MICROWAVES + Decibel

"...get lost in the sonic barbed wire and fun house mirror quality of the band’s outsider art."
– Decibel Magazine

Stream the new album in its entirety, via Decibel Magazine, here.

Microwaves’ newest LP, Via Weightlessness, is being released by Three One G Records on September 28th.

Preorder here.

Via Weightlessness tones down the band's previous effects-heavy approach, charging lean and unabated toward their dystopian vision. Kuzy’s guitar chimes through the mix with spindly atonal runs more akin to data streams spat from an outdated mainframe, alternately careening into chugging, crossover-thrash riffs. The Roman/Arlett rhythm section is much more than the sum of its parts: Beefheartian clamor served up with cyborg precision underpins overdriven bass, rumbling forth frenziedly as a DMT-dosed rhino. Kuzy, the paranoid town crier, and Arlett, the unhinged shrieker, deliver a twin-vocal assault covering most topics previously found in your local video rental shop’s cult/sci-fi section.

Upcoming shows: September 29th - Pittsburgh, PA @ Howlers, record release show w/ Chantillion, Tartarus October 11th - Canton, OH @ Buzz Bin October 12th - Ferndale, MI @ Cellarmens October 13th - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom w/ Thee Oh Sees October 24th - Pittsburgh, PA @ Howlers w/ Yautja November 14th - Kingston, NY @ Tubby's November 15th - Worcester, MA @ Ralph's November 16th - Portland, ME @ Geno's November 17th - Providence, RI @ Dusk w/ Gnaw November 18th - Brooklyn, NY @ Ceremony w/ Gnaw

PANICKER + New Noise Magazine

"As with the rest of the Panicker stuff, the audio and dynamics are fairly destroyed, giving it a lo-fi-ness; the title comes somewhat out of that."

- Brent Asbury, PANICKER

Stream Asbury's lo-fi, high intensity creation, “Blasphony”, via New Noise Magazine, here.

Beginning with a music career in San Diego, which included playing drums, bass, keyboards, guitars, and sometimes dancing in several bands with Rob Crow (Thingy, Pinback, Goblin Cock, Optiganally Yours, etc.), as well as contributing to other projects like Aspects of Physics and Followers, doing a solo project called schlag-schlag, and having a career producing music for advertising, Brent Asbury has gained experience in many musical areas and genres. Later, he took up producing and engineering at his current studio in Portland, OR – anything over the years from The Locust to Michael Bolton. Of course, then, it might be hard to imagine what his own dissonant brainchild might sound like today. The answer is, surely, none of the above – or at least, unlike any one conventional category. Asbury describes Panicker as “blending aspects of EBM, industrial, techno, hip hop, and horror movie scores.”

Blasphony will be available digitally via Three One G Records on October 5th. Preorder here.

Blasphony EP:

1. Sticky Riot of Colors

2. Blasphony

3. Tall Satanists

4. Morning

ACTORS - US tour

Vancouver band ACTORS hits the road this week to begin its coast-to-coast US tour across the US, kicking off Saturday, September 15th in New York City with a slot on the NYC installment of Cold Waves Festival. ACTORS will perform at all three of the Cold Waves Festivals (New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles); the tour also includes shows with Bootblacks, Soft Kill, and more.

ACTORS on tour:
Sep 15 - New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater - Cold Waves Festival
Sep 16 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bazaar - Murder of Crows Festival
Sep 18 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Brillobox w/ Bootblacks
Sep 19 - Cleveland, OH @ House of Wills w/ Bootblacks
Sep 20 - Columbus, OH @ The Summit w/ Bootblacks
Sep 21 - Detroit, MI @ Small's w/ Bootblacks
Sep 23 - Chicago, IL @ Metro - Cold Waves Festival
Sep 27 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall - Batcave SLC
Sep 28 - Sacramento, CA @ Cafe Colonial w/ Creux Lies
Sep 29 - Los Angeles, CA @ 1720 - Cold Waves Festival
Sep 30 - Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex - Part Time Punks w/ Trisomie 21, Soft Kill

From Vancouver, Canada, ACTORS electrify with a modern take on post-punk. On debut full-length It Will Come to You, anthemic songs evoke the urgency of early-'80s U2 as well as the driving, synth-drenched scores that emanated from that era's movie screens. As scene authority Post-Punk.com put it, the band conjures "cinematic new-wave... that belongs on a Michael Mann soundtrack."

Watch ACTORS' latest video, for the song "Slaves":
http://www.post-punk.com/actors-slaves/

Listen and buy ACTORS' latest album, It Will Come to You:
https://actors.bandcamp.com/album/it-will-come-to-you

"Vancouver’s brilliant post-punk and new-wave quartet ACTORS continue their flair for sonic cinematics... The atmosphere quivers with singer Jason Corbett’s crooning reverb augmented by shivering guitars and stark synths." 
–Post-Punk

"Addictively dancey, uplifting and melancholy sounds... Beautiful, dark music."
–CVLT Nation

"Eighties-style post-punk... Marrying influences from metal in the post-punk style."
–Decibel 


Photo by Kira Clavell

NETHERLANDS + Exclaim!

"The closest collaborator to which one could compare the NYC quartet's avant-garde sludge is Melvins. Like those Washington genre melders, Netherlands are overly prolific... Musically, Netherlands run parallel to King Buzzo and co. in that they plum the depths of bassy frequencies, inject them with watery psychedelic notes and lay unconventional vocals atop — in this case the hypnotic falsettos of [frontman Timo] Ellis." 

–Exclaim! 

Canada's Exclaim! has debuted Netherlands' new video, for the song "Rewild!".

Watch here: http://exclaim.ca/music/article/netherlands_address_environmental_concerns_on_rewild_video

The song and video carry “a message of urgent environmentalism,” according to Netherlands frontman and video director Timo Ellis, set to the Brooklyn band’s trademark heavy/euphoric sound that has earned comparisons to The Melvins. 

The track appears on Netherlands' Hope Porn EP, released earlier this year. The prolific Netherlands put out two releases in 2018 — the Hope Porn EP, followed by the Black Gaia album — and the band was poised to tour North America this month with Mastodon and Dinosaur Jr (sadly cancelled due to a tragedy in the Mastodon camp.) 

As showcased on "Rewild!", Netherlands deal in lurching grooves, psychedelic lava-spewing, and sugary hooks that infect the ears. Rabid-ape drums, plate-shifting synthbass, kaleidoscopic guitar, and transcendent vocals (a range from gentle falsetto to soaring howl) converge in a singular psych-prog-sludge-pop sound sharing DNA with The Beach Boys, Earth Wind and Fire, Van Halen, Dio, Torche, and Mutoid Man, as well as the aforementioned Melvins.

Buy Hope Porn and Black Gaia, here:

https://thenetherlands1.bandcamp.com/music

Stand by for news of the band's next actions.

Photo by Nathan West

DEAD WAVES - God of the Wild

"Are you ready to expand your mind?... Dead Waves' music is like life itself – heavy, fragile, and full of cosmic pain!"
–Cvlt Nation

"Dead Waves will make you stare at the sun and see the end of existence."
–Noisey

"Embarks into deranged, psychedelic territory."
–Stereogum

"An unexpected depth to their heavy psych sound."
–NME

New York City's acclaimed Dead Waves – the duo comprising brothers Teddy and Nick Panopoulos – returns with new album God of the Wild, coming November 16th. It is Dead Waves' sixth release and the first on the band's newly-founded label, Entheon Records.

Recorded and mixed by the legendary Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, Brian Eno) at his cavernous factory space in Brooklyn, BC Studio, God of the Wild is a dark, haunting experience that blurs lines between urban and rural, modern and ancient, heavy rock and fragile folk. 

Stream first single "Astrapi" here:
https://www.cvltnation.com/dead-waves-astrapi/

Early Dead Waves releases, including the Steve Albini-produced Oracles of the Grave/Promise 7", rocked in a heavy-garage fashion, sparking comparisons to Nirvana and Pixies. Over the course of six releases – one per year from 2013 to the present day – the band has gradually severed ties with rock conventions and blossomed into an unfettered, experimental musical entity. Gone now are the Grohl-ish drums and Cobain-ish roars, but in this rawer state the music is more powerful than ever.

Like a secret door in a New York subway tunnel, leading to sun-kissed, rolling hills, God of the Wild marries the urban intensity of classic Bisi productions like Sonic Youth's EVOL, with a bare-bones, lo-fi sound evoking rural vistas. At times delicate and somber, at times psychedelic and raging, God of the Wild is soulful and convincing from start to finish. Teddy describes the mindset that went into making this music: 

"For this album we really wanted to go clean slate. Not listening to anything while creating, just delving into our feelings and blanking everything out. Feelings of loneliness, happiness, sadness. How this concept of time, in what we perceive as reality, goes by so quick. Loved ones passing away, ourselves getting older. Just trying to enjoy the now, the feeling of just being and trying to enjoy, but all the while with that certain lingering sadness."

God of the Wild is the first Dead Waves release to feature no drums or percussion at all. The songs are constructed from the brothers' minimal guitars, bass, analog synth and vocals, and the raw spaciousness of Bisi's studio is felt throughout. Opening track "Gabriella" features guest vocals by Jessica Reynoza of The Willowz. 

Nodding to their Greek heritage, the brothers Panopoulos also use ancient Greek instruments on certain songs. Teddy explains: 

"We wanted to intertwine our modern analog and digital electronic instruments with the most basic instruments carved out of wood. I added in my wooden acoustic lyre kithara and my wooden flute, which I picked up years ago from ancestors' region in Greece. We call this concept 'ancient future,' paying homage to our ancient origins."

God of the Wild was mastered by Kim Rosen (Aimee Mann, Charles Bradley). The cover art was created by Teddy Panopoulos and Ana Belen Ruiz.

Tracklist:
1) Gabriella (feat. Jessica Reynoza) 
2) God of the Wild 
3) Silver Pirouettes 
4) Cousin of Magiic 
5) Innate 
6) Ancient Love
7) Astrapi
8) Dream Harvest
9) Strategia della Tensione
10) Tabula Rasa

Lineup: 
Teddy Panopoulos - electric bass, lyre kithara, flute, analog synth
Nick Panopoulos - electric guitar, acoustic guitar

Discography:
God of the Wild (2018, Entheon Records)
The Great Clock (2017, self-released)
Living Inside (2016, self-released)
Nature (2015, self-released)
Oracles of the Grave/Promise 7" (2014, self-released)
Take Me Away EP (2013, self-released)

Photo of Dead Waves, by Lindsey Niebler

MICROWAVES + Post-Trash

“For the past eighteen years, Microwaves have been doing their part to make Pittsburgh’s music scene exponentially louder, and their brand of tangled noise rock only seems to be getting better.”

-Post-Trash

Stream the track To Activate, premiered via Post Trash, here.

Microwaves’ newest LP, Via Weightlessness, is being released by Three One G Records on September 28th.

Preorder here.

Via Weightlessness tones down the band's previous effects-heavy approach, charging lean and unabated toward their dystopian vision. Kuzy’s guitar chimes through the mix with spindly atonal runs more akin to data streams spat from an outdated mainframe, alternately careening into chugging, crossover-thrash riffs. The Roman/Arlett rhythm section is much more than the sum of its parts: Beefheartian clamor served up with cyborg precision underpins overdriven bass, rumbling forth frenziedly as a DMT-dosed rhino. Kuzy, the paranoid town crier, and Arlett, the unhinged shrieker, deliver a twin-vocal assault covering most topics previously found in your local video rental shop’s cult/sci-fi section.

Upcoming shows: September 29th - Pittsburgh, PA @ Howlers, record release show w/ Chantillion, Tartarus October 11th - Canton, OH @ Buzz Bin October 12th - Ferndale, MI @ Cellarmens October 13th - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom w/ Thee Oh Sees October 24th - Pittsburgh, PA @ Howlers w/ Yautja November 14th - Kingston, NY @ Tubby's November 15th - Worcester, MA @ Ralph's November 16th - Portland, ME @ Geno's November 17th - Providence, RI @ Dusk w/ Gnaw November 18th - Brooklyn, NY @ Ceremony w/ Gnaw

PLANET B

IPECAC RECORDINGS TO RELEASE PUNK/HIP-HOP DUO PLANET B'S SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM; GUEST APPEARANCES BY KOOL KEITH, MARTIN ATKINS, NICK ZINNER; WATCH NEW MUSIC VIDEO AND PRE-ORDER ALBUM NOW

"Icon of independence since the early ‘90s, Justin Pearson obeys no one’s rules. Vocalist, bassist, record label owner, author, and actor, the born leader has made a career of staying one step ahead, confounding both the mainstream and the underground in the process."
–Mass Appeal

"[Planet B] applies an electronic edge to the grindy noise freakouts of Justin’s other bands... A new musical direction."
–BrooklynVegan

Ipecac Recordings announces the November 23rd release of the self-titled debut album by Planet B.

Watch the video for the album's first single, "Manure Rally," here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zGSVedEnU4

Pre-order the album, here:
http://smarturl.it/PlanetB

Planet B is the duo of punk provocateur Justin Pearson and hip-hop producer Luke Henshaw (Sonido de la Frontera, First Power Crew). Together, these two dissidents combine their styles into a new and thrilling collaboration, bolstered by an awesome array of guests: from hip-hop pioneer Kool Keith, to industrial godfather Martin Atkins, to rock guitar extraordinnaire Nick Zinner of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

As the founder of Three One G Records and a member of such bands as Swing Kids, The Locust, Retox and Dead Cross, Justin Pearson has existed as a leader in the underground for almost three decades. As label owner and musician, he has put his artistic, politically-charged stamp on hundreds of releases, and has influenced thousands of people in the realms of hardcore punk, noise-rock, and beyond.

In Planet B, Pearson's poetic aggression melds with Henshaw's wildly creative beats in a new sound, potentially as relevant to fans of artists like Death Grips, Ho99o9, and Lil Ugly Mane, as to fans of Pearson's past work.

The sound lies somewhere just out of reach of genre, with aesthetics rooted in hip-hop, hardcore, turntablism, and horror movie soundtracks of the '70s and '80s – catchy, heavily percussive, and eerie all at once. As Henshaw uses his vast palette of sounds to set 

apocalyptic tension, Pearson screams his heart out, railing against "the lack of humanity in the world and particularly in the US's current administration," as he puts it. First single "Manure Rally" is a blatant stab at President Trump as Pearson sings:

"Severed head of the fat politic / Hate downwards and watch them die quick / The Tiny Hands fear its violin’s tear while everyone can hear its shit is insincere."

Other album highlights include a cover of Depeche Mode's classic "Never Let Me Down" – an earlier version of which was released as part of the Love Oakland compilation, a benefit for the victims of the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland.

Planet B was recorded by Luke Henshaw and Matt Coleman at Penguin Studio in San Diego, CA and mixed and mastered by Brent Asbury (of Three One G act Panicker) at Beta Petrol in Portland, OR. The cover art was created by Javan Henshaw and Brandon Moon.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Pearson has made a career by embracing new ideas and new collaborations. His unusual, yet electrifying, partnership with Henshaw and friends in Planet B is the latest manifestation of this forward mentality.

Lineup
Justin Pearson - vocals
Luke Henshaw - programming

Guests:
Kool Keith (Dr. Octagon, Ultramagnetic MCs)
Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd, Killing Joke, Ministry)
Nick Zinner (The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Head Wound City)
Sonny Kay (Year Future, The VSS, Angel Hair, GSL Records)
Gabe Serbian (The Locust)
Joseph Karam (The Locust)
Becky DiGiglio
Jake Najor (Jake Najor & The Moment of Truth)

Tracklist:
1) Crustfund (feat. Kool Keith)
2) [A] Not At All [B] Somewhat [C] Very Much
3) Join A Cult
4) Disease Control (feat. Sonny Kay)
5) Manure Rally
6) Mirror, Mirror, On The World
7) Big Karma (feat. Joseph Karam)
8) Brutal Evolution (feat. Becky DiGiglio)
9) Never Let Me Down (Depeche Mode cover, feat. Nick Zinner)
10) Come Bogeyman (feat. Martin Atkins)
11) The Beginning Is Near

Discography:
Planet B (2018, Ipecac Recordings)
Split 7" w/ Invisibl Skratch Piklz (2017, Three One G)
Wrong Utopia 7" (2017, Three One G)

Photo of Planet B, by Becky DiGiglio
Photo of Planet B with Kool Keith, by Becky DiGiglio

KING BUFFALO + Loudwire + tourdates

KING BUFFALO PREMIERES "QUICKENING" VIDEO VIA LOUDWIRE, ANNOUNCES 2ND LEG OF NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

"Hypnotic and proggy... Psych-inflected stoner rock trio King Buffalo have been on the rise... Their sound has been compared to Tool and Pink Floyd."
–Loudwire

"[King Buffalo] summon elements of the psychedelic and the progressive and the intersection of the two as heard in the music of Pink Floyd."
–PopMatters

"Longing to be the Mountain, in its performance and in the writing of the material itself is absolutely on a different plane of achievement. It’s a top-ten kind of album, and it distinguishes King Buffalo‘s mode of expression as having become all the more their own.
–The Obelisk

New King Buffalo track "Quickening" has made its debut today, in the form of an animated video, at Loudwire.

Watch, here:

http://loudwire.com/king-buffalo-new-song-quickening/

The song appears on the Rochester, New York trio's sophomore album Longing to Be the Mountain, out October 12th (self-released in the US, Stickman Records in Europe.)

Longing to Be the Mountain is a feast of haunting vocals, hypnotic grooves, mounting tension and explosive finalés, earning more than a few comparisons to Pink Floyd. Loudwire calls it "hypnotic and proggy" and The Obelisk declares "it's a top-ten kind of album." It was produced by All Them Witches guitarist Ben McLeod.

Pre-order the album (vinyl and digital):

http://kingbuffalo.com/

The band is currently on tour in North America and has revealed a second leg of North American tourdates, kicking off October 27th in Montreal:

Sep 5 - Edmonton, AB @ Bohemia

Sep 6 - Saskatoon, SK @ Capitol Music Club
Sep 7 - Regina, SK @ Cloud 9
Sep 8 - Winnipeg, MB @ The Handsome Daughter
Sep 9 - Fargo, ND @ Aquarium
Sep 11 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Sep 12 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Sep 13 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
Sep 15 - Toronto, ON @ Bovine Sex Club

Oct 27 - Montreal, QC @ Montreal Zombie Walk

Nov 1 - Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus

Nov 2 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie

Nov 3 - Fawn Grove, PA @ South County Brewing Co.

Nov 4 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery

Nov 5 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room

Nov 6 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl

Nov 7 - New Orleans, LA @ Santos Bar

Nov 8 - Houston, TX @ Rudyard’s

Nov 9 - Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas

Nov 10 - Fort Worth, TX @ Lola’s Saloon Sixth

Nov 12 - Nashville, TN @ The End

Nov 13 - Indianapolis, IN @ White Rabbit Cabaret

Nov 14 - Louisville, KY @ Jimmy Can’t Dance

Nov 15 - Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups

Nov 16 - Detroit, MI @ PJ’s Lager House

Nov 17 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern

Photo by Mike Turzanski

KÆLAN MIKLA - Nótt eftir nótt

"The best post-punk band to come out of Iceland since Björk’s Kukl..."
–Post-Punk

"Full of foreboding Icelandic-language whispers and haunted-house riffs."

–Bandcamp Daily

"The three witches from Macbeth with Poly Styrene punk and Diamanda Galas shrieks."

–Drowned In Sound

Icelandic post-punk trio Kælan Mikla returns with third album Nótt eftir nótt, to be released November 9 on Artoffact Records. The band will embark on a European tour with King Dude in September, followed by slots on Iceland Airwaves festival and more.

Stream first track "Hvernig kemst ég upp?" and pre-order the album here:
https://kaelanmikla.bandcamp.com/album/n-tt-eftir-n-tt

Topping a year that saw them share stages with The Cure, Nótt eftir nótt is Kælan Mikla at its most confident and deadly. It’s been five years since Margrét Rósa, Laufey Soffia, and Sólveig Matthildur formed the band in Reykjavík – after two critically-acclaimed albums, several successful tours, and appearances at festivals like Roadburn and the Robert Smith-curated Meltdown, Kælan Mikla has arrived.

Starting with an ominous and ethereal intro, Nótt eftir nótt erupts with post-punk brilliance and synthlines that harken back to the days of the Batcave, big hair, and Egyptian-inspired eye-liner. Tracks like "Hvernig kemst ég upp?" and "Skuggadans" fuse melody with melancholy and slamming beats. Soffia's and Matthildur's voices intertwine, ranging from punk howls to sweet melodies to witchy shrieks.

Lyrics are written and performed in their native Icelandic. Listeners are beckoned into a nightmarish world: "Darkness, running out into the night / Witches play with shadows / Smile, they bathe in rain of blood / Glide, wearing only moonshine..."

Title track "Nótt eftir nótt" was produced by Iceland's Bang Gang.

With raw punk aggression, dancefloor rhythms, and a dark fairy-tale vision specific to its native Iceland, Kæalan Mikla is a uniquely thrilling band on the rise, poised to make its mark around the globe.

Tracklist:
1) Gandreið
2) Nornalagið
3) Hvernig kemst ég upp?
4) Skuggadans
5) Draumadís
6) Næturblóm
7) Andvaka
8) Nótt eftir nótt
9) Dáið er allt án drauma

Lineup:
Margrét Rósa - bass
Laufey Soffia - vocals
Sólveig Matthildur - keyboards, vocals

Kælan Mikla, live:
September 20 - Berlin, DE*
September 21 - Leipzig, DE*
September 22 - Poznan, PO*
September 23 - Krakow, PO*
September 24 - Budapest, HU*
September 25 - Vienna, AT*
September 26 - Munich, DE*
September 27 - Martigny, FR*
September 28 - Langres, FR*
September 29 - Nantes, FR*
September 30 - Paris, FR*
October 1 - London, UK*
October 2 - Sint Niklass, BE*
October 3 - The Hague, NL*
October 4 - Den Bosch, NL*
October 5 - Oberhausen, DE*
October 6 - Wurzburg, DE*
October 24 - Hvalur Festival, Bratislava, SK
November 8 - Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavik, IS
November 9 -Den Sorte Firkant,  Copenhagen, DK
November 10 - Fabrika Fest, Berlin, D

* with King Dude

Photo of Kælan Mikla, by Verði Ljós