Rock & Indie 253 Items

What Kind of Human Have I Become is a new vehicle helmed by Matt Plunkett (Cuticles, The Trendees, etc.). Conceived as a solo endeavor, the designation got a bit blurry following an invitation to record his new songs with Stefan Neville (Pumice, etc.) at the studio he shares with Ben Holmes (Oksun Ox, etc.) in Auckland.

Once in the studio, Plunkett’s songs puffed in a wholly new way with Neville at the controls, and backing and bits from both Neville and Holmes perhaps channeling Nag and Bendie. Fans of Matt’s past and current activities will find much to rejoice in here; Avoiding The Diggy Diggy Dogs plucks three songs from the sessions. More to come in due time.

As subjects of a recent career spanning vault-clearing anthology, the likelihood that more old recordings by The Strange Girls might surface was an unlikely one. Thankfully it’s just what happened. Culled from leaky audience video recordings, Truly & Lyric features two Clayton Noone songs that never surfaced elsewhere. These date from around 2002 and feature the core duo of Kaaterama Morehu and Noone. Draped in artwork by Mark Anderson (Greymouth), Truly & Lyric offers another fleeting glimpse at The Strange Girls’ downcast beauty in action. Limited to 200.

As a true Brazilian music aficionado, Skinshape was naturally captivated by Pedro Mizutani's charm. So, when Pedro visited Europe in the summer of 2023, Skinshape invited him to its London studio. Together, magic effortlessly unfolded. Pedro sets the rhythm, while Skinshape sets the grain. With Skinshape weaving in basslines and other arrangements around Mizutani's mesmerizing guitar playing, the collaboration was a breeze. The two musicians understood each other in the blink of an eye. Together, they crafted a true homage to bossa nova. Without overshadowing Mizutani's style, Skinshape brought out his full musicality. It was a seamless symbiosis. The duo created a one-of-a-kind work. In the spirit of the Afrobeats movement, one could even describe it as "bossa-pop," maintaining the essence of the genre while incorporating British aesthetic elements under Skinshape's discerning ear. A sprinkling of shimmering bells here, kicks dipped in reverb there, and jazzy basslines for that extra touch of groove. As for Pedro Mizutani, he excelled in delicacy as always and did not lose altitude, soaring to even greater heights.

Featuring an impressive pedigree including members of Bl’ast!, Good Riddance, THE Distillers, and Fast Asleep, the band picks up right where they left off on their 2020, debut LP, Brace Yourself, with a ten-song barrage of relentless, uncompromising rage, touching on topics such as religion, self-medication, and survival in a—literally and figuratively—sick society. In between playing shows with legendary acts like Quicksand, Fear, R.K.L., and Propagandhi, the band got back together with Paul Miner at Buzzbomb Studios to lay down the follow-up to their explosive debut. All in all, it is a continuation of the band’s fast and hard approach in every way, and if anything, the band is more dialed-in and focused than ever. The songs on the record come from extremely personal and often dark places for singer and lyricist Clifford Dinsmore, such as the first single, “Hanging In The Balance.” He explains, “In the time period I was fighting cancer, I was shacked up, feeling like a prisoner in my own house. Living in a semi-purgatory state, I felt like I was looking at the world from an outside view.” Of the bleak, punishing “Omen Of Despair,” guitarist Danny B simply says, “Musically and lyrically, this is where we feel Seized UP is right now.” The band also re-recorded “Forum Of Decay,” from their 2021 7”, wishing for it to be featured on the album with the laser tightness the band is now playing with after five years as a unit.

Portraits is the second studio album by this Sioux City, IA, metalcore band FOR Today. Recorded at The Basement Recording Studio with Jamie King (between THE Buried AND ME, THE Human Abstract) resulting in ten tracks of excellently produced metallic hardcore.

OBERHEIM! is the love child of Gothenburg's alternative backyard, born from the union of scattered guerrilla groups such as URAN, Exorcist GBG, Dirty Burger, The Population, Melody Fields, Lady Banana, and Tentakel. Their self-titled debut album is a psychedelic garage rock explosion that draws its lifeblood from bands like The Stooges, Can, Kraftwerk, and The Gun Club.

Fucked Up formed in 2001 in Toronto, Canada. Meeting each other through the local diy hardcore punk scene they developed a cult following early on which blossomed into a long career of releasing genre expanding music.

"Another Day" is their 7th full length album, they have released over 60 7” singles, countless hours of open-format guitar music, and toured consistently all over the world since early in their career.

Their first three LPs, “Hidden World,” “the chemistry of common life,” and “David Comes to Life” have all been canonised as classic, critically acclaimed, genre defining efforts. The three to follow, “Glass Boys,” “Dose Your Dreams,” and “One Day” have challenged expectations in scope, style, and delivery, the latter which was written and recorded within the span of 24 hours.

Alongside their LPs, the band have been releasing their more experimental “Zodiac” series since 2006. Fucked Up have released 9 12”s of compositional, genre-less, long format songs (20mins plus) corresponding to the Chinese Zodiac, diving ever deeper into narrative forms including a 4 act opera (year of the horse), a musical palindrome (“onno”).

Fucked Up has toured the world extensively and under extraordinary circumstances – a vegetable oil powered school bus through the mountains of the American West Coast, a literal slow boat to China across the sea of Japan, and of course a humble van on any highway that will have them – and bring the same idiosyncrasy to the stage that they do to their records.

Rain/Water is the fourth album by Tokyo's Kariu Kenji. Following 2021's Sekai, also on Bruit Direct Disques, rain/water is a gorgeous haze of song, a modern driftwork that's creatively rich, and full of fleeting sensation. These twelve lush pop songs point in multiple directions, outwards to bossa nova, modern R&B and soul, ambient bliss-outs, city pop confections, and electronica. But rain/water also has a sly experimentalism at its core, the kind of experimentation that doesn't need to call attention to itself, but that exists 'between the cracks' of the songs - in small, curious gestures of arrangement, in a sudden twist in melody, or an unexpected detour in a song's narrative. In this way, they share something of the stylistic free range in other great recent avant-pop moments - think, perhaps, of the music of Maher Shalal Hash Baz; Stereolab's more late-night, hermetic moments, or High Llamas' recent Hey Panda.

Minuit Machine is a duo from Paris known for their darkwave. Their 2013 debut EP Blue Moon showed a keen ear for using synth pads and harmonics to strike a melancholy mood whereas their first LP Live & Destroy showed them working with punchier and more up-tempo rhythms. Violent Rain is a reunion of all these musical genres. Influences are certainly worn on sleeves, and Minuit Machine are no exception, but what separates the wheat from the chaff is whether those classic sounds are being imitated or used as a toolset for exploring themes and ideas which are come by honestly. The emotion of Minuit Machine's music, rife with drama and gothic excess, leaves no question as to their motives.

Black/Red Marble vinyl,limited to 200 copies.Berlins own Herzblut plays punk rock. Herzblut stands for energetic, sweat-inducing live shows. Anyone looking for a powerful catchy tune à la "Die Toten Hosen" with the lyrical wit of "Die Ärzte" in the youthful sound of "Blink 182" will find Herzblut. With regular shows in Berlin cultural venues such as "SO36" and "Wild At Heart", in the sold-out "Maschinenhaus" in the Kulturbrauerei, and at the "Spirit From The Street" festival, Herzblut has made a name for itself in the Berlin scene. As the pandemic subsided and coronavirus restrictions were lifted, Herzblut were ready to go wild with great songs, a party atmosphere and live performances reminiscent of "fat-burning work-outs" (Alexis Georgiu).

Violent Ritual is the third EP from Los Angeles’s Personal Damage, originally released on a small run of self-released cassettes in 2022 and now upgraded to vinyl courtesy of Sorry State. Violent Ritual offers five tracks of Personal Damage’s trademark snot-fueled, short-fast-and-loud hardcore punk, the longest track clocking in at a mere 80 seconds. While the songs are short, they’re hardly insubstantial, packing albums worth of excitement into each delicately constructed and tightly wound composition. Pedal-to-the-floor fast parts are punctuated by Lucky Lehrer-style rhythmic inventions, each song building toward a climactic guitar solo and/or call-and-response chorus. While so many contemporary hardcore bands de-emphasize the vocals, they’re Personal Damage’s most potent weapon, with all three members contributing to the dynamic vocal arrangements and every track offering a chance to shout along. While the first four tracks blazes at early Gang Green velocities, the closing “Banned from Society” stretches things out ever so slightly with a classic SoCal rhythm and the record’s most anthemic vocal. Violent Ritual is the most potent dose yet from one of the 2020s’ most exciting hardcore punk bands.

A majority of the music Drew Gardner has made over the years has been deeply collaborative, in contexts where his skills with improvisation can shine: with Elkhorn, Jeffrey Alexander + THE Heavy Lidders, and his own Flowers IN Space band. Cygnus A, where Gardner is playing and multitracking all the instruments, marks a shift in his approach as well as his intention, drawing the audience closer for an inward listening experience. With an earthy yet cosmic vibe, this multi-instrumentalist solo foray explores themes of distance and nearness. The album title Cygnus A refers to a distant galaxy that is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky. Its broadcast from space comes from a supermassive black hole generating energy as it consumes material, causing electrons to emit radio waves as they spiral outward in magnetic fields. Recorded in Gardner’s home studio in Harlem, Cygnus A forms a suite of serene pieces that create a soothing, mesmerizing psychedelic flow. The songs are named for our closest stars, and the album is voiced using instruments best heard at an intimate range—the mbira and zither. And while his electric guitar still plays a role, Gardner has stepped away from guitar soloing on this effort in favor of celestial leads on the zither. Fittingly, Gardner’s ability to play a variety of instruments runs deep and serves him well in guiding listeners beyond this earthly sphere.

40 Years ago Hunting Lodge was nearing the peak of its fertile “Tribal” period. In celebration of this anniversary we are releasing Nomad Souls, Tribal Warning Shot (expanded) and The Harvest (live/expanded). All of the included tracks have been lovingly remastered from the original reels and cassettes, restored and mastered for digital by Grant Richardson. Nomad Souls LP was released in the fall of 1984 on S/M Operations in the U.S., and in the following spring on Side Effekts Records, U.K.. Tribal Warning Shot 12” 4-track EP was released early 1985 on S/M Operations (U.S.). The title track was remixed with drums added for a 12” 45 release on Normal Records (Germany) soon thereafter. This version appears here (the original mix is included as a digital bonus track). A new remix of the 1983 7” “Night From Night” b/w “Untitled” is included, along with 2 tracks that appeared on compilation albums and one unreleased track. The Harvest cassette was a collection of live Hunting Lodge tracks circa 1984. Those tracks are #15, #18 through #27, and digital bonus track #1. The Detroit show bears the distinction of being the only time Roselle Williams (“The Wolf Hour”) sang live with the band. Included here are two previously unreleased tracks, one from Chicago and the other from Detroit. This set features a replica of the original S/M Operations Nomad Souls cover, and of the Normal Records 12” art, which was designed by T.M. Caldwell & executed by Trish Damon. The third sleeve features a newly designed back cover by Rolaid Alpo Cola, and an inner panel including the original Harry O. Morris promo poster artwork along with an essay from Graeme Revell. Puppy38 assisted in design and pulled together all of the design elements. Includes a limited edition 34-page booklet. This tome includes a replica of the original S/M Operations booklet (originally included in Nomad Souls / Tribal Warning Shot mail-orders) and has been expanded to feature detailed information pertaining to this LP set. All of the new artwork, as well as that of the original, are the creations of the legendary T. M. Caldwell.

LA synth-punk drippers Diode bubble to the surface with 2—the next level, off the rails sequel to their already unique, deeply wonky catalog of alienized post-punk. This well-seasoned troup of rockers comprise many great bands from the LA underground scene—including Advoids, Vaguess, and Seudo Youth. Diode is a supergroup of experimentally conscious and fiercely talented like-minded folks making warped, yet endlessly catchy, dystopian rock. With 2, Diode have fortified their DNA with layers of dense, radiating synthesizers, modulated guitars, freaky vocals, and tightly wound, speedy drums. Music to hack the freakin’ system to. After the release of their debut self-titled LP in 2020 and since playing a slew of stacked West Coast shows, Diode quickly gained local and online recognition from a widespread audience. After a few months of recent silence, the group has pulled an unlicensed weapon out of their Slash-sized tophat and shattered the silence with 2. This record is an untethered journey into a diverse landscape of synth-punk excellence. Songs like 'Diode' dive into jerky and aggressive progressions, while 'Card Dealer' and others are less jagged, and instead, are deeply infectious and prevailing heart-melters. The substantial 14 song record is captured on a decedent and triumphant mid-fi recording- the band now sounding more concrete and dialed than ever. This record is a wild, glitchy ride inside and out and has something for everyone- humans and droids alike. Diode should not be underestimated. They are rapidly mutating, becoming more powerful, and tearing through the frequencies of reality one record at a time."—Sims Hardin

Canada's #1 all-women punk band. For the first time on vinyl, here’s the entire 1980 output by the trailblazing Dishrags quartet. Formed in 1976 in Victoria and later relocating to Vancouver, the Dishrags played Vancouver’s first-ever punk rock gig and went on to bump elbows with the Clash, the Ramones, the Avengers, and countless others. Four features 13 songs of brooding punk & early hardcore, meticulously remastered. Including their 9-song studio demo, 3-song Death in the Family EP, and 1 soundboard recording. Includes a large-size booklet with their bio, interview, photos, and gig posters—plus a cool sticker!