Tytus deal out five of a kind, Domestic Terror bring back capital punishment, The Lords Of Altamont square off, Bent Roads Tavern and Craig Carswell make a fine match — but then again, so could all the candiates in your Thursday Roundup. Just think of this whole affair as musical speed-dating.
39-43 | Tytus | Live In The Studio
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Heavy metal band Tytus recently shared a short live set, featuring five songs taken from their debut album Rises (2016) and their second release Rain After Drought (2019). They shot the video with one camera and in one take to capture the rawness of a live experience and make you feel like you’re really there, according to the band.”
44 | Domestic Terror | In Favour Of Public Execution
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Grindcore act Domestic Terror release a video for their track In Favor of Public Execution. Formed over a decade ago as a grindcore project, Domestic Terror have evolved to become one of Ohio’s most punishingly brutal death metal bands, blurring the lines between slamming death metal, grind and beatdown. It has been five years since the band’s last release, the High on Violence EP, and six years since their most popular album The Holy Landfill split with Putrified J. Finally after a lengthy writing process, the time has come to drop the hammer on the midwest death scene yet again with the self-titled Domestic Terror full-length.”
45 | The Lords Of Altamont | Living With The Squares
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Californian garage-rock spearhead The Lords Of Altamont announce the release of their seventh studio album Tune In, Turn On, Electrify! on July 9, and share the galvanic first track Living With The Squares. Formed in 1999, The Lords Of Altamont have gone through multiple lineups over the years, but stay true to their garage-punk roots while evolving into heavier grooves. Living With The Squares gives a classic Stooges treatment to The Savages’ quote “the world ain’t round, it’s square.” Two chords are all you need to set the mood of the ever-present dissonance of an us-versus-them narrative.”
46 | Bent Roads Tavern | Mad Season (ft. Craig Carswell & Guests)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Why did we do this? A few reasons: 1 | Craig Carswell has a voice that rivals Rob Thomas’s timbre, and we wanted to see how backing him up covering a Matchbox 20 track would sound. 2 | Collen says, “When I first heard Mad Season when this song came out over 20 years ago, I could have sworn I heard horns and piano in it. When I listened again recently and realized it didn’t — it made me really want to try it! I love the modern blues-rock sounds that come out of the southeastern United States, and this was a chance for me to noodle with it!” 3 | We all love a good Matchbox 20 track, so why not?”
47 | Lipstick Jodi | Take Me Seriously
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lipstick Jodi, the Grand Rapids trio led by powerhouse non-binary songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Karli Morehouse, deliver their latest single, the absolute dance-floor banger Take Me Seriously. It comes from their upcoming sophomore album More Like Me, set to arrive June 4. Morehouse noted, “The title of this song speaks for itself. I was in the first stages of healing from a broken heart and bad decisions, and really trying to create good habits, but it felt like no one was going to root for me or take me seriously.”
48 | BoogzBrown | Galé
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Galé is one of the most sombre, almost ambient songs on BoogzBrown’s thundering EP — yet it carries a powerful message. The track starts with a fonnker (poem) by Francky Lauret, written during the events of November 2018, when the yellow vest movement turned into riots and mirrored those that marked the early ’90s on Reunion Island. The piece uses that moment of violence to question the societal structures on La Reunion, and tells us about the Galé (Creole for stones), which, for a youth left behind, are often the last resort for making themselves heard. A truly captivating musical dichotomy of violence and peace.”
49 | Belle Tower | Fear
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Belle Tower are the lo-fi indie folk-rock project of Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) and Xwilkway (Halfmoon Bay) artist Isabella Harned. Belle Tower writes songs about growth whose lyrical content reflects the heavy processes of pain and healing, but the ethereal vocals, dreamy guitar lines, and layered instrumentation have a certain sonic lightness to them. With contributions from main collaborators Ben Robertson, Scott Boudreau, and strings from Audreanne Fillion, Belle Tower showcases her brand new EP Tend To.”
50 | Tyne-James Organ | London’s Calling
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Set to release his debut album Necessary Evil on May 21, Tyne-James Organ shares the hypnotic track London’s Calling. It features Organ’s well-worn soul naked and a voice fried with emotion and anguish, with heartbreak at its core. “I wrote London’s Calling early 2019 with one of my best mates Luke Rundle. It’s about the day I found out an old friend was moving back to London. There’d been a gap of conversation for a good 18 months. So much I wanted to say, but didn’t have the words. The day I got the message it all just fell out of me. It’s not about changing what is, or what could have been but just looking back at all the good that it was. I think we naturally forget about the good times within relationships after they’re over, and only focus on the end. Yes, it sucks but it happens. We live and we learn from it. I still haven’t sent that message I thought I would’ve but I guess this is it.”
51 | Hunter Sheridan | To You, My Friend
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Hunter Sheridan is a Canadian musician who creates soulful songwriting with warm melodies that weave a euphoric atmosphere. Hunter’s writing highlights honest lyrics and dynamic arrangements, connecting with listeners across music genres. Hunter released his debut album Life is a Dream in May 2020. Now he follows up with the single To You, My Friend, which highlights the beauty in the briefness of life, and how important it is to show gratitude, support and appreciation to the ones you love while pursuing your own passions.”
52+53 | Good Morning | Mollyduker + Keep It
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Australian duo Good Morning return today with their first new music in two years the double release Mollyduker / Keep It. The pastoral, rangy Mollyduker is a quintessential driving song, its steady, wiry groove hardly letting up over the course of its runtime. The song’s ease belies its tense imagery: drunken spews, held tongues, and anxiety tokens abound. Stefan says: “Mollyduker was something my Pa called me whenever we’d be hanging out and working on his farm. It’s a reference to me being left-handed, however, I used to take it as somewhat of a dig.” Keep It is no less inviting and no less heavy with psychic weight. A meditation on failure, drinking, and aging, Keep It is laden with piano and warm, warping guitar — soft-edged counterweights to the severed heads and flooding waters of the song’s lyrics. “Keep It is an ode to stasis,” Liam says. “Repressed feelings, substance misadventure and arrested development in your late 20s.”
54 | Kristen Martell | Photograph of Secrets
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kristen Martell shares the dreamy single Photograph of Secrets, a collaborative effort between the Nova Scotian songwriter, artist Gabrielle Papillon, and producer Dan Ledwell. Together they weave a rich tapestry of sound that takes you on a journey towards a better future. “This was a different approach to songwriting for me personally. It was an exploration of melody and poetry,” said Kristen Martell. “The result is a dreamy, comforting landscape that is meant to remind you to trust in yourself.” Photograph of Secrets is a hauntingly beautiful lullaby about finding the light at the end of the tunnel and discovering the clarity to march forward with confidence. “At the time I was deep in doubt and catching myself in negative cycles,” Martell said. “I was also witnessing the same in those around me. But there was a determination to move past this period and it all started with envisioning a better way forward.”
55 | Son Of Dave | End Of Days
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Son Of Dave has penned a moving song about a grumpy old man at the end of his days. If it’s about Dave, don’t tell him, it’s not flattering. Loosely quoting Dylan Thomas’ “Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” this song ain’t the usual funk and howl. It’s more pensive, funny, sentimental, melodic. Clarinet, alto and tenor sax, and piano lovingly performed by brilliant Martin Slattery, with ‘Budi’ Butenop on drums & bass. Mellotron gives it that haunting string sound. This is fourth single from upcoming album Call Me A Cab, all composed on a $100 piano. We think Son Of Dave is keeping up with the very best of the old school here. But is there any room for the art form amongst the Vapor Wave and Trap? Maybe that’s what makes old men so miserable, when even 1974 is being forgotten along with Dixieland.”
56 | Sleepy Jean | Smaller
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “It’s the sound of a song you half-remember. A voice from some faraway radio. A glimpse of a now scratched record. You pause, reaching into that dark recess of memory for a brighter recollection, and return with nothing but the gnawing remembrance of something you’re sure you’ve forgotten. No satisfaction can be found: Sleepy Jean’s blend of American songwriting and folk sensibilities are unquestionably her own. Borne from the bones of forgotten nostalgia, Sleepy Jean spent the better part of a decade frequenting tourist traps and hole-in-the-walls alike whilst sneakily sliding her self-penned songs amongst those of her contemporaries and reveries. Her wistful, smoky voice is equal parts Joni Mitchell and Etta James, and is known for that inimitable quality that evokes salty streams of tears and bloody bar fights alike. Her first recorded offering Idle Hands makes its way into the world midsummer 2021.”
57 | Oceans | Break My Fall
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Earlier this year, Melbourne’s Thomas Lee launched his solo project Oceans, offering a fusion of shoegaze and ambient electronic soundscapes. Today Oceans reveals that his EP Come So Far will be with us on May 27. To celebrate the news and to tide us over, Oceans is unearthing another choice cut from the release with his cacophonous sophomore single Break My Fall. “Break My Fall was a last-minute addition to the EP which came out from a jam prior to the studio sessions. Normally I’d write songs in the small hours of the night, obsessing over every detail, so it was incredibly liberating having this song come about organically. The song actually started out as a joke with my drummer but kept coming back to that chorus riff and eventually wrote a song around it. The song is a real throwback to the classic shoegaze sound of the ’90s with fuzzed-out guitars, whispery vocals and simple but timeless snare fills. Break My Fall is about having someone in your life support you through your ups and downs and makes sense of the world despite all your insecurities.”
