Browsing Tag

post-punk

Judge Silver is coming off the bench with ‘Angeline’

Posted on 9 April 2021

‘Angeline’ is taken from Judge Silver’s debut album ‘Still On The Bench’, nine tracks of relatively gentle alt-flavoured-rock with a lyrical bent and a certain nod to football-related metaphors here and there. There’s some synth and dancey bass across the album, along with the more ‘rock’ flavoured guitars – think Orange Juice and Edwin Collins, a little of the Presidents of the USA, and maybe a touch of Tin Machine-era Bowie, and a little of Amigo The Devil in the vocal delivery.

It’s perhaps a little self-consciously ‘self-effacing’ when it comes to the lyrics, but in between the tongue-in-cheek there are some killer couplets, and in ‘Angeline’ an albeit unconventional love-song.

You can check out ‘Angeline’, and the rest of Judge Silver’s debut, on Soundcloud. Follow Judge Silver on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Max Diaz – Mr. Manson: A Snarling Furore of Fuzzed Up Alt-Rock

Posted on 8 April 2021

American solo artist Max Diaz has already racked up over 1-million streams with their visceral take on alt-rock, based on their standout track, ‘Mr. Manson’; he is still criminally under-appreciated.

It has been a while since a feat of alt-rock allowed my curiosity to pique so intensely, but this snarling furore of macabre garage rock reels you in hook, line and sinker by using Manson’s infamous line, “I’m nobody, I’m a tramp, a bum, a hobo, I’m a boxcar and a jug of wine and a straight razor …if you get too close to me”, as a prelude. What kind of outlier could resist that Kerouac-style resonance?

It’s a fuzzed-up obsession-worthy track that fans of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are going to appreciate. Although it is safe to say that the distortedly electric choruses are infinitely more infectious. Instead of retaining an (archetypal) rebellious sense of ‘cool’, Diaz opted for no-wave aural insanity, allowing the soundscape to match the unstable state of Manson’s mind.

Of course, a track like Mr. Manson wouldn’t be complete with a burst of sonic guitars forming a wall, but this wall of noise comes wrapped in razor wire It really wouldn’t be a surprise to see Max Diaz signed to Ipecac Recordings or Sub Pop soon.

Mr. Manson is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Slip into the phantasmal furore of Mary Bleeds’ post-punk track, ‘Seal’.

Posted on 4 April 2021

If you’ve always preferred the darker side of post-punk, slip into the phantasmal furore in Dublin-based alt-rock outfit Mary Bleeds’ latest single, ‘Seal’.

Living in Manchester, I’m no stranger to post-punk revivals, but Mary Bleeds succeed in stamping down their signature style and despondency with an unassimilated level of cool. With nods to John Dwyer in the guitar work, hints of the Cramps’ salacious swagger and a touch of Bauhaus, Poison Ivy and Glen Branca in the production and vocals, it’s a full-frontal exhibition that will still leave you eager to see even more.

With their debut album, produced & engineered by Julie McLarnon (Vaselines, Lankum), due for release digitally and on vinyl on May 30th, Mary Bleeds aren’t just ones to watch; they are one to add to your record collection.

The album is available to pre-order via their official website.

You can check out the live recording of Seal via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Giant Buddha give us all the hurry-up with ‘Better Do It Now’

Posted on 4 April 2021
7 More by Giant Buddha

There’s a rich vein of ‘the right bands’ running through the Giant Buddha’s bio – Oasis, The Cure, Bauhaus, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and the Stones. Now, that by itself doesn’t guarantee a killer track – owning a great record collection doesn’t, of course, automatically translate to creating great original music – but what we have in ‘Better Do It Now’ is a trippy, hippie, stoner grind full of layered guitar crunch and hazy vocals, snippets of harmonica and a droning, driving wall-of-sound groove that’ll be familiar to anyone brought up on B.R.M.C. and Black Market Karma.

There’s a little bit of Velvet Underground garage rock in all of us.

Check out Giant Buddha on BandCamp and Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes

Californian alt-rockers Add Moss deliver up some brooding mood music with new single ‘Innamoramento’

Posted on 22 March 2021

Martinez, California alt-rockers Add Moss had an interesting gestation, initially starting out life as a duo comprised of multi-instrumentalists Aussie Bridger and Joey The Coyote, before effectively becoming a solo album project for Bridger following the departure of the Coyote, and then gradually expanding, over time, to a full five-piece band (once again including Joey The Coyote).

Now onto their seventh album, ‘Innamoramento’ is a brooding, moody eighties-inspired take on dark rock, all slow-picked flanged guitar lines, driving drums, and echoey, ethereal bass backing saxophone and Bridger’s reverb-soaked vocal. Starting slow and building to greater and greater power, ‘Innamoramento’ is a classy mix of goth, prog-rock, and jazz fusion, reminiscent of a slower The Mars Volta, Seven Impale, or Closure In Moscow. It’s not the frantic, frenetic, multi-rhythm-centric Volta, for sure, but that proggy fusion influence is clear; this is grown-up alt-rock through and through.

The suitably dark and effected official video for ‘Innamoramento’ is on YouTube; check out Add Moss here.

Review by Alex Holmes

Giant Sky show us the meaning of ethereal with their latest post-punk dream-pop single ‘Snow’

Posted on 14 March 2021

Brace yourself for the sonic sting in London and Bristol-based alt-indie powerhouse, Giant Sky’s latest single ‘Snow’ which showcases Olivia’s ethereally evocative vocals which share propensities with the likes of Desperate Journalist, Cocteau Twins and Wolf Alice while the instrumentals pull in post-punk and shoegaze dream-pop tones.

As the release affirms the fragility of our mortality with lyrics such as ‘we’re lucky to grow old’ followed up with ‘I don’t want to go into eternity without you’, it’s lyrically crushing, but the kaleidoscopically colourful instrumentals nicely cushion the blow as they throw you into walls of dizzying noise.

Snow is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Shining Tongues have put a piously conceptual avant-garde spin on drone rock with ‘Belly of the Town’

Posted on 26 January 2021
The Prayer - EP by The Shining Tongues

The Shining Tongues added another facet to the realm of experimental rock with the release of their single ‘Belly of the Town’, just one of the singles found on their ethereally avant-garde 2021 EP ‘The Prayer’.

The standout single pays ode to the sanctity of non-romantic love, it perfectly captures the hollowing drudgery which connection can raise us from. With choral backing vocals coalescing with the despondence in the main narrative, The Belly of the Town is a conceptually ingenious release which proves that absolving celestial tones have a place in dark alt-rock too.

If Peter Murphy picked up indie rock sensibilities, his music would hold a fair amount of reminiscence to this darkly hypnotic lullaby.

You can hear the EP for yourselves from January 21st via bandcamp. Or, head over to the artist’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DR SATSO – Sour Milk: Sonically Frenetic Psych Post Punk

Posted on 26 December 2020

‘Sour Milk’ is just one of the riotously dark and psychedelic tracks to feature on DR SATSO’s debut album ‘A Sour Milk Experience’.

For the non-discerning fans of Psych who stay in the safe confines of the overhyped works of the Beatles and Pink Floyd, the soundscape may be as pleasant as ingesting sour milk, but those with an affinity for truly mind-warping, rhythmically disturbing alternative music will definitely want to delve into this monolithic feat of Psych, Post Punk, Garage Rock and Punk.

As the bouncing frenetic guitars emit enticing similarities to the Oh Sees, the rest of the instrumentals coalesce to bring a cold cutting energy to the galvanizingly pioneering soundscape while the vocals will be a hit with any fans of Poison Ivy, Magazine and SERVO.

While Sour Milk hasn’t done my need to witness fuzzy and frenetically insurgent music live any favours, it did affirm that DR SATSO is undoubtedly one of the most viciously revolutionary artists to hit the airwaves in 2020.

You can check out Sour Milk along with the rest of DR SATSO’s sonically visceral album via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sonic Indie and Celestial Soul Collide in Nikola’s Transfixing Alt Indie Rock Single ‘Pink Lights’

Posted on 22 December 2020

After spending years successful touring bands, Minnesota-hailing artist, Nikola Hamilton, released their ground-breaking EP ‘Darling’ and established themselves as one of the most luminary singer-songwriters who have made their debut in 2020.

The standout track, Pink Lights, will allow you to imagine what would happen if Interpol chose to team up with Hozier. You get the cold, cutting sonic style with the almost celestial vocals which tear though the darkly atmospheric soundscape and speak directly to your soul.

If Nikola made a bigger impression with their sleek Darkwave debut, we’d have concussion.

You can check out Nikola’s EP for yourselves which was released on November 13th, 2020 via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

‘Just Dance’ with Action Doll Joe

Posted on 20 December 2020

Hailing from ‘the dusty deserts of California’, Action Doll Joe – AKA Elijah Barrera – has just dropped his debut EP, ‘Hello!’, from which ‘Just Dance’ is taken. It’s a bouncy, frivolous, affair, all good fun and light-hearted, story-telling lyrics, with heavily fuzzed-up guitars and keyboards and punky, cracking drums. It’s a great playful-sounding record, and ‘Just Dance’ is a perfect leader from it, a great introduction to the four songs on offer – a storytelling piece, led by whispered and charmingly spoken vocals, a sing-along chorus, and a bass-line that simply won’t go away once the track’s ended.

It’s quirky, it’s silly, it’s reminiscent of early Green Day or Blink 182, and it’s simply jolly good fun.

Check out ‘Just Dance’ on Spotify. Follow Action Doll Joe on Facebook.

Review by Alex Holmes