Fang are still evil after all these years, Razorhouse kick up their heels, Gridfailure and Mac Gollehon are collaborative to a fault, Lucinda Chua carries a torch — and they’re not the only ones bringing some heat in your Tuesday Roundup. You might need to crank the AC:
31 | Fang | Evil Runs Free
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Oakland punk band Fang’s 1986 album Spun Helga was released 35 years ago — but now sees the light of day digitally for the first time. Says Sammytown: “In 1985 Fang relocated to Europe, at first living in England but finally settling in Bremen, West Germany. In Bremen at the time, there was a war going on between the punk rockers and the Nazi skinheads. I was asked to join a street gang called The Outsiders (Anti Skin League). We would regularly fight the Nazis and sometimes the cops. The doorway we opened between Bremen and Oakland is still alive today and many bands were able to follow in our footsteps to Germany and beyond. The record was released in 1986. The cover art on the U.S. release is by outsider artist Joe Coleman.”
32 | Razorhouse | Hobo Stomp
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “For days we could smell the cooking fires from our pandemic bunker. It was night when we’d finished the last chia seed honey bar. We were forced to venture out of our safe hidey hole to investigate. As we climbed the fence separating us we could see shadows dancing around the fire. We heard a beat we recognized. We joined the dance of unbridled joy in resistance to a world of hate. Razorhouse now invites you to join the Hobo Stomp.”
33 | Gridfailure | Transient Fault (ft. Mac Gollehon)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dismemberment Cabaret — the harsh jazz collaborative album between New York experimental soloist Gridfailure and world-renowned trumpet player Mac Gollehon — will see release in just over two weeks. As the intense experiment is prepared for public dispatch, a video for Transient Fault premieres today. Gollehon describes the song as, “Drone tones, network breakdown, discordant components. Butterflies swarm the medical debris in search of warmth in the humid dawn quicksand as you can feel the comfort blanket of overhead powerlines remaining transient within the attrition.”
34 | Lucinda Chua | Torch Song
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Lucinda Chua offers Torch Song, the second track from her upcoming EP Antidotes 2, which arrives this Friday. The song is accompanied by a short film by Chua making her directorial debut. Set against the raw, industrial backdrop of Tate Tanks, the one-shot one-take video captures a tender, stripped back rendition of Torch Song performed by Chua on a grand piano. Like so many, the past year in lockdown was an isolating experience for Chua. “When you don’t get to participate in your culture, it’s like a part of you is being erased, a piece of your spirit is washed away, you become a bit more invisible. Sometimes I feel like people don’t see me. When people don’t see you they can hurt you, even though they don’t intend to.”
35 | Roxy Girls | Like A Buoy
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Sunderland post-punk four-piece Roxy Girls return with their new single Like A Buoy, taken from the band’s forthcoming EP Roxy Girls Are In The Drink, which is out Aug. 27. Roxy Girls Are In The Drink was born out of the band not seeing each other for some time and meeting at the height of the U.K.’s third lockdown without having much idea of what to record. The four tracks taken from this recording session are made up of live takes of tracks written in the studio, but despite the circumstances, the new EP finds the band continuing to develop and expand upon what a Roxy Girls song can be.”
36 | Katastro | The Way I Feel
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Emerging alt-rock/hip-hop hybrid Katastro released their single The Way I Feel and announced that their next album Sucker is due out July 16. The Way I Feel, the opening track off Sucker, the sixth album from the Phoenix four-piece band, is an upbeat ode to getting over a bad breakup. “The Way I Feel is probably the most personal song for me on the album,” shares vocalist Andy Chaves. “I was going through a shitty breakup and remember not wanting to be in the studio at all that day. The keys that come in the beginning just make you feel good. I remember driving home after that session and I was in the one of the best moods I had been in for a while. I’m hoping this track makes anyone going through the same shit feel the same way I did on that drive home.”
37 | Kelly Finnigan | Can’t Let Him Down (Acoustic)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Kelly Finnigan’s new single Can’t Let Him Down (Acoustic) was originally recorded for a BBC interview and performance. As the closing track on Finnigan’s debut LP The Tales People Tell, this tune carries some heavy emotional weight, emphasized in this version and showcasing Finnigan’s vocal prowess and songwriting ability.”
38 | Farideh | WaveForms
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Farideh introduces WaveForms — her debut single produced by Timon Martin. It came to life following Farideh’s discovery of meditation, along with her fascination of quantum physics. “I had mapped out the synths and some beats in my home studio,” says Farideh (pronounced fair-i-day). “I didn’t have any lyrics yet. I hit record and the words channeled through my head and out my mouth. The song literally wrote itself. This song is an expression of the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. In all potentials and dimensions of time and space, my husband and I would always find each other.”
39 | Mattia Cupelli | Monolith
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Ambient electronic producer Mattia Cupelli returns with his latest single Monolith. The single heralds the approach of his upcoming album Ruins, which will be released on July 9. Bold, dark and strong, Monolith calls to mind eerie decaying cities and an underlying uneasy feeling. Cupelli manages to tap into his world of film, conjuring a mythical land of untold tragedies and harsh conditions. Otherworldly vocals lend themselves to the cause with a shimmering cloak — hiding their true nature but enticing the listener forward into the night. Cupelli gives us some insight: “My music is about time, art and the human being between.”
40 | The Mistons | Transmission
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Portland duo The Mistons will release World of Convenience on May 21, but you can hear their new single Transmission now. The new track sounds like a long lost Buzzcocks B-side that is, as frontman Sean Croghan put it, “a call from the edge of the universe, for some forgotten soul, stuck on an alien planet just waiting for a voice to remind you of your humanness.” The voice scrapes, rasp and breaks, over hot wire guitar and bedrock drums, pleading, prodding and provoking. “We are trying to keep alive a music form, trying to keep it relative. This is the music I was born to make, I’m not going to stop now.”
41 | Rachel Eckroth | Ready Go
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriter and keyboardist Rachel Eckroth released her latest heartrending ballad Ready Go, from her David Garza-produced EP due May 21. Ready Go captures the gravity of unrequited love. In discussing the meaning behind the lyrics Eckroth shared, “it’s about wanting someone who doesn’t really want you back — and being 100% OK with the person just using you.” Eckroth collaborated and co-wrote Ready Go with drummer Tyler Greenwell (Tedeschi Trucks Band). “Tyler sent the initial idea of the song to me. He’s so great at coming up with these fun, dark scenarios for songs that gets me inspired to go other directions.”
42 | Liyon | Back It Up
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Liyon began his career as a songwriter and producer in 2010, making music for films, ads and other artists. After years behind the scenes in Toronto and Los Angeles, and winning a Gemini award along the way, he returned to his hometown of Montreal. That’s when he started making music as Liyon, as a way to release what had been building up in his heart and soul. Combining an electronic pop sound with meaningful experience, new single Back It Up showcases his signature ’90s vibe and a driving bass. Back It Up is about how frail dating and love can be in modern times; wanting to get close to someone but being weary at the same time.”
43 | Laura Escudé | Embrace Your Shadow
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “L.A.’s Laura Escudé has released her new single and most personal work to date — Embrace Your Shadow, co-written with Lila Rose — and announces her new EP Enoughness, due out May 11. Synthesizing her skills as a classically trained violinist and her technical prowess as an avant-garde producer, Escudé infuses neo-classical and sleek futuristic style with raw emotion elicited with machines.”
44 | Ehsan Matoori | Jete Nahi Dibo
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Iranian santoor virtuoso and composer Ehsan Matoori has released Jete Nahi Dibo (I Won’t Let You Go), a single from his upcoming global album The Voices and Bridges. The track features vocals from legendary Oscar-nominated Indian artist Bombay Jayashri and famed Iranian artist Alireza Ghorbani. The Voices and Bridges will arrive July 16. Matoori stated: “Jete Nahi Dibo is the story of my own suffering of being far from the love of my life. This story goes back to nine years ago, at the time that so many hard moments happened in my life. I was tired, frustrated and felt I could no longer live in my own country. The only thing that made me want to stay was the person I loved. But, one night I felt I was in a hurry to leave — and after a few hours I found myself at a destination I had never been to. But I had left my heart behind.”
45 | The Ramshackle Army | Rise and Fall
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Ramshackle Army, the six-piece Celtic punk outfit from Melbourne, have released their single Rise and Fall. It’s the first single off their upcoming Highflyer EP, and is anthemic in its approach. It blends catchy fiddle and mandolin lines with harmonised singalong choruses. The driving rhythm section and muted guitar lines maintain the pace for this uptempo track, which lyrically attempts to tackle the sentiment of life’s fair share of struggles and victories.”
46 | Lina Cooper | What I Gave To You
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Self-proclaimed Yellow Manic Pixie Dream Girl Lina Cooper returns with her new lush acoustic, string and brass based heartfelt ballad What I Gave To You. The song is “filled with emotional candor and vivid storytelling, creating a soundscape that “is an alternative take on the myth of Icarus and Daedalus,” Lina explains. “This is one of the very few songs that I have ever written that was not based off of a particular event or inspired by a specific person. Every time I listen to it, it makes me smile, because I think of all the fun we had writing this song.”
