METZ have announced their upcoming album “Atlas Vending” due in October on Sub Pop.
On limited Loser Edition pearlescent grey and silver colored vinyl.
With the announcement came the release of the video for the closing track “A Boat To Drown In”.
Through a press release Tony Wolski, the director of the video, said: “the song has a beautiful, crushing numbness to it that we wanted to mirror in the visual. So we chose to romanticise our main character’s descent into her delusions of love and togetherness. At a time when everyone’s simultaneously coping with some sort of isolation, a story about loneliness – and the mania that comes with it – seems appropriate to tell.”
This is their first release since “Strange Peace” came out in 2017. Last year they released their rarities compilation titled “Automat”.
The tracklist of ‘Atlas Vending’ is:
1. ‘Pulse’ 2. ‘Blind Youth Industrial Park’ 3. ‘The Mirror’ 4. ‘No Ceiling’ 5. ‘Hail Taxi’ 6. ‘Draw Us In’ 7. ‘Sugar Pill’ 8. ‘Framed by the Comet’s Tail’ 9. ‘Parasite’ 10. ‘A Boat to Drown In’
It goes without saying that this song is ripping, just like almost everything they’ve released so far. Every time we see them live we get the sense, or feel, that that’s what it must’ve felt like to have seen Nirvana live pre-Nevermind.
Death Eyes’ final EP, State of Fear, was released digitally through Three One G Records.
Death Eyes first came to be in January of 2014, a merging of members from San Diego bands Rats Eyes and Death Crisis (hence the name), made up of Alberto Jurado (vocals), Jimmy Armbrust (bass), Jason Blackmore (guitar), and John Cota (drums). More recently, Cole Mears took over as bassist, with plans of more extensive touring. Having played with bands such as The Weirdos, Agent Orange, M.D.C., Nails, and Big Business, it’s evident that what emerged was something brutal, potent, and relevant to hardcore punk.
Tragically, in the midst of working on what was to be their upcoming LP, the band suddenly lost vocalist Alberto Jurado in January 2020, just weeks before they were set to tour with Big Business. This EP is what was completed from these final sessions. The accompanying video for “Management Is Not Your Friend” serves as a mix of brutal, relevant found footage, as well as live performances that celebrate all of the life and swagger that Alberto had, always. “We Miss You, Alberto. Rock’n Roll!!!”
Guitarist Jason Blackmore: “We had been working on new material in 2019 for what would have been our new full length record. The plan was to do ten songs more in the vein of our “AmRep/Jesus Lizard” kinda rock song vibe. No short thirty second hyper hardcore songs. Hell, one of the songs was actually over six minutes long. Anyway, we recorded the music for five new songs in September of 2019 and Alberto started writing lyrics for those soon after. We were set to do a West Coast tour with Big Business in February. So Alberto had been putting the vocals down for the songs that we had already recorded and the plan was to record the music for the other five new songs directly after the Big Biz tour. And then go into the studio and record Alberto’s vocals for those tunes. Turn everything in by early June. Drop the new album by October and hit the road to spread the word. On January 20th Alberto died suddenly after being rushed to the hospital while experiencing chest and stomach pains. He had been super excited about writing, recording and touring. More so than he had been in a long time. It was almost like he knew that he was living on borrowed time. He never talked about his health situation. He never wanted to bore you with conversations about himself. He just wanted to be himself. Play music. Talk about music. Drink beer. Love and laugh. And he had an infectious laugh. And a genuine soul. He was a true one of a kind. We miss him dearly. Rock’n Roll!!!”
If you were lucky enough to have met and known Beto then chances are you have a sweet story to tell. He was a great performer and a good human being. He is missed.
Ultraista released the follow up to their self titled debut album on March 13th, 2020 our on Partisan Records.
For those that choose not to remember, Ultraísta are drummer extraordinaire Joey Waronker (Atoms For Peace, Beck, R.E.M.), the incomparable voice of Laura Bettinson and producer Nigel Godrich.
The first single/video released was the beat heavy and hypnotic “Tin King”.
It was followed by “Anybody”.
The last one released was “Harmony”.
What does the album sound like? It sounds like a Nigel Godrich produced album. If you’re familiar with his work with Radiohead, Thom Yorke solo albums, Beck, Air and more, then you know what a song or album of his sounds like. It’s the sound of 21st century synthpop. Impeccable sounding and produced wall of sound synthpop.
The standout of the album is Laura Bettinson’s voice, as mesmerizing the work from Joey Waronker can be and Nigel’s bass lines are it’s Laura’s voice that makes the album and it makes it glow.
Here’s to hoping that the cancelled shows happen sometime in the not too distant future.
i think i better follow you around 