Two years may have passed, but there was no forgetting the Youngstown, Ohio duo Baroque Monody after we had the privilege of savouring their enticingly atmospheric alt-rock single, Plan 2021.
In 2023, their arcane elementalism is as sharp as ever in their latest single, Pomegranate Wine, which reinvented the nu-metal wheel through the scintillating rapped verses that follow an arrangement of pioneering symphonic sludged-up metal that contrasts Jennifer Rose’s beguiling vocal lines and the cold tones which implant post-punk nuances into the decadent sonic tapestry.
The absolute synergy which transgresses through the latest slice of sludged-up sanctuary established Rick Polo and Jennifer Rose as the ultimate dualistic powerhouse and superlative conduits of resonance for their audience who know the grip of desolation all too well.
Stream and purchase Pomegranate Wine via Bandcamp, and keep Baroque Monody on your radar for the release of their forthcoming EP.
Taken from their Light in Dark Rooms EP, The Immaculate Crows’ alt-indie rock single, School of Hard Knocks, is an 80s-nostalgia-swathed invitation to wear the scars you have amassed in your fight to survive as a badge of honour.
In recent years, there has been a heightened prevalence of the presumption that society is a mediocracy where everyone is granted the same opportunity, in complete disregard to the disparity in starting lines. The Immaculate Crows reached out to the disenfranchised with validation written into their spellbinding single, which bridges the gap between Siouxsie Siouxe and Echo and the Bunnymen while working in an extra slice of desert folk-rock glamour. The endlessly compelling female vocal lines pull you right into the centre of the dark yet radiantly mesmerising orchestration.
School of Hard Knocks is available to stream on Spotify.
Liverpool’s Mark Docherty created a brand-new wave somewhere between new-wave and no-wave in his latest defiantly distinctive single, Reckless Abandon, which is set for official release on June 3rd.
By bringing distortion-heavy buzzsaw riffs into the post-punk arena, the innovator, who will undoubtedly become renowned for the dualistic tendencies in his vocal performance, succeeded where very few artists of this era do; by drenching the airwaves in originality. From Nick Cave-ESQUE croons to raw rock magnetism, it all lingers in Docherty’s vocal arsenal.
Fans of Pixies and Depeche Mode alike will want to clamour all over Reckless Abandon, which is a sonic depiction of just what it says on the uninhibited tin.
Stream Reckless Abandon from the date of release via SoundCloud, and stay tuned for the debut LP, which is set to drop on June 16.
Laz Berelow’s latest single may decree that God is Dead, but Glenn Branca lives and breathes through the histrionically cold feat of post-punk capable of giving your speakers frostbite.
The complex time signatures of the guitars with the obscure jazz nuances and polyphonic chaos is a pairing that ensures God is Dead is a sonic deliverance of comfort to the disturbed. If you’re pious to the Machiavellian experimentalism of Mike Patton, you’re sure to get your kicks from God is Dead. Friedrich Nietzsche would be proud.
When GetIntoThis were tastemakers on the scene before Peter Guy shamed himself during my tenure as an editor, Laz Berelow was dubbed one of the best acts of 2020; they easily lived up to that accolade with God is Dead.
With five weeks remaining until Party in the Pews gives indie, pop, post-punk, psych, and rock fans to get pious about, the ticket supply for the hotly anticipated two-day festival in Christ Church in Macclesfield is close to running dry.
The inexplicably impressive line-up curated by Jo Lowes, who is quickly becoming Manchester’s contemporary answer to Tony Wilson, comprises two well-known headliners who need absolutely no introduction; Badly Drawn Boy and The Futureheads. As stoked as I am to hear their iconic alt-indie hits, it is the supporting artists that are making me shake off my usual levels of festival-going apathy.
The psychedelic visionaries Heavy Salad always warm the soul with their endearingly cultish stage presence, Pavement-ESQUE cruising riffs and harmonised to the nines vocal arrangements. If Stephen Street was keen to produce their upcoming sophomore LP, you should be stoked to witness their mind-altering aural conjurations live.
Sam Scherdel on the line-up affirms just how on the pulse of current breakthrough artists Jo Lowes is. It is only a matter of time before his enigmatic indie rock anthemics that amplify his ruggedly affectionate everyman blues establishes him as one of the top indie rock artists in the country.
After a series of sell-out shows and acclaim from just about everyone who matters in the industry, Dirty Laces will tarnish Christ Church with their grimy vintage rock rancour that proves the extent of their reverence to the proto-punk past and seriousness about sealing guitar music’s place in the future. They’ve got psych grooves and razor-sharp dark hooks by the execrably exhilarating smorgasbord.
You might want to dress up warm for the Manchester-based supergroup, Sea Fever. There will be an atmospheric chill in the air when they spill their scintillating darkwave synthetics into the venue. Members of the five-piece banding together after working with Johnny Marr, Section 25 and New Order is infinitely less exciting than the coldly transcendent tones they subject their live audience to through their pulsating beats and hypnotic strings.
The final few full weekend tickets are available via Skiddle.
Check out the Party in the Pews event page on Facebook.
Two superlative staples of the London alt-scene, Katie Green & Rob Alexander, joined reverent post-punk forces to forge the new two-piece outfit dollhaus; the debut single, The Devil Makes a Sale, will leave you questioning, Siouxsie who?
Rhythmic hypnotism constructs the whirling dervish of a prelude before the guitars contort into angular prisms of kaleidoscopic colour as the basslines add dark depth around the harbingering percussion that punctuates the dreamy layers Katie Green’s glassy vocals filter into.
Chewing up and spitting out the archetypes attached to the dream-pop, post-punk, goth, and art-rock genres enabled dollhaus to effortlessly establish themselves as one to watch in a saturated scene. If anyone can appetise an apathetic alternative audience, it is dollhaus with this inordinately magnetic manifestation of pure songwriting talent that drinks like a potion of hell-hath-no-fury vindication.
With dark and sinister synths that are as harbingering as the ones in the Slumber Party Massacre soundtrack, the intro to the latest gothy synth-rock single, In Time, from LJ Pheonix & The Renegades, reeled us in hook, line, and spacey sinker.
The 80s-reminiscent post-punk croons crawl into the mix as a scintillatingly soulful rapture as they boast all the atmosphere of Echo and the Bunnymen and the Psychedelic Furs. As the single progresses, interstellar psychedelia starts to amass amongst the dark tones constructed by the wailing guitars and stabbing synth lines to absorbingly disconcerting aphrodisiacal effect.
If the rest of the debut LP, Atlantis, is as warped in entropic sex appeal as In Time, the new up-and-coming UK powerhouse will easily seal their infamous fate.
In Time will release on all major platforms on April 9. Check it out via this link.
Sloth may be the seventh deadly sin in the eyes fixated on the demonisation of the human condition, but here to absolve us of our indolent transgressions is the ever-relatable Manchester outfit, The Empty Page, with their latest single, Level Sedentary. The second single from the forthcoming sophomore LP, released on March 3rd, is an art rock masterpiece for its mid-way descent into maniacal obscurity.
Breaking from the melodic destigmatisation of idle introversion, the ties that bind dejection to depression conceptually sprawl through the middle eight, pulling you into the murky depths of discord before your cognitions collide with the reminder that some of the greatest creative minds maintained a proclivity towards inertia.
The producer, Morton Kong, evidently knew just how to pull The Empty Page into their elevated experimental own with Level Sedentary. In a time when it is impossible to fully disconnect from the chaos of the external world, the ability to revel in it under the duress of a compassionately candid duo is worth more than words could ever convey.
With one of the most experimental revivalist approaches to Shoegaze known to the airwaves, the Perth-based outfit, Sonica, easily set their lush reverb-swathed tones apart from the rest. Intent on not being another Lush, Ride, or Curve replica act, Sonica found innovative ways of distorting their dream pop melodies without bursting the semi-lucid bubble
The bleeding vocals from Claire Turton stand up to the mesmeric plate, containing the same ethereal beguile as Cocteau Twins and Siouxsie and the Banshees in the moody standout single, Wait for Me, which pushes grungy tones into the midst of the euphonic kaleidoscopic accordance. Leaving ample space for the gritty and cold timbre of 80s post-punk, the four-piece revisited the golden era of shoegaze by taking a route never tread before.
Wait for Me is now available to stream on Spotify.
For the exact same reasons I fell in love with Editors from the first hit, I felt my pulse quicken to the snappy electro-indie gravitas and vocal magnetism from the indie rock raconteur Griffin Robillard, in his single, Laws of Longing (LOL).
The production is as polished as it is colossal as it wraps around the die-hard romanticism in the lyrics and the dance-worthy rhythms evocatively heightened with every ardently pitch-perfect vocal stretch. With Grant Eppley (The National, Maggie Rogers, Spoon) in charge of production, it was never going to be lacklustre. Yet, clearly, the raw material already came with a scintillating sheen.
When most people endure a broken-off engagement, they fall into an insular vacuum of self-pity. Notably, it did little to quell Griffin Robillard’s intensely passionate drive, which puts a visceral amount of momentum into Laws of Longing. It is just one of the singles found on his upcoming debut album, Big Pieces Energy, penned-post-heartbreak and due for release on March 10th.
