MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Jonezy ft. Benny The Butcher & Last Days – “Conversation Cost”
Griselda-adjacent Buffalo crew Black Soprano Family have kicked off the new year in style with the release of “Conversation Cost”. While primarily a Jonezy track with features from Last Days and Benny The Butcher, the smooth beats from Chup the Producer help to accentuate the grimy flows and street-style bars: “N****s like to talk, so I guess we the topic/ Get your brains blown out while I sit in the tropics/ Bitches like my cars, they both as exotic/ And my conversation costs, so I’mma need your deposit.” Suss out the posse cut video for the track below:
Comatose – A Way Back
Minnesota post-rockers Comatose are gearing up for the release of their debut LP, A Way Back, through Transcending Records later this month. Pre-release tracks like “Spread” and “Inside” showcase the band’s penchant for crafting lush melodies and cinematic soundscapes, while also addressing heavy topics like depression and mental health. If that sounds like your kind of thing, then preorder the album and stream the singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Lizzy Farrall – “Sabotage (Beastie Boys Cover)”
I really enjoyed Brit-pop songstress Lizzy Farrall’s debut record Bruise last year, especially the catchy, 80s synth throwback “Barbados”—damn, what a banger. While she’s no doubt hard at work on a follow-up release, Farrall has released a curious cover of the Beastie Boys classic “Sabotage” to tie fans over. It’s a little out of her sonic wheelhouse, but I dig the effort nonetheless. Check out the track here.
Sumeru – Blood Ordinance
Sydney sludge merchants Sumeru are back and ready to bring the sonic filth once more. With Jack Willoughby (I Exist) lending his pipes to the proceedings, the Aussie group’s love for heavy riffs and monstrous grooves is front and centre on their newest EP, the gloriously titled Blood Ordinance (out January 21 through Brilliant Emperor Records). Pre-order and stream the single “Foundry of Dread” here (Bandcamp).
Corridor – “Domino”
Indie powerhouse Sub Pop Records have been a staple of the underground for decades, and in that time they’ve cultivated a habit for picking winners. The newest darkhorse entry is Francophone quartet Corridor, and the re-release of their third album, Junior (2019). Single “Domino” highlights the Quebecois outfit's enviable talents—breezy rhythms, lofty vocals, bright guitar refrains—despite the French lyrics sitting firmly behind the language barrier. Check out “Domino” here.
Jarhead Fertilizer – Product of My Environment
Maryland bruisers Jarhead Fertilizer (what a name, right?) are dropping their debut LP, Product of My Environment, through Closed Casket Activities (out February 21st). The Ocean City group make death grind that’s borderline lethal and extremely hazardous to human health, with concussive blasts, shrieking screams, and devastating low-end. So, if you like your metal fast and furious, then suss out the album’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Greg Puciato – “Absence as a Presence”
Fresh off the release of his stellar solo outing, Child Soldier: Creator of God, former Dillinger Escape Plan and The Black Queen frontman Greg Puciato is back with another release. The provocatively titled Fuck Content is a collection of ten live performances from the Child Solider sessions and five new studio tracks. Watch the video for “Absence as a Presence” below:
Burden Man – Grievance
Aussie blackened trio Burden Man are releasing a new split EP titled Grievance with fellow metallers OTHRS (out January 15th through Brilliant Emperor Records). Both groups approach similarly bleak themes of sorrow, despair, and anger—albeit from different sonic angles. Pre-order the EP and listen to the single “Hours of Emptiness” here (Bandcamp).
You also can find all these tracks on the TPD January playlist, updated each week.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
The Dirty Nil – Fuck Art
Canadian rockers The Dirty Nil have always had a sense of humour. Just look at the cover for their newest LP, Fuck Art. For one, that delicious title isn’t even on it. Instead, we get some blue sky, some fluffy clouds, and a really happy, presumably well-behaved and blissfully content Good Boy. The group can’t even be bothered putting their full name on the thing. Instead, we get ‘NIL’: a placeholder that conjures up images of zero, zip, nada, n-o-t-h-i-n-g.
But friends, let me assure you, Fuck Art isn’t nothing at all. It’s great. More than great even. It’s loud, funny, pissed-off, eclectic, messy, and—at times—painfully sad. It’s alternative punk rock as millennial catharsis delivered with a complete lack of pretension. The first ten seconds of “Doom Boy” hit like a Megadeth boot-leg, followed by tongue-in-cheek Cro-Mags and Turnstile namedrops. “Done With Drugs” and “Blunt Force Concussion” are way catchier than they have any right to be. I’m also pretty sure that the bridge of “Ride or Die” has a stolen Municipal Waste riff, and “Damage Control” might be their best song yet. It’s art tailor-made for fucking. It’s art that fucks. It’s Fuck Art. Take your pick.