Austin Leonard Jones – Back In Black Lagoon
Native to Texas and now based in Ojai, CA, Austin Leonard Jones has made a name braiding melancholy and wit into his country style. Described as “somewhere between a funeral and a costume party,” new album Dead Calm continues to develop this apparent juxtaposition. Though as lead single ‘Back in Black Lagoon’ shows, humour and sadness might not be such odd bedfellows. “I’m the sole survivor of the all-night show,” Jones sings, “it cost a thousand tears for every episode.” Check out the video starring Bill Wedden below:
Dead Calm is out on the 29th July via Perpetual Doom and you can pre-order it via Bandcamp.
bedbugz – bedbugz / golf jumper
Hailing from Canterbury, shoegaze outfit bedbugz is the latest addition to the roster of Tonetic Records, a new youth-led label run via the Arts Education Exchange. Their new self-titled single and b-side ‘golf jumper’ first came into being in demo form while the members were still at school, and periods spent in the studio alongside continued world-building developed them further, creating a sense of ambition and energy which mark the band (the songs even come complete with a text-based adventure game). With its upbeat rhythm and searching vocals, the title track is a bittersweet tale of young love, while the b-side sets out further into shoegaze territory, its pace slower but weightier, the feedback gathering slowly before breaking in a stormy finale.
Easy Sleeper – D.T.F.S.
Having formed in DC and now based in LA, indie rock outfit Easy Sleeper have cut their teeth across various locals scenes on both coasts. Following on from previous single ‘Access Reply’, their latest release celebrates the value in creation and community. Titled ‘D.T.F.S.’, or Drive That Fucking Stake, the song is a searing reminder of how powerful the present moment can be, blocking out yesterday and tomorrow in favour of making something worthwhile today.
Every breath that you take
is another chance
to drive that fucking stake
Editrix – Hieroglyphics
As with all the work of Wendy Eisenberg, Editrix is a project which eschews binary thinking to transcend usual labels. To describe new album Editrix II: Editrix Goes To Hell as precise or chaotic would be misleading. Likewise accessible or challenging. It is all these things simultaneously, not only furthering the marvel at Eisenberg’s invention, but also pushing the burning questions of their work. Single ‘Hieroglyphics’ descends into the hell of the title, a depth not burning miles beneath our feet but centred square in our heads. “I don’t think all hells are other people,” Eisenberg explains. “Most of the hells I’ve experienced are the effects of solitary, circular thoughts, the kind that make a person attack themselves, while claiming they’re helping them gain a kind of clarity. This song is a dispatch from that place.”
Enumclaw – Jimmy Neutron
Ahead of debut album Save the Baby on Luminelle Recordings, Tacoma’s Enumclaw have unveiled brand new single, ‘Jimmy Neutron’. Drawing equally from the Pacific Northwest’s grunge history and the working class dreams of Britpop, the song introduces a band aiming for the stars, with lead Aramis Johnson pointing to Oasis’ rise from small-time to stadiums as an arc to emulate. The single’s combination of genuine heart and rock swagger suggests Enumclaw have all the elements required to achieve these ambitions, and its themes of self-sabotage hint at an awareness behind the bravado which will keep them grounded no matter how far into the stratosphere they might shoot. Check out the video directed by John C. Peterson below:
Save the Baby releases on 14th October via Luminelle Recordings. Pre-order a copy now from the Enumclaw Bandcamp page.
headboy – Toothrot
With equal parts riot grrrl ferocity and bedroom pop charm, London‘s headboy capture the worrying absurdity of our decidedly volatile times. Out via Blitz Cat Records, new single ‘Toothrot’ attacks the theme with classic nightmare imagery. Teeth falling into palms with no explanation, the world getting smaller and you shrinking too. Between the deadpan verses and frantic chorus, the song finds both horror and wry humour in the situation, where fear is ever-present but bewildered exasperation never far behind.
You’ve got toothrot
There’s nothing we can do about it
You keep your teeth clean
But it’s still all coming out
Jasmyn – Blank Paper
After fronting Toronto‘s Weaves for a number of albums and EPs, Jasmyn Burke has now gone it alone under her first name with debut solo record, In the Wild. Single ‘Blank Paper’ seizes the sense of freedom and possibility, turning away from self-doubt with a conviction present across much of the record. Uncertainty can be frightening, but it can also be an opportunity. With In the Wild, Jasmyn has decided to make it the latter, finding joy and meaning in music once again, and urging the listener to join her for the ride.
Open up your eyes
Look for what you want to see
Little Mazarn – Dew Nears Yay
Austin‘s Little Mazarn formed in local dive bar The Hole in the Wall, a club famous for hosting the likes of Nancy Griffith, Lucinda Williams and Townes Van Zandt. It’s tempting to say some of the ghosts which lingered there somehow attached themselves to the project, but the experimental folk style of new single ‘Dew Nears Yay’ (from LP Texas River Song on Dear Life Records) suggests the opposite transaction occurred. As though Lindsey Verrill and Jeff Johnston instead joined the spirits there, themselves now phantoms content to haunt the Texan land around them. Scouring for details, salvaging what they find.
Check out the video directed, shot, and edited by Jordan Moser below:
Texas River Song is out via Dear Life Records on the 19th August and you can pre-order it now.
Louien – No
After last year’s No Tomorrow, Norway folk rock outfit Louien have returned with single ‘No’ ahead of new EP, Figure Me Out, coming later this year on Jansen Records. Something of a sequel to the previous release, the EP continues the style and themes established there while shaking up the formula by co-writing with Preben Sælid Andersen. The single highlights the release’s balance between vulnerability and empowerment, confronting the issue of personal boundaries to show how honesty and openness might be painful but ultimately always more affirming. Check out the video filmed, directed and cut by Marthe Amanda Vannebo below:
Figure Me Out releases in September, bundled with No Tomorrow. Order it now from the Louien Bandcamp page.
Occupants – Serpent Shine
Having formed in Portsmouth over a shared appreciate of noisy punk and Father Ted, it is fitting London’s Occupants combine ferocious energy and whip-smart wit within their sound. Forthcoming EP Serpent Shine sees the trio direct this sound toward themes of narcissism, paranoia and grief, and the title track highlights their ability to repurpose cynicism into a purging force. Naked fury scorching all before it, eradicating anything bothersome and banal.
Boring protagonist,
Recycles used plot twists,
Repeats the same catch phrase,
Dripping with tired clichesI was sent here to destroy you
‘Serpent Shine’ is out now and available via the Occupants Bandcamp page.