Weekly Roundup: March 4th
Featuring Knocked Loose, Thornhill, One Step Closer, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Thornhill – “Obsession”
Naarm/Melbourne rockers Thornhill dropped a sultry new single last week, and this one follows their previous single “Viper Room” along with their ARIA Award-nominated album, Heroine (2022). “Obsession” descends into the primal darkness of desire and narcissism through heavy grooves and artful soundscapes. Curious fans might also clock “subtle” symbolic references to the band’s previous efforts in the slick performance clip (let the boys cook—that’s all I’m saying). Watch the video for “Obsession” below:
Unpeople – S/T
Now, I wasn’t familiar with UK alt-rockers unpeople last week, but their most recent single, “waste,” has successfully convinced me to become a convert. The track is a politically charged, anti-Brexit rage anthem, with some fun vocal chant moments and a wild instrumental run in the bridge. (Trust me, it rocks.) The single will feature on the quartet’s debut S/T EP, which is set for release on April 19th via SharpTone Records. Stream the EP’s pre-release singles here (Spotify).
Clever Hour – “Cut From The Same Cloth”
Speaking of new bands, how about another one? Clever Hour is the latest project from Jake Clarke (Superheaven) and Joey Ginaldi (Knifeplay), with Evan King rounding out the trio. The group’s five-track demo is out now and was mixed by Jake and mastered by Will Yip. It’s 20-plus-minutes of grunge-friendly alt-rock in the vein of Balance and Composure, Mudhoney, Soul Blind, and the aforementioned Superheaven, or as the band put it: “For fans of Halo 2 split screen and wearing t-shirts over long sleeves.” Let’s fucking go. Listen to “Cut From The Same Cloth” here.
Haunt – Dreamers
Trad metallers Haunt have a brand new album out called Dreamers, and that hyper-specific sub-section of metal fandom that I’m calling “big sword, bullet belt, long-hair fantasy denim guys” are no doubt stoked. If you enjoy the work of groups like Manowar and Eternal Champion, or if you’ve ever watched Conan the Barbarian one time and thought, “Hell yeah,” then this is for you. Galloping riffs, sick solos, epic harmonies—shit rocks. Stream the LP in full on Bandcamp, or check out the singles over on Spotify.
RUN – “Autumn”
We’ve got another aggressive ass-beater from Aussie metal collective RUN, and this is a wild one. The Naarm/Melbourne quintet dropped “Spring” last month, and with the change in season, they’ve now dropped the colossal “Autumn”: a track that showcases a darker and colder side to their extreme metal mash-up. Given that the track is also a sombre tribute to a lost friend, the intensity and contrast on display feel entirely intentional. According to vocalist (and friend of the show) Lochlan Watt:
“The lyrics to this song are mostly quite blunt, but to be clear, it is a reflection on the suicide of a friend. RUN’s operative word is bittersweet, and I think this song embodies that better than anything else we’ve done so far. I hope people can find some catharsis and hope in it. This one is for SK.”
Listen to “Autumn” here.
One Step Closer – All You Embrace
I was fortunate enough to see Wilkes-Barre melodic hardcore outfit One Step Closer perform live in front of an intimate (read: small) crowd last year, and it was sick. Their new highly anticipated full-length, All You Embrace, is due out May 17th from Cooking Vinyl Australia and Run For Cover Records. Fusing hardcore, emo, and 90s alternative, the record was produced/engineered by Jon Markson (Drug Church, Koyo, Drain, Regulate), and it “expands the scope of [the group's] sound, offering their most anthemic and passionate work to date.” Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Knocked Loose – “Blinding Faith”
It’s crazy to think that it’s been a full five years since Louisville metalcore juggernaut Knocked Loose dropped an album. Global pandemic and widespread dyschronia notwithstanding, it’s finally time, and their forthcoming third full-length record, You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, will be out on May 10th through Pure Noise Records. Bludgeoning lead single “Blinding Faith” is a scathing indictment of religious groupthink and the hypocrisy that often accompanies an outwardly pious life. As guitarist Isaac Hale reflects:
“It was just hilarious how many people showed up to church that I knew were rude, horrible, selfish people... They knew that it made them seem like a better person—or if they said the words, it would redeem them of any negative quality just because they showed face.”
Watch the video for “Blinding Faith”:
Alcest – Les Chants de l’Aurore
Blackgaze trailblazers Alcest have announced a new record, Les Chants De L’Aurore (that’s The Songs of Dawn for the English heads out there), and this one arrives on June 21st via Nuclear Blast. I was a huge fan of 2016’s spectacular Kodama and mostly lukewarm on 2019’s follow-up Spiritual Instinct. However, their latest single, “L’Envol” (or “The Flight”), is a delightful return to the group’s blissful mix of dream-pop and post-rock textures that, according to band leader Neige, is about:
“Escaping from earthly reality to join a flock of mythical birds flying through the known boundaries of our world.”
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.
Everything Everything – Mountainhead
I’m admittedly a relative newcomer to the output of UK indie rockers Everything Everything, but I’ve been sitting with their seventh studio album, Mountainhead, for months now, and there’s one moment tucked into the depths of the record’s backside that continues to surprise me and subvert my expectations.
“It does sound pretty light-hearted in the first bit, but then the tone changes," says frontman Jonathan Higgs when discussing “Dagger’s Edge” and his lyrical motivations. “I’m taking the piss out of somebody and saying a lot of ridiculous things and then suddenly just turn into this really desperate old wise man on a mountain... I’m taking the piss out of a guy, calling him those ridiculous names, and then suddenly, a harpsichord comes in, and it’s turned into a really existential thing about everyone turning into bacon.”
And he’s not kidding, folks. After spitting bars about Littlefoot (my Land Before Time heads know what’s up) and chewing bullets like vit-a-mins, the track’s upbeat instrumental gives way to a dramatic, cavernous build-up and poetic line delivery where the perils of the human condition become mere fodder for reckless commodity consumption. It’s a beautiful, haunting moment:
The need to reconnect with nature/
A ground-up horse and turkey lie.
The growling of your stomach’s eldritch heart is/
Spilling into waking life.
We’ve all become tomorrow’s bacon/
It's spilling into waking life.
We’ve all become tomorrow’s bacon/
The customer is always right.
Stream here: Spotify | YouTube
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Vocalist Nazareth Tharratt from Naarm/Melbourne outfit Heavensgate came into TPD HQ last week for our first in-person guest episode! With a Hit List that spans 90s hip-hop deep cuts, visceral metalcore ragers and ambient mood pieces, Naz chats about forming the band during the pandemic, finding both love and aggression in unexpected places, and what fans can expect from new music in 2024. Check it out below: