Bay Area post punk/goth/synthpop band Valuemart (led by multi-instrumentalist Tory Knowles) have released their new single "Skin".
Valuemart was created in 2018 by multi-instrumentalist Tory Knowles, who was inspired to create music faithful to the production styles of the 80’s. Knowles began to receive press coverage after the release of his single ‘Blow’, this led to an eventual record deal with the Berlin based label Detriti Records, who in March of 2021 published his flagship album ‘Alice Underground’, a culmination of songs composed over a two year period of intense emotions and losses. Knowles subsequently recruited three band members after the release to begin live shows.
The song, produced by Tory Knowles is out now, take a listen below.
Virginia post punk/dream pop/alt band True Body have premiered their new single "Signal".
The new single comes ahead of the release of the band’s first recorded material in their current form, set for this fall, though details have yet to be revealed.
“Signal” was actually first demoed out in early 2016, lost in a hard drive until it was unveiled during the band’s tour with GosT. The track finds the band at the height of their power and artistry, with the talent of producer Sasha Stroud shining through. Stroud is also the owner and operator of Artifact Audio NYC, a trans-built, -owned, and -operated recording, mixing, and mastering studio located in Maspeth, Queens. The band say that Stroud helped them to achieve a sound “as close as we’ve gotten to the heart of our musical intentions.”
Vocalist Ivy expands on the new track: “This song is an expression of frustration with critics who shape reality without actively participating in reality outside of their own social bubbles. An encouragement towards action itself, turning towards the world rather than away from it. Musings on trans street life in the USA, Wealth gaps, crime.”
Hull post punk/alt band Low Hummer have returned with their new single "Panic Calls".
The song, produced by Matt Peel (W.H. Lung, Eagulls), is out now via Dance To The Radio and is their first new material since their 2021 debut LP 'Modern Tricks For Living'. Buy here.
The band's statement reads: “There was a sort of conversation floating in the air that inspired the lyrics of Panic Calls. Dan and I wrote as though we were trying to ring crisis lines; the discourse of the song shifts between us trying to explain our feelings, then always being met with generic, automated responses. The intention was to sort of mirror the futility of mental health support, and, hopefully, show how relatable that issue is.”
Italian post punk/coldwave/alt duo iamnoone (comprised of Philippe Marlat and Seth) have unleashed the video for their new single "Empty Hours".
The song is the third single taken from the album 'Dead Season', which will be out on November 26. Pre-order it here.
From the duo: The last couple of years have been a Dead Season for most of us. We discovered that things we deemed important were, in fact, of no consequence, or things we took for granted, like handshakes, hugs, kisses…were all lost for an unforeseeable long time. This Dead Season saw us changing the way we lived our music, too: once together, now apart; once playing, listening, dancing in the same room, now entrusting our notes to the Ether, like messages in bottles committed to the seas, in the hope whomever gets them, will understand their secret meaning.
These songs are the cries of our souls staring into the Abyss. The desperation, the frustration, the will not to break under extreme circumstances, but also the love, the hope to get soon back to a life we can look forward to. We dedicate these feelings to all the brave souls who are still fighting to make it through this Dead Season, and to those who didn’t make it.
Berlin noise pop/post punk band ERRORR have aired the video for their new single "Deep Blue".
Intimate and honest - Deep Blue is a dive into deeper thoughts about feeling down. Rather than glorifying sadness and depression, the song reflects on our ups and downs in a human way.
Yorkshire post punk band DEADLETTER have premiered their new single "Weights", alongside an accompanying music video.
The song is out now and is taken from their debut EP 'Heat!', set to be released on 18th November through SO Recordings. Get it here.
Speaking about it, lead vocalist Zac Lawrence states: ‘Weights’ in parts, is a pessimistic musing on the experiences you take with you through life, which can feel like a physical burden to be dragged without reprieve. But it’s also a track of silver linings, as it aims to cement the idea that it’s fine to accept that you’re not always alright, and that you can ask for help should things get too heavy – and that’s often the only way of lessening the load. It’s informed by sorrow and self-loathing, but also joy and healing.
Aussie heat beat icons NO ZU have shared their new single "Liquid Love", alongside an accompanying music video.
from new NO ZU EP "Heat Beat", their first new original music since 2016, set to be released on 18 November via Chapter Music. PRe-order your copy here.
Heat Beat, named after the band’s own trademarked genre, is classic NO ZU. Dark and playful, layered with cryptic allusions and implausibly danceable, the EP shows NO ZU at their restless, exploratory best.
Brooklyn NY, post punk/psych band A Place To Bury Strangers have aired the video for their latest single "Nice Of You To Be There For Me".
The song is taken from their album 'See Through You', released back in February via Dedstrange. Grab your copy here.
Through a son's perspective we look back in time to reveal the significant moments that shaped the estranged relationship between him and his father.
Through tears, Riddlestone’s sepia-toned digital renderings tear at the thread binding the brutal disappointment, the lingering resentment and the rage to unravel once and for all any remaining trace of anger, bitterness or fear.
Toronto cyborg-funk/post punk artist Lee Paradise has dropped his new single "Not Practical" featuring the additional vocals of New Chance's Victoria Cheong.
The song is taken from his upcoming new album 'Lee Paradise & Co.', which will be out on October 28 via Telephone Explosion Records. Pre-order your copy here.
This new LP finds Lee flipping the shadowy nihilism of the project’s previous releases upward into a sort of cybernetic universality. This is Dan Lee in producer mode, veering away from the pursuit of a singular musical direction rooted in personal vision, towards of a process rich in collaboration, emotional expansion and tonal exploration.
Starting off as a set of mood-focused instrumental sketches drafted by Dan on his own, the compositions began coloring themselves in after he started sending the tracks out to collaborators, asking them to contribute without much in the way of direction or intention. With help from an ensemble cast of artists including Carlyn Bezic (Jane Inc.), Jonathan Pappo (Scott Hardware, No Frills, Ducks Ltd), Scott Hardware, Isla Craig, Victoria Cheong (New Chance), Jay Anderson, Charise Aragoza & Lukas Cheung (Mother Tongues) and Daniel Woodhead (Moon King), nearly every aspect of this album’s creation eventually became open to collaboration, from musical performances, lyric writing, and vocals all the way through to mixing and mastering.
"Not Practical" is another splendid example of this direction finding Dan tapping into some of his most synth-pop adjacent work to date, buoyed by Cheong's stunning vocals which are laced throughout. Echoed sounds whizz and whip around at the beginning of the track before clicking into chunky percussion, sci-fi synth and programmed beats flanked by repeated calls of "my love is unpractical".
Danish post-punk band The Foreign Resort have returned with their new single "Overturn", alongside an accompanying music video.
The son is out now via Artoffact Records, and is their first new music since the their album Outnumberedin 2019. Grab it here.
“The lyrics of the song deal with the impact of Covid and politics on friendships and how people suddenly feel estranged to each other,” says the band. “Differences people were able to cope with before suddenly become too much, and longtime friends go separate ways.”
Liverpool post punk band Courting have revealed the video for their new single "Famous".
The song is part of our current playlist and is taken from their debut album 'Guitar Music', out today, September 23 via Play It Again Sam. Grab your copy here.
Going on to speak on the album Murphy-O’Neill said: “Guitar Music is the opposite of our early releases in that it is very emotional. The stories told may be from the perspective of other characters at times, but these songs are always filled with actual feelings. We're no longer trying to hide that.
We felt that Guitar Music as a phrase was reductive and therefore decided to create a record with the intention of it being a body of work that could redeem being a “guitar band”, by pushing it to different boundaries. To us, this record is a statement piece, it felt very exciting to make, to us, it feels a lot more special than we’d originally expected it would be.”
Berlin post rock/post punk/no wave duo Krälfe (aka Clare Caspar and Ralf Küster) have revealed the video for their latest single "The End of our Time".
The song is taken from their album 'Gravity Sucks' which came out in July. Get it here.
Manchester post punk/guitar pop/art rock band The Early Mornings have dropped their new single "It's Not What You Want".
The trio take inspiration from bands like The Breeders, The Raincoats, The Feelies, VU and The Fall, the band share a love for both angular guitars and pop melodies.
The song is out now, get it here and take a listen below.
Portsmouth/London post punk/pub-rock five-piece Hotel Lux have announced the release of their debut full-length album 'Hands Across The Creek'.
The 10-track record was produced by Bill Ryder-Jones and will be out on January 27th via The state51 Conspiracy. Pre-order your copy here.
New single 'Common Sense' takes songwriting influence from The Beautiful South and lyrical inspiration from RMT strikers and trade union leader Mick Lynch. The use of direct and plain-English reveals an incisiveness and a considered contemplation of modern Britain in 2022.
On the single, the band say, "Common Sense is about how the media are aware that apathy is the greatest enemy of social shift, how we are being taken for fools and we’ve become numb to it.”
Once contenders for the mantle of Britain’s most self-conscious band — guilty, by their own admission, of pandering to audiences’ tastes following their move from Pompey to London — Hotel Lux have crafted a bold and bright identity that is truly their own on their brilliant debut album Hands Across The Creek. All it took was for their wildest dreams to be dashed.
Early, clattering pub-rock singles had received widespread acclaim, but “there was always that little voice in your head,” says bassist Cam. The anxieties were hardly quelled when the band’s big break in America proved a non-starter in 2020 after SXSW Festival was cancelled. The announcement came just as Hotel Lux completed the fundraising incentives for their planned appearance in the wake of the ‘Barstool Preaching’ EP release. “We were gutted,” vocalist Lewis Duffin remembers.
Lewis and Cam, alongside guitarist Sam Coburn, drummer Craig MacVicar, and new members Max Oliver (guitar) and Dillon Home (organ; violin), were left stumped: “it was the most fragile we’ve been”, says Cam. With touring off the cards, the dream of releasing an album was what kept them going – even though it took “a long time” and “a lot of arguments” before they settled on a sound to call their own. “Craig and Sam got hooked on ESG,” Lewis explains — referring to the ‘80s NYC post-punk band known for their funky rhythms and simple refrains. “I hated that. It was doing my head in.”
But with new guitarist Max (of fellow South London band LEGSS) bringing a “harsher, more tone-y Telecaster sound” with him in 2020, the roots of Hotel Lux’s transformation were soon in place. The band’s classic influences — Dr Feelgood, The Stranglers and Ian Dury — meshed with the sounds of artists like Neil Young, Brian Eno and The Waterboys, and, in the end, Hotel Lux found themselves “doing the whole ‘haha, that’s what the fourth album will sound like’ thing” on their first, says Cam.
They decamped to The Wirral, near Liverpool, with Bill Ryder-Jones (The Coral; Arctic Monkeys) as multi-faceted influences, £20 Casio keyboards and marauding song structures fell into place. Since the recording was completed, Hotel Lux have already found some vindication: they managed to make it to SXSW this year, after being invited back by the organisers. Now, Hotel Lux look set to become something their early critics might have not foreseen: a band full of confidence, with the ability to transcend their peers and carve out their own corner of the British music tapestry. “It feels really important,” Lewis concludes. “We spent a lot of time worrying.”
Check out the album's tracklist and watch the video for "Common Sense", below.
South Carolina-based post-punk/indie rock outfit Candy Coffins have shared their new single "Seaside Girls".
The song is taken from their forthcoming new album 'Once Do It With Feeling', set to be released on October 21. Pre-order your copy here.
“Once Do It With Feeling” chronicles a relationship from the onset of the first crack to its complete crumbling dissolution. All the feelings and emotions of tumult are captured here, from both persons’ perspectives. The record showcases the mature strides the songwriting has made and relates these themes via the vehicle of the band in its confident, cohesive current form.
Emotionally and sonically saturated, their music boasts Cure-esque textures and melody, as well as the thematic elements and visceral delivery of The Afghan Whigs.
Speaking about he single, frontman-songwriter Jame Lathrensays: "When the pandemic hit, I decided I would not write a dark song as the first one written during the period. It seemed too easy given the times. It took me three months, but we got 'Seaside Girls' from the effort, which is an upbeat sun-drenched rocker on the new album, 'Once Do It With Feeling.' It’s all the rage."
Athens, GA post-punk/goth/new wave band Vision Video have premiered their new single "Cruelty Commodity".
The song is taken from their upcoming sophomore album 'Haunted Hours', which will be out on October 11th. Pre-order your copy here.
From the band: "This song is about the elevation of celebrity status and religious devotion of political figures and how we have institutionalized cruelty thanks to such toxic rhetoric. America is a country I love and have served my entire adult life, but has egregious problems. We have institutionalized cruelty and lack of compassion for our fellow humans. We celebrate around an altar of institutional violence and raise up flagrant idiots to make decisions on our collective behalf."
"This song feels like a death knell to me sometimes. Let it move you to remember to be skeptical of these people and to be unedingly kind to each other."
