Amber Smoke–Lay My Bones Beneath the Valley Oak
Genre: Experimental Rock, Post Rock, Drone, Slowcore, Krautrock, Doom,
FFO: Low, True Widow, Planning For Burial
Get lost in the release from this LA-based duo’s latest offering.
Lay My Bones Beneath the Valley Oak features a distinctive ability to wrap it’s audience in it’s droney, ambient walls of sound seldom using guitar in exchange for vintage and toy synthesizers.
Crushed Stars-“Displaced Sleeper”
Genre: Indie Pop, Dream Pop, Alternative Country
FFO: Mazzy Star, Ride, Mojave 3
Dallas-based Indie rock outfit Crushed Stars return with their fourth entry balancing cold, distant ambience with warm, intimate acoustic instrumentation.
Displaced Sleeper will comfortably fit on the record players of Mazzy Star fans around the globe that prefer dreamy, ethereal presence in their Alternative Country.
Great Ytene–Locus
Genre: Post Punk
FFO: Protomartyr, Joy Division, The Wire
London-based quartet Great Ytene’s latest release offers nine solid tracks of hazey yet abrasive Post Punk.
King Woman–Created in the Image of Suffering
Genre: Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, Post Metal, Drone
FFO: Chelsea Wolfe, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Bathsheba
San Francisco-based Doom Metal act King Woman turn heads with their debut Created in the Image of Suffering.
Crushing, atmospheric instrumentation creates a fitting backdrop for the spellbinding, compelling pipes of frontwoman Kristina Esfandiari.
Red Love–Red Love
Genre: Alternative Rock, Post Punk, Dream Pop, Shoegazing
FFO: Slowdive, Pale Saints, Weekend
Formed from the ashes of Bloc Party and The Mars Volta, Red Love is an up-and-coming two piece armed with a purely euphoric debut LP boasting ten tracks of dreamy, gazey Alternative Rock.
Teen Daze–Themes For Dying Earth
Genre: Indie Pop, Dream Pop, Ambient, Electronic, Synthpop, Chillwave
FFO: Bon Iver, Copeland, Kyson
Jamison Isaak’s sixth LP under the Teen Daze moniker takes unexpected turns with a more Synthpop-oriented direction while still maintaining the beautifully thought-provoking, atmospheric soundscapes found in previous releases.
Unearthly Trance-“Stalking the Ghost”
Genre: Doom Metal, Sludge Metal
FFO: Electric Wizard, Sleep, High on Fire
I usually try to reserve the month in review slots for lesser known or newer bands, but despite this being album number six/the comeback record of this New York sludge trio’s career they still maintain a vast level of shame-ridden obscurity.
Stalking the Ghost does not stray far from the Unearthly Trance formula (which for those of you who don’t know consists of absolutely crushing riffage), but instead strengthens the sound found in previous records.
Get ready to bang your head.
Hard.