Zola Jesus returns with the first single from Okovi, her new album on Sacred Bones Records, due out Sept 8th. It finds Nicole Hummel in fine form, juxtaposing dramatic flurries of strings, industrial electronic rhythms and low frequency bass thrums as she backgrounds her lead vocal with the deathly howl of her self-voiced choir. There’s a turbulent, anxious and haunting feel to the song that … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Zola Jesus – Exhumed
Alex Cameron has a new album called Forced Witness coming out on September 8th via Secretly Canadian and here’s the first single from it – ‘Candy May’. Cameron and sidekick Roy have been traveling the US-of-A for a while now, spreading their electro-croon lounge music from coast to coast on the back of the successful debut LP Jumping The Shark. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Alex Cameron – Candy May
Jep and Dep are back with ‘Cruel Moon’, the first single from their forthcoming second LP, due out this August. Over the last couple of years they’ve developed a cohesive and atmospheric style, built on strong monochromatic imagery in their photos and videos – the perfect marriage to their sparse, sometimes lush, always compelling folk-noir sound. Jessica Cassar and Darren Cross take a strong conceptual approach to … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Jep and Dep – Cruel Moon (video)
Here’s another track off Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s consistently excellent French Press EP, out now on Sub Pop. Tumbling, jangly guitars and that incessant drum beat are the backdrop for young lust… “I want you, I want you, I want you, I want you, I wanna see you smiling on a blue afternoon dreaming of the ceiling and the smell of your room cuz I want … Continue reading VIDEO: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Sick Bug
Thurston Moore has been teasing his new album in interviews over the last few months and today we get the official announcement of Rock n Roll Conciousness, due for release on April 28th via Caroline Australia. It’s a five track album (track listing below) which features Deb Googe (My Bloody Valentine, Snowpony) bass, James Sedwards (Nøught, Chrome Hoof) guitar and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth, Crucifucks) drums and was produced by Paul Epworth (Adele, Paul McCartney, Glass Animals) … Continue reading NEWS: Thurston Moore announces ‘Rock n Roll Consciousness’ LP
One of New Zealand’s finest polymorphic, dubbed out and skanking rock ‘n’ roll bands Hallelujah Picassos will release their new single ‘Dirty Suits’ this Friday, Dec 9th. It follows their earlier EP The Bullet That Breaks The Key. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Hallelujah Picassos – Dirty Suits
Show Me Where It Hurts are a Rhodes electric piano, drums and vocals duo from Auckland, New Zealand. Both musicians have been key players on the Auckland scene for the last two decades with Josh Hetherington fronting Thorazine Shuffle and Ronny Haynes drumming with bands such as Pash and Fagan And The People. The pair have just released their debut self-titled EP (stream/buy below) which follows … Continue reading SONIC KICKS: Show Me Where It Hurts
Their third album and first in five years, Deliverance is a consistently impressive encapsulation of the evolution Melbourne’s Witch Hats have shown across their records. There’s plenty of dark, lurching rock ‘n’ roll with howling dirges and claustrophobic angst. The bass is deep and heavy, anchoring the songs as they stagger off into Stooges proto-punk, and nihilistic post-punk. The key is the melodies that still burn … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Witch Hats – Deliverance
Swedish psych folk rock band GOAT have announced their new album Requiem will be out on October 7th. Here’s the first taste – the droning, hypnotic Try My Robe, which digs a Tinariwen-like hole in your synapses. Continue reading NEW MUSIC: GOAT – Try My Robe
The popularity of psych and garage rock in recent years shows no sign of abating and that’s a good thing when top shelf exponents such as NewYork five-piece The Mystery Lights rise to the top. They’ve got the 60s sound down pat with heavy-on-the-reverb, fuzzed-out guitars, droning organ, and a soulful, punk-injected push and pull rhythm section. Singer Mike Brandon has a thin, taut and … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: The Mystery Lights – The Mystery Lights
Marcus Whale (Collarbones) has made an impressive artistic statement with his debut solo album. Released digitally, with an accompanying physical book, Inland Sea explores queer and colonial Australian history through a dark and oblique gauze of minimal electronica. It veers between militant tech-heavy drums and glitchy whirs of atmospheric sounds that can draw a timeline back through artists such as Bjork and Photek. There’s an … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Marcus Whale – Inland Sea
At the forefront of the loose scene of guitar adventurists that include Cian Nugent, Ryley Walker and Chris Forsyth, Steve Gunn is another who has figured out how to expand his sound to a full band and incorporate his lazy psych-rock vocals. The touchstones of Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine (Television) are obvious in the sparkling, spiralling guitar phrasings while on tracks such as Nature … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Steve Gunn – Eyes On The Lines
Doubtful Sounds 