Browsing Tag

Sonic Youth.

Atlanta duo, Piece, caused a new wave of noise rock to crash in with their debut EP

Posted on 29 June 2023

While some alternative acts can be accused of compromising on substance for an edge, the Atlanta-based duo Piece is far from guilty of this sonic sin in their latest single, star cunt.

The second single, taken from their debut EP, Piece Be with You, carved through the airwaves with the no-wave buzz saw riffs and revolutionary punk-rock attitude, which blew the dust off the mohawk-littered scene. Taking the foundations laid down by Sonic Youth and other noise rock pioneers, the off-kilter energy in star cunt is scintillatingly gloomy to the last distorted note.

Tayler Lee and Ty Varesi’s rebellious synergy has seen them become well-known on the Atlanta touring circuit. After the release of their EP, which would do Kathleen Hanna proud with the riotous proclamative vocals, their time to reign internationally supreme is now.

star cunt is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Shackles Unbind in Ellery Twining’s Experimentally Liberating Single, WHAT’S GONNA SET YOU FREE

Posted on 24 June 2023

If Sonic Youth prolonged Kim Gordon’s spoken word verse in Kool Thing and played with post-pop and post-punk sensibilities, the result would be as coldly electrifying as the standout single, WHAT’S GONNA SET YOU FREE from Ellery Twining’s 2023 LP, RESULTS.

With a Joy Division-esque atmosphere ringing in the background of the stellar production by Eric Lichter of Dirt Floor Recording Studio, all the right motifs are in place to bring a tonal sense of familiarity, while Ellery uses his distinctively exasperated devil-may-care vocal energy to set the listener free from sonic monotony.

The soundscapes were compiled to reflect the childhood and coming-of-age experiences of Gen X kids, with themes of popular culture, childhood survival tactics and the ramifications of living in an era when divorce became socially acceptable at its core. Forget the Coupland novel, for nostalgically vindicating resonance, delve right into RESULTS.

Stream WHAT’S GONNA SET YOU FREE with the rest of Ellery Twining’s LP, RESULTS via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Empty Page delivered us dejection-guilt with the art rock indolence in ‘Level Sedentary’

Posted on 5 March 2023

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.

Check out Level Sedentary on Spotify, Bandcamp & YouTube.

Follow The Empty Page on Facebook & Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Juliya – Power Lines: A high-vibe lo-fi alt-90s fever dream

Posted on 21 January 2022

With two EPs under their belt, the up and coming alt-indie sensation, Juliya, has unleashed their fever dream of a high-vibe low-fidelity track. Power Lines is as sonically boundary-less as Sonic Youth and Radiohead, and just as ruggedly sweet as Neutral Milk Hotel and Elliott Smith. And there is plenty of room for their garagey no-wave alchemy in between the reminiscences.

There’s scuzz by the smorgasbord, yet, that doesn’t get in the way of the grip of the angular indie guitar notes atop of all the discord. It may be a short and sweet track, but it’s also a sure-fire hit of serotonin in a sentimentally blissful alt-90s time capsule. With enough tracks in the same vein as Power Lines under their belt and the right attention, there is no reason Juilya couldn’t climb the indie charts with ease. Give them a hand on their ascent and stick them on your radar.

Power Lines is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Rouse the Boroughs have released their blissfully provocative no-wave single, Tighter is the Rope

Posted on 21 August 2021
Cosmic Creatures - Part 2 by Rouse the Boroughs

With their melodic themes that vary from no-wave to folk, Rouse the Boroughs is an exceptionally rare kind of outfit that can parallel the evocative output from nostalgia-inducing artists such as Mazzy Star, Elliott Smith and Neutral Milk Hotel. Those aren’t comparisons that I make lightly. The lead single, Tighter is the Rope, from their latest release, Cosmic Creatures – Part 2, is the perfect introduction to the Montreal-based art and music cooperative.

Instead of the cleverness of the soundscape capturing you through its vibrant dreamy -sporadically over-driven and sludgy, tones – it’s the emotion that the cooperative can express with their sound that leaves you affably hooked.  The vocals allow you to imagine what Sonic Youth would have sounded like if Thurston Moore was as vocally sweet as Matthew Caws. You’d be seriously hard-pressed to find a more blissfully provocative single released in 2021.

Check out Tighter is the Rope on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Left of the Slash take us to the alt 90s with their latest single, ‘Never Let Go’.

Posted on 10 June 2021
Left of the Slash

LA’s prodigal sons of alt-rock, Left of the Slash, are set to release their hotly anticipated psych-laden, grunge rock single, Never Let Go. The rising artist may take their sound seriously, but they made the track infectious from the first hit. The vocal personality is just as enticing as Cobain’s during his 1993 unplugged performance of Plateau.

With fleeting reminiscences to everyone from Modest Mouse to Pixies to Sonic Youth to Queens of the Stone Age, Left of the Slash refreshingly eclipse the golden era of grunge and no-wave while adding one of the freshest new takes on sludge pop that we have heard this year.

It would be no surprise to see Left of the Slash’s name added to the roster of artists at Sub Pop or Ipecac Records. Has someone informed Mike Patton that they exist yet?

Never Let Go will be available to stream from June 11th. Check out Left of the Slash via Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nightbird Casino has released their hotly-anticipated sweetly psychotropic earworm, ‘The Town’.

Posted on 23 April 2021

If you’ve found yourself wondering if you will ever hear an alternative track that holds any authenticity ever again, find yourselves pleasantly surprised with the sweetly psychotropic earworm, ‘The Town’, by art-rock Oakland-residing duo, Nightbird Casino.

With elements of artfully composed jazz, grunge, space rock, psych-pop and classical all melting in the alchemically intoxicating pot, you will practically feel the rabbit hole opening beneath you as you listen to the descending cadence of the jazzy improv instrumentals.

The existentialist air to The Town paired with the playfully avant-garde approach to production allows the track to become the ‘everything is burning down around me, and I’m totally fine’ meme, personified. And something tells me that if Bukowski was still around, he would have Nightbird Casino on his playlists; they share the same downtrodden but subversively charismatic appeal.

On this track, you’ll hear dual harmonic vocals from the founding members, James Moore and Don Shepherd. Instrumentally, you’ll hear session musician Nicolas Ocampo (clarinets, flute, saxophone, oboe, bassoon), James on bass and ondes martenot and Don on guitars, piano, organ, and drums.

With their sophomore album, ‘Rusian Carpet‘, due for release this summer, any fans of Radiohead, Sonic Youth or Mr Bungle will want Nightbird Casino on their radar.

The Town officially released on April 23rd; you can check it out for yourselves by heading over to Soundcloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Alt 90s outfit, Selfish Gene made a comeback with their melancholically mellifluous single ‘After the Rain’

Posted on 9 March 2021
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClsKwIvXMi2oLMKONImH-cg

Decades may have passed since alt-rock outfit, Selfish Gene garnered rave reviews and joined Sonic Youth on their Washing Machine album tour in 1996, but the Tel Aviv-hailing artist’s despondently transfixing sound is just as transfixing in the 21st century.

‘After the Rain’ is the first single to be released from their forthcoming album, produced 20 years after the original line up disbanded. With vocals which carry reminiscence to Matthew Caws (Nada Surf) and J Mascis against distorted winding guitar hooks which may as well have been played on your heartstrings, the melancholically mellifluous single is as evocative as it is innovative. Anyone who can’t get enough of alt-90s indie may finally find themselves sated by this sweetly optimistic-in-spite-of-nihilism release.

After the Rain is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Play Center – 2020: The Ultimate Scuzzy Indie Punk Rock Sign of the Times

Posted on 19 July 2020

Atlanta GA-based Alt-Rock trailblazers Play Center released the official video to their latest single 2020 on June 29th, any fans of the Alt 90s sound will want the scuzzy and absorbingly vitriolic Indie Punk Rock hit in their ears.

There may be reminiscences to the likes of Sonic Youth and Mud Honey in 2020 but Play Center revived their distorted friction-soaked sound with brand-new all too relatable angst and raw energy which would have the capacity to lead the crowd into a frenzy. Gigs may not be happening right now, but when they are, you’ll want the misleadingly-titled powerhouse on your radar.

You can check out the official video to Play Center’s single 2020 for yourselves by heading over to YouTube.

There will be plenty more to come from Play Centre in 2020 and beyond. Follow them via Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with their latest releases.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

8udDha bl0od – Untitled 1123; J.:.22 15 jU57 .:.n 3XcU53:7h3 7R0U8l3 3XPl.:.n!ng 7H3 !n3vi7.:.8l3 !nn3f.:.8l3.:.17

Posted on 17 May 2020

As a pretty obsessive fan of Sonic Youth’s Confusion is Sex album, soaking up the discordant noisy angst in 8udDha bl0od’s immersively abrasive latest single was an aural trip which I’ll definitely be taking again.

Despite the harsh, almost guttural vocals and the arsenal of caustic experimentalism which was poured into Untitled 1123; J.:.22 15 jU57 .:.n 3XcU53:7h3 7R0U8l3 3XPl.:.n!ng 7H3 !n3vi7.:.8l3, there was still an adrenalizing sense of resilience and optimism which resonated within the deep bends of the Post Punk basslines and the cutting energy which spilt from the No-Wave guitars.

You can check out Untitled 1123; J.:.22 15 jU57 .:.n 3XcU53:7h3 7R0U8l3 3XPl.:.n!ng 7H3 !n3vi7.:.8l3 for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast