The Body & OAA "Enemy Of Love (Thrill Jockey)"
“In the land of split LP’s, The Body rules with a heavy hand. In the past five years alone, they’ve worked with some of the harshest soundmakers this side of the Pacific, with Full of Hell, Thou, and Uniform ranking among their most deranged creative partners. Today, they announced their next project, Enemy of Love, a joint album with OAA — Portland producer AJ Wilson, not the British Metalcore outfit Oceans Ate Alaska — out February 18 on Thrill Jockey.
With the announcement comes “Barren of Joy,” the record’s relentlessly sludgy lead single. It’s just under five minutes long, but through some dark magic or rip in the spacetime continuum, its finish leaves the listener feeling years older than they were when they pressed play. If the rest of the album follows suit, the world could end up with a confused generation of millennial metalheads who find themselves in their mid 60s after giving it a full spin.”
– Raphael Helfand, The Fader
Urge Overkill "Oui"
When the world was asked if it was time for new music from Urge Overkill, it responded with one word—Oui.
Urge Overkill is comprised of two unique voices. A double singer-songwriter attack. King Roeser and Nash Kato, two Minnesota native sons, met at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Pulling their name from Parliament’s title track “Funkentelechy,” Urge Overkill was born in 1984, releasing their debut EP Strange I… on fellow Northwestern student Steve Albini’s Ruthless Records (with Albini in the production chair, as well).
Oui is the new release from Kato and Roeser—their first in over a decade. It’s full of their signature mix of rock, hooks, and fancy bling, which is exactly what a post-pandemic planet has needed for far too long.
Twelve new tracks, including eleven originals and an Urge-ified cover of Wham!’s “Freedom!” It’s the logical extension of everything everyone loves about Urge Overkill—killer riffs, memorable hooks, and the style and swagger of Nash Kato and King Roeser.
So, add the word that goes before “please.” It’s Oui.
The Monsters "Du Hesch Cläss, Ig Bi Träsch (Slovenly Recordings)"
Slovenly’s mother tongue recordings imprint is psyched beyond belief to present to the freaks and creeps of planet Earth, the 8th LP from Switzerland’s THE MONSTERS: “Du Hesch Cläss Ig Bi Träsch” (“You’re Class I’m Trash”)! Scandinavian Bestial Death Metal? PUH-LEEZE. Japanese Harsh Noise? GIMME A FUCKIN BREAK! This is the true evil that rock’n’rollers do, and you’ll be trembling in your creepers before your asses even get close to bumping to the radical raunch contained on this truly amazing long-player. Even long time rabid fans will be stunned by the sheer magnitude of nastiness and horror here, and if you’re a newcomer, we wish you the best of luck! Yeah, that’s a harpsichord and a choir on the intro. Oops, that’s the outro. We listen to shit backwards and you should too.
The Royal Arctic Institute "From Catnap to Coma"
The Royal Arctic Institute is an instrumental, post-punk, cinematic jazz quintet. Their new EP ‘From Catnap to Coma‘ was recorded by James McNew (Yo La Tengo) in the historic Neumann Leather Factory in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Members John Leon (guitar), and Lyle Hysen (drums) combine 50+ years of experience (Das Damen, Roky Erickson’s backing band, & more). The quintet is rounded out by David Motamed (bass), Lynn Wright (guitar), and Carl Baggaley (keyboard). The group self-describe their music as “post-everything.”