NEW RELEASES
Waveless - As One More Folded Paper Crane LP/CS ORDER HERE
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Waveless have been touring the DIY circuit of damp basements and abandoned warehouses for the last three years. Cutting their teeth as a fast-paced punk band,Waveless has shifted into something that is dense and buzzy, and also melodic and melancholy. The trio – composed of Dustin McChesney, Hannah Kathleen, and Jared Sather – take notes from bands like Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, and the Pixies, capturing the energy and sound of the underground as they reshape it.
Waveless self-released their first tape in 2014, but with the aid of Lou Barlow (Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr.), they re-released it on vinyl through Joyful Noise Recordings in February 2017. Their sophomore effortSpirit Island was released on Vancouver’s Deranged Records in 2016. On their new album As One More Folded Paper Crane,Waveless are at a high watermark in songwriting, synthesizing their DIY ethos with a studio curiosity that has them incorporating more deliberate instrumentation over the wash of feedback and chaos |
Gentle Leader XIV - Channels LP/CS ORDER HERE
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Gentle Leader XIV pulls on synth heavy, chorus filled 80s heart strings without diving deep into nostalgia, evoking emotional memory over a gray template of realism. It’s pop without future, love without romance, survival with an undercurrent of persistent loss. New Wave, Post Punk, damaged vibes filtered through a pop machine that keeps turning out the hits. Why keep the radio on when the song is in your head?
Gentle Leader XIV is Maria Jenkins (Hollows), Lisa McDuffie, and Jeffrey Tucholski (Running). Chris McDuffie(The Apples In Stereo) adds synth textures to the album. Channels is the debut LP from Chicago sultry synthpop band Gentle Leader XIV. At times reminiscent of early4AD projects like This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins, Channels goes heavy on atmosphere and emotion. There’s something sensual in Gentle Leader XIV’s sound - seduction begins with the beginning notes of “Two Moon Cry,” and doesn’t let up for the record’s duration. A dark mood is often a playful mood, and such is the case on Channels - pop hooks, synth arpeggios, and choruses abound throughout the LP, making it the perfect record for your next dim-lit gathering. |
Pariuh - Family Witchcraft Attack 7in ORDER HERE
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Remember the quad? Remember frisbee at your leisure? The distant, wobbling echoes of a student practicing trumpet? Hacky sack after class? Miami’s hidden treasure, Pariuh, has a different memory of the quad - the late night walks, the communication, its inevitable breakdown, and the need (that torturous, ever-loving, never-leaving, never-leading need) for something bigger and better. Pariuh has reached a crux - what form does the shape-shifting Miami outfit need to embrace to catapult them from the quad into cult sensation? The Family Witchcraft Attack EP depicts a band lost in time; pointing a finger at communal living, the nuclear family, and free love across four recently resuscitated tracks. Pariuh muses on good, evil, and - you guessed it - ROCK music. Will Pariuh’s bite-size pop cookies disguised as jarring “jock rock” anthems prove sufficiently emblematic of both their ostracizing individualism and equally overwhelming desire to make emends with the outside world? Sometimes, the quad can feel lonelier than one would think…
Lead single “Quad” proves Pariuh’s penchant for whimsical, dynamic, and creative song writing. By developing four disjointed motifs instead of a traditional verse chorus-structure, Pariuh takes the listener for an intimate walk around the quad. As Krystle Lee’s 1980’s Suzuki Omnichord zooms past like a biker cutting off a pedestrian on a busy sidewalk, Chris Dougnac, singer & drummer, exclaims “I’ll never walk around it— never could be where I had to then,” lamenting their inability to balance fulfilling their obligations while maintaining their personal well-being. Behind their quirky exterior, Pariuh deals with trauma and emotional resonance - both the real and the yet-to-come. Family Witchcraft Attack shows a band in superposition; apprehensively looking through a window into the past, meditating on its successes and failures, while moving towards an exciting and excessive future. |
Royal Brat - Eyesore LP/CS ORDER HERE
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Despite sharing only a demo cassette prior to their debut LP Eyesore, though they’ve toured the US extensively, Minneapolis four-piece Royal Brat have carved out a home for themselves in punk’s diverse community of emerging voices. The band’s insightful, prescient lyrics, combined with crunchy riffs and melodic guitar work, makes a good case for being one of 2018’s most incisive and important bands.
Royal Brat sound urgent. Vocalist Alex Uhrich delivers poignant musings on queer and femme empowerment, the trials of gender dysmorphia and inequality, and the pains of breaking up. He has expressed that the band has been an outlet for the lived pain of assault. The songs on Eyesore provide a platform to speak on life as a survivor, and prevailing in the face of sexual assault. Bandmates Shannon Boyer, Clara Salyer, and Conor Burke provide the guidance and structure for these pivotal narratives with songwriting that recalls Bratmobile, and The Breeders, as well as contemporaries Big Eyes, and Kitten Forever. In addition to playing as Royal Brat, band members also work as record label operators and queer activists, not to mention performing in or with other musical outlets like Tiffani, Waveless, Babes In Toyland. Though Eyesore clocks in at twenty-six minutes, it packs a profound punch, one that takes a stand on behalf of under-represented voices. By overcoming suffering and living authentically through trying times, Royal Brat present a vision of punk that has only just begun to bloom. |
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