Tag: post punk

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Crá Croí Shares Punchy “Just Another Day”

County Cork-based JOVM mainstay act Crá Croí — RG (songwriting, production, mixing and mastering) and CD (vocals and visuals) — will be releasing their self-produced 12-song, full-length debut Tá brón orm on October 30, 2026. While the band have built up buzz through the release of a handful of singles that include “Radiation Romance,” “Fires At Dawn,” “Feeding The Fear,” and “Lost In The Electric Blood,” and “Flesh Machines,” the new album will feature completely new material.

Tá brón orm will include the previously released “Lord of the Wild,” and “Black Snow,” as well as its latest single “Just Another Day.” Much like its immediate predecessor, the album’s latest single features the incorporation of 80s New Wave-styled synths to the brooding, goth-inspired mix. But “Just Another Day” manages to channel blend of Freedom of Choice-era DEVO, Bauhaus and Joy Division anchored around the JOVM’s uncanny knack for punchy hooks.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Delivery Shares Club Friendly Art School Rock Tune “Measuring Cup”

Rising Melbourne-based indie outfit Delivery — Bec Allen (bass, vocals), James Lynch (guitar, synths, vocals), Scarlett Maloney (guitar, vocals), Jordan Oakley (guitar) and Liam Kenny (drums, vocals) — emerged from their hometown’s COVID pandemic lockdowns and quickly established a sound that blends elements of post-punk, punk, garage rock and dance floor rhythms into something distinctly their own. The quintet have built moment with the release of last year’s Force Majuere, which Rolling Stone called a “statement of intent” and relentless touring to support the album, becoming one of Oz’s most compelling and restless rock bands.

The rising Aussie quintet’s highly-anticipated third album Zone 3 is slated for a February 26, 2027 release through Heavenly Recordings. Zone 3 reportedly marks a new chapter for the rising Aussie quintet. Written in the wake of extensive time on the road, the album captures Delivery as a fully-formed unit that’s confident enough to trust their instincts and adventurous enough to push beyond the sounds that initially defined them.

Conceived as a late-night record, Zone 3 is specifically for crowded bars, packed dance floors, darkened clubs and the hazy hours before sunrise. Sonically you’ll hear rigid drum-machine driven grooves, synth pulses, wiry guitar bursts, hypnotic baselines and vocals that effortlessly shift between detached cool and infectious urgency.

Recorded in a furious 12-day session at Melbourne-based York Street Studios with producer Dan Lusscombe and engineer Stefan Blair,. the Aussie quintet’s third album reportedly finds them at their most focused, playful and expansive — and may arguably be their boldest effort to date.

Znne 3′s first single “Measuring Cup” is hook-driven tune anchored around a hypnotic, motorik groove, wiry post-punk guitar lines and pulsing synths paired with coolly delivered vocals. The result is a song that sonically to my ears is one-part Sonic Youth-like art punk, one-part pub rock and stoner rock bombast, one-part dance punk.

“There is a certain kind of pressure in modern society to be vigilant about who someone is, what they stand for and if they are ‘your people,'” Delivery says. “But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a challenge to engage positively with people who hold different values or stances, and a celebration when you know you’ve found someone who aligns with you, whether that’s politically, socially, or personally. ‘Measuring Cup’ is like an invitation to get on a level together and join the club.”

Directed by the band’s Scarlett Maloney, the accompanying video for “Measuring Cup” features the members of the band as they plan and then commit a perfectly planned, perfectly executed heist, complete with an inside man. And the only way it could have been possible was that they were all with their people.

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Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: TV On The Radio Perform “Wolf Like Me” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live”

TV On The Radio perform “Wolf Like Me” on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Hamburg’s N/CTRL Shares Punchy and Anthemic “Let It Sleep (Beneath The Ground)”

Hamburg-based duo N/CTRL — Sven Enzelmann (vocals, electronics, production) and Carsten Lienke (guitar, bass, songwriting) — specialize in a sound that moves freely between post-punk, New Wave, synth pop and indie rock paired with atmospheric […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Gurriers Shares Bruising, Arena Rock Friendly and Politically Charged “Waiting For Fisher”

Rising Dublin-based post punk outfit Gurriers — Dan Hoff (vocals), Ben O’Neill (guitar, backing vocals), Mark MacCormack (guitar), Charlie McCarthy (bass) and Pierce O’Callaghan (drums) — formed during the pandemic and they’ve built a reputation […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 52nd Birthday, Daniel Kessler!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Interpol guitarist Daniel Kessler’s 52nd birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Happy 40th Birthday, Faris Badwan!

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates The Horrors frontman Faris Badwan’s 40th birthday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Dummy Shares Double Single “April Limousine”/”Alluvial Fan”

Los Angeles-based outfit Dummy — Alex Ewell, Emma Maatman, Nathan O’Dell, Joe Trainor and Lance Umble — will be releasing their fourth studio album, do you love the color of the sky on October 16, 2026 through Polyvinyl. If 2024’s Free Energy and its subsequent remix album evoked the spirit of Manchester and the optimism of the rave, do you love the color of the sky is reportedly rooted in a lyrical skepticism inspired by the post-rock and drone of Seefeel, Windy & Carl and Disco Inferno while playfully adorned in the jubilant pop hues of early Björk, The Sundays and Ray of Light-era Madonna. The album is essentially an anti-zeitgeist effort, freezing the listener into their incorporeal moment of time, freed from the rat race and trends, embracing insularity to the point that it somehow becomes the future.

And yet despite the allusions to futurism, the Los Angeles-based outfit are a band in the classic sense, grounded in work ethic and commitment to the music. As Joe Trainor says of their time since the release of Free Energy, “We toured a lot, around 150 days, and played approximately 113 shows” which included several tours of the US and two of Europe, “. . . and on larger stages than ever before.” Alex Ewell adds “Touring has had huge impact on us and our music.”

“Making music shouldn’t be fun,” the band jokingly asserts. But it also comes from earnestness and a love for the game so deep that they don’t want to cheat it. The blood, sweat and tears of “putting in the work” is at the heart of do you love the color of the sky? — a byproduct of shedding skins through live performance. Sonically, the album is a bold, creative and downright effortless leap forward for the Los Angeles-based quartet that finds them at their most creatively in-tune.

Thematically, the album may arguably be their most politically trenchant and yet simultaneously, their most inviting. Breakbeats and keyboardist Emma Maatman’s vocals belie a mischievous and purposeful sleight of hand — the listener may become entranced by the band’s hypnotic grooves, but they’ve also subconsciously accrued a vision of a new, radical politic, informed by our increasingly dystopian hellscape.

do you love the color of the sky will include the previously released “Full Spectrum Dominance” and the double single “April Limousine”/”Alluvial Fan.” “April Limousine” serves as the literal introduction to the album and inlaces references to every other song, including demos that didn’t make the cut. Featuring skittering breakbeats, glistening synths beneath Manama’s dreamy delivery, “April Limousine” reminds me a little bit of Earthling-era David Bowie — in particular “Little Wonder” — with a little bit of 90s and early 2000s big beat. “It leaves you with the thesis statement and the question, ‘do you love the color of the sky?’ … among others,” Dummy’s Emma Maatman says. “The video is supposed to show a dichotomy of the beauty of nature and the chaos of impending technological advancement, which leads us into the next song, ‘Alluvial Fan.’ In the video, Nathan is drawn by a mysterious force to the wires around him.”

“Alluvial Fan” on the other hand features glistening reverb-soaked synth stabs, boom bap-like breakbeats beneath Nathan O’Dell’s dreamily delivered lead vocal and the melodic toplines of the band’s Maatman, Alex Ewell and O’Dell. Sonically, recalling a bit of New Order, Electronic, The Horrors, and Absolutely Free, “Alluvial Fan” may arguably be the most atmospheric and downright trippy tune of the released singles off the album. “The lyrics are a hybrid of two ideas,” the band’s Nathan O’Dell says. “The first being based on imagery from a certain 2000’s anime where the goal of mass digital connection blurs the lines of our human reality and a sense of self. One can’t help but follow the humming wires further and further until they are completely lost in the ‘Wired’ web. The other idea is the phenomenon of Alluvial Fans. They’re sick… check them out. This song also features some silky smooth vocals from Allyson and Paul from New Issue.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Verse Metrics Shares Rousingly Anthemic “Big Dirty”

Formed back in 2019, Scottish indie rock outfit Verse Metrics have firmly established a unique sound that sees them blending math rock-like precision with cinematic post rock, soaring melodies and intricate dynamics. The result is material that’s emotionally charged and meticulously crafted simultaneously while thematically exploring memory, isolation and connection.

The band has received press from a number of internationally known outlets, including Kerrang!, Clash Magazine, The Scotsman, Prog Magazine, GoldFlakePaint and a list of others. And adding to a growing regional and international profile, the band has earned a reputation as a formidable live act, sharing stages with Delta Sleep. TTNG, The Appleseed Cast and VUKOVI.

Released earlier this year, the Scottish outfit’s full-length debut, Descents captures a sharper, heavier and more resonant evolution of their sound and approach. Descents‘ latest single “Big Dirty” will further cement their reputation for material that sounds a bit like a seamless blend of Interpol and She Wants Revenge-like post-punk and punchy math rock while showcasing their ability to craft rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses paired with earnest lyricism and arena rock bombast.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Shudder To Think’s Punk Rock-like Take on Depeche Mode’s “Something To Do”

Back in 2024 Shudder To Think — currently Craig Wedren (vocals), Nathan Larson (guitar), Clint Walsh (guitar), Jherek Bischoff (bass) and Adam Wade (drums) — celebrated the 30th anniversary of their groundbreaking 1994 effort, Pony Express Record, their Epic Records debut, which followed several releases on Dischord Records.

After the initial release of Pony Express Record, the band dove into the world of scoring films and creating music for soundtracks with the 1998 releases of Jesse Peretz’s First Love, Last Rites, Lisa Cholodenko’s High Art and Todd Haynes’ Velvet Goldmine. Shudder to Think’s Wedren and Larson have gone to be prolific film and television with Wedren working on YELLOWJACKETS, Wet Hot American Summer, School of Rock, Laurel Canyon and more; and Larson working on Our Idiot Brother, The Skeleton Twins, Juliet, Naked, the High Fidelity TV series and a list of others.

Last year, the band made their first live performances in over a decade and released the “Thirst Walk”/”Playback” 7 inch, which drew on the band’s classic, beloved sound — melodic, unpredictable and unmistakably their own. The 7 inch vinyl sold out quickly and has been repressed and will be available for their upcoming live shows in Philadelphia, NYC, Los Angeles and at select record stories. As always, tour dates are below, y’all.

Along with the tour, Shudder to Think will be releasing the three-song Who Sent You EP on Friday through Dischord Records. The EP is the first new project from the band from in almost 30 years. The EP will include the previously released, fairly autobiographical EP title track “Who Sent You” and their cover of Depeche Mode’s “Something To Do” off 1984’s Some Great Reward.

The original version of “Something To Do” was built with plinking synths and early 1980s industrial clang and clatter beneath Dave Gahan’s youthfully earnest and yearning vocal expressing boredom, pent-up frustration, horniness from the perspective of a suburban teenager. The Shudder To Think Take digs deep into nostalgia and taps into that same boredom, frustration, horniness of their own youth and of their love of Depeche Mode while pairing it with a snarling punk rock arrangement. Their take adds a bit more danger while reminding the listener of what it felt like as a bored teenager trying to make your own fun — before the weight of consequences got too big.

The band says this about their cover: “For some of us, the album Some Great Reward by Depeche Mode represents the pinnacle of their brilliance and creativity,

“Not that they didn’t make insanely wonderful music – singles and albums both – after that, but SGR was the crescendo of their first phase, where indelible pop hooks collided with kid-in-candy-store synth experiments, and impossible yearning fumbled with the bra clasps of the blackest bedroom malaise. After that, their albums became more mature and refined, less messy.

“There’s a garish audacity to Some Great Reward that perfectly soundtracked a kind of suburban teenager, wild on the inside, about to burst, misunderstood, romantic as fuck. 

“The song ‘Something To Do’ kicks off the album, and it’s a semi-forgotten (relative to other DM singles), under-appreciated banger about being young, angsty, bored, and horny (“put your leather boots on”) in an old, run down industrial town. It’s about being miserable and making your own fun – dangerous and thrilling, but in that young way where consequences haven’t yet revealed themselves (those would come on later DM records). 

When we were making the new Shudder album, “Something To Do” came on the (satellite) radio and jogged Craig’s sense-memory back to sixteen, on a family trip to Israel, in love and hate with everyone and everything, candy-flipping the cassette in his Walkman from Some Great Reward to XTC’s English Settlement and the great Dukes Of Stratosphere.[SIC] A girl named Robin and a girl named Julie..

“Anyway, we HAD to cover it. 

So, minutes after finishing basic tracks for the final song on the album, we quickly learned its structure and let it rip, maybe three takes, no corrections. 

Our pal (and Craig’s brother-in-law), the great Thomas Lennon, happened to be visiting and stood in a circle with us while we threw it down. Tom’s a big Depeche Mode fan and a big Shudder To Think fan, so his energy and enthusiasm completed the circuit and gave us just the energy we needed. “

“Often at the end of a project there’s magic gunk left at the bottom of the fuel tank, like potent resin at the bottom of the bowl. This was that.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again”/The Church’s “North, South, East and West: Or FME 2026

JOVM’s William Ruben Helms is back on the road again.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Glasgow’s The Marches Shares Brooding “The Habit”

Since their formation in 2024, Glasgow-based indie rock outfit The Marches — Katie Palmer (vocals, rhythm guitar), Nicola Singleton (bass), Jane Jenkins (lead guitar) and Kate Morrow (drums) — have quickly established a sound that blends emotional intensity, ambitious melodicism and razor-sharp storytelling.

And in that same time, they’ve also quickly built up a regional and internationally recognized profile: Their breakout single last year’s double A-side single “November“/”Don’t Fool Me Twice” received both international and national press attention/. Their previously released material received airplay from BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Introducing Scotland, Amazing Radio UK and Amazing Radio US.

Adding to a growing profile, the Scottish quartet have started to amass a reputation for an electrifying live show, which has led to a hometown headlining set at Glasgow’s The Garage Attic in November.

2026 has seen The Marches release a handful of singles, including the previously released “She” and “Struck To The Heart,” and their latest single “The Habit.” “The Habit” further cement the band’s growing reputation for unerring melodicism and crating catchy hooks paired featuring brooding arrangement of atmospheric guitars, forceful and pulsing drumming beneath Palmer’s delivery which throughout the song’s run moves from intimate confession to defiant and steely resolve.

Underneath the remarkably self-assured performances, is a song about dysfunction, touching upon feeling the pull of repetitive patterns you know too well, even when deep down you know better. Certainly, for anyone who has escaped dysfunctional and destructive patterns, the song captures something disturbingly familiar.