Weekly Roundup: June 5th
Weekly Roundup: June 5th
Featuring We Set Sail, Code Orange, Bloc Party, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
FEVER 333 – “$wing”
We’re witnessing the birth of a new era for FEVER 333. Last year saw previous founding members leave the group, with former letlive. frontman and consummate showman Jason Aalon Butler the only remaining member. The quartet’s rejuvenated lineup now consists of drummer Thomas Pridgen (The Mars Volta, Thundercat), viral bass sensation April Kae, and guitarist Brandon Davis, and according to Butler:
“This new era of FEVER 333 is beyond even what I could have imagined. The talent, the funk, the passion, and the respect for this project April, Thomas and Brandon have already delivered have shown me, once again, that this project is something more than a band onstage.”
With a new partnership between 333 Wreckords Crew (Butler’s own label) and Century Media Records, the group is now ready for a whole new takeover. Watch the video for “$wing” below:
Code Orange – Grooming My Replacement b/w The Game
Conceptual heavy hitters Code Orange are back with a new taste of glitched-out aggression. The now-sextet dropped two brand new songs, titled “Grooming My Replacement” and “The Game,” along with some truly sinister visualiser videos. Frontman Jami Morgan describes the pair as “the bug-infested subconscious of a band on the run from its past and future,” and they follow on from the release of What Is Really Underneath back in February, which was a “part-remix, part-soundtrack” companion album to 2020’s Underneath LP. Stream both singles in full here (Spotify).
Bloc Party & KennyHoopla – “Keep It Rolling”
Here’s a nice surprise. It’s the first-ever collaborative single from UK indie punks Bloc Party, featuring pop-punk success story KennyHoopla. Apparently, the adoration between the two artists has been mutual for some time, with the collaboration occurring during a recent trip to London. On the collab, Kenny added:
“I’ve always been a huge Bloc Party fan, so this was a bucket list collab for me. I hardly do any features, so if I do one, it’s always for family. I’m happy to call Kele a friend, and it was amazing to get to do a song together.”
Bloc Party are currently on a worldwide tour with pop-punk veterans Paramore and supporting last year’s Alpha Games LP. Listen to “Keep It Rolling” here.
KEN mode – VOID
Winnipeg purveyors of sonic extremity KEN mode have announced a shiny new LP, and it’s pitched as the companion piece to last year’s incredible NULL. Fittingly, this new record is titled VOID and will be released on September 22nd through Artoffact Records. Press details describe the companion LP as having a “decidedly more melancholy and disappointed aesthetic than its predecessor,” which is certainly ambitious given how bleak and aggressive the band is as a default. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
We Set Sail – “Broken Umbrella”
Brisbane/Meanjin-based “sad bastard” collective We Set Sail have decided to call it a day (RIP) and go out on their own terms. The quintet will play a farewell show in Brisbane on Saturday, July 8th (get tickets here), and the group’s final release, the two-track 7-inch I Don’t Recall Saying Good Luck, will be available for purchase at the show. You can stream the Side A single, “Broken Umbrella,” as well as my chat with frontman and guitarist Paul Voge exclusively on the latest episode of The Pitch pod. Listen here.
Moodring – Your Light Fades Away
Florida-via-Atlanta alt-metal all-stars Moodring are back with more off-kilter heavy goodness. The trio previously released their Stargazer LP in 2021, and now they’re following it up with their forthcoming EP, YOUR LIGHT FADES AWAY, out on July 14 via UNFD. The release finds the group refining and doubling down on all aspects of their neo-Deftones sound, with chunky riffs, dreamy textures and vocal layers, and earth-shattering grooves. “We really wanted to push ourselves to experiment with vocals on these new songs,” says vocalist Hunter Young, “and find a way to work our signature chorus hook in amongst new approaches to melody and aggression.” Stream the EP’s pre-release singles here (Spotify).
Bad Juju – “Nothing To Give”
After building up to something for the last six months or so, Melbourne/Naarm alt-rockers Bad Juju have finally announced the release of their long-awaited debut album, Blue Heaven, which will arrive on July 21st. The highly anticipated twelve-track full-length promises to be the group’s most cohesive and emotionally charged release yet, with production from Callan Orr (Hands Like Houses, Dream on Dreamer) and Sam Bassal (Ocean Grove, Trophy Eyes). I’m expecting charging guitar tones, gritty grunge-adjacent vocals, pounding percussion and delicate synths. Check out the video for “Nothing To Give” below:
Ringworm – Seeing Through Fire
Cleveland metallic hardcore pioneers Ringworm are returning for their ninth studio album (!) and first in four years. It’s titled Seeing Through Fire, and it’s out on August 18th through their new label, Nuclear Blast Records. As vocalist James “Human Furnace” Bulloch puts it, the new LP is “a total burner. It’s a straightforward, ‘smash your face and leave you layin’ there wondering what you got hit with’-type record.” Hell yeah. The band’s seminal record, The Promise (1993), also turns 30 this year, and it essentially laid the template for aggressive metallic hardcore and the burgeoning 90s metalcore scene that followed. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2023 CUTS playlist, updated weekly.
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
RVG – Brain Worms
On their third LP, Melbourne/Naarm post-punkers RVG offer up what it says on the tin: Brain Worms. It’s an album that does exactly that: infecting the listener with curious, engaging narratives about turning into a sea creature and going insane online, sounding very much like a uniquely millennial existential crisis.
The full-length follow-up to 2020’s Feral feels sparse and calm, content with letting synths and ambient tones settle around frontwoman Romy Vager’s melancholic croon. “Tambourine” is a poetic lamentation on death, loss and the unique absurdity of our current cultural moment, complete with nods to Train’s “Drops of Jupiter” and the indignity of live-streamed funerals. Meanwhile, “Giant Snake” laughs in the face of the abyss with a banger chorus hook: “I’ve got Ivan Milat with a giant snake around his neck/ He keeps saying I'm the weirdest shit he’s ever seen.”
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
To celebrate the upcoming release of his debut album, Pyrophonics (out June 16th on Fever Ltd.), Heavenward/Chain Gang of 1974 mastermind Kamtin Mohager joined The Pitch pod to run through his absolutely mammoth Hit List filled with rare finds and wall-of-sound riffs from a slew of 90s & 00s alternative icons. It’s a great chat and full of sleeper hits from bands that were new to me but sure to be favourites in due time. Have a listen and check it out below: