Browsing Tag

Electro Rock

The Revel Innovate with Chameleonic Vox and Disco Pop Euphoria on ‘LIFT ME UP’

Posted on 23 July 2025

Montclair’s alternative rock/electronic quartet, The Revel, are packing a punch with their single LIFT ME UP, and true to form, they refuse to let synth-driven euphoria be reserved for the pop scene. The dynamic duo of brothers, Dean Dantuono (vocals/guitar) and Dillon Dantuono (lead guitar, backing vocals), alongside Stephen Mir (bass, backing vocals) and Kyle Smith (drums), combine forces to electrify with energetic vocals, stadium-ready rhythms, and crowd-jumping synths. If you take your feel-good hooks with a rugged edge, you’ll love the serrated side to the almost industrial-adjacent electricity which courses through LIFT ME UP as it answers existential questions you never actually thought of pondering.

The track drifts from reverberating mechanised intensity to a chorus that soars with a tsunami of disco funk-pop melodic liberation before rock riffs come tearing in that deserve to define the future of alt-rock. The Revel hardly lived up to their moniker in LIFT ME UP; they innovated instead of revelling in aural nostalgia. The cherry on the progressive perennial earworm cake is decidedly the energy that palpitates from the infectiously chameleonic vox. If you’re sick of alt-rock acts that want to pretend they’re too cool to hit the dance floor with you, you won’t regret hitting play on this track.

LIFT ME UP is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Trust is a loaded gun in Jasno’s Midwest rap-rock requiem Cowboy

Posted on 15 June 2025

Jasno turned venom into catharsis in their latest single, Cowboy, a snarling dissection of the serpentine personas that smile while twisting the knife. By drawing from the sharpened theatricality of emo’s former front runners and strapping Midwest motifs to experimental bursts of rap-tinged alt-rock, the Michigan-based outfit brought new dimensions of ferocity to the subgenre. With lyrics that gnash and compositions that shapeshift across cinematic symphonics and raw rhythmic catharsis, Cowboy is the kind of track that leaves scars worth showing.

From the offset, the volatility floods in, but never at the expense of finesse; it’s all part of the sonic storm Jasno conjure with precision and intention. The spacey synth lines arc like spacecraft across scorched landscapes, while the vocals hit like a threat and a prophecy rolled into one. The band’s full commitment to pushing genre boundaries is writ large in their sonic DNA, but Cowboy hits differently. It’s a revenge anthem for anyone who’s ever had their trust mocked and their kindness misread as weakness.

From the unforgiving lyrics to the skyscraping delivery of the crescendo, Jasno went beyond proving their ability to command any stage. With two full-length albums and three EPs already under their belts, the DIY trio are known for dominating any line-up they’re thrown into, regardless of genre. Now deep into production for their third album, Jasno’s upward motion looks less like a climb and more like combustion.

Cowboy is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mercy Journey Baptised the Future of Worship Rock in the Electrified Salvation of ‘Soap and Water’

Posted on 13 May 2025

Soap and Water is a high-octane sojourn for the soul, an attestation for the catharsis of faith, and a modern rock earworm which sweeps you up in its fervently pious passion. With an anthemically kinetic chorus, Mercy Journey flipped the script on the expectations of worship music with a production style that blasts beyond the rock trajectory and lands squarely in the electronically augmented future of the genre. The debut single is enough to make Imagine Dragons sound positively antiquated.

Led by lyricist and executive producer Jon Pendleton, Mercy Journey delivered a defiant reminder that the grace of God doesn’t need to whisper when it can cascade through distorted guitar lines and exalted vocal deliveries. With electrifying riffs, transcendent crescendos, and vocals that resound with rapture, Soap and Water fully immerses you in spiritual affirmation.

Mercy Journey exists to remind the broken that grace is already waiting, and Soap and Water floods that message through layers of affecting instrumentation and lyrics that carry the weight of redemptive testimony. While the track has already pulled over 8,000 listeners into its current on Spotify, that figure barely scratches the surface of its reach.

Soap and Water is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Paradise Drive’s ‘The Phenomenon’: Alt-Rock’s Interstellar Ride into Sonic Rapture

Posted on 5 April 2025
Paradise Drive

Paradise Drive is an alt-rock powerhouse delivering orbital euphoria through razor-sharp songwriting chops, interstellar production stylings, and a seamless transcendence beyond simply presenting as a talented act. Throughout their latest album, The Phenomenon, you won’t merely marvel at the evident virtuosity; instead, you’ll become locked into every emotional nuance as it ebbs and flows through kaleidoscopically alchemic progressions.

The opening track pulls you into a riff-raw reverie reminiscent of 00s indie rock—yet propelled further by spacey pedal-to-the-metal momentum, allowing oscillations to move effortlessly via sonic osmosis from airwaves into emotion. Bridging anthemic resonance with introspective quiescence, Paradise Drive taps uncharted intersections within alt-rock, confidently steering innovation towards one of the most dynamic albums of 2025.

From 80s new-wave synth-pop ballads like the standout single, ‘Girl on the Plane’, which fans of The Midnight will undoubtedly devour, to the cathartic rancour of ‘Let’s Be Clear’, The Phenomenon exceeds the promise implied by its title, leaving nothing to be viscerally or evocatively desired.

Led by guitarist and vocalist Hugo De Bernardo, Paradise Drive creates meteoric, immersive experiences, fusing the soulful ambition of Coldplay, U2’s ethereal expansiveness, and the contemporary zest of The Band Camino. Their songs, anchored by themes of love, heartbreak, and personal evolution, resonate affectingly through soaring melodies and lush, electronic-tinged rock landscapes, proving their powerhouse reputation is well-deserved.

The Phenomenon is now available to stream on all major platforms. Discover your preferred way to listen via the artist’s website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Raven (G185TARR Vandal Mix) – A Hypersonic Surge of Industrial Chaos and Alt-Rock Melodicism

Posted on 12 March 2025

The G185TARR Vandal Mix of Ami Leigh’s seminal single, The Raven, detonates with hypersonic industrial electro rock before the mechanical intensity makes way for indie rock melodicism that finds new intersections through punk ethos. It’s a sonic collision course, where rallyingly magnetic vocals evoke alt-90s nostalgia as they glide across white-hot guitars and the brutal percussive force driving the track forward.

Bringing the rough with the smooth, the seductive with the savage, Leigh lands in an intrinsically distinctive alt-rock domain, toying with elements of post-hardcore before tossing them aside in favour of a pop-hooked chorus. The contrast is a masterstroke—every shift in momentum feels calculated yet completely untamed.

The mix affirms that Ami Leigh isn’t just making noise in the North East—she’s forging a path with her fearless genre fluidity. As a fixture on BBC Introducing and international radio charts, her ability to adapt and innovate is on full display in The Raven. It’s the epitome of an infectious anthem, engineered to leave an imprint long after the final synth riff signals its departure.

Stream the official video of The Raven Remix on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

FAERYS Sever the Puppet Strings and Strike with ‘Control’

Posted on 8 February 2025

After slipping into the ether following their debut ‘Nova Scotia’, FAERYS have returned with ‘Control’, a sophomore single that takes no prisoners. The duo, known for tearing through genre lines like they’re made of tissue paper, are dialling everything up to eleven—synth-driven melodies crackle under the weight of colossal guitars, while pulsating beats and atmospheric textures ensure the walls close in with oppressive force.

FAERYS are no strangers to disruption. Their debut racked up 500k streams and left a dent in the electro-rock scene. ‘Control’ sees them storming back with a track that seizes attention with ironclad fists. It’s a white-hot, scorching attack on tyranny, cutting the marionette strings and igniting in an autonomous blaze of glory. The duality at play between the hypnotic, She Drew the Gun-esque female vocals and the razor-sharp Saul Williams reminiscent rap bars—delivered by a fierce London-based rapper—fuels a current potent enough to power a grid. The result is an industrial-charged riot, where every sonic element serves as both ignition and explosion.

Recorded in Brixton and marking the first two tracks of their upcoming EP, ‘Control’ signals that the duo is as indomitable as ever.

Control hit the airwaves on January 31st; stream it on Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Asterhouse’s ‘Sick Millenia’ is a Meteor of Raw Indie Electro Rock Thunder

Posted on 25 December 2024

‘Sick Millenia’ is a fistful of rock reinvention from Seattle’s power-rock force, Asterhouse. Their knack for choppy, angular staccato riffs is matched only by the irresistible spark of the crystalline vocals, which slip across the frenetic pulses with a potent sense of urgency. While the Arcade Fire-esque synths keep the track firmly in the contemporary sphere, there’s an undeniable nod to the glory days of Emerald City punk that charges the song with adrenalized intensity.

Asterhouse recently showcased their talents through a residency at Climate Pledge Arena and a seminal KEXP in-studio session, building on their tradition of unleashing ethereal rhythmic power at iconic venues such as The Neptune Theatre, The Showbox, Neumos, The Crocodile, and Chop Suey.

This new single proves that the band aren’t simply documenting the malaise of modern life; they’re offering an efficacious salve through a hefty dose of full-throttle instrumentation and a whirlwind of hooks that tear beyond the rhythmic pulses and straight into the soul.

Sick Millenia is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Embers of Silence unleashed his industrialised electroclash pop-rock lament on capitalism, Attaboi

Posted on 3 March 2024

After the prelude echoes the nostalgia of the scuzzy hooks to The Cardigan’s My Favourite Game, the industrialised electroclash of pop and rock, Attaboi, from Embers of Silence evolves into a juggernautical earworm that swaggers with as much attitude as the spikiest icons of Britpop.

The lament on contemporary capitalism is infectious from the first deliciously distorted & discordant note, from there on out, every hyper hook and slice of snarled vocal mesmerism pulls you deeper into the infectiously augmented protest track that exemplifies the multi-instrumentalist and producer’s artistic intellectualism.

It’s not every day that you encounter an artist with the ability to make cerebral art accessible and void of pretension. Clearly, the Ohio-hailing one-man machine, Samuel Austin is a rare visionary, one that would sit well on the playlists of Tears for the Dying, Atari Teenage Riot, and Machine Girl.

If the upcoming LP, A Beautiful Thing, carries an ounce of the cultivation in Attaboi, it will easily be a contender for one of the best albums of 2024.

Stream the Single Mix of Attaboi via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Embrace the retro-future with The Exotic Ices Project’s seminal track, Disciple

Posted on 21 December 2023

Stepping out from the shadows of their former band, Ruby Jones and Patrick Spillane of The Exotic Ices Project ignited a fuse on a synth-pop explosion with their seminal single Disciples. The standout from their debut album, Sunshine Desserts, is a vibrant testament to their musical evolution and a bold statement in the world of new wave synth-pop.

Opening with a cascade of twinkling synths, reminiscent of stardust spanning the entire colour spectrum, the auditory spectacle sets the stage for a journey through a soundscape that is both familiar and refreshingly, chaotically, novel.

After capturing the essence of the 80s and propelling it into the modern era, the track takes an unexpected turn as choppy, staccato guitars enter, bolstering the composition with a raw, electrifying energy. This shift creates a synthscape driven by the tumultuousness of unchained emotion.

While Disciples may not align with everyone’s musical palette, it is a treasure for those who revel in the brighter, more intense shades of retro synth-pop. The track encapsulates the fervid dedication of its namesake, transcending into a realm of electro-rock fervour. It’s a daring composition, one that challenges the listener while remaining undeniably captivating.

With their bold colours and explorative sonic universes, Ruby and Patrick are not just riding the wave of synth-pop; they are redefining it.

The official music video for Disciple is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Speaker Cabinets unleashed euphonically augmented sci-fi escapism in their alt-indie sophomore LP, Tales from New Babel

Posted on 9 November 2023

For their sophomore LP, the Barcelona trio Speaker Cabinets spun ‘Tales from New Babel’ over an indie aesthetic that will ricochet you right back to the 00s alt-indie rock era with reminiscences of Kasabian, The Futureheads, and The Courteeners.

With an additional layer of Euro folk in the opening single, Ghost Town, there will be little deliberation as to whether Speaker Cabinets stamped down a distinctive sonic signature within the anthemics of their dance-worthy and constraintlessly daring concept EP. When you’re not ensnared in the hooks, you’ll be immersed in a sci-fi tale of retribution. The standout single, The Fall, is a straight-up space rock attest to the imaginative ingenuity of the powerhouse, who will seemingly go to any mind-altering length to deliver euphonically augmented escapism to their fans.

The band’s electro-heavy sophomore LP was released on October 20 along with a 6-episode podcast, which shares the story of their zany creation. Delve into the sonic sci-fi franchise, you’re unlikely to regret it.

Stream the Speaker Cabinets sophomore LP by heading to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast