For the bad news, some good music is in order. Cap’n Marble’s new record Come 2 California is an easy-listening psych-pop experience lightly sprayed with surf rock for an exquisite mixture of sounds. The opening title track whisks you away to your place of comfort; the music is a little hot and humid with its lingering harmonies and semi-spooky synths that contrast sparkly acoustic guitar embellishments. “In Too Deep” boasts an irresistible bassline, for your most exciting fantasies while “When the Sun” has a rhythm that is sultry and vocals like a cool breeze you can feel brush over your senses. We dare say that “Evermore” has an alluring, start-of-evening feel to it that fits as a finale to an album tailored for your worst and best days. Stream the title track from this Boston duo below for a hint of clarity from the confusion that saturates the air. – Rene Cobar
Errant “A Vacillant Breath”
Errant is the solo project Rae Amitay of Immortal Bird and Thrawsunblat and she is preparing to release her self-titled debut EP on April 3rd. The EP’s lead single is called "A Vacillant Breath" and perfectly demonstrates how Amitay can effortlessly shift from soft gentle vocals to a roaring growl in seconds.
8990 “head transfer function”
8990 released their debut cassette, head transfer function, via Reserve Mantinee last week. This is the duo of John Daniel (aka Forest Management) and Faithful, and the album was recorded at Greenview Manor and Windsor Studios. Check out the album’s lead single, "Adsense", below.
Stuck “Change Is Bad”
Post Punk group Stuck has released the first two singles, "Invisible Wall" and "Bells", from their forthcoming album, Change Is Bad. The album is due out on April 3rd via the local label Born Yesterday despite the band’s record release tour being postponed.
This is the work of David Algrim, Tim Green, Greg Obis, and Donny Walsh.
Stuck was scheduled to celebrate the release of Change is Bad on April 3rd at The Hideout, but that show has been postponed.
Parijs Plague “The Dogs Barked at Them”
Parjis Plague is returning with their seventh album, their first in eleven years, Poison Under Honey. This is dark, industrial, electronic sounds that will take the listen back to the mid-’90’s. The album’s first single is called "The Dogs Barked at Them" and the full project will be released via Monstaar Media LLC on April 20th.
Sludge abounds on Spacer’s noise-friendly “Red Wolf”
The saturated image of a fleeing canine adorns the cover of Red Wolf, a recent release by New York experimental rock trio Spacer, a fitting image given the effort’s skittish, sometimes wandering internal monologue and its fight-or-flight inducing guitar work. Through sludgey drop tunings with a slight psych influence, Spacer impress on listeners a sense of indefinable external danger, or at the very least a mild malaise, over the course of six tracks, replete with an impressionistic approach to lyricism and distorted, heavy shredding. Visceral and anxiety-inducing, it’s evocative of Boris’ Akuma No Uta, the type of record for those seeking an experimental, noisy release from the city’s current quietude. Stream it below.
Scree’s experimental instrumentation shines through on “Live from The Owl”
Brooklyn-based post-rock / jazz trio Scree best hone their sound in a live setting — their set opening for Ben Seretan this past February was, in my opinion, one of the more transcendent performances i’ve seen in recent years. Live at The Owl captures much of the unbridled, experimental aspects that make the group such a joy to listen to, brimming with noodling interplay between upbeat bass and live guitar, shuffling freeform percussion, and well-timed discordant segues that introduce a cerebral, melancholic break from melody. Unfortunately not present on the LP are guitarist Ryan Beckley’s inter-track spoken word interludes (which offered a nice reprieve from the band’s swirling, blue-toned sound in concert); until the dust settles on New York’s indefinite concert postponement and you can enjoy Scree IRL, stream this masterful instrumental effort below. —Connor Beckett McInerney, Photo by Jason Burger
Clown, Baby’s vintage synthpop delights on new EP “In My Car”
NJ electropop outfit Clown, Baby make easily danceable tunes with an 80s slant, albeit with an ear for the charmingly irreverent. Over the course of new EP In my car, the band details the merits of choosing a proletarian ride over showboating muscle cars (“toyota corolla”), the virtues of love bites (“eightdog”), and the undeniable attraction of apathetic heart-throbs (“baditude”), all presented with plush, playful synth leads and relaxed, almost lounge-like vocal performances. While the release plays into a number of songwriting tropes from an era of big hair and teenage hedonism, the extended play resonates instead as a joyful, groove focused effort, evocative of both the B-52’s campy jams and the off-kilter stylings of early Metronomy — stream it below if you’re looking for a good time. Photo by Bobby Greco.
niecesandnephews recalls the experience sweet and sad on “Come By”
Lush electronics, memories which have just started to fade, and an abiding, comforting acoustic guitar bolster “Come By,” the latest single by niecesandnephews, but the song finds its greatest strength in the human voice. Composer-producer-songwriter Mario Gutierrez’s baritone register, in collaboration with Sara Sommerer, provides narration of events both past and present, unfurling a tale of lost love among a sea of bright instrumentation, almost as if he’s telling a long, sad story of indeterminate ending. Better yet, his choice pairing of folk textures with synthetic accents presents receding recollections of the past in appropriately hazy fashion — Gutierrez said the track itself details how, in recalling bygone romance, that “the vision is generally unclear, but we wish to just have that moment to show we can bring, but that time doesn’t come.” As such, it’s recommended listening for your next nostalgia trip, or for fans of Bon Iver circa 22, A Million era — stream it below.
Peach Tree Rascals share video for new single “Things Won’t Go My Way”
These times of isolation have not stopped Peach Tree Rascals from putting out new work, as they’ve released their new single "Things Won’t Go My Way", along with its music video. The song puts into words feelings of self-doubt, the transitions of life and the dangers they present, and how disillusionment can get in the way of aspiration. Its music video channels The Truman Show, with the band acting as characters beaten by misfortune after misfortune, all of which brings them together at the end. Take a look at the video for "Things Won’t Go My Way" below. – Will Sisskind
NNAMDÏ “Gimmie Gimmie”
The latest album, Brat, from NNAMDÏ will be released via Sooper Records on April 3rd. This is the follow-up to his groundbreaking 2017 debut Drool.
The latest single from the album is called "Gimmie Gimmie" and it is a warped R&B classic. He also recently released the album’s lead single, "Wasted", which is accompanied by the video directed by Sen Morimoto, Jess Myers, and Husni Ashiku below.
The record release event that was scheduled for April 18th at Lincoln Hall has officially been cancelled and there is no word yet of a virtual release event.
Austin Bullock discharges garage rock in new record “Wasted 8”
Rhode Island may be small, but it is big with talent, and that is evident in artists such as Austin Bullock, who detonates inside your speakers with sick bravado. The Providence resident recently released Wasted 8, an album that pays tribute to garage rock and all its gritty complexities and simplicities. Tracks like “Don’t Be Like That” are easy-going in the verses, featuring cheery acoustic guitar strums that slowly disappear into the distortion that permeates the choruses. “Halo” features a slow-slithering bassline underneath hot vocals and psych-tinged ambiances that anesthetize away worries. “Not for Sale” accelerates into a beautiful mix of ‘70s punk and early ‘00s revival: past meets present and it rocks. The record has fight in it and that we need right now indeed; stream “Not for Sale” below for a trip well worth the time. – Rene Cobar