Praise be, what a lovely discovery. Oona Ruin’s vocals echo with folk notes, a unique raspy strength, combined with soothing finger picking. A haunting and catchy song that is leaving us hoping and searching for more. Stay tuned for more releases and Bay Area shows. –Michelle Kicherer, Associate Editor

Situated at the crosshairs of jazz, contemporary classical, and math rock is New York post everything trio concrete concrete, who, over the course of their debut LP Drifter, establish themselves as idiosyncratic songwriters and immaculate instrumentalists. From the bright guitar interplay on opening vamp “But I Still” to dark cinematic closer “Reverie,” concrete concrete demonstrate a penchant for fusion, employing orchestral strings, electronica interludes, and lush seven-chord arpeggios in tandem—only briefly allowing vocals to take centerstage of “Hues,” the record’s central track. Their predeliction for balance in the release’s many moving parts is remarkable, and shows both the group’s impressive instrumental chops and their tactful ears as authors of one of the year’s more interesting albums—give it a listen below. -Connor Beckett McInerney 

Stuyedeyed, Pure Adult, and Holy Wisdom LLC, will be taking over Rough Trade NYC on 10.30 for what promises to be an overly noisy evening with local NYC bands. 

Stuyedeyed is comprised of Nelson Antonio Hernandez-Espinal, Humberto Genao, George Ramirez, and Luis Ruelas, four musicians dedicated to the cult of… loud sounds and vocals of uncompromising garage rock. “Mr. Policeman,” the band’s most popular track, features contentious lyrics addressing police brutality (“Hey Mr. Policeman, who’d you kill today?”), complemented by blaring guitar riffs, with results that are protest-inducing, to say the least.

Pure Adult released their self-titled debut EP in September of this year. This 33 minute long EP gives the listener a look into this band’s crazed chaotic sound. The first song off the EP, “I Am Shitting in a Room” conveys the subversive vibes straight from the title and sounds like someone randomly browsing through radio frequencies. Things get definitely more structured starting with single "The New Guillotine," a spartan post punk track featuring striking spoken poetry and an explosively broken "chorus".

In "The Midnight Room" EP, Holy Wisdom also flirts with experimentation and post-punk vibes, though through a darker and more ominously mysterious approach. The band’s vocals, muffled and mysterious, shun anything resembling a melody, and can be whispered or borderline satanic sounding – in a way that’s at once reminiscent of Tom Waits and Suicide’s Alan Vega. The results are designed to cause an uncomfortable and frightening experience among the most sensitive listeners, in the most authentic tradition of early post-punk. – Karigan Wright