Another weekend, another festival is happening. While 2000trees is taking place as I speak, there is still plenty of great new music to check out for those who aren’t in Cheltenham. This week’s round of #NewMusicFriday releases consists of a mix of familiar and emerging names.
For starters, rising hardcore heroes Speed deliver ‘Only One Mode’. Their debut full-length is pretty much what you expect from the Aussie group; unrelenting, brash hardcore in its rawest form. Despite being one of the hottest names in the genre right now, the Sydney-based outfit hasn’t abandoned their down-to-earth DIY ethos. For a hardcore record, it ticks all the right boxes; breakdowns, riveting riffs, and confrontational lyrics with substance and purpose throughout. Threaded together by themes of loyalty, oppression (‘Only Foes…’), loss (‘Kill Cap’), and unity (‘Don’t Need’), there is no gimmicks to what Speed do. They keep it as real as possible in an infectious, windmilling 24 minutes.
There is also new albums from fellow Australian groups, Windwaker and In Hearts Wake. The former offers ‘Hyperviolence’, a cocktail of sound and textures pairing up anthemic rock, and occasional hefty breakdowns, with hyperpop, hip-hop, and electronica elements. The results are varied but you’ve got to admire Windwaker‘s brevity and assurness. As for In Hearts Wake, their sixth album, ‘Incarnation’, sees them maintain their metalcore sound that has firmly established them as one of Australia’s most recognised exports of the genre. It’s 11 offerings of battering and textured metalcore with a shadowy narrative and several guest spots thrown in.
As for UK bands, Graphic Nature hasn’t wasted any time following up last year’s ‘A Mind Waiting to Die’ with their second album – ‘Who Are You When No One Is Watching?’. The rising metallers serve up an intense collection of industrialised nu-metalcore. From the outset, tracks like ‘Locked In’ and ‘Blinded’ are in your face. Frontman Harvey Freeman’s delivery is one of a person fighting their internal battles, coming to terms with being attacked on a train, unprovoked. It’s complemented by a sonic brutality that is often cold and unyielding, taking you on occasional twists with drum ‘n’ bass flashes throughout. The end product is a vigorous and impact album that is sure to see Graphic Nature‘s stock rise.
Seattle’s The Home Team flex their acrobatic muscles with their third full-length, ‘The Crucible Of Life’. Incorporating sultry R&B, impactful post-hardcore, and infectious funk into their brand of pop-rock sounds intriguing on paper. However, the quartet of vocalist Brian Butcher, guitarist John Baran, drummer Daniel Matson and bassist Ryne Olson, somehow make it work by delivering an upbeat record. On ‘Brag’, Butcher’s impressive vocals battle it out with Baran’s playful guitar melodies, before ‘Love & Co’ rides on an insatiable groove with a cameo from Intervals adding some progressive flair. Whereas ‘Overtime’ and ‘Loud’ boldly demonstrate The Home Team‘s straight-up pop-rock sound with Butcher’s impressive vocals being a focal point. Even though they’re stylistically not far removed from the likes of Emarosas and Don Brocos of this world, The Home Team are capable of delivering a colourful palette of sounds.
Elsewhere, Philadelphia trio Webbed Wing drop their appropriately titled third full-length album, ‘Vol. III’. Led by vocalist/guitarist Taylor Madison (Superheaven), its 10 tracks thrive with a fuzzed-out grunge-pop energy that is easy to like. Equally brazen and self-deprecating in their execution, Madison along with drummer Jake Clarke and bassist Mike Paulshock effortlessly weave between grunge and pop on tracks such as ‘So It Goes’ and ‘Further’. The latter opens the album with urgency and its 50’s rock n’ roll tempo. While ‘Hero’s Death’ is ideally melancholy with its mournful organ and steady tempo. The album’s true strength is its ability to deliver big, favourable hooks, such as on ‘Change Me’, ‘Take It From Me’ and ‘My Front Door’. Yet there’s the likes of ‘Tortuga’ and ‘Where Mortal Men Dare Not Tread’ that show Webbed Wing have firey riffs in their arsenal. ‘Vol. III’ is a record that grows with each listen, and isn’t one to sleep on.
There are also new releases from King 810, Sueco, Cassadee Pope, Font, Northbound, and more. Check out the list below.
What is out on #NewMusicFriday?
Graphic Nature – Who Are You When No One Is Watching?
Speed – Only One Mode
In Hearts Wake – Incarnation
Windwaker – Hyperviolence
The Home Team – The Crucible Of Life
King 810 – Under The Black Rainbow
Cassadee Pope – Hereditary
Webbed Wing – Vol. III
Sueco – Attempted Lover
Turin – The Unforgiving Reality In Nothing
Macseal – Four Legs
Font – Strange Burden
Northbound – Juniper
Plutocracy Planet – Plutocracy Planet
Nava Calma – The Full Weight Of Everything
The Mariana Hollow – Reclaimed Ghosts
Mr. Big – Ten
Heaven Unknown – It Hurts The Most
Flashlight Faces – Fool’s Field
Doubt – Held In Contempt
If you think I’ve missed something or have a new album/EP/song to tell us about, tell us about it here.
If you’re looking for the latest tracks focusing on rock, punk, hardcore, metal, emo, and everything in between, then check out our ‘Newish Music’ playlist on Spotify or Apple Music.
