A dozen tracks which showcase some of the finest music that caught our attention and which we didn't extensively cover during October 2018, Stream And Destroy gets on with its ninth volume.
Violet keep up the consistency with another adorable single and their always striking sound and posture, having us longing for more of their flair, and craving a proper full length from them.
There's not much to find about Rhode Island's Softails online, still, the band's fine mixture of space rock and post punk shouldn't be left unnoticed. Similarly, Lazy Bones from New York put together and self-produce a wistful shoegaze-inclined sound very much worth exploring.
Toronto band, Favours, vigorously combine indie jangle pop and dreampop with a fuller, heavy in lushness synth sound on the couple of singles they have released thus far, the latest of which, Stowaway, is a tour de force of beautiful blissfulness.
Usual suspects, Blod, from Sweden, keep up the density of their melancholic, psychedelic, shoegaze rock sound with a fiery new six-song EP; while noise rock superstars, Cloud Nothings, came forth with a new record produced by super producer, Randall Dunn, and it came out dark and impressive according to expectation.
Chicago’s queer post-punk act, Absolutely Not, reveal their first new piece of music for 2018, a darkly glam/punk song, with heavy vibes of Halloween fun, about two drug addicted goth kids, and much from the band's viral energy evident in their performance.
On the darker electronic front, Italian darkwave act, Ash Code, draw influence from The Neon Demon to expand their already multifaceted sound into something totally surreal and definitely appealing. Likewise, French-Berliner electro-post-punks, Les Pleureuses, bring their own diverse fusion of styles into an intricate new album, the closing number of which, Tanz Mit Mir, is a deft ode to the goth dancefloors of the eighties.
On the more progressive and refined, post rock-inclined front, Finish experimental connoisseur, Toby Driver, uses enough from his experience with Kayo Dot, maudlin of the Well, and many other artful underground acts to create another calm, composed and sophisticated collection of genre bending songs. Members of Wooden Wand and Willie and the Giant, musicians Janet Simpson and Will Stewart, comprise Timber, a refined pop duo from Birmingham which smoothly blends elements from post rock, Americana and indie rock into their own glistening sound; and veteran post rock heavyweights, This Will Destroy You, released a couple of new albums these days, the second of the two was undoubtedly the most engaging.
01. Violet - Heaven Adores You
02. Softails - Total Overkill
03. Lazy Bones - Restless Sleeper
04. Favours - Stowaway
05. Blod - Jobba
06. Cloud Nothings - So Right So Clean
07. Absolutely Not - Medicine Man
08. Ash Code - Black Gloves
09. Les Pleureuses - Tanz Mit Mir
10. Toby Driver - 470 Nanometers
11. Timber - Sunstroke
12. This Will Destroy You - Sound of Your Death
ZR