Weekly Roundup: January 8th
Featuring Crush++, nightlife, Rejoice, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Bring Me The Horizon – “Kool-Aid”
BMTH are back, and they’ve started the year with a brand-new banger. Their new single “Kool-Aid” is the latest teaser from the band’s forthcoming album, POST-HUMAN: NeX GEn, set to arrive late in 2024. The album was originally due to be released last September but was pushed back due to “unforeseen circumstances,” with frontman Oli Sykes and the band stating that they were “unable to complete the record to the standard we'd be happy with.”
The single also follows the public exit of longtime keyboardist and producer Jordan Fish, who joined the group all the way back in 2012, and whose stylistic fingerprints helped shape their musical progression away from their earlier metalcore sound following their landmark 2013 LP, Sempiternal. Watch the lyric video for “Kool-Aid” below:
Ghost Work – Light a Candle for the Lonely
Indie-punk supergroup Ghost Work are prepping their sophomore album, Light a Candle for the Lonely, which drops on March 8th via Spartan Records. The quartet features members/ex-members of Seaweed, Snapcase, Milemarker, and Minus The Bear, and their latest record follows on from their 2020 debut, You’ll Be Buried With. According to the band’s primary songwriter Sean Husick, the group formed out of a desire for more “mid-tempo rock bands rooted in punk/hardcore,” which explains their sound leaning on their previous outfits while also embracing the danceable rhythms of mid-2000s indie staples like Interpol and The Strokes. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Rejoice – “Dancing on the Cross”
Last week saw a surprise record drop from Ohio group Rejoice. The band’s eight-track debut album is called All Of Heaven’s Luck and is out now through Cleveland’s Delayed Gratification Records. Much like 2021’s Damnation No Longer Hurts EP, it’s a slab of dark and gritty metallic hardcore that centres on:
“Capitalism’s destruction of the Earth as we know it, the uber-wealthy’s parasitic tendencies that are changing the Earth, & the common person’s demise due to those aforementioned uber-wealthy.”
If you’re into hardcore punk of the Cursed, Blacklisted, and The Hope Conspiracy variety, then this will help you kick off 2024 just right. Listen to “Dancing on the Cross” here.
Capillary – S/T
Speaking of new releases, New Jersey outfit Capillary put out their debut self-titled demo through 51st State Records (the label run by Joey Chiaramonte from Koyo). The group features members of Not One Truth and All Under Heaven, and I’d comfortably file this one under the time-honoured tradition of “hardcore kids writing really cool emo music.” Fans of staples like Hum, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Title Fight should absolutely seek this one out. Stream the demo/EP in full here (Spotify).
nightlife – “face2face”
I’ve been raving about Baltimore soul-punks nightlife for years now, and I’m incredibly stoked to see that they’re finally getting the flowers they deserve. The group were named as one of the “artists reshaping rock music’s sound” by Kerrang!, and they’re playing a coveted slot on Issues’ farewell tour lineup. While the trio spent much of 2023 in the studio, they also dropped a nice little surprise track in the form of “face2face” right before Christmas, and I just couldn't let it slip by. It’s exactly what I expect from nightlife: booty-shaking grooves, funky production, lavish horn sections, and saccharine vocal theatrics. Listen to “face2face” here.
Leather Lung – Graveside Grin
Boston doom metallers Leather Lung are a new band on my radar, and from what I can tell, they likely enjoy crushing beers and rocking riffs—they’ve got some big “he’ll yeah, brother” energy for me. The New England five-piece will drop their debut album Graveyard Grin on March 15th through the good folks over at Magnetic Eye Records, and I’m certain it will deliver on their promise of “substance-fueled boogie metal.” Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Crush++ – “If You Never Jumped”
Now, here’s a group that came out of nowhere during my break and completely caught me by surprise. They’re called Crush++, and their debut album, Power Pleasure, is dropping on February 9th through independent release. I came across the band through a random share on Instagram for their previous single, “No Lids, No Love,” which was a nostalgic throwback to my mid-2000s posthardcore sweet spot.
But their latest single, “If You’ve Never Jumped,” is on a whole other level: insanely catchy, immediately polished songwriting with an undeniable melodic hook and incredible performances—the first great hit of 2024. I can’t find anyone talking about these guys, they deserve to blow the fuck up, and if there’s any justice in this godforsaken world, then we can manifest this into reality. Watch the visualiser for “If You Never Jumped” below:
SPECTRES – Presence
Back in November, I featured Canadian outfit SPECTRES in this very newsletter for the forthcoming release of their new record, Presence, due out on March 15th through Artoffact Records. The Vancouver quintet do a stark take on the classic 80s postpunk sound: think The Cure, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, etc. Their most recent single, "AM Gold," is their best one yet, and I’m excited to hear the full record later this year. 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.
SPRINTS – Letter to Self
On their debut album, Letter to Self, Dublin four-piece SPRINTS make trauma dump sessions sound positively euphoric. As Amanda Hatfield writes for BrooklynVegan in a track-by-track feature:
“Vocalist, guitarist and lead songwriter Karla Chubb builds tension by repeating her refrains until they come to a cathartic boil and explode over into a squall of noisy riffs, straddling the line between alt-rock and post-punk.”
With a sound that splits the difference between Press Club and PJ Harvey, Letter to Self packages Chubb’s thoughtful ruminations into powerful bursts of punk rock purgation.
“Cathedral” crackles and burns as the band tease out a simmering quiet/loud dynamic against Chubb’s struggle with internal homophobia and shame after growing up queer in Catholic Ireland. Elsewhere, album standout “Literary Mind” (now in a faster, more frenetic re-recording) dives into love headfirst through jubilant verses and a dazzling call-and-response chorus. This is eternally feel-good music for the perpetually down-bad.
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Do you listen to podcasts? Are you following The Pitch of Discontent over on Spotify? If you haven’t answered with fierce and emphatic “YES” declarations to both of those questions, then I suggest you rectify that at once. New year, same pod, good chats.