Weekly Roundup: July 8th
Featuring Sunbleached, Exploring Birdsong, Duhkha, and more.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Hello again! Yes, I’m back, after some (much-needed) weeks away from the keyboard. But, as you will see, I’ve been busy, because…
Awww shit, your boy’s a bonafide, no-foolin’ YouTuber now!
All jokes aside, it’s actually a whole lot of work to record, edit and produce a video podcast that doesn’t look like total dogshit. And, as a result of this intimidating quality threshold, I’ve been incredibly stressed and caffiene-addled for weeks now. (Still am.)
However, I’m really stoked with our first run at this new show format, and I’d love for you to check it out and let me know what you think. Leave a comment, thumbs up, share it around, send me an email—however you see fit. Your feedback is welcome.
Also, please share, like, and subscribe to our shiny new YouTube channel to see what other cool shit we have planned down the line. (Turns out I’m contractually obligated to say that part now, so, you’re welcome.)
Read on for the show in the archaic “words” format, and you can still listen/stream the show over on Spotify here.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Exploring Birdsong – “Turntail”
First up is a new band on my radar from the weekend. Exploring Birdsong are a melodic prog-rock outfit from Liverpool, UK, and they’ve got a new single titled “Turntail” out now through Long Branch Records. This track is gorgeous, with vocalist Lynsey Ward’s hypnotic vocals drifting delicately across a mostly piano-led instrumental. Things also get surprisingly heavy in a rhythmic way towards the back end, which allows the song’s crescendo to become even more emotionally resonant. Watch the video for “Turntail” below:
Duhkha – A Place You Can't Come Back From
I’m not sure if you’d call Orange Country metallic hardcore crew Duhkha a ‘supergroup,’ but fuck it. It’s my newsletter; I’ll do what I please. The band, who feature members of groups like Seizures, Teeth, and Dangers, alongside Keith Barney of Eighteen Visions fame on bass, are set to release their upcoming debut LP, A Place You Can't Come Brack From, on August 9th via Good Fight Music. The LP’s two singles have been stellar so far; real mathy ass-beaters for both the hard prog nerds and the proggy hardcore kids. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
VERUM – “Rose”
Meanjin/Brissie upstarts VERUM have dropped a new earworm and it might be their best yet. “Rose” is out now via Summerland Records, and the track blends nods to 2010s nu-gaze and alt-rock revival, hinting at a confident sound for their forthcoming EP. The quartet have also racked up a bunch of big supports for groups like WAAX, Clowns, Press Club and The Delta Riggs recently, so they’re definitely ones to keep your eye on. Listen to “Rose” here.
Chubby and the Gang – And Then There Was...
Now a solo project for Brit punker Charlie Manning, Chubby and the Gang have a new record on the way, titled And Then There Was..., out October 4th through new label home Flatspot Records. The LP is billed as “a mix of control and chaos, love and loneliness, rage and vulnerability that blends hardcore punk with the most infectious elements of 70s rock n roll and doo-wop.” The record was produced by Jonah Falco, recorded and mixed by James Atckinson, and follows on from 2021’s The Mutt’s Nuts. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Beabadoobee – “Ever Seen”
Fresh off a support run for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, London songstress Beabadoobee has dropped a euphoric new single from her forthcoming studio album, This Is How Tomorrow Moves, scheduled for release on August 16th via Dirty Hit. The track was written on the road and originally intended as a country track. In true Beabadoobee fashion, it’s a whimsical indie-pop banger with a hummingly good chorus line and bright instrumentation. Perfect summer crush music. Listen to “Ever Seen” here.
No Edits – We All End Up The Same
Back in 2022, I featured a Seattle post-hardcore outfit by the name of Fixtures in this very newsletter, who had then released a stellar four-track live EP that channeled the angular sounds of Fugazi and These Arms Are Snakes. Well, that group is now going by No Edits, but that mathy post-hardcore sound is still a firm *ahem* fixture on their forthcoming album, We All End Up The Same, due on August 9th. The trio have dropped two singles from the release and of the two, my favourite is the serpentine “Time You Kill”. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Sunbleached – “White Lace”
Returning to Meanjin/Brisbane once again, we have an upcoming EP from alt-rockers Sunbleached; it’s titled I Crawled Into The Hole, and it’ll be out on August 30th. The EP was produced and recorded with long time collaborator Dylan Cottee, and lead single “White Lace” is written from the perspective of vocalist Josh Baker, who prior to being against the idea, gave in to tradition and married his sweetheart. Here’s Baker on how belief and opinions are mutable through time:
“I got married earlier this year, which is not something my wife and I had ever considered to be in our futures, we’ve historically been very anti tradition and anti marriage. The first verse of the song describes coming to terms with giving into tradition and wanting to get married after being so anti marriage for so many years. I feel like people can be so high and mighty with some of the beliefs we carry.”
Watch the clip for “White Lace” below:
Lowen – Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran
Back in May, I was gushed about London doom metallers Lowen, who mixed a crushing progressive sound with cosmic lore and the history of the ancient Middle East. Well, they’ve now formally announced their sophomore LP, Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran, due out on Oct 4th through the good folks over at Church Road Records. On the second single from the LP, vocalist Nina Saeidi states:
“‘The Seed That Dreamed Of Its Own Creation’ is written and sung entirely in Farsi, the language of Iran. The song is about Azhi Dahāka, a serpent tyrant from ancient Iranian mythology that is overthrown after a violent reign of chaos, drought and instability. Zoroastrian eschatology is considered one of the oldest on earth and I was loosely inspired by its descriptions of the end of the world, but I wanted to introduce an element of hope to the song as well.”
The is one of my most anticipated records of the year, and I can’t wait to hear what Lowen have been brewing with their Eldritch creative alchemy. 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.
Blind Girls – An Exit Exists
There’s a moment in “Make Me Nothing,” the fifth track off An Exit Exists—the newest LP from Gold Coast screamo sensation Blind Girls—that quite literally gives me the chills. The song’s midpoint hinges on a eerie guitar line as vocalist Sharni Brouwer's banshee shriek echoes a tortured refrain powered by “guilt, defeat, [and] acceptance.” As tension builds and the band’s hurried instrumental rushes to fill the emotional vacuum left behind, everything swells into the sound of the void screaming into its own emptiness, making for a harrowing listening experience.
For years, Blind Girls have consistently been one of the hardest working bands in Australia’s heavy music scene, and An Exit Exists is a real “bitches brew” of dark, intense sounds, cut through with shades of hardcore punk, contemporary screamo, and 90s emoviolence. The quintet are also currently kicking off a coast-to-coast, month-long US run playing alongside acts like Frail Body, Great Falls, Heavenly Blue, NØ MAN, Pageninetynine, Quiet Fear, Lagrimas, Raein, and more.
While Blind Girls were already working in the upper echelon of contemporary screamo, An Exit Exists more the justifies their position as a preminent force to be reckoned with on the global stage.
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify