Heyyyyy. Having a pretty rad month so far. Got to hang out with some incredible people in New York City, and ate a fuckton of pizza slices while there. Goddamn, that’s a beautiful fucking city. You can just walk up and down every street and multiple times and never see the same thing twice. Absolutely normal people dress like total freaks, everyone eats beer for breakfast. It’s great. We found an 18″ dildo with giant nails going through it. Adam posted a picture on Instagram and somehow the owner, who’s a d-list shock wrestler messaged him and asked Adam to grab it for him. Like, yeah ok dude, probs not happening but good luck or whatever. Anyways, there were lots of new releases this month that I had a hard time keeping up with. Turns out a lot of bands like to release albums at the end of the month. Fucking idiots.
https://colinphils.bandcamp.com
Colin Phils Trust/Fall (March 2020)
Sorry the album’s not out yet, jesus christ get off my shit. Two songs up for streaming so far. I Can tell this is gonna be dope already though. Has a kinda early Minus The Bear feel, maybe some mid-aughts Equal Vision twinge. Definitely gonna have to keep this on my radar. Maybe the whole album will end up here next month, who knows? I can’t tell the fucking future. Dig: Frenemies
https://dazetx.bandcamp.com/album/ritual
Daze- Ritual (2018)
New album (?) coming soon, though maybe not. 6 songs that are just absolutely making my ear holes happy with the warmest, wettest reverb/delay layers. I hope that sounded as gross as I think it did, because it’s actually a lot grosser than it sounds. I like Texas shoegaze very, very much. Dig: Joven
https://envy.bandcamp.com/album/the-fallen-crimson
Envy- The Fallen Crimson (2020)
Japanese screamo metal. Doesn’t get much better/louder than this. These guys have been around for a little while, just perfecting their craft of producing beautifully pummeling emo prog-metal, or something. I don’t really like trying to pigeonhole a band like this with stupid genre tags because I would never want to limit them to some dumb parameters, only to continually watch them break through those parameters and then wonder why I even tried to pin them down like that in the first place. I don’t need any more reasons to feel bad about myself, alright? I don’t actually feel bad about myself, I’ll be ok. Just need to listen to this album a couple more times.
Dig: A faint new world, Fingerprint mark, Memories and the limit
https://mrwrongwitches.bandcamp.com/album/create-a-place-2
Mr. Wrong- Create A Place (2020)
Well, this is probably the coolest band coming out of Portland right now. Lots of riot grrrl elements fuse nicely here. I gotta do it… this sounds like Bikini Kill, Erase Errata, Slits, Delta 5, etc. That being said, this album is anything but derivative. It fucking rips. I have no idea what it would be like to be a woman in a band, but I would guess there would be some… frustrations. These songs seem to address some of these issues that many women in bands, or maybe just non cis-gendered white guys have to deal with on the reg. I have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about. Dig: White Male Teacher
Wasted Shirt- Fungus II (2020)
This is a new project from Ty Segall and Brian Chippendale. I have no idea why Bim Ditson (former Portland mayoral candidate) is on the cover, but I think that’s pretty cool. Brian is the drummer for Lightning Bolt and Ty Segall is, well, Ty Segall. Ty’s wife, Denee lays down some vocals on this record. My first reaction is that this sounds like two dudes east of 102nd decided to mix some LSD with their meth and started a grunge/death metal band in their downtime between chopping up stolen bikes in a camper van off the Springwater Corridor. In other words: me likey. Dig: All Is Lost
https://chainwallet.bandcamp.com/album/no-ritual
Chain Wallet- No Ritual (2019)
Nothing like some Norwegian lo-fi 80’s/90’s esque shoegaze/dreampop. Lots of compression on guitars and drums, with some mildly assertive synth. Reminiscent of Ariel Pink, Smiths and Tears For Fears. I might need to come back and fix that last sentence later, just didn’t feel like listing off all the standard shoegazers, you know? There is something refreshing about this album, it seems like it’s going to be a solid palate-cleanser for my brain. Dig: Ride
https://postanimal.bandcamp.com/album/forward-motion-godyssey
Post Animal- Forward Motion Odyssey (2020)
Not really sure how to begin to unpack this one. It’s kinda all over the place. There are mellow synth moments as well as synth-driven straight forward 80’s metal tracks. Lots of arpeggios, but lacking that analog feel. I think this album makes me feel a little uncomfortable because the instrumentation seems all off. Some of the synth tones/voices are a little too jarring, and the drums are so clean that I have a hard time tapping into the soul of this album. Maybe that’s just something I need to work on myself. I feel confused by this album, but I guess I think that sometimes a good record should make you feel like that. Getting some Holger Czukay vibes, but also some Mac DeMarco ones (never actually sat through any of his albums, so maybe ignore that part). Dig: The Whole
https://disheveledcuss.bandcamp.com
Disheveled Cuss- Disheveled Cuss (May 2020)
Ok, so this one hasn’t come out yet, just a couple singles. I really dig the sound of these tracks though. This is going to be the first album by Disheveled Cuss, which is a new project from Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos. Nick has collaborated with Best Coast, Portugal, the Man and Death Grips, so yeah, he’s definitely a legit dude. I met him once in the cheese shop I was working in and he was just really down to earth and friendly. I don’t think he expected the cheese guy to recognize him. He also co-hosts Pedals and Effects with Juan Alderete (donate to help Juan’s coma recovery here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fundraiser-juan-alderete-brain-injury), so there’s no question he is an amazing force in the world of rock and roll. These songs are sleek, there’s a nice rolling effect to them. The way Nick doubles his vocals gives his music a controlled yet distant and mysterious aura, I first became aware of this on Tera Melos’ Patagonian Rats. Anyways, I think I read somewhere that the drummer did all the mixing and mastering, but don’t quote me on that. Actually, don’t quote me on anything. Dig: Wanna Be My Friend
https://raspberrybulbs.bandcamp.com
Raspberry Bulbs- Before The Age Of Mirrors (2020)
This one has some nice post-punk grit soaked in. You ever go to a house show where it’s ok to break bottles? Like, the basement smells kinda like piss but it’s sorta comforting and you’re with your friends, or fuck it, maybe you’re alone but it’s cool and everybody treats you like they know you anyways? Like, you ask somebody for a beer and they give you a hard time and say “who the fuck are you?” but they tell you that they’re just fucking around and give you one and it’s all good and you stand together during the last set and that’s as far as the friendship goes. Something about this album just seems to make light of the fact that we’re all stuck here whether we like it or not. Looks like they’re from Brooklyn, so this all makes perfect sense to me. The artwork, matched with the title makes me think of some sort of age-of-innocence type shit, where man’s inhumanity to man almost completely obliterates romance. Maybe I’m simplifying stuff, probably. Crunchy lo-fi that will make you bite whatever hands are up your ass. Dig: Midnight Line
https://slift.bandcamp.com/album/ummon
Slift- Ummon (2020)
France, man. What can I say? You ever hear any bad music come out of France? Me neither. If you do, let me know, kuz at this point I’m not sure it’s possible. Even if something bad came out of France I feel like records like this one would make up for it. Seriously solid fucking Kraut/psych ala Turing Machine/Dommengang that you could chill and stare at the ceiling or drive 70mph through school zones at midnight to. It’s like a goddamned choose-your-own adventure album. Who doesn’t like choosing their own adventures? Normies, that’s who. Don’t be a normie, listen to this album. Eat shrooms. Ok, you don’t have to do that last part. You can though, I’m not a cop or anything. Dig: Citadel On A Satellite
Void Destroyer 