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Grunge

Guilty? by Rebel Trust Is Grunge Nihilistically Dragged Back into the Basement

Posted on 3 July 2026

Rebel Trust caustically cut across post-grunge with the single, Guilty?, from their recently released LP, 31 Atlas. Far more gnarled and scuzzed than anything Dinosaur Jr. ever conjured, with the melodic gravity of their most iconic hits, Guilty?, in all of its nihilistic ennui, drags mainstream grunge back into the basement.

The songwriting chops are as sharp as what made the pioneers legends in the 90s, but the punk energy riling the sludgy vocals and instrumentals places Rebel Trust in a far more disenchanted territory, one which reflects the malaise of your own life and the wider world falling apart simultaneously. The riffs stay raw, simple and melodic in the way grunge should be, carrying the brutal honesty of Nirvana’s era without sounding like a museum-piece imitation.

Rebel Trust is a one-man project, created entirely by Robert without AI, made in the slivers of free time left between hospital shifts. That context gives Guilty? a working-life exhaustion and a lived-in strain that cannot be faked. If we are all being honest with ourselves, we can probably all relate to Guilty?, even in an abstract way. All it takes is one first-world problem, and we are spiralling until we are beckoning the apocalypse.

Guilty? is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Ana & Gene – See Me Smile: a Riffed Out Power Pop Anthem for Unapologetic Selfhood

Posted on 23 June 2026

Imagine a fusion of the hook in Smells Like Teen Spirit and Hanson’s iconic MMMBop with Pixies-esque distortion drifting through the guitars before Blondie and Morrissey enter the mix, and you’ll get a good idea of the euphoria which swells through the sticky-sweet hit See Me Smile by power pop powerhouse Ana & Gene.

Once there has been enough syrupy harmony, the award-winning duo unleashes raw-as-a-razorblade-cut riffs, leaving swathes of adrenaline to drink in while visualising what it means to be unapologetically happy in the skin of your authenticity instead of wearing the uniform of socially prescribed happiness. See Me Smile is as empowering as it is uplifting, and therein lies the beauty of the always infectiously high-voltage duo.

The Chicago duo’s cross-genre fingerprints remain unmistakable, with Gene Roberts’ gold-certified pop history and Anastacia Bella’s research-led songwriting perspective feeding the track’s bright bite without sanding down its sharper edges. Since forming during the strange stillness of 2020, Ana & Gene have built their own lane through award recognition, international nominations and indie chart success, but See Me Smile feels more personal than a résumé flex. It is a Machiavellian grin with rebellious resistance behind it.

See Me Smile is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

‘BROKEN’ is Triggered Velocity Turning Post-Grunge Grief into a Scarred Juggernaut of an Earworm

Posted on 22 June 2026
Triggered Velocity

Triggered Velocity feel born for Seattle’s 90s grunge pantheon alongside Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, yet their post-grunge masterpiece, BROKEN, comes raging out of Norfolk, UK, with its own bruised, rain-blackened authority.

The way the vocals move through the murky, turbulent waters, carrying echoes of unplaced familiarity, gives the distinction in the evocatively melodised notes a raw sense of magnetism. Bruising and broadsiding in equal measure, the quivering grief over how life feels like a losing battle more so than death makes BROKEN a vignette of bouncing between the cold, harsh reality of existing in a world that is as punishing as your mind.

Imagine the rage of Nirvana fuelling the emotive capacity of Placebo and meeting the sludgy cinematic unravelling of Soundgarden, and you will come close to envisioning what Triggered Velocity slam into the airwaves with this scarred juggernaut of an earworm.

Formed in 2018, the five-piece have earned their reputation through sweat-soaked rooms, thick basslines, 90s-fuelled riffs and lyrics that land close to the bone. Winners of The Brickmakers Battle of the Bands 2024, they channel that live force into their self-titled debut album with total conviction, turning volume into emotional evidence and distortion into survival language for anyone still standing.

BROKEN is now available to stream on all major platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Craic Killers Put Their Boots on the Neck of Brain Rot with the Socio-Political Protest, ‘GIMME’

Posted on 15 June 2026

Craic Killers join Kneecap on the frontline of cultural protest with GIMMIE, a politically feral punk single aimed straight at the entitlement economy of the MAGA manosphere and the men swallowing bigoted influencer content like gospel. The South East London-based Irish/Welsh duo has always put activism above optics, but GIMMIE is their fiercest aural grenade yet. With snarled deadpan vocals, locked and loaded with volition, they targeted the idiocy that parades itself as partisan socio-political ideals.

They pull no punches when lashing out against how misogyny has infiltrated almost every facet of material reality, with male politicians and online grifters pouring fuel on the fire of regression. Sludgy, distortion-overloaded guitars clamour through the production while the rhythm section pounds with its own form of vitriol, an abrasive war drum declaring an all-out attack on figureheads of sexism, oppression and the gooning brain-rot brigade who mistake cruelty for power. GIMMIE is a sardonically hypersonic sign of the times, as essential as anything born from Riot Grrrl fury, a catalyst for fully unlocking rage with purpose.

Craic Killers’ put philosophy first, sonic signature second; their shows support Palestinian friends through leafleting and putting fundraiser balaclavas on the merch table, while their music draws from Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Sleaford Mods, Kneecap, Viagra Boys, Irish republicanism and the hideous theatre of world events.

Shatter any semblance of complacency and stream now on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Nomad Zero’s Padded Room Is Sludgy Hardcore Therapy for Anyone Sick of Polished Aggression

Posted on 1 June 2026

If Deftones, Mudhoney and Pantera had a three-way which resulted in an aural lovechild that was bitten by a rabid raccoon, it would be the sludgy mirror image of Nomad Zero, who could never be accused of posturing their aggression. Their latest single, Padded Room, practically convulses with angst as it toys with the hallmarks of grunge, hardcore, and grindcore, resulting in a salaciously vehement, cathartically visceral session of annihilation.

Padded Room has the kind of loose-limbed violence that feels dangerous because it breathes, bucks, and throws itself against the walls. It has no interest in being as tight as a straitjacket, because its real force comes from where the seams strain, split, and let the rawness spill out. The guitars snarl with swamp-thick distortion, the rhythm section lands like furniture being hurled across a basement, and the vocals sound ripped from a nervous system running on pure threat response.

The Northwest Indiana band are already building a reputation as a live act that leaves rooms feeling altered, and releasing their premiere single in the same week they open for The Bunny The Bear is a clear sign that there’s little that could get in the way of this juggernautically unreckonable force as they refine rage with feral resonance.

Padded Room is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Plug your heartstrings into the frequency of desire with Post Script Philosophy’s alt-rock overdose of emotion, ‘Butterflies’

Posted on 24 April 2026

Post Script Philosophy launched a new alt-rock inquiry into the subjugation of romanticism with their latest single, Butterflies, which is set to drop on April 24th.

Augmented by the overdriven ferocity of grunge, the anthemic hooks of pop-punk with all the melodic phrasing of 00s alt-rock, the single ticks every conceivable alt-rock box as it plugs your heartstrings into the frequency of a diehard romantic in the throes of losing control of their emotions.

Every progression feels alchemised to visualise the torrid flux of emotions derived from uncertainty and anxiety as you try to find a foothold in a fledgling relationship, only to sink further into the soul-churning sickness of desire. There are flashes of Jimmy Eat World in the emotional voltage and hints of Silverchair in the scorched intensity, yet Post Script Philosophy keep the nerve endings of the track wholly their own, letting the chorus surge with wounded urgency and melodic conviction.

Butterflies carries a weight that reaches far beyond youthful yearning. The band first built their name in the mid-2000s through EP releases, radio attention, and emotionally charged live shows across Australia’s East Coast. After the devastating loss of bassist Josh Ingram, the project came to a halt. Seventeen years later, renewed connection between the remaining members brought them back to creating together, and Butterflies now stands as part grief-soaked reckoning, part forward motion, charged with memory, fear, and meaning.

Butterflies is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Snailosaur Uses Sardonic Slacker Wooziness to Kick Up Sludgy Indie Gold in Soccer Ball Song 

Posted on 3 April 2026

Snailosaur paved over the eccentrically sardonic sonic signature of Pavement within Soccer Ball Song, a sludgy slacker jam that gives indie fans the kind of kick that only outlier anthems in the vein of Nada Surf’s Popular can deliver. Built around New York City songwriter Paul Dean and his collaborators, Snailosaur pulls together ‘90s-tinged indie guitar poetry with alt-rock abrasion, noise-rock scrapes, shoegaze fog and spoken-word candour. That mix lands with proper character here. From the crunched guitar distortion to the wooziness of the production to the drawl that instantly lets Snailosaur nestle up next to you as your new favourite cynical acquaintance with a soul of gold, Soccer Ball Song is delicious.

It’s hook-rich, not in the way of tracks angling for a superficial dopamine jab, but in the way that delivers the ultimate intravenous shot of indie kid sticky-sweet with romantic-in-spite-of-ennui serendipity. The song carries scuffed charm and a loose-limbed magnetism that keeps everything authentically askew.

Following the 2024 release of the full-length Talk Therapy and a steady run of singles, Snailosaur have kept shaping their sound in New York and Brooklyn dive bars and rock clubs. Soccer Ball Song feels like another sharp hit from that world, one that we can all grab a grimy barstool and experience.

Soccer Ball Song is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Midwest Emo-Laced Alt-Rock Visceralism as Pretty Killer Channel Addiction’s Aftermath in ‘Sharp Teeth’

Posted on 23 March 2026
Pretty Killer

A cavernous echo of 90s-esque reverb drifts through Sharp Teeth, the latest single from Pretty Killer, as the Worcester-based breakthrough outfit tore through the alternative rock space with an emotionally heightened twist on pop punk. References to Midwest Emo feel inevitable as the track unfolds, yet the band channel those tonal hallmarks into something hauntingly original The atmosphere builds patiently, tension simmering beneath the surface before the arrangement begins to lean toward a full emotional outpour.

That slow edge toward eruption arrives through melodicism tempered with pressure, proving that alt-rock remains an artform in the truest sense. Few artists manage to translate feeling into sound with convincing weight, yet Pretty Killer reach that threshold with striking clarity, turning raw emotional material into something close to sonic alchemy. The guitars swell with deliberate restraint before opening wider, letting the emotional architecture of the track expand until the arrangement can barely contain it.

When the breakdown arrives, the word becomes literal. Sharp Teeth reaches a peak of visceral intensity as post-hardcore textures bleed through the production, amplifying the emotional gravity that drives the single forward. Beneath the distortion lies the central narrative, a stark reflection on addiction and the hollow space left when someone slips away piece by piece before vanishing completely.

The track draws from the loss of a childhood friend to opioid dependence, yet the framing shifts the focus toward something quietly compassionate. The song reads like an olive branch extended toward listeners who know the ache of watching someone press the self-destruct button, or those tempted to press it themselves while believing the damage remains personal.

Recorded in a converted church studio in Springfield, Massachusetts and shaped by Alan Day on mixing duties with mastering from Mike Kalajian, Sharp Teeth captures Pretty Killer at a turning point, leaning into a darker, more grounded chapter fuelled by live instrumentation and emotional clarity.

Sharp Teeth is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Precious McKenzie: For the Love of God – A Visceral Gonzo-Style Tour De Force of Secular Derision

Posted on 23 March 2026

With their unorthodox approach to genre styling and lyricism that frequently borders on Machiavellian nihilism, Precious McKenzie has reached their sardonic zenith with their latest single and debut gonzo-style music video, For the Love of God. The Manchester-based independent artist continues to push further into their own angular, confrontational corner of alternative music, building on the attention drawn by earlier releases and carving out a space that feels wilfully abrasive in all the right ways.

Through visuals that are as affrontingly visceral as the sonic aesthetic, which swaggers between the intersections of Mansun and the Manics, (Richey era obviously), while augmenting the echoes of indie by salaciously teasing in the timbres of early 00s metal, Precious McKenzie delivered a harbingering exposition on how salvation is just another vice for people who move through life replacing one addiction with another.

Angular guitar notes pierce the vocal-forward production with math rock-esque rhythmic cerebralism as refrains of “You found God at the bottom of the bag” and “Collapse the walls then Heaven calls” become as instrumental to the mercilessly secular derision of people who fall into the hollowness of piety. The track lands as a personal tale of friendship lost first to drugs and then to religion, framing both as different faces of the same emptiness people spend their lives trying to fill.

If you’re clinging to dogma or your dealer’s burner number, this cataclysmic tour de force is going to sting.

For the Love of God is now available on all major streaming platforms.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

djamesk13 Let Semi-Lucidity Speak Through the Distorted Intimacy of ‘Silver Moon’

Posted on 22 March 2026

Through Silver Moon, djamesk13 has loaded the airwaves with lo-fi distortion, sharpening his reputation as an alchemist of discordance who keeps listeners circling back for more. His catalogue has steadily drawn a loyal following across streaming platforms, with each release pulling people further into his fractured, intimate sound world, where distortion feels less like obstruction and more like revelation.

Silver Moon fully leans into that artistic ethos. The alt-90s-leaning production hums with a raw, corroded warmth, allowing the track to feel like a proclamation made with a dying breath. There’s a semi-lucidity to the melancholic confessional; thoughts flicker between clarity and collapse, as though each line has been pulled from somewhere half-buried and left to resonate without interference. djamesk13 strips himself of all artifices and pretence, standing humbly on the contours of his own meticulously produced sound, which lands as a strange kind of paradox in its euphony.

That tension between distortion and intimacy continues to define his trajectory as an independent artist who keeps refining his approach without sanding down its rougher edges. The more saturated the sonics become, the closer the listener feels drawn in, as if proximity is earned through noise.

Silver Moon is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast