Weekly Roundup: October 3rd
Featuring Paramore, Dazy, High Command, and more.
MOSH PITHY:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Paramore – “This Is Why”
Well, it’s official, folks. After five long, intractable years, Paramore are finally back, and the Internet is positively buzzing with discourse of all shapes and sizes. 2017’s After Laughter was a confident step towards the twinkling dominion of fun and bouncy indie rock, and “This Is Why”—the lead single from the trio’s upcoming sixth album of the same name—appears to be continuing that trajectory in earnest. Consider me excited. Watch the Brendan Yates-directed (Turnstile) video for “This Is Why” below:
Celebration Summer – Patience In Presence
Taking their name from a most excellent Hüsker Dü track, DC outfit Celebration Summer are breathing new life into the kind of gruff melodic punk reminiscent of acts like Somerset Thrower, Leatherface, Iron Chic, and Small Brown Bike. The quartet’s debut LP, Patience In Summer, is out now through A-F Records, and it’s packed full of stone-cold bangers. For fans of knocking back beers, feeling old and/or jaded, talking shit with your mates, and generally railing against the ceaseless and inexorable march of time. Stream the LP in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Dazy – “Split”
I’m not entirely sure what’s in the water in Richmond, VA, but it seems that everything Dazy, aka multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter James Goodson, touches turns to gold. “Split” is yet another example of perfectly executed, highly infectious, indie bedroom pop—fuzzy guitar riffs, sticky hooks, and upbeat rhythms—and hints at OUTOFBODY, Goodson’s forthcoming twelve-track LP (out October 28th through Lame-O Records), being his most cohesive and fully-realised effort to date. Listen to “Split” here.
High Command – Eclipse of the Dual Moons
You know you’re in for a fun time when a band name-checks Ennio Morricone, Robert E. Howard, Michel Moorcock, Jack Vance, and other pulp figures as narrative inspiration. For Worchester metallers High Command, their latest full-length album, Eclipse of the Dual Moons (out November 25th through Southern Lord Records), is another chance to expand on the world of Secartha: a high-concept western sci-fi/fantasy realm explored across their back catalogue. As the quintet puts it: “it’s like we started with chiselling a rock… this record is the moment the rock in question begins to look like an actual sculpture.” Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Caravela – “The Knife”
This delightful little tune comes courtesy of Andrew Sacher, editor for BrooklynVegan and general, all-around good guy. By all reports, New York duo Caravela have been around for some time now, but they’re back on the grind once more and with a shiny new EP, Easy Hell (out November 11th), in tow. The EP’s lead single, “The Knife,” is a glorious and upbeat emo track about place and feeling, bursting with joyous melodies and upbeat instrumentation, where fans of Moving Mountains, Gin Blossoms, and The Jealous Sound will find a lot to love. Listen to “The Knife” here.
Anxious Arms – Crimes of Despair
I’ve been following Sacramento heavy-hitters Anxious Arms for a while now, and I’m excited to see what they can do with a full-length project. Crimes of Despair, the band’s debut LP, is out November 11th through Sunday Drive Records and weaves an intricate web of disparate sonic influences—Crowbar, Black Sabbath, Deftones, Sleep, Cave In—across ten expansive tracks. If you’re after a record that can successfully pivot from hardcore bite to earnest noise rock, lingering doom, and beyond, then this is for you. Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Spiritworld – “Deathwestern”
Last month, I covered the single “Moonlit Torture” from Spiritworld (which still rocks) and put out a simple request into this chaotic universe: “New album this year, please, I beg of you.”
Well, friends, the Gods have answered my plea, and we shall be rewarded. The band’s second studio album, the gloriously titled Deathwestern, is dropping on November 25th thanks to Century Media Records, and I could not be more stoked. Here’s to plenty of gnarly riffs, piercing whammies, and general thrasher mayhem. Watch the video for the record’s title track here.
(But also, please be advised that the video is age-restricted because YouTube are a bunch of cowards. Therefore, there’s no point in me embedding it below for aesthetic purposes. You’ll just need to log in under your own cognizance and prove that the whims of the digital algorithm do not easily manipulate you.)
Feed Me To The Waves – Apart
Not to be confused with the Melbourne metalcore group with an eerily similar moniker, Swedish post-rock collective Feed Me To The Waves are clearly big fans of all things crescendo. Their latest effort, Apart (out November 18th through dunk!records) is stacked with lush textures, arresting build-ups, and sublime dynamic crests that will appeal to supporters of acts like We Lost The Sea and Explosions In The Sky. According to the band, Apart “is a symbol of the present, the good and the bad. For us, the focus has been on the process and how it affected the music. It holds a lot of meaning to us.” Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
HEAVY METTLE:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
High Vis – Blending
On paper, Blending seems like a fraught proposition. A full-length record from a working-class UK hardcore band—featuring frontman Graham Sayle and members of Dirty Money, DiE and The Smear—that mines the depths of 80s post-punk and 90s post-hardcore and Brit-pop. Think Joy Division, Bauhaus, Crisis, The Cure and Gang Of Four; Fugazi, Echo and The Bunnymen, Flock Of Seagulls, and The Stone Roses. It shouldn’t really work, but somehow, miraculously, in the capable hands of High Vis, it does.
Take a song like “Morality Test.” An arresting refrain builds off a swelling melodic lick as Sayle equates living to “steeplechasing,” a kinetic rush of highs and lows that pushes us to the edge of our fight or fight response. In the pre-chorus, Sayle hints that modern culture and media narratives only serve to divide rather than unite us. “You can never hide your past convincingly,” he sings, like some sage bard riding the Tube to keep the riff-raff out of trouble.
It’s a watchful gesture that builds to a yearning climax, a question of purpose and a statement of fierce intent:
“I’ve seen the glass houses you’re living in/
And I’ve come here to smash your windows in.
Where do the bodies pile up?
What do you do with them?”
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify