Pop & Rock News

Kacey Johansing releases her 4th album “No Better Time” via Night Bloom Records. The album is an exploration of love and how one accepts it into his/her/their life. It asks how can someone allow love when the past is full of trauma. Can we become someone new and leave behind our former selves? Can place allow us that freedom? How does one find the strength to try again?

Across 11 songs Johansing wrestles to find the answers, her unmistakable vocals always leading the way. Anchored by powerful performances pulled from three days of live tracking with her band all in the same room, the album is bounding and energetic at its core. First takes were prioritized and perfection was rarely the goal. Rather, capturing an emotion and honesty from herself and the players was the rule of the day. The album pulls from Johansing’s love of classic pop—it’s her LA record—the place where she now resides and initially struggled to understand. Joan Didion said, “The future always looks good in the golden land, because no one remembers the past.” Kacey saw that and chose to tap into the creative buzz happening all around her—at small clubs and while dipping in and out of playing in friends’ bands, including in between tours as a member of Hand Habits. The resulting “No Better Time” is the sound of letting go and faithfully falling into step with a new way. There are vibraphones and swooping strings, grand pianos and doubled acoustic guitars, washes of tape delay and woodwinds—but it is the songs that continue to set Johansing apart. Here she unveils her strongest set yet.

Produced by Johansing and multi-instrumentalist Tim Ramsey (Vetiver, Fruit Bats), engineered by Tyler Karmen (DIIV, Alvvays) and mixed by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Cat Power), the album includes contributions from Todd Dahlhoff (Feist, Devendra Banhart), Trevor Beld Jimenez (Parting Lines) and Amir Yaghmai (Julian Casablancas + The Voidz).

Kacey Johansing was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and raised in the mountain towns of Colorado, the daughter of a miner and a painter. After leaving Berklee College of Music in Boston, Johansing relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she co-founded the duo Yesway and released two solo albums. Later moving to Los Angeles, Johansing released her third solo album “The Hiding” in 2017, which received widespread acclaim from critics and listeners alike and garnered comparisons to Fleetwood Mac, Carole King and Prefab Sprout. She subsequently toured internationally and shared the stage with Real Estate and Fruit Bats, and became a frequent touring member of Hand Habits. She is currently preparing for the release of her fourth album “No Better Time” on her own Night Bloom Records in Fall 2020.

The Remixes is a compilation album by The Stone Roses, which features remixes by various producers including Utah Saints and Paul Oakenfold. Various techno luminaries ply their skills reworking some of those early classic songs, and it is immediately clear that the Roses, even beyond the genius of their songs, were a preeminent dance band.

The Remixes is available as a limited edition of 3000 individually numbered copies on transparent & red swirled vinyl. The package includes an insert.

The Ascension, the eighth solo studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens - and the long awaited follow-up to Carrie & Lowell - is set for release September 25 on Asthmatic Kitty Records.

At the center of Tenerife stands Mt. Tiede, inviting you to climb it’s beautiful slopes, yet reminding you of the destruction it can unleash at any moment. The volcano has become the symbol at the center of Palace Winter’s third album ...Keep Dreaming, Buddy, and their lead single from the LP, “Top of the Hill” featuring Soffie Viemose of Lowly.

Much of the upcoming album was written through a long-distance correspondence of demos between Palace Winter’s Carl Coleman and Caspar Hesselager, while Coleman was living in Tenerife last winter. In “Top of the Hill”, Coleman’s fears of relationship fallout are set on the stage of the island.

“I was walking around this weird volcano island. The retro hotel was like a forgotten paradise resort. The whole thing felt like a Lynchian alternate reality. Caspar was sending me these synth hooks and drum loops from Denmark, so I started coming up with melodies and lyrical ideas to record into my phone” says Coleman about the contrast in which the new album was written, “coming from two entirely different environments.”

Meanwhile, in Denmark, Caspar Hesselager was venturing into a different kind of new environment. Searching for an untrodden sonic path, Hesselager began drawing on new inspiration from hip-hop beats, and soul-like hooks. “Top of the Hill” throws us into Palace Winter’s new undulating, bombastic sound of disparate influences, though it is still unmistakably theirs. “As with all our albums, the music arises when you’re looking for inspiration in less obvious places, and you walk into unknown territory” says Hesselager. “The point is always to pour a little of something that feels new into the mix.”. As an example of Palace Winter’s experimentations “Top of the Hill" also arrives with a vocal contribution from Soffie Viemose of Bella Union’s experimental pop group, Lowly.

Carl’s writing environment in Tenerife also matches this objective, as he found himself confronted by the new landscape. “I began to think of the volcano as a metaphor for our lives: volatile, mysterious, beautiful, dangerous. No matter where you were on the island, you could see it. Looking down on us. Asleep. But at any moment, it might wake up and destroy everything.”

Accompanying “Top of the Hill” is the announcement of Palace Winter’s third studio album, ...Keep Dreaming, Buddy, in which this scenery sets the stage. The titles of the album and the single are infused with a dualism that is defining the entire record. “Keep dreaming, buddy”, a friend could calmly reassure, or a partner might condescendingly mutter.

In the same vein, “Top of the Hill” is Palace Winter’s powerful embrace of both the ups and downs of life; the view from the top, and the long way there is to fall. Finally, this dualism is present in Coleman’s and Hesselager’s distant yet paralleled search for inspiration in unexplored territory.

This kind of dualism is not new for Palace Winter, who often juxtapose melancholy and joy in their driving yet dreamy music. An unmissable, forward-looking optimism shades their previous two albums, despite touching on grave themes of death, grief, and trauma. What is new, however, is not just optimism, but celebration in the face of uncertainty, and the sonic idiosyncrasy this contrast creates. “We embrace some craziness and mania in a way we haven’t before” says Hesselager.

Palace Winter’s third album …Keep Dreaming, Buddy, to be released on October 23rd, will be a portal into their new reality of even brighter colors, even more disparate influences, and constant reminders of life’s fragile existence... A party in idyllic Tenerife with the ever-present volcano rumbling in the distance.

Palace Winter are Australian lead singer and guitarist Carl Coleman and Danish, classically trained pianist and producer Caspar Hesselager. Their third album is once again mixed and mastered by Hesselager and produced by both Hesselager and Coleman. And as the story of the album shows, the two have forged an ever-growing and symbiotic relationship together.




d 4 | TOP OF THE HILL [feat Soffie Viemose]


[g] 7 | THE DEEPER END [feat Jason Lytle]




[d] 4 | TOP OF THE HILL [feat Soffie Viemose]


[g] 7 | THE DEEPER END [feat Jason Lytle]

At the center of Tenerife stands Mt. Tiede, inviting you to climb it’s beautiful slopes, yet reminding you of the destruction it can unleash at any moment. The volcano has become the symbol at the center of Palace Winter’s third album ...Keep Dreaming, Buddy, and their lead single from the LP, “Top of the Hill” featuring Soffie Viemose of Lowly.

Much of the upcoming album was written through a long-distance correspondence of demos between Palace Winter’s Carl Coleman and Caspar Hesselager, while Coleman was living in Tenerife last winter. In “Top of the Hill”, Coleman’s fears of relationship fallout are set on the stage of the island.

“I was walking around this weird volcano island. The retro hotel was like a forgotten paradise resort. The whole thing felt like a Lynchian alternate reality. Caspar was sending me these synth hooks and drum loops from Denmark, so I started coming up with melodies and lyrical ideas to record into my phone” says Coleman about the contrast in which the new album was written, “coming from two entirely different environments.”

Meanwhile, in Denmark, Caspar Hesselager was venturing into a different kind of new environment. Searching for an untrodden sonic path, Hesselager began drawing on new inspiration from hip-hop beats, and soul-like hooks. “Top of the Hill” throws us into Palace Winter’s new undulating, bombastic sound of disparate influences, though it is still unmistakably theirs. “As with all our albums, the music arises when you’re looking for inspiration in less obvious places, and you walk into unknown territory” says Hesselager. “The point is always to pour a little of something that feels new into the mix.”. As an example of Palace Winter’s experimentations “Top of the Hill" also arrives with a vocal contribution from Soffie Viemose of Bella Union’s experimental pop group, Lowly.

Carl’s writing environment in Tenerife also matches this objective, as he found himself confronted by the new landscape. “I began to think of the volcano as a metaphor for our lives: volatile, mysterious, beautiful, dangerous. No matter where you were on the island, you could see it. Looking down on us. Asleep. But at any moment, it might wake up and destroy everything.”

Accompanying “Top of the Hill” is the announcement of Palace Winter’s third studio album, ...Keep Dreaming, Buddy, in which this scenery sets the stage. The titles of the album and the single are infused with a dualism that is defining the entire record. “Keep dreaming, buddy”, a friend could calmly reassure, or a partner might condescendingly mutter.

In the same vein, “Top of the Hill” is Palace Winter’s powerful embrace of both the ups and downs of life; the view from the top, and the long way there is to fall. Finally, this dualism is present in Coleman’s and Hesselager’s distant yet paralleled search for inspiration in unexplored territory.

This kind of dualism is not new for Palace Winter, who often juxtapose melancholy and joy in their driving yet dreamy music. An unmissable, forward-looking optimism shades their previous two albums, despite touching on grave themes of death, grief, and trauma. What is new, however, is not just optimism, but celebration in the face of uncertainty, and the sonic idiosyncrasy this contrast creates. “We embrace some craziness and mania in a way we haven’t before” says Hesselager.

Palace Winter’s third album …Keep Dreaming, Buddy, to be released on October 23rd, will be a portal into their new reality of even brighter colors, even more disparate influences, and constant reminders of life’s fragile existence... A party in idyllic Tenerife with the ever-present volcano rumbling in the distance.

Palace Winter are Australian lead singer and guitarist Carl Coleman and Danish, classically trained pianist and producer Caspar Hesselager. Their third album is once again mixed and mastered by Hesselager and produced by both Hesselager and Coleman. And as the story of the album shows, the two have forged an ever-growing and symbiotic relationship together.




d 4 | TOP OF THE HILL feat Soffie Viemose


[g] 7 | THE DEEPER END [feat Jason Lytle]




[d] 4 | TOP OF THE HILL [feat Soffie Viemose]


[g] 7 | THE DEEPER END [feat Jason Lytle]




[d] 4 | TOP OF THE HILL [feat Soffie Viemose]


[g] 7 | THE DEEPER END [feat Jason Lytle]

The follow-up to 2017’s critically-acclaimed ’Freedom Is Free’ is also their most sonically-varied and cohesive.

 The record is a statement of hope, a proclamation that we are all invisible people, and that despite race, class, or gender we can overcome our differences and stand together.

 For the album, the band worked with Shawn Everett, the Grammy-award winning mixing engineer known for his work with Alabama Shakes, War on Drugs, Kacey Musgraves, and Julian Casablancas.

 With Leon Michels’ (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields & The Expressions) producing and Everett’s mixing steering the record’s direction, the band’s lush Tropicalia-tinged sound has transformed into their most polished and densely layered.

 ‘Invisible People’ is an illuminating and encapsulating sonic landscape, one that hasn’t lost the essence that put Chicano Batman on the map.

 “Collide soul, surf and Tropicália into a raging blend of fire and excitement" – Rolling Stone.

 “A pitch-perfect voice of the resistance”- Billboard

 “A deeper dimension of sly pop culture references, unapologetic Latin pride, and the thoughtful exploration of popular music's all pervasive black roots"- Noisey.

 “Laid-back lounge grooves and a funky swagger” - NPR.

 "You need to know Chicano Batman... with their combination of soul, pop, tropicalia and psych" - Guardian.

HUGE STUDIO ONE 12” SINGLE!

Two fantastic tracks from one of Jamaica's finest ever vocal groups, these heavy hitting anthems were recorded for the legendary Studio One label in the early 70's. Surprisingly both tracks have never been released as singles, previously only appearing on two different
rare and long deleted Jamaican LPs. Cut super loud on a 12" single and housed in a heavyweight card Studio One sleeve, these won't be around for long – very limited edition 1000 copies worldwide!

Parson Jones is a tree. No joke: in the American duo, neither member is named Parson or Jones.

One, singer, is Joshua Hollenstein. The other, multi-instrumentalist and producer, is Kerry Fogarty. So Parson Jones is a tree. "A giant redwood that we spotted near us at Armstrong Woods in northern California.” He has the right to his own plaque. And to his name. Parson Jones is 1,300 years old. He deserved this special treatment. "Sometimes people call us Parson & Jones, they want to know who Parson is, who Jones is," Kerry laughs.

In 2014, on a first single for the French label Underdog Records, the duo was singing strange rhymes, where there was talk of memories of the future. And it is precisely here, between yesterday and tomorrow, in an agitated present, that the two Californians had settled, the time of a remarkable Make and Model. One could hear, played effortlessly, without flickering, a mixture of soul and psychedelic pop, a meeting between OutKast and Grizzly Bear, groovy and hippie: we could only leave happy. The band, which has known each other since the end of adolescence, has indeed listened to a lot of music. And chose to travel with all of their luggage, as claimed by Kerry Fogarty. "I grabbed my first guitar at age 13, I was an awkward kid, it was the only way to get girls to notice me! I learned quick- soon I wanted to play everything by Nirvana, then all Led Zeppelin, then Al Green and Curtis Mayfield, then hip-hop ... then I discovered the producers, their fundamental contribution to music. The technique obsesses me. Since then, I haven’t left my home studio! I have hundreds of songs under construction. Even if there are dangers: for example, it seems like we’d need twenty people on stage to perfectly adapt our new album! In everyday life, I sterilize medical equipment. It finances my music ... Again, I live in the laboratory!

The studio is my cocoon, a place where I feel good, safe. " His discomfiture with the world aside, the group says a little more about their album Clear As Day. Too futuristic, like Tame Impala, to be content with vintage revival, but also too well educated to the best writing of sunshine pop, Parson Jones is an anomaly. This is a group that can look to the future with enthusiasm and contemplate with horror the past. Or the opposite: euphoria and dystopia play hide and seek throughout these ten songs that can cause hallucinations and spatiotemporal disorders. "I love to impose glowing tunes on Josh's saddest, oblique lyrics," says Kerry. These (space) shuttles between eras and genres, between bright sunshine and the oil spill, can easily escape, in all their humility, their subtlety, under the radar of the public. You can taste Clear As day as a sherbet with false-harmless acidity. Or dance endlessly to these murmured choruses in a warm, engaging voice. Because to pop, to his fatal heart catcher, the songs of Parson Jones do not escape: everything is here refrains and harmonies, in the greatest tradition of local pop. Kerry claims other local influences. "There is every Sunday recording session the ritual of cannabis. The album must not be hurt by these substances. We are Californians after all! Psychedelia, in spite of us, slips into our songs. Otherwise, few things are left to chance in our music, we follow our flight plan quite strictly.

Even if we end up with miles of experiments! Songs eventually escape us, remain stuck in our heads. Our music wakes me up at night! " The cover warns of the perversity of the intentions of the duo. It features a palm tree planted in front of a blue sky California. Except that a cloud clung to his trunk, like a neck warmer on a summer evening. One way to consider the myth of endless summer, with a veiled sun, thwarted. Moreover, around Josh and Kerry, we find vineyards and redwoods. Not the least bright palm tree. We stay in Northern California when we tell Kerry that his last name, Fogarty, is very close to that of John Fogerty. His eyes light up. "His group, Creedence Clearwater Revival, is one of my favorites of all time. His way of integrating soul and rock is unique. I learned a lot from their sound. "

Without demonstration of style, Parson Jones thus envisages all the music which make the buttocks dance and the brain meditate. Often in the same song, the temperatures play yo-yo, but it is the beneficence, the generosity, the nonchalance of the melodies that have the last word. It does not matter if the dressing is funk, rock, pop, soul, psychedelic, if the tone is euphoric or melancholic: it's the great and beautiful score of timeless pop-music played by Parson Jones.
Eyelids closed, eyes turned in and looking cool. Once again, lives were saved by a Walkman. "When I was a kid, my parents had Beatles tapes. I listened to them nonstop. It was the beginning of my obsession with music. Of my quest. If it were up to me, I would only do that: listen and create music. When I discover a new song that obsesses me, I become a child again."

LTD. CLEAR VINYL-

The Ascension, the eighth solo studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens - and the long awaited follow-up to Carrie & Lowell - is set for release September 25 on Asthmatic Kitty Records.

A native of Toronto, Tess Parks moved to London, England at the age of seventeen where she briefly studied photography before deciding to focus on music. Tess made an impression on industry legend Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records, albeit the timing of their meeting could hardly have been less ideal, McGee was no longer involved in music and Tess was due to move back to Toronto. After moving back to her hometown in 2012, Tess formed a band on the advice of McGee and less than a year after their meeting, he returned to music with his new label, 359 Music.

Tess became one of his first signings and released her debut record 'Blood Hot' in November 2013 to excellent reviews. One reviewer described her as Patti Smith on Quaaludes'. Others have mentioned her gauzy psychedelic sound' and smouldering voice'. Alan McGee himself said: She's only 24 and is already an amazing songwriter... she just doesn't quite know she is yet ... her most beautiful quality is her lack of ego. Tess is an amazing lady'.

June 2015 saw the spine-tingling collaboration between Tess Parks and Anton Newcombe (Brian Jonestown Massacre) and the resultuing LP 'I Declare Nothing' released to critical acclaim on 'A' Recordings. They toured together throughout the UK and Europe over the Summer.

180g black vinyl Star Birth and downloadcode for "Star Birth" and "Star Death". Gatefold.

'Star Birth' is a flung fisherman's net, mighty in scope, irrevocable as looking up from the stone floor of a cathedral – there is space, yet there is profound intimacy from the immediacy of the lyrics, our thoughts rattling around like panicky goldfish. Race has taken aspects of areas
previously explored, and made a quantum leap into the unknowable. With opening track Can't Make This Up, the gauntlet is flung down – 'what is need, what is greed / it's a new crush, the brain trust/ hive mind rewrite rewind/ falsehood streaming'

'Star Birth' is international maverick and music icon Hugo Race's 15th album with his band of True Spirits. It's a double album and the twin album's name is 'Star Death'. Star Birth was recorded during Australia's bushfire summer apocalypse of 2019 and mixed as the 2020 covid-19 pandemic hit. When the stars align it all makes sense, Hugo explains, adding that one oceanic evening while writing the album a bright star exploded right before his eyes, the sign of a sudden end and a new beginning...

Hugo's writes of trials, tribulations, hopes, fears, heartaches, loves, losses, highs and lows – 'everyday I die a little bit more, in a thousand ways I fight my little wars – and he sings with exquisite pathos and depth, like he's singing just for you about the times in which we live –
political disasters, our planet, the absence and the presence of spiritual values, broken promises, cracked hearts and if any of it really matters anyway. With hell raising lyrics like,Expendable, you'd have to wonder if anyone of us will make it through alive – 'hey sister, are
we all expendable? nobody wins, but so many of you think they do / don't try to fool yourself people, deep down you know the truth - everybody gets their one hot shot but no one's bullet proof'. But then The Rapture reminds us that there will always be stars dying in the glory of
new life – 'give us this day comfort and bread / implant in us the living word / empower us with divine love and deliver us from evil / for you are the one true light / the power and the glory / forever /amen'

Hugo's True Spirit deliver a lush, sonic love letter of rock, electronica and dramatic orchestration, based in blues, hypnotic repetition and sonic exhilaration. Michelangelo Russo is a huge part of this atmosphere; his approach to music is that of an artist with a palette of
mysterious implements and machinery, but the entire band and production is incredible from start to finish. Star Birth is 48 minutes of mind expanding, mind blowing, heel tapping tunes, with its sister album 'Star Death', a dub version of remixes that will send you searching for
your own exploding star somewhere in the sky…

Die limitierte Loser Edition auf hellrosa-farbenem Vinyl! Das kanadische Noise-Punk-Trio Metz hat mit "Atlas Vending" das dynamischste und fesselndste Werk seiner Karriere am Start. Jedes der zehn Lieder von "Atlas Vending" bietet eine Momentaufnahme des Status Quo der heutigen gesellschaftlichen Zustände. Dabei schneiden Metz unterschiedlichste Themen an, wie Vaterschaft, erdrückende soziale Ängste, Sucht, Isolation, medieninduzierte Paranoia und den rastlosen Drang, alles hinter sich zu lassen. Durch die Mitarbeit des Koproduzenten Ben Greenberg (Uniform) und die Ingenieurs- und Mixing-Fähigkeiten von Seth Manchester (Daughters, Lingua Ignota, The Body) im Studio Machines With Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, klingt "Atlas Vending", in voller Länge massiv, wortgewandt und aufrichtig!

LTD. BLUE VINYL

Blue vinyl edition limited to 2000 copies. Monument is a fitting title for the third album by Belarusian trio Molchat Doma. Indeed, it stands as a monument to everything they've achieved in their short time as a band, from whispered-about unknowns, to enigmatic underground icons, to legitimate viral sensations with hundreds of thousands of TikTok videos using their music. Monument sees them return as conquering heroes, expanding on the minimalist greatness of S Krysh Nashikh Domov and Etazhi to fully realize a more maximalist vision of their crystalline post-punk sound. Written and recorded while the band was quarantined in their hometown of Minsk during the COVID-19 pandemic, Monument is a conscious step up in songwriting and fidelity, and it reveals a band preternaturally comfortable in its own skin. Whether playing to the dancefloor, as they do on the synthpop anthem "Discoteque," or working more introspectively on pre-pandemic live favorites "Otveta Net" and "Ne Smeshno," Molchat Doma are in complete control. Their greatest strength has always been their songwriting, and they've only gotten better. As the band's arrangements have grown more sophisticated, so too have the sounds they use to bring them to life. Roman Komogortsev and Pavel Kozlov's gear arsenal has grown to include an extensive range of synthesizers and drum machines, all of which they deploy with precision. Egor Shkutko's vocals move fluidly between his familiar deadpan monotone and an expressive croon, his beautifully delivered Russian lyrics at turns bleak and romantic. Shkutko has often been compared to Ian Curtis, but here, he outgrows the comparison. With Monument, Molchat Doma have done one of the hardest things to do as a band. They've greatly expanded the scope of their music while retaining everything that made them great in the first place.

After six years, The Notwist return with three new tracks on Morr Music. It’s both an exposition of the the band’s musical variety and a prospect on a forthcoming album.

Six years have passed since The Notwist released their last regular studio album, but that doesn’t mean that the members of this outstanding band have been idle in the meantime. There have been side projects, movie scoring, and other activities, like programming four editions of „Alien Disko“, a festival taking place in Munich, Germany. One of that event’s regular guests was the Japanese duo Tenniscoats – and a lovely side effect from that was an evolving friendship between the two bands. It lead to various collaborations: most recently in a new album by international band „Spirit Fest“ (featuring Tenniscoats singer Saya & The Notwist’s Markus & Cico) & a deep digging compilation of Japanese indie music called „Minna Miteru“.

The title track of this new EP is another step in this collaboration – and a first step to an upcoming album by The Notwist – as it features Saya, who lends her voice to the percussive song. It is build around a slightly detuned synthline, which is contrasted by more pragmatic guitar work. „It neither sounds like The Notwist, Tenniscoats, nor Spirit Fest“, tells Markus Acher. „Just like Saya is saying in the lyrics: ‘I want to go outside, I want to meet people’, „Ship“ is another chapter in what The Notwist always tries to do: redefining itself, exploring something new, integrating different styles of music and collaborating with musicians they admire.“

The second song „Loose Ends“ is, in contrast, more classic Notwist material. A gently expanding ballad, this time featuring the distinctive voice of Markus Acher. The song came out of recording sessions for the soundtrack for „One Of These Days“, a movie by Bastian Günther. The EP then closes with „Avalanche“ a carefully optimistic instrumental.

With its variety of styles, „Ship“ also serves as an outlook on an upcoming album, which will be influenced by the band’s experiences from their detailed work of creating sounds and moods for film soundtracks, and it will include more collaborations with international guest musicians.

This fifth record, On/Off, Bachar wanted to record it in his native Lebanon. More precisely in the main room of his family house, a stone house standing alone in the mountains north of Beirut.

In this big room there is all that’s needed: a piano, a chimney, the stove and some rare instruments who have been sleeping there for years, serving as decorations. For two whole weeks, Bachar welcomes, shapes and celebrates the urgency of creation. The recording takes place in decembre 2019, it’s rhythm follows that of the popular uprising which is shaking Lebanon since october.

In his own way, Bachar contributes to it - emotion is raw, his music is stripped down, just liked his country.

In the house, electricity goes on & off twice, a day. During the night, hostile and freezing, hyenas are heard; during the day, the birds whistle with serenity, and the light of day shines through the windows, each day slightly differently…

This constant duality becomes a source of inspiration for Bachar, obsessed as he is by this rustic environment which exacerbates the senses.

The record has 11 tracks, all written on the spot, as well as a duo recorded in 2017 with the french singer Christophe -Jnoun (unreleased up to now).

“There Is A Sound” is a compilation of blissed-out psych-folk songs by Andersens, a Japanese independent pop group who were led by Tsuby, aka Kiyokazu Onozaki, and were active throughout the 00s. A lovely set of intimate revelations, with some widescreen, bold pop moments, dreamy guitars meeting brass, electronics and sitar, it’s really the first time listeners outside of Japan have had the chance to take in the full spread of Andersens and their gentle pop songs. Released on the heels Morr Music’s Minna Miteru compilation of Japanese indie-pop, “There Is A Sound” is the first in a series of artist compilations that dig deeper into Japan’s musical underground. Co-compiled by Tsuby and Markus Acher (The Notwist, Spirit Fest), the collection sheds much-needed light on a unique songwriter, one part of a vital and energetic scene that is largely unrepresented outside of Japan.

In this case, the vision of Tsuby is front and centre; a naturally gifted songwriter, his melodic sensibility draws equally from predecessors like Syd Barrett and The Beatles, and peers like Tenniscoats and Maher Shalal Hash Baz, all the while keeping it unique. Indeed, groups like Maher Shalal Hash Baz, and Tenniscoats precursors Puka Puka Brians were very important to Tsuby. He discovered their music while visiting Modern Music, the Tokyo record store associated with Japanese underground psychedelia label PSF. “Their albums surprised me with sounds I had never heard before,” Tsuby recalls. “For me it was another impact after The Beatles. Even more exciting for me was that they are still alive and active!”

Inviting Puka Puka Brians to play at his very first gig, Tsuby quickly found himself to be part of a scene of like-minded souls, where expression and experiment was paramount, within the framework of gorgeous, fragile pop melodies. That being said, Andersens music is also fiercely individual, an expression of Tsuby’s quietly questing personality. You can hear it across the songs here, from the playful groove that marks out “The Light It Turns To Rain…”, through the rolling country-folk vibe of “Atom/Spirit”, the spiralling pop-psychedelia and playful electronics and sitar of “Empty Love”, to the breathy glitches of “Swan”. Throughout, Tsuby takes risks with his songs, looking at them sideways, finding new angles on arrangement and embellishment, while staying true to his core sensibility.

“There Is A Sound” draws from Andersens’ four albums – “Between Static & Fire” (Majikick, 2003); “Prepared Landscape” (Bye Bye Blackbird, 2004); “Gzi Gzi Gzeo” (Switchico, 2007) and “Musiquestions” (PollenSounds/Bye Bye Blackbird, 2008). One song, “Dodesukaden”, reaches further back, to their debut CD-R, “A Rooftop In “S” Thunderstorm Row Missing The Point”, released on Majikick sub-label RUI, back in 2002. Presented this way, the gentle developments in Andersens music become clear – a folksier touch here, some electronics or wind instruments there, perhaps the influence of chindon’ya in the brass arrangements. Taken together, it’s a beautiful collection that Tsuby and his collaborators bring to life with the natural intelligence of their playing and expression, a chorus of joy singing out from the melancholy heart of the pop song.

Three Queens in Mourning first gathered in summit to sing celebration
of the publication of Will Oldham’s book of collected lyrics, Songs of Love and Horror. Alasdair Roberts (Appendix Out), Jill O' Sullivan
(Jill Lorean), and Alex Neilson (Trembling Bells, Alex Rex) each arrived provisioned with a small armful of selections nearest and
dearest from Bonnie Prince Oldham’s far-reaching catalogue. Three Queens in Mourning’s takes on these tunes follow naturally from
the fit between Will’s words and their threedistinctive voices. Alasdair Roberts’ sweet, guileless delivery of “Christmas Time in the
Mountains” amplifiesthe lacerating quality of the lyric “we need an enemy / I’m saving all my rage for you”; even if at the outset of the
song we’re told that “time is the enemy,” the abiding sentiment—the red-hot word that organizes my memory of the song—is rage. Ali’s
and Jill’s trading of verses on “New Partner” puts a different spin on what had previously registered as an especially mercurial firstperson narrative voice, one that swoops between tenderness (“lay back, rest your head on my thighs”) and ecstatic self-absorption
(breaking it to the ex to whom the song is addressed that “I’ve got a new partner riding with me”). Add Alex’s voice, not only for his
madcap “Lost Blues,” but as part of the choir on “Ohio River Boat Song” (a song with origins in the traditional “Loch Tay Boat Song”),
and these three Scottish accents singing about the muddy Ohio, Smoketown, Oldham County, and Floyds Knobs, I mean, there’s not
much else this Kentuckian—these are all deeply familiar landmarks—can say. Type through tears. On this back to back records, The
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy LP is a collection of three cover versions from Ali, Jill and Alex directory and one original track. Three Queens in
Mourning / Bonnie 'Prince' Billy is a collaboration between Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy), Alasdair Roberts (Appendix out / Drag
City), Jill O Sullivan (Jill Lorean) and Alex Neilson (Trembling Bells, Alex Rex) Sleeve notes by David Grubbs Three Queen in
Mourning / Bonnie Prince Billy (Will Oldham/Palace/BPB covers)

Gute Laune Westcoast-Pop: Beach Boys meets Zappa. Das Debütalbum der Band mit dem freundlichen Namen Hello Forever entstand im kalifornischen Topanga. Topanga war schon immer eine Art kreativer Fluchtpunkt für Künstler, die in der Abgeschiedenheit nach Inspirationen und Liebe suchten. Hier, wo"Whatever It Is" aufgenommen wurde, nahm auch schon Neil Young "After the Gold Rush" auf oder schrieb Captain Beefheart Songs für sein Album "Trout Mask Replica". Genau hier leben auch die Mitglieder von Hello Forever und fanden dort ihren Sound, der natürlich an die großen musikalischen Zeiten dieses wunderschönen Landstrichs erinnern: den Beach Boys, Neil Young und natürlich auch den Beatles (auch wenn sie nie da waren). Sänger und Songwriter der Band ist Samuel Joseph, der seine Band selbst als Art-Pop-Kollektiv beschreibt. Die farbenfrohe Instrumentierung und der mehrstimmige Harmoniegesang sind beeinflusst vom Sound der 60er. "Whatever It Is" klingt als hätten die Beach Boys Frank Zappa zu einer Jam-Session einladen, während die Beatles im Studio herumlungern, um sich in der gleißenden Sonne von ihrer "Magical Mystery Tour" zu erholen.

Goners ist das fünfte Studioalbum der Songwriterin und Multiinstrumentalistin Laura Gibson. Ihre Sprache hat sich nie lebendiger angefühlt, ihre Geschichtenerzählung ist schärfer, ihre Vorstellungskraft lockerer. Für das neue Album engagierte Gibson eine Vielzahl befreundeter Musiker, darunter Death Cab For Cutie Gitarrist Dave Depper, Schlagzeuger und Perkussionist Dan Hunt (Neko Case) und Stand-up-Bassist Nate Query (The Decemberists); dazu bauten sie Horn- und Holzbläser-Arrangements mit Kelly Pratt (St. Vincent und David Byrne, Pater John Misty) und fantasievolle Streicherparts mit Kyleen King (Stephen Malkmus, Case/Lang/Veirs). Das Album wurde gemeinsam mit Engineer und Freund John Askew in seinem Studio in Portland, OR, produziert, Askew und Gibson haben bereits auf ihrem 2016er Album Empire Builder zusammengearbeitet. Für etwa die Hälfte der Songs legte sie ihre Gitarre zur Seite und spielte stattdessen Klavier und Wurlitzer. Produktausstattung der UIN Version: dunkelgrünes Vinyl, Poster, DL-Code

Aufgenommen im bandeigenen Studio in Los Feliz, Kalifornien, übernahm Bandleader Mark Oliver Everett a.k.a. E bei ‘Earth to Dora’ auch die Rolle des Produzenten. Eingespielt wurde das neue Album von E selbst, Koool G Murder, The Chet und P-Boo. Mit Ausnahme von ‘Are We Alright Again’ - „kind of a quarantine daydream I desperately needed to have“ wie E selbst sagt - sind alle Songs noch vor COVID-19 entstanden. Bevor die Pandemie unser aller Leben verändert hat. ‘Earth to Dora’ ist nach ‘The Deconstruction’ von 2018 das 13te full-length Album der EELS.

2LP (180g transparent-rotes Vinyl, Gatefoldhülle, bedruckte Innenhüllen, 2-seitiger Beileger), Lithographiedruck, Digisleeve CD mit Booklet, A5 Stickerbogen mit 4 Aufklebern, 2 Kühlschrankmagneten, 12" Antirutschmatte

When Upset The Rhythm released Normil Hawaiians’ lost album ‘Return Of The Ranters’ back in 2015, the band members got back in touch with each other after a 30 year break and starting playing music together again. Out of this the group played a launch show for the album and followed that up with more concerts, including an appearance at Supernormal, a residency at the Edinburgh Festival, gigs at Cafe OTO and supporting Richard Dawson in London too. They even recently toured Greece in support of having all three of their renowned exploratory post-punk albums finally back in print.

Throughout this time, Normil Hawaiians revisited their original songs for these live performances. However for a group always so interested in evolving their sound and seeking nuance, it comes as no surprise that they shirked the idea of a faithful retread of old material in favour of reimagining their songs. The group experimented by pushing their songs into new inventive dimensions, still progressive at heart, but now imbued with a cosmic uncanny. A cinematic, even pastoral approach that was always quietly present has come to the fore. The quaint weirdness of folk song, the humanity of communal practice and the group’s ecological mindedness have all found a place in Normil Hawaiians’ current sound world. With this conducive atmosphere brewing, the band’s first new songs in decades started to emerge.
Being far-flung across the UK, the Family Hawaii encamped to Tayinloan, a small village on the west coast of the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland with the intention of recording new music. They set up their own studio in an isolated, windswept house overlooking the sea and started the tape rolling. Noel Blanden from the band explains how the spirit of the location was such an inspiration to the group during this initial recording session: “Our time immersed in the place and the unique energy it generated in us allowed us to write ‘In The Stone’. It goes right back to our first album, this need to document experience before it passes over and eludes us. We were grabbing at the musical ether and letting it shape itself through the band.” From loose, improvised sessions and reflective periods of listening in Tayinloan, Normil Hawaiians captured the moment. ‘In The Stone’ is a motorik thrill of distorted guitars, locked rhythms and morphic resonance. Guy Smith is joined by Zinta Egle on vocals, skilfully sharing lyrics informed by Alan Garner and Nigel Kneale’s ideas around recurring events being linked to place and historical artefact;  a kind of residual haunting known as ‘Stone Tape’ theory. In keeping with the context of the song, sounds from several previous live recordings of the track were woven into its present being. Flipside ‘Where is Living?’ is a decidedly more delicate affair of questioning lyrics and eerie traces, droning strings and impressions smudged. This resultant 7” is a tantalising glimpse of Normil Hawaiians now, an echo from the past, an echo from the future.

limited vinyl

The Sweethearts is a project by Tyler Thacker together with Sam Mehran (ex Test Icicles).
Songs were written on a tiny casio between Sam and Zak Mering. Tyler pretty much played all the instruments.

As Tyler explains:
This album was recorded a decade ago underneath a bunkbed in a crowded apartment we shared in Brooklyn. At the time, ‘The Sweethearts’ was just another anonymous moniker among many, intended as a pop-minded musical outlet between primary contributors myself, Zak Mering and Sam Mehran, featuring whatever friends happened to be passing though that day including but not limited to Morgan Whirledge, James Ferraro, Zak Davis, Aaron Frankle, Ian Drennan, Ariel Pink, Ryan Howe.
Like so many of the collaborations from those years, these songs and many more floated to the wayside as we each barreled through various other configurative projects, eventually retired to failing hard drives. But the specter of this specific catalogue always haunted me despite shifting primary focus to painting shortly thereafter. Two years ago in July, the world lost one of its most fearless creators, Sam Mehran , and I lost one of my best friends who oozed melody as effortless as breath.
These songs are letter bombs to adolescence in the information age: reterritorializing the tropes of heteronormative psycho-sexuality proliferated throughout western pop music on top of self-deprecation, heartbreak, disappointment, indulgence, and loss of innocence.
At one point, I caught myself singing harmony to Zak and Sam on a song called ‘Tonight’s the Night’ and it was in that meeting place between the metaphysical and the spirit world, that I finally got to say goodbye to Sam.

Kacey Johansing will release her new album “No Better Time” on November 20th via Night Bloom Records. The album is an exploration of love and how one accepts it into his/her/their life. It asks how can someone allow love when the past is full of trauma. Can we become someone new and leave behind our former selves? Can place allow us that freedom? How does one find the strength to try again?

Across 11 songs Johansing wrestles to find the answers, her unmistakable vocals always leading the way. Anchored by powerful performances pulled from three days of live tracking with her band all in the same room, the album is bounding and energetic at its core. First takes were prioritized and perfection was rarely the goal. Rather, capturing an emotion and honesty from herself and the players was the rule of the day. The album pulls from Johansing’s love of classic pop—it’s her LA record—the place where she now resides and initially struggled to understand. Joan Didion said, “The future always looks good in the golden land, because no one remembers the past.” Kacey saw that and chose to tap into the creative buzz happening all around her—at small clubs and while dipping in and out of playing in friends’ bands, including in between tours as a member of Hand Habits. The resulting “No Better Time” is the sound of letting go and faithfully falling into step with a new way. There are vibraphones and swooping strings, grand pianos and doubled acoustic guitars, washes of tape delay and woodwinds—but it is the songs that continue to set Johansing apart. Here she unveils her strongest set yet.

Produced by Johansing and multi-instrumentalist Tim Ramsey (Vetiver, Fruit Bats), engineered by Tyler Karmen (DIIV, Alvvays) and mixed by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Cat Power), the album includes contributions from Todd Dahlhoff (Feist, Devendra Banhart), Trevor Beld Jimenez (Parting Lines) and Amir Yaghmai (Julian Casablancas + The Voidz).

Kacey Johansing was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and raised in the mountain towns of Colorado, the daughter of a miner and a painter. After leaving Berklee College of Music in Boston, Johansing relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she co-founded the duo Yesway and released two solo albums. Later moving to Los Angeles, Johansing released her third solo album “The Hiding” in 2017, which received widespread acclaim from critics and listeners alike and garnered comparisons to Fleetwood Mac, Carole King and Prefab Sprout. She subsequently toured internationally and shared the stage with Real Estate and Fruit Bats, and became a frequent touring member of Hand Habits. She is currently preparing for the release of her fourth album “No Better Time” on her own Night Bloom Records in Fall 2020.

7"

Limited to 800 copies Grey Marbled Vinyl
Includes postcard and poster
Impossibly rare 1984 UK 7” vinyl single, written by a pre- Bachelor Pad’s Martin Cotter. One of only three releases by the short-lived Glasgow based indie label Bogaten, although redolant of early Orange Juice in the sound of the A-side, also looks forward to Shoegaze, with a reverb-drenched cover of The Velvet Underground’s Waiting For My Man on the B-side

Catastrophe’s second studio album, GONG! will be released on September 11, 2020 by Tricatel. After Dernier Soleil (EP 2016), La nuit est encore jeune (Album 2018) and Fizzy (vinyl compilation 2020), Catastrophe returns with an album / musical comedy about forests, smartphones and the passing of time. Directed by David Sztanke (aka Tahiti Boy), this ambitious and teeming album propels us into a forty-minute marriage between Kendrick Lamar and Jacques Demy. Catastrophe locked the six of them in the same room, and made music inspired by everything they love: from Orelsan to Gilberto Gil via Brigitte Fontaine or Arcade Fire.

Dry is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, originally released on Too Pure Records on 30 March 1992. The album was recorded at The Icehouse, a local studio in Yeovil. Critically lauded both on release and retrospectively, the album contains the singles “Dress’ and ‘Sheela-Na-Gig’

Back in print for the first time in almost 20 years, Beggars Archive on behalf of Too Pure Records is pleased to announce the re-issue of Dry on vinyl.

The album was remastered by the original producer “Head” and has been replicated to the original version as much as possible.

Intimate November tour also announced After their 2012 Mercury Prize nominated debut and 2015's Top 20 follow-up 'Born Under Saturn', musical adventurers Django Django are back for 2017, exploring new sounds with their brand new album 'Marble Skies' which will be released on January 26th on Because Music. Today the album launches with first single 'Tic Tac Toe', a rousing, trippy upbeat rock track with an enormous echoing hookline which will excite fans of the band's rockabilly-influenced elements. The accompanying video for 'Tic Tac Toe' was directed by John Maclean, brother of Django Django drummer/producer David Maclean and director of the critically acclaimed modernist western 'Slow West'. It depicts vocalist/guitarist Vincent Neff enjoying a rapid-fire day-trip to Hastings which takes a turn into the surreal and sinister when a ghost train puts him on a collision course with a grim reaper inspired by Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. As John Maclean explains: The film could be about the fading era of the beach arcades, time moving too fast, love and games, horror and happiness but it is actually about a man who needs to go buy a pint of milk to make a cup of tea.' After the brilliant, rave-shaped grooves and expansive arrangements of its predecessor, 'Marble Skies' is a more concise and focused offering which recalls the dynamic, genre-blurring music of their debut. It's a return to form, an album which finds them returning to the handmade, cut-and-paste approach of the past. Upon finishing the 'Born To Saturn' tour, Dave ventured to LA to work on a production project, whilst the other band members went to India with the British Council. When they returned, the new album process began with a back-to-basics approach which recalled the DIY ethos of the band's early days, Django Django - minus an absent Maclean - assembled at Urchin Studios in Tottenham, London with Metronomy drummer Anna Prior to experiment with the idea of coming up with new tracks through loose jamming sessions. After ten days of recording, there was plenty of raw material to send up to Dave (then back in his hometown of Dundee) for him to edit, refine and evolve. As ever, all four band members (completed by Tommy Grace on synths and bassist Jimmy Dixon) contributed to the band's music, melodies and lyrics as the final album took shape. Parts of 'Marble Skies' find Django Django sailing into uncharted territories, not least the driving title track (propelled by Prior's drumming), with its echoes of Krautrock and Suicide. Meanwhile, the hazy Zombies-like summer pop of 'Champagne', which explores the joys and ills of alcohol, was inspired by the band's over-indulgence during a boat trip on the Seine that was hosted by their label. Those drawn to the more dance-orientated side of Django Django will find much to love in the twisted '80s electro pop of 'In Your Beat' and the dancehall-influenced 'Surface To Air', a dreamy-headed pop song fronted by Rebecca Taylor of Slow Club. The collaboration came as a result of the two bands meeting up at SXSW some years ago, where Rebecca and Dave in particular bonded over shared interests in R&B, hip-hop and dancehall. Another more surprising collaborator is Jan Hammer, the Czech-born, American-based jazz-fusion and electronic artist who shares writing credits with the band on the gorgeously floaty 'Sundials'. If there's a mood running through 'Marble Skies', it's one of reflection on things past and present, and finding some kind of peace with your place in the grand scheme of things.

F.S.Blumm is a man most might not know. He ́s no pop artist, and not overtly experimental either. But somehow with In Sight he has done the impossible: put his own sound in that perfect middle point, leaving his voice behind to deep-dive into some truly memorable, fully composed pieces.
In Sight is the kind of record you can put on at first crack of dawn, to enjoy its beautiful instrumental varieties during morning routine, while equally fitting as a listening experience towards the darker time of day, in the background or as highly rewarding deep listening experience. It ́s the kind of album that would be great to encounter played in a tiny Japanese jazz bar on a vintage, top notch speaker system together with a handful of local oddities. It sounds incredibly well produced and is full of beautiful, heart-warming, melancholic moments performed on everything from guitars to percussion, vibraphone, strings, piano and who knows what else. Frank shines on this record. He has created quietly composed pieces for moments one could only wish were real.
As often with F.S.Blumm ́s music, it ́s hard to pin down where to categorize it. He might be best known as frequent collaborator of Nils Frahm. Together they made three great duo albums for Sonic Pieces previously. Although this is far from his first solo album, it is his first for the label, and after listening to it on repeat for some time, we can only say that this is Frank on his finest, creating some of the most thought provoking instrumental music you can find in these parts of the world.

F.S.Blumm is a man most might not know. He ́s no pop artist, and not overtly experimental either. But somehow with In Sight he has done the impossible: put his own sound in that perfect middle point, leaving his voice behind to deep-dive into some truly memorable, fully composed pieces.
In Sight is the kind of record you can put on at first crack of dawn, to enjoy its beautiful instrumental varieties during morning routine, while equally fitting as a listening experience towards the darker time of day, in the background or as highly rewarding deep listening experience. It ́s the kind of album that would be great to encounter played in a tiny Japanese jazz bar on a vintage, top notch speaker system together with a handful of local oddities. It sounds incredibly well produced and is full of beautiful, heart-warming, melancholic moments performed on everything from guitars to percussion, vibraphone, strings, piano and who knows what else. Frank shines on this record. He has created quietly composed pieces for moments one could only wish were real.
As often with F.S.Blumm ́s music, it ́s hard to pin down where to categorize it. He might be best known as frequent collaborator of Nils Frahm. Together they made three great duo albums for Sonic Pieces previously. Although this is far from his first solo album, it is his first for the label, and after listening to it on repeat for some time, we can only say that this is Frank on his finest, creating some of the most thought provoking instrumental music you can find in these parts of the world.

12′’ Maxi SP with original exclusive artwork by artist Paul Shipper, for the 40th anniversary of the motion pictures Mystery Men, directed by Kinka Usher, starring Ben Stiller, Hank Hazaria, William H Macy, Paul Reubens and Geoffrey Rush. A true collector’s item for any fan of this cult film, which saw a new generation of comedians led by Ben Stiller take the power over Hollywood, and which way ahead of its time invented the super heroic comedy genre, years before Guardians of the Galaxy or Shazam. This Maxi SP features the original song All Star by Smash Mouth. The song was used for the first time ever for Mystery Men original soundtrack. The song would soon after become a worldwide hit (and later an internet meme) when featuring to the movie Shrek Vital Sales Points: Artist Paul Shipper has become a pillar of the revival of the painted artworks in the movie industry, after decades of photoshop excesses. He has created prestigious posters for Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, Marvel’s Avengers Infinity War, Disney’s Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker. Includes a printed inner sleeve. Pressed at only 500 copies

Anniversary LP with personilized Sleeves.
Double LP CRAZY FANTASTIC passionate musicians strike...

SUPERB

In 2015, Ian Curtis Krist was working full time as an audio engineer in Seattle. While his professional pursuits were gratifying, they limited time spent on his own creative endeavors. Art is defined by its limitations, and Krist was forced to be deliberate and intentional with what time he was able to spare writing music for Béret. The result is an eerie and beautiful full-length LP titled Jesus White.

You can hear the efficiency and directness of Krist's songwriting on the record. Krist’s vocals are crisp and disembodied from the bed of noise cascading the depths of each song. The album scarcely features any drums, each track being patiently driven by atmospheric guitars. Only five songs into the record do drums make a striking appearance on “Book of Hera”. The skeletal and introspective songs recall The Velvet Underground as much as they do Béret's Canadian post-punk contemporaries like Preoccupations or Corridor.

Equally apparent as his intentions are Krist’s veteran audio engineering abilities. The record is entirely self-recorded, exemplifying his rich understanding of space, which allows him to make his arrangements deep, nuanced, and three-dimensional. Each song is exceptionally mixed with each element audible and impactful it in its own way, luring the listener through the compositions.

Led by vocalists and guitarists Michael Santana and Adam Schubert, the Chicago bands album captures the unpredictable thrill of its energetic live show without sacrificing thoughtful songwriting and purposeful composition.

Improvisational guitar explorations and textural compositions from Santana, Schubert and fellow guitarist Andrew Harper fit gear-like with the steady-handed rhythm section of bassist Rob McWilliams and drummer Elise Poirier. The band is ever charging forward, building hypnotic momentum through slyly mutating repetition and dense complexity.

You can imagine Cafe Racers’ guitar reverberations escaping its practice space, bouncing off the monolithic brick ComEd building on Western Avenue a couple miles away, rattling through the alleys and gangways, shaking gutters loose from two-flats, stirring eddies of sound down the sidewalks.

It’s urgent music that calls for the listener’s attention even as it lifts toward mind-out-of-body introspection, encouraged by lyrics that explore our past selves calling out to the present. What remains and what’s left behind, what answers exist in conversation between our silhouette and our physical form?

Stuck is a post-punk band for people who think the genre is predictable. On their debut album the Chicago quartet strive for musical dissonance and lyrical vulnerability, a combination that’s deeply cathartic for the band and for listeners alike.

Equal parts atonal and contagious, Change Is Bad is caught in a cycle of time, grief, and transition, and Stuck are hitting the walls trying to stop it from spiraling out of control. To confront it, the band drew from a wide range of influences—Omni, Shellac, Landowner, video game glitches, speedrunning, and sci-fi book series Three Body Problems—that aren’t just namechecks. They’re influences you can actually hear in the music.

Interweaving guitars on “Plank II” move gracefully despite their sharp edges. “Bells” barrels through machine gun drumming that never ceases fire. Wiry guitars duel for the spotlight on “Wrong Question” like they’re fighting for their lives. There’s a momentum and insight to it all that keeps you invested until the very end.