Weekly Roundup: September 9th
Featuring The Midnight, Durendal, Mouth Culture, and more.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Yes, I know. Late again. I am currently suffering a litany of injustices (dying/dead laptop, delayed podcast schedule, some bullshit air travel flu, etc.). Still, I refuse to let this become a “woe is me” endeavour. And so, we forge on.
ERRONEOUS BOTCH:
Before they kicked off two roaring sets of fuzzed-out, shoegaze-slanted post-hardcore at this year’s BIGSOUND 2024 showcase in Brisbane, the boys from Sunbleached dropped into TPD HQ to give us the lowdown on their stellar new five-track EP, I Crawled Into The Hole. Josh & Brent discuss the band's inception, how the energy of live shows and a desire for visceral impact skew their sound in a heavier direction, and what’s on the horizon for the promising Queensland outfit. Check it out below:
Additionally, if you like what I do here, signing up for the TPD Patreon is the best way to support me, support the show, and help keep the lights on.
We’ve got perks and fun stuff over there, with more on the way, so please do me a solid and check it out. *salute emoji*
Now, on with the words…
SIDE A:
A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.
Girl Scout – “Honey”
Swedish indie quartet Girl Scout are back with the announcement of their third EP, Headache, arriving on November 8th through 235 Music. The group’s brand new single is a mammoth power-pop tune they’ve been road-testing on their recent summer tour with Alvvays and at their recent headline shows across the UK & Europe. Lyrically, “Honey” tackles the complex feelings of friendships falling apart. As lead singer Emma Jansson’s notes:
“Honey is about the bittersweet experience of close friends growing apart, heartache and the inevitability to keep everyone in your life at the same time. The lyrics delve into the complex emotions of frustration, concern, and helplessness while witnessing the imbalance of that relationship.”
Watch the video for “Honey” below:
The Coming Strife Presents – Light of the Final Dawn
UK label heavyweights The Coming Strife have dropped a killer new comp titled Light of the Final Dawn. It features new tracks from some of the best underground metalcore acts, including Cauldron, Dandelion, Embitter, Killing Me Softly, xDeliverancex, with paper wings, Morbidiety (RIP), and many more. Leicester upstarts Durendal have a six-minute track on here that straight-up sounds like Killing With A Smile-era Parkway, and it rules. If I had heard this comp in 2006, it would still be my entire personality today. Stream the compilation in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
The Midnight – “Chariot”
Back in March, my wife and I finally got to see The Midnight live, and it was easily one of the best shows I’ve ever seen in my life. A gargantuan 22-song setlist. Live saxophone and two drum kits. All the bangers and a smattering of real-head deep cuts. It was bliss. The synthwave all-stars have a new track out, and, unsurprisingly, it rocks. If you like your shameless 80s nostalgia dipped in late 90s acid house rave drops, this is for you. Listen to “Chariot” here.
Eye of the Enemy – Lorem Ipsum
I don’t know much about melodic death metal outfit Eye of the Enemy except that they hail from Naarm/Melbourne, and their vocalist, Mitch Alexander, is a sometimes fill-in host for Triple J’s The Racket. They’ve dropped a few songs this year and appear to be building up to a new release, album, EP, or otherwise. Their newest track hits a Gojira-meets-The Black Dahlia Murder instrumental sweet spot for me, and Alexander’s performance is suitably nuanced and vitriolic. Stream the track here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Spiritbox – “Soft Spine”
Metalcore powerhouse Spiritbox are due to head out on a sprawling North American run supporting Korn for their 30th-anniversary tour along with special guests (the aforementioned) Gojira. And it’s clear they had stadium venues in mind when they put together their most recent cut, the hyper-aggressive “Soft Spine,” which finds vocalist Courtney LaPlante roaring over some big, fuck off, “jump the fuck up” riffs. It's a real push-pitter’s wet dream right here. Listen to “Soft Spine” here.
SIDE B:
More tracks for you. Deep cuts for the real heads. Still cool.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD”
We’re finally getting a new LP from a Montreal post-rock institution Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and I wish it was under better circumstances. It’s titled "NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD." And as that title makes clear, it’s very much a thematic companion piece to the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people in Gaza. So yeah, there’s nothing else to say except that this LP will likely make you feel things. Post-rock legends be post-rocking, who’d have guessed? Stream the LP’s pre-release singles here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
Mouth Culture – “Everyday”
Leicester alt-rockers Mouth Culture were previously tipped as one of Kerrang’s “Ones To Watch” for 2024, and they’ve also been announced as part of the Slam Dunk 2025 line-up. Big things coming, etc. On that note, the band’s new EP, Whatever The Weather, is out on October 4th via InVogue Records. Their latest single, the moody slowburn “Everyday”:
“Delves into the entrapment of everyday struggles. Exploring more mature themes around mental health, ‘Everyday’ is probably the most personal and vulnerable song we have ever written. It’s saturated in nostalgia and nods to shoegaze influences which haven’t been acknowledged on prior releases.”
Watch the clip for “Everyday” below:
Mammoth Grinder – Undying Spectral Resonance
In crazy one-man-band news, instrumental metal wizard Chris Ulsh (Power Trip, Devil Master, and more) is back with his long-running Mammoth Grinder project. Ulsh’s new EP, Undying Spectral Resonance, is billed as “five tracks of pure grime and grit - a mix of snarling, punk-infused Old School Death Metal,” and it’s coming out on November 15th via Relapse Records. Ulsh played all the instruments on the EP, roared all the vocals, and recorded with long-time collaborator Arthur Rizk at his new home studio outside of Philadelphia. I have a feeling this one will be, ahem, “heavy.” Stream the album in full here (Bandcamp/Spotify).
FEATURE ALBUM:
A closer, more in-depth look at a new record that ticks all my boxes.
Many Eyes – The Light Age
There’s a line in “Desperate Pleasures,” a track off Every Time I Die’s final album, Radical (2021), that finds then-vocalist Keith Buckley having a crisis of faith: “You got an atheist praying for Judgment Day.” ETID imploded shortly after the album’s release due to Gallagher-level brotherly infighting, and it’s likely that the crisis only deepened. For Buckley, his journey downward into despair became a figurative katábasis, where characters of myth journey into the underworld to overcome struggle and find redemption.
On The Light Age, the debut full-length from his new project Many Eyes, that rebirth arrives radiant and glorious, a shiny beacon of affirmation and purpose after so long searching in the dark. Referencing that same ETID line and locating it as a point of philosophical divergence, Buckley explained in a conversation with Anti-matter’s Norman Brannon:
“That line was really one of the ones that tipped me off. I was like, I don’t believe in God. I’ve said it a million times. But I was still praying for the things that I used to find with him. So, who am I? I can’t have faith and pretend that I don’t, and I can’t not have faith and pretend that I do. It just became this huge dichotomy that I had to get straight. And once I did, I just had to admit: I believe in God.
I was a religious kid. I’m not Roman Catholic [anymore], but I’m Christian, and this is where my interest is. This is the source of all spirituality that I’ve always been talking about. It comes back to this institution that is just really fucked up, but you have to dig through it to get to the actual spirituality. That’s kind of what I did for the last two or three years.”
Stream here: Bandcamp | Spotify