Tag: I Love You Records

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Riga’s Les Attitudes Spectrales Shares Mosh Pit Friendly “A Trip Down Memory Loss”

Riga-based noise punks Les Attitudes Spectrales — co-founders French-born, Latvian-based Julien Stark (vocals, guitar) and his Latvian-born spouse Rūta Stark (bass, vocals), along with Adrians Grīns (guitar) and Mārtiņš Kuzmins (drums ) — was initially founded in 2014 as a duo featuring its co-founders Julien Stark and Rūta Stark. And as a duo, the band released two lo-fi albums 2014’s Floral Wreck and 2015’s Where’s My Ghost Milk?

Shortly after the release of Where’s My Ghost Milk?, the Riga-based outfit expanded into a quartet with the addition of Grīns and Kuzmins. As a quartet, the band released 2019’s Vampire in the Summer and 2022’s award-winning Songs For No One on vinyl through boutique French label Specific Recordings.

The quartet signed to Latvian underground tastemaker label I Love You Records, who will be releasing the band’s fifth album, Watch The Sword About To Drop on May 26, 2026. The 10-song album is reportedly one of the most fearless and heaviest albums they’ve written and recorded to date, while capturing a band on the verge of exploding into the global noise and rock scenes.

Watch The Sword About To Drop‘s first single, “A Trip Down Memory Loss” is a breakneck, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Osees-like mosh pit friendly ripper. The first time I heard “A Trip Down Memory Loss,” I could picture a room quickly turning into a sweaty, joyous mosh pit but the song is rooted in some of the bleakest lyrics that the band’s Julien Stark has ever written.

“Alzheimer’s runs in my family. I didn’t decide to write about it, it just came out. It’s common for me to write a sentence and then work around it. In this case, I started with the final line (“Where was I?”) and the first line was the part I wrote last. It turned out to be about being an old person having hallucinations and falling down the stairs,” Julien Stark says.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bēdu Brāļi Teams Up with Múr on Dreamy “Kas Ir Mainījies?”

Riga, Latvia-based alt rock outfit Bēdu Brāļi — Oskars Tu (vocals, guitar), Jānis Liepiņš (bass) and Pēteris Ozols (drums) — spent their formative years in their homeland’s vibrant mid 00s punk and rock scenes. While the scene’s fiercely independent ethos and the use of Lativan lyrics rubbed off on them, they’ve managed to stand apart from their peers. 

The Riga-based outfit’s full-length debut, 2022’s Duende saw them crafting a sound that featured elements of shoegaze, psych rock, post-punk and more. Building upon a growing profile in their homeland, the trio’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Lauskas will be released April 8, 2025 through I Love You Records.

Deriving its title from the Latvian word for shards, the Riga-based outfit’s sophomore album reportedly sees the band further cementing their boundary pushing sound.

In the lead-up to the album’s release next week, I’ve written about three of the album’s previously released singles:

  • “Ikdienas-dzive,” a track anchored around glistening guitars, a chugging motorik groove and a woozy, shoegazer textured guitar solo paired with Tu’s punchily delivered vocal. While recalling Montréal‘s Atusko Chiba, “Ikdienas-dzive,” captures a nagging sense of vacillating self-doubt, bored and uneasy dread and frustration that should feel familiar to anyone who’s slaved away at a soul-sucking day job. 

  • “Pieskaries,” is a brooding, decidedly post punk affair featuring an angular and propulsive bass line, rolling drum pattern and bursts of slashing guitars serving as an uneasy bed for Oskars Tu’s desperate wails. While continuing a run of material that reminds me a bit of Atsuko Chiba, “Pieskaries” captures a modern sense of isolation and unease while being with others. 

  • “Drošākā vieta,” a tense and brooding song featuring an angular and propulsive bass line, swirling shoegazer textures guitars paired with Oskars Tu’s achingly plaintive delivery before ending with a noisy coda. Deriving its name for the Latvian phrase for “safe place,” “Drošākā vieta” captures the long for a safe place in a mad, mad world.

“Kas Ir Mainījies?,” Lauskas‘ fourth and latest single is a slow-burning song that’s one-part 90s alt rock and one-part dream pop, anchored around a classic grunge song structure featuring alternating quiet verses with shimmering guitars and big, power chord-driven choruses serving as a woozy bed for Bēdu Brāļi frontman Oskars Tu and Latvian-born, London-based vocalist Múr to trade dreamily delivered vocals on what may arguably be their most pop-leaning track to date.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Riga’s Bēdu Brāļi Shares Brooding and Uneasy “Drošākā vieta”

Jānis Liepiņš (bass) and Pēteris Ozols (drums) — spent their formative years among their homeland’s vibrant mid 00s punk and rock scenes. While the scene’s fiercely independent ethos and the use of Lativan lyrics rubbed off on them, they’ve managed to stand apart from their peers. 

The Riga-based outfit’s full-length debut, 2022’s Duende saw them crafting a sound that featured elements of shoegaze, psych rock, post-punk and more. Building upon a growing profile in their homeland, the trio’s highly-anticipated sophomore album Lauskas will be released through I Love You Records.

Deriving its title from the Latvian word for shards, the Riga-based outfit’s sophomore album reportedly sees the band further cementing their boundary pushing sound. The album will feature two previously released singles that I’ve written about over the course of this past year: 

“Ikdienas-dzive,” a track anchored around glistening guitars, a chugging motorik groove and a woozy, shoegazer textured guitar solo paired with Tu’s punchily delivered vocal. While recalling Montréal‘s Atusko Chiba, “Ikdienas-dzive,” captures a nagging sense of vacillating self-doubt, bored and uneasy dread and frustration that should feel familiar to anyone who’s slaved away at a soul-sucking day job. 

“Pieskaries,” is a brooding, decidedly post punk affair featuring an angular and propulsive bass line, rolling drum pattern and bursts of slashing guitars serving as an uneasy bed for Oskars Tu’s desperate wails. While continuing a run of material that reminds me a bit of Atsuko Chiba, “Pieskaries” captures a modern sense of isolation and unease while being with others. 

The album’s latest single “Drošākā vieta” is a tense and brooding song featuring an angular and propulsive bass line, swirling shoegazer textures guitars paired with Oskars Tu’s achingly plaintive delivery before ending with a noisy coda. Deriving its name for the Latvian phrase for “safe place,” “Drošākā vieta” captures the long for a safe place in a mad, mad world.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Riga’s Bēdu Brāļi Shares Forceful and Uneasy “Pieskaries”

Riga, Latvia-based alt rock outfit Bēdu Brāļi — Oskars Tu (vocals, guitar), Jānis Liepiņš (bass) and Pēteris Ozols (drums) — spent the formative years among the vibrant mid 00’s hardcore punk and rock scene in their homeland. The scene’s fiercely independent ethos and the use of Latvian language lyrics rubbed off on them; but sonically, they’ve managed to stand apart from their peers.

Their full-length debut 2022’s Duende saw the Riga-based outfit crafting a sound that featured elements of shoegaze, psych rock, post-punk and more. The Latvian trio’s sophomore album Lauskas will be released through I Love You Records. 

Deriving its title from the Latvian word for shards, the album reportedly sees the trio further cementing their boundary pushing sound. Earlier this year, I wrote about album single “Ikdienas-dzive,” a track anchored around glistening guitars, a chugging motorik groove and a woozy, shoegazer textured guitar solo paired with Tu’s punchily delivered vocal. While recalling Montréal‘s Atusko Chiba, “Ikdienas-dzive,” captures a nagging sense of vacillating self-doubt, bored and uneasy dread and frustration that should feel familiar to anyone who’s slaved away at a soul-sucking day job. 

“The main lyric is that my everyday life – this routine – is turning me evil. It’s me going mad because every day is the same,” Bēdu Brāļi’s Oskars Tu explains. “I can’t forget the previous day and start afresh. I just have this bitterness as work-related stuff lingers. I remember all the bullshit happening a day ago, a week ago, a month ago. I think I’m not alone in that happening.”

Duende‘s latest single “Pieskaries,” is a brooding, decidedly post punk affair featuring an angular and propulsive bass line, rolling drum pattern and bursts of slashing guitars serving as an uneasy bed for Oskars Tu’s desperate wails. While continuing a run of material that reminds me a bit of Atsuko Chiba, “Pieskaries” captures a modern sense of isolation and unease while being with others.

“It’s about loneliness,” Tu explains. “It’s one thing to have people around you who are true to their words and actions and you in turn can become a better person. But it’s another to be with people who lie and you end up lying to yourself. This ultimately leads to this feeling of isolation, even though technically you’re around people.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Bēdu Brāļi Shares Tense Yet Anthemic “Ikdienas Dzīve”

Riga, Latvia-based alt rock outfit Bēdu Brāļi — Oskars Tu (vocals, guitar), Jānis Liepiņš (bass) and Pēteris Ozols (drums) — spent the formative years of among the vibrant mid 00’s hardcore punk and rock scene in their homeland. The scene’s fiercely independent ethos and the use of Latvian language lyrics rubbed off on them; but sonically, they’ve managed to stand apart from their peers.

Their full-length debut 2022’s Duende saw the Riga-based outfit crafting a sound that featured elements of shoegaze, psych rock, post-punk and more. The Latvian trio’s sophomore album Lauskas will be released through I Love You Records.

Deriving its title from the Latvian word for shards, the album reportedly sees the trio further cementing their boundary pushing sound. The album’s first single “Ikdienas-dzive” is anchored around glistening guitars, a chugging motorik-like groove, a woozy, shoegazer textured-like guitar solo paired with Tu’s punchily delivered vocals. While sonically bringing Montréal‘s Atusko Chiba to mind, “Ikdienas-dzive,” captures a nagging sense of vacillating self-doubt, bored and uneasy dread and frustration that should feel familiar to anyone who’s slaved away at a soul-sucking day job.

“The main lyric is that my everyday life – this routine – is turning me evil. It’s me going mad because every day is the same,” Bēdu Brāļi’s Oskars Tu explains. “I can’t forget the previous day and start afresh. I just have this bitterness as work-related stuff lingers. I remember all the bullshit happening a day ago, a week ago, a month ago. I think I’m not alone in that happening.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Super Besse — Minsk-based Alex Sinica (bass) and Minsk-born and Berlin-based Maksim Kulsha (vocals) — supported their first two albums, 2015’s 63610 and 2017’s La Nuit with tours across the European Union, Russia and China, which helped the duo establish a reputation as a rising act on the international post-punk scene. Adding to a growing profile, “Holod” appears in the film Hotel Mumbai.

Last year’s Un Reve, which was recorded in Minsk and Berlin, found the duo moving towards a dance floor friendly, techno-influenced sound featuring rapid-fire beats, shimmering synth arpeggios and motorik grooves paired with a punk/post-punk ethos.

Riga, Latvia-based label I Love You Records, Super Besse’s long-time label will be releasing a remix album of Un Reve material this year. St. Petersburg-based electronic duo Wolfstream was recruited to remix Un Reve single “Ozhog.” The album version is a dance floor friendly take on post-punk centered around stuttering and skittering beats, an angular bass lines and shimmering and looping guitars — and although the song’s lyrics are sung in Russian, “Ozhog” manages to bring P.I.L. and New Orderr to mind. Interestingly, the Wolfstream remix manages to subtly reimagine the song as a trance house banger with a muscular thump with layered synth arpeggios replacing the guitar solos while retaining the angular bass line and skittering beats of the original.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Minsk and Berlin-based Duo Super Besse Release an Old-Timey Super 8 Filmed Visual for Propulsive “Rodina”

With the release of their first two albums, 2015’s 63610 and 2017’s La Nuit, the members of Super Besse — Minsk-based Alex Sinica (bass) and Minsk-born and Berlin-based Maksim Kulsha (vocals) — went on tours across the European Union, Russia and China, developing a profile nationally and internationally as a post-punk outfit. Building upon a growing profile, “Holod” appears in the major motion picture Hotel Mumbai. 

Interestingly, since the release of La Nuit, the duo have radically reinvented their sound, with the end result being the band’s forthcoming third album Un Reve. Slated for a March 13, 2020 release through Riga, Latvia-based label I Love You Records, the album which was record in Berlin and Minsk finds the act moving heavily towards an electronic-based sound featuring rapid-fire techno-like beats, shimmering synth arpeggios and motorik grooves — as you’ll hear on Un Reve’s P.I.L.-like first single “Rodina.” ‘We wanted to change our sound, to bring something fresh and unusual. Over the last years we were listening to a lot of electronic music,” the band’s Alex Sinica says in press notes. “So as a result we decided to move into this direction and created something more digital, but still true to our own spirit.” The band’s Maksim Kulsha adds, “Also, I moved to Berlin, and all the creation process from music to lyrics was something new for us, because Alex is based in Minsk. We rethought the process of creating music, as well as the semantic and textual presentation of our material. It was an enjoy- able but also tough work, and a great experience.” 

Much like the rest of the album, “Rodina,” which translates into English as homeland features lyrics written and sung in Russian that thematically touch upon existential topics including self-identification in our increasingly smaller, globalized world — and in this case, while the song is a propulsive, club friendly anthem, the track is centered around an urgent warming message. 

Produced by Anastasiya Limantava, and edited by Yauheni Sinichenko, the recently released video for “Rodina” is centered around slickly edited found footage and footage shot by friends and fans in Belarus and of the duo’s live shows.