Weekly Roundup: November 28th
Featuring ††† (Crosses), As Everything Unfolds, CIVIC, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
††† (Crosses) – “Sensation”
While I’ve never been a massive Deftones guy, I think it’s fair to argue that the Sacramento outfit have become one of the most influential heavy acts of the millennium. ††† (Crosses) is the moniker of Deftones frontman Chino Moreno, who, alongside Far guitarist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Shaun Lopez, uses the side project to weave a spellbinding tapestry of dream pop, dark wave, and industrial soundscapes. The duo’s latest track is the second single from their forthcoming six-track EP, PERMANENT.RADIANT, which drops on December 9 via Warner Records. Watch the video for “Sensation” below:
Fire Sale – A Fool’s Errand
Man, supergroups really are dime-a-dozen in alternative music. Fire Sale are the latest product hot off the legacy punk rock assembly line, featuring Matt Riddle (Face to Face, No Use For A Name), Chris Swinney (The Ataris), Pedro Aida (Ann Beretta), and Matt Morris. The quartet’s latest release, A Fool’s Errand, came out last week and was mixed and mastered at Bill Stevenson’s (The Descendents) studio, the Blasting Room. Stream the two-track single here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
As Everything Unfolds – “Blossom”
UK quintet As Everything Unfolds are back with a new heavy banger. I really enjoyed the group’s 2021 debut album, Within Each Lies The Other, so I’m keen to see where they take their blend of post-hardcore and pop metalcore on their as-yet-unannounced sophomore follow-up for Long Branch Records (due sometime in 2023, I suspect). Speaking on “Blossom,” vocalist Charlie Rolfe says the track is about acknowledging your roots and opening yourself to change: “Don’t ever forget where you came from, don’t forget we’re still progressing and don’t forget there is still so much growth yet to do.” Listen to “Blossom” here.
LIES – Camera Chimera
You know any Kinsella joint is almost pre-determined to be a good time, and Camera Chimera is no exception. The latest EP from LIES (consisting of Mike and Nate Kinsella, cousins and members in American Football and Joan of Arc) is out now from Polyvinyl Records and sees the duo expanding their range of sonic textures with a rush of distorted guitars, lush synths, and a unique spin on 90s shoegaze. According to Mike, the EP’s title track “is about the scary—and often crippling—side effects of interacting/existing on social media.” Very relatable content, IMO. Stream the EP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Sacred Hearts – “Catholic Guilt II”
Sacred Hearts are more than comfortable dabbling in the sacrilegious. “Catholic Guilt” is the latest blasphemous bop from the Brisbane/Meanjin post-punk trio, forming a two-track single that reimagines the same song in shades of light and dark. Reflecting on her former Christian upbringing, vocalist June Gray says: “One of the lines is directly from The Lord’s Prayer, which I vividly remember doing before bed as a child. It was something that scared me; super morbid looking back on it.” Listen to the dark ‘n’ moody B-side, “Catholic Guilt II,” here.
Going Off – What Makes You Tick?
Manchester bruisers Going Off are all set to, um, go off next year. The quintet have announced the long-awaited release of their debut LP, What Makes You Tick?, arriving on February 24th through the good folks over at Church Road Records. If you’re a fan of stomping, heavy hardcore shot through with middle-finger gutter punk vigour—think Candy, Gulch, Trash Talk, etc.—then this is for you. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
CIVIC – “End of the Line”
Judging purely on the merits of Taken By Force’s artwork, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s an eclectic compilation of Dick Dave covers. You would also, however, be mistaken, as Melbourne punks CIVIC offer up a decisively more urban, concrete-jungle-with-soul feeling on their upcoming second studio album (out February 10th through Cooking Vinyl Australia). Recorded in Castlemaine with producer Rob Younger of Radio Birdman fame, the LP takes the group’s quick and dirty pub-rock anthems and shines them up with a glistening melodic lustre. Watch the video for “End of the Line” below:
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean – I Tried Catching You But You Fell Through Me
Anonymity is a curious thing. When it comes to heavy music, nothing adds mystique faster than seeing “Current Lineup: Anonymous — Everything” on a Metal Archives profile. Such is the case with Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean and their latest three-track EP, I Tried Catching You But You Fell Through Me (out December 9th). While personnel details might be thin, what I do know is that the band’s sludgy take on cosmic doom sounds like oblivion, and that’s enough for me. Stream the EP’s pre-release single here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
ANORAK! – S/T
In a 2016 scene report for Bandcamp, writer Brady Gerber explains at length the unique conditions responsible for ‘Eastern’ or Asian emo:
“Young bands throughout Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and other Asian countries are blending American emo with the popular styles of their own countries to make music with fewer bombastic choruses and more heady, colorful textures, folding in key elements of shoegaze and ambient. The music is more versatile and technical, but the aim is still to use driving guitars to create loud bliss for (still mostly male) introverts.”
There’s also this great quote from Lok, the owner of Sweaty & Cramped, a Hong Kong-based DIY label, which functions as both the report’s title and the regional subgenre’s explicit mission statement: “We pretty much whine about the same things.” While I don’t speak Japanese, and there’s not a lot of translatable English-language press material to go off, I would suspect that ANORAK! fall into this category too.
The Tokyo quartet recently released their self-titled LP, and it is hands down one of the best emo albums of the year, blending bubbly math rock with upbeat Midwest emo in a way that’s both unabashedly nostalgic and utterly irresistible. It’s fun, it’s breezy, and it’s everything I want in a good time.
Stream here: Spotify
Listen to all these tracks and more on the TPD 2022 TUNES playlist, updated weekly.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Did you know that The Pitch is now an exclusive Spotify ‘music + talk’ podcast? New episodes go up every Monday and Friday with some cool things planned for 2023. Check out the show and let me know what you think!