New York indie rock/jangle pop/post punk band S.C.A.B. have announced the release of their second studio album 'S.C.A.B.'
The follow-up to the band’s debut album, 2019’s Beauty & Balance, will be out on November 11. Pre-order your copy here.
Originally a working title representing the first letters of the band members’ names (Sean, Cory, Alec, Brandon), S.C.A.B. is an acronym with a shifting meaning – its phonetic double acting as a metaphor for protection and healing for a group that’s always been there for one another.
Following the release of their debut LP, COVID-19 put the brakes on the Brooklyn-based band’s burgeoning career. Not content with sitting still, the band decided to travel down to Georgia to record their sophomore, self-titled LP (S.C.A.B.), which they engineered and produced themselves. (side note: Brandon, the letter "B" in S.C.A.B., does play on this record, but has since left the group to focus on solo work under the name Hayfitz). Having distance from their beloved city during this unprecedented, tragic time helped them hone a sound that is even more distinctly New York.
Frontman Sean Camargo, whose parents immigrated from Ecuador and Bolivia as teenagers, was born in Elmhurst, Queens. His lyrics are colored with nostalgic memories of 90s Bushwick, where his grandparents later settled, alongside sardonic observations of the contemporary city where he landed again after stops in Maryland and Massachusetts. Each song on S.C.A.B. contains snapshots of New York moments that feel hazy with nostalgia, yet are the result of being present through transformational circumstances, no matter how seemingly small. As a self-titled effort, it solidifies the band’s mastery of balancing raucous, distorted guitars with glimmering spoken word passages and a pop-infused melodic confidence.
The angular guitar passages in lead single “Tuesday” conjure up trains skidding across deteriorated subway platforms, as Camargo declares he's "trying to let go of everyone I’ve ever loved," reflecting a relatable disillusionment with trying to form meaningful connections, and searching aimlessly for something worthwhile. Thematically, S.C.A.B. covers an array of topics ranging from grief (“Small Talk”), as Camargo describes bonding with another band member over the loss of a parent, to infatuation with a partner you know is ultimately bad for you (“Why Do I Dream Of You”).
S.C.A.B. is a result of four musicians, a tight-knit group, best friends: the kind of rare conditions that allow for such raw, emotionally-charged music. When the members of a band are this close, able to protect each other from the world outside it, they are a force to be reckoned with. As Frank Sinatra famously sang about the city, “Green beams of steel, making me feel, like I’m home again”. S.C.A.B. embodies that sentiment and evokes the intangible magic that is New York City.
Check out the album's tracklist and watch the video for “Tuesday”, below.
Sydney darkwave/synth pop producer Buzz Kull (AKA Marc Dwyer) has released the video for his newest single "Rise From Your Grave".
The song is part of our current playlist and is taken from his forthcoming new album 'Fascination', set to arrive on November 25 through Avant! (EU). Pre-order your copy here.
"Rise From Your Grave", a phrase gleaned from the 1998 SEGA game, Altered Beast, is a throbbing, thoroughly danceable song underpinned by a sepulchral fog.
Directed by Joel Burrows, the video was filmed through layers of glass and broken television sets — spliced with macro shots of entwined, serpentine cables - It’s almost a metaphor of an audio death, a funeral pyre. Marc’s body is filmed so many times that it becomes destroyed and turned into ghost-like images.
UK indie rock/alt band Sea Girls have dropped their new single "Falling Apart".
The song, recorded with producer Pete Robertson (Beebadoobee, Alfie Templeman) is out now through Polydor Records. Get it here.
ffrontman Henry Camamile explains: "I got the idea for this song after watching Steven Van Zandt playing guitar on Fallon and as Silvio Dante (Sil) in The Sopranos. Writing a song from the point of view of a character I let tv blend with reality. The emotion radiates loss and revenge in a murky underworld."
Boston alt rockers Pixies have unleashed their new single "Dregs of the Wine".
The song is taken from their eighth studio album 'Doggerel' will be out on September 30 via BMG. Pre-order your copy here.
Given Black Francis’ prolific songwriting, Joey’s contributions would usually be to build his distinctive style into his bandmate’s songs. But this time around it was the reverse approach, with Joey’s instrumental - a mix of explosive power chords that recall Pete Townshend and a pummelling punk attack - completed by Black’s decadent, surrealist lyrics, which reference Van Halen and Black Foxx while drinking under the iconic Hollywood sign.
Black says the song is about, “Living in Los Angeles in the ‘90s with my then-wife, hanging out with Joey and his ex-wife, lots of trips to Las Vegas, a lot of drinking, little bit drug taking, some genuine good times.”
Flashforward to the present day. Joey was jamming at home on his guitar and the initial idea behind the song may well have been lost to the moment. He recalls, “I guess I was in kind of a zombie state, just playing. After I stopped playing I put it down and went, ‘Well, that was a fucking waste of time, what a piece of shit I am.’ I beat myself up a lot, but my girlfriend, unbeknownst to me, was recording me. She played it back to me and I go, ‘Fuck! Hold on a second here! This stuff is good!’”
