“Sad Girl Hours” is the latest single from the quartet of Cold Soul. Genteel guitar is laid down as Rachel Nakshian delivers a melancholy tale of longing and heartbreak. Attempting to hold and piece yourself back together when everything seems to be falling apart can be daunting. Those overwhelming emotions build as the instrumentation gradually amplifies and comes to the forefront, while the steadiness of the vocals demonstrates resilience.

Instantly stepping into a dissonant riff, “Kite Balloons” kicks off Honey Radar’s fifth full-length album, Ruby Puff Of Dust, which was released via What’s Your Rupture?. The ragged, guitar-fueled inferno momentarily subsides with the vocals serving as a gentle, guiding, cooling agent. That mixture of unrestrained fire and its refreshing counterpart exhibits control within the chaotic setting, before “Tick Tock” rhythmically revs its engines and then snaps into gear with the crack of the snare. A continuous march forward gradually shifts and amplifies in intensity, as mastermind Jason Henn narrates an oddly intriguing scene. “Curve-less doctors cover you in spit. Don’t let anybody know it.”

However, a subdued softness marinates in “Song For Randolph Free”. Walking along a dusty, time-worn trail, there’s a memorable, conversational closeness that takes a personal look, before allowing the muscularity of guitar to round out the moment, supporting action to take the place of words. The wheel aggressively rolls on as “Carousel Society” instrumentally opens up. A pleasant yet cautionary tone is echoed in the lyrics. “All is good for you and me, let’s help the world enter the sun.” The track demonstrates the ability to stir and soothe, fading away before reviving into a gritty, groovin’ stomp.

While “Almanac Singer” enchants in a poetic prose haze, encircled by the hard-driving electric spark plug of instrumentation, one meanders slowly toward “Magnesium Blow-Up,” which is already in progress, with the decibel level subsequently rising. Loosely held together, a hypnotic heaviness gradually spins outward into the distance, returning and completing its cycle in acoustic form. “Smoking Boy” jumps out of the box, driven by the entanglement of steadily popping drums and wiry guitar, as the vocals etch a tunnel through the center, before drifting into the unknown as the song subsides.

“The Golden String” concludes this collection of garage-psych vignettes, with its slightly off-kilter, mystical haziness. It rides along and then goes off-roading, twisting ever further into unknown. While proving to be Honey Radar’s most pop-oriented record, Henn and company still manage to pack in plenty of surprises. – Michael Colavita 

Slaughter Beach, Dog‘s new LP Safe And Also No Fear officially comes out on vinyl tomorrow via Lame-O Records, but you can now stream and purchase it digitally below. Pulling influences from musicians such as Wilco and gothic Americana writers like Raymond Carver and Cormac McCarthy, there is an obvious evolution to the songwriting of Jake Ewald that fans of Modern Baseball should take notice of almost immediately. With the band’s lineup solidified by Nick Harris (NONA, LUTHER, All Dogs) on guitar, Zack Robbins (Dark Mtns, Superheaven, Petal) on drums, and former MoBo bassist Ian Farmer, you’ll find the songs on Ewald’s latest album to be more spacious and deliberate, with a shadowier side to their tales. Slaughter Beach, Dog is also scheduled to perform next in Philly on Saturday, September 21 at the First Unitarian Church, supported by Cave People. (Photo by Jess Flynn)