Weekly Roundup: April 22nd
Featuring Calva Louise, Existence, Slim Krusty, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Modern Color – “Star 9200”
I initially became a fan of Cali rockers Modern Color through their 2020 album From The Leaves Of Your Garden. The group trades in an alternative-adjacent sound that incorporates a mixture of shoegaze and post-hardcore elements that pitch into unknown territory with surprising (and often rewarding) results. Their latest track, “Star 9200,” is the lead single from their forthcoming LP, There Goes The Dream, out July 26th through Other People Records. Watch the video for “Star 9200” below:
Spiritual Cramp & White Reaper – Shimmy b/w Whatever You Say Man
Keeping things Cali-focused, San Fran punks Spiritual Cramp have been generating plenty of buzz following the release of their stellar debut S/T LP last year. The quintet are now following that release up with a two-song, seven-inch split with White Reaper, out May 16th. Their contribution to the split, the jaunty “Whatever You Say Man” is described by frontman Mike Bingham as a “funny song”:
“I feel like I should start this blurb off with the disclaimer that I am not usually a depressed person. But sometimes, on a day when I start writing lyrics for a song, I am. Some days, I wake up and look around at all the beauty of the world, and I’m moved to tears and overwhelmed with gratitude. Some days, I wish I never woke up. This song is about what it feels like to wake up on the wrong side of the bed.”
Stream the pre-release single here (Spotify).
RUN – “Summer” (feat. John Floreani)
Naarm/Melbourne metallers RUN have already released two great singles from this year—“Spring” and “Autumn”—and now we have the next chapter: “Summer”. This latest one features Trophy Eyes frontman John Floreani, and it’s a gloriously melodic take on the group’s punishing heaviness and caustic vocal approach. As frontman Lochlan Watt puts it:
“It was an honour to have my mate John Floreani clean up the chorus on this song. Most of us have become huge fans of Trophy Eyes in recent years, so once we were actually able to pin him down for recording, the collaborative vibes were unreal.”
The band also revealed that a six-track EP, True Heaviness is Time, is on the way later this year, with a grand finale that Watt says “blows the band's previous material out of the water.” You can catch RUN supporting the UK’s mighty Svalbard on their debut Australian tour next month with shows in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. Listen to “Summer” here.
Candy Apple – Comatose
Denver hardcore crew Candy Apple have unveiled their upcoming sophomore LP, Comatose, which drops on May 17th through the good folks over at Convulse Records. The three tracks online already showcase their noisy and abrasive take on hardcore chaos—think Trash Talk playing in a storage shed, and you’ll be getting pretty close to the vibe. Their last album, 2021’s Sweet Dreams Of Violence, was very sick, so I have high expectations for where this new one will go. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Existence – “Pain of Expecting Pain”
Ever since 2023’s monstrous Go To Heaven LP, I’ve been hanging for Swedish crossover kings Existence to put out new material. (Check out my In Review album list to see me gush about the record.) Well, folks, my prayers have finally been answered, and they brought the riffs. Their standalone single “Pain of Expecting Pain” has everything I love about the band: galloping riff breaks, earthmover bass tone, creepy synths, Hellmouth vocals—it’s the complete package. New album ASAP, please. Listen here.
Slim Krusty – Endin’ On A High
Circling back to Naarm/Melbourne once more, gutter folk troubadour Slim Krusty has finally dropped his debut EP release (mini-LP? Album?) Endin’ on a High, which pulls together many of the tracks featured in his incredible live sets. Despite not getting any pick-up or support from the local music press, Slim’s cult word-of-mouth following has been keeping him busy, with shows across the country and current tour spots supporting The Bennies this month.
The EP has his gut-punch brutal sad songs along with the sweary, call-and-response fun ones, and it’s all delivered with style and charisma that’s uniquely his own. The dude deserves way more attention, in my humble opinion, and hopefully, this release puts him over. Stream the EP release in full here (Spotify).
Fontaines D.C. – “Starburster”
Irish sensation Fontaines D.C. have signed to XL Records for their forthcoming album, Romance, set for release on August 23rd. The new LP follows 2022’s critically acclaimed Skinty Fia, which focused on “Irishness dislocated in the diaspora,” and sees the band turn to “what else there is to be romantic about.” According to frontman Grian Chatten, the iconic anime Akira was a direct (if somewhat leftfield) inspiration:
“I’m fascinated by that—falling in love at the end of the world. The album is about protecting that tiny flame. The bigger Armageddon looms, the more precious it becomes.”
Watch the clip for “Starburster” below:
Calva Louise – Under The Skin
The new band on my radar this week comes courtesy of a recommendation from Tory Kavitz, host of Knotfest’s She’s With The Band podcast. UK trio Calva Louise hail from Manchester and play a style of eclectic progressive rock that dabbles in metallic aggression, glitchy electronica and heady sci-fi concepts ala Coheed and Cambria. Their latest single, “Under the Skin,” was co-written by guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Jess Allanic with Pendulum’s Gareth McGrillen and Allanic states:
“The lyrics deal with the obstacles that arise in the human duality as one is looking for freedom and the other is looking to perpetuate their consciousness, but the expectations are not the same for both sides.”
Stream the single in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2024-7 HITS playlist, updated weekly.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
SeeYouSpaceCowboy – Coup De Grâce
“The record started as a visual idea,” explains Connie Sgarbossa, frontwoman for San Diego chaos merchants SeeYouSpaceCowboy, as she discusses the group’s highly anticipated third LP, Coup De Grâce. “When it came to lyrics, I didn’t know what the fuck to write at first… So my mind wandered to things that I love, like Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novels, where there are all these stories interlaced within a city.“
This narrative focus leads the quintet to craft a fictional story and setting that allows for stylistic exploration and aesthetic flirtation. As Sgarbossa mentioned on The Pitch pod back in February, the record acts as a fitting homage to their two great collective loves: the iconic MySpace posthardcore sound (The Blood Brothers, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Fear Before The March of Flames) and mid-2000s dance-worthy indie-punk (Bloc Party, Foals, Two Door Cinema Club). Meanwhile, production from Matt Squire (Panic! At The Disco, Underoath, Saosin) renders this new direction in immaculate detail—heavy and seductive in equal measure.
“I kind of wanted to do a fucked up Footloose situation with the dancier vibe of these songs,” Sgarbossa says. “The album’s supposed to take place in this artistic interpretation of the 1920s and 1940s to capture that pulpiness that I love. So you have songs like “To The Dance Floor For Shelter,” which uses this theme of the dance club being on fire, but you keep fucking dancing no matter what.”
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Jason Black, bassist for Gainesville punk rock institution Hot Water Music, dropped by The Pitch pod last week to give me the low-down on the group’s tenth full-length VOWS. We chat about the idea of being in a “legacy” band, teaming up with producer and collaborator Brian McTernan, how to make guest features feel seamless, and their stacked thirtieth-anniversary tour runs through North America, Europe and the UK. Check it out below: