Weekly Roundup: January 17th
Weekly Roundup: January 17th
Featuring Soul Glo, Mint Green, Fontaines D.C., and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Fontaines D.C. – “Jackie Down The Line”
Man, I’ve had this track sunk deep into my cerebellum all week, and now I’m killing myself for not jumping on the Fontaines D.C. train sooner. The Dublin quintet’s newest single, the mesmerizing “Jackie Down The Line,” features on their forthcoming LP, Skinty Fia (out April 22 through Partisan Records), and it reminds me of watching Rage as a kid and sitting through an endless cycle of ‘90s clips from Oasis, Blur, and The Verve. The band also recently performed the track on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and that clip is something else entirely. Watch the video for “Jackie Down The Line” below:
Eightfold Path – Divinity in Suffering
Steaming out of the hotbed California hardcore scene, San Jose bruisers Eightfold Path have dropped their debut EP, Divinity in Suffering. Following their well-received Sutraduction demo from last year, this six-track offering delivers on the promise of massive metallic hardcore with plenty of bite and clench-fisted crunch. It’s a welcome collection of tunes that easily holds up against their Bay Area contemporaries in Extinguish, Sunami, Gulch (RIP), Drain, and Scowl. Stream the EP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Mint Green – “Body Language”
New signees to the esteemed Pure Noise Records roster, Boston indie rockers Mint Green split the difference between earnest pop-punk and whimsical shoegaze/dream-pop. Their debut single “Body Language” rests on shimmering guitar leads, drummer Daniel Huang’s bouncy rhythms, and frontwoman Ronnica’s sweet vocal lines. It’s pretty and catchy in all the right ways, and I’m excited to hear more from the group. Listen to “Body Language” here.
Atlántico Sur – (ep)
In my continuing quest to find cool and weird stuff from across the globe, I present the Argentinian sad-core outfit Atlántico Sur. While there’s not a whole lot of detail floating around about the Conurbaner five-piece, their recent (ep) release is a delightful three-track offering of Spanish-language shoegaze shenanigans dedicated to the group’s “families, kittens and friends.” Stream the EP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Softcult – “Gaslight”
Formed by twin sisters Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn (also of Courage My Love) as a response to pervasive misogyny, Ontario “music for mall goths” duo Softcult have kicked off 2022 by dropping their best single yet. Following 2020’s stellar Year of the Rat EP, “Gaslight” wrestles with co-dependence and toxic relationships through patient percussion, aching guitar chords and blissful vocal harmonies. I get huge mid-2010s Now, Now vibes from this one and I can’t wait to hear the band’s upcoming Year of the Snake EP (out February 4th through Easy Life Records). Listen to “Gaslight” here.
Foxtails – fawn
Screamo as a genre is a hard thing to place. It can be accessible and straightforward, or it can be deliberately transgressive and didactic. On their fourth LP, fawn, Connecticut quartet Foxtails fall somewhere in the middle, continuing to mesh outsider influence into their molten genre hybrid. This makes for a record that’s constantly on edge, casually flitting between themes of anguish and vulnerability against instrumental crescendos, ambient open spaces, frenzied bursts of violin and piano, and Megan Cadena-Fernandez’s impassioned wail. Stream the LP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Soul Glo – “Jump!! (Or Get Jumped!!!)((by the future))”
2021 was a huge year for Philly hardcore crew Soul Glo. Not only did the quartet follow up 2020’s critically acclaimed Songs to Yeet at the Sun EP with two volumes in their DisN***a EP series, but they also announced their signing to Epitaph Records and hinted at the promise of a new full-length. Well, we’re only three weeks into the new year and the band’s fourth album, Diaspora Problems (out March 25th) is now firmly in our sights. This is already one of my most anticipated albums of the year and the group’s blistering lead single only further cements that sentiment. Watch the Whiplash parody video for “Jump!! (Or Get Jumped!!!)((by the future))” below:
Inhuman Nature – Under The Boot
Metal hellraisers Inhuman Nature are dropping their new EP, Under The Boot, on February 11th through UK powerhouse Church Road Records. The EP is set to feature three mighty tracks and if the barnstorming lead single and title track is anything to go off, the London quintet are more than ready to whip up riffs akin to the crossover thrash fury of Power Trip and the charnel destruction of Black Breath. Stream the EP’s pre-release tracks here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2022 TUNES playlist, updated weekly.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Underoath – Voyeurist
Here’s an interesting tidbit: I did not enjoy Erase Me, Underoath’s eighth LP and much-touted 2018 comeback album. While I was definitely in the minority with that position, I still find it hard to articulate exactly what was missing or lacking in that record. The Florida sextet spent much of the 2000s warping past the expectations of their metalcore and post-hardcore contemporaries, and yet Erase Me still felt (for me anyway) empty and absent of some creative essence that was/is nebulous and as-yet-undefined.
Well, whatever that quality was/is, Voyeurist, the group’s follow-up album, has it in spades. Whether it’s the dissonant space-rock introspection of “I’m Pretty Sure I’m Out of Luck and Have No Friends,” the existential carnality of noisy singles “Cycle” and “Numb,” or the oppressive weight and heaviness of standout track “We’re All Gonna Die,” each of the ten tracks on offer here pulls liberally from the band’s illustrious and diverse back catalogue.
In an interview with Exclaim!, guitarist Tim McTague described the album as “high-def violence,” sporting a sound that is “technologically advanced, but undeniably visceral.” And thankfully, I’m inclined to agree this time. Voyeurist is the essence of Underoath revamped for a new decade, and finds the band at their most coherent and captivating since 2010’s Ø (Disambiguation).