STAGHORN + Gear Gods

“Post-rock will always be the thing that is just too good for me. That’s not a bad thing, I love it and I think it’s all beautiful, but I’m always jealous that other people have the capability to make me cry with this goddamn music. So I was thrilled when I was listening to Illinois based band Staghorn‘s new moonlight-filled track “Movements II and III”. It really is gorgeous.”

-Gear Gods

Get the “Rig Rundown” on Staghorn’s impressive setup, via Gear Gods, here. 

 Strongly principled as a do-it-yourself collective which operates Leave Your Mark Print Shop and Mills Custom Amps, the band uses their trades, creativity and compassion to affect a working, sustainable future: they create their own amps and cabs, print all of their own merch, and have records pressed that are predominantly made of recycled materials. In short, activism is the driving force behind every element of Staghorn’s art.

Wormwood III will be released as a one-sided, etched 12" EP pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Limited to 500 copies (300 on Coke bottle clear with brown smoke, 200 random color variant- a Shuga Exclusive) in partnership with Shuga Records in Chicago. This limited first edition release will be screen printed by hand on recycled paper.

Preorder link here for coke bottle clear variant.

Shuga Records Exclusive random color variant preorder here.

Cover art illustration by Seth Rodgers.

Upcoming shows:
June 19 - Springfield, IL @ The Black sheep w/ LUME
June 20 - Rock Island, IL - Rock Island Supper Club w/ Cloud Rat and Closet Witch
June 21 - Lincoln, NE @ Duffy’s Tavern

July 5-7 - Urbana, IL @ Audiofeed Festival

September 20th - Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana w/ yndi halda
September 21st - Canterbury, UK @ UCA Union Bar w/ yndi halda
September 22nd - London, UK - Omeara

October 19-20 - Indianapolis, IN @ Post Rock Festival

October 27 - Gainesville, FL @ THE FEST

STAGHORN Website

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JUSTIN PEARSON + Psychology Today

“Not only has Pearson committed to playing bands that fuse hardcore and extreme metal like The Locust and Swing Kids, but Pearson also has founded Three One G Records, which has been the label to some of the most extreme bands out there such as Cattle Decapitation and Dead Cross. His new book The Race to Zero is a compilation of over twenty-five years of his incendiary and thought-provoking lyrics. And at the core of his music and his approach to life is a simple directive – don’t be complacent about the world around you.”

-Psychology Today

Read more about Justin’s ethics and what helped shaped them in support of his newest book release, via Psychology Today, here.

The Race to Zero will be made available through Pioneers Press and Three One G Records. Preorder link here.

Layout, design, and cover art by Brandon McMinn.

Other published works by Pearson:

How to Lose Friends and Irritate People, Three One G, 2011

From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry,  Soft Skull Press, 2010

Catch Justin on tour with Dead Cross in EU/UK, which starts on Saturday:

June 02 - Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound

Jun 03 - Nimes, FR @ Paloma

Jun 05 - Bologna, IT @ Estragon

Jun 06 - Milan, IT @ Alcatraz

Jun 07 - Interlaken, CH @ Greenfield Music Festival

Jun 10 - Donington, UK @ Download

Jun 12 - Esch-Sur-Alzette, LU @ Rockhal

Jun 13 - Munich, DE @ Backstage Werk

Jun 14 - Nickelsdorf, AT @ Novarock

Jun 16 - Cologne, DE @Gloria-Theatre

Jun 17 - Paris, FR @ Download Festival

Jun 19 - Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks

Jun 20- Cognac, FR @  Les Abattoirs

Jun 22- Vitoria, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival

Jun 23- Clisson, FR @ Hellfest

Jun 24- Dessel, BE @ Graspop

Jun 26- Eindhoven, NL @ De Effenaar

Jun 27- Hamburg, DE @  Markthalle

Jun 29 - Helsinki, FI @ Tuska Metal

Jul 03- Berlin, DE @ SO 36

Jul 04 - Gydnia, PL @ Open’er

Jul 06 - Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival

Jul 08 - Belfort, FR @ Eurokeenes

Jul 10 - Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg

DEL JUDAS - Deity

"Schmid’s voice is rendered in a Chris Isaak-like croon, and the production has a hushed quality you might expect from someone making a record in a Brooklyn apartment surrounded by neighbors. By pulling you in close to his voice, Schmid also pulls you close to the darkness that lurks behind his words... A slow, nocturnal drive down the dark side of memory lane. While electric guitars swoon and fade like passing lights on the side of the highway, Schmid sings about seeking pleasure in the present to escape the pain of his past." 

–Invisible Oranges

Del Judas announces debut album Deity, to be released July 13th on Primal Architecture.

Del Judas is the new solo incarnation of Brooklyn musician Charlie Schmid, known for his work as a drummer in bands such as Vaura and Tombs. Under the Del Judas name, Schmid launches an entirely new persona: singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. On debut album Deity, Del Judas' sound is dark, lush, and romantic, owning a space where ghostly Americana brushes up against post-punk. 

Stream "Through the Glass," featuring guest vocals by Zohra Atash of Azar Swan, here:

http://www.invisibleoranges.com/del-judas-premiere/

As Schmid tells it, "The project was inspired by growing up in a household that listened to country music – Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Hank Williams. I fell in love with Silvertone by Chris Isaak when I was a kid. I always knew I could add to the genre and put my own stamp on this style, but didn't feel ready to step out from behind the drum kit until now."

Starting there, Schmid carries these country influences into the most shadowy realms, evoking moonlit desert highways and nefarious deeds. Schmid masterfully grasps the connective tissue between country and goth – his songs bear hints of the darkness, drama, and cool of icons like Peter Murphy, Fields of the Nephilim, and Billy Idol.

In the words of Primal Architecture label boss Josh Strawn, also a member of bands such as Azar Swan and Vaura, it could very well be "the soundtrack for a future David Lynch film."

Schmid gives the following insight into the album's lyrics: "This record is about the eternal interplay between the sex drive and the death drive. It’s about killing yourself, figuratively and literally. It’s about parts of yourself dying off as you go through different romantic relationships in your life and the rebirth that happens through both sensual pleasure and psychic growth."

The vocals and instruments on Deity were recorded entirely by Schmid in his apartment in Brooklyn. The album was mixed by Evan McCulloch and mastered by Colin Marston (Jarboe, Sannhet, Kayo Dot).

The cover art was created by Suren Karapetyan.

Tracklist:
1) Dancing with the Dead

2) The Desert Speaks

3) Touching Fire

4) Through the Glass (feat. Zohra Atash of Azar Swan)

5) Of Love and Death

6) Deity

7) Lonely Hearted

8) Little White Churches

Deity record release show, July 12 at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn:

https://www.facebook.com/events/240258949862809/

Photo of Del Judas, by Jaka Vinsek

POUND

SEATTLE DUO MAKES MATH-GRIND MAGIC OUT OF UNORTHODOX GEAR; DECIBEL PREMIERES VIDEO; SILENT PENDULUM TO RELEASE DEBUT FULL-LENGTH

"Instrumental grind duo Pound play a super groovy, mathy form of the genre... The mathy chaos shares as many similarities with The Dillinger Escape Plan and Meshuggah as it does with other grindcore bands."
–Decibel

Seattle duo Pound will release its debut, self-titled album, July 13th on Silent Pendulum Records.

Watch the video for "x.---.x.---.x.---.x.---" from Pound's self-titled debut, here via Decibel Magazine:
https://www.decibelmagazine.com/2018/05/24/track-premiere-pound-x-x-x-x/

Pre-order the album, here:
Digital + vinyl: https://silentpendulumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pound

Digital + merch: https://pound.bandcamp.com

Pound – the duo of Ryan Schutte and David Stickney – takes influence from across the spectrum of grind and doom, from Nasum to Sleep, then chops up these influences and delivers its own brand of hyper-shred-math that twists and turns relentlessly, dropping occasionally into monstrous grooves. This is instrumental irreverence capable of dazzling tech-heads and Neanderthals equally. 

As shown in the video for new song "x.---.x.---.x.---.x.---," Pound's unique setup consists of a baritone 9-string guitar and two drum kits positioned at a 90-degree angle. The sounds extracted from these unorthodox instruments adds up to an entirely new vibe that belongs only to Pound.

Debut album Pound was mixed and mastered by Dave Otero at Flatline Audio (Primitive Man, Cattle Decapitation).

The music's machine-like nature is reflected in the song titles – each title is a symbolic representation of a rhythm contained in the song. The tracklist is as follows:

1) x..x..x..x..x..x..x
2) x.---.x.---.x.---.x.---
3) x.x-.x-x.-x.x
4) --.x-x.--
5) -..-..-.x-..-..-..-..-..x..-..-..-..-....
6) -xx.-.xxxx-xx.-.xxxx-xx.-.xx
7) -.x-.x-x-.x-.x-.x-.x-x
8) -x--x--x--x--x.x-x.x-x.x-x.x

Founded in Seattle in 2008, Pound honed its sound and vision for a full decade before finally immortalizing it in album form. Debut album Pound is a tour-de-force, showcasing a purely passionate style, located entirely outside the box.

Guitarist Ryan Schutte warns: "When I hit my octave pedals on the clean rig, you feel it. It shakes the room. We rattled all the bottles off a bar once... At a show a few years back, my bass cab burst into flames and a foot of fire shot out the front." Stay tuned for Pound's next live dates. 

Lineup:
Ryan Schutte - baritone 9-string guitar
David Stickney - dual drum kits

Photo by Grant Staab

STRUCKOUT + Decibel

"The 'galaxial' premiere of the video for 'Queer Shit'... is all about colourful body painting, clear body guitars and Porky Pig backdrops set to a soundtrack of melodically abrasive noise transposing the explosion of a velvet kaleidoscope into sound."
-Decibel Magazine

Watch the new video for the single “Queer Shit”, via Decibel Magazine, here.

Struckout is a noisy post-hardcore band from Long Beach, California, formed in 2012 by bassist & vocalist Daniel Speer. Their most recent self-titled album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley at The Atomic Garden (who has worked with Deafheaven, Graf Orlock, Joyce Manor, Loma Prieta, and more). It will be released on July 20th, 2018 and will be available on vinyl, CD, and cassette through Postmark Records, as well as digitally through all major outlets (including iTunes, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, etc.). Preorder here.

Upcoming shows: June 4 - Long Beach, CA @ 4th Street Vine June 10 - Fullerton, CA @ Programme SK June 20 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Locker Room July 20 - Upland, CA @ The Palisades (Record Release) July 21 - Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space July 27 - Los Angeles, CA @ Emerald House July 29 - Santa Ana, CA @ Beatnik Bandito August 7 - Long Beach, CA @ 4th Street Vine August 8 - Fullerton, CA @ Programme SK

JUSTIN PEARSON + No Echo

“If you've followed Justin's wild musical path throughout the years, you'll know that he's a truly unique songwriter, so it's no surprise that he's about to release The Race to Zero, a book collecting all of his lyrical work, plus some poetry and fiction.”
-No Echo

Read some insight as to the inspiration for some of Justin Pearson's lyrics, via No Echo, here.

Justin Pearson is an internationally known musician, record label owner (Three One G Records), author, and actor. He is perhaps best known as bassist and vocalist for bands such as Dead Cross, The Locust, and Retox. Having traveled the world touring in hardcore and punk bands since age 15, Justin has come to know and work with a broad spectrum of captivating personalities and brilliant minds, from being on the soundtrack to John Waters’ Cecil B. Demented, to acting in an Asia Argento’s Incompresa, to playing in Dead Cross with Mike Patton and Dave Lombardo, who he will be touring with throughout EU/UK this summer. The Race to Zero archives Pearson’s lyrics and prose from over the last two and a half decades.


The Race to Zero will be made available through Pioneers Press and Three One G Records. 
Layout, design, and cover art by Brandon McMinn. Preorder link here.

Catch Justin on tour with Dead Cross this summer in Europe:

Upcoming tour dates with Dead Cross: Jun 03 - Nimes, FR @ Paloma Jun 05 - Bologna, IT @ Estragon Jun 06 - Milan, IT @ Alcatraz Jun 07 - Interlaken, CH @ Greenfield Music Festival Jun 10 - Donington, UK @ Download Jun 12 - Esch-Sur-Alzette, LU @ Rockhal Jun 13 - Munich, DE @ Backstage Werk Jun 14 - Nickelsdorf, AT @ Novarock Jun 16 - Cologne, DE @Gloria-Theatre Jun 17 - Paris, FR @ Download Festival Jun 19 - Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks Jun 20- Cognac, FR @ Les Abattoirs Jun 22- Vitoria, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival Jun 23- Clisson, FR @ Hellfest Jun 24- Dessel, BE @ Graspop Jun 26- Eindhoven, NL @ De Effenaar Jun 27- Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle Jun 29 - Helsinki, FI @ Tuska Metal Jul 03- Berlin, DE @ SO 36 Jul 04 - Gydnia, PL @ Open’er Jul 06 - Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival Jul 08 - Belfort, FR @ Eurokeenes Jul 10 - Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg

STRUCKOUT + IDIOTEQ

“They wear their ’90s emotional post hardcore sounds on their sleeve, so it’s not hard to spot shades of both older and modern influences, but they have surely developed their own unique approach to dynamics and emotional intellect that combines fine re-interpretations of their predecessor’ work with more forward thinking ideas for songwriting.” -IDIOTEQ

Listen to the single, “Queer Shit,” off of Struckout's newest self-titled LP, via IDIOTEQ, here.

Struckout is a noisy post-hardcore band from Long Beach, California. Their most recent self-titled album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley at The Atomic Garden (who has worked with Deafheaven, Graf Orlock, Joyce Manor, Loma Prieta, and more). It will be released on July 20th, 2018 and will be available on vinyl, CD, and cassette through Postmark Records, as well as digitally through all major outlets (including iTunes, Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, etc.). Preorder here.

Self-titled LP:

1. Scratch

2. Tell Me You Feel the Same

3. Don’t Translate; Adapt

4. Queer Shit

5. Accrued Vacation Days (Daniel Listens to Krautrock Once)

6. Polaroid Pt. II

7. I Kind of Think Emo Music is Fucking Pointless

8. We’ve Tried Nothing and We’re All Out of Ideas

Upcoming shows:

May 20 - Costa Mesa, CA @ Tiki Bar

May 22 - La Puente, CA @ Bridgetown DIY

June 4 - Long Beach, CA @ 4th Street Vine

June 10 - Fullerton, CA @ Programme SK

June 20 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Locker Room

July 20 - Upland, CA @ The Palisades (Record Release)

July 21 - Phoenix, AZ @ Trunk Space

July 27 - Los Angeles, CA @ Emerald House

July 29 - Santa Ana, CA @ Beatnik Bandito

August 7 - Long Beach, CA @ 4th Street Vine

August 8 - Fullerton, CA @ Programme SK

JUSTIN PEARSON + Culture Creature

“Pearson’s lyrics are caustic and sardonic in equal measure (choice phrases include “pissant fries” and “stale dead dog fuck all fuck bag”) – and they’re perfectly complemented by the photocopied zine aesthetic of the book’s layout.” -Culture Creature

Read an interview with Justin Pearson about his new lyric book, The Race to Zero, via Culture Creature, here.

Other praise for The Race to Zero:

“Imagine a belligerent Buddy Rich playing a drum solo for a quarter century. Imagine swapping out the drum kit for a typewriter, but the sound being the same.  Imagine if the Howard Beale character in Network didn't die, but instead started a band, and then many more bands after that.  This is not a book of poetry, it is more a story that reveals itself through the context of time.  It will beat you down while making you smile, and in the moments you relate to it, place you back on your feet again.

-Jesse F. Keeler (Death from Above, MSTRKRFT)

“While a majority of his detractors were still wading in the primordial ooze, Mr. Pearson was on the road, getting his hands dirty. If punk rock is truly a lifestyle, then Mr. Pearson has lived it as few have. Decades of writing, recording, performing and battling to his credit, there seems to be no slowing his relentless and consistent output. His writing, at times blending humor, wit, cynicism, vulgarity and intelligence, is always measured and purposeful. Religion to socio-political issues to science-fiction standards and back again- no topic has been spared, no cretin uncrushed, no challenge unmet by his many years behind the bass, upon the mic or at the tip of his pen.”

– Alexis Marshall (Daughters)

“For years I’ve always assumed Justin’s lyrics were snarky, smart and poignant, reading this collection is proof I haven’t been wrong.”

– Chris Slorach (Metz)

Since his first tour and formation of the band Struggle, Justin Pearson has been bassist and/or vocalist in a slew of subversive and, at times, divisive acts including Swing Kids, The Crimson Curse, The Locust, Some Girls, Planet B, Head Wound City, and Dead Cross. His razor wit and quick retorts have been known to get him both into and out of trouble throughout life, and this casual cleverness, coupled with biting commentary, absurdist imagery, and situationist ideals, are a staple of his writing style as an author and lyricist. The Race to Zero is a collection of all lyrics he has written throughout his extensive career, as well as various examples of short creative vignettes and prose.

The Race to Zero will be made available through Pioneers Press and Three One G Records. Preorder link here.

Layout, design, and cover art by Brandon McMinn.

Other Published Works:

How to Lose Friends and Irritate People, Three One G, 2011

From the Graveyard of the Arousal Industry,  Soft Skull Press, 2010

Justin will also be on tour with Dead Cross in EU/UK this summer:

Jun 03 - Nimes, FR @ Paloma
Jun 05 - Bologna, IT @ Estragon
Jun 06 - Milan, IT @ Alcatraz
Jun 07 - Interlaken, CH @ Greenfield Music Festival
Jun 10 - Donington, UK @ Download
Jun 12 - Esch-Sur-Alzette, LU @ Rockhal
Jun 13 - Munich, DE @ Backstage Werk
Jun 14 - Nickelsdorf, AT @ Novarock
Jun 16 - Cologne, DE @Gloria-Theatre
Jun 17 - Paris, FR @ Download Festival
Jun 19 - Lausanne, CH @ Les Docks
Jun 20- Cognac, FR @  Les Abattoirs
Jun 22- Vitoria, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival
Jun 23- Clisson, FR @ Hellfest
Jun 24- Dessel, BE @ Graspop
Jun 26- Eindhoven, NL @ De Effenaar
Jun 27- Hamburg, DE @  Markthalle
Jun 29 - Helsinki, FI @ Tuska Metal
Jul 03- Berlin, DE @ SO 36
Jul 04 - Gydnia, PL @ Open’er
Jul 06 - Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
Jul 08 - Belfort, FR @ Eurokeenes
Jul 10 - Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg

STAGHORN + IDIOTEQ

“...alternately hypnotic and captivating, sleepy and epicly explosive...”

-Idioteq

Listen to “Movements II & III” from Wormwood III and learn more about this environmentally-centered band, via Idioteq, here.

Wormwood III will be released as a one-sided, etched 12" EP pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Limited to 450 copies (250 on Coke bottle clear with brown smoke, 200 black) in partnership with Shuga Records in Chicago. This limited first edition release will be screen printed by hand on recycled paper. Preorder link here.

Cover art illustration by Seth Rodgers.

As is the case with their previous release, the band is heavily influenced by nature, as well as having a radical and political motive to educate and connect with others who are into permaculture/sustainable/responsible living. Wormwood III directly addresses society’s water problems and how it appears as though it will become a more and more alarming issue in the near future. This view inspires the members’ commitment to sustainable living, in which the two founding members live mostly off-grid within a community with its own unique water system. Further, they have built a full tiny home out of a shipping container, and live and work alongside organic farmers in the community.

Upcoming shows:
June 19 - Springfield, IL @ The Black sheep w/ LUME
June 20 - Rock Island, IL - Rock Island Supper Club w/ Cloud Rat and Closet Witch
June 21 - Lincoln, NE @ Duffy’s Tavern

July 5-7 - Urbana, IL @ Audiofeed Festival
October 19-20 - Indianapolis, IN @ Post Rock Festival

October 27 - Gainesville, FL @ THE FEST

STAGHORN Website

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