New Music

ONE MAN VOID DELIVER A CLAUSTROPHOBIC, FUZZED-OUT SPRINT ON ‘INTOXICATED’

“Trading alternative rock accessibility for sheer volume, the Brazilian duo embraces the grimiest corners of garage punk.” When mapping the contemporary underground rock terrain, the northeastern Brazilian coast is rarely the first coordinate that comes to mind. Salvador, a city historically revered for its dense Afro-Brazilian musical exports like axé and samba-reggae, harbors a louder, more […]

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WINLEY G’S ‘LAHAT’ REIMAGINES OPM R&B THROUGH A GRIMY, SHOEGAZE LENS

“Fusing the melancholy of Joji with local R&B sensibilities, Winley G delivers a bruising, guitar-heavy autopsy of romantic collapse.” When an independent artist actively invites comparisons to titans of a genre, they run the risk of highlighting their own inadequacies. Winley G operates in a perilous territory on “Lahat,” attempting to fuse the lethargic, internet-damaged

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MASSING WEAPONIZE FUZZ AND APATHY ON THE CYNICAL, HEAVY ‘CHEMICALS’

The West Virginia duo abandons their low-stakes origins for a blown-out alt-rock dirge that expertly balances crushing distortion with undeniable pop sensibilities A wall of fuzz crashes through the speakers before a single melody even registers. That opening guitar tone on Massing’s “Chemicals” is a noxious, deliberate choice, suffocating the bouncy rhythm section under a

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RIVETSKULL’S UNAPOLOGETIC REVIVAL OF DENIM-AND-LEATHER HEAVY METAL

“In an era of hyper-polished rock, ‘The Hammer Falls’ is a gritty, fist-pumping reminder of heavy metal’s primal roots.” Modern metal has become heavily digitized, overly quantized, and obsessed with either symphonic bombast or unlistenable dissonance. Rivetskull’s ‘The Hammer Falls’ arrives as a rejection of that sanitized future, reaching backward to a time when denim

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A TWITCHING, SCUFFED ARTIFACT OF LO-FI BEDROOM POP THAT WEARS ITS ANXIETY LIKE A BADGE OF HONOUR

“Steven Bridgewater delivers a shambolic, emotionally raw slice of outsider art that trades polished pop sheen for pure, nervous energy.” To promise a classic pop song while recording on what sounds like a busted four-track tape machine requires a special kind of ballsy gumption. Yet, that is precisely the territory independent artist Steven Bridgewater wades

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GUILT SHOW BARE THEIR TEETH AND THEIR TRAUMA ON A PUNISHING SLAB OF POST-HARDCORE

“The independent outfit trades polite indie sensibilities for throat-shredding anxiety on their latest abrasive outing.” To promise an emotionally devastating debut without the backing of a major label requires a special kind of masochism, but that is exactly what independent outfit Guilt Show delivers on ‘Vaya Con Dios’. In a musical climate obsessed with sanitized,

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Take a Seat and Turn It Up with The Fine Chairs’ Wait To Be Seated

Some albums feel like walking into a place where everything is already happening all at once. The lights are on, people are talking, and music fills the room. Then others feel like standing outside the door for a moment and listening to the sounds inside, wondering what you’re about to step into. That small pause

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Wild River Is Built for Ecstatic Dance Floors, Conscious Festivals and Late-Night Club Systems Alike

There was a very specific moment in the early ’90s when producers collectively decided that the solution to any musical idea was, simply, to put a house beat under it. Didn’t matter what “it” was. Folk song? Add a four-on-the-floor. Eurodance hook? Obviously. Traditional tune your uncle plays at weddings? Give it a kick drum

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“Snake Charmer” Is a Track That Feels Reflective, Slightly Surreal and Quietly Haunting

Some songs about addiction approach the topic like a documentary: clear narrative, grim realism, moral lesson at the end. Others treat it more like a hallucination; something slippery, strange, and emotionally disorienting. “Snake Charmer,” the latest track from Moon Construction Kit, falls very firmly into the second category. Moon Construction Kit is the solo project

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