Featuring previously unreleased material from four Chilean bands, the bulk of the material on ‘4Ways To Die’ would possibly seem fairly ordinary if approached individually. However, by taking bands that each approach a doom and blackened doom riffs in a different ways and placing their DIY works together, for doom metal buffs, this compilation could be the mother of all split releases.
Watch the new video from Andy K. Leland
Since the demise of his indie rock band My Cruel Goro a few years ago, Andy K. Leland has immersed himself in a world of very lo-fi singer songwriter songs. His last EP was so DIY, it was possible to hear the creaking of floorboards as he played.
His new digital single ‘A Chair Is A Chair’ continues down an ever introspective path, this time with his sparse acoustic work joined by drone guitar and mellotron. The track has been complimented by a no-frills, lo-fi, VHS inspired video clip, which you can now view in full below.
LOCAL DRAGS – Shit’s Lookin’ Up
Local Drags have been called “The best power pop band from Springfield, Illinois”. Regardless of how much competition the band may or may not be up against, if your idea of power pop is still rooted in the 70s with Raspberries and Badfinger albums, with Cheap Trick’s ‘In Color’ and the early works of Nick Lowe, it might be time to move along…this album won’t necessarily fill your ears with the musical hit you crave. If, on the other hand, you enjoy basic power pop aesthetics mixed with an insanely huge dose of good old pop-punk, then ‘Shit’s Lookin’ Up’, will indeed, catch you off guard and deliver a dozen tunes that’ll perk up your day…and fairly quickly too.
Bringing together the talents of Lanny Durbin (sometime of Starter Jackets) and Matt Sailor (Mayor Sheriff) and produced by The Copyrights’ ‘Luke McNeill, it’s an album with a great pop-punk pedigree and, in the main, the kind of record that fans of The Copyrights, The Apers and Parasites will certainly take to their collective hearts.
Listen: I Am The Law unveil new single ‘Dance of The Southern Witch’
After the release of I Am The Law’s second EP. 2018’s ‘Hymn of The Vulture’, the band saw their fan base grow and they confirmed their place as one of the best metal bands to break out of the US in recent years. Seemingly primed to hit listeners with a full forty minute riff fest on a follow up, in some ways it comes as a disappointment that ‘Dance of The Southern Witch’ is just a two track, digital only release. However, the songs are far better than mere place-holders or stopgap material – both are fantastic, heavy as hell affairs that really build upon the skills I Am The Law have shown on their past EPs.
BASIC BITCHES – Relatable Content EP
Basic Bitches began as a band in 2014 but it would be another four years until a stable line up was established. That line up featuring Naomi Scott (gtr/vox) and Krystal Grow (drums) entered the recording studio soon after and the resulting EP ‘Relatable Content’ was released to an unsuspecting world in the Spring of 2019.
Its four numbers offer the finest in hard garage rock sounds, recorded in such a way that the loud end of the drums and the fuzz from the guitar give off a very natural and live sound. Unlike some similar bands you might come across in your quests for relatively lo-fi goodness, though, there’s just enough polish to ensure Basic Bitches don’t ever sound like they’ve been recorded on a portable cassette deck from the far end of the room.