JOVM’s William Ruben Helms interviews DahL’s Nassir Liselle.
Tag: post punk
New Audio: Atlanta’s Silk Daisys Shares Swooning, Halloween-Themed “Haunted House”
Atlanta-based dream pop/post-punk duo Silk Daisys — James Abercrombie and romantic partner Karla Jean Davis — have been making music together for some time, but their forthcoming Silk Daisys and Damon Moon co-produced debut will be their first, official release. Interestingly, the Silk Daisys name has been around even further, with Abercrombie using the name on Soundcloud for about a decade to upload random covers and the occasional original song.
“We recorded our album over two weeks with Damon Moon (Bathe Alone, Sleepers Club) at this studio Standard Electric Recorders in Atlanta. Damon was awesome to work with,” the duo says. “We spent a ton of time just talking about music the three of us love and sharing songs back and forth. We’d name some obscure part of a song as a reference and he’d get it immediately, and dial in the tones perfectly. Damon also played drums and percussion on the album. The three of us produced it together, and it was all really collaborative and fun.”`
But in the meantime, the Atlanta-based duo’s latest single, the Halloween-themed “Haunted House,” channels Pygmalion and Souvlaki-era Slowdive with the song featuring fuzzy and swirling guitar textures, glistening synth bursts, thunderous drumming, boy-girl harmonies and enormous hooks and choruses. And at its core, the song sees the duo pairing goth and Romantic themes, evoking the bitter longing for a loved one you can never get back.
“Haunted House” is what I’d consider our only true shoegaze song, though shoegaze elements find their way into our songs just because we’re such huge fans of the genre. When I wrote it, I was thinking about this great Lee Hazlewood song, ‘Won’t You Tell Your Dreams,'” says Silk Daisys’ James Abercrombie. “It’s about how he can’t stop dreaming of an old love. It has this really haunting vibe to it. We’re also really into haunted houses and carnival dark rides and anything in that realm… Karla listens to a lot of ghost story podcasts. Our daughter has ghost hunting equipment and takes it with her to old places. I tend to be a little on the skeptical side, but I am coming around. I really love ghost stories where spirits are doing something routine, like getting their morning coffee. There’s something really interesting to me about the memory of someone being so strong that it feels palpable, like it’s inhabiting your space and haunting you. Karla had the idea to make the vocals at the end sound super ghostly, which I think really adds to the spookiness of the track.”
New Audio: TRAITRS Shares Broodingly Cinematic “Burn In Heaven”
With the release of their first three albums, 2017’s Rites and Rituals, 2018’s Butcher’s Coin and 2021’s Horses in the Abattoir, Toronto-based coldwave duo TRAITRS blended horror-based imagery with anthemic choruses and cinematic, atmospheric soundscapes. And during that time, the duo evolved from bedroom artists selling cassette tapes to amassing millions of streams globally and playing hundreds of shows internationally.
The Canadian duo’s latest single, the Josh Korody-produced, Matt Colton-mastered “Burn In Heaven,” is their first single since the release of Horses in the Abattoir. Channeling The Cure, Bauhaus, Depeche Mode and Cocteau Twins, “Burn In Heaven” continues a run of broodingly cinematic material that showcases their unerring knack for crafting rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses.
Lyrically, the song is inspired and informed by the harrowing real-life soy of 23-year-old Anneliese Michel, who underwent 67 exorcisms before dying of malnutrition — a tragedy that exposed the devastating consequences when blind faith eclipses medical science. Exploring themes of religious extremism, possession and the clash between faith and science, “Burn In Heaven,” is perfect for spooky season while being big club and arena friendly.
“The song deals with possession and the extremities of faith vs science,” the Toronto-based duo explains. “It examines the instilled religious beliefs where people think they’re going to get a pardon by god for horrifying acts when they get to heaven. It’s this idea that shaped the entirety of our new record.”
The band’s forthcoming album Possessor is slated for release next year.
New Audio: Gloin Teams Up with Sunglaciers on a Unique Cover of “Bucket of Blood”
Toronto-based post-punk outfit Gloin — longtime friends John Watson (guitar, vocals), Vic Byers (bass, vocals), Simon Lou (drums, vocals) and Richard Garnheim (synths, guitar) — formed back in 2018 and at the onset was a means for the band’s members to convey their shared passion for engaging and visceral live performance.
Since their formation, the band has gone on a handful of North American tours, making the rounds of the North American festival circuit with sets at SXSW, Freakout Fest, New Colossus Festival, Sled Island, Treefort Music Fest, West Fest and FME while also sharing the stage with a number of renowned acts including Snapped Ankles, Osees, Amyl and The Sniffers, Brian Jonestown Massacre, A Place to Bury Strangers, Orville Peck, Moon Duo and Night Beats.
Throughout, the Canadian band has put precedence on delivering unforgettable live shows, driven by improvisation and experimentation, with the musicians trusting their instincts that louder is always better. And as a result, the band’s live sets are sweaty and cathartic.
The Toronto-based outfit self-released their debut EP, 2019’s Soft Monster. The EP caught the attention of Montréal-based label Mothland, who signed the band and released their 2022 Dylan Frankland produced full-length debut, We Found This, which was mixed by Graham Walsh. Inspired by Sonic Youth and Lightning Bolt, the album featured pop melodies and beautifully noisy arrangements, anchored by a distorted rhythm section that offers urgency but also soothing grooves.
The band’s Polaris Music Prize long-listed sophomore album All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry) was released earlier this year. Described by the band as “dancey, but scary,” the album’s material sees them revamping their noise rock-driven sound, adding further elements from darkwave, industrial, and post-punk.
The album sees the band tackling themes of bewilderment, dread and anger, while being anchored around bombastic rhythmic constructs, savvy arrangements and fervid melodies. All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry)‘s material are solemn tracks about perseverance and self-determination that are cleverly subverted through sarcastic commentary.
“We wrote the whole album as a collective, influenced by shared experiences. Half was written electronically with usually one person bringing in ideas that we all elaborated on together,” the band says in press notes. “We jammed a lot, finding things we liked that we later pieced together, while also saving pieces that we might be able to plug into a future song. One method for a few of the song was for all of us to write a complete piece, and then switch up instruments.”
Just as the Toronto-based outfit is about to embark on a UK and EU tour, released a unique double single “Buckets of Blood.” “For this release, Gloin asked us to reach out to over acts on Mothland to see if they would cover their song ‘Bucket of Blood’ with only the instrumental version and lyrics for reference,” Mothland’s Phillipe Larocque explains. “So basically Sunglaciers and We Owe did not hear Gloin’s version until their album dropped. We really dug this ‘blind cover’ initiative. We love it when moths collaborate with other artists from the label. It often pushes them to work outside their comfort zone and reinforces the bonds inside our community.”
The first release from the double single, “Bucket of Blood” feat. Sunglaciers retains the tense, Gang of Four-like post punk disco feel of the original but while being a Vulcan mind-mend — to the point that this version sounds as though it could have been a B-side on the Calgary-based outfit’s 2022 effort, Subterranea.
Throwback: Happy 51st Birthday, Daniel Kessler!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Interpol guitarist Daniel Kessler’s 51st birthday.
New Video: The Death of Lillies Share Broodingly Cinematic “Savior”
The Death of Lillies is a new project featuring:
- Adam Bravin has developed and maintained a reputation for remarkable versatility, gaining recognition for his exceptional talent as a DJ, at one point, becoming the go-to dj for the likes of Prince, Dr. Dre and Stevie Wonder. His ability to blend genres seamlessly and create unforgettable music experiences has also seen him launch club nights like Giorgio’s at The Standard and many more. But he may be best known for his partnership with childhood friend Justin Warfield in She Wants Revenge, an act that has seen massive radio play, sold hundreds of thousands of records globally and toured with Depeche Mode, The Cure and Placebo while headlining their own tours and festivals.
- Rising, Atlanta-based artist Saint Avangeline. Over the course of two albums and a collection of singles, the Atlanta-based artist’s work has been deeply rooted in her personal journey with mental health struggles, domestic abuse and growing up queer, while offering an unabashedly honest exploration of inner turmoil, rage, hope and resilience. In a relatively short period of time, she has amassed a rabid fan base.
The duo’s latest single “Savior” is a broodingly cinematic track that showcases the duo’s sound: Bravin’s signature ominous yet dance floor friendly soundscapes serving as a lush bed for Saint Avangeline’s haunting, darkly seductive vocal. “‘Savior’ is about the complicated truth that sometimes the ones who need saving the most end up being the ones who save us,” The Death of Lillies’ Adam Bravin says. “It’s about the quiet strength found in vulnerability, the way pain, when faced, can turn into something powerful and transformative.”
He adds, telling Northern Transmissions, “The track was written as a theme for Arkhan the Cruel, a powerful and cinematic character from Dungeons and Dragons lore. There was something about Arkhan’s dark, unrelenting energy that shaped the entire sound. When Lily and I first started working together, I played it for her, and the spell that had captured me instantly captured her too. From there, we reshaped it together into something entirely our own.”
The accompanying video directed by Bravin and Ben Haslup was shot in a gorgeously cinematic black and white, and follows Saint Avangeline on an epic journey towards finding her other musical half.
Throwback: Happy 27th Birthday, Genesis Owusu!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates JOVM mainstay Genesis Owusu’s 27th birthday.
New Video: Street Eaters Return with Doom-Tinged and Witchy “Spectres”
Oakland-based post punk outfit Street Eaters — co-founders Megan March (vocals, drums) and John No (bass, vocals), along with Joan Toledo (guitar) — will be releasing their long-awaited and highly-anticipated fifth album, Opaque on September 5, 2025 through Dirt Cult Records. The seven-song album reportedly sees the trio attempting to stitch up the bloody wounds of their past while being a meditation on birth, death, excavated trauma, and trying to find steadfast kinfolk in a world that’s increasingly splintered, fucked up and cruel.
Much like all of us, Street Eaters have been through the wringer a bit since 2017’s The Envoy.
The band’s guitarist Joan Toledo, left a transphobic family and government in her native Florida, eventually relocating to San Francisco, where they became an editor at Maximum Rocknroll Magazine and a radical union organizer at the world famous City Lights Books.
The band’s front woman Megan March had a child. And while becoming a mother was, as she puts it, “an incredible joy and opportunity to rewire emotional pathways and deep wounds,” it was also a reminder of her own childhood: March’s mother was violently homophobic and eventually threw Megan and her teenage sister — both queer — from their childhood home.
For March, childbirth was both a traumatizing and transformational experience. Ironically born on July 4, her baby immediately entered a world steeped in bureaucracy: The hospital was so understaffed that March was neglected until the last moment and was forced to endure an emerging C-section. “I was borderline dehumanized by the toxic, misogynistic nature of the American medical system and its focus on efficiency and profit before care,” she says.
“Opaque is a record that gets deep into the stark and beautiful reality of growth and transition from trauma and loss,” Street Eaters’ March explains. “What does it mean to wake up one day and realize you are living the way you have always demanded to live — yet with all those jagged piles of emotional, physical, and social/political baggage still slicing through the veil?” The album isn’t just confrontational; it’s complicated. It sees the band, much like the rest of us, groping towards identity, understanding, and a place in the world in the process of being curated. “It’s a transition into finding peace with the world — a resonant connection with community and chosen family, getting beyond a lot of the pain and hurt,” the band’s John No says. “We’re trying to suture up wounds at this point and create something that’s healthy.”
Last month, I wrote about Opaque‘s first single “Tempers,” a furious, adrenaline pumping ripper that as March explains is about “being in isolation and not being sure what the future is going to be like and how things will be when the storm is over.” The album’s second and latest single “Spectres” is a doom-tinged, witchy incantation that’s deceptively belies its sweet and deeply loving core. The song’s narrator processes their complicated past while reflecting on healthy parenthood, striving to imbue love, caring and positive direction for their child — with the understanding that she also has to empower the child to be their own person. “I’m working to create a much better emotional landscape for my son o grow in — to find both understanding and healing from the breakage of cycles of abuse and isolation,” the band’s Megan March says.
Filmed by Joey Lusteman and John No, the accompanying video for “Spectres” is split between footage of the band performing in a small club and of March locking herself out in an industrial wasteland, trying to figure her way out.
Throwback: Happy Belated 57th Birthday, Sam Fogarino!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Interpol multi-instrumentalist Sam Fogarino’s 57th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 64th Birthday, The Edge!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates U2 guitarist and vocalist The Edge’s 64th birthday.
New Video: Wombo Shares Nervous “S.T. Tilted”
Since their formation back in 2016, Louisville-based trio Wombo — Sydney Chadwick (vocals, bass), Cameron Lowe (guitar) and Joel Taylor (drums) — have carved out a unique lane for themselves, contorting post-punk structures into uncanny shapes. And with their Danger in Fives, which is slated for an August 8, 2025 release through Fire Talk, reportedly sees the band not only enhancing their formula, but routinely perfecting them.
To ace their techniques, the Louisville-based trio had to tear them apart first. Long-held , standardized practices of writing and workshopping material in Joel Taylor’s post-war basement rehearsal space were paused while the band explored different writing process. And that experimentation results in the band showcasing some subtle shifts and additions to their sonic palette, including digital texture and the incorporation of drum machine on a couple of tracks. The band’s desire to change their model was in part to “get away from a results mindset, where it’s about producing things for a certain expectation instead of doing it all for the joy of exploring,” the band’s Cameron Lowe says. Adds the band’s Chadwick, “I don’t want to be in a band that’s confined to one form of writing. Where’s the fun and the creativity and the exploration in that? You have to push yourself and try something new.”
Danger in Fives final advance single, “S.T. Titled,” sees the band at their distilled, purest essence. Anchored around Lowe’s angular, off-kilter bursts of scratchy guitar, Taylor’s skeletal yet propulsive drumming and Chadwick’s supple bass lines, the song’s arrangement serves as a nervous and uneasy bed for Chadwick’s dreamily mesmerizing delivery. By contrasting the deeply nervous and uneasy with the seemingly calm, the song somehow manages to evoke our current nightmarish moment in which we’re all slowly losing our minds — and trying not to show it. But, as always cracks will show . . .
“It’s the first song we wrote after the Slab EP that made it on Danger in Fives,” the band’s Lowe says of the single. “We weren’t sure it was going to work, but all the contrasting parts ended up being cool. It’s rare for a Wombo song to be written on guitar first like this one, with some of the bass and drum parts jammed out in the basement afterwards. The wacky guitar part came last.”
Directed by the band’s Cameron Lowe, the accompanying video for “S.T. Titled,” continues a run of entirely self-produced videos. The video sees the band in a hand-made waiting room set, constructed by Lowe and Chadwick in Chadwick’s garage. The band is seen anxiously waiting in the waiting room — with the expected anxiousness and unease that waiting rooms entail.
The Louisville-based trio will be marking on a tour to support the new album. The tour includes a September 12, 2025 stop at Baby’s All Right and a September 14, 2025 stop at one of my favorite rooms in Montréal, L’Escogriffe. Check out the rest of the tour dates below.
Throwback: Happy Belated 64th Birthday, Pete de Freitas!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates the 64th anniversary of Echo and the Bunnymen drummer Pete de Freitas’ birth.
New Audio: Dream Bodies Shares Brooding and Road Trip Friendly “Run”
Steven Fleet is a Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist, poet, writer and artist, who has been in several music projects that have allowed him to play shows across the US, the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic. He is also the creative mastermind behind the solo recording project Dream Bodies. With Dream Bodies, Fleet crafts “witchy, dreamy, gothy, post punk, dream pop, cold wave with poetic, philosophical lyrics.”
The Los Angeles-based artist’s recently Dream Bodies debut EP, Circle of Light features the previously released “Dream Hangover,” and the EP’s latest single, EP title track “Circle of Light,” which I wrote about earlier this year.
Fleet’s latest single, “Run” is presumably a standalone track that sees him further cementing the project’s sound and approach — Cocteau Twins-like reverb, relentless motorik pulse paired serving as a brooding bed for the Los Angeles-based artist’s sonorous baritone croon. But thematically, “Run” may arguably be the most road trip friendly track of Fleet’s steadily growing catalog.
New Audio: Street Eaters Share Furious and Impassioned “Tempers”
Oakland-based post punk outfit Street Eaters — co-founders Megan March (vocals, drums) and John No (bass, vocals), along with Joan Toledo (guitar) — will be releasing their long-awaited and highly-anticipated fifth album, Opaque on September 5, 2025 through Dirt Cult Records. The seven-song album reportedly sees the trio attempting to stitch up the bloody wounds of their past while being a meditation on birth, death, excavated trauma, and trying to find steadfast kinfolk in a world that’s increasingly splintered, fucked up and cruel.
Much like all of us, Street Eaters have been through the wringer a bit since 2017’s The Envoy.
The band’s guitarist Joan Toledo, left a transphobic family and government in her native Florida, eventually relocating to San Francisco, where they became an editor at Maximum Rocknroll Magazine and a radical union organizer at the world famous City Lights Books.
The band’s front woman Megan March had a child. And while becoming am other was, as she puts it, “and incredible joy and opportunity to rewire emotional pathways and deep wounds,” it was also a reminder of her own childhood: March’s mother was violently homophobic and eventually threw Megan and her teenage sister — both queer — from their childhood home.
For March, childbirth was both a traumatizing and transformational experience. Ironically born on July 4, her baby immediately entered a world steeped in bureaucracy: The hospital was so understaffed that March was neglected until the last moment and was forced to endure an emerging C-section. “I was borderline dehumanized by the toxic, misogynistic nature of the American medical system and its focus on efficiency and profit before care,” she says.
“Opaque is a record that gets deep into the stark and beautiful reality of growth and transition from trauma and loss,” Street Eaters’ March explains. “What does it mean to wake up one day and realize you are living the way you have always demanded to live — yet with all those jagged piles of emotional, physical, and social/political baggage still slicing through the veil?” The album isn’t just confrontational; it’s complicated. It sees the band, much like the rest of us, groping towards identity, understanding, and a place in the world in the process of being curated. “It’s a transition into finding peace with the world — a resonant connection with community and chosen family, getting beyond a lot of the pain and hurt,” the band’s John No says. “We’re trying to suture up wounds at this point and create something that’s healthy.”
Opaque‘s first single “Tempers” is a furious, adrenaline pumping ripper featuring scuzzy, serrated power chords, thunderous guitars and March’s urgent and impassioned vocals. March says, the song is about “being in isolation and not being sure what the future is going to be like and how things will be when the storm is over.”
The accompanying video directed by Krista Wright and Theo Garvey, in a hospital waiting room, where no one ever seems to get helped with anything. The band turns the hospital room into a stage that they rip up with a furious performance of the song.