As I covered in our video premiere for “Calm,” Secret Shame strike just the right balance of post-punk nostalgia and innovation. The group employs a “dark rock” kaleidoscope throughout Dark Synthetics that touches on elements of deathrock, darkwave, and goth rock. Yet, at their core, the band maintains the punk…
Effective post-punk seemingly always strikes a balance between genre ideals and young energy. Of course, the same can be said about a multitude of genres. But this feels especially true for post-punk, a style revolving around reverb and atmosphere that can easily result in airy, nondescript compositions. A little too…
There’s a fine line between consistency and stagnation, especially with a sophomore album. Whether an artist offers too much of the same or does a complete about-face, both approaches can easily turn off early listeners. After such a strong debut like last year’s Mental Wounds Not Healing, it’s a relief…
Feature Photo by Justina Villanueva Ron Varod (Kayo Dot, Psalm Zero) has kept busy since releasing the phenomenal Deer Pink as Zvi in April. He relocated from Brooklyn to Portland (Oregon), released a collection of ambient experiments titled vus machstu, and filmed a video for one of Deer Pink’s highlight…
Though I have no first-hand experience with this, my sense is that it’s more difficult for women and members of the LGBTQ+ to break into the relative mainstream of experimental music. Sure, you could argue that people with an affinity for “outsider” art would naturally be more inclined to accept…
With truly great albums, you can often remember the moment when they first grabbed your attention. You’re listening to something new, perhaps a bit passively parsing all the novel information you’re being introduced to when something just switches and you find your attention suddenly wholly demanded. With Burial Grid’s My…
It’s that time of year. Yes, ‘tis the season for pumpkin spiced everything’s, knitted scarves and socks from your grandmother, and gorging on avian flesh in the name of antiquated traditions. To be perfectly honest, I’m not above the bullshit holiday thing. I just like spending time with my loved…
One of the greatest traits of the underground music community is its deeply collaborative nature. A journey into one artist’s discography will often illuminate connections to other like-minded artists, which initiates the insatiable quest to devour yet another intriguing discography. Such is the case with Stern, which likely attracted attention due to its…
Other than maybe Full of Hell, hardly any other band in heavy music churns out as many solo and collab albums as The Body (and of course, both these bands are hardly strangers themselves). Since 2010, the experimental drone duo has dropped fourteen helpings of sludgy goodness, including two albums with FoH and…
If there were one word to describe the look of Microchip Terror (although I will proceed to use much more) it would be “unique” as while most darksynth or darkwave artists fight over upside down crosses and other satanic imagery, Microchip Terror gets their hands dirty with body mutilating electronics…
