"Face exposed on the block of another street / Stop and pose another brand you gotta compete..." The hyper kinetic angular alt punk pummeling of "Great Design" by Consumables, the fierce NYC-based art punk quartet, rides on iconic East Coast new wave power pop-esque predilections and 90's post punk abstractions. I thought of a lot of iconic seeds including the jagged dice and slice guitars of bands like Bloc Party or The Futureheads and the sort of Sprechgesang vocal attack of outfits like Squid or Do Nothing. How can you not absolutely love the bass and drum anchor with the hoo ..read more

  "Sink your spirit in the water / Your religion is the ocean deep / No more fear, you need the water / No more questions, no emotions deep..." The spinning rock fusions and abstract sonic torrents of "Water" by Gramofone, a Romanian four piece alt rock outfit, stirs the imagination with blends of post rock, funky alt pop dives all with a cinematic flair. Consisting of Paul Drăgușin (vocals/keys), Vlad Dumitrescu (vocals/guitars), Cristian Nicoară (drums) and Radu Camburu (bass), the sense is free wheeling and highly groove based with cross genre'd and cross generational touchstone ..read more

  "but could you show me something / I have never seen?" The wild abandon, youthful reverie, killer camaraderie of "Manhattan" by L.A. based Dress Kit, and from their latest EP "Twin", feels like the best iterations of 90's indie meets late 70's free wheeling punk fusion. The chopping rhythms, double sided dissonance, throbbing bass anchors and squealing guitars has me feeling, the density of art and excitement that exists at less than legit venues but more like at secret loft shows, or shows in between building at a corporate park borrowing electricity (until the cops come), or po ..read more

  photo by Courtney Fitzpatrick The ZZ busker punk blues iteration of "Live Like an Animal" and the sea-salt sprinkled tropical punk psychedelia of of "Way Too High", by Bozeman, Montana's King Ropes, are so divergently different but connected by sonic off kilter D.N.A. From their latest and 6th album, "Idaho", these two songs may feel the most separate from each other. The jostling beat, blues rock ramble, and sort of Sprechgesang (talk singing) vocal style instantly made me fall into the song. Not only is vocalist, songwriter Dave Hollier's aloof , jaded snarl so perfect for the words ..read more

  "I wanted you to choose me / over the dream you chose..." The deeply electronica grooved, hope lined two way mirror of "7.5 Years" by Brooklyn NY born Sasha & The Bear, comfortably wraps around you like a heavy blanket full of sadness and two fisted resolve. The cleanly deep bass grooves and machine beats punctuated by tubular synth lines and swelling synth strings makes for a totally dreamy but sad framework. A perfect framework for singer-songwriter Sasha Daniel's evocative vocal countenance that might lean as somber but not depressive. The lilt in her voice, the character sc ..read more

  "if you look / close into the sky / watching the clouds / how they're passing by / I felt so happy / watching them fly..." The gothic persuasions, darkly entrancing and mysterious glimpses around corners of "I Felt So Happy", by German progressive alt rock / psych rock band Ogrom Circus, takes you on a trip over it's nearly 7 minute run time and this is the thing, afterwards you want to hear more. Like an opera of sorts, the vintage psychedelic keys and sort of Western pop rock noir guitars had me thinking of the kinds of sounds I might associate with 70's Italian Horror movies, the s ..read more

  photo by Evelyn Shafer The exceptional, glorious rock storytelling of "Being Good Is Supposed To Be Easy" by SEE NIGHT, the indie-rock project of L.A.-based singer-songwriter Linda Sao, feels like a massive formidable piece of sonic marble, veined with folk, with gothic rock, post punk, baroque pop, indie rock and 60's girl torture pop. In this way, the song merely by it's cross pollination of genres is a wicked surprise, on top of this blistering, compelling framework is Sao's beautifully endearing vocal personna singing her words. "But what do you do, what do you say? / Where do yo ..read more

  "all these union men / sheriff's Pinkerton / a scuffle at the mouth of the pit / somebody slips / tumbling down down down / can't help but look / can you seem them??" The raw punk throwdown of "Miners on Strike" by Oakland, California's three piece Ambient Living, feels potently feral and consciously aware. The rumbling bass and drums, stabbing guitar shapes on the very edge of dissonance and a politico sort of Sprechgesang vocal attack, telling stories, painting thoughtful pictures. I thought of iconic old school punk favorites like The Jim Carroll Band and Wipers and more contempora ..read more

  "reminds me that we're due back home / I'll keep my eye on every road / you said you'd find someone / that looks like me..." The chased modern dime store novel stories of "Methanol" by august for dawn, the solo project of New Zealand's Charles Everley Ryder (Yumi Zouma), feels at once vast and intimate drawing you in and wondering about the back stories, the seeds behind it all. I love Charlie's voice laced with introspection and sadness and the way he constructs his melodies. "Methanol" is the kind of song you want to hear performed and even figure out and sing yourself. It has one o ..read more

  "like teenagers secretly in the woods / buying time from the sacred trees / bending down on our knees / but what's the cause of your despair?" The mnemonic tapestries of sound, alluring, mysterious and diaristic of "Tree" by Hilke, the solo incarnation of Belgian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Hilke Ros, draws you inward in both imperceptible and stark ways. There is a glacial sweeping sadness, deeply resonant piano runs and ebbs of strings against ambient pulls, a sense of wandering through hallways and around corners of an old cluttered house, maybe cluttered with things b ..read more