Alternative rock heroes from another era, Local H, are still active and going strong, as they unveil an excellent new track off their upcoming album, LIFERS, their ninth studio full length. The album features production by the great Steve Albini, as well as contributions by the likes of Juliana Hatfield and John McCauley of Deer Tick, and it comes out April 10th, 2020 via AntiFragile Music, a little after the band's upcoming tour with fellow nineties rockers, Soul Asylum.

Guitarist and vocalist, Scott Lucas, and drummer, Ryan Harding, have kept Local H alive and busy throughout all these years through countless releases and a continuous live presence.

LIFERS draws influence from The Beatles' White Album, processed through the band's own filter. "When the re-release of the White Album came out a few years ago, I became re-obsessed all over again," Scott Lucas explains. "One aspect that really hit me about it (this time) was how it’s not really a concept record — but it feels like a concept record. I wanted to do that with LIFERS. This might be a concept record about the end of the world. Or it might just be a party record with loud guitars and cowbells."

Turn the Bow finds Local H in full on heavy guitar-driven noise rock mode, although the band cite a whole different source of inspiration for it. Scott comments:  "The Floyd influence was so strong that at one point we considered making a six song album like Meddle and this tune was going to be our Echoes and clock in at over 20 minutes long. Maybe next time."







Local H Facebook | Twitter | Instagram




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Coming from Calgary, Canada, emerging post punk band, Port Juvee, release the title track and accompanying video off their forthcoming full length, Motion Control, which comes out February 28th, 2020 through the Canadian DIY label, Garment District Records. It will be the band's sophomore album, following the self-released CRIMEWAVE from 2016.

Resolutely rooted in post punk, Port Juvee call to mind the New York No Wave scene through their effective fusion of punk, surf rock and psychedelia, and the sharp and jumpy Motion Control is a radiant example of the drive in the band's restless sound. The song comes with a kaleidoscopic visual comprised of retro-futuristic found footage that add to the song's intriguing agitation, and its clever commentary of life in the digital age.




Spotify



Port Juvee Facebook | Twitter | Instagram



thegarmentdistrictmusic.com




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Having shared stages with bands like Preoccupations, Havah, Be Forest, and Soviet Soviet, receiving praise for their live presence, upcoming Italian shoegazers, submeet, have just released their debut album, Terminal, through Lady Sometimes Records.

Dwelling on the grittier and noisier side of shoegaze, with large doses of post punk and noise rock blended in their sound, submeet have already earned comparisons to acts like A Place To Bury Strangers and Preoccupations,  by virtue of their excellent implementation of fuzz, raucousness and reverberation to their dark aesthetics, and their enamoring dystopian themes.

On Capsule Hotel, a paradigm of the illusory and ghostly mood that the band achieve throughout the whole record, they cite influence from the nightmarish brilliance of David Cronenberg, and sound utterly maniacal while giving full substance to their vision.

As the band put it in their own words: "The song tells about the rejection of the alienating condition submitted by a post-industrial society in which we do not recognize ourselves anymore, but of which we speak the same language made of metallic, distorted and deafening noises. Death of the man as death of conscience, intellect, authenticity and freedom of thought."






Cover art by zannunzio



submeet Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram


ladysometimesrecords.com




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2020 got underway quite impressively, with anticipated albums announced, and strong singles coming left and right. A dozen of those we didn't cover individually, but which still grabbed our attention, comprise the first edition of Stream And Destroy for the new year.

Lately very much productive, Chromatics, followed their album, Closer to Grey, from late last year with a new single that marries the band's glittering synthpop with their cinematic qualities, while another synthpop act, the underrated Cold Beat signed to DFA and are consequently looking forward to more exposure, with  Prism being a promising first specimen from their upcoming album, Mother.

Canadian punks, Lié, will be releasing their fourth LP shortly, and the dark and nervy, Drowning in Piss, couldn't be more captivating owing to its bluntness, while Australian post punk trio, Cable Ties, are also readying the release of a new album, introduced with the ferocious Sandcastles. One of Sub Pop's freshest acts, LA's Moaning also announced their new album, and presented the more new wave-leaning first single, Ego. The bitter and agitated Sweet is the first example off the new record by Brighton up and comers, Porridge Radio, which finds the band in fine shape, while Ohio's Snarls deliver a sweet mixture of grunge pop and emo-bent alternative rock through their new single, Marbles.

New York hardcore punks, Drug Church, follow their acclaimed previous LP, Cheer, with a standalone single of pure punk rock immediacy, and they're about to go out on a tour with Thrice, mewithoutYou and Holy Fawn who have also an excellent release out, the weighty three-track EP, The Black Moon which follows their well received debut album, Death Spells from 2018. Chicago-based post hardcore band and one of those to keep and eye on, Slow Mass, have just put out a cool seven-inch including the forceful, Mal.

Comprised of Dana Schechter (Swans) and Andy Patterson (SubRosa), Insect Ark revealed the celestial and quite ambitious cut, Philae off their upcoming album, The Vanishing, and the always great and consistent, Helen Money, will be delivering her next full length, Atomic, in March, off which the dark and sentimental Midnight comes characteristic of the artist's great ear for wistfulness and deft instrumentation.





01. Chromatics - TOY
02. Cold Beat - Prism
03. Lié - Drowning in Piss
04. Cable Ties - Sandcastles
05. Moaning - Ego
06. Porridge Radio - Sweet
07. Snarls - Marbles
08. Drug Church - Bliss Out
09. Holy Fawn - Candy
10. Slow Mass - Mal
11. Insect Ark - Philae
12. Helen Money - Midnight








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Skillfully mingling heaviness with melancholy, and coming forth with an extreme metal sound that draws elements from progressive rock, doom and death metal, Italy's Tethra will be releasing their upcoming third album, Empire of the Void, on March 20th, 2020 via Black Lion Records.

The seven-minute doom epic, Cold Blue Nebula, is the first piece revealed off the new record, and it comes with a video comprised of arresting landscapes which add an extra coating of august moodiness to the band's already grand sound. Tethra describe the song as "a threnody that faces feelings of detachment and loneliness passing through a painful and necessary transition to get to know our inner self."

On par with the purgative dejection immortalized by dark metal acts such as My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, Tethra's sound parallels the depths of their themes and lyrical content, and doesn't hold back neither the ponderousness nor the low spirits.









Pre-order



Tethra Facebook | Instagram


blacklion.nu




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Part of the eclectic catalog of the Oakland independent label, n5MD, Everything, will be the sixth album from experimental electronica composer, Franck Zaragoza's Ocoeur project. The upcoming full length comes out February 28th, 2020, and it's introduced with the just unveiled first single, Glow.

Analogous to the IDM and ambient electronica mixture for which the Bordeaux-based musician earned much accolades through his earlier endeavors, Ocoeur's new composition dazzles, in consequence of its immediacy and sharpness. Glow turns to good account the most of the artist's dexterity in sound design and flair for modern, minimal, experimental soundscapes, and in only five minutes it manages to leave a strong impact for its rare combination of sophistication and accessibility.

Warm and distinguishable, Glow, is a delicate, yet, powerful first specimen of a propitious full length, that follows in the footsteps of the quality work Zaragoza has delivered in the past.




Cover art by Ian Erik Waider



Ocoeur Website | Facebook


n5md.com




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