scuzz-punk | Heartbreaking Bravery

August 14, 2014

Happy Diving – Weird Dream (Stream)

This week has had no shortage of great material to choose from thanks to great new songs from the likes of Glish (whose upcoming self-titled is among the year’s best releases), Miss Destiny, Straight Arrows, Colleen Green, Cozy, and VCR. There were also eye-catching music videos from the likes of site favorites Creepoid and Happyness to round things out on the visual end of the spectrum. One of the most arresting things to be introduced into the world, though, was Happy Diving’s lo-fi basement punk rager “Weird Dream”.

Bookending a song with sheets of feedback is a bold move that normally indicates a fair amount of aggression. It’s a trick that Dinosaur Jr. has used to great effect and a proclivity that Happy Diving seems to have picked up (among a few others that offer a strong connection between the two bands). From the scorching guitar work to the scuzzy production, “Happy Diving” isn’t content to drift by without landing a cavalcade of punches. As damaging as it is damaged, the song’s one hell of an introduction to a band on the verge of releasing their debut record, Big World, through a label as revered as Father/Daughter Records. If “Weird Dreams” does prove to be truly indicative of what Big World has in store, October 21 can’t get here fast enough.

Listen to “Weird Dream” below and make sure to pre-order Big World directly from Father/Daughter Records here.

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August 11, 2014

Girl Tears – Candy Darling (Stream)

Near the end of July, Girl Tears put up the first glimpse at their upcoming full-length, Tension, with “Candy Darling”. It’s a charging bit of scuzz-punk that barely eclipses a minute in length and announces the Los Angeles-based trio as an act worth paying a lot of attention to. Tension will be the band’s debut record and they’ve secured a release through the excellent Sinderlyn Records, furthering their prospects at making an impact on an audience far greater than the one they’re enjoying now.

“Candy Darling” itself a snarling bit of lo-fi outsider punk mastery; micro-punk at its finest. Operating like a cathartic joyride, “Candy Darling” practically flies off the handle from the moment it starts, barreling forward with a natural intensity characteristic of the best kind of immediacy (one that sticks). Blink and it’s done, so make sure both eyes are wide open because this is something that deserves to be witnessed.

Listen to “Candy Darling” below and make sure to pick up a copy of Tension when it’s released on August 26.

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August 10, 2014

Kindling – Sunspots (Stream)

Towards the end of last month, Easthampton duo Kindling set about releasing one of the best unheralded 7″s of the year so far with Spike & Wave. The duo, made up of Stephen Pierce and Gretchen Williams, leans heavily on shoegaze while not completely abandoning fuzzy outsider pop, in a vein not too dissimilar from site favorites Joanna Gruesome. Spike & Wave is limited to 300 copies on lavender vinyl, courtesy of Moon Sounds Records, and- because of songs like “Sunspots”- it’s worth snagging a copy before they’re gone.

All four songs on Spike & Wave are extraordinary in their own right but it’s the second track that defines the release. “Sunspots” has all of the requisite heaviness, tension, and swirling dream-like unease that characterizes the best shoegaze, while fully embracing a near-twee pop sensibility which they manage to keep grounding. Reverb cloaks the majority of the instrumentation, granting it a blown-out and completely wide-open feel that’s as welcoming as it is daunting. Totaling a mere two minutes and 25 seconds, it’s a masterstroke of genre craftsmanship and announces Kindling as an act to watch out for.

Listen to “Sunspots” below and pick up a copy of Spike & Wave from Moon Sounds Records here.

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