Weekly Roundup: July 15th
Featuring Trophy Eyes, 156/Silence, Bartees Strange, and more.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Last week, Terminal Sleep frontwoman, resident “bad bitch” and online meme queen Bec Thorwesten joined TPD for a great in-depth chat. We spoke about the band’s formation, channelling her inner rage on stage, the anxiety of becoming a role model, looking after her voice, and finding purpose through artistic expression. It’s one of my favourite episodes of the show (and our most popular one yet), so check it out below and let me know what you think!
If you prefer your podcasts audio-only, you can find them on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you want to support me and the show, visit our Patreon to see the perks on offer, starting for as little as $5 AUD/month.
(NOTE: For longtime readers, I’ve now disabled payments in Substack for the foreseeable future for ease of central convenience, so Patreon is now the best place to support me, my writing, and the TPD show.)
Click here for all the relevant links mentioned above.
Now, on with the words…
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Bartees Strange – “Lie 95”
Ever since I stumbled across the online Music Twitter hype swirling around Bartees Strange following the release of his much-celebrated 2022 Farm To Table LP, I knew he had something special. The Washington D.C. singer/songwriter’s latest single, the glistening “Lie 95,” puts his enigmatic charisma front and centre across a forlorn R’n’B rock cut suffused with an 80s nostalgia and a driving backbeat. As Strange puts it: “This one’s for the highway—and everything I meet through it.” Watch the road trip video for “Lie 95” below:
Phantoms – All The Devils Are Here
It’s business as usual for Sydney hardcore crew Phantoms as they return to complete an ambitious conceptual EP pairing. And The Devils Are Here EP drops in full on July 26th through Last Ride Records, and serves as the companion piece to 2022’s Hell Is Empty 7-inch EP. The EP was recorded, mixed and mastered by Elliott Gallart at Chameleon Studios, with eye-catching artwork by Thomas Sweetman. Stream the EP’s pre-release single here (Spotify).
Gloam – “Diving Heavy”
For Boorloo/Perth alt-shoegazers Gloam, their most recent single, the washy “Diving Heavy,” is steeped in deep reflective practices. Written as a journal entry of sorts, “Diving Heavy” explores the adverse effects of social withdrawal and our disconnection from senses of self, where “periods of emotional dissonance [require] you to sift through and try to make sense of where you’ve ended up, and how best to move forward.” Clearly, then, “heavy” isn’t a purely sonic descriptor. Listen to “Diving Heavy” here.
Emu – New Age
Back in February last year, I featured a little psych-rock outfit from the Sunshine Coast, going by the quaint Emu moniker. I enjoyed their playful jams then, and I’m even more stoked about the power trio’s latest offering: the sprawling, seven-minute-plus “New Age”. It’s a groovy finger-melter with a liquid hook and plenty of replay value, tipped to feature on the band’s forthcoming S/T debut album. My wife called this cut “Guitar Hero” music, and I’m very much inclined to agree with her. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Trophy Eyes – “Enmore”
I’m firmly of the opinion that Newcastle rockers Trophy Eyes can do no wrong. Their most recent record, 2023’s Suicide and Sunshine, was one of my favourites for the year, and they’ve been laying low since returning from a recent North American tour run marred by tragedy. With more shows to come in 2024, their latest single finds the quartet mining old sounds, striking a nostalgic chord that harkens back to 2014’s uptempo Mend, Move On LP. Listen to “Enmore” here.
PeelingFlesh – The G Code
Here’s a fun one for this week. TikTok added unprompted music from Oklahoma's brutal death metallers PeelingFlesh to a video I had in the making, and it was a move that caught me so completely off-guard that I couldn’t help but take notice. Ignorant slams? Check. Intestine churning gutturals? You bet ya. Rap flows over pinch harmonics? Yeah, buddy. They’ve got a new record titled The G Code dropping on September 6th through Unique Leader Records, and I can’t wait to break that MF open. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
CLIFFDIVER – “Goin’ For The Garbage Plate” (feat. Carpool)
Getting old sucks. So, sometimes, it’s nice to have a cute, fun song to hum along to and not feel super bad about it. There have, in fact, been many times in my life where I’ve been caught “Goin’ For The Garbage Plate,” but I’m glad Tulsa indie-punks CLIFFDIVER have managed to turn that unfortunate scenario into a rousing heart-on-sleeve saxophone-assisted banger that somehow makes staying in feel like the best option you’ve got. Watch the clip for “Goin’ For The Garbage Plate” below:
156/Silence – People Watching
Pittsburgh heavy-hitters 156/Silence might already be on their fourth album, but something tells me this one is going to make people take notice in a new way. People Watching drops on September 13th through SharpTone Records, and the record’s singles are hitting at an alt-metal levithan laying in wait. As the band states:
“People Watching is the culmination of the last 9 years of 156. From the very beginning of the band we set the goal to push ourselves and make sure no two records we put out ever sound the same. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created, this album has been a long time coming. Welcome to the new era of 156.”
Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (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.
Speed – ONLY ONE MODE
It’s hard to write anything about Sydney crew Speed that hasn’t already been said here or here or here. Suffice it to say, ONLY ONE MODE, the group’s debut full-length for Last Ride Records/Flatspot Records, is undoubtedly going to go down as an Aussie hardcore classic: It’s 100% Speed, aka “REAL SYDNEY SHIT”.
In a recent Kerrang cover story, frontman and F.O.T.S. Jem Siow explains the decades-long ethos that propelled the quintet to rapid ascent and international acclaim:
“We all got into hardcore by going to shows, seeing flyers for more shows and attending those spaces, week in week out, for years. You observe the etiquette, the people running the shows, how people participate. We’ve learned everything we know about hardcore through that physical participation, that spiritual participation.
Sitting down with people, looking them in the eye and having conversations. Discovering music in real time being played and experienced in front of you. Continuing to do that over the course of 17 or 18 years and still loving it more than ever.”