is any indication, she’s doing it beautifully, making you dance and cry at the same time. Guywill be out 6/9 via Ninja Tune. [KB]
Jigsaw Youth– Stranded. This dramatic new single from the Staten Island-based punk/metal trio Jigsaw Youth is all about dynamics. The song tears back and forth between moody acoustic grooves to throbbing, full-on noise rage, with bassist Maria Alvarez’s outstanding alto power on vocals. She’s able to sound both soulful in the quiet parts and explode like a monster when the song turns around to rock out. Also featuring Alex Dmytrow on drums and Nastacha Beck on guitar, these three young women from Port Richmond once again show their fantastic power in “Stranded.” This is the latest in a series of singles they’ve released over the last few months, read our thoughts here, here and here. [KB]
Kele– Someone To Make Me Laugh. Lead singer of Bloc Party, Kele Okerere, is due to release his sixth solo album, The Waves, Part 2 next month, and “Someone to Make Me Laugh” is the third single off the coming record. The track pulses with thoughtful yearning, starting out with driving mid-tempo bass drums and slinky synths. Kele’s clear and expressive voice croons over the sweet pop grooves, asking in the chorus, “Can you fix a problem that you did not make? / Can you mend a heart that you did not break? / Oh, I just need someone t o make me laugh.” Kele’s flirtatious honesty in this reflective yet danceable song make me sure he will find someone to make him laugh very soon. The Waves, Part 2 releases in full 3/24 via Kola/!K7. [KB]
Knife Club– Repeat Repeat. Ah “life serial” aka the continuous repetition of the grind and feeling like you’ve lost yourself in it. Knife Club has immortalized that feeling here with their catchy ripper about being caught in the over and over and over again cycle of feeling stuck and like your life is going nowhere. Who among us can’t relate to that? I’m raising my hand right now for that! From the upcoming album, Our Club Our Rules, due out 4/7 via TNS. [KH]
Morgan and the Organ Donors– Letter. Here’s some groovy twangy twee garage pop from the Olympia super group paired with a fun Super 8 home movie style video. Featuring Tobi Vail of Bikini Kill on drums along with Olivia Ness of C.O.C.O., James Maeda of Spider and the Webs, and vocalist Sara Peté, they are aka The M.O.D.s and “The M.O.D.s are rockers. There are many storied tales of bands discovered in some forgotten record crate but no such tales of one in such plain sight. Morgan and the Organ Donors have been playing almost exclusively at one lone Olympia bar every December for the last decade.” Their self titled album is due out 4/28. [KH]
Movie Jail– Call The Neighbors. A bit indie, a bit post-punk and a dash Bossa Nova, there are synths and woodwinds interspersed throughout for a very interesting and eclectic mashing of styles.
And speaking of interesting, it also has some 80s pop culture nods with the band saying “Call the Neighbors’ is about the tension between a generation that views work as inherently valuable and those who see it as a means to an end. It’s a song about the joy of making questionable decisions – ‘making snow angels in the middle of the road,’ as the opening line suggests. The second verse references an episode of ‘Family Ties’ in which the Young Republican Alex P. Keaton convinces a found-object artist to mass-produce copies of his latest piece, The Spirit of Columbus, named for the Ohio city in which the sitcom is set. Coincidentally, the EP will be pressed at a plant in Columbus! So this song is definitely preoccupied with different ways of viewing one’s purpose in the world.” Who doesn’t love a good combined 80s sitcom reference mixed in with coincidence? I know I sure do. Their self titled EP will be released 3/3. [KH]
Rodeo Boys– Sugar. Lansing, MI queer rockers Rodeo Boys have just announced a brand new album, Home Movies, and shared the driving first single, “Sugar,” which will hit you with 90s nostalgia and a good bit of twang. The full album is out 6/16 via Don Giovanni. [KH]
Sandile– Stay So Long. A nice slice of indie bedroom pop from singer songwriter Sandile, a “nonbinary Zimbabwean multidisciplinary artist living on the unceded Lenape territory colloquiallyknown as Brooklyn. A true pisces Venus, their songbook is a diaristic saga of unrequited crushes, an analysis of the distance between expectation and reality, and a treatise on the power of true love.” This one nicely showcases their lush alto over jangly guitars and confessional lyrics. According to Bandcamp, they are in the process of recording their debut EP and I’m certainly ready to hear more. [KH]
Shit Present– Voice In Your Head. The Exeter based band who self describes as “an emo pop rock punk indie guitar-based music project or whatever from the South West of England” has just announced their debut album, What Still Gets Me, and released the second single, “Voice In Your Head” which is a nice big helping of grungey indie punk with a fuzzy wall of guitars. (“Fuck It” was released last month initially as a stand alone but will also appear on the album.) The album arrives 5/5 and before that the band will play one of FTA’s favorite UK venues, Le Pub in Newport, Wales on 3/26 as well as Manchester Punk Fest on 4/7. [KH]
Sign Language– The Nothing. There’s some big riffs, big feelings and big sweeping chorus pedal laden passages on the latest from this post hardcore/shoegaze crossover outfit from Cincinnati. The fusion of these styles blend perfectly and make me think that if Hum had ever put out a hardcore record, it might have sounded like this. Their first single after their signing to Sunday Drive Records. [KH]
Thurston Moore– Hypnogram. The former Sonic Youth guitarist and long time experimental musician is releasing a solo album soon (though the date has yet to be revealed) and has released the first single, a sweeping seven minute opus. The first half of the song features Moore singing, though his vocals drop out at the four minute mark giving way to thoughtful and lush instrumental exploration. [KH]
Unknown Mortal Orchestra– Nadja. UMO’s new album comes out 3/17 via Jagjaguwar and they’ve dropped the latest single “Nadja” for more chill vibes. The band has a trio of shows at Webster Hall 4/13-4/15. [KH]
