Friday 28 June 2024

SMUSH

BandSMUSH
For fans ofJulie, Loveless, My Bloody Valentine, Duster, Slow Crush, Glaze, Glossing, Low, and Slow Pulp.
GenresRock / Noise Rock / Grunge / Alternative / Ambient / Shoegaze / Experimental
Related artists: Highland Eyeway.
CountryVancouver, British Columbia Canada
Years Active2022-present
Label(s): Softseed Music

     My good friend Tom McCone sat on a kiwi once and told me about SMUSH. I hadn't heard of them, but after hearing/watching the two music videos on Youtube for "lizzy mcguire" and "if we didn't cry" I immediately contacted the band and asked to help out in any way I could. After getting the masters for the entire album I literally jumped at the opportunity to make vinyl for 'if you were here i'd be home now', as it truly blew my mind. The lush yet heavy shoegaze/noise rock instrumentals are the perfect vessel for Emily's syrupy sweet vocal delivery, bringing the Slows to mind (aka Slow Crush and Slow Pulp). Despite similarities to these newer bands, the root sound sprouts from 90s grunge/alternative and will likely appeal to anyone who grew up listening to that kind of music or anyone who listens to shoegaze.

     It's hard to believe this album is the band's first attempt at a full length, let alone a release. Opener "if we didn't cry" smashes the listener with tidal waves of gazey, chunky guitars whilst layering utterly gorgeous singing over it all. The balance of soft/heavy is an awesome test of dynamics and the band clearly knows how to pull on the threads and manipulate the two in order to create mesmerizing, gravitationally dangerous art. "fivefivefive" and "loafofyarn" do a similar balancing act, with tracks such as "heartless" and "new house" leaning more into the heavier/noisier side of things while "goodnight moon" and "lizzy mcguire" are prime examples of the band tackling their sound from the softer end. I'd be an asshole not to mention the most excellent vocal delivery in "horse drawing" and the way it perfectly compliments the staggering weight of the instruments. And finally, my ultimate SMUSH jam is the penultimate, writhing, trippy, sleeper hit known as "sweetheart" complete with some immaculate screaming near the close.

     Amidst the bangers are some breathers and atmosphere builders, which help lead the album in a more defined direction while providing additional substance and textures. Examples of this include bass/synth driven song "bedtime spirits" that is perfect for driving through the night, "zboy" has a lotta loopin' giving it a glitchy game intro feel, and "gates ave." is looping ambient noise.

     Worth noting, just a few weeks back I took the ferry over to Vancouver and caught the band at their release show and was, straight up, blown away. They were equally crushing and intoxicating, rocking two guitars and an acoustic in addition to the drums and bass. The sound and general feeling exuded by the members permeated the room, filling it with a mixture of anger, sadness, and acceptance - and I vibed super fucking hard with that shit. By the end of the set Emily let out a few closing shrieks as the band's set ended, giving it an conclusion that this screamo dude scarfed down in no time. On that note I'll let the music and live video I took speak for themselves below.

    I honestly don't see this being unseated as my favourite album of 2024. Please pick it up on 12" from Softseed Music (links to stores available here).

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DISCOGRAPHY

2024 - if you were here i'd be home now cassette/12"LP (stream/pre-order 12"/buy here )

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(2024) SMUSH - "sweetheart" (from 'if you were here i'd be home now') LIVE

(2024) SMUSH - "lizzy mcguire" (from 'if you were here i'd be home now') official music video

(2024) SMUSH - "if we didn't cry" (from 'if you were here i'd be home now') official music video

(2024) SMUSH - "horse drawing" (from 'if you were here i'd be home now')

(2024) SMUSH - "don't know why" (Norah Jones cover)

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Sunday 23 June 2024

*** PODCAST #155 Craig Woods (The Feat, D'Amore, Fall On Deaf Years, etc.) ***


    Back in the early 2000s I stumbled across the Adonis Battlefield + D'Amore split and it opened my brain up to a ton of sick screamo/adjacent stuff from the likes of Craig Woods and company. After two years of momentum building, we finally shot off the starting line and did this here podcast. Craig currently plays in The Feat, The Feet, Pink Guys, and Pink Eyes. Dead serious on those band names. Some other things discussed: being in The Feat, The Feet, Elder, La Clef, Peter & Craig, D'Amore, Fall On Deaf Years, Towers, Kick Rocks, The HubbiesThe Cats, Ryerose, Hot Bagels, The Push Push, Engines: pulling a Schlatter, Pantera says "drop acid", four hundred inspirations, Good Clean Fun rolling around and pretending to cry, Towers: Too Weird to Release, the secrets of Dawntreader, Srewot regrets, documenting music, ultra running and running with bread, cat-register singing, vocal volume in mixing...time for a battle, etc. Bands played in this podcast: Dawntreader, Febuary, Four Hundred Years, Kollapse, Laura Stevenson and the Cans, and The Potential Johns. Listen to podcast #155 which is available to stream and/or download for free via this link.

BE HAPPY RECORDS

1 Headphone Hookup
FOUR HUNDRED YEARS "An Hour Too Late" (Craig)
FEBUARY "IDGAF" (Dave)

2 Secret Door
DAWNTREADER "Pandora's Box" (Craig)
KOLLAPSE "Død" (Dave) [official music video]

The Keeper of the Stuff
THE POTENTIAL JOHNS "Past Due" (Craig)
LAURA STEVENSON AND THE CANS "Master of Art" (Dave) [official music video]


~Dave

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Sunday 16 June 2024

*** VOTIVE exclusive music video premiere ***

"Lesser Replica"
exclusive music video premiere
For fans ofPortrayal Of GuiltFoxmoulder and Komarov

     Are you fucking stoked? If not you will be in a few short minutes, as I'm stoked to bring you the music video premiere of Austin based screamo outfit VOTIVE's first single from their first LP 'Towards The Pillory' releasing on July 12, 2024 via No Funeral Records. The one-sided record with an etched B-side across 2 variants - coke bottle clear /100 and black ice /200 follows their sensational debut cassette EP, which if you haven't heard means this is going to blow your mind. The band is made up of members who have played in Respire, Gas Up Yr Hearse, Portrayal of Guilt, Foxmoulder, Porcelain, etc. bringing a heavy blackened emo-violence sound that'll get you goin'. Go.

(2024) VOTIVE "Lesser Replica" (from 'Towards The Pillory') official music video

Thursday 13 June 2024

*** CHARGER PORT exclusive song premiere***

"hey is for horse is"
exclusive song premiere
For fans ofHellaTera Melos and The Totemist

orders open June 19th @9am PST / 11am CST / 12pm EST

     Holy moly this upcoming split from Tomb Tree, Fisher King, and Soft Grit are releasing 50 lathes on 25 black 12"s and 25 clear 12"s. Fans of mathcore, math rock, and mathy metal are gonna be all the fuck over this shit. Today's premiere is the final of three CHARGER PORT tracks which is the solo project of Hunter who plays in both Terror Cell and Thin. Sunday will see an additional premiere of a Serling track by This Noise Is Ours! Art by Robbie Smith. Mixed/mastered by Joey Woodward.


(2024) CHARGER PORT "hey is for horse is" (from 'I don't watch sports anymore' split w/Serling)

     Clocking in at a hair over four minutes, the song wastes zero time getting into catchy-yet-choppy rhythms that show even more attention to production and power, as this shit sounds super crisp, clean, and jarring. The song shifts gears about a third of the way through and relies on some wonky slides to keep things interesting before plummeting off of a cliff after the 2:10 mark with a wildly heavy breakdown. The remainder of the song sounds like the slow demise of the jumper as they die on the fucking rocks in epic fashion.

ADDITIONAL LINKS & WHATNOT

Charger Port's EP on Softseed Music

Tuesday 11 June 2024

*** MYSTIC WILL exclusive album premiere ***

'That Is All, But That Is Enough'
exclusive album premiere

For fans of
Underdark, Circle Takes The Square, RespireLocktender and Hope Drone


     I am stoked today to bring you an early premiere of 'That Is All, But That Is Enough' in its entirety from St. Louis' MYSTIC WILL. These songs were written before and during the pandemic, with the band laying down tracking from early 2022 to early 2024 and features Jack (vocals) - Miracle Whip, Smidley, Jr. Clooney, ex-AnkouSean (guitar) - Furnace Floor, ex-AnodesDerek (bass) - Path of Might, ex-Hot Corpse, and Casey (drums) - The Vast, ex-Anodes. The seven mighty tracks were engineered by Ryan Wasoba and mastered by Magnus Lindberg. The painting for the cover is by Mark Stopforth.

     Ah Dave, but what does that shit sound like? Well, besides hinting at it with some of the members other projects, they cite City of Caterpillar, Welcome the Plague Year, Union of Uranus, At the Gates, Dissection, Circle Takes the Square, Thou, Birds in Row, and Jungbluth. Pretty much all of those track into the band's final sound, with Circle Takes The Square probably being at the forefront. Most tracks gravitate toward the four-minute mark with the opener and closer both stretching into five-minute territory. It's fast. It's blackened. It's pretty fackin' dark, to be honest. It reminds me of atmospheric black metal crossed over with hardcore and a bit o' screamo. The vocals are like acid, the drumming is wild, and the bass/guitars weave crushing and swirling melodies that meet halfway between death and lullabies. They have no current plans for shows or physical release but they're not ruling anything out completely, but releasing this is probably the last thing they do as a band! Please check it out <3

     This releases in full on the band's Bandcamp Friday June 14th, 2024.


(2024) MYSTIC WILL 'That Is All, But That Is Enough' full stream

Tuesday 4 June 2024

*** CON.FLEX song premiere ***

CON.FLEX
"watch the hands"
exclusive song premiere

For fans of!Apeshit!, Colossamite, xbxrx, Holy Molar, Arab On Radar, and The New Flesh

Releases in full June 6th, 2024 on Smoke And Mirrors

      I am very stoked to bring you this new song just two days prior to CON.FLEX debut release on Smoke And Mirrors. The self-titled album features 8 tracks and will be available on limited 7" picture disc with zine on June 6th. This opening track "watch the hands" is a clusterfuck of noises (the beginning sounds like seagulls screaming), guitar wonkery, and jarring rhythms and the rest of the album follows suit by not following the rules of hardcore. Featuring members of Under His Eye, Buried In Coal, It's All Quiet Here, Apostles Of Eris, Our Future Is An Absolute ShadowArmagideon Time, etc.

(2024) CON.FLEX "watch the hands" (from 'Con.Flex')