Weekly Roundup: October 30th
Featuring Slim Krusty, Everything Everything, Home Front, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Everything Everything – “Cold Reactor”
Regardless of genre persuasion, I’m a total sucker for an engaging concept album. Mountainhead, the upcoming seventh studio album from English indie rockers Everything Everything (out March 1st), delivers on this promise in spades. As frontman Jonathan Higgs explains:
“In another world, society has built an immense mountain. To make the mountain bigger, they must make the hole they live in deeper and deeper. All of society is built around the creation of the mountain, and a mountain religion dominates all thought. At the top of the mountain is rumoured to be a huge mirror that reflects endlessly recurring images of the self, and at the bottom of the pit is a giant golden snake that is the primal fear of all believers. A “Mountainhead” is one who believes the mountain must grow no matter the cost and no matter how terrible it is to dwell in the great pit. The taller the mountain, the deeper the hole.”
The record was produced by the group’s guitarist, Alex Robertshaw, and production partner, Tom Fuller. Watch the video for “Cold Reactor” below:
Crust – He Carries The Fog
From the frigid wastes and windswept tundra of Russia comes another exercise in sonic damnation from “blackened doom sludge” metallers Crust. I’ve been following these guys for a few years now, and every release is a stellar improvement on the trio’s already rock-sloid foundations, with 2020’s ...and a Dirge Becomes an Anthem being a particular highlight. There isn’t really much more information available about “He Carries The Fog,” apart from an ominous blurb on their Bandcamp page:
“The gates of eternal wrath and punishment are unsealed, letting the fog in. It brings redemption through bloody death to men and gods.”
Hell yeah. Sign me up. Stream the single in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Slo/tide – “Don’t Trip”
In May, I featured a single from Underoath lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain’s alt-pop solo project, Slo/tide. Well, he’s back at it again, teasing another new track from what I presume is a soon-to-be-announced full-length album. Until then, listen to Spencer’s latest, “Don’t Trip” (featuring Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie on the tubs) and embrace those feel-good summer vibes. Listen to “Don’t Trip” here.
Home Front – Nation
In July, I featured Games of Power, the debut LP from Edmonton’s Home Front, in my Best of the Year (So Far) list, and that record hasn’t left my rotation since. I’m a big fan of their frigid brand of post-punk revivalism, resting on “austere new wave soundscapes blitzed together with slick melodies, deep baritone vocals, and hardcore punk rhythms.” Well, to celebrate their current UK/European tour, the band have dropped an exclusive tour 12-inch EP featuring an extended mix of their single “Nation” (with The Chisel’s Cal Graham) and two outtakes from the Games Of Power sessions: the “neo-diy new wave ballad” “Slice of Paradise” and the “synth-grooved” “Jupiter”. Stream the EP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Slim Krusty – “Mystery Bag”
One of the simple joys of attending gigs in different places is coming across new artists that leave you with a strong impression. I recently had the joy of watching Slim Krusty on a support line-up for Agnes Manner in Melbourne/Naarm a few weeks ago, and his acoustic, one-man-band set was a roaringly funny and deceptively catchy rendition of what I’m calling “gutter folk” (you read it here first, folks). If you enjoy gratuitous swearing, recreational drug use, and spinning a good pub yarn, then Mr Krusty will leave you with a shit-eating grin and an itching desire for more. Listen to “Mystery Bag” here.
Glitterer – Rationale
I miss Title Fight dearly. And yet, despite their absence and the hole it’s left in me for some time, I take solace in knowing that Ned Russin’s formerly solo project Glitterer continues to go from strength to strength as a fully-fledged group outfit. The band’s forthcoming LP, Rationale (dropping February 23rd via ANTI- Records), was recorded with producer Arthur Rizk (Ghostmane, Code Orange, Power Trip): a person who, to date, has either recorded, produced, mixed, mastered, or performed some combination of all those roles on every Glitterer record. If you’re after a dreamy mix of indie, post-punk and hardcore sounds, this is for you. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Diamond Construct – “Jynx”
We haven’t heard from Sydney-via-Taree metallers Diamond Construct in two years, but the quartet are now back on their bullshit with a hungry zeal. They’re the first Aussie band to join US-based record label Pale Chord’s roster (home to Spiritbox, Thousand Below, and Harper), along with their continued partnership with home-grown Greyscale Records. The group’s latest single takes their chaotic metal roots and pushes confidently into new sonic territory with shades of nu metal, trap, and metalcore in the mix. Watch the video for “Jynx” below:
The Requiem – A Cure to Poison the World
Floridians The Requiem—formerly known as L’exquisite Douleur—have announced the release of their debut album, A Cure to Poison the World, coming out on February 16th via Fearless Records. The trio deals in bursts of high-energy rock mixed with shades of 2000s emo and pop-punk, name-dropping diverse influences like “The Used, AFI, Pierce The Veil, and Finch, as well as Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, and Genesis.” As vocalist Damien states:
“We want to represent our generation in the best way possible. Rock music has lost the sloppiness and the vulgarity it used to have. When you're young, you need to embrace that attitude and danger. We want to bring all of that back to alternative music.”
Right on—stay weird, kids. 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.
Crime In Stereo – House & Trance
In 2016, Long Island institution Crime In Stereo had almost finished a new record. After disbanding in 2011 following the release of their fourth LP, 2010’s magnificent I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone, the long-awaited follow-up and reunion effort was nearly 80% done, but something didn’t feel right.
“It wouldn’t have been the record that people wanted,” says guitarist/vocalist Alex Dunne, “and it wouldn’t have been representative of us, and where we were at, so we scrapped all of it. There’s nothing from that album on this one. We started again from scratch and did something we felt was representative of what we were capable of, as opposed to sounding like [2007 album] …Is Dead Part Two.”
What we got instead is House & Trance: the band’s first full-length in 13 years and a fierce rebuke to the seductive allure of romanticised nostalgia. Across their phenomenal catalogue, Crime In Stereo have evolved from a scrappy, melodic hardcore outfit into something darker, more cerebral and broadly anthemic. No two albums sound alike, and each feels like a snapshot expression of collective will: desirous, honest, and resolutely idiosyncratic. As Dunne stresses: “I think this is the album we should've been making.”
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Last week’s episode of The Pitch pod featured Rou Reynolds, vocalist, lyricist, and clinch-fisted comrade for rave-punk powerhouse Enter Shikari. With their seventh full-length, A Kiss for the Whole World, netting them their first #1 record in the UK, the St Albans quartet are set to bring their unifying message to the sweaty masses. I chatted with Rou about getting politically motivated through music, the pernicious dangers of tribalism and big tech, festival crowd-pleasers, and the delights of the cactus quesadilla. Check it out in full below: