Posts Tagged ‘Rock’

The Pixel Rain – Glitching Sky

Posted: 2 October 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

2nd October 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

Is Bandcamp Friday the new Record Store Day? Hardly. For a start, it’s the artists who get paid on Bandcamp Fridays, with 100% of royalties from sales going to said artists, rather quite literally everyone other than the major labels which hijacked Record Store Day some years ago getting fleeced. And there’s no queuing round the block from 7am to have a hope of bagging an overpriced reissue, only to find some bugger’s got in there first and whacked it on eBay at double the price before you even make it home again. But Bandcamp Fridays have become a bit of an overwhelming event: with so much new music being released on Bandcamp Fridays now – and you really can’t blame artists for choosing to release their latest material to coincide with these days – but the risk is that releases can get lost in the blizzard of emails and hype on social media.

The release of The Pixel Rain’s ‘Glitching Sky’ is one that shouldn’t pass without mention or be one of those which gets buried by the noise. It’s the final single to be released from their forthcoming debut album, A Sense of Danger, due at the end of the month, and provides the title track for a four-track EP which features the previous three singles.

The musical vehicle of London-based Áron Siegler, The Pixel Rain, who’s ‘Last’ grabbed me in June, fuse industrial rock, post punk, synth-pop, and electro. And since TPR’s inception in 2023, he’s been keeping pretty busy, with a steady stream of single and EP releases.

As we learn from the accompanying notes, ‘At the centre of the song is a character retreating from an unfulfilling reality into a virtual world where they can construct a more powerful version of themselves. For Siegler, however, the idea extends beyond any particular technology or online space, reflecting more broadly on the increasingly commonplace ways people seek distraction and escape from anxiety, disappointment and everyday life.’

Seigler says, ‘The idea came from thinking about someone whose real life isn’t giving them very much, so they retreat into a virtual world where they can be whoever they want to be. There’s something quite sad about that, but also something a little ridiculous, so I wanted the story to have both sides to it.’

On the one hand, I agree: the fact we see new stories every day about people with AI girlfriends or boyfriends, or who say their AI companion is their best friend, or who use an AI therapist isn’t just ridiculous, but also plain weird, and speaks volumes about the world we live in right now. People crave human contact, but, unable to handle it, and / or unable make connections, retreat into virtual worlds. On the other hand, I was hanging out in chatrooms around the turn of the millennium when it truly felt like a new world. I – without any intent – met my future wife in a chatroom, before dating sites had even been conceived, and, later, MySpace would prove to be one of the most liberating and escapist alternative worlds, where you truly could be another you, and the connections I made there, through shared interests, led to some of the most incredible creative collaborations. But then the Internet got hijacked by capitalism and corporations and advertising and essentially turned to shit around 2010. Bastards.

Whereas ‘Last’ put the guitars up in the mix, ‘Glitching Sky’ sits in the bracket of upbeat electronica, and while the lyrics are ambivalent, framing as they do both sides of the story, the vibe is more euphoric dance. It’s somewhat unexpected, but is well done, and sits nicely in the context of the EP as a whole, with the downtempo ‘A Sense of Danger’ bringing a starker, more coldwave aspect, with some soaring guitar detail creating a gripping dynamic with the crisp electronic drum sound.

AA

‘Sacrifice’ sits between Depeche Mode and turn-of-the-millennium electrogoth, while the EP’s last track is, fittingly, ‘Last’. And it’s an anthem. Fact. One thing that’s clear from this EP is that The Pixel Rain appreciate the importance of the ordering of the songs on a release. Having the songs is priority number one, but the order in which they appear. I worry this is a dying art in the age of streaming and skipping after fifteen seconds, but it does matter for those of us who od still listen to EPs and albums properly. And Glitching Sky is an EP which deserves to be listened to properly.

AA

The Pixel Rain (Áron Siegler) by Evelina Klimova (Landscape 01) web

Photo by Evelina Klimova

LiVES – Burn

Posted: 29 September 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

Sister 9 Records – 25th September 2026

The Ed Shearan / Micklemore furore brought the debate about politics in music not only to a wider audience, but became headline news in all of the mainstream news media. The way it exploded was remarkable, and unusual in that it’s rare for anything concerning the arts to make more than a filler, unless it’s some glitzy red-carpet awards ceremony, where the coverage tends to be less about the arts than celebrities. This, however, was all over The BBC and Sky. Sheeran’s career strategy of making musical wallpaper, equally reliant on his personality being the equivalent of wallpaper paste, suddenly became problematic: the issue being that his ‘neutrality’ was, by default, significant of taking a side. The wrong one.

The debate has been simmering for a good few months, particularly in the US, with musicians tacitly showing support for Trump by performing at his events, or berating the likes of Bruce Springsteen for speaking at their concerts against the Trump regime, saying artists should keep politics out of music. They clearly haven’t been paying attention to The Boss’ lyrics, and have failed to grasp just how much of the music of the 60s was protest music. And what did people think Rage Against the Machine were about? Music has long provided a vital platform for political protest, and it’s a unifying force. In troubled and troubling times, it’s easy to feel isolated, distanced from society, particularly in the face of systemic oppression. To discover music which articulates your feelings is life-affirming and empowering.

LiVES are unashamedly political. I’ve been following them since they crashed their way onto the scene a couple of years ago with ‘Cancelled’ and ‘Let Them Eat Cake’, their debut album a defiant statement of angry intent. ‘Burn’ is the lead single from their upcoming second album, Ghosts, which is set for a January release. Appropriately enough, ‘Burn’ is pretty fiery They describe it as ‘heavy, dark and lyrically uncompromising,’ adding that ‘The anger hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s just been sharpened.’ It’s hard to argue.

First, that bass. Woah. It hits like a punch to the stomach, and feels like you’re standing in the room, directly in front of the amp. It’s low, dense, and menacing. The drums count in a slow build and then… BAM! Choppy guitar and vocals arrive simultaneously. ‘Come and see the villages BURN!” Peter Chisholm hollers by way of an attention-grabbing first line.

And then the tirade kicks off, and it’s clear who it’s directed at:

That man is a lunatic

It’s a game of invest and return

Guaranteed to make him rich

That man isn’t “a man” baby

That man is a demon

Pulling no punches. Telling it straight. But they’re only just warming up here as they rip into the capitalist greed which is destroying the planet, destroying our society, and, ultimately destroying our lives. Yes, all of our lives. Line by line, LiVES call it and spell it out here:

There ain’t no question of shame

(in the) Collateral damages game

The governments have subsidised

Mass murder is monetised

Every word of it is true. The truth is uncomfortable. Western governments – some in particular, and some individuals in particular – are raking in millions and more from war and manufactured market chaos. They don’t give a shit about the death toll. They don’t give a shit about anything other than their own enrichment. They’re coining it in, hand over fist, as the bodies pile up. It’s not just Trump… the elites have only one interest, and that’s self-interest.

As for the delivery… LiVES aren’t easy to pigeonhole. They have the high-octane force of The Screaming Blue Messiahs and the steely solidity and relentlessness of Unsane, only less brutal. And for all of this, they manage to pack in a hooky chorus. With ‘Burn’, they bring the perfect encapsulation of what LiVES stand for. And I, for one, stand with them.

AA

HAp5WTTQ

Pop Goes Metal / Dismiss / Too Late for Gods – The Fulford Arms, York, 26th July 2026

Posted: 27 July 2026 in Live, Reviews
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Christopher Nosnibor

Did I ever mention how much I fucking hate ABBA? No? Well, I really, really fucking hate ABBA, and pretty much all covers of ABBA songs too, with the exception of The Sisters of Mercy’s cover of ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ which made the set a few times in 1984 just after Wayne Hussey joined. To provide a measure of just how much I fucking hate ABBA, just after university, my then girlfriend and I got a flat, and took her best mate on as a lodger. She loved ABBA. So much so that ABBA Gold was pretty much, the only CD she owned. And she played it all the time. That’s no exaggeration. We’re talking legitimate grounds for eviction or even murder here. So when I upgraded my stereo, instead of selling the old one – which would have fetched a good hundred and fifty quid, which was some wedge back in ’98 – I gave it to her for her room on the proviso that she would never play ABBA in the living room ever again. The rationale for this anecdote will make sense later on.

Meanwhile, when I took this gig on, I hadn’t appreciated that the band I was here for – Dismiss – were only the support, and it blows my mind that a band with some kind of following, however moderate here, would come from Greece to support a local covers band in York. We’ll come back to this presently, too.

My introduction to Too Late for Gods was a pub gig on the other side of town, and my reaction was very much mixed. So, seeing them on a proper stage, through a full PA, and without the element of surprise means I’m in a better position to properly assess their skills.

Their first song is a straight up post-hardcore metal rager, the five-string bass bringing significant depth and power. It’s the grunge leanings which shine through during the next couple of songs, and it’s very soon apparent what a difference a decent mix can make to how songs come across. There are some meh punk pop / emo cuts mid-set, but they’re performed with guts and gusto, which carries them. Their drummer is a solid asset, too, a strong player with a big personality, bringing dynamics and showmanship, and very much driving the band. The penultimate song of the set has a hint of Placebo and a strong hook. They look comfortable in this setting, and give the impression that they would deliver in significantly larger venues, too.

DSC03140DSC03172

Too Late for Gods

I’m here for Dismiss, and woah! They are all the energy straight out of the traps. My notes are scant: I’m too busy trying to catch my breath. They play hard rock with a punk edge, and they bring the fire, and what’s more, they’re absolutely relentless, powering through fifteen original songs in forty minutes (the setlist indicates that they dropped two from the planned set, too), but it feels like about twenty whiplash-inducing minutes, as they the songs back-to-back. Their singer is a blur of peroxide, the bassist is a spike-studded energy blast, and they make a strong case for the prosecution in the case that women rock harder than men. And if we’re doing touchstones and references, Lita Ford and The Plasmatics and Amyl and the Sniffers are where we’re at. They absolutely fucking slay. You wouldn’t want to go on after them, especially as, judging by the T-shirts on display, a good number of the punters are here for them. And deservedly. They absolutely play their arses off and are nothing short of phenomenal. Not only band of the night, but one of the highlights of the year to date.

DSC03218DSC03222DSC03265DSC03288

Dismiss

But suddenly, just as Pop Goes Metal take to the stage, the place is rammed from the front to the back. I guess this is telling. Do we talk about covers bands? Should we contemplate guilty pleasures? I wrote about covers bands just the other night – but can’t help but feel differently about covers bands playing village pubs as background, and covers bands playing ‘proper’ venues and headlining over bands playing sets of original material. Like Natalie Imbruglia, I’m torn. It’s great that people are coming out to small venues and supporting live music. But…

I’ve personally never been embarrassed by my appreciation of pop tunes, and I don’t just mean the 80s stuff I grew up with, like Duran Duran and A-Ha. A good tune is a good tune, irrespective of genre. As such, I’m personally comfortable with the fact that Pop Goes Metal start strong with a thunking Nu-metal take on Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl’. However, am I comfortable with the principle of what is, in essence, a novelty covers act? While perhaps not as corny as, say, Elvana or Tragedy (the metal Bee gees tribute), they certainly sit within that bracket.

Objectively, Pop Goes Metal do a great job of delivering what they pitch. They bring a brace of chunky guitars melded to a chunky rhythm section, and Emz gives us gutsy vocals, with rasp and power. Britney’s ‘Toxic’ is a solid choice at the front end of the set and works over the more obvious choice of Britney tunes in terms of their sonic and stylistic range. The Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish songs are beyond my ken, but they go down well.

New addition to the set, ‘Umbrella’ is only so-so, and while Emz reads the lyrics from her phone, the song slides into an extended fretwanking solo. Their interpretation of Mark Ronson’s ‘Uptown Funk’ sounds too much like ‘Free Range’ by The Fall crossed with ‘Black Betty’ to be entirely successful, and while ‘Let Me Entertain You’ benefits from a huge chugging break, it’s still a shit song. ‘Toca’s Miracle’ translates from a dance-pop banger to a thunderous disco metal banger, and it would be curmudgeonly not to acknowledge a job well done there.

DSC03365DSC03413DSC03427

Pop Goes Metal

The audience is particularly hyped and vocal, and increasingly so as the night progresses. Emz’s voice starts to go with five songs to go, and by the end she can barely croak between songs, but still belts ‘em out full lungs. ‘Shake it Off’ not only proves I’ve never knowingly heard a song by Taylor Swift, but that perhaps I’m not entirely the target demographic. ‘Sk8er Boi’ comes in pretty much untouched, and Anastacia’s ‘Left Outside Alone’ is a strong tune that it would be hard to go wrong with, and credit where it’s due, they do it justice. And then it’s onto ending on ‘Mama Mia’… just no. No no no no. They’ve crossed the line.

A Void / Mango in Euphoria / Hitlist – Wharf Chambers, Leeds, 19th June 2026

Posted: 21 June 2026 in Live, Reviews
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Christopher Nosnibor

The phrase ‘local band’ still carries negative connotations, despite the fact that practically every band is local to somewhere. Of course, the main criticism when it comes to the application of the term ‘local’ is the implicit issue of their failure to travel further afield to grow their audience. Historically, it carried with it the notion that the band weren’t good enough to get gigs elsewhere. Concurrent with, and somewhat contradictory to, this – and I suppose we’re largely going back to the music press of the 80s and 90s – was the London-centric nature of coverage of live music. Occasionally bands from, say, Manchester, Sheffield, or Leeds would get a rare look-in, but it’s not hard to see why bands who wanted to ‘make it’ would move to London. The north was perceived as quaint, parochial, and peripheral, and largely of less consequence.

It’s quite the paradox that many bands could cultivate a career without ever travelling outside the M25. No-one ever beefed that bands who never, or rarely, played outside London were just ‘local’ bands. Then again, to an extent, it’s a question of scale. It’s possible to play in London four times in a week and still not reach all of the potential fanbase. The same can’t be said of somewhere like, say, Lincoln, or Stoke, or even Nottingham. In this context, it’s understandable why smaller London-based bands don’t feel the need to travel further afield much or often, particularly in the current economic climate, when the cost of fuel alone is likely to outstrip the proceeds of door takings and merch sales, without considering sustenance and accommodation.

As such, we’re incredibly privileged to receive two – two – London-based, French-derived bands hitting Leeds together. Both have been on my wishlist for a while, having followed both online for some years now. The last time A Void played Leeds was 2021, and although they ventured north to play York earlier this year, following the departure of the latest in their ‘rotating cast’ of drummers, they played an acoustic set, and superb as it was, it wasn’t the full-throttle grunge blast I’d spent so long yearning for. And now co-founding bassist Aaron Hartmann has departed (as in left, not died), meaning they’re showcasing a brand new – ‘temporary’ – lineup. Which feels a bit harsh, but we’ll come to all of this presently.

First up, and early doors, Hitlist deliver punchy punky alt-rock songs with solid choruses and strong hooks – and some flamboyant slap bass breaks. They have some really nice melodic guitar parts woven into the songs, and play with confidence. Their set is well-considered, and they get harder and faster towards the end. The drummer moans loudly between songs, as if he’s in serious pain or perturbation. It is absolutely fucking boiling mind. And it only gets hotter as the night progresses.

DSC01647DSC01630

Hitlist

Mango in Euphoria are pure class from the very start, and they’re straight in with some big glammy grooves. The new, all-female five-piece lineup is sounding fantastic (the high tom being louder than the rest of the drums notwithstanding, but that’s pedantry on my part) – tight, together, with a bright, metallic guitar sound and the synths adding no small dynamic variation. They’re also fully committed to the image, too – none more so than Mango herself in her strikingly slinky getup, and nothing you may have seen in terms of footage on the Internet fully conveys the wild force of nature she is on stage. Throwing poses galore and chucking herself about all over, you’d think this was a 1,500 capacity arena rather than a 150-capacity indie venue with a worryingly bouncy stage. It’s quite the show, alright.

‘5th Year’ is a straight up power ballad. The set flies in the blink of an eye. ‘Lovestruck’ lands as the penultimate song, and it’s epic – the atmospherics and sultry beats of the studio version switched up to chunky, rockin’ dark pop beast before they close with ‘Hollywood’, and they slay it.

DSC01734DSC01702DSC01670

Mango in Euphoria

A Void power in with a swift one-two of ‘One of a Kind’ and ‘Sick as a Dog’ from their last album, Dissociated. Next up, the first of the new songs is particularly hard and driving, reminiscent in parts of Solar Race, only with some straight up metal riffery. It’s apparent just how much the songwriting – and musical capabilities – of the band have evolved since 2018’s Awkward and Devastated. New drummer Mave is a hard hitter, while bassist Lauren lunges towards the crowd and plays with total commitment. And the rapport and banter between the three is a joy. There’s also some remarkably candid chat, and we learn that the album-in-progress since 2023 has been recorded no fewer than three times due to lineup changes whereby new members have brought something different to the songs.

DSC01767

DSC01825DSC01834

A Void

They’re all absolutely melting up there, and Camille laments her choice of a velour tracksuit-type getup which is likely the clothing equivalent of a portable sauna. Because this is A Void, there are elements of chaos throughout – Camille upends her pedal board several times, and the drum kit and stool require constant adjustment, and there’s always a sense that anything could happen at any moment. But they manage to keep it together to the end, closing an hour-long set with a boisterous rendition of ‘Stepping on Snails’, and in typical form, Camille celebrates by lying on her back and waving her legs in the air. I’d have responded in kind if I wasn’t encumbered by a pint and a camera and being of an age where I’d likely struggle to get up again. That said, the number of older blokes in the room – I’m talking 60+, rather than 50+ – is somewhat strange, but bands don’t choose their audiences, and there are also a lot of women under thirty here, too. But I digress as my brain slowly melts and I find myself transitioning to a liquid form… this was one of those crazy, sticky, intense summer gigs that stand out, and those of us who were there will be telling people about it in years to come.

Listen: ‘Whispers (Live in Belfast)’ by Cwfen

Posted: 12 June 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

What happens when the release of a band’s debut exceeds their wildest dreams of what’s possible? 12 months ago, Cwfen (pronounced ‘Coven’) released their first album, Sorrows, which emerged from attempts to demo some material at a friend’s studio in a remote Scottish farmhouse. The results received instant and widespread acclaim, enjoying glowing reviews in the heavy music press (Metal Hammer, Kerrang!) and featuring in album of the year lists at the close of 2025.

Fast forward 12 months and the band have toured extensively with Paradise Lost and Faetooth, and played countless festival stages, crushing audiences and gaining new fans with consistently powerful performances of the Sorrows material.

To mark the first anniversary of the release of their debut, and the whirlwind 12 months that have passed since, the band are making two special releases of the album available for the first time. The first is a digital deluxe edition of Sorrows, which presents the original tracklist alongside more than 40 minutes of previously unheard music, including blistering live tracks from their early shows and recent touring, early demos of key songs, and eerie sonic experiments composed during the making of the album. The second new release is a special 3rd edition vinyl repress of Sorrows on neon violet vinyl, limited to 300 copies.

Fresh from a performance this week at Download Festival, the band are excited to share these releases, as they look ahead to a summer of festival performances across Europe, and then to beginning the process of preparing album number two.

AA

Cwfenna2514403753_10

Listen: ‘Ted Dollop’ by Missoula

Posted: 4 June 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

MISSOULA return with their latest single, ‘Ted Dollop’. The track is the third preview of the band’s upcoming debut album, Death Doula, due June 26 via Org Music.

Featuring drummer Brooks Wackerman (Avenged Sevenfold, Bad Religion), guitarist John Konesky (Tenacious D), and bassist/keyboardist John Spiker (Tenacious D, Beck), MISSOULA have quickly established themselves as a unique instrumental force, blending cinematic composition, heavy grooves, and adventurous musicianship into something that feels both technical and wildly imaginative.

If previous singles ‘Love Bombs’ and ‘Crimson’ introduced listeners to the band’s dynamic range, ‘Ted Dollop’ showcases another side of the project—playful, unpredictable, and driven by an irresistible rhythmic pulse.

Konesky explains:

“Much that was known of the legend of Ted Dollop is lost to the annals of history, but those that still speak to his glory will often hear his name in the rustling leaves and fields of wheat as the wind calmly blows rhythms of 7/8 o’er this great land. On June 3rd Missoula releases Ted Dollop in honor of the best to ever do it.”

Like much of Death Doula, the track balances virtuosic musicianship with a sense of fun and exploration. Rather than treating instrumental music as an exercise in technical excess, MISSOULA focus on memorable compositions, unexpected turns, and the chemistry between three accomplished players who know exactly when to push forward and when to leave space.

The forthcoming Death Doula expands on that approach across eleven instrumental tracks that move between crushing riffs, melodic passages, and cinematic arrangements. Built around Wackerman’s powerful and precise drumming, Konesky’s expressive guitar work, and Spiker’s inventive low-end foundation, the album feels less like a side project and more like a fully realized artistic statement.

As Konesky previously described the band: “Missoula is what happens when you take the reins off and let yourself run free, naked and fearless, thru an infinite universe.”

Hear ‘Ted Dollop’ here (click image to play):

AA

Jacket

Watch: ‘Whispers’ by Cwfen

Posted: 29 May 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

What happens when the release of a band’s debut exceeds their wildest dreams of what’s possible? 12 months ago, Cwfen (pronounced ‘Coven’) released their first album, Sorrows, which emerged from attempts to demo some material at a friend’s studio in a remote Scottish farmhouse. The results received unexpected and widespread acclaim, enjoying glowing reviews in the heavy music press (Metal Hammer, Kerrang!) and featuring in album of the year lists at the close of 2025.

Fast forward 12 months and the band have toured extensively with Paradise Lost and Faetooth, and played countless festival stages, crushing audiences and gaining new fans with consistently powerful performances of the Sorrows material.

This journey is captured beautifully in the form of a new video for the song ‘Whispers’, perhaps the most gut-wrenching and dynamic track from the band’s debut. Juxtaposing the stunning landscapes of northern Europe in winter shot from Cwfen’s tour van, with footage of the band’s dynamic live performances across Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland, the Whispers video shows the band doing exactly what they love – presenting their songs to wrapt audiences while they reach new musical and emotional heights. Shot and edited by Amy Greenbank, the video shows the band at their very best.

The release of the ‘Whispers’ video is accompanied by specially designed ‘Whispers’ merchandise, which comes with previously unheard live and studio recordings of the song.

‘Hell, they were great before. Now they’re on another level.’ Out of Rage, review of Cwfen at Desertfest 2026.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Agnes Alder said:

"It’s taken a while to feel comfortable releasing Whispers as its own thing. The song itself, lyrically, came from a very personal place, in contrast to the broader themes elsewhere on the record. This, for me, is a song that cuts right to the bone; it might not be too obvious in the lyrics themselves, but it’s taken a year of seeing the fans respond to it, watching it become one of their favourites, to really have the courage and the confidence to give it some of the love it deserves.

The screams weren’t planned. They weren’t on the first version, but when we went back into the studio after a few weeks, that’s what had to come out, so what you hear in this song is the depth of that feeling. It’s one of the most cathartic, tender, and ultimately visceral songs on the album, and deciding to release it now feels like the acceptance of a direction in my songwriting that I feel ready to explore on the next record.

We were so lucky that our Creative Scotland funding allowed us to take this tour and to bring Amy Greenbank with us. We got to work with an incredibly talented videographer, and we made a friend for life. She’s someone who will always be part of the Cwfen family. We made incredible memories on this tour and it’s so lovely to see some of them here.’"

Guitarist Guy DeNuit had this to say:

"Following an unexpectedly busy and wonderful 12 months since the release of Sorrows, we’re proud to share our new video for ‘Whispers’. This song has become a live favourite with the band and audiences, and we are so fortunate to have had this documented and beautifully presented by our videographer and dear friend, Amy Greenbank.”

Watch the video now:

AA

Forthcoming shows:

Wed 10th June – Download Festival, Donington, UK

Sat 6th July – Resurrection Fest, Galacia, Spain

Sun 16th Aug – Dynamo Metalfest, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Sun 15th Nov – Core Festival, Glasgow, Scotland

Cwfen

Watch: ‘Tao To Earth’ by Abrasive Trees

Posted: 28 April 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Experimental-rock band Abrasive Trees have announced their latest offering via Italian doom label Argonauta Records. ‘Tao To Earth’ displays the band at a spiritual and psychedelic edge, revealing more of their emotional centre. 

Band leader Matthew Rochford said of the release:

“This track is based on a lucid dream and points to themes of finding meaning amidst a chaotic and confusing world.  The lyrics were originally written as a poem and we just expanded that to go into an uninhibited slightly prog-rock blast.”

‘Tao To Earth’ is out on all platforms and features an incredible video by visual artist Jess Wooller.  There’s an exclusive remix by producer Niall Parker of Gravity Machine via Bandcamp too.

Watch the video:

AA

image

Watch: ‘Peace Trader’ by Coilguns

Posted: 27 April 2026 in Recommended Streams and Videos, Singles and EPs
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

Swiss noise-rock collective Coilguns have returned with their powerful new single ‘Peace Trader’, out now via Humus Records, accompanied by an official video.

The accompanying video, directed by Louis Jucker and shot and edited by Valentin Lurthy, reinforces the track’s raw and unfiltered energy, with DIY lyric subtitles further amplifying its message.

Check it here:

AA

Recorded by Scott Evans (Thrice, La Dispute, Neurosis), with additional production from Ben Chisholm (Chelsea Wolfe, The Armed), and mixed by Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Pixies, Royal Blood), the track hits with a new level of urgency and emotional intensity.

Built to be both punchy and deeply reflective, ‘Peace Trader’ confronts the growing dissonance between ideals and reality. As the band put it: “What is the meaning of laws, when our nations negotiate all?”

Rooted in their own reflections on Switzerland’s shifting identity, from a perceived safe haven for human rights and diplomacy to a more conflicted and ambiguous role on the global stage, the track channels frustration, disillusionment, and a stubborn sense of hope.

The band elaborates: "We grew up being told that our country was a safe nest for human rights conventions, a historical hub for humanitarian organizations, a neutral haven for diplomacy, a sheltering home for those in need, and a centuries-long advocate for peace. Yet, the older we get, the more frequently we see this image turn into a Dorian Gray portrait. We recently witnessed our federal representatives minimize dual-use goods exportations or support partial views on major international law violations. We discovered that our asylum system had silently turned into a racist and humiliating discouragement plan, and we still haven’t been able to make our international enterprises accountable for their colonialist crimes. 
Looking back at our school history manuals, we wonder where this whole fairy tale has gone, or if it ever existed, but we’d like to allow ourselves, and invite you, to keep believing in the idea that a peace-making Switzerland might one day become an actual thing.”

Musically, ‘Peace Trader’ expands Coilguns’ already wide sonic palette. For the first time, a bass player was involved from the earliest stages of writing, reshaping the interplay between instruments and adding a broader, more fluid dynamic to the composition. From warehouse-recorded drum textures to tightly coiled bursts of noise, the track balances abrasion with atmosphere.

“We wanted ‘Peace Trader’ to be punchy and sad, something that could carry urgent empathy and hope,” the band explain, highlighting the deliberate tension that defines the song.

AA

444116

AA

Upcoming Tour Dates:

30.04 – Winterthur (CH) – Kraftfeld
01.05 – Thun (CH) – Mokka
02.05 – Martigny (CH) – Les Caves du Manoir

07.05 – Guadalajara (MX) – FORO 907
08.05 – Querétaro (MX) – Back Room
09.05 – Mexico City (MX) – Foro Hilvana

15.05 – Baden (CH) – Royal
16.05 – Brussels (BE) – Obsidian Dust
22.05 – The Hague (NL) – Sniester Festival

28.05 – Lucerne (CH) – Konzerthaus Schüür
29.05 – Bienne (CH) – La Coupole
30.05 – Basel (CH) – Kaserne

02.07 – TBA
04.07 – Belfort (FR) – Eurockéennes

Karobela – Love Letter to No One

Posted: 22 April 2026 in Reviews, Singles and EPs
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

17th April 2026

Christopher Nosnibor

Either the members of Karobela – who are jointly credited with the lyrics – have had some really shitter personal experiences, or they’re keen when it comes to observing some of the more negative aspects of relationships and social interaction.

Whereas previous single, ‘Afterthought’, which came out in December, dealt with being dropped, forgotten, kicked to the curb, ‘Love Letter To No One’ explores, as they put it, ‘the profound emotional turmoil caused by the contemporary issue of ‘ghosting’, capturing the lingering heartache it leaves behind’.

In name, ‘ghosting’ is very much a contemporary issue, and certainly, it’s easier to vanish virtually than in real life. It’s hard to ghost someone who works in the same office or whatever. But in the pre-Internet days, people would just stop writing, stop phoning, and you couldn’t even search on Facebook to see if they were still alive. But one difference in that is the time delay, in that you’d wait days, weeks for a letter, and the time span of the uncertainty was something which elongated gradually: there were no messages unread, no disappearing profiles. And as we’ve come to depend on immediate back-and-forth, even a minute waiting for a message to be picked up can feel like a lifetime. And it’s this angst which is the subject of ‘Love Letter to No One’.

It’s a step up in terms of ambition for the band, being the first track in a projected four-part narrative following the romantic experiences of a female protagonist, and musically, it’s got some beef to it, with a chunky riff and strong vocal delivery that does convey emotional turmoil. In many ways, it’s rock music of the kind that you don’t hear so much at the moment. That said, it’s driven by a disco-tinged beat and has more of a dance-leaning breakdown in the middle.

With a chorus that’s all hook, and tightly packed into a fraction over three minutes, ‘Love Letter to No One’ is a work of precision, and a first-rate single cut.

AA

AA

Karobela Promo shot 2

Older Entries