Tag Archives: stream

LOWSUNDAY – Ghost Machine White EP

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In terms of taking a break, twenty six years is a long holiday by any band’s standards, but that’s exactly how long Lowsunday were AWOL between their second and third releases. The musical landscape may have changed a great deal since the death of the 90s, but the first sounds shared by this Pittsburgh based alternative/shoegaze/goth band at the end of 2025 found the musicians sticking rigidly to what they do best. In many ways, the resulting ‘White EP’ is all the better for that. Yes, the five tracks sound very retro, but in fairness, the strong gothy element in their sound was already retro by 1999. What the five tracks on this EP achieve – whether deliberately or otherwise – is to bring a massive pang of nostalgia which, coming at a time when the world feels as if it’s heading into even darker places, is certainly most welcome.

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THE SELECTMEN – POP! RIP… EP

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Between forming in 2022 and releasing their debut in 2026, New Hamsphire’s The Selectmen had doubled the size of their line-up, but on the basis of the material that forms the ‘POP! RIP…’ EP, it was definitely the right move. On these five songs, none of the eight members are in any way surplus; the band’s extended membership really breathes life into a blend of ska and soul in a way that sounds invigorating, despite the influences being somewhat obvious. Not that great ska needs to break new ground, of course. It’s about rousing an audience, and that’s something The Selectmen do particularly well.

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WITCH HOUND – Mountain Knows

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Not to be confused with the Colorado based doom/stoner band of the same name, this Polish trio arrived on the metal scene in 2025, bringing huge sounding trad metal riffs. Their shamelessly old school heart should make them appeal instantly to lovers of a “classic” style, but it’s also quite pleasing that some of the band’s material shows off a love for an unexpectedly dirty edge.

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PINK STILETTO – Do It For Me / Amour Finale

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Credited with bringing back the “fun” and the “sexy” within a retro sound, Pink Stiletto’s 2024 EP ‘New Wava’ presented four mechanical sounding bangers that drew influence from a world of synth pop and new wave and occasionally added basslines that sounded more like they belonged on a synth-goth record. The managerie of sound created something so lovingly indebted to the past, it became instantly loveable, despite sharing a rather cold edge.

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OREYEON – The Grotesque Within

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On their 2019 LP, ‘Ode To Oblivion’, Oreyeon delivered a set of songs driven by absolutely crushing riffs. Blending the stoner/fuzz of classic Kyuss into a doomier musical landscape, the record’s best songs were unrelentingly heavy, and yet a world of vocal filters and other tricks sometimes gave their sound a deep psych edge which kept things interesting. Over the next few years, Oreyeon would become an important fixture within the Italian doom and sludge scenes. By the time they recorded ‘Equations For The Useless’ in 2022, a much bigger recording budget gave them a slightly clearer sound, but without making their material especially more accessible. If anything, it cemented the band’s reputation as one of Europe’s finest underground metal bands.

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