New Entry: Loose Fit Drop New Single "Stupid Drama"

Sydney no wave/post punk quartet Loose Fit have dropped their new single "Stupid Drama".

The song is taken from their upcoming new album 'Social Graces', set to arrive on April 26 through FatCat Records. Pre-order your copy here.

Speaking about it, band member Anna Langdon says: "The song has a cool repetitive minimal funk thing going on reminiscent of Use No Hooks and Pylon, but the vocals are sharp, dry and fiery, sometimes eroding into an acerbic Sleaford Mods style bored and anguished drawl. It's a bratty, snotty, foot-stomping, sax-screeching romp through the types of absurd, mundane predicaments that sometimes grow so big they seem to generate their own gravitational fields. I always feel like I'm gasping for air in this song, which fits well with the theme of being completely fed-up and trying to laugh about it."

Stream it below. 

Tags: Loose Fit

Watch: Automatic Premiere New Single/Video "Venus Hour"

Los Angeles avant-garde/post-punk/synth punk trio Automatic have premiered the video for their new single "Venus Hour". 

The song is taken from their forthcoming sophomore album 'Excess', set to be released June 24th via Stones Throw Records. Get it here.

Automatic’s Izzy Glaudini originally wrote “Venus Hour” as an ode to “psycho-feminine energy”. The song is “about whatever it is inside you that makes you want to do that thing that isn’t logical, or safe.”

In “Venus Hour,” desire is a double-edged sword, an impulse that can result in addiction. Excess, rides the imaginary edge where the 1970s underground met the corporate culture of the 1980s – or, as the band puts it, “That fleeting moment when what was once cool quickly turned and became mainstream, all for the sake of consumerism.” Though the album grapples with contemporary concerns – the exodus of the super rich from an uninhabitable Earth, the precarity of the art life, Gen Z inheriting the planet at the eleventh hour – the album’s final message is one of solidarity rather than despair. 

The “Venus Hour” video, directed by Sylvie Lake, also slips between the decades, with each member of the band representing a female character from a different era: 1930s (Izzy), 1960s (Lola) and 1990s (Halle) – all seen through distortion and mirror images that visualize the song’s themes of performance and gender identity. Inspiration came from Thoroughly Modern Millie (Lola), Peewee’s Playhouse on VHS (Halle), and The Tales of Hoffmann (Izzy). The video was shot in iconic Californian locations: Izzy dances with two sculptures at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Lola is shown at Frank Gehry’s Disney Concert Hall in L.A., and Halle walks through the Niki De Saint Phalle sculpture garden.

Watch/listen below.

(facebook.com/automaticbandla)

Tags: Automatic

Interpol Announce New LP 'The Other Side of Make-Believe', Stream "Toni"

New York indie rock/alt band Interpol have announced the release of their seventh studio album titled 'The Other Side of Make-Believe'.

Tthe follow-up to 2019’s A Fine Mess EP and 2018’s Marauder full-length, will come out on July 15 via Matador Records. Pre-order your copy here.

If fate didn’t quite ordain the circumstances for Interpol’s new album, it was at least fortunate that the band had happily concluded their Marauder cycle on stage in front of 30 thousand-odd Peruvian fans. Rather than be sent scrambling like so many other musicians on tour or promoting new music, when lockdown clamped in March 2020, Interpol quickly got into a productive mood.

Coming from a group whose early work was characterised by Polish knife-wielders and incarcerated serial killers, you might expect Interpol’s pandemic record to be an emotional tar pit — doubly so, given the presence of towering producer-engineer duo Flood and Moulder on the boards. But Banks felt the call to push in a “counterbalancing” direction, with paeans to mental resilience and the quiet power of going easy. “The nobility of the human spirit is to recover and rebound,” he says. “Yeah, I could focus on how fucked everything is, but I feel now is the time when being hopeful is necessary, and a still-believable emotion within what makes Interpol Interpol.”

Of the new single “Toni” video and working with director Van Alpert, Banks says: “It was a blast working with Van Alpert on the video for our song ‘Toni.’ We bonded over shared film inspiration as well as a passion for classic music videos by the likes of Glazer, Cunningham, and Jonze. Van, in my opinion, is in the club with these legends; and it’s exciting to watch him build his own enduring body of work.”

Alpert adds: “I wrote a crazy idea that I felt was new for Interpol, a hyper-modern, cinematic dance film. A ‘Lovers on the Run’ story, with a classic cliff-hanger ending. Dream job working for my all-time favorite band! Paul Banks ties everything together and elevated the concept, because he’s naturally a great actor, artist, and collaborator.”

Check out the album's tracklist and watch the video for "Toni" below.

The Other Side of Make-Believe Tracklist:

1. Toni

2. Fables

3. Into The Night

4. Mr Credit

5. Something Changed

6. Renegade Hearts

7. Passenger

8. Greenwich

9. Gran Hotel

10. Big Shot City

11. Go Easy (Palermo)

(facebook.com/interpol)

Tags: Interpol

New Entry: Naja Naja Share New Single "Copy of You"

Beijing-based krautrock/post punk duo Naja Naja have their new single "Copy of You".

The song is taken from their debut EP, set to be released on April 29. Pre-order oyur copy here.

On Naja Naja’s debut, band members Gou Gou (bass/vocal) and Yuhao (guitar/vocal) fuse motorik rhythms, rough tones, and not-so-subtle melodies to depict memories that range from shadowy to vivid. Like schoolchildren peering into an illuminated crystal ball, seeing a vision of the bittersweet world for the first time, the duo explore wonder and terror alike, all with brutal fearlessness.

Naja Naja’s goal as a band is to have fun, and you can feel it in these six songs. Let Naja Naja’s off-kilter and retro-futuristic sounds take you on a wild voyage and possibly even shed light on the path to a utopian future—or maybe just a party that will take you away from your troubles for a little while.

Take a listen below.

Baby Strange Announce New LP 'World Below', Stream "Only Feel It When I'm With You"

Glasgow indie rock/punk band Baby Strange have announced the release of their sophomore full-length album 'World Below'. 

WORLD BELOW picks up where LAND OF NOTHING left off, with the uniquely Baby Strange sound encased within haunting melodies, syncopated guitar riffs, four to the floor drums, huge bass lines and all blanketed under a cover of melancholy that pulls and tears on the listeners emotions. It will be out 17 June via Icons Creating Evil Art. Pre-order your copy here.

Written as a reaction to how the pandemic has played havoc with mental health, the increasingly visible class divide and the meteoric rise of food banks across the country – World Below is an album that plays to the paradox of the topics set out within. Equally dark & beautiful with pop melodies that sync with pure grit.

Vocalist and guitarist Johnny Madden says: “Since the release of our debut album we’ve had a lot of ups and downs as a band. The highs were unbelievable and the lows were some of the darkest we’ve ever encountered. There was actually a time where we never thought we’d release another album.

"When the pandemic hit, we took a step back and looked at where we were at. As with every band, it was difficult not having the release of live music, we were all struggling with our mental health on personal levels and we started to feel defeated.

"But, being from Glasgow, we never shy away from a fight, so we got up and started writing again. We booked a few weeks in a writing house out in the middle of nowhere and spent time working on rhythms and new sounds that were fitting to where we’re at in 2022.

"The result is ‘World Below’, a record that’s bursting with energy & emotion. We are so proud of it. It’s exactly what we set out to create, an exciting, honest album that feels brave and bold all at the same time. The new era is here and we can’t wait for people to come along for the ride with us."

The ban have also shared their new single ‘Only Feel It When I’m With You’, which features guest vocals from Hayley Mary of celebrated Australian indie rock band The Jezabels.

Speaking on the collaboration, Hayley says: “I met the Baby Strange lads at the Priory in Glasgow. Loved their vibe and we hit it off straight away. There’s a great little rock scene bubbling in that city that I’ve missed while I’ve not been able to get there, so I’m incredibly stoked to be part of this track and stay connected with them in a musical way. It’s a killer and I look forward to coming and playing it live with them sometime in the near future.” Madden adds: “This is one of the most exciting singles we’ve ever released as a band. Writing it took us completely out of our comfort zone and pushed us into a new territory as writers and players. We’ve never had a featured vocalist on a track before, but knew right away that it had to be Hayley. The song just lends itself perfectly to her vocal style. We’ve known Hayley for a long time so being able to work together on this was so exciting.”

Check out the album's tracklist and listen to "Only Feel It When I'm With You Ft. Hayley Mary". below.

World Below Tracklisting:

1. World Below

2. Beating In Time

3. Under The Surface

4. Only Feel It When I’m With You (ft. Hayley Mary)

5. Poor Old Me

6. When It Calls

7. Higher

8. 0141

9. I Feel So Cold But It’s Warm Outside

10. Midnight

(facebook.com/babystrangemusic)

Tags: Baby Strange