PYGMY LUSH - TOTEM

PYGMY LUSH: reunited Pageninetynine offshoot announces release of lost album "TOTEM" via Persistent Vision Records; first single streaming now

Persistent Vision Records announces the July 11th release of Pygmy Lush's TOTEM.

Recorded and mixed by Converge's Kurt Ballou in 2016, the album has remained unreleased for nearly a decade. Active again now after a long hiatus, the revitalized band has made the decision to unearth this lost masterpiece.

Stream the first single, "February Song," here: https://youtu.be/leDxRQ-sP8o

Pre-order the album, here: https://persistentvisionrecords.com/products/pygmy-lush-totem

Pygmy Lush was founded in Northern Virginia in the mid-2000s by brothers Chris Taylor and Mike Taylor as an experimental offshoot of their band Pageninetynine. Beginning with the debut album, Bitter River, released on Robotic Empire in 2007, Pygmy Lush's output ranged from Pageninetynine-caliber screamo, to fragile Americana; from the basement show to the campfire and back again, the songs all hit with equal conviction.

Following the release of 2011's Old Friends album on Lovitt Records, Pygmy Lush faded from view, reemerging in 2024 to many fans' surprise and delight. Reentering the limelight by way of an NPR Tiny Desk Concert in August 2024, the newly reignited band was a standout of the inaugural Dark Days Bright Nights festival in September of that year, and went on to wow the crowd at this year's Roadburn.

With an appearance at Toronto's Prepare the Ground festival booked for May, and shows in the works with the likes of Young Widows, Pygmy Lush now prepares to reveal the long-buried TOTEM. Mike Taylor explains why this nine-year-old masterpiece has not yet seen the light of day: "Frankly, we lost momentum shortly after recording the album. It was a very transitional time for Pygmy Lush where we were trying hard to figure out what this group wanted to do."

He describes the upcoming 2025 release of TOTEM as a necessary step in Pygmy Lush's progression toward its next phase: "I personally have wanted to release TOTEM as a document of this era of the band, in order to continue moving forward."

While TOTEM's belated release might give the Taylors a sense of closure on the past, it is more than a snapshot of bygone days. It is a monumental work of art that feels absolutely fresh and vital in 2025. A feast for the ears and the heart, TOTEM is an engrossing display of musical freedom, backed by authentic emotion. There are songs that rage, songs that rock, and songs that cruise hypnotically. From bruising noise rock, teetering on the edge of hardcore, to meditative refrains that roll along like trains through moonlit valleys, it moves in its own ways, unhindered by genre.

"The album became a bridge between the two completely different sounds of the band, the quiet and the loud," states Mike Taylor. "It was very collaborative. We were all trying out as much stuff as we could. It’s a very eclectic album." He offers up Born Against, PJ Harvey, and Brian Eno as three reference points. First single "February Song" is a heavy, haunting lullaby that ravages, serenely, evoking the quieter moments of Sonic Youth and Pavement alike.

The common denominator beneath TOTEM's songs is the urgency, the realness, fueling every note and lyric. Chris Taylor states: "The lyrics desperately look for answers that aren’t there, and deliberately mock themselves. We sing and we write and we play, as the world becomes more and more obviously horrific. We admire, or argue over, the patterns of our battle flags while the fort is burning."

Furthermore, TOTEM's rich, warm production unites the disparities into one whole. With longtime collaborator Kurt Ballou overseeing the recording and mixing at his hallowed GodCity Studio, mastering was handled by the great Carl Saff (Bambara, Bonnie Prince Billy). 

The cover art, created by Paul Nitsche, consists of hand sculpted organic elements and mixed media collage, photographed using traditional tintype photography and darkroom methods. Nitsche is known widely for his artwork for Dazzling Killmen's Face of Collapse album.

With TOTEM set to be released to the world on July 11th, the path is cleared for whatever Pygmy Lush chooses to do next. "Yes, we will be writing new music ASAP," declares Mike Taylor.

Tracklist:
1) House of Blood (Butch’s Monster)
2) It Wasn’t a Compliment (Martial Law Blues)
3) A Little Boy and His Bulldozer
4) Algorithmic Mercy (Prayers Printed Directly into a Shredder)
5) A Famous Jock (The Rest of Us)
6) February Song
7) Band-Aid on a Bullet Wound
8) The Puppeteer
9) Post-Punk in the Wrong Hands
10) Artistic Blood / Blanket Out the Sun (in a world of better things)
11) Nonsensical Whimper

TOTEM recording lineup:
Chris Taylor - vocals, bass
Mike Taylor - guitar

Mike Widman - guitar
Erin McCarley - bass, vocals
Andy Gale - drums

2025 lineup:
Chris Taylor - guitar, vocals
Mike Taylor - guitar

Mike Widman - guitar, bass
Johnny Ward - guitar, vocals
Andy Gale - drums

Upcoming shows:
May 30 - Toronto, ON @ Prepare the Ground (w/ Baroness, Yob)
June 8 - Richmond, VA @ The Warehouse (w/ Young Widows)

Discography:
TOTEM (2025, Persistent Vision Records)
Demos / B-Sides (2016, Self-Released)
Old Friends (2011, Lovitt Records)
Cold World / Guilt 7" (2011, Lovitt Records)
Split w/ Turboslut (2009, Exotic Fever)
Mount Hope (2008, Lovitt Records)
Bitter River (2007, Robotic Empire)

Live photo by Michael Thorn

HEAVY HALO - "Final Fall"

HEAVY HALO: NYC alt-industrial alchemists go acoustic on new single "Final Fall"

Brooklyn-based alt-industrial duo Heavy Halo have revealed their latest single, “Final Fall."

Stream the official music video, here: https://outburn.com/all-features/heavy-halo-final-fall/

Outburn Magazine reports: "Heavy Halo is a NYC-based duo mixing alt-rock and industrial elements. The new album Damaged Dream will be released July 25, 2025 on Silent Pendulum Records. While much of Heavy Halo's work has an alt-industrial vibe, in the spirit of artists such as Nine Inch Nails or HEALTH, the new single 'Final Fall' has a gentler acoustic sound, inspired by bands like Smashing Pumpkins."

Heavy Halo vocalist McKeever states: “When your future looks bleak and your past continues to wilt you from the inside you’re trapped in the prison of the present, desperately trying to hold it all together. Are you resigned to this nightmare, one long final descent into oblivion? Or will you awaken and escape the ground somehow? 'Final Fall' is the bruised and vulnerable closer of Damaged Dream that asks this eternal question.”

Pre-order Damaged Dream here: https://silentpendulumrecords.com/collections/heavy-halo

Photo by Michelle LoBianco

Out today: BRONSON ARM - Casket Schwagg

Casket Schwagg, the sophomore album by Bronson Arm, is out today on Learning Curve Records.

From Kalamazoo, Michigan, Bronson Arm consists solely of baritone guitarist/vocalist Blake Bickel and drummer Garrett Yates. Ominous like Sonic Youth, explosive like Fugazi, the duo delivers austere anthems that swell with tension and burst with cathartic hooks. 

Casket Schwagg was mixed by Brandon Eggleston (Swans, Helmet). Across nine hard-rocking songs, Bickel and Yates fully mesmerize with a mix of martial rhythms, doomy tones, and euphoric melodies. 

Stream and buy the album, here: https://bronsonarm.bandcamp.com/album/casket-schwagg

"'Casket Schwagg' is a strong return which showcases Bronson Arm hitting their stride. The band finely fuses weight, rhythm, and tension into a compelling sound which grabs attention from the very first listen."
–Destroy//Exist

"Bronson Arm, the noise rock minimalists, have got a new album coming out called 'Casket Schwagg.'"
–Getting It Out

"Blake Bickel’s baritone guitar churns like a machine chewing gravel, Garrett Yates’ drums slam down with cold precision, and Bickel’s voice rises above, sharp and unyielding."
–Idioteq

"Kalamazoo noise duo Bronson Arm are ready to serve up some surprisingly catchy noise rock on their upcoming sophomore album 'Casket Schwagg'... Consisting of baritone guitarist and vocalist Blake Bickel and drummer Garrett Yates, the group packs a huge punch with just two members."
–New Noise

"Michigan’s Bronson Arm dazzled with their self titled debut only a year ago and are back with a bigger, bolder, and more aggressive beast on 'Casket Schwagg'... This is noise rock for those who love the genre but also for those who are adventurous and enjoy hearing something fresh and new."
–Nine Circles

"One of the things that makes me happy, when I'm listening to the album... I go, 'You know what this sounds like? This sounds like a Bronson Arm record.' It's a fresh set of songs, but it's a fresh set of songs by a band whose sound I like and I recognize."
–Whatever Comes Next 

Out today: TONGUECUTTER - Minnow

Minnow, the new album by Tonguecutter, is out today on Learning Curve Records.

The trio, based in Iggy Pop's hometown of Muskegon, Michigan, delivers intense and unorthodox punk-metal bangers – equal parts riot grrrl and thrash. Boasting jubilant riffage, prog tendencies, and almighty howling rage, DRI, Voivod, and Babes in Toyland are all valid reference points. Vocalist/guitarist Chantal Roeske is a formidable bandleader with a soaring voice and a propensity for odd time signatures, whose path in music began more than 30 years ago; Minnow puts her passion and talent on full display.

Stream the music video for "Big 'Ol Tree," a song which Roeske describes as "an ode to bodily autonomy for women," here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2xNvXlV95M

Stream the album, here:
https://www.scenepointblank.com/news/records/2025/05/01/spb-featured-stream-tonguecutter-minnow/

Buy the album, here: 

https://tonguecutter.bandcamp.com/album/minnow

"Blending the heavier side of grunge with powerful guitars and dynamic vocals, the band's sound is both intense and hard hitting, delivering an electrifying energy that demands attention."
–Destroy//Exist

"This album has been over 30 years in the making. Well, not literally... What I mean is, we don’t get to 'Minnow' by Tonguecutter without first going through Hole, DRI, maybe a little Soundgarden and Cave In, definitely a bit of Kathleen Hanna and Bikini Kill... For something to so expertly call back to memories and the past without getting lost in itself is praiseworthy alone – stack fierce and emblematic writing and performances on top of it and you have an album representing the best 2025 has to offer."
–Everything Is Noise

"[Tonguecutter] is a trio from Muskegon, MI, with a sound that is heavy and aggressive... A myriad of influences sneak into the songs, sometimes mixing up time signatures and drawing from thrash to riot grrrl to punk and noise rock."
–Scene Point Blank

Out today: PLQ MRX - Cumgitsum

Cumgitsum, the debut EP by PLQ MRX, is out today.

From Philadelphia, PLQ MRX is a motley (and often, masked) crew rumored to include members affiliated with Swans, Unsane, Ecstatic Vision, Author & Punisher, and more. The sound is a raw, grimy, sludgy brand of punk with an acid-fried aesthetic. Reference points include Flipper, Butthole Surfers, and Chat Pile... but the band members prefer to credit Funkadelic as an influence.

Stream the EP, here:
https://plqmrx.bandcamp.com/album/cumgitsum

Buy the EP, here:
US: https://reptilianrecords.bandcamp.com/
EU: https://totemcatrecords.bigcartel.com/
Canada: https://fuzzedandbuzzed.com/

Shows:
April 26 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie (w/ Season to Risk)
April 27 - Queens, NY @ TV Eye (w/ Season to Risk)

"There once was a group of Philly noise rockers called Plaque Marks... Plaque Marks are gone but PLQ MRX have risen to take their place, pushing the band’s raucous noise rock in new, Funkadelic-inspired directions."
–Decibel

"A sludgy, psychedelic-tinged brand of punk, laced with rich instrumentation, infectious grooves, and a wild unpredictability."
–Destroy//Exist

"Enter PLQ MRX's bizarre circus of deviance... 'Cumgitsum' is a bizarre ode to bands like Butthole Surfers, Flipper and, to some extent, Don Van Vliet’s works. This is all contained within the package that includes various references to drug use and the dark side of what clowns can be."
–Invisible Oranges

"Emerging from the back alleys of Philadelphia’s noise rock underbelly, PLQ MRX is a masked collective of sonic delinquents who sound like Flipper got lost in a Funkadelic bender... If noise rock is entering a more performative, psychedelic phase, PLQ MRX are here to set the stage on fire, douse it in cough syrup, and sell the ashes as merch."
–It's Psychedelic Baby

"This is some twisted, heavy, and acid-damaged 'noise' rock. In an age where most bands give you the bare minimum, or routine formulas, it’s refreshing to hear a band that goes all-out in pursuit of their vision, especially when it is something as out-there as this one."

–New Noise

JOLIETTE - Pérdidas Variables

JOLIETTE: Mexico City post-hardcore dynamo to deliver new album "Pérdidas Variables" via Persistent Vision Records

Persistent Vision Records announces the June 20th release of Pérdidas Variables, the new album by Mexico City post-hardcore band Joliette.

Pre-order the album, here: https://persistentvisionrecords.com/products/joliette-perdidas-variables-lp

Stream the album's first single, "Nimbus," here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX1kfOQwEjI

Described by BrooklynVegan as "a raw-yet-beautiful dose of screamo," Joliette has been a force in the Mexican scene since 2011, playing shows with the likes of Converge and Touché Amoré, and releasing music on labels such as Zegema Beach Records. 

On the upcoming new album, Pérdidas Variables, the band's debut for Persistent Vision, the quartet takes the urgency of scene heroes like Saetia and Raein and laces it with the brooding, post-metal grandeur of Neurosis or Cult of Luna. While some bands in the genre use sloppiness as their medium, wielding chaos to convey emotional fragility, Joliette moves as steadily as a freight train. The rhythm section of Hugo Madrid and Matías Acuña bangs and growls in perfect, propulsive unity, while the guitars of Gastón Prado and Juan Pablo Castillo combine into apocalyptic storm clouds of sound. 

Screaming in his native Spanish, Gastón Prado's earnest voice transcends language barriers. Loud in the mix, his raspy pleas demands attention as they transmit universal angst.

Pérdidas Variables is an album inspired by Joliette's hometown. "It’s a meditation on Mexico City," states Juan Pablo Castillo, "as both a physical space and a psychological one, a place constantly shifting under your feet, full of layers, ruins, and noise. The lyrics are rooted in very real fears, earthquakes, collapse, systems failing, but they’re also about the quiet, daily sense of disconnection and mourning that urban life can bring. Each song looks at a different fragment of that experience."

Castillo gives this statement on the album's first single: "'Nimbus' explores the quiet, almost hypnotic beauty of a rainy night in the city. It’s about how the rain blurs the line between the external world and the internal, creating a sense of isolation and introspection. The song captures that moment when the city feels both distant and close, as the rain transforms the landscape into something dreamlike. It’s a meditation on the passage of time, memories, and how everything seems to fade into a soft, gray atmosphere."

Pérdidas Variables was recorded by Matías Acuña and Fernando G. Esteve, mixed by Hugo Madrid, and mastered by Paolo Riffo.

In addition to performing relentlessly across its native Mexico, Joliette has traveled the world, touring Europe, Central America, South America, the United States, and Canada. An extensive European tour kicks off April 30th.

Based in Richmond, Virginia, Persistent Vision Records is quickly making a name as a beacon of compelling sounds from across the globe. Joliette joins Habak as the second Mexican band on the label. Other recent releases include albums by Pageninetynine, La Quiete, Blind Girls, and Fórn. Persistent Vision founder Paul Hansbarger is also co-founder of Dark Days Bright Nights, an annual music festival whose upcoming 2025 lineup boasts City of Caterpillar, Uniform, Sleepytime Trio, Dazzling Killmen, and more.

Tracklist:
1) Todos Pierden
2) Arsénico
3) Limítrofe
4) Cielo Sordo
5) L'uomo Mangia la Mela
6) Pérdida Variable
7) Nimbus
8) Gris Protagónico

Lineup:
Gastón Prado - guitar, vocals
Juan Pablo Castillo - guitar
Hugo Madrid - bass, synth
Matías Acuña - drums

Guests:
Almendra Gallegos - vocals on "Pérdida Variable"

Tour:
Apr 30 - Hilversum, NL @ Vonk In De Wijk
May 01 - Hamburg, DE @ Gängeviertel
May 03 - Gothenburg, SE @ Sekten
May 07 - Jonkoping, SE @ Kulturhuset
May 10 - Odense, DK @ Ilter Festival
May 12 - Berlin, DE @ Neue Zukunft
May 13 - Bamberg, DE @ Autumn Kids
May 15 - Vienna, AT @ Venster99
May 16 - Venezia, IT @ Venezia Hardcore Fest
May 17 - Munich, DE @ Kafe Kult
May 18 - Wiesbaden, DE @ Kreativfabrik
May 19 - Trier, DE @ VillaWuller
May 20 - Metz, FR @ La Chouee
May 22 - Norwich, UK @ Voodoo Daddy’s
May 23 - Nottingham, UK @ JT Soar
May 24 - London, UK @ Portals Festival
May 25 - Bristol, UK @ Exchange Basement
May 27 - Paris, FR @ Le Klub
May 28 - Aromas, FR @ A la Vieille Ecole
May 29 - Cassano d´Adda, IT @ Solidar Rock Fest
May 30 - Zurich, CH @ Ebrietas

Cover art by Daniela Vergara

BRONSON ARM - "To Live Deliciously"

BRONSON ARM: noise rock minimalists condemn con men on new single "To Live Deliciously"; Tonguecutter's Chantal Roeske stars in official music video

The official music video for new Bronson Arm track “To Live Deliciously” is streaming now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADfXk2k3sWY

From Kalamazoo, Michigan, Bronson Arm consists solely of baritone guitarist/vocalist Blake Bickel and drummer Garrett Yates. Ominous like Sonic Youth, explosive like Fugazi, the duo delivers austere anthems that swell with tension and burst with cathartic hooks.

Sophomore album Casket Schwagg was mixed by Brandon Eggleston (Swans, Helmet) and will be released May 9th via Learning Curve Records. Across nine hard-rocking songs, Bickel and Yates fully mesmerize with a mix of martial rhythms, doomy tones, and euphoric melodies. Pre-order the album, here: https://bronsonarm.bandcamp.com/album/casket-schwagg

The "To Live Deliciously" video features fellow Michigan rocker Chantal Roseke of Tonguecutter in the role of a surprisingly violent karaoke performer.

Bickel says this about the new song: “This track is a condemnation of all con men. A scornful rant of contempt and a rally cry to burn it down. Intentionally short and repetitive, to drive the simple message home.”

May 15 - Kalamazoo, MI - Bell’s Back Room
May 16 - Minneapolis, MN - Cloudland Theatre
May 17 - Milwaukee, WI - MKE Ultra
June 07 - Michigan City, IN - Burn ’Em Brewing

Photos by Brady Olson