Weekly Roundup: March 10th
Featuring Blanket, The Comfort, Melting, and more.
Editor’s note: Tardy once more, yes I know… but this is actually me right now (if you even care):
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
This week has two bonus videos for y’all. I was out at New Bloom Fest on Monday, and it was a total blast. DRAIN had people crowdsurfing at the bar, and BALANCE AND COMPOSURE absolutely crushed their return Down Under. If you missed it (or lived in QLD), that’s a real bummer for you. However, you can overcome said FOMO by watching my chat with the affable Zayna Youseff from SWEET PILL below:
Our guest episode for last week featured drummer Chas Levi from JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED, who joined the pod to chat about the band’s new era. Chas discusses the challenges of writing new material, the desire to streamline performance for maximum fun and crowd participation, the mental fortitude required for weeks of touring, and overcoming personal adversity. “Will you break down, or will you break through?”:
SIDE A:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
The Comfort – “Somebody Else”
Disclaimer: I am not and likely never will be “The 1975 Guy.” I missed that boat a long time ago, and now the tide is really far out, and I can’t be bothered to swim to catch up. Belaboured and clumsy nautical metaphors aside, I am perhaps the most emphatic and ardent “THE COMFORT Guy” you will ever meet.
I’ve got a lot of love for the Brissy alt-rockers, and their cover of “Somebody Else,” taken from 2016’s brilliantly verbose, Tumblr-shorthand I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It proves—rather definitively, I think—that they deserve to be one of the biggest bands on the planet. More music is on the way, so watch this space and watch the video for “Somebody Else” below:
Forewarned – Only God Forgives
Do you like All Out War? Do you like Kickback? Do you have that one bumper sticker that refers to the eponymous track from God Hate’s 2021 self-titled record? If you answered to any/all of the above, then you should be fucking with Naarm/Melbourne hardcore crew FOREWARNED.
The quartet’s debut full-length, Only God Forgives (also a dope and/or baffling Ryan Gosling x Nicolas Winding Refn joint), drops on April 11th through the good folks at Kingpin. The album is tipped to overflow with “furious, high-intensity hardcore,” divebombs, mosh parts, and gang vocals for all the homies. Stream the LP’s pre-release single/s here (Spotify).
Blanket – “Levitate”
Last year, I featured Blackpool alt-rock/shoegazers BLANKET and their full-length Ceremonia through Church Road Records. I enjoyed that record and appreciated the band’s knack for crafting “artsy space rock of the Cave In and Hum variety meets the crushing, wall-of-sound approach of Ride and Swervedriver.”
I was pleased to find out that they’re now focusing on their roots and are hard at work on their fourth studio album, set for release later this year. The group’s latest single is self-explanatory by design and aims to make you “ feel like you’re floating.” Take that, Isaac Newton. Listen to “Levitate” below:
Gridiron – Poetry From Pain
As far as hard-ass quotables are concerned, there’s a line from “Trench” on GRIDIRON’s 2022 full-length, No Good At Goodbyes, that stuck with me for its simplicity and weaponised mixed metaphor: “You on the bench/We in the trench.”
With Poetry From Pain, the group’s album follow-up, now on the way (due on May 30th through Blue Grape Music), we have a spiritual successor track and even more worthy lyrical diss: “You ain’t even on the bench no more/No, no/You just a mascot.” Ouch. Stream the LP’s pre-release single/s here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Melting – “874”
This week, the new band on my radar are Naarm/Melbourne metallers MELTING, recent signees to Aussie heavy hitter Greyscale Records.
The raging “874” dropped last week, but before I could even get this newsletter edition out, the group released another heater (the extremely girthy “Into The Suffering”) and announced their debut EP, You Exist Because We Allow It, arriving on May 2nd. Get on board now, or get left behind. Watch the video for “874” here:
SIDE B & FEATURE ALBUM:
I’m trying something new this week: I'm posting my Side B write-ups on FALLUJAH, YOUR SPIRIT DIES, CRAWLING, and the new SPIRITBOX record over on the TPD Patreon rather than restarting subscriptions and paywalls here on Substack. The reasoning for this decision is two-fold:
I already split Sides A and B for the podcast version of the show on YouTube & Spotify, and patrons get full access to both sides.
I also spend a lot of time (multiple hours every single week) working on bonus content for the show. My hope is that this gives people who already support us extra bang for their hard-earned bucks and motivates readers of this very fine newsletter to join us, kick in some $$$, and support the show.
So, if this is you, please consider becoming a Friend of the Show (for just $3 USD/$5 AUD per month), joining our alternative music community, getting access to all of our existing bonus content, and then sending me a mildly threatening chat message with some new music you like. I’m deadly serious about this. I want your recommendations!
Okay, the ‘call to action’ is now over. You’re welcome.