#NewMusicFriday: October 25th 2024

The final #NewMusicFriday of the month is a hectic one with over 30 releases listed. It’s led by the debut album from Better Lovers. That along with new albums from Interlaker and New Age Thief are covered in detail below.

However, there’s plenty of music to sink your teeth into. For example, Welsh pop-rockers Kids In Glass Houses deliver their first album in eleven years with ‘Pink Flamingo’. Aussie punks Amyl And The Sniffers look to continue to ride a wave of momentum with third album, ‘Cartoon Darkness’. While Pixies show there’s plenty of life in the veteran alt-rockers on ‘The Night The Zombies Came’.

‘The Pronoia Sessions’ sees Atreyu use classic MTV Unplugged as inspiration to reimagine some old tracks with a smattering of covers. Soccer Mommy tangles with the weight of grief and love on ‘Evergreen’. Irish experimental punk Meryl Streek‘s explores socio-political strife and struggle on ‘Songs For The Deceased’. Whereas Devin Townsend continues to expand his seemingly neverending discography with ‘PowerNerd’. Another solo act making their mark today is The Used’s Bert McCraken, who drops his robbietheused debut album.

If that isn’t enough, there are also new releases from Chuck Ragan, Fit For An Autopsy, Acres, Karen Dió, Ben Quad, and Onsloow. There are also deluxe edition releases from Green Day, Resolve, Teenage Wrist, and Sueco.

Better Lovers – Highly Irresponsible

16 months ago Better Lovers didn’t exist yet from the moment they arrived, there has been a sense of expectation from the quintet to deliver. After all, this is a group consisting of three-fifths of Every Time I Die, former Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato and Fit For An Autopsy’s Will Putney. While debut EP, ‘God Made Me An Animal’ filled the bruising hardcore/mathcore void. However, having toured several times since that surprise release, ‘Highly Irresponsible’, allows its members to expand on ideas while maintaining their ferocious base.

Whether that be ‘Lie Between the Lines’ razor-sharp guitars and Puciato’s towering, unhinged vocals, or ‘A White Horse Covered in Blood’ sleazy pounding, it’s controlled chaos that serves as Better Lovers‘ spine. For the most part, ‘Highly Irresponsible’ is a thrill ride of frantic metallic hardcore, an unsurprising feat considering the personnel involved.  ‘Future Myopia’ rumbles with Puciato’s claustrophobic shriek, before ‘Deliver Us From Life’ presents one of the album’s biggest hooks as they tread in hard rock territory. ‘Drowning in a Burning World’ brings back the pandemonium, partly thanks to Clayton “Goose” Holyoak’s kinetic drum work and Jordan Buckley and Will Putney’s frantic guitar onslaught.

If you want some variation, ‘At All Times’, provides a late highlight and again sees them leaning into melodic territory. Its pacing is more restrained, allowing Greg’s reflective words of “now I’ve left the old shell behind, and the impulses I see straight-through” to take centre stage. It’s a sentiment that carries through into ‘Love as an Act of Rebellion’s closing moments as Puciato’s bitter words sting; “in a world where we’re the only, I’d still take life without you” with a backdrop ringing guitars.

Admittedly, for some Better Lovers will feel like its members treading old ground with a new voice yet there’s a clear synergy between the five-piece. This results in a band striving to be on par with their former projects. Although ‘Highly Irresponsible’ doesn’t quite reach those levels, it does show Better Lovers has plenty to offer, bringing irresistible energy and reinvigorated ideas in the process.

Interlaker – Interlaker

If you followed David Jakes’ time fronting Lonely The Brave, then you’ll know he was never entirely comfortable being in the spotlight. However, six years on he’s returned with a new project – Interlaker. Joined by Jack Wrench, formerly of Arcane Roots, the pair connected through a mutual admiration REM and Pearl Jam, eventually leading to song ideas and demos being exchanged.

This self-titled full-length smartly utilises the tools available, especially Jakes’ distinctive voice. ‘The Hunger’ towers in its chorus with a warm earnestness during the verses. It’s quickly followed up by ‘Ghostride’ which beautifully escalates through atmospheric guitars and Wrench’s crashing percussion.

By the time you reach, the anti-Putin ‘Call Out The Wolves’, you realise there’s a momentous and compelling quality to what Interlaker are capable of doing. Songs such as ‘End Unknown’ and ‘Miracle’ are muscular, thriving with a mountainous hunger. It’s countered with ‘Spite Of Day’ textured swirl and atmospheric build. Whereas ‘Coming Out’ neatly builds on dramatic tension that never outstays its welcome.

‘Interlaker’ concludes in a celebratory manner. ‘Bottomless Pit’ is executed with a sense of finality and acceptance. Jakes’ vocals echo across a barren, assured sound space steadily building to its towering climax. As a harmonious choir complements him, Wrench’s drum work punctuates the feeling of closer.

On the surface, Interlaker is simply a reminder of David Jakes’ vocal prowess. However along with Jack Wrench, together they’re able to occasionally venture beyond the tried and tested anthemic rock that Jakes so often pulled off previously. The aforementioned ‘Spite Of Day’ is delivered with post-rock atmospherics while ‘Be The One’ is anchored by lyrical fragility.

If there is anything to take away from Interlaker‘s eponymous full-length is that Jakes and Wrench have seemingly found each other at the right time. With a synchronised understanding of one another’s capabilities, ‘Interlaker’ is an admirable debut that doesn’t stray too far from unfamiliarity.

New Age Thief – Stars Align

Review: New Age Thief – Stars Align

What is out on #NewMusicFriday?

Better Lovers – Highly Irresponsible
Kids In Glass Houses – Pink Flamingo
Green Day – American Idiot (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
Atreyu – The Pronoia Sessions
Amyl And The Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness
Pixies – The Night The Zombies Came
Interlaker – Interlaker
Soccer Mommy – Evergreen
Chuck Ragan – Love and Lore
Meryl Streek – Songs For The Deceased
Acres – What It’s Like To Feel Worthless
Devin Townsend – PowerNerd
Karen Dió – My World
Fit For An Autopsy – The Nothing That Is
Onsloow – Full Speed Anywhere Else
New Age Thief – Stars Align
robbietheused – robbietheused
Von Hertzen Brothers – In Murmuration
Resolve – Human (Deluxe Edition)
Sueco – Attempted Lover (Deluxe Edition)
Teenage Wrist – Still Love (Deluxe Edition)
Wicca Phase Springs Eternal – Midnight At The Castle Moorlands
Hammock – From The Void
Gore. – A Bud That Never Blooms
Ben Quad – Ephemera
Buñuel – Mansuetude
Lifter – Clasping Hands with the Moribund
A. Swayze & The Ghosts – Let’s Live a Life Better Than This
Skarlett Riot – Caelestia
Elias Rønnenfelt – Heavy Glory
Children of The Pope – Moonface Supreme
I Am No Longer A Ghost – I Am No Longer A Ghost
Old Cross – Dead End Lullabies
Turmion Kätilöt – Reset
One Morning Left – Neon Inferno
The Pale Horses – Enchantress
Mother – II
Blood Wizard – Grinning William
Countless Goodbyes – Lost In Waves
Porcupine Tree – Fear Of A Blank Planet (Deluxe Edition)
Secret Gardens – The Impermanent Amber
Squint – Big Hand
Tigerwine – Toil & Spin
trauma ray – Chameleon
Ankor – Shoganai
Various – American Psycho Comic Series Soundtrack
Pest Control – Year of the Pest

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.