Back in May we wrote about a new Meth Dad track that featured a collaboration with Cherub. Then in April, we played “Bones” on Volume 106 of the Music podcast. Now, after all that anticipation, the full album is available for all our enjoyment.

The album in question, SWATE DRAMES, delivers on that anticipation with a bombastic party of slightly deranged raver anthems. The album consistently manages to strike a fine balance between the highly dance-able and the ominously dark. The affected vocals backed by beats soaked in reverb can often feel like an acid trip on the verge of going astray but then steers itself back to a happy place for a brief moment of elated release. The garbled title is apt in that it could be interpreted as “Sweet Dreams” or “Sweat Drames” – as in a sweaty, drug induced dance party.

There’s plenty of little moments between the huge beats worth hearing – particularly the microbeat onslaught during “Nobody Gets Hurt” and the entirety of the soulful, vocoder prayer, of “Clarity.” These moments provide a moment of respite during the storm of party songs and provide a delightful insight into the process of Meth Dad. It’s not verification that while he’s up for making a party record, it’s not without great effort and weight to go along with it.

Meth Dad celebrates the release of the record on Friday, August 31st over at Mercy Lounge and High Watt with a huge extravaganza blowout with Basic Printer.

This post is going up on a Wednesday, arguably the worst day of the week. It doesn’t have the slog of a Monday inbox or the anticipation of upcoming weekend, it’s just the middle of existence. So, to alleviate the burden of traversing this “Hump” day, let’s turn to some ambient offerings to help calm and soothe any jangling nerves.

Travis Trevisan is likely best known for his shoegaze offerings under the moniker Tape Deck Mountain but has an impressive body of work under his own name, much of which spans a variety of genres and often involve some expression of music altogether different from his primary gig. His Extended Play offering is minimal and beat driven, while his Existential Crisis Call Center EP is acoustic and lulling. More recently, he’s released three volumes of Ambient Music, aptly titled Axis of Ambient Volume I, Volume 2 and Volume 3.

On the whole, they all serve as separate, enjoyable, movements but also work quite well together. They each showcase the lessons learned from previous releases but par them down even further – keeping the arrangements minimal, slow paced and enveloping in their pace. Volume 3 certainly feels like an ending when listened in summation from the other two but with ambient music, there often rarely seems to be no beginning or end, only existence. Sorta like a Wednesday.

In your notebook of Names To Know be sure you’ve jotted down “Asher Horton.” He’s released albums with the band Fox Fun, a solo album entitled Mystery Bones, plays with Sun Seeker, Quichenight and a host of others. Somehow, despite that busy schedule, he’s also recorded an entire album of his own new creations under the name Rainsticks.

The debut release under this moniker, Elkmont, is a rich pop record in the vein of Big Star, late era XTC and plenty of dashes from familiar late 70’s influences. However, comparisons to big established namesakes does the record a disservice as it’s not an homage or a direct lifting of any particular sound, it’s a whole-y distinct undertaking in itself.

While there’s a consistent vibe throughout the entirety of the record, diving in with “Sitars & Saffron” is an excellent jumping off point. Horton’s easy breezy melancholy vocals give way to an elongated freeform wash of 12-string guitars, keyboards and undefined swirling elements. It’s an experience best listened to loud and on repeat as it washes over you.

With the number of projects Horton is involved in, there may not be another Rainsticks LP for awhile; which is unfortunate because Elkmont is immediately giving on first listen and even more rewarding with each additional spin. More of it would never be a bad thing.

It’s been a little over a year since we last heard from Friendship Commanders. They last released their Junebug 7″ back in April of 2017 and have, apparently, been hard at work since then on a new album. That album, entitled Bill, is slated for release on Oct 5th, 2018. It’s very worth noting that the album was produced by Steve Albini. So, if you weren’t intrigued already, now you should be.

The first single from said album, “Horrify”, is now available to stream wherever but I highly recommend steering yourself over to YouTube to watch the video that accompanies it. The performance / short film offering is an excellent introduction to the band as it showcases their high energy live performance and their enjoyment of the macabre. I assume as much given that the video depicts singer B. Arson being lethally poisoned and.. well.. I won’t spoil it. Just watch it.

You can pre-order the entire record over on their Bandcamp and even pick up a combo pack that includes a specially designed tie. A tie! That wins some sort of prize for most surprising apparel item to go with a hard rock album that I’ve seen in some time.

The bio for Panda Park reads “Songs are better out in the world than on hard drives.” This should be a rallying cry for artists everywhere. While not always easy to feel that your creation is complete, there’s something liberating and satisfying about actually letting people hear your hard work and interpret it on their own.

There’s no insight available as to what Panda Park was contemplating when the duo put together this EP of songs but there’s clearly something dark permeating what they do. Lead track “Down Down” has a Portishead-esque march to it, while “Vignette” has the kind of sweet sneer you might find in a Metric song. Comparisons to previous works from other bands may be a cheap technique for framing these original works but the touchstones aren’t inaccurate.

On the whole, the EP is a strong offering of interesting instrumentation, loops, sinister guitar and a lead vocal with attitude that feels sincere in its menace. The band’s Instagram only has five posts at the time of this publishing and I can only hope that means there’s much more to come from the outfit. Let’s hope they continue to get more songs off their hard drives and into the world.

I feel like I heard the title track off of Basic Printer’s forthcoming Good Weird album some time ago and it didn’t stick. I liked it but I wasn’t struck by it. Upon relistening now, I’m captivated. Maybe something changed in the production or maybe I just wasn’t in the right headspace. Whatever it was, I’m overjoyed to be immersing myself in it now.

The album won’t be released until August 31st, 2018 but there are three tracks up on Bandcamp that set the stage for expectations. There’s a lot of keyboards, wet bass tracks, dance-able grooves and sing-along choruses. It’s certainly got a weird vibe to it – as the title suggests – but it really is a Good Weird. It’s different than what you expect from our scene but different in the absolute best way.

This is another release from Banana Tapes, a label that I can’t stress enough we all need to be paying more attention to.

Back in April, Charlie Abbott released an album entitled Nirvana that has unceremoniously flown under my radar until just a few days ago. It’d be difficult to discuss this album without lightly touching on the title. While “nirvana” (lowercase) has its own meaning, it’s impossible not to see the word and not immediately conjure thoughts of Cobain and crew. Not surprisingly, there’s a good deal of that influence at play here – particular some of the earlier, messier style can be heard seeping through in “I’m Dead” – but it’s never a direct nod or exhausting play on style, it’s just the state of the world where Nirvana was a popular band twenty-five years ago.

But enough about that. The title has very little to do with the record but it must be mentioned just to get it out of the way. Overall, the album is a solid offering of strong rock songs with no gimmicks. That’s a tough sell these days as there’s a limitless grab bag that it could pull from. But there’s no vocal style to adjust to, there’s no secret metal influence underlying the riffs or, really, any pretense whatsoever (not there’s anything wrong with any of those other things).

That’s not to say there isn’t a unique voice at work here. The songs are big, emphatic and filled with flourishes that take it from being just Riff Rock to being something altogether special. There’s even an eight-minute instrumental smack in the middle of the album that takes a deep dive into some post-rock Quiet/Loud explosions.

It’s hard to be memorable in the world of Rock Music these days but Nirvana is an album that rewards on additional listens. It’s not breaking the mold but it’s an exemplary offering of how the style should be done.