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.
The Cautionary Tale of Richard Manuel is the indie psych-folk debut single from Woodstock-based, California-born singer-songwriter Marc Delgado. If the styles of Paul Simon, the National and Dinosaur Jr coalesced, the sonic result wouldn’t be all too far from Delgado’s debut that pulls the storytelling roots of folk up through a sleek and modern production.
The kicking beat, lofty colourful guitars and spacy synths converge to create a psychedelic platform for Delgado’s instantly magnetic vocals that draw you in by the unapologetically unadulterated passion to provide 3:28 minutes of total aural escapism.
The Cautionary Tale of Richard Manuel is now available to stream via Spotify.
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.
When, back in November, we reviewed Godzukey’s last single ‘Alibi’, we said that Portland, Oregon, might have just spawned a new baby monster. On the basis of ‘The Wrath To Come’, that monster’s now hitting the angry teenage years, slamming its bedroom door, and refusing to come out except for snacks and video games.
Written about deceitful friends and still peppered with beautifully tasteful harmonics and bluesy shredding from guitar noisenik Conrad Bylsma, ‘The Wrath To Come’ is a glorious, grungy, doomy, melodic, stomp through sludgy stoner-rock (that’s a thing) in an old-school lazy vocal and fuzzed-up guitars kind of way. There’s large elements of some absolute classics in here – Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, with a definite nod to the Foos, Nirvana, and J Mascis/Dinosaur Jr. especially around the laconic vocal delivery and effects.
‘The Wrath To Come’ is the 8th track from Godzukey’s demo mini-album ‘Lake Mammalian’, and a precursor to their debut online gig ‘Bridge City Sessions: Godzukey’, which can be viewed via YouTube and Facebook on March 2nd this year.
In the meantime, you can hear ‘The Wrath To Come’ on Spotify, and follow Godzukey on Facebook and Instagram.
Born in London and now resident in Los Angeles, singer-songwriter ¥ang is now onto his sixth single in just twelve months. ‘Satin Blue’ starts off with a Patti Smith-esque acoustic guitar part before instantly becoming something much, much more as ¥ang’s laconic, laid-back vocal delivery kicks in.
Mixing equal parts Beck, REM, and the quieter parts of Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’ album, hitting every ‘right’ bit of Cobain and Stipe on the way, ‘Satin Blue’ is a catchy, upbeat number with a surprisingly hooky, mainstream college-radio middle eight breakdown before kicking back into its final ‘this is your lesson’ chorus refrain, which – like the best of Seattle and Athens, Georgia – will stay very, very firmly lodged in your head for hours after the final, ringing chord has decayed to nothingness.
Hear ‘Satin Blue’ on Spotify, and check out ¥ang on Facebook.
Laissez Tout Brûler is the lead track from the Alt-Rock powerhouse Glitched’s latest EP “Chaos World, Pt. 1 (An Apparition Emerges)”, if you’re aurally sensitive, prepare to feel a little bruised.
Right from the first verse, there’s a magnetically direct invitation to immerse yourself in the soundscape. The steadiness of the preceding verses makes the alchemy in the successive ones even more exhilarating. Think along the lines of Dinosaur Jr’s Feel the Pain.
When the momentum builds in the choruses, so does Glitched’s playful energy which tears through the melancholy which was laid out in the former verses. After hearing Laissez Tout Brûler, I have no doubt that Glitched could give Foo Fighters a run for their money live, their sound is just as capable of filling a stadium. Plus there’s the extra added bonus of Laissez Tout Brûler being a uniquely unpredictable track which experimentally unravels while sweeping across the full tonal palette.
You can check out Glitched’s single for yourselves via Spotify or YouTube.
Ever since the earworm contained in Heavy Salad’s Psych Pop sophomore release Battery Acid made itself right at home, I’ve been psyched by the promise of the debut release by the Manchester-based masters of good vibes.
The wait is almost finally over. The Cult Casual LP produced by Ross Orton (Arctic Monkeys) is due for release on September 25th via Dipped in Gold Recordings. Ahead of the LP release, they’ve released their psychedelically rapturous grungy Pop teaser track The Wish. It’s so timely it is almost serendipitous.
The Wish is an accessible introduction to the debut album which promises a smorgasbord of enlightenment-aiding experimentalism. The driving punchy Rock rhythms possess a convictive bite and drip with a bravado-less Alt 90s-style cool which will appeal to any fans of Pavement, Dinosaur Jr and Weezer.
With the feisty instrumentals perfectly paired by the exuberantly high-vibe vocals offering mantras such as “I cannot save you, I can’t even save myself”, it will be hard to determine what you fell in love with first, the powerful lyrics or the tone which shatters the Manchester mould. So many Manchester-based artists succumb to the ease in the process of assimilation for their sound. But with Heavy Salad, their sound is so revolutionary that if they were handing out invites to their cult, you probably wouldn’t need to think twice before accepting.
The massive choruses in the Wish go down like a euphoric storm as they allow you to consider the futility in attempting to rescue everyone in a world where we’re all without a compass in the chaos. If you’re as afflicted with empathy and nihilism as I am, you can consider the Wish a playlist essential.
You can check out the official video to The Wish via YouTube, add the track to your Spotify playlists, or download the single via Bandcamp.
Cult Casual will be available to stream on all major platforms from September 25th, or you can pre-order the album here.
Keep up to date with future releases via Facebook.
On their never-ending mission to make us all feel a little better about the chaos we’re living in, Hellwaffles has released their most relatable single to date “CoronaRock”.
With snarling tones which is sure to appease fans of Pavement and Dinosaur Jr, Corona Rock offers a nostalgic escape from our absurdist reality which is plagued with profound disappointment.
I’ll never get tired of hearing artist’s unique perspective on the lockdown. I always hit play in the hopes that I’ll find connection in the lyrics which I’ve been unable to find elsewhere. I struck gold with CoronaRock. On the grand scale of things, our 2020 plans being scuppered may feel like a first world problem. But CoronaRock reminds you that your disappointment is ubiquitous and valid while feeding you punchy anthemic Garage Rock.
You’ll have to wait a little longer before you can hear CoronaRock for yourselves. It will be available to stream via Spotify from the date of the release.
There aren’t many tracks that can get me to proclaim feelings of love before the chorus even begins. But Handmade Amigo’s second debut single “Let it Roll, Or the Whale” hit the spot like no other musical collective have before. The Psychedelic Soft Indie Rock & Roll Jam is a carnality of uplifting pleasures that reminded me of the sweet melodies of bands such as Dinosaur Jr.
They teased the introduction with a lullaby of sonorous sound before crashing into the verse with a raucous ensemble of percussion headed by a bass soaked atmospheric beat. Attempting to deconstruct this track is ion impossible. The complexities and melodies fuse themselves so tightly together, it’s just best to sit back, relax and enjoy the cacophony on offer from The Orlando, Florida based quartet.
The Handmade Amigo’s switch from rattling guitar riffs with an adequate pinch of moody reverberations straight through to piano sweeps to reincarnate the song through every second of the 04:26 duration.
Judging by the innocently charming music video, they’ve got a long way to come in the industry, but I’m most definitely sold on what they have to offer.
I recently attended a De La Sol set at a festival in Queens. I enjoyed an interlude in which a voice from the trio said that sometimes you just need to let the beat play. It’s always nice to hear how artists feel about the things they make and how they make them. It’s also nice to see how artists whose styles vary greatly can agree on certain sentiments. Such is the case with Crow Quilled Confessions. Their track A Human Being on the Planet Earth perfectly demonstrates a group who know how to let the beat play when it needs to.
For the first half of the song, there are several elements introduced that seem to orbit around the catchy, strongly-mixed beat. You might miss some details along the way if you aren’t careful, but one thing is for certain, you will feel that beat. It doesn’t seem like a drum part that needs much elaboration. It may not have much to say. This doesn’t stop Crow Quilled Confessions from letting it lead the charge into the second half, which quickly but organically reinvents its status quo with fuzzy guitars and a bass that triumphantly makes its presence known.
From here, the track becomes a ride. Suddenly the beat has taken a backseat for the exploration of all the other themes that had previously been allowing it to lead. For such a dramatic change in priority to occur while holding onto the mood and tone of the song is a major challenge. Even as the song fades out in its last 30 seconds, you can’t help but feel the beat play on in your mind. This is a song that leaves the speakers and really does affect your mind for moments at a time. It’s not overly complicated, but it’s certainly a fascinating track.
