Weekly Roundup: December 20th
Featuring Underoath, Sweat, Descent, and more.
With this being my final newsletter for 2021, I have a few brief housekeeping items to cover.
From today, I’m taking a few weeks off and I’ll return to our usual programming on Monday, January 10th. I’ve now unlocked all of the newsletter’s content for this year, so whether you’re a dedicated paid subscriber or casual free sign-up (rest assured, I love you both equally), please feel free to go back through the archive and check out anything you missed. Please also share, like, subscribe, etc.—you know the deal.
I’ve also been adding to TPD 2021 VIBING playlist on Spotify each week and you can find that bad boy here. It now clocks in at a mammoth 27 hours and 36 minutes long, with 420 tracks (nice) and an extremely bipolar selection of hits from throughout this year. May it get you through the coming holiday madness.
Take care of each other, stay curious, and I’ll see you all in 2022!
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Anxious – “Growing Up Song”
After the release of the breezy “In April” back in November, Connecticut alt-rock outfit Anxious are back with another red hot single from their forthcoming debut LP, Little Green House, out January 21 via Run For Cover Records. It’s a super fun melodic rager resting on a powerful ear-worm chorus, hinting at bittersweet things to come from the young quintet. Watch the tongue-in-cheek video for “Growing Up Song” below:
Descent – Order of Chaos
Brisbane hellraisers Descent are channelling the gods of HM-2 destruction on Order of Chaos, out January 14th through Brilliant Emperor Records. Engineered by drummer Brendan Auld at Black Blood Audio, with Converge mastermind Kurt Ballou on mixing duties and Brad Boatright tapping in for mastering, the group’s upcoming sophomore record offers up demonic vocals, churning Hell’s Gate riffage and pummelling subterranean grooves. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Sweat – “Hit & Run”
Well, this was a nice surprise. Thanks to the good folks over at No Echo, I was put on to L.A. hardcore collective Sweat. The group features members of West Coast luminaries like Graf Orlock, Dangers, Dogteeth, and Ghostlimb, and their debut LP, Gotta Give It Up, is coming out on January 21st through Pirate Press Records. The album’s blazing lead single “Hit & Run” sounds like Punch with a riot grrrl twist and it absolutely rips. Listen to “Hit & Run” here.
American Football – Rare Symmetry b/w Fade Into You
Things have been quiet on the American Football front since the release of 2019’s LP3. Their newest 10-inch single, Rare Symmetry b/w Fade Into You, is the final collection of material to feature former founding member and drummer Steve Lamos. Side-A turns out a bright and wistful composition from the emo/post-rock pioneers, anchored by shimmering vibraphone and intricate melodies from brothers Mike and Nate Kinsella. Side B features a cover of the 1994 hit single “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star with guest Miya Folick contributing delicate vocals. Stream the full 10” here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Take Life – “Leper Shepherd”
I make no secret about how much I sweat Most Precious Blood. Merciless is one of my all-time favourite records, and I’ve followed vocalist Rob Fusco (One King Down) across all his disparate projects since then. For Fusco’s latest effort, he’s teamed up with Insvrgence guitarist Rafe Holmes to make bludgeoning metallic hardcore under the moniker Take Life. The duo’s debut album, You Are Nowhere, arrives on February 11th, but in the meantime, their crushing lead single acts as both mission statement and blunt force trauma to the head. Listen to “Leper Shepherd” here.
Deathbell – A Nocturnal Crossing
Not to be confused with exceptional Sydney-via-L.A. post-punk outfit Death Bells, French psych-rockers Deathbell deal exclusively in weighty, fuzzed-out soundscapes that only a true appreciation for doom could generate. The full-length follow-up to their 2018 debut, A Noctural Crossing (out February 25th through Svart Records) is a gateway to another world, a portal to dimensions hitherto unexplored, made possible through Lauren Gaynor’s ethereal vocal lines and the quintet’s swirling, hypnotic riffs. Dense and introspective, this is mystical doom at its very best. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Underoath – “Cycle (feat. Ghostemane): Live From Digital Ghost”
Well, I asked for a new album back in July, and it looks like the Floridian masters of post-hardcore delivered. Underoath are set to release their seventh album, Voyeurist, on January 14th, and it’s already shaping up to be the sextet’s most transformative effort yet. Their latest single “Cycle” features a wild guest feature from trap-metal oddity Ghostemane, and it’s a raucous number that pairs lyrical excoriations on existential abandonment with abrasive melodies and dense textures. Watch the track’s live performance video from Digital Ghost below:
Near Dark – Poisoned at the Root b/w Sobe
Yet another fun side project from dudes with other previously fun projects (Set Your Goals, Wet Specimens, Restraining Order, Maniac), Albany, New York outfit Near Dark are bringing back a melodic punk sound ripped straight from the early 2000s ether. Their latest 7-inch follows on from their Silver Lining EP, which dropped back in January, and pretty much picks up where that one left off: driving drums, bright power chords, vocal melodies reminiscent of Sirens and Condolences-era Bayside. It’s good shit. Stream the two-track here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2021 VIBING playlist, updated weekly.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Links to some of my other published work across the Web. Take a look, share if you feel like it, and help a brother out.
