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Sister Sleep collab with SPLITJAW, offer some queer resistance on new song

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Atlanta’s Sister Sleep is one of those bands who I’ve gotten to watch grow so organically from, basically, their inception. I became aware of the band on their second EP ever, 2023’s In Bad Faith, which demonstrated their sound as queer throwback post-hardcore. On this new single, “Collect Your Skeletons” they are joined by Splitjaw’s Maude Stout. Splitjaw, in their own right, are a much different band, hardcore from Chicago but still with the element of queer resilience. Their collaboration finds this collective at a really even middle ground between their distinct styles. The verses are quieter in tone but are pounding underneath the surface. Maude’s feature itself feels like a fit of rage continuing to burn out until the end of the track. This is a queer run blog, something I have definitely talked about in the past. I write a lot of words, mostly about music and other projects of mine. When we’re in a disaster, locally, across the country, across the world, I never quite feel intel...
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Mystery Dungeons explore digital isolation, gendered rage and the Open World

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  Early last year Philly's Mystery Dungeons released a good, but short, "self-titled" EP I ended up going back to quite a bit. While personally not totally privy to the project's history, a quick glance at the statements attached to the EP and now the debut LP show connections to various artists and a bigger picture than what we can see on a BandCamp page. Regardless of where they've been, I'm interested in where they are now, and Open World is a pretty clear view. For a record with such a short run time this has a wide variation of sonics. What makes emo-chiptune such a fun genre is while you're aware of what you're going to get the difference in artists lays in their personality coming through. You do get this here; the OST influence is more tragic and introspective. What sets Mystery Dungeons in particular apart is a willingness to wear hearts on sleeves. None of these songs try very hard to be fun, some of them are, the first three tracks are a ...
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Show discussion: Beach Bunny, Scarlet Demore @ Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR 5/26/25

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About a month ago Beach Bunny released Tunnel Vision, their third record, which I have listened to on repeat and yet haven't gotten myself to complete a write up for. Earlier this week, luckily, my partner and I caught the Portland date of their current tour, which was a live experience of the album and a deeper look into the band's history. I had been to Lola's Room, which sits at the second floor of the Crystal Ballroom, but I had never been on the main floor before. The room itself was pretty big, in fact so big I'd say it sort of broke my immersion during sets a bit. Still, it was a beautiful venue, massive chandeliers hung from skylights as well as pretty sprawling murals on the high up parts of the wall. Not to mention the buildings signature bouncy floors! While I did sort of expect a younger crowd I didn't think there would be such a large audience they would have to split the room evenly between twenty-one-plus and not. At first this sort of put off both me...
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Review: "Lullabies for Dogs" by Chase Petra released via Wax Bodega

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In 2019 Chase Petra released Liminal, a calm yet direct emo folk record about the first steps of facing yourself. You wouldn’t really feel the gap, however, in the six years since the trio (Hunter Allen, Evan Schaid, Brooke Dickson) has released several singles and three EPs, one of which features new versions of three songs from the debut. While this new record, Lullabies for Dogs, is the debut, it’s the results of six years of growth and development of the band’s current sound. My first experience with lead single “Centrifugal Force” was, in fact, a puzzling one as I had failed to consider how much Chase Petra had been through. With all those releases, as well as an extensive touring schedule, expecting this band to be one step ahead, not ten, was probably on me. At the bottom line this is a Chase Petra song, it has the same sense of rhythm and atmosphere they’ve always incorporated. It’s a bit bolder, a lot more refined, but it is a logical step on the timeline. “A Bug’s Life” follo...
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Review: "Middle Spoon" by Cheekface, released independently

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Greg, Mandy a nd Echo, America's local band, whatever you'd like to call them; Cheekface's fifth album is here. Just thirteen months after last year's It's Sorted, which was my personal introduction to the band, was packed with track after track of power pop fun. This new record, as well as the previous ones as I’m learning, offers more of the same. Even so, Cheekface finds new ways to expand and new ways to stay the same on Middle Spoon. In a recent BlueSky thread , Greg talks about the lives of the band during the making of the record. Though he says there are no intentional themes, they immediately come out of his lyricism on opening song "Living Lo-Fi." Here he talks about smoking stale cigarettes, using frozen food to relieve pain and sleeping at the practice space to save money on rent, all of which I'm sure are pointed and lived in some way. The bridge of the same track sees the author feeling sympathy for the kindest person they know, someone ...
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No Business have released the Deleted Scenes from Snitch

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It’s been a little over two years since the release of Orlando, FL’s No Business’ debut record, Snitch. That album saw band founder Paule Poole join with guitar player Alex Britt and now the band has released the b-sides from those sessions with a twist. No longer a two-piece, the duo are joined by second guitar player Nick Hewitt, Hayden Nicholson on bass and Joshua Arceval on drums and have reworked those unused tracks as their full band introduction. The first track to be released was “Dawgma,” and listening it is clear why. The single leans heavily into the band’s Linkin Park influence with some bouncy production up front and a structure built on nu metal riffs and melodies. The feature from Maryland's Granite State is a seamless verse drop and goes quite nicely with the track as a toss-up as well. The second single, “Strings,” is a standout cut but is a very distinct contrast to both “Dawgma” and the rest of the EP. The Deleted Scenes EP being the fist full band effort from No...
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REVIEW: UNKILLABLE ANGEL by Ada Rook released independently

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The Black Dresses split was and continues to be ugly. I never reviewed Laughingfish, the duo’s final record, mostly because I didn’t feel it was my place. While there were some strong tracks present, I felt the two’s strained relationship came through quite clearly and it wasn’t up to some music blogger to weigh in on it. Now Ada Rook has released Unkillable Angel , her first solo record since the split and she makes it hard to not weigh in on. When I heard about this record, I saw warning to stay away, citing Rook as being aggressive, toxic and confrontational, which if you’re attempting to read the record in bad faith I could definitely see. She also invites you to hate her on the album several times on both the tracks about this situation and the one’s written two years ago. Still, this didn’t scare me away, in fact I think Unkillable Angel gives us a deeper look into the situation than we’re led to believe. Rook's music has always been danceable with a sharp edge with her harsh...
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