Since their formation in 2022, five piece male//gaze have been pretty prolific with one album, one EP and several singles, offering the audience a distinctive blend of shoegaze textures, hardcore energy, and synth-pop melodies.
This new self-released record is a cathartic exploration of memory, loss and self-acceptance and the band has described it as “their most emotionally resonant work yet”. Even if you haven’t heard any of their past releases for comparison, be certain that you will understand what they mean by the first minute of listening.
TOO LATE NOW starts with ‘Falling’: some quiet steps are guiding the listener to open a squeaky door where a jingling of chimes opens a portal to their dimension. You’re welcomed by the softest voice and piano chords and everything is very dreamy, almost like the vision of a protective mother. Slowly the rhythms becomes impending, your ears open up and are ready to receive some louder harmonies chanting bittersweet lyrics. The song drops and the noise links you to the second track ‘Get Well’ the absolute gem of the EP. The whole band comes together here, the drums are locked-in, the bass line is carrying through the song and the guitars are sparkly. The vocal melodies are angelic but powerful and this time also accompanied by some hardcore screams in the background. This track has everything: post-hardcore, screamo, shoegaze, pop, electronic-synth. The band has been described by friends and fans as “aggressively cathartic” and this song is the proof of that.
While other hardcore acts are content to smash out albums with minute long tracks full of caveman riffs and mosh calls, Fucked Up have always taken a unique path, becoming known for their concept albums mixing thunderous hardcore punk spirit with rock-opera style storytelling. Starting way back in 2006 with Year Of The Dog and continuing alongside their better known work, Fucked Up’s Zodiac series represents the band at their most creative, taking the listener on an odyssey inspired by Rush, Poison Idea and the Chinese novel Journey To The West, the first album of the year-long, ten act finale of the saga, Year Of The Goat continues the band’s thirst for wild experimentation.
Although the thought of a two-track, hour long post-hardcore album may be off putting to listeners used to the genre’s rapid pace and relentless ferocity, Year Of The Goat provides an immersive experience designed to draw the listener in rather than pommel them over the head. Rather than taking on his usual frontman role, Damien Abraham voices the story’s protagonist Monkey using his trademark coarse screams with frequent collaborator Tuka Mohammed sharing centre stage as Good Goat with a confident yet tender performance which provides a refreshing contrast to Abraham’s abrasive style. While structurally having more in common with Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars than anything by Minor Threat, fans of Fucked Up’s more straightforward hardcore works will still find plenty to love among the lore and atmosphere.
It’s been another exciting year for SUDS. In between an appearance at the Amateur Power all-dayer, a tour alongside modern Florida emo figureheads Dikembe, and extensive UK and European support slots with Macseal back in June, SUDS have mastered the art of crafting an album that’s delicately emotional and mature whilst still packing one hell of a punch.
Produced by Ian Sadler (Ohhms, Roam, Anavae) who also crafted their first record The Great Overgrowth, Sadler masterfully puts a warm sheen on Tell Me About Your Day Again, something tha makes the entire album feel like a hot mug of tea under your warmest blanket in the dead of winter; very seasonally accurate. Combining stripped-back and deeply raw folk-influenced songwriting that tackles heartbreak and grief, Tell Me About Your Day Again starts with their trademark of effective, fuzzy guitar riffs which contrast the delicate vocals and vivid lyricism of Mae Carter perfectly.
This abstractly contemplative lyricism never fails to leave an emotional impact on every single track on this release, and every band member brings something utterly unique to the soundscape of this album. From the subtle resilience in Jack Ames’s drumming, to bassist Harry Mitchell’s backing vocals that add further depth on tracks such as ‘Holding on and giving up’ and ‘Quietly feeling’ and Dan Godfrey’s effortless fusion between power chords on bouncier track ‘Made you grow’ and twinkly riffs akin to bands such as American Football on horn-laden single ‘Hook me out’, SUDS know how to tug at your heartstrings through sheer and unfiltered musicianship.
Cast your mind back, if you will, ten to 15 years ago, when a group of artists and producers, many of whom had spent far too many hours playing Grand Theft Auto Vice City, began borrowing heavily from the aesthetics and sonic palettes of movie soundtracks and video games from the 1980s. Artists such as the French EDM wunderkind Kavinsky started a trend of incorporating the fizzing synths and thunderclap snares that defined the era into their sound, refreshing it with the belching basslines of dubstep and packaging it in the garish neon of Bladerunner and Tron. Thus, synthwave was born.
Thanks to titanic success of the film Drive and the Stranger Things Netflix series, both of which owed their popularity as much to 80s nostalgia as they do their throbbing synthwave soundtracks, what began as an underground scene burst into the mainstream. By 2020, one of the most streamed songs of that year, The Weeknd’s ‘Blinded By The Lights’ was a legit synthwave banger.
While as is the case with most fads, the novelty of synthwave has begun to wear off, a handful of artists who were at the vanguard of its creation do appear to be proving themselves to be able to stand the test of time. One such artist is James Kent, the French multi-instrumentalist and producer also known as Perturbator, who, having risen to the top of the synthwave scene by blending the 80s schlock of his peers with more visceral industrial and black metal influences, returns with his sixth full length LP, Age Of Aquarius.
KNIVES may have only existed since 2021, but they have since transformed into a welcome and exciting addition to the UK’s varied alternative and rock scene by celebrating their musical diversity and bringing a sound that’s uncompromisingly heavy, but still widely accessible. Taking inspiration from an array of different alternative scenes from yesteryear whilst also staying fully true to themselves, KNIVES are shaping up to be a breath of fresh air.
Having torn up stages at 2000 Trees and Burn It Down festival and snagging prestigious support slots with Soul Glo and DZ Deathrays as well up upcoming slots with fellow collaborators The Callous Daoboys in February and Noizzefest in April, it’s safe to say that Knives aren’t going anywhere-and REGLITTER I is a further celebration of all the things that make Knives standout as homegrown UK talent. Heavily influenced by the concept of Paramore’s more post-punk influenced latest effort This Is Why, their latest EP is chock full of reworked tracks and collaborations with some of the scene’s most exciting and musically enthralling artists to come out of these past few years; including C.A Francis of DITZ, Death Goals, chest, and Carson Pace of The Callous Daoboys.
We’re slap bang in the middle of a hardcore resurgence, at least in the commercial sense. The quality of music and bands hasn’t waned in the last few years, but bands like Knocked Loose, Turnstile and Speed have reached heights that few bands have gotten close to before. It isn’t even that these bands are becoming more commercial on a sonic level (with the exception of Turnstile), but the genre itself is reaching a broader audience, in part because of social media. This means that occasionally, bands will blow up, often at random because of an element of their sound or simply because they come out of the blocks roaring.
False Reality are fast becoming one of the UK’s hardcore darlings, thanks to their mix of relentless touring and hard, in your face brand of thrash infused hardcore. With guitar tones capable of starting scraps in a Buddhist retreat (all thanks to the experienced hands and brain of British hardcore veteran Dave Connolly) and the blood vessel threatening screams of Rachel Rigby, they formed in 2023 and made a fast impression. After a few well received singles and live performances, their first release Path Of Self Destruct saw a step up in both style and delivery and even featured one of the best hardcore bands in world right now, Speed, on one track.
With the band itself a blend of youth and experience, it shows in their sound. From the almost 90s two-step parts to the modern crunch and breakdowns, on paper it’s a tantalizing mix and when they announced their debut album Faded Intentions, expectations were high. Being mentioned in the same breath as fellow recent breakouts in Guilt Trip alongside spots on festivals not just hardcore focused showed that the band possess a crossover appeal too. You can see them opening up for Machine Head as much as you can headlining an alldayer in a 300 cap venue and that’s a massive part of the reason that they’ve reached their current heights in such a short time.
