Weekly Roundup: June 28th
Featuring DARE, Employed To Serve, Creeper, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Employed To Serve – “Exist”
After their brutal set at the Download Pilot festival last weekend, UK bruisers Employed To Serve are back with “Exist,” taken from the group’s forthcoming album, Conquering (out September 17th via Spinefarm Records/Universal Music Group). It’s a chunky and heavy mid-tempo banger that suggests their new LP will be another crushing slab of metalcore goodness. Watch the video below:
SHUN – S/T
Pulling from a deep well of psych and doom influences, North Carolina outfit SHUN offer up a raw and riffy collection of heavy rock tunes on their self-titled debut full-length. The record also features guest appearances from Lamb Of God’s Mark Morton and legendary producer J. Robbins who, with credits like The Sword and Coliseum, has certainly left an indelible impression on this release. Stream the LP here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Bloom Parade – “Yours & Mine”
Brisbane shoegazers Bloom Parade are back with a new track and a new lineup. “Yours & Mine” plays out like a love letter to their obvious post-punk, alternative and dream-pop influences, with warbling synth lines and backing vocals from new addition Dayna Gilmore alongside new guitarist Dave Parker’s fuzzed-out riffage. The band are hard at work on a sophomore EP for the good folks over at Last Ride Records, so keep an ear out for that one. Listen to the track here.
DARE – Against All Odds
With their upcoming Revelation Records debut, Against All Odds (out August 20th), Orange Country hardcore punk act DARE are set to follow the path of seminal groups like Adolescents and Uniform Choice. And it’s not every day that you also get a nod from a scene luminary like Terror frontman Scott Vogel, who described DARE as his “favourite band in hardcore right now,” in-between asking for more stage dives (probably). If you want straight-edge hardcore done right, then DARE is for you. Stream pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Persekutor – “Chained to the Tundra”
It’s hard to describe Persekutor without dipping too far into superlative territory. With 2020’s excellent Permanent Winter LP, they really delivered on the promise of “Romanian ice metal,” with nine unflinching tracks inspired by Carpathian survivalism, Transylvanian booze runs, and the ever-present possibility of a frigid death. The video for the “Chained to the Tundra” tries to give you the briefest glimpse into the band’s twisted, winter sun worldview, with Soviet Bloc babes, balaclavas, cowboy hats, and hot tub bong rips. It’s a wild time. Watch here.
Wanderer – Liberation From A Brutalist Existence
Another LP that I struck upon based purely on eye-catching artwork, Wanderer’s debut full-length, Liberation From A Brutalist Existence, is a masterclass in dissonance as a discipline. Across ten hard-hitting tracks, the Minneapolis quartet grind away at brutal hardcore compositions suffused with a restless death metal mentality. It makes for a harsh and unforgiving listen—but in the best way possible. Stream the LP here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Creeper – “Midnight”
Following their 2020 album, Sex, Death & The Infinite Void, UK alternative punk outfit Creeper are quite literally draping themselves in Americana for the release of their new EP-as-epilogue, American Noir (out July 30th via Roadrunner Records). Sticking to the wheelhouse of melodramatic punk rock, “Midnight” finds keyboardist Hannah Greenwood and frontman Will Gould serenading each other with forlorn melodies and tales of bitter hearts. Watch the video below:
Soul Glo – DisN***a, Vol. 2
Well, I might not have gotten the full-length announcement I wanted for Philly crew Soul Glo, but they did drop a blistering new volume to their ongoing EP series and they also signed to a little label called Epitaph Records. So, yeah, I guess I’ll take that instead. Soul Glo continue to serve up some of the most fearless and righteous hardcore punk I’ve ever heard and they deserve way more time and attention. Stream the full EP here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2021 VIBING playlist, updated weekly.
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