Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format. Albums, singles, videos, and live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Bandy – VOID
Taut and tight, Bandy’s new VOID EP calls back to the primal, slack early incarnations of post-punk. The Chicago three-piece burns through four song in eight minutes, and not a second’s wasted.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Rex Tycoon – Cash Reward
Rex Tycoon’s Cash Reward continues the group’s string of pleasant and fuzzy midtempo rock (although “Milk” pushes the pace a bit here to close out the EP). There’s a feeling of amiable aimlessness to their music, conjuring images of John Lurie ambling down the streets in an early Jim Jarmusch movie. Rex Tycoon channel this feeling best with the hazy acoustic “Cash Reward” and the grimy kiss-off “Fine By Me.”
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
Tobias Vokes – Becoming All Things
Tobias Vokes put out the woefully underrated Becoming All Things earlier this year, but it’s just gotten a re-release–including tapes–through the up-and-coming Realoemo label. It’s a great EP, twinkly big-hearted dynamic emo along the lines of Mineral or Christie Front Drive (not unlike new labelmates lovelettertypewriter) and hopefully it’ll garner some more attention now.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
My Fictions – Touch of Glass
Touch of Glass is My Fictions’s sophomore album, their first in almost exactly a decade, and their best collection of songs yet. The Boston post-hardcore group hasn’t missed a beat in all that time, and they stretch their wings more on Touch of Glass, from the straightforward assault of “Eden” and “A Million Futures Out of Reach” to the more expansive, spacier tones of opener “New Face” and “Disguise.”
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
King Blue Heron – “Allegheny River”
The word “haunting” might be overused in music blogging (I say into a mirror), but there is a truly spectral feeling infusing King Blue Heron’s “Allegheny River” from the first reverb-drenched strum. The band take their time here, allowing the song to slowly amass a stirring energy before letting it loose on the back half of the tune.
Aaron Eisenreich | @slobboyreject
The July Effect – With Your Dying Breath
Put on your biggest, baggiest pair of jeans and you’ll be ready for With Your Dying Breath. The scorching debut EP from Vancouver’s The July Effect announces them as one of the most compelling new faces in the metallic hardcore scene, and it’s essential listening for fans of fellow travelers like Keep Reaching or A Mourning Star.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Silktail – Infinity
Silktail’s new two-song tape Infinity is their first release since their 2022 LP In Your Own Shade, and it hones in on the band’s melodic side while still delivering the huge, fuzzed-out riffs they made their name on. Pairing nicely with the more upbeat songs on the recent Wishy album, Infinity’s not quite shoegaze and it’s not quite emo, but fans of either genre should find plenty to love in these seven minutes.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
The Alternative’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist
Each week we compile a playlist of songs our staff has been jamming. We post it on Fridays on Twitter and then include it in each edition of the Weekly Roundup to make sure you don’t miss any of the great music we’re recommending.
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