Weekly Roundup: February 12th
Featuring Restorations, Higher Power, Boundaries, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Boundaries – “Easily Erased”
First up this week are Connecticut heavy-hitters Boundaries. Their highly-anticipated new album, Death Is Little More, drops on March 29th via 3DOT Recordings and follows 2022’s Burying Brightness. The new LP was mixed and mastered by longtime collaborator Randy LeBoeuf (The Acacia Strain, Kublai Khan TX) and also includes guest appearances from Matt Honeycutt (Kublai Khan TX), Lochie Keogh (Alpha Wolf) and Marcus Vik (Invent Animate). The record already sounds like a total ass-beater, and according to vocalist and lyricist Matt McDougal:
“Death Is Little More is the culmination of our efforts at their deepest and darkest. We wanted to create something that embraces, frightens, and calls the listener to action. It’s one part diary and one part doomsday.”
Get pit ready and watch the video for “Easily Erased” below:
Belmont – Liminal
Chicago pop-metallers Belmont have been doing the whole “pop-punk with breakdowns” thing for a while now, but I’ve always appreciated the group’s slightly techy, prog-slanted, borderline djent approach to riff-writing. Their forthcoming full-length, Liminal, arriving on April 12th via Pure Noise Records, sounds like it’s leaning even further in that direction, and I am here for it. Sure, “Country Girl” was wholesome goofy fun, but give me them sweet, sweet arpeggios and harmonic licks any day. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
CLOBBER – “Council Estate of Mind”
Over the pond now and UKHC stompers CLOBBER are back with a new banger, billed by guitarist Joey Brazil as “a celebratory anthem for the commoners, the undesirables and the working class.” It’s called “Council Estate of Mind,” and it’s destined to be a street-punk classic. I first came across these guys through their debut EP, Tribal Rites of the New Friday Night, back in 2022, and their follow-up, 2023’s Yesterday’s Heroes, Tomorrow’s Snide, was released through Gallows‘ own label, Venn Records. Listen to “Council Estate of Mind” here.
A Knife in the Dark & Heavens Die – Split EP
I was convinced that Virginian outfit Heavens Die had taken their own name literally and shaken off their collective mortal coil some years ago. It turns out that was premature, and they’ve now roared back into gear with a devastating four-track split EP with metallic hardcore bruisers A Knife In The Dark. As expected, this thing absolutely rips, and as The Coming Strife put it:
“Two new songs from each band: heavy shit, straight edge shit, gooood shit.”
Say no more. Stream the split EP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Heaving. – “Breathe”
After yelling at Spotify for the last few days (long story, don’t ask), it’s nice to know that other digital algorithms still have some juice. This new one from Washington, Illinois quartet heaving. auto-played into my YouTube queue unbidden, and it had me immediately transfixed. “Breathe” is a spacey post-hardcore jam worthy of a Hopesfall comparison, and if you know me (which you really should by now, reader), then you know that I don’t throw that around lightly. According to the band, it’s the lead single from their self-recorded debut EP, so definitely one to watch out for in the coming months. Listen to “Breathe” here.
Sweat – Love Child
Hardcore-punks SWEAT have a new record on the way—it’s called Love Child and drops on March 15th through the good folks over at Vitriol Records. These guys put out a fantastic record in 2022 called Gotta Give It Up, which had an eye-catching cover and made use of some great 70s-inspired, free-love hippie typography (I’m a sucker for that shit, okay?). On their latest record, the SoCal trio deliver raw hardcore ragers that stick to the genre's essence: aggressive instrumentals, snarling vocals, and bouncy energy that begs to be heard live. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Higher Power – “Absolute Bloom”
Back over the pond once more, Leeds alt-rockers Higher Power have emerged after a long, quiet stretch with some big label news. They’re moving on from Roadrunner and partnering up with Nuclear Blast instead (good for them), and to celebrate the news, they also dropped a charming new single titled “Absolute Bloom.” The group continues to take their hardcore roots and meld them with shoegaze and grunge soundscapes, much like they displayed on 2020’s outstanding 27 Miles Underwater LP. Vocalist Jimmy Wizard had this to say about their new single:
“I’m super excited to release this song. It’s really personal to me in this transitional period of my life, about wanting a deeper, more meaningful connection to the real world and not quite being equipped to do so, but finding hope and figuring it out. The music reflects that with a song that's so big and upbeat.”
Watch the video for “Absolute Bloom”:
Restorations – S/T
It’s been six years since Philly punks Restorations have put out a record, and with good reason. With members spread between Philly, Asheville, and Buffalo, the band clearly wanted to take their time working through new material: no deadlines, no contractual obligations, no tours–just real creative freedom. The result is their upcoming self-titled album (curiously not their first; see their 2011 debut for that), due out on March 22nd through independent release. Lead single “Cured” is a fun mid-tempo rocker with an ear-worm hook, and as guitarist Dave Kylman puts it:
“‘Cured’ is vintage Restorations minus any preconceived notions of what that’s supposed to mean. We leaned hard into doing what was fun and made us smile in the room. That’s a sentiment that carries over into the whole album.”
Stream the LP’s pre-release singles 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.
Crush++ – Power Pleasure
Okay, let me level with you here. I knew I’d adore Power Pleasure before I ever heard it. As I said in my previous newsletter edition, my unashamed fanboy fawning over Crush++ and their astounding debut album is completely justified (to me, for me) by their strategic position in the crowded Venn diagram that is my mid-2000s post-hardcore sweet spot. Now, I could try to fill a Myspace Top 8 with tracks from this record, but it would likely make me miserable, and the website is unusable/dead anyway (RIP).
Thankfully, outside of the aforementioned exceptional singles, I have narrowed my desires to talking only about two knockout deep cuts off the record. “I Would Shop at Aubrey Plaza” packs the exact amount of sonic sass that a song title like that promises. Meanwhile, “Edward Ten Feet” is the kind of irresistible emo-stadium seat-filler that put Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco on TRL. Oh, and there’s one section that straight-up sounds like Spitalfield, so that’s neat. Buy it, stream it, bootleg it, steal it—do whatever you must; just listen to Crush++ and spread the good word. Please. I beg you. I’ll follow you back, I promise.
Stream here: Spotify | YouTube
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
With the build-up to their seventh studio album well and truly underway, Jonathan Higgs, frontman for Manchester art-rockers Everything Everything, jumped on The Pitch pod last week to chat about the farcical state of UK politics, drawing influence from late philosopher Mark Fisher, and how the freedom of creating alternate realities brings the idiosyncrasies of our present moment into stark relief. Check it out below: