Tag: new music roundup

GENREFVCKERY: February 2025 Release Roundup

March 27th, 2025

February, at last! There’s this adage that bad politics lead to good music — I don’t know if that’s true, especially when we’re all too stressed to focus. But I can definitely say there’s a lot of excellent musicians who need support more than ever. So here’s a reminder that if you like the bands I introduce you to here, there’s almost always ways to support them, whether it’s buying tracks through Bandcamp, merch, or even concerts if they’re local to you! (And hey, you never know. Black Dresses and Pup are local to me because I’m a lucky SOB.)

1. cortisol_inside cortisol_explosion excessive_cortisol cortisol_everywhere by Ada Rook

I’ve yet to bring an Ada Rook song into these columns, I think, largely because I try to focus on small, less-known bands, and I have this idea in my head that everybody knows who Ada Rook is, obviously. But I’m also biased. I’m queer, into this kind of music already, and Canadian. Ada Rook is half of the queer transfem boundary-smashers Black Dresses, and her solo work is no less incredible. I have a bit of a crush, to be honest. Her music always manages to make me feel both affirmed and a little like I’m having an acid trip at the same time, and this song is just another excellent addition to the list. This whole album is so far, honestly, but I try to focus on one song at a time!

Side note, really, but Rook may also be a goddamn master at song titles. I wish I was half this creative. Goals.

Check out Ada Rook’s new single here! I’m not typing that out twice.

2. I I – I — Blood Abscission

I really don’t get enough metal on these lists for how much of a metalhead I am, but Blood Abscission’s new single is some beautiful melodic black metal. A preview for the full album release on April 11th, “I I – I” is the first track on the album and foregrounds guitars and percussion with gutturals and screams mixed way, way in the back. It’s for all intents and purposes instrumental, and composed like a classical piece — it’s something I’m definitely going to get high to at some point, although YMMV on how that would feel. (Me, I find this stuff relaxing. But I also once suggested Meredead to someone and they were frustated that someone would ruin all the ‘pretty lady singing’ with ‘growling’ so some of us just don’t understand each other.) I do want to note that this particular song has a twelve minute run-time… so don’t put it on for your smoke break.

You can listen to the single and preorder the album right over here!

3. people person – McLusky

Swinging right over to the other end of the alt spectrum, post-punk band McLusky have a half-shouted, half-snarled single here to promote their album the world is still here and so are we — out on May 9th! “people person” is another one I wish I had lyrics available, but the ones I catch are slippery and wry, with a bit of sad-clown about them.

The great thing about this album is that it’s also McLusky’s first in twenty years! Originally active from 1999-2005, this marks their reunification, and if this track is any indication, it’s in fine form.

Check out “people person” by McLusky here — and preorder their album!

4. Happy To See You – Ready Weather

A lot of the bands I post on here are new, but Ready Weather are babies. Formed in July 2024, they’re not even a year old yet and have just started playing live; with that in mind, I’m all the happier that their single ‘Happy To See You’ is some genuinely fun pop-punk/pop-rock. (I think it’s right on the line between the two, honestly.) It’s bouncy and tight, with a bit of distortion and edge to it keeping it aurally interesting and not too smooth.

Ready Weather are based in Glasgow and include Lauren Black on vocals, Lorne Black on guitars (siblings? cousins? One has to presume so), Lewis Print on bass and Rory Breaker on drums. Not relevant in the slightest, but if I had a name like Breaker, I would also be on drums and nothing else forever. That’s a name destined for percussion.

Check out ‘Happy to See You’ by Ready Weather on Youtube here!

5. Ruin Me – Max Fractal

I have so much to say about this song and this artist. Max Fractal is the new and truer name of the artist formerly known (and still credited as on prior releases, although I won’t be using the name where possible) as Kim Boekbinder. Fractal identifies as genderfluid, and this is some of the first music they recorded after coming out — making it particularly notable.

In terms of genre, Fractal’s work is still very firmly darkwave, with a slow, measured approach and a nearly-purring siren-call alto of a voice singing carefully chosen lyrics where every word is crystal clear. It’s a tantalizing preview of the full Ruin Me EP releasing on March 23rd, and after following Fractal’s journey for the last little while, I’m incredibly excited to see them step back into the music world. (And peep that album art, holy shit.)

Listen to “Ruin Me” and preorder the EP here!

6. Balthazaar – Motorpsycho

I have a thing about long songs. A lot of people don’t like them — who has time to listen to 12 minute songs, let alone 20 or 30? — but there’s something about the composition of a long song that I adore. The verse-chorus-verse composition gets tiring after a while. So this number from Motorpsycho is a hit for me. The lyrics are poetic and the vocals are interestingly mixed while still being audible, and the instrumentation is reminiscent of both And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead and more classic prog bands like King Crimson. I also love the album art. I can’t quite peg what it reminds me of, but it’s weird and beautiful in a way that perfectly compliments their sound.

Check out Balthazaar by Motorpsycho here!

7. Brand-New Me – Elizaveta

On the note of ‘long songs’, Elizaveta apparently terms her music opera pop, and I can see why! This is one of those songs that feels straight out of the indie hey-day of the early 2000s, a la Modest Mouse, Deerhoof and Fiery Furnaces. It’s quirky, twee, a little bit repetitive, and a staggering thirteen minutes long. And yet, somehow, if you’re in the right mood and the right place, it’s a bit magic. I think it’s the mix of the bright, toybox-like instrumentation, Elizaveta’s sweet voice, and the lyrics; when I put it on either I’m not in the mood for the whole thing, or it just kind of settles perfectly into place.

Listen to Brand-New Me by Elizaveta here!

8. DIY GOD – Big Girl

Chaotic, a little bit jazzy, and full of more guitars than you can shake a stick at, “DIY GOD” is an anthem for the do-it-yourself part of punk culture with fantastic vocals from Kaitlin Pelkey. It’s a song that’s equal parts fist-pumping self-confidence and melancholy reflection on disaster — apt for the topic at hand — but the composition is just… chef’s kiss. It should be a wreck of a song with this many moving pieces in the background. It’s certainly not the only song like this, but it’s always deeply impressive.

The lyrics are also fantastic — both wry and sincere. “I ask the internet how to love/ I swear to god There’s a wikihow about everything / I ask the TV who to be / Cause nothing in there can hurt me / I asked you where it hurt / You pointed to the dirt / Who do I think I am, you asked / And I said are you sure” Ultimately the song reminds me of Icon for Hire among others, and I’m definitely keeping this one in rotation.

They don’t have the song up on Bandcamp yet, but Big Girl’s Bandcamp is over here with their earlier work. Meanwhile, listen to DIY GOD on Youtube!

9. It Will Be Like Now – Vulture Feather

Another new band for me, this time in the realm of post-punk, although I would personally call this closer to the world of prog-punk (a small but mighty genre!). ‘Blood Knot’ brings together the harmonizing guitars and wandering, building compositions of the post-rock and prog-rock worlds with vocals straight out of post-punk/80s Goth, and all of this with actually manageable song lengths (not that I usually complain, but it’s nice to see! Not everybody actually writes appropriately to the scale they’re going for.) My one complaint, as per usual, is the lack of posted lyrics. I can hear the vibe, I love the music, and this is fantastic work. I want to know what it’s about!!!

I’m also deeply impressed that It Will Be Like Now is only their second album. What happened to the sophomore slump? All I’m seeing from some of these artists is just banger after banger. Good job, guys.

Check out ‘Blood Knot’ from It Will Be Like Now on Vulture Feathers’ Bandcamp here!

10. How Does It Feel – Elliot Minor

Of all the bands I expected to make a reappearance in this year 2025, Elliot Minor was not one of them. I was really into them back in 2009 with their Solaris release, and then they just quietly faded away. ‘How Does It Feel’ isn’t quite a return to form — it doesn’t have the immediate attention-grabbing baroque-classical rock of ‘Solaris’ or ‘The Dancer’, but it’s an excellent single, and it’s loaded with just as many harmonies as we’ve grown to expect from Elliot Minor. Er, those of us who know who they are anyway. (Mostly Brits. I have no idea how well they crossed the pond.)

Check out the new Elliot Minor single here!

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GENREFVCKERY: January 2025 Round-Up

March 18th, 2025
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.
1. 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.

Check out Motherhood here!

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.

Check out Rave Immortal here!

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!

Check out Force Majeure here!

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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Tag: new music roundup

GENREFVCKERY: February 2025 Release Roundup

GENREFVCKERY: January 2025 Round-Up