June is upon us,
it is now up to you,
to listen to these sick recent releases.
feeble little horse – bitknot
bitknot is feeble little horse’s first album without founding member Ryan Walchonski, and with his departure, the Pittsburgh trio is bringing their glitched out indie rock to new frontiers. Marrying melody with jagged edges and haywired circuits, bitknot blends disparate sounds seamlessly in a non-chaotic fashion. Like the internet itself—one of the album’s chief inspirations—bitknot resists conventional structure or reason. It exists as is. With bitknot, the founders of “laptop twee” explore their relationship with the digital realm: each complex, pixelated byte.
School Fair – Unexpected Violence
Dunedin, New Zealand band School Fair is austere. Built with spoken word, distorted guitars, and a moody sentiment, School Fair’s Unexpected Violence is a new favorite amongst the angsty. Take it from me, their show at Nightclub 101 was a scene. Unhurried and deliberate, Unexpected Violence holds space. Slowing down brings School Fair’s artistic lyricism, and its symbiosis with instrumentals, to the forefront.
ear – Rumspringa
ear’s new album, Rumspringa, takes its title from the Amish coming-of-age tradition where teenagers are given independence to explore modern society before deciding whether to continue their Amish faith. A lot has changed for electronic duo Jonah Paz and Yaelle Avtan in the past year and now, the two have embarked on their own creative rumspringa. Embracing this newfound liberty, ear expands their sonic palette in Rumspringa, weaving audio samples, field recordings, and acoustic guitar into a pixelated collage of lo-fi textures.
tal castle – Songs at West End Prep
Earlier this year, tal castle visited West End Prep to collaborate with the school’s choir on “39 Clues (With the West End Youth Choir).” One song soon became five, and out of the journey came tal castle’s latest EP, Songs at West End Prep. Across the EP, the pair’s medley of twee indie rock and playful synthesizers creates a bittersweet nostalgia. A remembrance for the days of walking to school; trudging up the hill, staring at the ground, and kicking rocks along the sidewalk.
D. Treut – Who Are You?
D. Treut played AC15 last year and recently released his new EP, Who Are You? Across six blues and jazz infused tracks, Treut’s gravelly vocals search for answers to the question posed by the title. Whether he discovers them by the end of the record is something you’ll have to find out for yourself.