Weekly Roundup: May 3rd
Featuring At The Gates, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Drug Church, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – “My Town” feat. Joe Talbot
Britain’s best are back at it again, ready and raring to fire up after the success of 2019’s End of Suffering. Frank Carter brings the sultry vocals and social commentary, while IDLES’ frontman Joe Talbot pops in to lend his caustic bite to an otherwise jaunty tune. Watch the piss-taking video for “My Town” below:
SLIFT – UMMON
Thank the YouTube algorithm gods for another dreamy slice of random goodness. I let UMMON play out the other day purely based on that glorious album art and it did not disappoint. SLIFT offer up dreamy psych, expansive stoner rock, and lush soundscapes tailor-made for your inner stargazer. It’s a dense, hour-long listen but also an extremely rewarding one. Stream the full record here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
At The Gates – “Spectre of Extinction”
I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that At The Gates are the greatest melodic death metal band on the planet. Sure, they could just rest on their laurels and replay Slaughter of the Soul forever, but that’s not the way for these Gothenburg lads. And if this lead single is any indication, the group’s lastest album, The Nightmare of Being (out July 2 via Century Media Records), will pack heady existentialism with plenty of catchy riffage. Listen to “Spectre of Extinction” here.
Drug Church – TAWNY
I’ve been waiting for Albany’s Drug Church to follow up 2018’s exceptional Cheer, and it appears that TAWNY will fill that void. The title track from this four-song EP is exactly what I’ve come to expect from the band: angular melodies, abrasive yet moving rhythms, and vocalist Patrick Kindlon’s acid-coated lyricism. As the frontman spits: “Tragedy is comedy minus yourself.” Ain’t that the truth. Stream the album’s pre-release single here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Ursula – “Hot n Bothered”
Featuring members from The Love Junkies, Pat Chow, New Talk and Old Blood, Perth-based indie quartet Ursula deliver a hazy blend of indie-pop and garage rock on their newest single, “Hot n Bothered.” It’s a quiet little ear-worm and one that has me excited for the band’s future prospects. Definitely a ‘watch this space’ kind of deal. Listen to the single here.
Vision Video – Inked In Red
Inked In Red comes courtesy of a Pitchfork review of all things. Something about that album cover getting a 7.0 from the indie tastemakers had me immediately curious. Then, seeing that the Athens, Georgia outfit consisted of an Afghanistan war veteran turned firefighter and EMT, the strikingly melodic goth sounds within had me hooked. If you’re looking for a fix like The Cure, then Vision Video are for you. Stream the record here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Spiritbox – “Circle With Me”
Mark my words, 2021 will be the year of Spiritbox. Riding a massive wave of fan adoration, the British Columbia group are set to dominate the metalcore scene with the release of their forthcoming album debut. Their latest single “Circle With Me” is a love letter to crushing breakdowns and soaring choruses, with frontwoman Courtney LaPlante pairing a soaring pop melody with her indomitable harsh screams. Watch the video for “Circle With Me” below:
When Waves Collide – Chasm
Post-rock can be many things at once: captivating, layered, emotional, resonant, and otherworldly. Chasm, the latest album from Italy’s When Waves Collide, is all those things and more. The instrumentation is crisp and clean, with gorgeous production that allows every guitar lick delay, crunchy bass groove, and delicate synth accent to shine against a broader array of standout performances. Stream the album in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Manchester Orchestra – The Million Masks of God
For fifteen years, I’ve avoided listening to Manchester Orchestra and I don’t really know why. On paper, the band do the type of earnest indie rock that would normally hit my introspective sweet spot. And yet, listening to The Million Masks of God last week, I realised that I’d never given the band a proper shake.
That is, until now. Ostensibly a concept album and follow up to 2017’s A Black Mile to the Surface—another record I haven’t listened to—frontman Andy Hull describes the album’s loose narrative as revolving around a man meeting the angel of death and seeing “various scenes from his life in a snapshot-style assemblage.” Okay, so that sounds like an indie-rock opera version of It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). I’m on board.
So, this is how I digested The Million Masks of God, in assemblage snapshots. The troubadour rhythms of “Angel of Death”; the beautifully complex composition of “Bed Head”. The free-spirited axis of the upbeat “Keel Timing”; the plaintive acoustic wandering of “Telepath”. The yearning ‘woah-ohs’ of “Let It Storm”; the soft caress of the Bright Eyes-aping “Way Back”.
I let all of it cut me up and stitch me back together again. Pieces that somehow become more than the whole. As Hull ruminates on closer “The Internet”:
“Do you know what it means?
Another life outside dismantling me.
Do you know what it means?
Another man inside the man that's in me.”
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify
Listen to all these tracks on the TPD May playlist, updated each week.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Links to some of my other published work across the Web. Take a look, share if you feel like it, and help a brother out.
French avant-metallers Gojira dropped their new record last week and it’s an absolute monster. In my New Noise album review, I described Fortitude as the sound of the band “at the limits of sonic extremity and emotional resonance, pushing through the turmoil of our time to imagine a better world with heavy and frequently harrowing results.” Suss out the full review here.