Sparing
Photo Cred đ¸: @kaylaguilliams
This week's NEW Music Monday sees the return of an old NJAP favorite, Sparing. Their latest single, brings all the melody, harmony and sing-a-longs that we've come to know and love from the band, while heavily saturated with stanzas dropping with unknown futures.
On "Static at the End", Sparing opine on this uncertain future for themselves with splattered ink lyricism careening over infectiously delicious riffs, punctuated with rattling bass-lines and drums that could scale buildings. With echoes of mid aughts emo gilding the soaring vocals and husky shouts to round out an energetic but melancholy piece of tightly executed pop-punk, the song paints the image that a lot has changed for Zach Godwin, Sparing's primary creative wellspring. The approaching dawn of fatherhood as well as the regular tumult that faces life as a musician, the lyrics in "Static at the End" bring catchy yet stark choruses, asking whether it is best to soldier on or finally lay it all to rest.
Their latest can certainly be touted as their greatest even as a return to form, and while the bands future may be uncertain, here at NJAP we will certainly look forward to what the band may bring us next.
Checkout their new single here: Sparing
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
07/24/23
Welcome to Berlin
Photo Cred đ¸: @squeji
It's not too often you find a DIY genre spanning album that hits as hard as anything you'd find from some larger label with infinite production expenses and unlimited studio time. It's even more wondrous and impressive when it's a new band's fresh effort, as is the case with this week's album, Welcome to Berlin's â...And It's Blindingâ.
âKalopsiaâ era Crows-An-Ra mixed dance punk coated in the restrictive residue of The Faintâs Danse Macabre urgently trying to wrench itself free ala 2000s era DIY post hardcore, âDance Songâ delivers on its promise and then some as wailing guitars reel to the sky and wave to the earthy basslines amongst syncopated drums with the colorful dynamic shifts on the track being only a slight taste of what's to come.
A song like â(Forward) Inverterâ gave me pause after it finished, drinking in the realization that I wouldnât get to hear it for the first time ever again. It plods along slowly as it ramps and builds until ripping a distorted melancholy series of riffs that echo the heavy fall days of 90s Emo, cresting and lamenting, the vocals ache and agonize over an incredible crescendo of all three band members meeting in unison to the tracks stuttered yet cathartic conclusion.
I love a long closing tracks and "AM Radio 720" certainly did not disappoint. From it's gritty intro to the unnerving groove it weaves in its first few minutes, the Sebadoh-esque midsection plunges into an strenuous stream of vocal intensity punched by 3rd wave Emocore intensity, with an out of left field final 3 minutes that I dare not despoil for you.
I can't mince words here, I fucking love this album. It's the most fun, intense, and beautiful musical mess I've heard in some time. "...And It's Blinding" deftly handles it's sprint across multiple sonic soundscapes while maintaining all of its vulnerability throughout. Welcome to Berlin have given every other band in the scene this year something to pay attention to. To paraphrase the great Andre 3000 "NC got something to say". We greatly look forward to what their undoubtedly bright future holds.
Checkout the Bandcamp Here: Welcome to Berlin
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
07/17/23
Joint Paper Wastebin
Photo Cred đ¸: @prince_obumba
I feel weird being on TikTok. I probably shouldnât, it is an app after all and these things are typically meant for everyone. Creators, artists, shitposters, meme fiends and so many others all flowing together and communicating, sharing, interacting with each other across the platform regardless of age sounds like too much fun to miss out on. I think this but still feel all the apprehension of being on that app. But then I have moments where I forget all that. Moments like when I came across Joint Paper Wastebinâs demos. Iâm reminded of the joys of being able to randomly come across something cool on the internet and what makes it the great tool of our time. This New Music Monday weâre excited to give you Joint Paper Wastebinâs first ever single, off their brand new EP, âvery cool very calm very niceâ.
âI Canât Skateboardâ certainly sounds like a different band from what I had initially come across. Theyâre become even better. Like a contemporary midwest emo Colossal, the baritone vocals set nicely against the twinkling and joyful guitar, with punchy punk drumming and wonderfully melancholy bass rumbling in the background. Lyrics of insomnia and despondence may feel par for the course in the genre, sound invigorating and catchy here.
âI Canât Skateboardâ is one of three tracks off JPWâs debut EP âvery cool very calm very niceâ and it's definitely something that evokes a dark bedroom, with wide open eyes and a window playing the soft sounds of the world outside it. Capturing a lot of the finer points of midwest emo we greatly look forward to what Joint Paper Wastebin will bring us in the future. You can stream âI Canât Skateboardâ below and make sure to check out the full ep when it drops on all platforms July 15th.
onewaymirror
Photo Cred đ¸: @unluckyouth
Welcome to another New Music Monday. This week weâre incredibly excited to premiere the latest track from California young guns onewaymirror. âAs I Lay Dyingâ will be featured on their forthcoming split with Burial Etiquette âa tale of two citiesâ and we are incredibly hyped for the full split to drop. Hailing from Los Angeles, the band made their debut on the scene with their one song demo âRetrospectâ, followed by their debut EP âbut once the snow hits the ground, it hushes as still as my heartâ. Their live shows are now frequently packed, often discussed and ahead of what's sure to be a killer tour with Catalyst out on the east coast, the band has already carved themselves a special spot in southern California's burgeoning scene.
Wildly sassy and intense, the track blisters to life with multiple vocal layers writhing around and in between one another, as richly distorted riffs raucously tumble against lumbering tonal bass. Drum beats wide and spacious trade tempos from surging breakdowns to a death march gallop as every sound happening gives space to its counterpart until everything blends all together for the latter half of the track, exploding and careening into silence.
Aside from it obviously about to be a white belt summer, onewaymirror are undoubtedly going to be doing big things for the genre, their sound is one beautifully swirled mix of screamo, sass and hardcore and pair that with their youthful exuberance and intense live presence and they for sure are a band to watch in the coming years. Give âAs I Lay Dyingâ a listen below and make sure to stream the full split, âa tale of two citiesâ when it drops June 30th and make sure to grab a tape via Jean Scene.
drive your plow over the bones of the dead
Photo Cred đ¸: @jtph0t0s
It isn't far-fetched to say that sometimes you get burnt out on music. I'm sure many of us have come to that point at one time or another, where you just kind of need a break from sound. Unfortunately I'm terrible at this. I was trying to take a little breather from music, but as soon as I saw the name drive your plow over the bones of the dead, I quietly muttered "Fuck" and pressed play. âDemoâ is absurdly noisy, in all the ways that make it a delightful cacophony to listen to.
Opener "marionette" in milliseconds builds up its wall of sound brick by quickly picked brick, a whirling dervish of shrieks, guitars and drums become a thing of sonically disfigured beauty. Follow up track âpropitiationâ makes a meal out of its heady driving chugs, before its about face, an absolute wind-out to softening dissonance. Next weâre greeted by the quickly executed intro of âwhen what once worked suddenly breaksâ before a meandering, yet delightfully lachrymose melody wraps itself around an-almost decipherable sound clip, as pockets of shouts and screams turn out a varying intervals, before the tracks gives one last upswell death throe surge forward, turns into silence. Closing track âaspected of dustâ taps out what sounds to be a punk number, before swiveling back into the much and mire of noisy chaos that âdemoâ has so eagerly heaped upon us. Wailing riffs and circular howls grapple intensely with thunderous drums as the beat punches and punches and punches, until all you have is the residue of the last 9 or so odd minutes of this potently unflinching din.
Drive your plow, as Iâve begun referring to them in the shorthand, came out of nowhere it seemed, and have earned a fair bit of buzz for this punishingly fun iron maiden of racket theyâve put out. Weâre greatly looking forward to what they have in store for us next.
Checkout the Bandcamp Here: drive your plow over the bones of the dead
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
06/19/23
Drought
Photo Cred đ¸: @ryanellery
New Music Monday (On A Tuesday) presents the debut single from brand new Bay Area act, Drought. The band features members of Obsolete Man, Plush Palace, and ex-Caulfield, and their debut EP lands June 23rd.
Oh, Javelin harkens back to a time when TouchĂŠ AmorĂŠ were barely packing VFW halls, Pianos Become the Teeth had a touch more screaming, and we were all still being blessed by Make, Do and Mend shows. The moody, melodic post-hardcore atmosphere is a tightrope walk of tense guitar, bass and shouts shy of a crackling yell, lumbers and broods as a slow march drum thrums aside soaring distorted fretwork. Terse and cryptic lyrics punctuate the track âAre we so temporary / just taking what we carry / with every thread a different hue / but stitched together they disappear / fading in and out of viewâ building the intensity,before driving towards a full cathartic release.
Drought could have easily been a part of The Wave (IYKYK), but weâre glad that we get to have them now. Composed of local scene vets and a very strong first offering, the band is clearly ready to make some noise. With some soon to be announced shows lined up and this new ep theyâre self-releasing weâre predicting big things to come. We look forward to what they bring us next.
Make sure to keep an eye on their bandcamp for preorders, and to stream Oh Javelin now!
OLTH
Photo Cred đ¸: @arthurswebpage
While OLTH were a new name to me, they certainly donât sound new in any way. This weekâs New Music Monday is their latest song âsOng fOr jOrdanâ of their debut album âevery day is sOmeOne's speciaL dayâ and this series of singles they've been releasing seem to indicate a modern classic is coming our way.
âsOng fOr jOrdanâ starts out with a fuzzed out spoken word piece, complemented by emotive hardcore soaked instrumentals. Recounting a dream of a brief encounter the track quickly shifts into a wall of cycling and gnashing guitars as a looming thunderhead of a bassline rattles against hauntingly beautiful drums. Reminiscent of Swan of Tuonela, the wailed acuteness of the howling vocals finds itself coming through clearly in the blizzard of instrumental chaos.
OLTH are wild, they have a melodic triumphant nature, tempered with tasteful and gripping distortion constantly being pierced by a high-pitched shriek that bends and warps into a scream with as much control and ferocity as molten blade carving through steel. Their first ever album âevery day is sOmeOne's speciaL dayâ is dropping June 6th, and the band has been on a tear recently playing shows, kissing babys and generally OLTHing about in anticipation of its release via Zegema Beach Records. The tapes wonât drop until June 1st but you can hit the link below for their latest single that theyâve been kind enough to share with us:
New Forms
Photo Cred đ¸: Mikko K
2019 certainly wasn't a year we thought would be the last of a then unproclaimed era. Now we have so many different monikers all trying to say the same thing. The Before Times, Pre-Covid, Pre-Pandemic and so on and so on. None of us could have suspected what would happen the following year, a life changing stretch of time that kicked off in March of 2020 which gave us little time to digest much of what had occurred a year prior.
Somewhere in the murk of 2019, New Forms became a band and in December of that year dropped their debut EP, âI donât want to live my life againâ and it was good. Really good. Many of us were excited by what the band had to offer and were looking forward to more. However, with the advent of what was happening to the world, the band took a step back from performing, choosing instead to hone and evolve their sound. Now shy of four years since the EP, New Forms return to us with a new single, âThe Hidden Oneâ.
The bandâs reoriented lineup hides behind a touch of obfuscation and though presented as a mystery to what the band has in the works, this single comes through as strongly as their previous work had. In classic fashion, the song is short, saccharine in its heaviness, and utilizes its minute length to the fullest. Whirling drumming rounds out coarse shouts as crushing guitars and surging bass lines thrum and bounce to build up into an explosive build up and release. In the bands own words:
âThe Hidden One, put simply, is about growing up. Every personâs history is entirely unique and theirs alone. As we age, we carry with us emotions that are tied to memories which we choose to hold onto and others we need to let go of. Shifting from childhood to adulthood is a complex and ongoing process of changes and challenges that sets the stage for the rest of a personâs life.â
Boasting members of Youth Funeral, Reveries and Casper Elgin (to name a few) the band's pedigree shines through in their cohesive and powerful brand of Emoviolence. Make sure to give the single a listen below and catch them if you can at This Is Emoviolence, put on by our beloved Illuminate My Heart Records, on May 13th in Providence, Rhode Island at AS220.
Taubenhund
Photo Cred đ¸: @severine_kpoti_photographie
Photo of Jochen who is one of the artists on this song
This week we have been honored a superb premiere from our friends over at Zegema Beach Records via their Tomb Tree Tapes imprint. New Music Monday is excited to bring you the latest single from TAUBENHUND, the new super group featuring members of Burial Etiquette, Warren Of Ohms, Letterbombs, Our Future Is An Absolute Shadow, In Wolves' Clothing and many more.
Weâve been obsessed with âEven an Insect Can Dream of playing Godâ ever since it hit our inbox. Taken from the debut EP, âA Collection of Highly Unlikely Collaborationsâ, the track kicks off with intensely twangy packing strums and scattershot drumming as shirek-howled vocals wind and soar. Breaking into dancey territory before ripping back into melodic riffs and heavy humming bass, the song accelerates as quickly as it slows, pulling you further in with its powerful bridge before ramping to its massive conclusion.
âA Collection of Highly Unlikely Collaborationsâ is very much the sum of its parts and âEven an Insect Can Dream of playing Godâ is just one incredible song amongst many others. Available through Tomb Tree Tapes Wednesday April 19th on three sick variants. Make sure to grab one, but in the meantime enjoy this exclusive track they shared with us.
Versera
Photo Cred đˇ : @andwefoughtt
Despite my best attempts to avoid it, I remember the bad times every now and again. I try to catch myself from following that fog strewn path back into an awful darkness that I worked hard to pull myself out of. Thereâs a personal hell for all of us, waiting in the back of our heads and I know I'm not the only one who's had an award ceremony for my personal top moments of utter failure, especially after listening to âAll the poems I wrote about youâ.
âJe dĂŠteste ton absenceâ twangs to life, strumming and swelling almost immediately before bursting forth into this colorfully noisy wall of sound. Cacophonous and potent, a howled shriek pierces through squealing riffs, chugs, and pained choruses round out an incredible opening track.
The battle hymn-esque opening of âRome wasnât built in a day, but maybe if they had coffeeâ seems to be in direct opposition of the track's almost whimsical title. In classic Screamo fashion, the name cheekily compliments swirling guitars and thunderous drumming all clanging across winding bass lines before zeroing out into silence.
As the EP closes out with âWe were obliviousâ the strongly opined pain found throughout the project is reiterated with an even heavier emphasis. The anguished vocals paint vivid pictures across a canvas of dissonant and heavy instrumentation. The melodically reserved guitar interlude provides brevity in the form of a held breath before spinning itself back into an incredible racket of clattering cymbals and massive riffs.
âAll the poems I wrote about youâ is a brilliant first offering from Versera. Its blistering assembly of sound feels the right amount of heavy coupled with intense vocal work. Noisy screamo is something that can work easily but to make it sound really good is a whole other obstacle to scale. The band makes quick work of this and deftly handles a storied tradition of the genre in a way that some bands struggle with even later on in their careers.
Versera are definitely ones to watch in the coming years and we look forward to whatever they bring us next.
Check them out on Spotify : Versera
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
04/10/23
Middling
Photo Cred đˇ : @sixtysixsixtysixes
Many of you may know how much I love Middling. The Ohio bandâs âTore my Heart Outâ EP was one of my favorites last year when it dropped in November and the band has been cultivating a special niche in the scene with their unique brand of multi-faceted screamo . Iâm happy to say that their latest three song short player, âWings and the arteries that reach themâ is not only a further progression of their sound but is equally as impassioned and potent.
â$1000 or 6 yearsâ opens with a sweet soaring riff before being greeted by sharp, vocal blast beat shrieks. Technical noodling winds and strums as mo meet and form into something new. The stop-start-stutter that Middling have made a signature of their sound leaves and returns with aplomb as the track pauses for breath before filling its lungs again and coming back with even more intensity.
Start to back, chugs and roars, âI swear Iâm not a backpackerâ blends explosive drumming guttural metalcore-esque shouts. By far the heaviest of the three songs, the guitar racing between moments of emo and wailing metal riffs threw me for a loop upon first listen but had me audibly whispering âThis is sickâ to myself. The mixture of half-panicked chords and finger tapping seamlessly fuse with the syncopated drumming as an impressive vocal range of shouts, screams and throaty yells make a wholly awesome track.
Closing out the EP is âBirds All Overâ, a mercurial and classically accented midwest emo track. The clean twinkling and coarse vocals feel at odds, one holding it together as the other broaches instability. The tangible anguish felt throughout the track ebbs and flows, as the band makes as much use of the quiet moments as they do their instrumentation.
I had high hopes when I first discovered Middling last summer, and theyâve only continued to prove themselves as fantastic torchbearers of Ohioâs long and storied screamo history. âWings and the arteries that reach themâ is pained, its technical, its catchy and its heartbreakingly earnest. I know for a fact the young band has more to show us and we look forward to what theyâll have for us next.
Check out their Bandcamp here : Middling
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
04/03/23
Frightful Places
Photo Cred đ¸: @spaceshipphotos
I grew up in the heyday of 2000s emo. Names like My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy were considered the face of, but bands like Hey Mercedes, Daphne Loves Derby and The Forecast were just a few of what that deluge of emo pop really held sonically. Catchy song structures with brooding yet talented vocal work are still hotly contested as âReal Emoâ, but for those of us that remember the feeling, the shows and the late summer nights, arbitrary genre assignments mean little. Frightful Places reminds me of the best of what the scene had to offer at the time.
The EP kicks off with âOld Frameâ a melancholy waltz with potent choruses and soaring guitar. Inflections of 80s and 90s rock can be heard echoing throughout as indulgent guitar lines wind through crooning drum work. A guttural bass compliments the huge hooks of My memoryâs fading / My memoryâs faded before closing out.
âStillâ begins with a straightforward acoustic melody and dreamy atmospherics before slowly plucking to life. Lyrics of not recognizing the joy of the moment make for an ice cold frame of reference despite its summery recollection. Holding our breath for a time, or some kind of phase - out on the shore in the hottest month of summer. Still. Let the breeze surround me. I'll see what I was missing.
The closing track âStuckâ is as dreamy as anything else on the EP, but quickly shifts gears with soaring guitar riffs and buzzing basslines. Hoping for progress, but coming to terms with another empty stop on a long, long journey the lyrics espouse a pained realization of growth not coming, slowly fading out to the repeated lines of I'm stuck in the same place
The solo project of Kevin Tiernan, this self-titled ep is a brilliant 5 song EP capturing of everything Iâve always loved about emo pop, catchy yet despondent, outwardly grim as well as internally hopeless, the album is infectious and not resistant to windows-down-volume-up sing-alongs. We very much enjoyed it and look forward to what Tiernan has in store for us.
Check out the release page on Bandcamp here: Frightful Places
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
03/27/23
Lucidity
Photo Cred đ¸: Unknown
This week we have been honored with another superb premiere from our friends over at Zegema Beach Records. New Music Monday is excited to bring you the latest single from Lucidity, the song âA Parting Wordâ is off their debut release âThe Minsk Seaâ.
Featuring ex-members of Smile To The Wind, this lush and heavy track combines massive drumming with intense riffs, creating a sonic landscape of gargantuan proportions. The song's crushing energy is a brilliant mixture of emotive hardcore, black metal and potent screamo. Beginning with moody, almost emo-esque twangs the temporary feeling of a Cars Get Crushed song fades away with the intense strumming of distorted guitars as an insidious basslines begins to writhe into cascades of spine-shattering drum fills. The sweeping grandiosity of all the instruments kicks into a delicious blend of discordance and breakneck playing before returning to ominous dueling guitar rhythms. Erupting once more the open-mouth-of-hell vocal delivery is layered with an even deeper and equally sinister growl behind it.
âThe Minsk Seaâ is easily going to rocket to a lot of year end lists with its excellent blend of melodies and disgustingly heavy moments. Out on all streaming next week and only 100 vinyl copies through Zegema Beach Records on March 27th, listen to their other brilliant single, âThe Saga of A Belarusian Feastâ available now via the the ZBR Bandcamp and pre-order the digitals to tide you over until release day.
Comic Sans
Photo Cred đ¸: @bkoldo
Can a region be the framework of a sound? Long held debates about what is and isn't Midwest Emo have been raging for years. Is it locked to an area? Is it exemplified by specific play-styles? Or is it something that is overall greater than its perceived origins. For me personally, the latter becomes more apparent every year. Comic Sans âĂramos felices y no lo sabâĂâamosâ brings this question back to mind, with a catchy and infectious sound evenly tempered by the clear melancholy the album communicates.
Opening track âCosturasâ, twinkles and twangs as stuttering drums compliment upbeat but forlorn basslines. Shouted choruses marry into the forceful vocals before winding quietly into the next number, âComic Sansâ. Driving bass duels expertly with distortion dusted finger tapping as the track grows huge before cutting out to silence. âEdwin y los amigosâ comes in potently with the singing crackling into a scream at more than a few choice places. The exemplary guitar work, married with the typified trumpet section have never sounded as good as they do here.
âEl final de una canciĂłn que no puedo reproducirâ shines heavily in is drumming. Pulling heavily from 90s Midwest Emo drum dynamics, it swells into a beautiful blend of instrumentation and is dotted with more of those excellent choruses found throughout the album. âGogeta Super Saiyan 4â offers a moody introduction riff, as it picks up the pace into a driving swirl of sound before breaking back down into quick knuckled finger tapping and bass work, closing out with call and response vocals announcing an epic passage of melodic catharsis. Closing track âPro Evolution Soccer 6â brings together the spirit of the whole album, distilled back into frantic rhythms, immense vocals, and basement show pile ons.
A wonderful swirl of post-hardcore, midwest emo, and punk all make âĂramos felices y no lo sabâĂâamosâ as fun a listen as any. The bands blending of beloved emo genres and their various offshoots lends further credence to the genre being less locked by region and more a spirit to be found globally. We really dug the album and look forward to what Comic Sans has in store for us next.
Check out the release page on Bandcamp here: Comic Sans
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
03/13/23
Long.Way.Down
Photo Cred đ¸: @thurstontakespictures
In a new conjunctive series with New Music Monday, from time to time weâll be premiering some fantastic new music for you to listen to. This week weâve teamed up with Zegema Beach Records to give you something deliciously heavy.
The absolute viciousness that is Long.Way.Down comes through immensely in their new single â"a:eulogy:in:essence", off of their brand new EP 'until there's nothing left...'. Since their last release, 2021âs split with Who Put Bella In The Witch Elm, the band has regrouped and pivoted with an even heavier, melodic twist on their previous sound. Intense bass lines with earth shattering drums wind and wheel with reckless abandon throughout with superbly shrieked, pit viper vocals complimenting an absolutely epic set of riffs . Emotional and undeniably heavy, while spewing catharsis, the track is an unrelenting and powerful four plus minutes of melodic destruction. In the bands own words:
"a:eulogy:in:essence" is the fourth track off of our upcoming EP, 'until there's nothing left...' Our aim with this song was to lean further into the sound of late 90's and early 2000's metalcore while still retaining elements of our screamo roots. It was inspired by the pummeling, yet melodic riffs and breakdowns of 7 Angels 7 Plagues and early Underoath, as well as the harsh vocal styles and melancholic clean sections of bands like Neil Perry and Love Lost But Not Forgotten.
'until there's nothing left...' releases March 13th through Zegema Beach Records on a beautiful set of swirled cassettes limited to 79 copies.
Listen for yourself below and check out the ZBR bandcamp for their other available single âuntil there's nothing leftâ.â.â.â.
Check out the release page on Bandcamp here: Zegema Beach Records
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
03/06/23
So Concerned
Photo Cred đ¸: @nowuintheloop
Some times on here I talk about screamo as a whole. Even though it contains many fascinating subcultures on its own, a unique geography of ideas, particular styles, and special unions outside of itself with other genres, in my eyes it is all one great structure under which many, many, many bands sit. The online blogosphere writers, TikTok web spelunkers are just a few amongst the numerous who often argue this way and that about what is and isnât sheltered within these hallowed halls. However to me, the feeling, the sound, the influence and history are all crystalized into an idiosyncratic bismuth of what screamo is. With âA Handful of Recipes For Sorrowâ, you can hear the architecture of our history, brought into a modern lens.
As soon as the first strums off âDestroy Power, Not Peopleâ hit my ears, I knew this album was going to be woven into the fabric of my week, possibly my year. As triumphant yet agony inducing as a track that couldâve fit on a Funeral Diner split back in the day. It begins to swell from quickening drums, guitar and bass to a masterful racket. âSplatteredâ opens with a moody chord progression, working itself up into a froth of wrist-splitting drum fills, with a melodic rock-to-and-fro riff creating a soft atmosphere for the harshly shrieked vocals to cut into with the repetitious He loves you sinking in further and further each time before the delicious spin of instruments fading out. I loved the melancholic instrumentation and punchy screams that kicked off â2006 Toyota Corolla (Remastered)â. Coupled with the lyrics this track almost takes on a surreal nature, crafting a story of a simple evening lending a hand to a vaguely familiar, if not a touch off-scented, face.
The sweet sweep pluck strum on âThe Fine Art of Misandryâ has amazing bass textures, while âIâd Like To Thank My Motherâ has some of the crunchiest guitar Iâve heard in the genre in quite some time. âCompos Mentisâ roars forth with heavy breathing and a cacophonous intro that wouldnât sound amiss on an old Emo Annihilation comp. âNeutered, Spayedâ leads with bass, which Iâm always a huge fan of, as the rest of the band falls in for a huge, crushing riff swell. Truly, it's the outro that almost breaches metal territory, but reels back into the realms of You and I-esque tones and drumming and with a line like All my clothes smell like you the comparison feels even more apt.
The bouncy riffs on âNext Time U Come Aroundâ work in concerted opposition with the themes of the track. Almost pleading, the vocals howling about how different things will be, once this ill-equipped anxiety leaves and there can be an actual sense of normalcy achieved. âSomething You Donât Knowâ has this tilted guitar line that is so melodically infectious it has been stuck in my head for a week. Within the song itself a feeling that's present throughout the album of misunderstanding and difficulty relating is given clearer language and space.
âThat time me and Jared got a drumset and then went inside Dennys and both ordered grand slammwichesâ achieves Algernon levels of comedic (and lengthy) song titling and in classical form, winds up being one of the more intense and pained tracks on the album. I went to the park where we met / rolled up another / and all the things I cannot fathom / come back to haunt me once again. The fact that So Concerned sound like they've been unearthed from the late 90s / early 00s is something I was honestly stunned by. Plenty of great contemporary bands take the pieces and make it new but rarely do you hear something that sounds like a classic era Screamo album but has the modern context clear and present.
The influences worn on "A Handful of Recipes For Sorrow" is both refreshing and deeply nostalgic for a skrampa like yours truly. The surreal, awkward and subtle neurodivergent themes of the album also resonated heavily, and itâs always wonderful to see there be new forms of vulnerability still being explored within the genre.
A Handful of Recipes For Sorrow will be available in physical copies through @self_versed_records on March 4th!
Check out their Bandcamp here: So Concerned
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
02/27/23
Crochet
Photo Cred đ¸: @danielleriot
Thereâs something about a young band thatâs just different. Toru Okada, Father Figure, Merchant Ships, youthful exuberance has long been the cauldron from which fantastic music has been brewed. A specific point of view is communicated and itâs one that is unabashed in its honesty, passion, and conviction. Crochet are that young band, and with âBirth Pieceâ theyâre further cementing a time honored tradition in Screamo. The kids are going to be alright.
âCentennialâ certainly sets the tone, its underlying thin-string plucked melody wanders in a haunting fashion before meeting a splash of symbols, with a spoken word piece telling a story that feels too close to home in its honesty. This narrative will be brought back a few times in the album. A feeling of longing and anticipation spoken through the anxieties that feel trapped between them. âUnsex Pledgeâ immediately greets you with a wall of pushing drums and panicked riffs, as concurrent vocals sprint and weave through chaotic instrumentation. Capturing this unnamable push and pull of wanting and feeling worthless, climaxing with the lyrics If I ever got the chance to tell you how I truly feel / nothing would change.
Warbling, noodley riffs compliment despondent bass lines, as chorale-d screams meet again. The beginning of âWatcher-Hereticâ reminds me of a gentler Love Lost But Not Forgotten deep cut. Sweeping, post-rock reminiscent guitars, loudly play over background shouted vocals, like the last ravings of someone trapped under 6 feet of snow, the distance feels so terrifying. A tremulous bassline bleats, amongst a marched crawl of finger tapping and drumming, as the screamed vocals keep in lock step, building to a crescendoed lamentation of I won't reduce myself to begging / but I don't have the strength to tell you how much I love you / (we won't return to where we once were / I won't come home.) before abruptly cutting out. âGibusongâ oddly enough beginning with a giggle kicks into a malicious almost danceable composition, while still keeping the sonic nature of the album at its core, its bounding midsection has a thumping bassline like feet on hot coals, leading into elongated strums and slides decorate the shrill cries of I don't know if I'm talking to myself when I ask where you've been.
âAncient Roman Candleâ both further showcases the young band's talent for crafting emotionally dense and massive arrangements. The longest track on the album is easily the most intense, slowly winding its way through a solo guitar riff, while random news broadcasts rattle off bits and bobs of information until the rest of the instruments seem to come alive and join it. Suddenly everything screams to life as the guitars sweep up and the drum widens its swing to connect with intensively shrieking vocals agonizing over a lost friend. Closing track âFriends Who Sit And Breatheâ almost upends the tone of the album entirely, it becomes evil, dissonant, heavy, gnashing and violent. A last showing of everything the album has built to, this exultation is tethered to a frantically howling saxophone, before sinking into noise and then utter silence.
I have been waiting for this one. Crochet have been performing just shy of a year, and up until this past Friday, weâve only had (excellent) live videos to go off. Now with âBirth Pieceâ everything theyâve been honing the last 11 odd months are distilled into a fantastic debut album. Las Vegas has really been offering us great things, and with Crochet, I can only be even more excited about what may come next. We look forward to what they have in store for us next.
Check out their Bandcamp here: Crochet
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
02/20/23
Party Hats
Photo Cred đ¸: @stevenruud
When Party Hats dropped their debut album âFatimaâ they completed a course that had been mapped in the shape of their early demos. The textured guitarwork, al dente noodling and breathy-till-frenetic drumming all spoke volumes of their journey as both people and as a band. Its what has also made their newest EP, âautobiographic autopsyâ, enthralling in so many ways. Such a thoughtful pensiveness wraps every melody on this EP that it's hard to not feel this pang of nostalgia and loss rippling through its gone-but-all-too-soon run time of 15 minutes.
Opening track âNew Tricks Off The Tableâ, feels traditional in their sense of things, but there's a newer edge to everything, the bounding of fingers maneuvering fretwork, the crispness of the crashing kit and the relentless nature of the vocals that seem to lumber and sprint at intervals. It feels fully figured then seems to uneasily shift into a slowed and unnerving outro. The title track for the EP opens with a lick that wouldnât feel unfamiliar around a campfire jam session born witness by an open range and an impossible night sky before the song launches full into a stop-start tackling of shredded vocals, languishing across staccato drumming and looping finger taps.
My favorite off the EP, âMy Big Fucking Headâ, feels iconically midwest in its build and like any cheekily named track, it drips this crippling loop of mistakes in ones mind with a fantastically catchy last half that is as enjoyable as it is cutting. Lyrics painting an all too familiar picture of watching it all just so simply and easily slip through your fingers, I replay it / Over and over again / I replay it / Over and over again. Segueing into âBelly Upâ, there isnât much pause given. The song explodes and features some truly incredible performances all within the first 30 seconds.
As the track slows its pace the elongated screams and spaced riffs simply pick back up again, a constant parade of push and pull, the drums feel as if theyâre floating straight through you. As the song ramps the shrieks become even more intense before meeting an almost heavenly choral background, further vaulting the intensity before cutting away to an abrupt end.
With closing track âFish Hookâ, thereâs a moment where the screaming almost sounds like early #12 and itâs exceptional. Easily the most ferocious of the EP, the seesaw kick between guitar and drums, alleviate these immense screams to the front, before a cooled down middle section lights up a clumsily thumbed baby grand getting its footing, sounding like if a young Bill Evans was exclusively listening to Burial. As the guitar kicks back in, the drumming runs to meet it and the howls unleash at their most heightened laments, before angularly closing out on us.
It would be easy to draw the line that connects Party Hats back to bands other exceptional Denton bands like Two Knights or Father Figure, but it's also become quite obvious that they are so much more than a simple heir apparent. If âFatimaâ was us getting to watch ball connect bat and begin its ascent, then âautobiographic autopsyâ is certainly our view as it rockets through the sky and reaches clouds unknown. We loved this EP and we canât wait to get our hands on the physical release.
âAutobiographic Autopsyâ will be released on cassette through Self Versed Records and available on all streaming services February 14th.
Check out their Bandcamp here: Party Hats
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
02/13/23
MĂłdulo Lunar
Photo Cred đ¸: @mattheusantonelli
What a feeling it is, to hear something that seems to wrap itâs grip tightly in your chest. The coiling firmness of something expansive unfolding, it seems to wrap around you and swallow everything else up. That kind of intensity emanates from each track on âEquinâĂłâcioâ, the most recent EP from Brazilian post-hardcore outfit MĂłdulo Lunar. Pulling equal parts from 90s indie emo and contemporary post-hardcore, the trioâs latest release is one of melodic richness, punctuated with stark, seize-in-your-chest emotional honesty.
âĂltimo Dia De VerĂŁoâ (The Last Day of Summer) rings with the finality of its title, slowly ramping from a somber yet heavy Dinosaur Jr. meets Unwound opening segment, wailing riffs and cuss-laden drumming accompanying the aching march of spoken word, before erupting into a roared shout as the track picks up at a clip and melds into a beautiful swirl of instrumentation, before cutting sharply into an angular rhythmic outro.
As we begin âVinte Vinteâ (Twenty Twenty), a soaring and warbling riff is warped and wound around crisp yet dense bass lines as the saccharine splash of cymbals splinters amongst sparsely written but passionately roared lyrics. A track that seems to earnestly be asking for survival, a simple wish to exist opined through the repeated lines and at the moment / wanted to live with minimal outlay / save on gestures / in the words / in thoughts / float.
The third and final track âMovimento PerpĂŠtuoâ (Perpetual Motion), with its looping guitar lines and drumming synchronicities seems to leave and come back, with shuddering melodies and haunting riffs. The song itself sounds like a trap, an endless loop that canât be navigated, as scaling fretwork and drums collide against melancholic bass to circle and circle as they slowly fade out to silence.
MĂłdulo Lunar are a recent discovery for me and certainly a pleasant surprise. Their sparse but punchy lyricism rings especially hard in an era saturated by heavy handed captioning and 3 minute infotainment. Their exasperation and sort of surrender to the times is one that can easily be sympathized with, and certainly felt throughout this EP. We thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to what the band has in store for us next.
Check out their Bandcamp here: MĂłdulo Lunar
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
02/06/23
Opposable
Photo Cred đ¸: @o.shoots
Opposable hails from Boston, a city notorious for its Hardcore and Punk scenes. However, the band cuts its own unique niche of riff laden music with queer-as-in-fuck-you energy and sentiment. On their debut self-titled EP they cover decades of sounds while exhibiting a fresh and very exciting set of songs.
To kick off something right, opener âRustâ layers multitudes of genres into a heavy rollicking groove, laden with melodies and chugs while never leaning into a distinct sound. Reminiscent of Cloudmouth, throaty shouts and winding guitars collide with plinked chords and melodramatic bass complimented by heavy as fuck drumming.
âWorn Downâ pairs gritty tones with thumping open drumming to meet in an absolute vortex of critical mass shredding. Dealing with themes of being crushed by an oppressive environment of non-acceptance, the track acts as a clarion call for those in marginalized communities with lines like Savor the safety of coded languages / be yet your soft self / and learn then / all is naught / all is naught / awe in the eyes of the damned witnessing the bleakness of the bigoted landscape before them.
Closing song âCroak Dreamâ blurs the lines between downtuned sludge and uptempo punk, a maelstrom of slowed down drumming and mid-paced chugging to ask the ever present question of searching for a solid meaning / tell me where it fucking hurts you.
For their first EP, Opposable have certainly made a full sound for themselves, not an out of place note seemed to exist on this whole EP, adeptly mixing heavy as shit with the powerfully defiant. Coming in at roughly around 7 minutes, this first offering was more than impressive and weâre very excited to hear more of this from the Bostonian trio.
Check out their Bandcamp here: Opposable
Writer : @letsgetpivotal
Editor : @just_reidz
01/30/23