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 we have Chantal [CW], Emily [EA], Mike [MB] and guest writer Badger [BC] weighing in on some killer songs and they have the scoop on plenty of new tunes, give ’em a listen!
Activity– Department Of Blood. With eerie backing vocals and a beat that bubbles up from underneath, this track puts me in mind of Amnesiac-era Radiohead ala “Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors.” It’s a dark, menacing song, as Travis Johnson sings “whatever the lord is came to me.” He explains “the song is loosely about a lot of things, but one of them is the feeling of knowing you’re being manipulated by something way more powerful than you and also knowing you can do absolutely nothing about it.” Following on the heels of the equally anxious-sounding “Careful Let’s Sleepwalk,” these singles have me excited for Spirit In The Room, which comes out August 4th on Western Vinyl. Activity will be holding their album release show on July 16th at Baby’s All Right. [CW]
Bad Luck– Safe to Say. The NYC quartet of Dominick Fox, Joe Fox, Charlie Caruso, and Michael Sichel just dropped a hot new video for their latest single “Safe to Say” from their upcoming EP Books On Tape out August 11th via Take This To Heart Records. The high contrast video is super slick, looking like a cross between an episode of Severence and Cold War housing from the Soviet Bloc. Drop ceilings and maybe drop D, their heavy rhythmic riffed two guitar attack is reminiscent of Jimmy Eat World’s Bleed American, while melodically nodding toward Saves The Day’s more sabertoothed Through Being Cool in all the right ways. [MB]
Big Bliss– Tell Me When You’re Ready. The newest single from NYC’s own Big Bliss is brisk and electric. Once Tim Race—who started the project with his brother Cory in 2018—starts singing (after a brief, twangy intro), he does not stop till the outro. It keeps your heart rate up, and Tim says a lot in three minutes—so much that I almost wonder when he has the chance to breathe, which lends itself to the track’s restlessness. The lyrics are clever, eloquent phrases that I would need a thesaurus to think of in between basic human observations like “I’m nauseous and scared.” It invokes a sort of inner turmoil, a battle between logic and chaos. Reluctance of acceptance, knowing something in your logical mind but denying it in your emotional one. “Face it / please don’t call it a crisis / because I have a name for it now / I have a name for it now,” goes the supremely catchy and yet haunting chorus. Post-punk guitars and a fervent, tireless drumbeat lie beneath the poignant vocals that explore addiction, denial, and recovery—a topic that is not new to Big Bliss—to create a distinctly energetic and passionate tune. [EA]
Dethklok–Aortic Desecration. I’ve always sort of felt like people who got really into Dethklok’s music—including Brendon Small—were sort of tricking themselves into something. That a kinda-good-but-not-that-good melodeath band would become a major economic and cultural powerhouse is pretty self-evidently the main joke of Metalocalypse, and for its best years (its first two seasons as a quarter-hour gag series, before they started leaning into the continuity) that’s all that the tunes really aspired to. And while Small proved his for-real chops when the bonafide rock opera that concluded the original series ended up being a damn fine piece of longform rock music, I’ve still never been a fan of the show’s shift to sincerity. So maybe it’s a good sign for the upcoming movie that this particular track is classic Dethklok: a slightly funny, slightly good piece of stylistically accessible death metal that will probably be attached to something significantly funnier, but as it stands is a pretty incomplete text. [BC]
Glimmer–Self Destroyed. Following the dissolution of local favorites Dead Stars, members (and cousins) Jeff and Jaye Moore decided to keep going, forming the new group Glimmer. And we are thankful they didn’t hang up the towel—their debut single “Self Destroyed” proves they still have things to say and music to make. Deftly melding grungey sounds with pop sensibilities (their Bandcamp bills them as “grungegaze”) their sound is both throwback and evolution. Jeff’s trademark crunchy guitar is present and tracks off into an almost reckless sounding mini-solo (he handled bass duties as well on the recording, although Glimmer is performing as a quartet) with his vocals melding into the music smoothly, while Jaye’s drums accent perfectly, lighter to carry the verses and giving weight to the harder parts of the song. Watch their Instagram for more new music and upcoming shows. [CW]
Islands– Life’s A Joke. “Islands Are Forever” Nick Thorburn (aka Nick Diamonds) has been known to proclaim, and I can only hope it’s true. The latest music from the Canadian musician carries on from 2021’s Islomania, being catchy and fun, almost tropical, topped with Thorburn’s moody voice singing phrases like “one day your horse is up the next it’s been put down / nothing seems to matter anyhow” and “fuck your god / he closed the window and shut the door” over an almost comically upbeat tune. I’m pretty sure Thorburn has neverbeen ina bandI didn’tlike and his songwriting never fails to satisfy. And That’s Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs will be out on August 25th (happy birthday to me!) and Islands will be at Bowery Ballroom on September 23rd. [CW]
LEONE– I Wanna Be.Brooklyn’s LEONE is bringing sexy back. The trio single handedly responsible for at least doubling the sensuality quotient among the shaggy faced Brooklyn indie rock scene this past year, Richie Leone (vocals, guitar), Tarik Merzouk (bass), and Brian Del Guercio (drums), return with a new single and video, directed by Beth Fletcher. Full of dark cabaret and vice, it unfolds its secret desires manifested in the sordid underbelly of NYC. Duplicitous in its power dynamics, danger and desire exhilarate each movement and every turn. The twist and pull, the allure of the performer just outside reach. The lines between total freedom and lack of control are as blurry here as the whiskey soaked vision of Leone himself. The piece is as visually cinematic as it is lyrically poetic, and aurally flawless in tying those elements together. It ends with with a gasp, a classic cliffhanger of imminent peril, leaving us to wonder what will become of our hero… or villain? [MB]
Mandy, Indiana–The Driving Rain (18). With this track the experimental Mandy, Indiana draw close to being club-ready, as a looping drum beat chugs along under synthy layered voices. I can imagine this one appearing on a Nightride FM mix someday. The accompanying music video by producer/guitarist Scott Fair consists of what he calls “found anime footage;” it’s an established method to loop anime in the background of synth mixes on Youtube nowadays, but I do wish they had sourced the clips in the credits. The band has added US tour dates recently and will be at Baby’s All Right on December 2nd for their first ever show in NYC; their debut album i’ve seen a way is out now on Fire Talk. [CW]
Palehound– Independence Day. In advance of their new album Eye on the Bat, out 7/14 on Polyvinyl Records, Palehound has released a brand new single. Just in time for, well, Independence Day, “Independence Day” is somber and elegant. El Kempner’s catchy acoustic riffs combine with their fierce-yet-delicate, almost folksy vocals and poetic, engaging lyrics to create something explosive yet subdued. The accompanying video is of fireworks, but they are not the focus—peripheral, and such is the sense I get from this song, which seems to remind us that not all epiphanies need to be loud and volcanic. Of the track, Kempner says:
“The ending of a relationship that spanned the majority of my twenties illuminated a forked road that daunted me. In the aftermath of our breakup, I found myself dwelling on what that other life would have been like and who I would have become had we chosen differently, or even if circumstance or tragedy had chosen for us.”
Eye on the Bat is out 7/14. Palehound embarks on a US tour this fall, and will play Bowery Ballroom 10/19 with Philly’s Empath. [EA]
Shred Flintstone– Blue 42. The New Jersey rockers are back with a killer new EP out next week, and just dropped hot lead single “Blue 42” to tide us over until we can get our next full fix. Now a tight as nails quartet, this newest Shred endeavor is full of slow crunch and heavy fuzz. Veering a bit from some of the psych and garage elements they’ve showcased on previous releases, frontman Dan Barrachia alongside Ozzie Silva (drums), Ben “Slam Cheddy” Petty (bass), and Charlie Pants (guitar) show a clear evolution in songwriting as well as an evolution in production this time around. Think more Placebo meets early Silverchair (thanks to Silva’s thunderous and controlled attack behind the kit) without abandoning their signature tough-in-cheek twist of fun that makes them so uniquely Shred Flintstone. [MB]
Slowdive–kisses. Shoegaze greats Slowdive sound less fuzz-mode here and more into dreampop, evoking bands they themselves influenced like Wild Nothing or Real Estate. It’s a sort of lightweight, melancholy song, with echoing guitar plucking along under the reverb-drenched vocals of Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell (“I know you dream of snowfields / floating high above the trees / living for the new thing / sometimes the new won’t do.“) It’s a beautiful song and a logical progression from 2017’s self-titled comeback album. everything is alive is out September 1st on Dead Oceans; Slowdive will be on our side of the pond at Webster Hall for two shows on September 27th and 28th. [CW]
Who Is She?–MoviePass. Let me tell you, it isn’t often that a song makes me laugh out loud. But this one did, and you probably will too. It’s about that wonderful, disastrous moviegoing app that took us all by storm back in 2017. It was too good to be true, wasn’t it? So is this song. Surfy pop-rock intercut with a spoken-word monologue, one side of a conversation that we all had at the time but that is also are worthy of a comedy show (“And I didn’t go to business school or anything,” goes one of these moments, “But it was an unsustainable business model.”), “MoviePass” proves that the supergroup, made up of Robin Edwards of Lisa Prank, Julia Shapiro of Chastity Belt, Bree Mckenna and newly Emily Nokes, both of Tacocat, can make an absolute bop out of anything. The video, by animator Violet Crabtree, is fabulous too, a stop motion fantasy world of movie theater snacks and slightly off-kilter yet unbridled joy. But there’s a clear message behind the silliness: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened!”
The band shares:
“This song is about existing in this brief, beautiful glitch in time where we could see as many movies as we wanted in the theater. MoviePass was the one that got away, a love that burned bright and fast, and knowing it’s over but wishing you could go back. Movie theaters also are significant to Bree and Robin, who both worked as popcorn-scoopers in their early 20s.”
If I may do the anecdote thing: I myself was working in a movie theater in 2017, and for us, MoviePass was hell. It made all of our lives harder and created a lot of frustration from staff and customers alike. Still, though, even I look back fondly at that simpler time. For me, this song invokes that wistfulness, a longing for those pre-pandemic days, for a time when it seemed like truly cool and useful things were still coming from the Internet and not the threat of annihilation by artificial intelligence. MoviePass can represent a lot of things, and this wonderful, relatable, ridiculous track reminds us: whatever it is, take advantage now. Because you never know how long it will be around. Who Is She?’s new album Goddess Energy is out August 25th on Father/Daughter Records. [EA]
Whether you’re ready to check in for a relaxing week at the The Great Northern, or just in the mood for a nice warm glass of Kool-Aid before bed (or anything in between really), the new LP Freak Me Out from your favorite Red/Blue Light noise rockers, A Very Special Episode, is available now everywhere music exists across all the digital and physical realms.
The long awaited and highly anticipated latest release from from the sinister trio comes after one of the most robust and well executed marketing campaigns I’ve ever seen from a local band. You can’t hold a conversation in line for the bathroom at Alphaville or at the bar up on the roof at Our Wicked Lady without someone riffing on the now infamous “It’s not a grift, it’s self discovery” tagline. And to anyone out there who has not yet taken pause to recognize just how good this band has gotten lo these last couple years, that joke is indeed on you.
Following up to 2021 not-so-sleeper hit Fix Your Hearts Or Die, everything is bigger this time around. The loud parts are louder, the textures richer, and much more dynamic in it’s execution than on previous endeavors. The band shows a clear evolution, taking risks regarding songwriting and layered structure, probably somewhat due in part to recording with Jeff Berner at Brooklyn’s Studio G, but mostly because this band embodies extremely synergetic communication through their musical love language. The Alice In Wonderland nod “Deep in the Weeds” is a perfect embodiment of this. “We wanted to allow for more pop-style melodies,” notes singer/bassist Kasey Heisler. “We were inspired by Halsey’s record with Trent Reznor, If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. She laid her vocal sensibilities overtop heavier music, and it slaps!”
Freak Me Out wonderfully builds upon the band’s signature sound while at the same time exploring its limits. “The goal was, ‘let’s take every idea we have to their logical extremes,’”says guitarist Patrick Porter. And pushing those limits clearly paid off on tracks like “Neon Stars” which quickly spirals itself downward into the stuff from which nightmares are made. The song feels like Twin Peaks crossed with Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” existing in a realm that’s slowed and warbled as though trying to run through molasses. Chayse Schutter, the band’s cyclone slaughterhouse of a drummer, shares with us his behind-the-kit perspective. “Bands with songs that have slower tempos, like Cloakroom, inspired me to slow the tempo of ‘Neon Stars’ way down, making it emotionally resonate at a higher level.”
There’s no shortage of hit paraders throughout the LP, the preceding trail of lead singles heralding its release alone could hypothetically make up an EP that would top most tastemakers year-ends. From cult classic in the making disco synth bop “Heaven’s Gate” to “5 Dollar Cover,” (the band’s very own homage to their peers in the Brooklyn DIY scene who not only serve as reflective inspiration, but also make up the very substance of their universe), the saccharine sour sensibilities are enough to keep your mouth watering.
However, deep within the tempest onslaught of noise and catchy hooks swimming up against the barrage of heavy rip-tide riffs washed over power-pop melodies, it’s one of the few quiet moments that really draws focus. Right in the eye of the storm, sits the heart wrenching “Perfect Rain” which so beautifully articulates the fleeting nature of our human encounters. Much of its heavy lifting propped up by a single hesitant acoustic guitar riff, the duet between Heisler and Schutter is about as unexpected as the creepy synth line that dots it’s cold and regretful melody before tearing into the album’s most powerful rock moment by far.
As innovative as it endearing, as imaginative as it is self-aware, A Very Special Episode’s Freak Me Out is not only the best thing they’ve released as a band, but also is the best release I’ve had the pleasure of unpeeling in recent memory. But you don’t have to take my word for it, you can listen to it yourself. Just be sure you follow them on BandNada first.
Freak Me Outis available now via EWEL Records and available on all major streamers. Read our Q&A with the band to find out more about the making of the record.
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 we have Chantal [CW], Emily [EA], Kate B [KB], Kate H [KH] and Mike [MB] weighing in on a big list of killer songs and they have the scoop on plenty of new tunes, give ’em a listen!
Allegra Krieger–Lingering. If NYC were a song, this would be it I think. Lingering is genuine, literal, and pretty in a gray, urban kind of way. “As I rounded the corner, it smelled like piss and garbage,” Krieger sings, “As the crosswalk counts down / flashing orange and red / crossing over Canal.” In the simple video that reminds me of my childhood hanging with my friends on the LES, she dances and skips down a sunny urban street. The video and the song are both honest in their depictions of the city, in its trash and its grime, its shuttered storefronts and its pungent smells, but also in its potential for joy. The city looks small here.
It’s a brilliant video: I actually didn’t notice that anything was strange until my second watch, I was so focused on Krieger’s lovely song—nothing is quite as it seems. Here, NYC isn’t some mystical land of opportunity—it’s our home, our lives, and we make our own fun. “I get so tired, always running around / keeping track of the time,” Krieger croons as the video slips into a glimpse of clear blue waves, “When I wanna slip into that fragile place / where I exist without a body.” Haven’t we all felt like that after a day out in our noxious concrete wonderland? Krieger’s new album I Keep My Feet On The Fragile Plane is out July 21st on Double Double Whammy. [EA]
Amaara– Bright Lights. A floating dream of a song with Amaara’s steady and beautiful voice drifting over a wash of synth, guitars, and bass and drums holding steady at mid-tempo, “Bright Lights” also takes you through a very meta video (behind-the-scenes or making-fun-of-behind-the-scenes), revealing Amaara deconstructing and performing the tropes of her own imagination. “Bright Lights” is the second single off of Amaara’s upcoming debut album Child of Venus out on July 7 via Lady Moon Records. [KB]
Andrew Hung–Find Out. With a compelling beat and hypnotizing vocals, this track from Andrew Hung is a dance number but in its own way, weird synth noises curling around to become catchy, drawing out movement (and maybe some finger snapping. Hey, I can dance alone) and becoming denser and more lush as it builds to climax. Hung (formerly of Fuck Buttons) does it all, handling writing, performing, producing and mixing duties on his latest album Deliverance, which will be out on August 11th on Lex Records. [CW]
ANOHNI and the Johnsons– Sliver Of Ice. Fans of ANOHNI know what to expect from her—delicate music, stark emotions, and a powerful, gorgeous voice—but that doesn’t stop each release from being a revelation. Her first album since 2016 deals with loss and possibility, and those themes are at the forefront on the single “Silver of Ice.” ANOHNI says of the song: “A friend of mine expressed to me in the final months of his life that the simplest sensations had begun to feel almost rapturous; a carer had placed a shard of ice on his tongue one day and it was such a sweet and unbelievable feeling that it caused him to weep with gratitude. He was a hardcore kind of guy and these moments were transforming the way he was seeing things.” The friend isn’t named in that quote, but elsewhere in a press release ANOHNI shares she was remembering some of the last words Lou Reed shared with her. My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross will be out July 7th on Secretly Canadian and Rough Trade. [CW]
Big Girl– Forever.The latest chapter of the upcoming album Big Girl vs GOD has been given a name and now bears the weight of existence “Forever.” And forever, as lead singer Kaitlin Pelkey can attest, can mean a lot of things and feel alot of different ways. Coping with the recent loss of her mother permeates much of Pelkey’s songwriting on BGVG, but none strikes quite so hard as this heart-wrenching ballad. Musically the track is gorgeous, full of dreamy melody, silky strings and a powerhouse vocal. The track lyrically unfolds like a letter drowning equally with all the love and regrets her mother can never receive. “I could have tried harder. I could have been a better daughter instead of a martyr,” Pelkey sings. “We had the times of our lives. Don’t think twice” It’s as much a celebration as it is an apology, often times both and almost always everything in between.
The video, directed by first-time filmmaker Brandon Flynn, is a journey through that tender pain and grief. It takes you right up against Pelkey’s raw sadness and presses your face against the glass. Intercutting with haunting video images of her parents’ wedding day, it twists your insides apart watching these two worlds of past and present collide until Pelkey finds herself desperately wandering inside the video itself searching for some sort of lingering phantom connection to hang onto.
From the perspective of a finite existence, it’s an infinite pit of sadness. Her voice almost breaks against waves of anger and sorrow, as she specifically punctuates those weighted words, “All that’s left in your place is your shape and your name and the stain of a life that’s not forever” [MB]
Being Dead–The Last Living Buffalo. This track is deceptively joyful…or maybe fortifying, exhilarating. Like we’re heading somewhere exciting. The kind of thing you’d hear in a Western during a montage of horseback riding amongst wide shots of desert and orange sunsets. The marching band-esque snare almost sounds like the hooves of a frontiersman’s steed making his way out west. The first comparison that came to my mind was Secret Tunnel from the 2000s cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender.The Last Living Buffalo’s accompanying video calls the forthcoming When Horses Would Run “the first buffalo-endorsed album.” It’s silly—but the song and the video are also haunting and persistent. Like I said—we’re heading somewhere exciting. Well, we’re heading somewhere, at least.
“Onward, buffalo, alone!” go the harrowingly repetitive lyrics. “Onward, no herd, I heard / you killed them…” But the lyrics get darker as the sound gets lighter, “I see a buffalo lying dead on the floor / (fur for fashion, fur for fashion).” The tension rises, we start to get antsy, waiting for some release…Where are we going? Founding band member Gumball says Last Living Buffalo is “about the universal human fear of being alone and/or being skinned alive.” In the last minute of the song, it’s suddenly angry, howling—no, literally, there’s howling—fuzzy, sludgey guitars and agonizing screams of “YOU KILLED THEM!” while a baby buffalo stares at us. The shift in mood just makes it all the more chilling. The Last Living Buffalo will appear on Being Dead’s debut album When Horses Would Run, out July 14th on Bayonet. [EA]
Buffalo Nichols– You’re Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond. Carl “Buffalo” Nichols recreates the blues for 2023 with 808 programming, samples, and synths—as well as skillful guitar playing—topped off with his deep, soulful vocals. “You’re Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond” (an eerily beautiful version of the Blind Willie Johnson song) is the first single off of The Fatalist, his second album due out September 15 via Fat Possum. The Milwaukee, WI-based musician explained his new take on the classic song in a statement: “A traditional song made modern. Which aspects of ‘the Blues’ are essential? Is it a melody? A certain vocabulary? Delivery? Instrumentation? Is this still a blues song? And most importantly: who gets to decide? I tried to reimagine the blues with this song as if it were allowed to grow and progress uninterrupted, uncolonized and ungentrified.” The mysterious video for the track (directed by Samer Ghani) presents Nichols approaching a church at night, intercut with shots of him playing the song in low flickering light. Nichols is touring the US this summer, and will play Mercury Lounge on September 22. [KB]
Cinema Cinema–Walk Into The Ocean. Building like a swell of waves over less than three minutes, with drums pounding like the surf and Ev Gold whisper-roaring “I wanna kiss the mouth of ocean! I tell you, I wanna walk into the ocean… into the ocean, if that’s the exit then I’ll take it,” this experimental track is very different from the throbbing, raucous “War On You.” This makes for an interesting preview of their new album Mjölnir, which features Gold on guitar and vocals, his cousin Paul Claro on drums, percussion and winds, and Thor Harris (of Swans, Shearwater, and Angels of Light) on synths, percussion and drums. Mjölnir will be out via Nefarious Industries on July 14th. [CW]
Eaves Wilder– Better Together. This song starts out delicately, with Wilder’s gentle voice sweetly singing of “blissful confinement / peace and quiet / give me solace, silence / yeah that’s how I like it.” But as the song builds toward a fuller sound, so do the lyrics wonder “but we’d be better together / don’t you agree? and you always say that it’s a losing game / but why not play it with me?” Wilder says that “Better Together” takes the perspective of two narrators, “one who is skeptical of love and one who is trying to convince them otherwise.” The single is available now on Secretly Canadian, as is her debut EP Hookey, released earlier this year. [CW]
Frankie and The Witchfingers– Mild Davis. The lead single from the LA quartet’s seventh album is both simple and complicated, featuring jagged guitars twining around in angular riffs and deft rhythm work from new members Nikki “Pickle” Smith (formerly of Death Valley Girls) on bass and Nick Aguilar on drums, with soaring vocals over a 7/4 meter. Singer Dylan Sizemore says “I wrote ‘Mild Davis’ in a moment of feeling pessimistic about what technology is doing to our society, especially as AI is creeping to the forefront more and more. But then the bridge comes from a more optimistic perspective, where it’s questioning whether we could reboot the whole system and start all over.” Taken all together, the sum of these parts is a potent, trippy track that doesn’t get lost in itself. Data Doom will be out on September 1st on Greenway Records and The Reverberation Appreciation Society. Catch them live at Warsaw in Brooklyn on September 30th. [CW]
The Hives– Countdown To Shutdown. Kicking in with an ascending riff into classic Hives rock n’ roll, this second single from the upcoming comeback album features a seriously catchy bassline underpinning the verses and a chaotic business-themed video directed by SNASK. Singer Howlin’ Pelle presents the track as “The countdown to the financial collapse? The countdown to the weekend bender you’ve been waiting for? The countdown to your favorite sports competition? The Hives have you covered with Countdown To Shutdown. A versatile banger for all your summer rock needs.” In-fucking-deed. The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons will be out on FUGA on August 11th. We caught their recent NYC show (their first here in 11 years, see pics) and they are returning to NYC for a show at Brooklyn Steel on October 30th. [CW]
Lutalo & Lomelda– Darkeve Duet. A multiinstrumentalist originally from Minnesota who, after some time here in NYC, now lives and creates in rural Vermont, Lutalo’s debut EP from last year Once Now, Then Again is being released on vinyl on June 23rd. Fans of that EP will recall “Darkeve”; “Darkeve Duet” is a reimagining of the song from Lomelda that re-explores it delicately, a gorgeous, experimental track that weaves two voices together in a tapestry. Lutalo cites Lomelda as an influence, saying “it was a full circle moment to have her being willing to help with this track.” Lutalo will be touring the Midwest this fall. [CW]
Nara’s Room– Rat. The latest drop from the sometime-solo project, most-of-the-time band, Nara’s Room, is out now via Candlepin Records. A bit more polished in its execution, this jangly indie-rock gem from the mind of Nara Avakian is still chock full of lo-fi saturation in all the best ways we love them for. You can hear all the whistles and pops of guitar strings in its quieter moments but when it gets big and loud, its rich sonic layers nestle between the cracks of triumphant drum rolls and slam in like a hurricane.
“There’s a rat in my belly and it’s trying to tell you something” sings Avakian who also directed and edited the music video, shot on their famed around Brooklyn camcorder by Heather Jensen. It gives some major Real World/Reality Bites vibes with that signature Nara’s Room VHS BetaMax doc retro style. Starring a couple Sony Walkmans, a flip phone, and an Etch A Sketch, the the video follows the deadpan-faced band from White Castle, to the rock show and back up across Brooklyn rooftops. If only emotions were served up as easily as an order of chicken rings. “What else can I say….? What else can I do…. ?” [MB]
Sangre– Chainlinks. This Brooklyn based punk/grunge band is newer, having first hit the scene in late 2022. Now they’re here with their debut single, “Chainlinks,” and it has impressive production, sounding broad and full; this is no lo-fi demo tape that might immediately come to mind when thinking “first release from a punk band.” The chuggy riffs and vocal delivery would have fit right into 1993 era grunge radio play and it serves up serious 90s vibes (in all the best ways). This is a nice first taste of what this band has to offer and I’m ready for more. A music video will be released for the song on 6/17. [KH]
Sarah Mary Chadwick– Shitty Town. A reflective, piano-driven ballad with punishing and poetic evaluations of everything in life that has fallen short, Chadwick has described the track as a “leaving a place kind of song.” The lyrics reflect the futile inner turmoil of wanting to change the past: “I watch through the window at my life / It seems to function/ but who’s driving / this shitty car?” The song’s video creates a world where the song is a low-budget black box production of what “Shitty Town” might be as community theater; melodramatic with small technical effects, but every player putting forth maximum (if not flawlessly artful) effort. “Shitty Town” is the first single off of the New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based Sarah Mary Chadwick in advance of her eighth full-length release Messages to God (out September 15 from Kill Rock Stars, and executive produced by award winning producer,Tony Espie). [KB]
Strange Ranger–Way Out. Strange Ranger’s forthcoming album Pure Music was recorded in a cabin in upstate New York, and this song definitely has cabin in upstate New York vibes. Way Out is a delightful indie rock track that’s dreamy but also frenzied, vocals whispering over each other in airy harmonies. The lulling chant of the verse is hypnotizing, and the chorus is ethereal and satisfying. Bandleader Isaac Eiger explains:
“I wrote this one while going through my memories of being a teenager in Montana and then it got all biblical for some reason. We produced it at the house in the woods and I remember feeling extremely alert, almost manic working on it late at night. At the time, we thought of it as a sort of condensed Talk Talk song, but I’m not sure if it ended up that way.”
Strange Ranger will be heading out on a North American tour and plays DROM on August 4th. Their new album Pure Music is out July 21st on Fire Talk. [EA]
Thick– Doomer. Brooklyn punks and hometown heroes, Thick, have released a brand new stand alone single, a mid tempo power pop rocker that shows new growth for the band and sees them channeling their frustrations too.
Singer Nikki Sisti shares:
“This song screams exhaustion. It’s about knowing what you could do for someone but being too burnt out to do. It’s the opposite of self-abandonment, it’s choosing to stop giving so much and hoping that the other person can find it within themselves to do the work and grow.”
This is the first recording without their longtime drummer Shari Page, the kit being helmed here by Mannequin Pussy drummer Kaleen Reading. Will Yip provides his signature crisp production, making the song sound rich and full with the band sound bigger than ever before and a long way from their rawer DIY house show roots. That’s hardly a bad thing though, and shows a new maturity and depth of sound, an exciting peek perhaps into Thick’s next era. The layered guitar work really shines, with the catchy leads standing out in particular. The band is currently on tour in the US and will head to the UK for some dates before they return to NYC for a show on 7/22 at TV Eye. [KH]
Vagabon– Can I Talk My Shit? The ever-evolving New York musician Laetitia Tamko aka Vagabon flirts and entices in this danceable indie pop tune, the second single off her third LP Sorry I Haven’t Called out September 15 via Nonesuch Records. The lyrics begin with Vagabon asking the song’s title, and then she proceeds to sing her truth (aka talk her shit for real): “I got way too high for this / I’m riding on a wave too low / Never found myself through the smoke.” The song has a fun video where we get to see what it would be like if she ran a towing company in the desert, complete with her looking gorgeous in a silver bustier while dancing in a junkyard. Vagabon tours the US this summer (playing Hudson Yards on July 12) before heading to Europe to accompany Weyes Blood in the fall. [KB]
After crossing paths with Idaho Green at a Halloween show we played together years ago, I quickly fell in love with the lo-fi quartet. We shared a mutual love for their fellow Montana-based legacy punkers, The Lillingtons, and that’s bond that can never be broken. The Big Sky fellas are back with a grimy new EP that’s catchy as all get out. As much Fifteen at its core as it is Dinosaur Jr. is is on the edges, the whole thing is glued together with a Superchunk feel that once again showcases the band’s ability to highlight the best elements of the last four decades of music and still deliver a cohesive sound to a new generation of kids on the fringe.
The new EP feels like a classic Side A / Side B with “Dreams of Double Ashley” and “I Will Wait” holding up as stand-alone pop tunes. Sugar sweet with a fuzz punch attack, it’s nasty guitars and impassioned distorted vocals in all the right ways to keep your toes tapping. “Virgelle Victor” and “Polly Pocket Will Have Her Revenge” (nice nod to the Nirvana classic, “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle”) have a wilder heavy attack. Seamlessly functioning as a single track for the virtual B side, they are ripe for head bangs, floor punches, and circle pits, with a guitar onslaught that would make Thurston Moore smile.
The band has said “The rednecks don’t like us ’cause they think we’re art kids, the art kids don’t like us ’cause they think we’re rednecks,” and no truer words have been spoken. So if you find yourself a lonely punk wandering somewhere in between, you may just LOVE Idaho Green.
Double Ashley / Virgelle to Victor is out now via Bandcamp and all major streamers.
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 we have Chantal [CW], Emily [EA], Kate B [KB], Kate H [KH] and Ray [RR] weighing in on a big list of killer songs and they have the scoop on plenty of new tunes, give ’em a listen!
Activity–Careful Let’s Sleepwalk. Backed by an eerie marching snare drum that creeps along under Travis Johnson’s hushed chant and ethereal backing vocals descending down from some dark cloud, “Careful Let’s Sleepwalk” is the sound of looking over your shoulder. Johnson says that lyrically the song is “dream fragments, nights that all left me with the feeling of something being really wrong.” Activity will be touring starting in July, including a release show for their upcoming album Spirit in the Room at Baby’s All Right on July 16th. [CW]
Bush Tetras– They Live In My Head. The second single and title track off of the seminal NYC no wave/punk band’s first full album in eleven years, “They Live In My Head” begins as a ballad, with acoustic guitar underneath Cynthia Sley’s pained vocals. The sound here presents a very different Bush Tetras than what I’m used to, but showcases Sley’s dramatic prowess as a singer and lyricist. The chorus kicks in with panicked energy, speeding up, becoming more frantic every time we circle back to it, with RB Korbet’s bass line spinning and snapping like a viper. Sley escalates to a place of utter unhingery, practically barking by the end, repeating the words: “They live in my head / when they enter my dreams / life is not all it seems.”
The band has stated that “They Live In My Head” is “about people living in your head rent-free and how life is not all it seems—not quite a ballad, with its wild fast choruses, kind of like falling off a cliff.” Sley and fellow founding member/guitarist Pat Place lost drummer and longtime collaborator Dee Pop during the pandemic, and this new single reverberates with some of that grief. Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley joined as their new drummer last year, and produced They Live In My Head, which comes out on July 28 on Wharf Cat. Since recording the album, Cait O’Riordan (formerly of The Pogues) has taken over the duties on the bass. You can next catch the band live on September 15 at Le Poisson Rouge. [KB]
cumgirl8– gothgirl1. If you hadn’t told me this song was brand new, I’d think I was listening to a song birthed in a subterranean NYC nightclub at some point in the mid-1980s. Groovy, sexy, infectious and darkly weird, it’s an amalgamation of all the things this band does so well. This is the second single from their upcoming EP, phantasea pharm, and follows the awesome hazy post punk romp, “cicciolina,” a tribute to iconic Italian porn star turned politician Ilona Staller aka Cicciolina (read our thoughts).
On the EP, they share on their Bandcamp:
phantasea pharm was born out of an obsession with Ella Fitzgerald’s “Old McDonald” ahead of a show in Charlottesville, Virginia. The band decided to pay homage. [guitarist Veronika] Vilim dressed up in a cow leotard with pig accessories, [drummer Chase] Lombardo in a g-string and apron that read “The Grillfather,” [guitarist Avishag] Rodrigues became a lawn mower, and [singer/basisst Lida] Fox took on the role of a sexy rooster. “We went on stage that night and told everyone we were a ‘Fantasy Farm.’” They knew then that would become the basis of their new EP.
Desert Mambas– In The Middle. This solo project of Foxx Bodies guitarist Bailey Moses is poised to release the debut EP …But It’s a Dry Heat later this month, and if the first two singles are anything to go by, it promises to be a slice of gentle, confessional dreamy pop. “In The Middle” finds Moses coming to terms with their identity as a trans nonbinary person. The bass is almost cloudy, while the guitar shimmers on top, making the production mirror the trepidatious uncertainty of the songs topic. Moses says “I wrote this song thinking I needed to be extra secure in my understanding of this identity in order to field all of the inevitably ignorant questions that would come my way. But the truth is, my gender is an ever evolving and beautiful thing. And as scary as it can be, existing in the nebulous middle space has been one of the most liberating parts of my life.” …But It’s a Dry Heat will be out on Kill Rock Stars Nashville on June 29th. [CW]
Ditz– Riverstone. These UK Noise punks put out one of my favorite albums of 2022 (and one of my most listened to), The Great Regression, and they have returned here with a brand new offering which is part of Suicide Squeeze’s “Pinks and Purples” digital singles series. It at first finds the band wading a bit more towards experimental electro territory, before tearing into the loud noisy punk they are known for at the 1:45 mark. Channeling the frustration of being burnt out on tour, vocalist Cal Francis shares:
“We wrote this track on a day off on our July tour. Caleb had recently bought this sub phatty and had taken it with him so we were trying to find anyway to make it fit in a track. I think we were listening to lots of death grips and hardcore that week. The lyrics were related to whatever we were talking shit about that day. Dirt cheap baccy and annoying invasive TikToks. It’s hard to recall.”
In addition to being available digitally, the band is releasing a very limited run 7inch which will feature a remix of the song on the B-side by BABii. Pick yours up now directly from the band. [KH]
JOHN– Service Stationed. I was introduced to the London based JOHN, the grungy punk duo of John Newton (lead vocals/drums) and Johnny Healey (guitar/backing vocals) a few years ago by FTA webmistress, Jenifun, and have been a very big fan ever since, the combination of Newton’s distinct, gruff vocals and Healey’s frenetic guitar style hitting all the right places. They recently just announced their very first US tour (hitting NYC in late October at Saint Vitus) along with the excellent single “Trauma Mosaic.” Now even more good news has come from the pair who have announced their next album, A Life Diagrammatic, along with another stand out new track, “Service Stationed,” which features guest vocals from Leona Farrugia of fellow UK band, Ġenn.
With these newer songs, the band has shown they are ready, willing and able to branch off into exciting new directions from their earlier work and to break out of the traditional rock band mold. Healey saying plainly “We’re not just a rock band. There’s more to it than that” with Newton adding “We wanted to further explore the space and ambience of our instrumentation, to offer an album that deliberately pushes and pulls in a multitude of directions throughout its duration.” A Life Diagrammatic is due out 9/22 via Brace Yourself and the band’s own label, Pets Care. You can find all dates of their debut North American tour here; you already know where to find me on 10/26. [KH]
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard–Dragon. King Gizz just Do! Not! Stop! And we don’t want them to, not if they keep putting out bangers like this one. Frantic guitar stylings and harsh vocals find the band in metal territory, while they sing of the “PetroDragonic Apocalypse” with “flapping wings weaving through / crocodile obsolete / flattened raze / spraying flames / blood curdle screech.” The ten minute song moves through various sections, including verses, chanted breakdowns, and Latin. Jason Galea provides the music video [warning for flashing imagery], saying “I wanted to explore a harsh distorted visual palette using my live visual setup mixed with PS1 cutscene inspired animation and studio footage I filmed of the band.” I’m going to be headbanging to this one for a while. PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation is a double LP (like I said, they don’t stop) and will be out June 16th on their own label KGLW. [CW]
Locations– Better Days. The Brooklyn based duo have released an emotional plea aimed at bringing attention to fighting climate change and pushing for climate justice. Using the framework of an emo-ish, alt rock song, the band is using it as an extension for their planned actions to take on one of the greatest crises of our generation. Check out their website to find out more information and how to get involved. [KH]
Mad Honey–Fold. On this track, singer Tiffany Sutcliffe’s rich voice is woven into the tapestry of fuzzy, moody guitars. Sutcliffe says the song “is about feeling like you don’t have control of your own mind and trying to surround yourself with the right people to keep you grounded,” which is reinforced by the lyrics “pirouette in a strange formation / don’t wanna get caught in the fold / don’t think too clear so I keep you with me / it’s good but nobody knows.” The music video is made up of candid footage and features some very nice cat and dog moments. This Oklahoma City band’s debut album Satellite Aphrodite (you know how sometimes you just really like an album title? I like this one) will be out on Sunday Drive and Deathwish Inc. on September 22nd. [CW]
PJ Harvey– I Inside the Old I Dying. The legendary PJ Harvey has announced a European tour, and with it she’s released a brand new single. “I Inside the Old I Dying” is just as strange and eerie as its unsettling title. The three-minute track, which will be featured on Harvey’s upcoming album I Inside the Old Year Dying, is ominous yet tranquilizing, with lyrics that are simultaneously biblical and occult. Accordingly, the animated music video, directed by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, is equal parts heartwarming and horrific, from its gorgeous, crude paper-on-paper stop motion (though I swear that dog was real for a sec!) to the harrowing tale it tells. Harvey says the song is meant to capture an “ethereal and melancholic longing,” and that it does, with its soft arpeggios and Harvey’s yearning, beseeching vocals drenched in reverb. The new album is out July 7th on Partisan Records [EA]
Pons– Coral King. The Brooklyn based no wave noise punks are hands down one of my favorite live acts currently gigging in NYC. After moving here from Vermont in 2021, they quickly established themselves as a group to watch with an intense, enthralling live show and a work ethic to match. They have played in just about every venue in NYC since it seems like and have toured all over the Northeast and beyond, always honing and refining their charismatic stage show, keeping it tight and nimble. While they remain a favorite band to see live, their recorded output has not been as frequent as their shows have been, something I have hoped would change.
It looks like that change may be on the horizon now as they recently released a new single, “Coral King,” and announced they have signed with Oliver Ackerman’s, Dedstrange. The label is home of course to Ackerman’s A Place To Bury Strangers as well as bands like GIFT, The Pleasure Majenta and Plattenbau (so clearly, some really good company). The band says the song is an “off-the-wall mix of theatrical noise rock and surreal psychedelia” and that sounds like the perfect way to not only describe the song but also the band as a whole. (I’ve also described them in the past as “frantic noise punk band that sounds like Brainiac and Hella had a baby that was raised by no wave wolves on acid.”) While the band has not yet announced a full length (fingers crossed for that for real), the single does coincide with a 10 week tour which will see the band bringing their killer live performance all over the US. We’ll unfortunately have to wait until August to see them again here in NYC, but I’m for sure looking forward to it. [KH]
PUP–How To Live With Yourself b/w Smoke Screen & Kill Something. Toronto’s favorite sons dropped a trio of songs this week and fans of the band ought to be ecstatic. All three are out takes from the 2022 LP, The Unraveling Of PUP The Band. To these ears, the highlight of the three is easily “How To Live With Yourself.” Oddly enough, it was the first song singer/guitarist/principal songwriter, Stefan Babcock wrote for Unraveling and its a pure unadulterated PUP punk rocking blast. Written in the band’s classic mold, it ultimately didn’t fit with where the band was going with the rest of the album, which to an extent was a premeditated break from the traditional PUP mold.
“Smoke Screen” starts off with a very sludgey death metal(y) intro before Babcock moves in with his dirgelike lyrics “When it all feels like it’s moving too fast / Light the fuse and lean into the blast” a throwback, in my opinion, to “Scorpion Hill” and the classic line of “and if the world is gonna burn, everyone should get a turn to light it up.” The last if the three, “Kill Something” is a slow burner that builds and builds at a snail’s pace before it finally reaches its crescendo, only to be punched in the gut when Babcock rolls into the chorus of “I want to killed something I love,” with the band chanting quietly in the background, “over and over and over.” Once again PUP knows exactly what buttons to punch to the make their cavalcade of fans very very happy. [RR]
Ratboys – It’s Alive. Opening up with a reverb heavy guitar strum and a pounding drum beat before vocalist, Julia Steiner jumps in with her lilting yet gritty singing of the opening lyrics, “Outside my window /The birds dance alone / I sit back and take it in / Like some sort of medicine”.
“It’s Alive” is the first single from the band’s upcoming 4th full length LP, The Window, but the first they’ve recorded start to finish with the current lineup. (Bassist Sean Neumann and drummer Marcus Nuccio are both relatively new-ish additions to the band.) The album itself has been a labor of love, having been worked on since 2020 with Steiner sharing “We spent 2020 demoing the songs, and spent 2021 practicing them.” Lyrically, “It’s Alive” feels very much to be a personal reaction to the isolation and forced solitude of the lock down period from which it was written. A reaction devoid of any anger or bitterness, instead one can’t help but feeling a bit hopeful hearing Steiner sing of being frozen in her house but looking to the stars above and knowing that there is still life to go on. [RR]
Shamir– Oversized Sweater. Acoustic guitar brings us into this steady mid-tempo alt-pop winner, with Shamir’s uniquely gorgeous countertenor voice rising above. Featuring an awesome sliding bass line, the instrumental break at the end will have you bouncing around, as his voice glides up into even higher falsetto territory. “Oversized Sweater” is the first single off of Homo Anxietatem, the ninth album from the Philly-via-Las Vegas-based eclectic musician, to be released on August 18 as Shamir’s debut on the venerable Kill Rock Stars label.
Shamir explained the history of “Oversized Sweater” in a statement:
“The first quarter of 2020 before lockdown I felt a lot of anxiety. I was fresh out the psych ward and had quit smoking weed and cigarettes cold turkey. I spent the first couple months of 2020 knitting this huge baby blue sweater. It’s basically a wearable security blanket that I used to channel all my anxiety into. I wear it all the time.”
The song is beautifully explored in an intimate video where Shamir dances around in his underwear in what feels like his childhood bedroom, the walls covered with posters of various music idols: Selena, The Buzzcocks, Snoop Dogg, Amy Winehouse. Shamir appears so beautifully vulnerable here, in both the video and the music; I want to wrap him up in that Oversized Sweater and just hold on. But that vulnerability fuels this prolific powerhouse of an artist, and I’m excited to hear the entirety of Homo Anxietatem later this summer. [KB]
Sharon Van Etten– Quiet Eyes. Sharon Van Etten works her lush emotional magic once again with this new single that’s featured over the end credits of the A24 film, Past Lives, a story of childhood friends reuniting in South Korea, directed by Celine Song. The beautiful ballad washes over you with shimmering vocals swelling with flickering harmonies. The expansive instrumentation includes acoustic guitar strums that provide the rhythmic bones for a repeated ascending piano line that’s echoed by what sounds like cello as the song builds. Van Etten’s lyrics stand strong and reflective as always: “Is this really a mystery life? / Where we only learn from our own mistakes.”On Twitter, Van Etten shared her love for the new film, which inspired the song: “The idea of past lives, who I used to be, what I could have been, people I lost touch with, parts of myself I lost along the way… is a beautiful, intangible, relatable concept that Celine Song so gracefully explores in her story, Past Lives.” Van Etten co-wrote the track with Mini Mansions’ Zachary Dawes, and Grizzly Bear members Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen provided the film’s score. [KB]
Sweeping Promises– You Shatter. An ethereal synth line slinks above many layers of guitar and electronic patterns, with Lira Mondal’s ever-present bass groove deep in the underbelly. This second single off the forthcoming Good Living Is Coming For You (due out on June 30 via Sub Pop and Feel It Records) will get you bouncing and dancing around the room, but there’s an edge of malice driving the party. Mondal and Caufield Schnug offer only this statement about the song: “‘You Shatter’ is our ode to being a hammer.” Mondal’s fantastic voice achieves a sharper edge here than I’ve heard from her before, and it works perfectly with the violent suggestion of the lyrics: “How you are to me / You shatter / A distant memory /You shatter.” I didn’t think I could love the brilliant duo from Lawrence, Kansas more, but both this track and the previous single, “Eraser,” are showing them exploring exciting new territory with synthesizers and how they’re recording. I cannot wait to get my hands on the full record on June 30! Also, they’re gonna be at Music Hall of Williamsburg on August 10, and it’s not sold out…yet. [KB]
Teenage Wrist–Still Love (featuring Softcult). A duo since 2020, Teenage Wrist are still making grungey shoegazey alt-rock. On “Still Love” they are joined by fellow alt-rockers Softcult, also a duo (twin siblings Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn, who bill themselves as “music for mall goths”) who share songwriting credits. The song switches direction near the end, moving from lyrics that seemingly deal with self doubt (“I talk big shit / I got nothing to back it up / I’m the shame and the sin of men / the mistakes of my future son / but I still love“) over to an environmental theme (“will our children kill for water, will they ever see the ocean / when the oil runs out we’ll go deeper down the well“). Still Love is out on Epitaph on August 4th. [CW]
TVOD– Poppies/Since You Been Away. Brooklyn disco post punks and fan faves TVOD have just released a new double single, which pair nicely with the three previously released stand alone singles “Goldfish,” “Mantis,” and “Alien” from earlier this year. In addition to their time in the studio, they’ve been gigging hard around BK and beyond, really ramping things up over the last year or so, touring frequently and are indeed about to hit the road again supporting Thick (a band they also used to share members with in their earliest iteration). These songs have been staples of their live set and are always super fun to dance to, and now you can do it in the comfort of your own living room in your undies with your cat if you want (my preferred way to dance really) or on your morning commute bashing your way through slow walkers on the subway. No word yet on a full length from this crew, but I am primed and ready for when they lock that down. [KH]
Wombo–Thread. A far more laid back track than the preceding single “Slab” (read our thoughts), “Thread” finds minimalist guitar twirling around an easygoing yet persistent bass and drum line while singer Sydney Chadwick weaves a vocal thread of her own, breathy but not becoming lost in the music: “Wanted to be so small you could fit me into the palm of a hand, but there’s only so many things that can happen. Who was singing about loneliness?” The Slab EP will be out June 9th on Fire Talk. [CW]
TEKE::TEKE are a band that contains multitudes, from their influences, which range from psychedelic rock to surf to garage to Japanese folk, to their own melding of modern and vintage sound, to their Canadian and Japanese identities. Each of the seven members of the Montreal-based group are also multi-instrumentalists, with the credits for the album reading like an orchestra: Maya Kuroki (vocals and guitar), Sei Nakauchi Pelletier (guitar, synth, percussion, vocals), Hidetaka Yoneyama (guitar, vocals), Yuki Isami (flute, shinobue, taisho koto, synth, vocals), Etienne Lebel (trombone, gaida, percussion, vocals), Mishka Stein (bass, synth, percussion, guitar, vocals), and Ian Lettre (drums, percussion, synth, piano, vocals). Yet never on their newest album Hagata do they seem to get lost or mixed-up, rather charting their own course through a heady stew of genres to emerge with something stronger. Indeed, Kuroki says of the album’s title: “Hagata is a very deep word, something present but also something leftover from someone or something no longer there. It’s like waking up from a dream, or being connected to the other side of something.”
The melding of immediacy and dreamlike is a perfect way to describe the overall sound of Hagata. Much of it feels very nostalgic, with 60’s and 70’s pop and psych tones to the guitars and woodwinds, all while Kuroki’s vocal delivery twists and turns, a playful growl here and a soulful melody there. Yet there is a punchy quality to most of the songs and their production, and never does the album get dragged down by looking backwards.
Hagata starts off strong with lead track and lead single “Garakuta,” one of my top songs of the year so far. A psychedelic march with a driving flute lead and intense vocal delivery, it sets the stage for the rest of the album, drawing the listener into the trippy work of TEKE::TEKE with an immediate bang. Kuroki’s words (presented in this article through a provided English translation) speak of the heaps of trash people have left on this planet, seemingly from the point of view of the trash: “This flower is made from plastic, that snow from polystyrene / that hill in the distance is a mountain of cellphones… these are voices of waste that cannot return into the ground / our day will come.”
The second single is also the second track, and “Gotoku Lemon” (“Lemon Enlightenment”) is groovy and funky with interweaving guitar and flute melodies, while Kuroki plays the part of some sort of snake-oil/lemon seller, cajoling us to “everyone come closer! / divine effect, immediate remedy for all diseases! / try these lemons, try them! / try these magic lemons that wake you up with just one drop!” The accompanying animated collage video was created by Kuroki and Pelletier.
Hagata doesn’t drop off at all after these first two singles, with a strong lineup of tracks throughout. Highlights of the album are “Onaji Heya” with its slinky guitar riffs and thumping drumbeat, “Doppelganger,” the third single that features a cinematic vintage feel, and “Setagaya Koya,” which moves through an interesting arrangement and rhythmic experimentation. The longest track is the seven minute epic “Kaikijyu,” with a slow build akin to sinking down into the ocean; indeed the lyrics speak of the sea but also move through surreal imagery:
“In the pouring rain, a car stops in the backstreet
Out comes a never-ending stream of men in identical raincoats
Coming in from the back door, instantly filling up my house
Losing my space, I dive into a giant mirror
Inside is a thick and revitalizing deep ocean
Like moving kaleidoscopic and colorful lights,
Like the striking of an empty clock, there is this beautiful sound
Inconspicuously, I turn into a whale
Under the day moon, spreading my fins like wings,
I rush onto the sea with great speed.”
The production quality on Hagata is richly blended, with no part of their layered sound lost. The album was recorded and mixed by Daniel Schlett at The Outlier Inn Studio in Mountain Dale, NY; Schlett also works out of Brooklyn, but the band chose the countryside, and credit the setting (and studio owner Josh Druckman’s vegetables) with contributing to the recording, with Pelletier saying “we wanted to explore the TEKE::TEKE world further, to enrich all the senses, and feeling that comfort made a real difference.”
TEKE::TEKE aren’t only good in the studio, however—they are a compelling live act. FTA caught them live last year at Public Records, and I also had the pleasure of seeing them open for Unwound at Irving Plaza this March, where they put on a vibrant, energetic show. I highly recommend checking them out if they come through your city.
Hagata is out now via Kill Rock Stars and available on all major streamers.
