Browsing Tag

post rock

Tummyache Bent Art-Rock Dissonance and Metaphysical Scintillation into their Standout Single, Interstellar Dr

Posted on 14 May 2026
Tummyache

The standout single, Interstellar Dr, from Tummyache’s forthcoming LP, Fake New, explores intersections lined with the architecture of Radiohead-esque art rock and the hauntingly pensive confessional songwriting of Mitski, Big Thief and Lucy Dacus; conjuring a euphonic yet evocatively disquiet masterstroke of alt-indie provocation.

As chamber strings curl around the soft syncopated electronic percussion and weightless motifs drift through the resonantly rich production, Interstellar Dr is enough to make you feel as though you’re slipping from a material 3D world into a metaphysical space of pure scintillation.

After the mesmeric melodic momentum, the closing post-rock death roll of scathed emotion is sonically visualised through a fervid cascade of tumultuous time signatures designed to knock your rhythmic pulses out of kilter and paralyse you by building a straitjacket of noise around you, amplifying the need to keep Interstellar Dr on repeat.

Tummyache, led by songwriter and producer Soren Bryce, has long occupied that raw threshold where personal confession, DIY resistance, and art-rock abrasion meet. Since first taking shape in 2018, the project has moved through UK and US underground spaces with a fiercely independent ethos, building a reputation for emotionally charged live performances, grassroots community values, and songs that leave the seams showing. Fake New continues that line of inquiry, wrestling with authenticity, performance, and the static of modern life through a sound that stays jagged, vulnerable, and riotously confrontational.

Interstellar Dr is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Bandcamp.

Discover more about Tummyache via their official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mondrian’s Alt Indie Rock Instrumental, B1, Slashes Through Post-Rock Psychedelia, Tension and Cathartic Euphoria

Posted on 11 May 2026

Alt indie rock scintillation awaits anyone who hits play on the seminal release, B1, by Mondrian. The metronomic beat in the intro might have you bracing for an amateur lo-fi earache, but what follows in the first verse is a synthesis of classic rock guitar chops slashing their way through Pixies-esque atmospheric euphoria, hints of Grandaddy in the keys, and the Beatles in their psychedelic era with the sitars. Mondrian knits it all together in this homage to rock and indie history.

Though it may be void of lyricism and vocal evocation, B1 isn’t lacking in emotional expression, especially when the instrumental piece arrives at a sermonic sequence of progressive post-rock, but it’s not long before the independent artist switches gear once again, with fret mastery a major part of the alchemy in this medley. If you love hearing how gifted artists can efficaciously manipulate tension, catharsis and emotional transpositions, Mondrian is more than deserving of a spot on your radar.

Founded in Buenos Aires in 2020 by Matias Jimenez, Mondrian operates as an indie electronica project with Jimenez writing, performing, producing and engineering the material from his own De Stijl Studios.

B1 arrived ahead of the January 2026 debut album, 2020–2025, a five-track set shaped by obsessions with drones, minimalism, pop art, musical organisation, world music and krautrock.

B1 is now available to stream on all major platforms, including YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Virginmarys – White Knuckle Riding (Alt Version): Neo-Classical Indie Post-Rock Anti-Gospel

Posted on 7 May 2026

Inhibition has never been a part of the Virginmarys’ sound, but with the release of the alternative version of White Knuckle Riding, a fan favourite from their last LP, The House Beyond the Fires, they stripped themselves bare of amplification, taking listeners back to the urgency behind the agonising lyricism.

The opening piano sequence flows in the same vein as a sombre accompaniment to a pious procession before Ally’s vocals are exhibited at their most ethereal to date, blurring into the reverb and illuminating the single that stands as a testament to the duo’s self-produced sound. It doesn’t take long before you’re sure you’re going to feel bruises crawling up your heartstrings after hitting play. After you have felt the first sonic spectres of melodic morosity creep around you, you’ll still be broadsided by the disarmingly affecting vocal inflections in the first verse as they pour like a desperate plea from inside a Catholic confession box.

The ornately celestial piano-driven release lashes out against genre constraints as much as it asserts anger in the face of the insistence of existential suffering, forced upon the too self-aware, who are destined to ruminate in the obscure expectation to be happy in the true emptiness of reality. There are neo-classical shades drawn around nuances of post-rock, perfected with a Pixies-esque iridescent buzzsaw riff to close out the triumphant chameleonic shift.  Without the Zeus-esque drums, the elasticity of the tensile howls, and the swagger-driven breakdowns that feel like getting caught in a rockslide of riffs and cacophonically cadenced percussion, nothing that the Virginmarys have become synonymous with is lost.

When bands switch up their sound, it’s natural for the core of what they were previously perceived to be to become distorted, but the rework of White Knuckle Riding proves that the crux of the Virginmarys (and the reason they’re practically radiating with reverence through the rock community these days) has always been their raw augmented purges of emotion that are too visceral to keep caged inside the mind. Behind the razor-sharp songwriting chops and anthemic dualistic synergy which sparks between Ally Dickaty (Vocals, Guitars, Songwriter, Producer) and Danny Dolan (Drums, Visual Architect) on stage and on record is the real reason why they have so much international crossover appeal as an independent duo operating out of Macclesfield, UK.

Every new progression in White Knuckle Riding seems to make a new cut and tear through some metaphysical space within you as you’re forced to confront the existential harrow of a mind too disillusioned to find any form of sanctuary, setting the tone for the upcoming Beyond the House of Fires LP, which is now available on pre-order.

Stream the official music video on YouTube.

Vote for the Virginmarys to become this week’s Classic Rock Track of the Week: Voting closes at 11 PM, May 10th.

Head to the Virginmarys’ official website to pre-order the Beyond the Houe of Fires LP, book tickets to their 2026 tour dates, and to link up with them on all major social and streaming platforms.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

heaven // alone Let Vulnerability Breathe Through the Post-Hardcore Rupture of ‘escaping myself’

Posted on 29 March 2026

heaven // alone refuse to sit still inside any neat genre tag. Emo, post-rock, grunge, metal, post-hardcore, whichever pigeonhole gets dragged out, their sound pushes straight past it. On escaping myself, that viscerally expansive, evocatively intense aesthetic lands with the force of a bad thought looping at 3 am, then mutating into a primal communication with the void. For an artist working with this much emotional exposure, there’s nothing mild-mannered about the way they let the weight of the track speak for itself.

Opening with an augmentation on the sludgy Seattle grunge sound, escaping myself winds into a melodic post-rock intersection where the vulnerability the title so cuttingly alludes to gets the room it needs to breathe. That sense of emotional suspension soon gives way to the point where the screamo vocals bleed across the adrenalised volition in the post-hardcore instrumentation, tearing through the track with a fevered urgency that you’re bound to catch.

For anyone who has ever felt plagued by their own consciousness and pleaded for a way to disconnect from their past, present, and future, this will hit hard enough to warrant a GBH charge.

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

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The breakthrough augmentors of Shoegaze summoned sonic sanctuary in ‘Paper’

Posted on 29 October 2025

Planer dared to start with ‘End’ on their debut 3-track release. The standout single, Paper, is sonic sanctuary for anyone who was soaking up puddles in their baggy jeans before it was cool. The augmentors of Shoegaze built the track with a hypnotic juxtaposition between the lush languidity of distortion-heavy production and visceral instrumental momentum. It’s pure poetry. The ennui of outlier desolation oscillates through the release before Grandaddy-esque polyphonic synths deliver a sugar fix into the sludgy melancholy that will feel like home for any alt 90s kid, or anyone romanticising the era they wish they existed within, instead of the more maleficent malaise of modernity.

The diaphanous humility in the vocals draws you in, while the relentless kinetic current ensures you stay submerged and sonically sedated by the sense-wrestling progressions. It’s a stunning way to signal that Planer’s future releases will only dive deeper into that emotionally expansive density.

Formed of J. Mooradian, Z. Moncrieff, Matt “Bucket” Day, and Ricky Frame, Planer exists somewhere between ethereal beauty and crushing sonic weight. They’ve already sharpened a sound that weaves post-rock dynamics into heavy shoegaze foundations, with dual vocal and guitar work that never chases crescendo for the sake of it. Their aim is atmosphere and texture, and Paper proves they’ve mastered the push and pull between introspection and catharsis.

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

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 Distortion tears down defences in teeth mark’s post-rock punch beyond pastiche, ‘Tin Soldiers’

Posted on 16 October 2025

Until the first cataclysmic crash of discord in teeth marks’ latest single, Tin Soldiers, each choral guitar note seems to swell inside your bloodstream as the melodies pirouette through diaphanously melancholic accord, leaving you wondering whether teeth marks can vocally match the euphony. That question is swiftly answered. With unflinching synergy between every element of this progressively arrestive release, submitting to the sheer force of the evocative momentum becomes an irresistible act.

The vulnerable tension they build through their distinctive use of spatial effects, paired with their instinct for using distortion to tear down your defences and leave you bare before the unfeigned outpours of visceralism, ensures Tin Soldiers hits post-rock fans right where it hurts. It’s a track that doesn’t hold back from exposing the rawest parts of human emotion, delivered with a weight that never feels forced.

Formed in Columbus, Ohio, from the ashes of a band that refused to truly end, teeth marks feature members of indie alt-rockers Yellow Paper Planes and channel a moodier, heavier, more dynamic sound. Recently signed to Better Days Will Haunt You Records, they’ve been barreling toward their debut release with an intensely tight live show that thrives on heavy/soft, loud/quiet dynamics.

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

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Planets cracked open post-rock’s glass ceiling with The Last Trade

Posted on 8 October 2025

With The Last Trade, Planets pull listeners straight back into their orbit with a feat of genre contortion. Released on September 26th, the single reels you in with a harmony and reverb-driven enticement of spectral soul pop before the instrumentation grows gnarled, dark, and heavy, storming beneath ethereally glassy harmonising. It’s a juxtaposition of sheer volition, with the pure diaphanous vocals resonating over the augmented rock adrenaline, riffs, and harbingering drums. The middle eight erupts through searing guitar work that cuts through the mix like a live wire; it’s where Planets prove their mettle amongst rock traditionalists while subverting everything that defines them. With this release, they’ve cracked open the post-rock pantheon.

Kent-based duo Planets, formed by vocalist Charlotte King and guitarist Hector Castro, first turned heads in 2024 with their debut single, Red Earth, and their sophomore follow-up Signs. With The Last Trade, they’ve expanded their alt-rock architecture once more, fusing personal subject matter with heavy guitar tones, rich melodic harmonies, and Charlotte’s soaring lead vocal that pierces through the distortion. The pair are already planning an extended cut of the track, loaded with new twists, heavier licks, and deeper vocal development. It’s clear they’re not content with small steps; their trajectory is aiming for the stratosphere, and The Last Trade feels like the ignition.

The Last Trade is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Morpheus: A Wordless Omen Forged in Post-Rock Intensity by Tempus Cucumis

Posted on 3 October 2025

Morpheus, the lead single from Tempus Cucumis’ EP Alptraum, is a progressive post-rock meditation through shadow, a reminder of the darkness we inhabit, a wordless omen of the future we are sleepwalking into. It would be easy to dismiss Tempus Cucumis as protagonists of pretension with their cerebral nature, but it is clear that this prodigal powerhouse speaks a language purer than the Western common tongue. They lean into the diction of history while wrestling with metaphysical fear and existentialism through cinematic consciousness that breathes, writhes, and reawakens. The gradual build towards the symphonic metal crescendo is an exhibition of their ability to give aural intensity the integrity of emotive velocity.

The raw gravity of Morpheus lies in its wordlessness; it forces the listener to reckon with its atmosphere, rather than simply absorb lyrics. Each layer feels like a cryptic utterance from a half-forgotten dream, commanding you to engage with its pulse as it rises from stillness into orchestral enormity.

Tempus Cucumis formed Alptraum as a reflection of a year steeped in restless visions. Across four movements, they shift from spectral haze to fevered dissonance to phantasmal masquerade, before closing with fragile dawn. Behind the name stands Jeroen De Brauwer on guitars, drums, and composition, and Lukas Huisman on keys and production. Together, they forged an EP that is both a shedding of darkness and a testament to resilience. Morpheus sets the tone with its ominous grandeur, summoning the subconscious and translating it into soundscapes that pull rock beyond the tangible and into something timeless.

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

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Wastrels Summoned Shoegazing Post-Rock Spirits in ‘Devil Built a Home Where You Once Prayed’

Posted on 21 September 2025

Through deliciously dark oscillations of distortion and cinematically psychedelic conjurings of harbingering post-rock, Wastrels held the ultimate sonic séance with Devil Built a Home Where You Once Prayed. With a tonal palette capable of striking deep into the serrated souls of fans of the Horrors and Echo and the Bunnymen, this release proves that Wastrels know exactly how to use texture to pull listeners into their world. What they conjure here is a pit of melancholic reckoning, built from shoegaze-soaked walls of noise and basslines that lurch like spectres. Even the title feels like a warning etched into stone, and the soundscape signs and seals their metaphysical vision into your psyche in a way that will haunt you long after the last note collapses into static.

After six years away from the studio, the Minneapolis shoegaze and dreampop outfit has returned sharper than ever, following up their 2019 debut LP Dangerous Summer with the double A-side single Bell Jar / Devil Built a Home Where You Once Prayed, ahead of their forthcoming full-length album due this autumn.

With Dan Schulte-Sasse’s phantasmal vocal presence riding over Rich Norris’ keys and guitars, anchored by Sahil Merchant’s bass and Ben Mulhern’s percussion, Wastrels have created their most unflinching work to date.

Devil Built a Home Where You Once Prayed is now available on all major streaming platforms, including YouTube. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Neversound Stirred the Sludge and Strung Our Solar Plexuses in Where Did the Time Go

Posted on 1 September 2025

With the title single from their debut LP, Where Did the Time Go, Neversound didn’t hold back on the fuzzed-up lamentations or the sludgy distortion that rolls through the six-minute epic like a nostalgic landslide. There’s no mistaking the sonic signposts planted in the murk, but it’s in the extended experimentalism and post-rock-laced moments of stripped-back atmosphere that Neversound prove they’re not just digging up relics.

The alt-90s disillusionment pulses through the track, not as a rehash but as a temporal gateway that equips you with rose-tinted glasses before pulling you backwards into the haze. The curvature of the chords ripples outwards while moving through you like Neversound found a way to tether your solar plexus to their instrumentals. The ebb and flow is so visceral you’ll feel possessed rather than passive.

From doom-laced dirges to raw classic rock howls that scrape their way up through the mix, the band finds plenty of room to burn through their influences without ever falling flat in imitation. With Deftones, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains seeping in at the seams, Neversound rips open space for the type of catharsis that defined an era and refuses to let it go gently.

Where Did the Time Go is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast