Release Roundup: August 25th

ERRONEOUS BOTCH:

Three videos for this week! Yes, that’s right! The mighty triple threat. My wife/lovely co-host and I were guests on the Music Is My Life podcast last week, run by F.O.T.S. Lochlan Watt (RUN). It’s a very fun, rambling meta-conversation about running podcasts, music discovery, our early career jobs, technical difficulties, and why we need to bring back haters (but only as a treat). Check it out below, drop a comment, and follow Lochlan’s show while you’re there:

On the main show, we had industrial doomsayer and returning champion KING YOSEF drop in for a guest episode to chat about his insane new LP, Spire of Fear, out now through Bleakhouse. If you’re into any kind of abrasive music that isn’t afraid to get both vulnerable and weird, then you should be listening to this project. This is some of the most creative and uncompromising heavy tunes you’ll hear all year. Check it out in full below:

And for my ongoing Dispatch Bay series, the boys in HOT MULLIGAN stopped by for a quick chat about verbose song titles and the stories behind their stellar new post-emo classic in-waiting, The Sound a Body Makes When It's Still (out now through Wax Bodega). You can check it out in full below:

SIDE A:

A curated selection of cool shit for you to listen to.

Joyce Manor – “All My Friends are So Depressed”

SoCal punk rockers JOYCE MANOR have dropped their first taste of new music in three long years. “All My Friends Are So Depressed” is a breezy, acoustic-guitar-led cut produced by Epitaph label founder and Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. According to frontman and F.O.T.S. Barry Johnson, the track was inspired by, of all things, Mexican beer and Lana Del Rey:

“The first line I came up with for this song was ‘Lord above in a Tecate truck’ after passing a Tecate delivery truck with Jesus shit all over it on the freeway driving back to Long Beach after a show in Fresno… It’s kind of my take on what I imagine Lana Del Rey lyrics are like. Instead of icy, detached cool 50’s Americana, it’s all dirty shag carpet, bong rips, Peter Frampton Comes Alive, key lime pie and suicidal ideations.”

Watch the video for “All My Friends are So Depressed” below:

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Going Off – Kill List II

As much as I love delisioursly fast, balls-to-the-wall hardcore punk that’s seemingly designed to break ankles and shred skin with sub-minute-long ragers, sometimes I just wanna listen to ignorantly heavy, knuckledragging beatdown tunes. Thankfully, Manchester brusiers GOING OFF satisfy both of these primal urges.

Follwoing the release of their ripping second LP, Die Fast, the quartet are dropping Kill List II, on October 31st. It’s the spiritual successor to their stupidly heavy 2023 EP and first Kill List volume, promising yet another evolution in throatshredding, beatdown aggression and unrelenting sonic extremity. Stream the EP’s pre-release singles here (DSPs).

The Barbarians of California – “Modern Fashion”

“Hopefully, ‘Modern Fashion’ can become a metaphor for whatever you feel like wearing and for whatever music you feel like listening to...never having to explain yourself.”

That’s Aaron Bruno (AWOLNATION) talking about the intent behind the latest single from THE BARBARIANS OF CALIFORNIA. Picking up where the band’s 2024 debut And Now I'm Just Gnashing My Teeth LP left off, the track hinges on a monstrous groove and swaggers through punk and alt-metal flavours with a cheeky off-kilter hook.

The group are currently on tour supporting Deftones in North America, and this one’s likely to get those stadium crowds jumping. Watch the video for “Modern Fashion” below:

Mastiff – For All the Dead Dreams

UK metallers MASTIFF are building up to their new EP release for F.O.T.S. over at Church Road Records. For All the Dead Dreams is out on October 24th, and is billed as “pure rage, misery, and riffs.”

If you’re a fan of metallic hardcore, sludge, the occasional prog freak-out, and howling vocals inspired by “embittered misanthropy,” then this East Yorkshire quintet are for you. Stream the EP’s pre-release singles here (DSPs).

New York rockers SOUL BLIND definitely love the ‘90s. While their previous efforts successfully blended the alternative and grunge sounds of that End of History decade, Red Sky Mourning—the band’s forthcoming second LP and debut for Closed Casket Activities, due on October 10th—presents a harder, heavier edge, leaning on the legacy of posthardcore greats like Helmet, Quicksand, and early career Deftones. As guitarist Justin Sarica puts it:

“The whole song is around this one riff and collectively we were pretty pissed off and angry, so what came out was very hard and very fast. I think this song is also the closest thing to our previous stuff but is emblematic of the vibe we're trying to catch with the record–anger coupled with heaviness while simultaneously opening up to these melodic and pretty sections.”

Watch the video for “Hide Your Evil” below:

SIDE B & FEATURE ALBUM:

Want more tracks? Well, I have some good news for you.

I’ll be posting my Side B write-ups on SUN RUN, PUBLIC OPINION, AUTHOR & PUNISHER, and DEAD MALL on the TPD Patreon. If you'd like to check them out, please consider becoming a Friend of the Show (for just $3 USD/$5 AUD per month).

By joining, you become part of our alternative music community, get access to our existing bonus content, and have the opportunity to send me a mildly threatening chat message with some new music you like. I’m deadly serious about this. I want your recommendations!!

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