Release Roundup: June 16th
Featuring DRAIN, Moving Mountains, Castle Rat, and more.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Two videos for y’all again this week! With their album launch tour wrapping up last week, we had CHASING GHOSTS frontman Jimmy Kyle on the pod to talk about their phenomenal new record. Pairing a genuine “coming of age” moment with the band’s most intimate and compelling material to date, Therapy ruminates on Indigenous history, generational trauma, masculinity, suicide, domestic abuse, and fatherhood with a sensitivity that demands attention, curiosity, and personal growth. It’s a ripping chat, and you can check it out below:
And for my ongoing Dispatch Bay series, Aussie pop-punk mainstays YOURS TRULY are finally bringing their TOXIC tour back home. Frontwoman Mikaila Delgado joins the show from the cosy comfort of her bedroom floor to scan through YouTube comments and discuss everything from video game soundtracks and favourite lyrics to artist comebacks and ‘Punk Goes…’ cover compilations. Check it out below:
SIDE A:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Fallweather – I Must Be Sick // Rain
Lately, I’ve been hearing good things about Naarm/Melbourne up-and-comers FALLWEATHER. The band’s latest two-track release, “I Must Be Sick // Rain,” which essentially functions as one complete sub-four-minute banger, provides proof-of-concept for blending post-hardcore, melodic hardcore, emo, and metalcore into something wholly uniform and captivating.
With the group fresh off a national tour supporting French metalcore crew Landmvrks, and their own release shows scheduled for the coming weeks, it’ll be interesting to see where the young outfit goes from here. Watch the video for “I Must Be Sick // Rain” below:
Ho99o9 – Tomorrow We Escape
One of the things I love about discovering new music is finally listening to a band that has operated on the periphery of your musical knowledge or taste for years, and being pleasantly surprised by the result. Enter L.A. rap-punk duo HO99O9 (pronounced “Horror” for those playing at home).
The duo, comprised of TheOGM and Yeti Bones, have announced their forthcoming third LP, Tomorrow We Escape, out on September 9th through Last Gang Records. The album’s lead single, “Upside Down,” continues their genre-bending mix of hip-hop, digital hardcore, punk, metal, industrial, and more, featuring nu metal grooves, moody croons, rapped vocals, and booming, blown-out production. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Spotify).
Castle Rat – “WIZARD”
Now, I’ve said something to this effect before in this hallowed newsletter rag, so forgive the repetition. Still, if your band’s aesthetic—be it a simple promo shot, music video, stage prop or otherwise—involves the intentional use of medieval weaponry, I will unequivocally fuck with it.
Brooklyn doom quartet CASTLE RAT know this, and that’s why frontwoman Riley ‘The Rat Queen’ Pinkerton is wielding a big ass sword on top of a glorious unicorn steed for the cover of their upcoming LP, The Bestiary, out on September 19th through King Volume Records (North America) and Blues Funeral Recordings (UK/Europe). Watch the video for “WIZARD” below:
Moving Mountains – Pruning of the Lower Limbs
Did I have the return of post-rock-meets-emo outfit MOVING MOUNTAINS on my 2025 bingo card? No, but it’s a hell of a lot better than Trump 2.0 and nuclear war with Iran, so I’ll take what I can get at this point.
The New York group have an album on the way, their first in 12 years, titled Pruning of the Lower Limbs, which arrives on June 27th via Wax Bodega. The band are rocking with the same line-up as their acclaimed 2013 self-titled album, and from the sound of lead single “Ghosts,” they’re also picking back up right where they left off. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
DRAIN – “Nights Like These”
Back in March, I had a chat with DRAIN’s main man, Sammy Ciaramitaro, in which he mentioned enthusiastically learning bass to write songs for their new album. Well, it turns out that record is called …IS YOUR FRIEND, it’s dropping on November 7th through Epitaph, and one of those new songs is the delightful hardcore punk rager known as “Nights Like These”.
If, like me, your heart still yearns to stage dive, despite your feet and spine screaming “No!! Please, sir! We cannot take any more punishment!!!” then this is for you. Watch the video for “Nights Like These” below:
SIDE B & FEATURE ALBUM:
Want more tracks? Well, I have some good news for you. I’ll be posting my Side B write-ups on WITCH FEVER, NUOVO TESTAMENTO, DELIQUESCE and PUFFER on the TPD Patreon.
If you'd like to check them out, please consider becoming a Friend of the Show (for just $3 USD or $5 AUD per month). By joining, you become part of our alternative music community, get access to our existing bonus content, and have the opportunity to send me a mildly threatening chat message with some new music you like.
I’m deadly serious about this. I want your recommendations!!