Unafraid to scream and wail, Hastings’ own HotWax bring a raw fury and constant mounting pressure in their latest record, that uses their album’s sequencing to actually keep things constantly fresh and building on itself. The album starts in a fuzzy haze on “She’s Got a Problem” as the overpowering force of another person in your life can almost start to erase who you are, and sends a wash of noise over the song itself. The inherent infectious flow of “Wanna Be a Doll” makes it instantly catchy, letting its more spoken lyrics and jagged riffs hit with parts Dream Wife, and parts 90s grunge. Letting its acid-burnt chorus and vocal effects take the charge, “Strange to Be Here,” hits like a burning building in movement, constantly building momentum in its violent dance and sound. HotWax elevate their whole sound into a psychotic barrage on “One More Reason,” where the bass is frightening, the velocity is breakneck, the drums are frantic, and the blown-out sound so intense you could mosh to this song with only one other person around and it would still be dangerous.
In the midst of a personal dark period, Yawn crafts a track that has been bit-crushed to match how compressed she’s feeling. Evoking a nighttime floating into the ether, the track can have you feeling equally lost at times, and then suddenly lifted by its shuffling almost Latin-like chorus beats. Not completely drowned out in darkness, the shimmering synths and hooks leave the song hopeful and give a promise that things can turn around. The song has hints of Rob Thomas’ “Lonely No More” in its chorus, that keep it familiar in the best ways, and actually complement the message of this song.
Unafraid despite some tracks that bring anxiety in their bones, Squid make music that lands with an overwhelming sense of destruction, yet utterly tight behind the band’s reins. “Crispy Skin” runs with an unnerving edge all over, letting the off-kilter bass and guitars create such a tense base for melodies that it’s already a nervous but fascinating beast long before all the howls and noises join the fray. Despite its equally damaged sound, “Building 650” runs with a more direct and dark punch, letting its strings almost end up bringing more fear than comfort despite how immense and beautifully they sweep through the track. The instrumental weight of “Fieldworks II” stands tall in an already fleshed out record, as the forceful knock of the percussion and dense wall between the remaining variety of guitars and strings leave you in a tornado. Taking their deranged tones and letting it colour a riff during one of their more pop-centred songs, “Cro-Magnon Man” might be the closest to in-your-face catchy the band gets, but nevertheless leaves an indelible impression thanks to its eerie melodies and entrancing harmonies.
Playing to a more personal and revealing side of herself than most of her pop music might have you believe, MØ reveals her nerdy, goth punk roots on “Sweet.” Mixing some of her loud pop with grimier tones, and some of her early vocal pop-ins, the song is truly a collage of her career, with more sand in the Vaseline than she usually mixes just to give it that extra edge. Describing a comic-reading goth who loves metal and loves cheap drinks, this song speaks to the MØ that started in a punk group before releasing a critically adored indie-pop record, more than the mysterious diva who met most of the mainstream on the infectious “Lean On.” Addressing this side of herself while also trying to meld these all into her new sound is a heavy task, but one that fits, since MØ is often riding that line of heavy yet catchy as of late. Hopefully these quirky, and more self-aware lyrics are baked into her next record, because it brings her already explosive music down to earth in a way so many often lose touch with.
As they push shoegaze into wonderful new territory, Bdrmm are bridging it with genres that don’t usually merge but somehow do effortlessly here. With dance overtaking their soundwork on “Goit feat. Working Men’s Club” the band opens their record in something equally cloudy and mesmerizing in its heady-yet-body-moving sound. The shuffling beats lead us through the fog with a searchlight on “Infinity Peaking” as things slow down to show us mystery and angelic warmth as the track urges us forward. The rushing beats bring us higher again on “Snares,” as the band weaves between a lost search at points, before dropping us into a misty ecstasy as the beats and reverb-drenched vocals drop another time. On an almost hip hop-esque step, “Lake Disappointment” quick lets its punk roots take over in the bass, bursting into one of the most pyric tracks of the album thanks to how cold that main riff rings out.
