Bet you haven’t checked out the offerings of Smyrna too often have you? Well, Pumpkinseed is bringing some riff-y rock with impassioned vocals to a beer bar near you. There’s plenty of promise in these demos and I hope to hear more fully fleshed out tunes from these guys.

I’m not sure I’m quite eloquent enough to give the latest from Jupiter Is My Hard Drive a proper review. The album blends a number of genres and styles into an enjoyable package that starts off with a dark, foreboding vibe and ends up somewhere rather optimistic. 

The influences range from The Cure and Depeche Mode to The Microphones to Kraftwerk to quirky indie bands of the 90s, all steeped in different synth explorations. 

It’s a fine record that grows on you the deeper into the record you listen. Really enjoying what these guys are up to and hope they continue to do so.

Album art goes a long way when you’re competing with, literally, thousands of other things to listen to. The doodled ghost in a sea of pink that adorns this single from Phoul is an excellent representation of the lo-fi bedroom pop within. 

A preview track from Promised Land Sound’s forthcoming full-length For Use and Delight. A damn fine track echo’ing the best of the 70′s era languid rockers or, if you’re feeling more contemporary, something akin to Dr. Dog. Very much looking forward to more of this.

There’s something about You Are A Hologram that brings the works of The Helio Sequence or Rogue Wave to mind. Not directly mind you but an essence of similar vocal styles and upbeat rising songs with a sharp melancholy edge. The Reprise version of “All The Same” is ready for the final dramatic scene of an emotionally intense film.

I’m a bit baffled by how I haven’t mentioned this before now but The Whole Fantastic World, an early 2000′s Nashville staple, recently posted a bunch of unreleased demos on their Bandcamp that I’m amazing were unreleased. I’m not even sure more work could be done with these songs. It’s a shame they weren’t released back in 2007 but it’s a pleasure to hear them now.

The MIDI fueled sounds of Murfreesboro’s Moshi Moshi will certainly not be for everyone but there’s a manic energy and overall doped out optimistic vibe to it that I can’t resist. I think I’m also a sucker for any artist that embraces the art of the ridiculous song title – i.e. “Gwen Used Me For Her Story Then Ran Over My Heart With a Big Metaphorical Truck (Originally Performed by Air Supply).”

Also be sure to investigate the followup release, Versus the Army of Darkness, just as good.

Have you ever been curious what Murfreesboro sounded like in 1998? Well, steer your ears towards the four song EP of House of Radar to get an idea of the creations being concocted. There’s really no better time for them to unearth these recordings as they actually sound like something a 2015 contemporary would create. 

As a Murfreesboro alumni, I would absolutely love for more of that era’s music to find its way into the digital realm. Still sounds good to me.

When it comes to the experimental, noise metal circuit I’m fairly clueless. What I do know is that this insane wall of sound is really something to take note of. I can’t help but think it’s equal parts absurd and entirely immersive. Honestly, I’m as scared of this as I am intrigued.