Weekly Roundup: January 16th
Featuring Kruelty, Swiss Army Wife, AWOL, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Paramore – “C’est Comme Ça”
Paramore have now released the third single from their highly anticipated sixth LP, This Is Why (out February 10th through Atlantic Records). It’s titled “C’est Comme Ça” (French for “that’s the way it is”), and it’s being labelled as a “dance-punk return to form” with piercing ironic lyricism and a catchy chorus refrain. Frontwoman Hayley Williams said of the track:
“I’m trying to get un-addicted to a survival narrative. The idea of imminent doom is less catastrophic to me than not knowing anything about the future or my part in it. The guys and I are all in much more stable places in our lives than ever before. And somehow, that is harder for me to adjust to.”
Watch the video for “C'est Comme Ça” below:
Entrapment – Tempers Flare
Tempers Flare is the latest Ep from Gold Coast/Brisbane-based hardcore outfit Entrapment, out now through Team Glasses Records. As a crop of hard-hitting tunes, it’s got a lot of fusing flashy metal riffage fused with modern hardcore rhythms, yielding chanted hooks, murky basslines and a few thrash-inspired licks as well. Stream the EP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Total Downer – “Taylor Lautner”
Yes, “Taylor Lautner” is about the actor of Twilight/Taylor Swift fame. On the final single from their upcoming album Caretaker, out January 27th through Just Because Records, Cleveland emo-punk outfit Total Downer construct a revenge fantasy narrative where Lautner takes revenge on the studio executives who pressured him to bear his chiselled physique at a young age. As vocalist Andy Schumann confesses: “Despite this reckoning and intellectualizing, in the deepest recesses of my brain, Taylor Lautner’s body is still a goal & I would do many things to get that swole.” Listen to “Taylor Lautner” here.
View from the Soyuz – Immaculate
Over in the DAZE Records camp, their newest signing comes from Tokyo metalcore quartet View From The Soyuz, who are set to release their upcoming Immaculate EP on February 10th. The Japanese mosh purveyors have opened for international acts like Unearth and Xibalba, and these new tracks sport a big melodic death metal influence that brings, to my mind anyway, the likes of Heaven Shall Burn and Gates to Hell. (Also: the EP artwork looks sick; love a good sea dragon.) Stream the EP’s pre-release singles here (Spotify).
AWOL – “Who You Were”
Melbourne/Naarm hardcore bruisers AWOL have come through with a heavy-hitting new single, “Who You Were,” out now through the good folks over at Last Ride Records. The song comes before their national tour supporting pop punkers No Pressure and further develops their imposing sound from their self-titled 2021 EP. I’m also very excited to catch this tour lineup later in the week and to hear this track in the flesh. Listen to “Who You Were” here.
Swiss Army Wife – Medium Gnarly
Oregon emo-adjacent math rockers Swiss Army Wife (excellent name), self-described on their Bandcamp page as a “Buncha sad bois making rad tunes,” dropped their debut album Medium Gnarly (excellent title) last week through Really Rad Records. It’s a short and (relatively) sweet collection of fun songs with huge sticky melodies, gruff vocals, and an ample serving of noodly riffs. Great stuff all around for any self-respecting Midwest emo aficionado. Stream the album in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
One Step Closer – “Turn To Me”
I’m super stoked for melodic hardcore One Step Closer to finally release their brand new three-track EP, Songs for the Willow, out now through Run For Cover Records, into the wider world. I’ve had this thing sitting in my email inbox for months, and it’s brilliant. Tracks like EP standout “Turn To Me” maintain the level of urgency and momentum felt on the band’s outstanding debut album, 2021's This Place You Know LP, while also showing off a more refined sense of melody and dynamics aided by producer Jon Markson (Drug Church, Soul Blind, Koyo). Watch the video for “Turn To Me” below:
Kruelty – Untopia
Japanese kingpins Kruelty are finally coming Down Under with Honest Crooks next month, and they’ve also announced the release of their forthcoming sophomore LP, Untopia, out on March 17th through Profound Lore Records. It’s the follow-up to their punishing 2020 debut, A Dying Truth, and finds the band sitting in the brutal sweet spot between 90s heavy hardcore, pummelling Euro death metal, and crushing doom. If you’re into great riffs, “disgusting” vocals, and a whole bunch of slamming beatdowns, then this is for you. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Plight – Plastic Sun
There’s a moment on “Common Thief,” the standout track from Plastic Sun, the debut album from Brooklyn-based quartet Plight, that hit me like an anvil:
“Century of self/
Modern man excels in the way he’s left on display.
It’s a cold type of world/
There's no turning back.”
It’s a verse that got me thinking about the documentary work of BBC director Adam Curtis and, in particular, his work on The Century of Self: “A deep examination about the rise of psychoanalysis as a powerful means of persuasion for both governments and corporations, and how it later helped influence the contemporary society of lifestyles and marketing.”
Somehow, Plight’s meditative and swirling concoction of chunky power-pop, wall-of-sound shoegaze, and morose slowcore provides the perfect aural backdrop for ruminating on how so many of our modern ills as human beings come about through cultivating desires for things we don’t know, don’t need and don’t want to understand. I think about that a lot, and now it’s nice to have a grungey chorus to go along with it.
“I'm a coward, but I like the way/
This acid rain is starting to taste.
You’re pointing fingers like I know the truth/
To move would be the death of you.”
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2023 CUTS playlist, updated weekly.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Are you listening to The Pitch pod? Well, obviously, you should be. And if you’re not… why are you such a hater??!?
On last week’s bonus episode, we had the affable Wil Collins (Candescent A.D/Prosthetic Records) join the show to dive into the Deep Cuts goth glory of Sing the Sorrow (2003), the landmark record from Californian punk rockers AFI. You won’t want to miss this one. Listen at the link below: