Welcome to another goddamn day. As always, I began mine by wading through a few hundred emails in search of something worth hearing — and sharing. Here are the nuggets that made it into the pan:
Viagra Boys | Uno II
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Uno II is the second single from the forthcoming album Viagr Aboys, due april 25th on Shrimptech Enterprises. “I found a crouton / Underneath a futon / Mama said I couldn’t eat it / Cause all my teeth are gone.”
hairpin | Curtain Call
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Modern Day Living is the debut EP from U.K. based, indie punk / post-hardcore band hairpin. Starting as a handful of scrappy demos written by Adam Edwards in the spare room of a flat on the south coast, and outside of other band commitments, the band introduced themselves to the world with the release of their singles Self Portrait, Okay Thru There and Curtain Call. The six tracks — self described as ‘post-hardcore through a power-pop lens’ — are characterised by gritty guitars, driving bass lines and pounding drums, with lyrics that sardonically ponder the mundanities and anxieties of modern life.”
Beach Bugs | Goody Gumdrop
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Think Paul Collins (The Beat, The Nerves) and all that Californian ’70s power-pop drenched in the reverb of contemporary garage: A biting guitar, a purring bass on powerful drums and vocals, mounted on (short) springs, that support an epic chorus. The mix is by Christian Bolognaise (YGGL, Neptune Grass), who sends Beach Bugs soaking in a whole new sauce from his Macaroni Studio. The track is accompanied by a video directed by Thomas Marchand. Beach Bugs are a power-pop trio from Limoges. After an EP and a debut album, the group are back with a single that heralds a slight stylistic shift.∏
The Wildhearts | I’ll Be Your Monster (ft. Jørgen Munkeby)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “I’ll Be Your Monster is the third single taken from The Wildhearts’ new album Satanic Rites of The Wildhearts — out March 7th 2025 on Snakefarm. The track also features a guest saxophone solo from Jørgen Munkeby (Shining). Video directed by David Provan.”
Basic Partner | Live On KEXP
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “KEXP presents Basic Partner performing live at the l’Antipode in Rennes, France, during Trans Musicales 2024. Recorded Dec. 3, 2024.”
Backxwash | 9th Heaven
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Second single off of Backxwash’s upcoming album Only Dust Remains (March 28). ‘These are the songs of a person who was brought back to life but is now haunted by death itself.’ ”
The Other Half | Transgression Is Outdated
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Those post-hardcore / punk scamps in Other Half have released a brand new single Transgression is Outdated, Never ones to shy away from complete self-deprecation, the track is a cowardly diss track, directed at both the reformed versions of bands they once loved, and more pertinently, Other Half.”
Chouk Bwa & The Ångstromers | Amounay (Live)
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Among the Haitian bands that manage to travel abroad, Chouk Bwa Libète is probably the most closely linked to the roots of vodou inherited from ancestors torn from African lands by the tragedy of the slave trade. The Ångströmers are two representatives of Brussels’ most radical and uncompromising electronic scene. The two entities have been active together since 2016. They have tirelessly sought a form of symbiosis between their respective vocabularies, so that the electronic part never gets in the way of the freedom of the rhythmic flow. That’s why they’ve never used drum machines or any other process that would padlock the drumming. The Ångströmers used dub principles to give the Haitian trance a new width in the sound spectrum. Live At Cafe Oto arrives as a sort of culmination of the long joint research. In 2022 and 2023, Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers performed over sixty concerts in Europe. One of those was recorded on Oct. 16 2023 at Cafe Oto, London. It is undoubtedly a significant example of what the collaboration is able to deliver in concert. The raw percussive trance music with electronic radiations brings a complex, powerful and spiritual experience to audiences. Live At Cafe Oto outlines the repertoire previously recorded on Somanti, released in October 2023. In the live setting, it takes on yet another dimension of freedom and wildness. This is by no means entertainment, but on the contrary a plunge into the reality of a living culture, carried in their souls by the members of Chouk Bwa Libète, with the added desire to inscribe it in the present time, through the action of The Ångströmers.”
