"Opens with a dusty tremolo guitar sound, like a grungier Duane Eddy, with vocalist Christopher Goett showcasing a voice that’s uncannily similar to Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch. It’s fuzzy, hard-driving rock ‘n’ roll at heart." -- Treble

Los Angeles quartet Blackout Transmission share a new single from their forthcoming debut album today via Outburn Magazine. Hear and share "Heavy Circles" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Treble recently hosted the lead single "Portals" HERE. 

Los Angeles-based post-punk shoe-gaze band Blackout Transmission summon a psychoactive rush of sound on their debut long-player Sparse Illumination out February 19, 2021 via Etxe (et-CHAY) Records.

The album has an artful intentionality and natural cadence to its composition. The meditative, atmospheric opening track “Once There” dovetails into a catchy, Bad Seeds meets Bunnymen groove of “Since She Guided You Away” wherein questions of mortality and the afterlife collide. The late-night romantic pursuit of “Tactile Responses” summons sultry Wire and Public Image Limited vibes while incorporating beautiful, bowed-like choral guitar effects. Side A flows to conclusion with the shimmering, and faster-paced, “Heavy Circles” oscillating between driving, frenetic moments and textured, ethereal passages.

Side B launches with the intoxicating and gauzy, “Verdant Return” that features jaunty melodies and blooming choruses juxtaposed with a biting, confrontational lyrical narrative. The hypnotic groove of “Pacifica” eases off the gas pedal with a psychedelic coastal exploration crossfading perfectly into “Portals” a late-night driving track replete with Storm In Heaven textures and propulsive energy framing desert-evening ruminations about space and time. “Sleepwalking Again” closes the album reflecting upon exhausting, widening income inequality and social movements with a simmer- to-a-boil composition that conjures the more reflective moments of Unwound and early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Bright and gleaming at times, warm and meditative at others – Sparse Illumination effectively creates a seamless, lysergic journey filled with potent lyrics coupled with a rush of multi-chromatic textures anchored by magnetic bass grooves and feverish drumming.

Christopher Goett (Silo Halo), the main creative force of Blackout Transmission, had a growing body of work since his return to Southern California after a decade in Washington, DC. He attributes reconnecting with longtime friend Adam D’Zurilla (Sleepmask, Dreamland) as a catalyst to further explore and refine those ideas.

Arrangements were rounded out with the addition of Kevin Cluppert on bass and Anthony Salazar (Teenage Wrist) on drums culminating with the band playing out in late 2019 and harnessing their live chemistry as they entered the studio in early 2020.

A good portion of album was recorded at Dream Machine in Long Beach and produced by Scott Holmes (Highlands) with Goett. “Scott pushed me in the best way to reimagine elements of my approach” says Goett, “as such we captured the vibe and feel that I was seeking with these songs.” The pandemic forced Goett to finalize many of his overdubs at his home studio in Los Angeles (Twin Dragon West) as well as birthing two additional tracks included on the LP.

Collectively, the eight tracks on Sparse Illumination combine for a tight 34-minute dose of post-punk, shoegaze, and neo-psychedelia that evokes low-shutter-speed nocturnal journeys through desert canyons and winding coastal highways.

Sparse Illumination will be available on LP and download on February 19, 2021 via Etxe Records. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

"A frantic, messy variety of guitar rock, that won’t say no to a night out with punk, hardcore, new wave, or which ever genre (or hottie, or mark, or naive and corruptible young fool) catches their eye that evening." -- New Noise

"Alpha Hopper have boiled down the finer elements of noise rock, no wave. and art-punk to create something so distinctly their own, while paying homage to the sordid style of early 90’s AmRep and Touch & Go favorites." -- Post-Trash

"The album will assuredly have everyone mesmerized... Strikingly riveting and original." -- GhettoBlaster

Buffalo, NY quartet Alpha Hopper share a new video today alongside a revealing interview with No Echo. Watch & share "The Goods" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

The band recently released another stunning video, for the album track "En-Skin" from their recently released third album Alpha Hex Index. The video was created by Tbilisi, Georgia collaborators UTA (wearable sculpture artist) and Virtual Reality filmmaker Flatsitter. Watch & share "En-Skin" video via YouTube.

Hear and share the full album Alpha Hex Index via Bandcamp.

The video is a collaboration between wearable sculpture artist Uta P. Bekia and virtual reality filmmaker Flatsitter and was conceptualized and directed by Jessica Wegrzyn, a costume designer and the band’s long-time personal friend. The concept was inspired by lead singer Irene Rekhviashvili’s lyrics, which demands us to armor ourselves with the protective hides of creatures and the head and heart of our own spirit.

"Alternative metal that practically bleeds punk energy, then you're going to dig the new Planned Dilemma song 'Tell Their Lies'. It's a great blend of noisy breakdowns, slow-burning riffs, and enough sections to incite quite a few pits." -- Metal Injection

Hamilton, ON quartet Planned Dilemma share a video single from their forthcoming debut Inspace today via Metal Injection. Watch and share "Tell Their Lies" video HERE. (Direct YouTube and stream the single via Bandcamp.)

Relentlessly restless, riling. These three words, off Planned Dilemma’s three song debut EP Inspace., describe the band’s frenzied efforts to write, record, and prepare for an early-winter release. Produced and guided by Henry Moss, the band recorded at the illustrious Noble Street Studios in Toronto. 

With each part they laid down, they dialed in to the vast array of sounds from which they draw their inspiration. Sounds of grunge, hardcore, shoegaze, and vocalist Amina’s recalling of the soulful and powerful rock vanguard (the Joplins, Cornells, Morrisettes, etc.), all fused together to create Planned Dilemma’s distinctive sound. The songs were then mixed and mastered by Zach Weeks at Kurt Ballou’s GodCity Studio, where they were given the GodCity signature gnarl. All in all, whether viewed as politically charged, self-loathing, or a personal respite, one thing escapes interpretation. The band channels these songs through the psyche of disgruntled youth in a culture of uncertainty. 

Through the towering halls of alternative rock, the sleazy streets of hardcore, and the gritty rooms of grunge and shoegaze, Planned Dilemma sits in the center. Over a zealous summer in 2018, the 4-piece, fronted by Cairo, Egypt transplant Amina Axi with guitarist Josh Agnoletto, drummer Rob Singh and bassist Dan Scime fully formed in a Hamiltonian basement. There, they tended towards driven, groovy rhythms and swaying dynamics, dipped in a dose of anger-fuelled melancholy. 

To harbour such a multi-dimensional sound, they moulded together their influences from bands such as Deftones, Smashing Pumpkins, and Hum — with soaring, Janis Joplin-like vocals, putting the icing over a grungy, noisy cake. 

Inspace. will be available on CD and download on February 19, 2021. Pre-orders are available HERE. 



Album: Inspace.

Record Label: self-released 

Release Date: February 19, 2021

01. Tell Their Lies

02. Softly

03. Without You

On The Web:

https://www.facebook.com/PlannedDilemma/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6oc1UmQUIXQTn3Z_4Yc3jQ

https://planneddilemma.bandcamp.com

"An evolutionary step forward for their sound." -- Metal Hammer

"A woozy wall of Afrobeat inspired fuzzbox riff worship and pounding circular rhythmic power, Here Lies Man connect the stoner rock underground straight to downtown Lagos." -- The Quietus

"Here Lies Man are still really, really good at making riffy, rhythmic psychedelic rock that sounds like the '60s/'70s but still feels fresh today. Fans of anything from Nuggets to Ty Segall and King Gizzard should take note." -- Brooklyn Vegan

Los Angles, CA quartet Here Lies Man share a new single from their forthcoming fourth album Ritual Divination today on all streaming platforms. Hear and share "Collector of Vanities" via YouTube, Bandcamp and Spotify. 

Brooklyn Vegan yesterday hosted a revealing, exclusive walkthrough of the band's influences on the new album HERE. And, Premier Guitar Magazine featured HLM's Marcos Garcia last week in their illustrious Rig Rundown series HERE. 

Four albums in, the convenient and generalized catchphrase for Here Lies Man’s erudite sound — if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat — might seem a little played out. But Ritual Divination is perhaps the best rendering of the idea so far. Particularly on the Sabbath side of the equation: The guitars are heavier and more blues based than before, but the ancient rhythmic formula of the clave remains a constant. 

“Musically it’s an opening up more to traditional rock elements,” says vocalist/guitarist/cofounder Marcos Garcia, who also plays guitar in 2020 Grammy nominees Antibalas. “It’s always been our intention to explore. And, as we travelled deeper into this musical landscape, new features revealed themselves.” 

The L.A. based band comprised of Antibalas members have toured relentlessly following their breakout 2017 self-titled debut. Their second album, You Will Know Nothing and an EP, Animal Noises, both followed in 2018. Third album No Ground To Walk Upon emerged in August 2019. All of them were crafted by Garcia and cofounder/drummer Geoff Mann (former Antibalas drummer and son of jazz musician Herbie Mann) in their L.A. studio between tours. Ritual Divination is their first album recorded as the full 4-piece band, including bassist JP Maramba and keyboardist Doug Organ.

Ritual Divination continues with an ongoing concept of HLM playing the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, with each song being a scene. “It’s an inward psychedelic journey, the album is the trip,” Garcia says. “The intention and purpose of the music is to create a sonic ritual to lift the veil of inner space and divine the true nature of reality.” 

Likewise, musically and sonically, the album is self-reflexive. “On this album the feel changes within a song,” Garcia says. “Whereas before each song was meant to induce a trancelike state, now more of the songs have their own arc built in.” Similarly, the guitar sounds themselves herein eschew the fuzz pedals of previous recordings, going for the directness of pure amp overdrive and distortion using an interconnected rig of 4 amplifiers. And, here, the well-versed live band is able to record as a unit, giving it much more of a live and dynamic feel.

Rough Trade named the band’s self-titled debut in their prestigious Top 10 Albums of 2017. BBC 6 & Classic Rock Magazine deemed it among the year’s best, as well as countless other press outlets singing its praises. Each subsequent album furthered the band’s reputation for genre-smashing rhythmic experimentation, topping many year-end lists as well as earning features from countless metal and indie rock outlets, plus cover stories in weekly papers. 

“We’re very conscious of how the rhythms service the riffs,” Garcia explains. “Tony Iommi’s (Black Sabbath) innovation was to make the riff the organizing principle of a song. We are taking that same approach but employing a different organizing principle: For Iommi it was the blues, for us it comes directly from Africa.”

Ritual Divination will be available on LP, CD and download on January 22nd, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. 

Artist: Here Lies Man

Album: Ritual Divination 

Record Label: RidingEasy Records

Release date: January 22nd, 2021

Digital & CD:

01. In These Dreams

02. I Told You (You Shall Die)

03. Underland

04. What You See

05. Can’t Kill It

06. Run Away Children

07. I Wander

08. Night Comes

09. Come Inside

10. Collector of Vanities

11. Disappointed

12. You Would Not See From Heaven

13. The Fates Have Won

14. Out Goes The Night

15. Cutting Through The Tether

Vinyl:

Side A:

01. In These Dreams

02. I Told You (You Shall Die)

03. Underland

04. What You See

05. Night Comes

Side B:

01. Come Inside

02. Collector of Vanities

03. Disappointed

04. The Fates Have Won

05. Out Goes The Night

Bonus 7" (UK pressing & direct from RidingEasy)

Side A: Run Away Children

Side B: I Wander

On The Web:

ridingeasyrecords.com

hereliesman.com

facebook.com/hereliesman

hereliesman.bandcamp.com

Los Angeles record label RidingEasy Records today shares a free download compilation "mixtape" of tracks released in 2020 along with some unreleased singles slated for 2021. The RidingEasy Records 2020 Holiday Mixtape is available at Bandcamp HERE. 

The label is also offering a sitewide 20% off on LPs, CDs, merch and downloads via the label's official website www.RidingEasyRecords.com 

The mixtape features brand new, never heard tracks from Warish, Alastor, Deathchant, Brown Acid: The Twelfth Trip, the forthcoming soon-to-be-legendary compilation series Scrap Metal, and Coventry (Mondo Drag's John Gamino's modular synth project.) 

Plus, it includes standout 2020 singles from Here Lies Man, Spelljammer, Warish, Brown Acid: The Eleventh Trip, The Goners, The Death Wheelers, R.I.P., Hell Fire, Randy Holden, Ice and Monolord guitarist/vocalist Thomas Jäger's solo debut.

On The Web:

ridingeasyrecords.com

www.facebook.com/RidingEasyRecords

www.instagram.com/easyriderrecord

www.soundcloud.com/easyriderrecords

www.youtube.com/easyriderrecords

"A frantic, messy variety of guitar rock, that won’t say no to a night out with punk, hardcore, new wave, or which ever genre (or hottie, or mark, or naive and corruptible young fool) catches their eye that evening." -- New Noise

"Alpha Hopper have boiled down the finer elements of noise rock, no wave. and art-punk to create something so distinctly their own, while paying homage to the sordid style of early 90’s AmRep and Touch & Go favorites." -- Post-Trash

"The album will assuredly have everyone mesmerized... Strikingly riveting and original." -- GhettoBlaster

Buffalo, NY quartet Alpha Hopper share a stunning video for "En-Skin" from their recently released third album Alpha Hex Index today via New Noise Magazine. The video was created by Tbilisi, Georgia collaborators UTA (wearable sculpture artist) and Virtual Reality filmmaker Flatsitter. Watch & share "En-Skin" video HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

Hear and share the full album Alpha Hex Index via Bandcamp.

The video is a collaboration between wearable sculpture artist Uta P. Bekia and virtual reality filmmaker Flatsitter and was conceptualized and directed by Jessica Wegrzyn, a costume designer and the band’s long-time personal friend. The concept was inspired by lead singer Irene Rekhviashvili’s lyrics, which demands us to armor ourselves with the protective hides of creatures and the head and heart of our own spirit.

"Straightforward, no-nonsense rock." -- Metal Injection

Bloomington, IN quartet Wenches (ex-members of Racebannon) share the first video single from their forthcoming debut album Effin' Gnarly today via Metal Injection. Watch and share "Bad Man" video HERE. (Direct YouTube and stream the single via Bandcamp.)

Assembled from broken bits and leftover chunks of various known and unknown groups in the punk, metal and post-hardcore world, Wenches hail from Bloomington, Indiana in the heart of the Midwest. Described by No Echo as “raw, no bullshit...undiluted rock realness" and in the vein of proto-punk bands like MC5 and The Stooges, the debut album Effin' Gnarly is slated for a February 2021 release. 

Tracked at Russian Recording (Built to Spill, Tortoise, of Montreal) and mastered by James Plotkin (Sunn O))), Pelican, Earth, ISIS), the band portrays the album as “high-energy screaming hard rock played the only way long-haired punk metalheads know how. "After a rotating door of bassists and drummers, the band has finally landed on what hopes to be a lasting lineup. Effin' Gnarly follows a previously sold out 3-song "demo" cassette and precedes the release of a limited edition 7" single entitled State Fair Hair. 

Effin' Gnarly will be available on LP and download on February 26, 2021 via Master Kontrol Audio. Limited edition cassettes will be released by Small Hand Factory. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

Album: Effin’ Gnarly

Record Label: Master Kontrol Audio 

Release Date: February 26, 2021

01. Mama, Wake Up

02. Truck Stop Tank Top

03. Bad Man

04. What’s Next To The Moon

05. My Lady’s On Fire

06. Break Up To Make Up

07. Six To Midnight Man

08. Slip Slidin’

09. 100,000 Years

On The Web:

www.wenches.rocks

facebook.com/wencheswencheswenches

instagram.com/mstrkntrl

"Low, slow, crunchy and crushing. Crank it up as loud as your speakers will go." -- Metal Injection

"Exhibits mastery with good riffs, tone and fat-as-f*ck drumming while also claiming its own distinct space in the world of doom." -- CvltNation

Stockholm, Sweden based trio Spelljammer share the first single from their forthcoming album Abyssal Trip today. Hear and share "Lake" via YouTube, Bandcamp and Spotify.

“The vastness of everything is something that I think about a lot,” says Spelljammer bassist/vocalist Niklas Olsson. And it certainly shows in both the expansive, sludgy sounds and contemplative lyrics of the Stockholm, Sweden based trio. Following a 5-year break between their previous album, Ancient of Days — perhaps fittingly spent pondering said vastness — Spelljammer is back with an album that perfectly bridges the band’s earlier desert rock leanings and their later massive, slow-burning riffs. 

Abyssal Trip (note: carefully re-read that album title) takes its moniker from the perpetually dark, cold, oxygen-free zone at the bottom of the ocean. The 6-song, 44-minute album fittingly embodies that bleak realm with rumbling, oozing guitars intercut with dramatic melodic interludes. The songs take their time to unfurl, making them even more hypnotic. Likewise, the lyrics take a poetic approach to establishing the sonic scenery.

“The lyrical themes we address, like the ultimate doom of man, and the search and longing for new and better worlds, are still there,” Olsson says. “The concept of something undiscovered out there in vast emptiness is pretty much always present.” 

The recording process for Abyssal Trip differs from previous releases in that the band — guitarist Robert Sörling, drummer Jonatan Rimsbo and Olsson — opted to capture the performances while holed up in the mental bathysphere of a house in the countryside near Stockholm. “The songs benefitted from the relaxed environment of being away from everything,” Olsson explains. Indeed, the album sounds confident and meticulously arranged, afforded by the band’s isolation. Sörling mixed the album and it was mastered by Monolord drummer Esben Willems at Berserk Audio.

Album opener “Bellwether” begins dramatically with a very slow, nearly minute-long fade in of rumbling distortion setting the stage for heavily distorted bass and guitar plucking out the lugubrious riff for another minute and a half before the drums begin, and likewise equally as long before vocals gurgle to the surface. “Lake” abruptly shifts gears, opening with an unusually fast gallop before rupturing into thundering doom that soon drops into a clean-tone Middle Eastern melodic breakdown. The title track serves as the album centerpiece, opening with ominous film dialogue about blood sacrifice that launches into pummeling, detuned guitars rumbling over gut-punching drums and howling vocals hearkening to the proto-sludge of Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song.” The dynamic relents briefly for a slow building clean guitar melody before all instruments lock into a jerking riff topped off by a trilling Iommi style lead. Throughout, Abyssal Trip is, just like its title suggests, an epic tour through desolate zones which yields much to discover. 

Abyssal Trip will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on February 26th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. 

"Opens with a dusty tremolo guitar sound, like a grungier Duane Eddy, with vocalist Christopher Goett showcasing a voice that’s uncannily similar to Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch. It’s fuzzy, hard-driving rock ‘n’ roll at heart." -- Treble

Los Angeles quartet Blackout Transmission share the first single from their forthcoming debut album  today via TrebleZine. Hear and share "Portals" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Los Angeles-based post-punk shoe-gaze band Blackout Transmission summon a psychoactive rush of sound on their debut long-player Sparse Illumination out February 19, 2021 via Etxe (et-CHAY) Records.

The album has an artful intentionality and natural cadence to its composition. The meditative, atmospheric opening track “Once There” dovetails into a catchy, Bad Seeds meets Bunnymen groove of “Since She Guided You Away” wherein questions of mortality and the afterlife collide. The late-night romantic pursuit of “Tactile Responses” summons sultry Wire and Public Image Limited vibes while incorporating beautiful, bowed-like choral guitar effects. Side A flows to conclusion with the shimmering, and faster-paced, “Heavy Circles” oscillating between driving, frenetic moments and textured, ethereal passages.

Side B launches with the intoxicating and gauzy, “Verdant Return” that features jaunty melodies and blooming choruses juxtaposed with a biting, confrontational lyrical narrative. The hypnotic groove of “Pacifica” eases off the gas pedal with a psychedelic coastal exploration crossfading perfectly into “Portals” a late-night driving track replete with Storm In Heaven textures and propulsive energy framing desert-evening ruminations about space and time. “Sleepwalking Again” closes the album reflecting upon exhausting, widening income inequality and social movements with a simmer- to-a-boil composition that conjures the more reflective moments of Unwound and early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Bright and gleaming at times, warm and meditative at others – Sparse Illumination effectively creates a seamless, lysergic journey filled with potent lyrics coupled with a rush of multi-chromatic textures anchored by magnetic bass grooves and feverish drumming.

Christopher Goett (Silo Halo), the main creative force of Blackout Transmission, had a growing body of work since his return to Southern California after a decade in Washington, DC. He attributes reconnecting with longtime friend Adam D’Zurilla (Sleepmask, Dreamland) as a catalyst to further explore and refine those ideas.

Arrangements were rounded out with the addition of Kevin Cluppert on bass and Anthony Salazar (Teenage Wrist) on drums culminating with the band playing out in late 2019 and harnessing their live chemistry as they entered the studio in early 2020.

A good portion of album was recorded at Dream Machine in Long Beach and produced by Scott Holmes (Highlands) with Goett. “Scott pushed me in the best way to reimagine elements of my approach” says Goett, “as such we captured the vibe and feel that I was seeking with these songs.” The pandemic forced Goett to finalize many of his overdubs at his home studio in Los Angeles (Twin Dragon West) as well as birthing two additional tracks included on the LP.

Collectively, the eight tracks on Sparse Illumination combine for a tight 34-minute dose of post-punk, shoegaze, and neo-psychedelia that evokes low-shutter-speed nocturnal journeys through desert canyons and winding coastal highways.

Sparse Illumination will be available on LP and download on February 19, 2021 via Etxe Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.