Hello everyone and welcome back to the Genrefvckery monthly roundup, which definitely happens once a month and which I am absolutely not lying about. (I’m trying to get better about that.)
This month, I’m making a concerted effort to pull more from Bandcamp; I’m a little overly reliant on the Spotify Release Radar function, especially since I’ve trained it so well, but I want to give a wider range of artists their due.
- Clones – x2001x (Sera Louise)
Será Louise is a multi-instrumentalist musician from Portland, Oregon — and a multi-genre artist as well, with several different projects all on one Bandcamp page! (And they’re all amazing.) This particular project of hers, x2001x, is dedicated to experimental harsh noise/lo-fi work, and this album is a particularly fascinating, dissonant collection. Aptly enough, it’s only called Music, and each track slides smoothly into the next, recorded with “a variety of methods”. (Very Lynchian.) My favourite of these is Clones, which feels like the aural equivalent of a good trip that is slowly, inexorably, going bad on you (and there’s nothing you can do about it). Little glitches in the Matrix, faces that aren’t where they’re supposed to be…
Check out the album on Bandcamp here!
2. Stained Glass – Harsh Symmetry
I am a dedicated fan of 80s New Wave, including everything from Tears for Fears to Echo and the Bunnymen, so finding a modern artist bringing that classic post-punk sound to the 2020s has me ecstatic. Not only does Harsh Symmetry have the voice, he’s got the synth sound, which is incredibly hard to duplicate (the more modern synths became, the less they achieved a very specific jangly tone which you hear in 70s and 80s music. It’s why the originals are so expensive!). Stained Glass in particular feels straight out of the Batcave in a way modern goth/punk music so rarely achieves, or even aspires to.
Check out Harsh Symmetry on Bandcamp here!
3. Flood II – Motherhood
This track opens up a bizarre concept album from New Brunswick art-rock band Motherhood, described as narrating the “sudden abduction of an unsuspecting pedestrian by a dark, expanding Cloud”. Bowie and Syd Barrett would be proud. High concept aside, though, this track is filled with driving guitars, thudding percussion, and a bright, distorted sound that stands in sharp contrast with the lyrics about witnessing a suicide and the initial abduction by the Cloud. It’s an excellent opening track and stands well on its own, too; a balance not all concept album overtures strike.
4. Blue – Lady and the Clowns
I first ran across Lady and the Clowns a few months ago, through their incredible cover of Madonna’s Hung Up. I’m thrilled to say that their original work is just as good, if not better for being free of Madonna’s songwriting. “Blue” in particular is a rock ballad in fine form that showcases Sara Bassetti’s soaring vocals beautifully, and the distinctive chorus has been stuck in my head for days already.
As for Lady and the Clowns themselves, they’re an Italian trio with an inflatable banana mascot, comprised of Bassetti, Marina Aristotile on bass and backing vocals, and Fabrizio Orlando on drums. Mar Viola is their second full-length release and their first unaffiliated with a game — and it’s a hell of an album. “Blue” is an amazing track, but the whole album is worth a look, with tracks in both English and Italian.
Unfortunately, the full album isn’t yet on their Bandcamp — but I’ll link it here for the curious.
5. God Save The Queens – Vienna Vienna
There’s been a lot of queer, BIPOC, and working-class resistance anthems coming out — more and more all the time, some more subtle than others. But this is the first one so far that feels so much like it should be a world-changing hit. It’s not just catchy, it demands your attention; it’s performed with a saucy, fuck-you drawl, and the lyrics are both pointed and fucking funny. “Mister Lincoln rocking leather, even he was gay” is where I started cackling out loud, but it’s excellent from line one to the very end. I love every song I put on these lists, but this is one where I’m actively annoyed that it’s not a radio hit. (Which is also me telling you to start blasting it at protests, my friends. Bring your feathers and sequins.)
Listen to “God Save The Queens” on Bandcamp here!
6. Ela Minus – Broken
Ela Minus is a Colombian artist who debuted in 2020 — on this, her second record, she releases music that sounds like taking a synth into a cathedral. “Broken” starts off hesitant, with synth bubbling underneath it, but with every second that passes, the chords resolve a little more, the layers deepen, and the pace picks up after the first minute into an absolute joy of a song. Like I said, it sounds like being in a cathedral somehow. But with synths and pads and a beat — so the best kind of cathedral.
Check out the full album here!
7. TOOTHACHE – Hannah Richardson
A fantastic bubblegrunge song from another artist new to me — it should be noted that this is not the Hannah Richardson from CHERYM, although fans of CHERYM will like this track too! It starts off as fun and decent on the vocals, but it’s in the last third of the song that Richardson’s vocal talent really shines through. I’m also more than a little in love with the lyrics — in essence, “you’re very sweet and kind and nice and it’s not my thing, thank you”.
8. Run Rabbit – ALT BLK ERA
God, I love ALT BLK ERA. Watching Black girls get recognized in the industrial and rock scenes bit by clawed-out bit is wonderful, and these two have been making waves for a few years now. I first encountered ALT BLK ERA through their 2022 single “Off With Their Heads”. While “Run Rabbit” — off their first full-length album Rave Immortal — is a little lighter on the heavy metal screams, it’s still solidly hard rock/industrial, with pounding synths in the background and distortion dancing with smooth vocals. I do miss the harshness of their earlier singles a bit, but it’s all about stylistic range.
9. The New Alphabet – Delivery
I’ve run into so many punks from Australia while doing this that I’m so curious to go check out their scene — they’ve clearly got an incredible pool of talent, and Delivery is no exception. A five-piece alt-rock/punk band from Melbourne, they came crashing onto the DIY scene back in 2021. Force Majeure is their second full-length LP, and the whole thing is a fantastic piece of work, but “The New Alphabet” is definitely my favourite. It’s hooky and clever, albeit a little musically brighter-toned than my usual punk tastes — but what’s life without variety? I wish they had the lyrics posted because what I can catch is great, but that’s something I want to bug all indie bands about. POST YOUR DAMN LYRICS!
10. Wanna Start A Band? – Sleigh Bells
Sleigh Bells make exactly the kind of unhinged industrial-synth dance music I love to inject directly into my veins. (Between them, ALT BLK ERA and my abiding love for Black Dresses, you’re probably catching a theme.) They’re a lot more well-established than the other bands on here — formed in 2008, they’re coming up on sixteen years in the game, with “Wanna Start A Band?” serving as a likely preview to album number seven. They’ve managed to keep their sound the whole time while still keeping things fresh — there’s a lot of people who wish they could capture Alexis Krauss’s relentless energy — and “Wanna Start A Band?” feels laced with feminine rage if that term hasn’t been hammered into the ground yet. “Go call another witness/It’s personal, not business/Shut up and let me finish” just feels far too pointed to be anything else.
Listen to Sleigh Bells’s latest single here!
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Elliott Dunstan 