Wildernesses – Growth

I love me a band that blends genres, especially genres I’m passionate about. Enter Wildernesses. This band blend the crescendo dynamic of post rock with meaningful indie vocals and the wide-eyed glow of shoegaze. You can totally hear the years behind it. You can hear the losses, the work, the friendships and the patience. The album Growth benefits from that immensely. London has produced plenty of bands who know how to build their own atmosphere, yet Wildernesses bring something more human to the table. Their songs hold close to real lives and real memories, and that gives the whole album a sense of weight that never feels forced. With links to Late Night Fiction, We Never Learned To Live and Earth Moves, the band already carried strong musical histories into this project, but Growth feels like the moment those separate paths finally found a shared language.

The band are Phillip Morris (vocals, guitar), Sam Howe (guitar), Mark Portnoi (bass) and Ryan Browne (drums). You can hear their sense of shared purpose all over this record. The production gives the band plenty of room keeping everything grounded even when the songs reach for something bigger. Morris put it well when speaking about the album:

“Growth is the result of over two years of writing, refining and learning together as a band. The title reflects both life’s way of shaping us and our own journey as a group.”

Let’s dive in and see where in the wilderness we end up.

The opening cut ‘Sleepless’ sets the tone with real assurance. The guitars glow in the opening section. You can feel the late-night stillness in it, but also the agitation that sits underneath. When it opens up it does it gradually like its welcoming you in. It begins the album in a way that tunes your ear in the band first and foremost. It’s a glorious post rock number and it had me on first listen.

From there, ‘Happy Hollow’ naturally evolves out the echoes. There is a lonely inwardness to this one that feels very specific, as though the song is watching someone disappear into their own thoughts in real time. The arrangement has a gentleness to it, yet there is power in the guitars and in the way the vocals sit within the mix. I also want to “watch the X-Files all night” which helps lol.

By the time ‘[dread.]’ arrives, the energy is coming up. The title tells you plenty, but the band still leave space for the feeling to build in its own way. The song has a jittery, nervous energy as it whips along at pace. Only slowing for those expansive verses. I can imagine this one going off live.

‘English Darkness’ was already one of the key songs leading into the album, and hearing it in the context of the album flow only strengthens it. There is a haunted, regional quality to the song that gives it real identity. You can sense place all over it. Home, memory, mental strain and family history seem to sit together, uneasy bedfellows. The band never overplay those themes, rather they let the mood build through tone and pacing, and that restraint gives the song its force. It feels bruised, thoughtful and sharply observed.

One of the most striking titles on the record belongs to ‘Terrible Bloom’, and the song lives up to it. This is where desire and unease seem to wrap themselves around one another. The guitars feel fuller here, the emotional weather thickens, and the band lean into their more intimate sound without losing the largesse that has carried the album so far.

After that, ‘Maintenance’ brings a slightly different energy. There is wit in the writing here, but it comes with a tiredness that many listeners will recognise straight away. Small habits, private rituals and the strange business of keeping yourself going all sit inside the song. The band handle that idea with a lovely lightness of touch. The collage mask concept from the video makes sense once you hear the track in the wider context of the album.

Placed where it is, ‘Cassino’ works as a pause and a reflection. As another instrumental piece, it gives you a moment to think about what you’ve just heard while still adding to the emotional thread. The band don’t use it as filler track. Instead, it feels like a moment of family memory being held up to the light and turned over slowly. The textures are patient; the mood stays close. It is a smart piece of sequencing.

‘Four Hour Drive’ remains one of the strongest songs here, and it still cuts deep. Knowing it grew from a photograph of Morris’s father and grandfather gives it even greater weight. The drums drive this one. Setting the pace right from the outset. You can hear distance in it, but also duty, tenderness and the quiet pressure of inherited feeling. The arrangement is beautifully judged.

The album comes to a close with ‘Summertime, 1917’, and what a way to finish. Hidden love letters discovered during a house renovation already make for a remarkable point of origin, but the band treat that story with real care. It feels intimate and far away at the same time. Morris delivers the vocal with a sense of distance that suits the subject, while the band build around him with a patient hand. As a closer, it gathers together the album’s recurring concerns of grief, inheritance, care, memory and endurance in a way that feels full and deeply satisfying.

What stays with you after Growth ends is how fully Wildernesses commit to emotional detail. These songs are full of ordinary objects, family traces, small acts of survival and private reckonings, and that gives the record a rare honesty. The band understand scale as well as restraint. They know when to let a guitar ring out and when to leave room around a line. More importantly, they know how to make personal material feel open enough for your own memories to enter. That is what gives Growth its power. It feels rooted in grief and care, yet it keeps reaching toward connection. For a debut, that is some achievement. Wildernesses have made a record that keeps unfolding in your mind, and the title proves perfectly chosen because these songs keep growing for years to come.

Growth is out now via Floodlit Recordings. You can check it out over on the Wildernesses Bandcamp page.

You can follow Wildernesses on social media here…

Photo Credit

Joey Atchison

Studio Kosmische – Caramel

For me Studio Kosmische has always been a musical project built on curiosity and affection for sound. Dom Keen approaches music with the ears of someone who loves the past enough to keep asking fresh questions of it, and that makes this new 7 inch on Feral Child Recordings such a smart idea. ‘Caramel’ already carries real weight in kosmische history, first appearing on Cluster’s 1974 LP Zuckerzeit, where Hans Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius gave it that playful, slightly off-centre charm which still feels so alive all these decades later. What Keen does here is take that source material and treat it with care while also letting his own instincts shape the mood. You can hear the respect for the original, though you can also hear someone enjoying the freedom that comes with pulling an old piece of music into a new setting.

On the A side, ‘Crème Caramel’ opens things with a light touch that suits the title beautifully. Keen leans into the sweetness already sitting inside the composition and brings out its soft edges with a warm, glowing tone that feels intimate on first listen. The arrangement has a gentle pulse to it, enough to keep the track moving while still giving the melodic details room to swirl around. What I really like here is the sense of balance. Nothing feels overworked. Each sound is placed with care, and that gives the piece a calm confidence. If you know the Cluster version, you will recognise its bones straight away, though Keen gives it a smoother surface and a modern sort of warmth.

Flip it over and ‘Salted Caramel’ gives the idea a sharper edge. The sweetness is still there, though now it is being pushed against something more savoury and a little more mischievous. Keen introduces more bite into the textures and that change in flavour makes this pairing work as a proper two-sided statement rather than a simple alternate take. The rhythm feels a touch firmer, the atmosphere a little less cosy, and the whole thing has more eery tension running through it. You start to hear how flexible the original composition really is. One side offers softness and glow, the other brings a faint tang and a drier character. That contrast gives the single its shape and will keep you coming back for another go round on the turntable.

Keen has not chosen this piece at random. You can sense a real understanding of why ‘Caramel’ has endured and why it still speaks to musicians drawn to the kosmische sound. These reworks do exactly what a good reinterpretation should do. They send you back to the source with fresh ears while standing up on their own terms. For listeners already tuned into Roedelius, Moebius and that wider kosmische lineage, this will feel like a lovely nod. For anyone coming to the song for the first time, it works just as well as a small beautifully considered release that shows how much can be said in two short instrumental pieces.

Some singles are easy to admire once and file away. This one keeps you lingering over every last spoonful. Lip smacking good!

Caramel is out on Tuesday 31st March via Feral Child Recordings. You can check it out over on the Studio Kosmische Bandcamp page once it’s released.

You can follow Studio Kosmische on social media here…

Ringing – another cycle in the cosmic wash

My love affair with the bands of Julias War Recordings continues unabated with the sounds of Brooklyn’s Ringing. I swear to god this label has the midas touch.

Ringing are Colton Walker, Marcos Rocha and Josh Matthews, a trio who work in really immediate terms. Their debut album another cycle in the cosmic wash was recorded live in a single session back in 2024, and you can hear that immediacy in every track. Such was the haste at the time that Walker later removed the original lyrics after realising they were saying very little. What was left behind was a record that felt open, searching, and guided by sound rather than fixed meaning. Walker had this to say.

“The album reflects on the cyclical nature of recovery. Sometimes it’s easy to feel like you’re destined to repeat the same mistakes forever, but over time you start to recognize the pattern and learn how to navigate it. The important thing is to just keep going.”

Let’s keep going and dive headlong in to the spin cycle.

That sense of immediacy comes through straight away on ‘datamosh’, where smeared guitar tones blur into one another as the band settle into a loose, shifting groove. We teeter somewhere between shoegaze, grunge and slacker rock and it really works.

A more considered touch comes through on ‘pool 2’, where the guitars pace themselves with a stop start intent. I get big Sonic Youth vibes as the song evolves into its anti-melody phase. The drums and guitars settle into a mirrored thrashing rhythm before the song sputters out leaving us breathless.

If you caught my March DKFM Shoegaze Radio show you would’ve heard me spin ‘incandescent’. It plays with quiet loud quiet structure. It feels more accessible than some of the other tracks and is a great ‘in’ to the bands sound. The chugging guitar has ‘Coffee and TV’ vibes whilst simultaneously sounding nothing like it. This band really like to keep you on your toes.

On ‘rose/bud/thorn’ the band pull things back. Notes hang longer, the space between them becomes more noticeable. It creates a more reflective moment that has its own beauty. This is as close to a ballad you’re going to get from Ringing! Clocking in at over five minutes in run time the song takes its time and in doing so you find yourself getting more and more sucked in each time. Its my album highlight for sure.

We’re back in thrashy, scrappy territory with ‘familiar’. Right from the opening it feels like a track that will ignite the mosh pit. It’s not a long song by any means but it sure leaves its mark!

‘want2want2’ hits us with a doom-laden intro before mellowing out for the verses. That contrast is only further augmented by the textures used in those heavier passages. The bass is employing some kinda modulation that really thickens the sound up is a really pleasing way.

Unlike its predecessor ‘moria’ opens up all quiet and sneaky like. Then those guitar textures stretch outward, opening up the sound in a way that feels expansive. The rhythm section holds everything together without closing that space down. Another to the point number that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

With ‘straylight bleed’ the band lean further into fragmentation. Is it dreampop? Is it shoegaze? Is it Grunge? Yes is the answer. It’s all of that at oncw creating a restless feel that keeps you alert. It is one of the more abstract moments on the album, yet it still feels connected to the session as a whole.

A quieter intensity settles over ‘3am’. The band ease back and let small details come forward, each note carrying more weight as a result. It’s intimate without losing the sense of space that runs through the record. The rumbling bass never sounded more menacing.

By the time ‘delusion lake’ closes things out, Ringing seem content to let everything settle on its own terms. This sounds like a final track on an album if that makes sense. It feels like a culmination of all that’s come before. That ascending chord sequence really bringing that home.

Spending time with another cycle in the cosmic wash feels like stepping into a moment that was captured rather than carefully assembled. The live session approach gives it a real sense of presence. Each listen reveals small shifts in texture and interaction that are easy to miss the first time through. You come away with the sense that the cycle keeps turning, each pass through the wash bringing something new to the surface.

another cycle in the cosmic wash is out now on cassette via Julia’s War Recordings and on vinyl via Signal//Noise Records. You can check it out over on the Ringing Bandcamp page.

You can follow Ringing on social media here…

Cashier – The Weight EP

Cashier come straight out of Lafayette, Louisiana, where they have spent the last couple of years building their name the old-fashioned way, through singles that hit hard, live shows with giants of the modern guitar underground, and a sound that links grunge, shoegaze, post hardcore and alt rock without ever feeling pinned down by any one tag. Signing to Julia’s War Recordings (yes, I know, I know. I’m obsessed with this label) feels like a natural next step for them. It puts them among artists who understand how grit, melody and emotional force can coexist on the same record. What makes Cashiers The Weight EP stand apart is the directness at the centre of it all. Kylie Gaspard sings like every line has already sat in her chest for too long, while the band around her keep the songs tense, loud and sharply shaped. That band features on guitar Joseph Perillo, on bass guitar Austyn Wood and drummer Zachary Derouen.

Gaspard put it plainly when speaking about the title track.

“As the title track of the EP, I wanted to tie the themes of all the songs together. In this song, we wanted to create something that honoured the influences that came before us. While staying true to having the guitar as the focal point, the lyrics make this a coming-of-age piece, trying to find where we fit in this life, and how we long for connection.”

That sense of connection runs right through The Weight. Let’s dive in and see if we can connect too.

The first thing that hits you on ‘A Curse I Know So Well’ is the sense of urgency. It comes charging in with a wiry guitar line that feels ready to buckle under its own tension, then the whole band snaps into place around it. Gaspard sounds vital but measured, never overplaying the emotion, which gives the track even more bite. Perillo’s guitar work adds that extra scrape and sting around the edges while the rhythm section keep the song taut underneath. You can hear traces of nineties guitar music in the bones of it, but Cashier bring their own edge to it.

That energy carries into ‘Like I Do’, though this one feels leaner and more pointed. The guitars feel less like a wall and more like interlocking lines, each one pushing at the next while the drums keep everything moving with real purpose. This is one of those tracks where the band’s melodic instincts really show themselves. Underneath the distortion and grain, there is a song with real shape to it, one that sticks in your head long after it ends.

By the time ‘Part From Me’ lands, Cashier sound fully settled into their own language. The opening guitars have a clipped urgency that immediately raises the pulse, but the thing that stays with you is how emotional the whole performance feels without turning theatrical. The vocals have an ache that cuts right through the centre of the mix. The band sound huge here, but they also sound disciplined. Every chord, notably here played off the beat, feels chosen with care, every shift in volume there for a reason. It gives the track a sense of momentum that mirrors the song’s emotional subject, that painful back and forth of a connection starting to split while some part of you still wants to hold it together.

Then ‘For I Never Knew You’ changes the script. After three songs built around motion and melody, this brief noise piece feels like a jagged interruption.

‘Same Mistakes’ follows it with a slower, heavier emotional swing. This is one of the EP’s most affecting moments because it feels exhausted in a very human way. The guitars still swell and bite, but there is more space in the arrangement, more room for the weight of the lyric to settle. You can feel the song wrestling with repetition, with the frustration of seeing yourself stuck in old patterns and still walking back into them. The band match that feeling beautifully. The performance stays measured, letting the mood build gradually until the whole thing feels like it might cave in on itself.

The title track closes the EP with a sense of hard-won clarity. ‘The Weight’ gathers together the themes Cashier have been circling all along and gives them their fullest expression. The guitars soar more openly here, sounding broad and bright even as the song keeps its feet planted in uncertainty. Derouen’s drumming gives it a firm backbone, while Wood’s bass holds everything together beneath the swirl. It’s a coming-of-age song in the truest sense, full of longing, confusion, self-knowledge and the uneasy acceptance that growing older means carrying things you cannot simply shrug off. It closes the record on a note that feels both open and heavy, which is exactly where Cashier thrive.

These songs deal with desire, insecurity, disconnection and the awkward pain of trying to work out where you belong. Cashier give those feelings a physical form. You hear it in the guitars grinding against each other, in the rhythm section driving everything forward, and in the way the melodies still find daylight inside all that force.

What makes The Weight such a strong debut is the way Cashier keep emotion and volume in balance. They never let the songs collapse into murk, and they never sand down the rough edges that give this EP its character. You come away feeling like you have heard a band who understand how to turn messy inner life into something tangible, something you can feel in your chest as much as hear through the speakers. For a first statement, this is strikingly assured. Cashier sound ready for bigger rooms and even bigger stages, yet they still hold onto that DIY core that gives the songs their honesty. The Weight leaves its mark because Cashier know that growing up, falling short and carrying on all come with their own weight.

The Weight is out now on CD and Cassette via Julia’s War Recordings. You can check it out over on the Cashier Bandcamp page.

You can follow Cashier on social media here…

Photo Credit

Olivia Perillo

Geography of the Moon – Stay Clear Stay Sharp

Geography of the Moon have a special place in my heart. I often feel I get to experience their travels vicariously through their music.  Let me rewind for those new to their sound.

Since forming after meeting in East London back in 2016, the Glasgow based Scottish, Italian, French duo have put in serious miles, playing more than 1,400 shows across Europe and Asia and building a body of work that already includes the SAY nominated album Fake Flowers Never Die, their second album Aberdeen Hiroshima and the widely praised EP The Unraveling. Largely influenced by bands from the 80s and the 90s, somewhere between psych rock, post punk, new wave and indie rock, they create their own brand of mashed up styles: Psychwave. It’s important to know all this when you come to their new single ‘Stay Clear Stay Sharp’ because this single feels like the product of all that lived experience.

The band have this to say.

“Inspired in part by the events in Nepal, the song is dedicated to friends who fought — and won. “Stay Clear Stay Sharp” encourages listeners to remain alert, to look closely at the world around them and to resist the pull of political despair. Beneath its understated tone, the song carries a simple message: stay aware, stay engaged, and keep working toward a fairer system.”

I think we can all get behind that message! Let’s hit play.

The first thing that gets you is the pulse. Andrea locks into that fast four to the floor pattern and keeps it taut, giving the song a sense of forward motion that mirrors the track’s lyrical intent. You can hear how it grew from a live setting where the room itself forced the band to simplify and trust repetition. That decision pays off here. The guitar keeps the whole thing moving with a wiry insistence while the drum machine gives it that clipped, mechanical push Geography of the Moon do so well. Over the top of it all, Virginia sings / orates with a measured calm that makes the message feel even more pointed. She never overplays it. She lets the lines sit in the track and do their work.

Knowing the song was shaped by what the band witnessed in Nepal in September 2025 gives it even more weight, yet the brilliance of the single lies in how lightly it wears that context. If this is the first taste of the next record, then the album already feels like one to keep very close on your radar.

For long time followers, there is plenty here that will feel familiar in the best possible way. For newer listeners, this feels like an ideal point of entry just ahead of the album announcement. Geography of the Moon sound alert, focused and fully in command of their own vital corner of post punk. On this evidence, the next release deserves your full attention, and for now the smartest move is simple enough: stay clear, stay sharp people!

‘Stay Clear Stay Sharp’ is out on 26 March 2026 via Home Hearing Records. You can check it out upon release over on the Geography of the Moon Bandcamp page.

You can follow Geography of the Moon on social media here…

a murphy- haunt

I’m a bit of a late-night writer. It’s when I can get complete peace and quiet to focus on the amazing music I’m sent. Last week though I was casually scrolling through my Instagram feed when I heard a song that stopped me in my tracks. I sat there soaking up the wee clip the reel allowed me to hear before diving off to Bandcamp to hear more. There was something in the tone, something in the way the artist played their acoustic guitar that spoke to me. The artist was a murphy and I ended up sending him a message there and then. My instinct told me this album was gonna be special. I love it when I’m right.

Andrew James Murphy has been here before under the name amateur theatre group, building a quiet following through radio plays and festival appearances. He said that project felt like a return to music after a long absence. This new album, haunt. feels like what comes after that return, when the reasons for writing start to become clearer and more personal. These songs come from a place of reflection shaped by loss, tied closely to Murphy realising he has now lived as long without his father as he did with him. That knowledge sits with you every listen, yet it never overwhelms the music. Instead, it’s your window into understanding the songs.

The album opens with ‘intro’, mere seconds long. It’s the sound of the artist picking up his guitar and settling down to play. We’re ready to begin

‘lune’ opens things up proper and brings us into his world. The melody sits gently against a soft bed of instrumentation that leans into that slowcore and contemporary folk crossover. His voice carries a quiet clarity, never forcing emotion yet allowing it to come through in a natural way. Everything is a careful choice here. The picking style of the guitar, the muted brass section that closes the song its all so minimal yet has maximum impact.

With ‘hymnal’ the mood light dims. There is a reflective quality to the arrangement that mirrors the lyrical themes. “Lord, leave a light on, just to help me in the dark” he implores and you immediately connect. You can hear the influence of artists like Nick Drake and Low in the pacing and the openness of the sound. It feels devotional in its own way, like a conversation that he’s been having internally for years and is only now being put into words. You cannot help but be moved by the heart on your sleeve honesty on show.

‘rushes’ shifts things slightly; the insistent strumming pattern grabs you immediately. This feels like something completely new yet you still know where you are and who you’re listening to. The atmospheric snare drum rattles lend the track an anxious energy that gives your ear another layer to uncover. I’m reminded of the band Caroline in the sparse construction that simultaneously feels rich and full. This is where you notice how carefully Murphy has structured the record. Each track builds on what came before without breaking the spell.

‘untitled #1’ arrives a fragment, almost like a memory captured mid thought. There is something powerful in that lack of definition. It allows you to place your own experiences into the space it creates. These shorter, more abstract pieces give you a moment to absorb what you have felt and just be.

‘veneer’ stands out as one of the more direct moments on the record. Knowing the context behind it adds another layer. Andrew says,

“‘veneer’ is about the struggle to keep going during the most difficult moments of grieving, and to eschew the temptation to join the person who is no longer there. The verses draw comparisons between myself and my father – in this case the person the album is essentially about – while the chorus refrain is a call for help in order to survive.”

Anyone who has ever grieved will recognise those complex emotions in ‘veneer’. It’s constant heartbeat of the strummed guitar, the doubled vocals like the father’s voice echoed in his son. This is powerful songwriting and is undoubtedly my album stand out moment.

‘untitled #2’ mirrors the earlier untitled piece, acting as another pause point. It feels like turning a page slowly, taking a moment before moving forward. These interludes really help in shaping the overall flow, giving you time to sit with what you’ve just heard and felt.

The title track ‘haunt’ closes the album and brings everything together. There is a sense of acceptance here, though not in a neat or resolved way. It’s honest. “There’s a haunt in my makeup (And I’ll never be at peace with you)” The arrangement remains beautifully warm and understated, allowing the emotional weight of the song to come through without distraction. The finish the song he even captures the sound of him putting his guitar down again, perfectly bookending the listening experience.  As a closing statement it couldn’t be more perfect.

What stays with me after soaking up haunt for a few days now is how gently it holds something so heavy. These songs earn your attention though meticulous songwriting and stunning performances. You end up feeling different lines landing in new ways depending on where your own head is at that moment. That, for me, is such a rare thing. It speaks to a record that will grow with you as time goes on. I feel like I’ve been trusted with something personal, something that took time to shape and even longer to understand. It also left me with a question sitting in the back of my mind. How do you carry loss while still moving forward? Murphy doesn’t try to answer it for us. He simply shares his side of it and that’s where we meet him. In that common space where we can call all recognise a part of our story in his.

haunt is out now on 10” lathe cut vinyl and cassette. You can check it out over on the a murphy Bandcamp page.

You can follow a murphy on social media here…

Harvey Rushmore & The Octopus – Mindsuckers

I don’t get a lot of out of left field submissions for the blog but Swiss psychedelic band Harvey Rushmore & The Octopus sit right in that space. The quartet of Jonathan Meyer, Jakob Läser, Massimo Tondini and Stefan Cecere have spent more than fifteen years circling each other through various projects before settling into this formation. That long history together shows in the way the band operate. There is trust in the playing and they all seem comfortable following each other wherever the groove leads.

Across their first three albums the band developed a sound rooted in fuzz guitars, kraut rhythms and the sun scorched glow of sixties surf. Their 2022 record Freedomspacecake leaned heavily into that bright psychedelic side and the band took those songs across Europe on a run of shows that turned plenty of heads. Mindsuckers arrives after that touring cycle with a noticeable shift in mood. The guitars still carry that familiar psychedelic bite yet the atmosphere feels darker and more unsettled. Old horror cinema, B movies and strange visions of the near future seep into the record. It feels like the soundtrack to a late-night screening where the film flickers between past and future while the band hold the room in a hypnotic trance.

Let’s dive in and see where it takes us.

The album opens with ‘Wet Rabbit’ and straight away the band pull you into their world. A steady motorik pulse locks in beneath a swirl of guitar and synth. The rhythm section keeps everything tight while the guitar lines snake through the mix. It carries that classic krautrock sense of forward motion where the groove does the talking. This opener reminds me of an amped up West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.

‘Hope’ follows with a slightly brighter tone though the sense of unease remains. The keys shimmer across the track while the thrashing guitars lean closer to garage rock territory. The song balances melody with a restless energy. You can totally hear how the band’s live experience feeds into these recordings. The groove sits comfortably yet there is always the feeling that the band might push things further at any moment.

‘Bitterkraut’ feels like a nod to the band’s love of motor driven psychedelia. The drums settle into a hypnotic pattern while the guitars form a dense wall of fuzz. The song stretches its legs and lets repetition work its magic. Small changes inside the arrangement keep the listener hooked as the track gathers momentum.

Up next ‘Painting Colours’ shifts the pace slightly. The opening guitar line carries a loose surf flavour that links back to the band’s earlier work. Acoustic guitar gives the track a more organic vibe. That familiar brightness flickers through the song though before darker textures start creeping into the background. Those synth tones colour the edges of the track and give it a slightly dreamlike quality.

‘Moon Reject’ pushes deeper into the shadowy side of the album. The groove slows and the atmosphere thickens. Fans of Pink Floyd will adore this track. Slide guitar weeps while the rest of the band’s sound grows heavier. The rhythm section hold steady to create a steady pulse that feels almost ritualistic. The band sound completely locked together here.

From the moon to the clouds next with ‘Cloud Driver’ opening with a somewhat gentler touch. The guitars ring out clearly while the rhythm moves at a measured pace. The song explores the fragile space between connection and disillusion. As the track unfolds the band gradually thicken the sound until the whole thing explodes in a psychedelic wig out. It’s one of the more reflective moments on the album and it adds an important contrast within the record’s flow.

Pulling us straight back into darker territory is ‘Acid River’. The bass and percussion drive the track forward while the guitars rise and fall around the groove. The song has a cinematic quality. You can picture the band performing it beneath swirling projections while the rhythm locks the audience into its hypnotic pattern.

‘Cosmic Waves’ feels expansive and slightly hallucinatory. The guitars stretch out and the synth textures float around the rhythm section. This is far out and trippy in the best way possible. The band show their patience here, letting the track evolve slowly while the tightest of grooves holds everything together.

The closing track ‘Mindsucker’ brings the album full circle. The song carries a darker edge. Drum machine pulses, shadowy guitar lines and eerie textures combine to create something that feels part psych rock and part strange horror soundtrack. It closes the album with a lingering sense of mystery, like the final scene of a film where the lights come up yet the images stay with you long after the credits roll.

Mindsuckers captures a band who know exactly how to balance groove, atmosphere and melody. Harvey Rushmore & The Octopus continue to pull ideas from the past while shaping them into something that feels alive in the present moment. The record moves between hypnotic repetition and bursts of psychedelic colour with a confidence that comes from years of playing together. By the time the final notes fade you realise the band have quietly pulled you into their world and left you happily under the spell of the Mindsuckers.

Mindsuckers is out now via Taxi Gauche Records. You can check it out over on the Harvey Rushmore & The Octopus Bandcamp page.

You can follow Harvey Rushmore & The Octopus on social media here…

Golden Hours – Beyond Wires

Those legends over at Fuzz Club are at it again. More amazing hitting my inbox this time from Golden Hours.  The group pulls together players whose histories run through Gang of Four, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Tricky and The Fuzztones. That sort of musical history should give you an idea of the calibre of musicians involved in this project. When Golden Hours first appeared in 2023 with their self-titled debut they sounded like a project still finding its centre. Beyond Wires, their second album for Fuzz Club, feels like the moment the pieces truly lock together.

Based between Berlin and Brussels, the quartet of Hákon Aõalsteinsson, Wim Janssens, Tobias Humble and Rodrigo Fuentealba Palavacino operate with two lead vocalists sharing the record. Odd numbered songs fall to Hákon while Wim takes the even ones. It creates an intriguing rhythm across the album. Voices shift while the sonics stay very much connected. Twin guitars coil through layers of fuzz while bass and drums hold everything tight. Underneath that core sit synths, percussion and ghostly textures that slip in and out of the mix. The result carries shades of post punk, darkwave and psych rock without feeling tied to any one tradition.

Let’s drop the needle and see where we go.

‘Whatever Happens Today’ opens the album with a slow sense of anticipation. Instantly it feels cinematic. The guitars trade in shimmering licks, vocals are dark and brooding. The band sound confident from the first moments. The drums are on point, creating room for the bass by shaping a stunning poly rhythmic shuffle. Man, what an opening.  

Up next ‘Heading For The Moon’ brings a more direct and visceral approach. The vocal carries a dry direct tone that suits the churning guitars beneath them. Once again, I really need to shout out the drums. Always moving, always interesting. When we head into the chorus it feels like we’re taking off. Great use of dynamics throughout.

Not content with settling in one place ‘Arctic Desert’ expands the atmosphere again. The guitars stretch into long ringing notes that echo through the track while the rhythm moves with deliberate weight. There is a sense of isolation in the arrangement. Each instrument feels placed with care so you can enjoy each and every twist and turn.

‘The Letter’ arrives with the urgency of a band tightening the screws. Built around fuzz coated guitar melodies, the song hits with purpose. The vocal delivery remains calm even as the instrumentation surges beneath. The contrast works well. The track carries a dark narrative of frustration and mental pressure which gives the song its emotional centre. It might be an obscure reference but I get hints of Edinburgh School For The Deaf in the verses.

We settle into a hypnotic psychedelic groove on ‘Book Of Lies’. The voice sits low in the mix while the guitars hold the line, circling around a repeating pattern. The rhythm section locks it down, tight as a drum with quiet determination. It is only in the choruses that we get the release as the song erupts before being locked back down again.

Drums lead the way on ‘The Same Thing’. Things pivot toward movement again. The bassline falling in line filling out the rhythm section, driving the track forward while the lead guitar adds sharp accents. Guitars flicker around the rhythm like sparks. It’s a lean and purposeful track and shows the breadth and depth of these amazing musicians.

‘Voices’ drops the pace just a little. Arriving like a lumbering beast it asserts itself immediately. Deep deep vocals and chiming reverb-soaked guitars that swell and ebb battle for your attention. This is as close you’re getting to a ballad because this band mean business.

‘Train I Ride’ restores the momentum. The song moves with the steady pulse of its title. Guitar lines are minimal as the rhythm section keeps everything on track (excuse the pun). There is a hypnotic quality here and I really love the use of an acoustic guitar to add another aural texture to their palate.

You’d be forgiven for thinking you were about to hear a new Robert Smith song with the title ‘Pray For Darkness’. Sure, enough it leans deeper into the band’s gothic roots. The guitars carry a darker resonance while the rhythm pushes forward with force. The track balances mood and melody in a way that feels central to Golden Hours’ identity. Uncle Bob would approve!

‘The Water’s Fine’ closes out the album with a sense of calm resolution. The arrangement opens up and allows the guitars to ring out clearly. The vocal carries a quiet reassurance that rounds the album off with warmth after the tension of the earlier songs.

Beyond Wires reveals a band operating with real clarity of purpose. Every player understands their role, yet each part still finds space to breathe and stretch out. The twin vocal approach keeps the album moving while the guitars, bass and drums build a sound that feels rich without ever becoming cluttered. There are nods to the darker corners of post punk history, flashes of psychedelia, and moments of hypnotic groove that pull you deeper with each listen. By the time the final track fades out you realise this record has quietly wrapped its wires around you.

Beyond Wires is out now via Fuzz Club. You can check it out over on the Golden Hours Bandcamp page.

You can follow Golden Hours on social media here…

Snowcuffs – Sweet Gravity EP

Chicago has long been a favourite shoegaze city of mine. You can trace a line from the city’s heavy underground to its long-standing shoegaze and dream pop communities, and Snowcuffs sit right in that lineage. Formed in late 2022 by members of Lightfoils and Astrobrite, the five-piece arrived with Sink Down in 2025 and quickly showed they knew what real gaze was. That debut EP carried real poise. It earned them slots alongside Cold Gawd, Seashine and Cigarettes for Breakfast and a strong showing at Kalamashoegazer.

Now they return with Sweet Gravity, a second EP that feels more assured in its identity. Stephanie Nikolas handles vocals with clarity and restraint. Neil Yodnane and Weasel Elliott share guitar duties, building layered lines that move between clean, icy patterns and full-bodied distortion. Sarah Sterling’s bass anchors the songs with a low end that anchors everything and Mike Hoyt’s drums snap with purpose. The EP sounds expansive without losing detail. Each instrument has room to breathe while still contributing to a unified whole.

Let’s dive in and see what’s what.

‘Burst’ opens the record with real attitude. The band describe it as a meditation on identity and indecision, inspired by Sylvia Plath’s fig tree metaphor in The Bell Jar. That literary reference might feel lofty on paper, yet the song grounds it in something immediate. The guitars chime and swell while the rhythm section keeps everything taut. I love the melody which is a bit of a call and response from the vocal and the guitars. We’re off to a cracking start.

Up next is ‘In Blue’. From the first bars, the interplay between the two guitars becomes the focus. One traces a cool, minimal line while the other fills the edges with textural layers. The bass sits low and steady, giving the track a sense of scale. As it moves toward its climax, the song takes on this euro vibe. Like a soundtrack to a lost French arthouse film.

The intro to ‘Sunless’ does that neat trick of starving out ears of bottom end so that when the bass kicks in we feel it in our chests. The lyrics circle themes of absence and reflection, and the arrangement mirrors that introspection. You can hear how much attention has gone into dynamics. The chorus in particular is has a that contrast between the drive and thrust of the guitars and drums against the longing of the vocal delivery. Very cool.

‘Cold Memories’ closes the EP with it all left out there. Hoyt’s drumming here is next level. I am always totally tuned in to it when I listen to this track. The bassline is warm and resonant beneath the higher guitar textures. As the final notes fade, you are left with no doubt that Snowcuffs have taken a decisive step forward from their debut.

Taken as a whole, Sweet Gravity feels like the sound of a band settling into their stride. The songwriting feels tighter, the arrangements feel more confident, and each member finds the right space within the mix. Nikolas carries the emotional thread through the record with a vocal delivery that stays calm and clear even when the guitars rise around her. The guitars shape the EP with layers of shimmer and distortion while Sterling and Hoyt keep everything grounded with a rhythm section that feels locked in from the first note. Four songs in, it becomes clear that Snowcuffs are building something with real direction. If Sink Down introduced the band, Sweet Gravity shows exactly where they’re heading next.

Sweet Gravity is out now. You can check it out over on the Snowcuffs Bandcamp page.

You can follow Snowcuffs on social media here…

Photo Credit

David Ritter

Premiere – AIMING – First At The Accident

Today on Static Sounds Club I have the pleasure of sharing a world premiere. The new single ‘First at the accident’ from Yorkshire outfit AIMING arrives here first, giving us an early look at the next chapter in the band’s story. If you have been keeping an eye on the ever-reliable Blackjack Illuminist Records roster you will already know the name. AIMING have steadily built momentum through a blend of shoegaze textures, post punk energy and carefully layered electronics. Early releases such as ‘Brainiac’ introduced a band with a strong ear for atmosphere and melody, recorded and produced within their own York studio setup.

‘First at the Accident’ lands ahead of the upcoming Sail & Wreck EP, due later in March, and it reveals another side of AIMING’s songwriting. If the earlier material leaned toward guitar led haze, this track moves confidently into synth driven territory while keeping that emotional core firmly intact.

From the opening moments you can hear the care that has gone into the sound design. Vintage synths glow with a soft neon warmth while reverberant guitar lines shimmer across the mix. The rhythm carries a steady pulse that gives the track a subtle forward motion without ever rushing the mood. AIMING have always shown a knack for layering textures and here that instinct pays off. The arrangement breathes easily, each element given space to settle and build.

The vocal performance is where the song really lands. That unmistakably English delivery brings a quiet sense of reflection to the lyrics. The song centres on the slow collapse of a relationship and the emotional confusion that follows. It captures that moment when two people recognise the cracks forming yet keep trying to convince themselves everything can still be repaired.

What I enjoy most is how chilled it is. AIMING never force the emotion. The words sit naturally within the arrangement and allow the listener to step inside the story. Images appear quietly through the verses. Laughing at strangers while holding yourself tight. Crying in suburban living rooms while the television flickers. Searching for meaning in half painted graffiti. These details create a sense of real life unfolding inside the song rather than a grand dramatic statement.

Musically the band strike a lovely balance between electronic glow and guitar atmosphere. The synthwave influence adds colour while the guitars keep everything grounded in the dream pop and shoegaze world AIMING first emerged from. It feels like a natural step forward and hints that the upcoming EP will broaden their sonic palette even further.

For listeners who followed the band through The Legend EP, this single confirms that AIMING continue to refine their sound with confidence and care. Their ability to pair reflective songwriting with immersive production keeps growing stronger with each release.

‘First at the Accident’ receives its world premiere today here on Static Sounds Club ahead of the upcoming Sail & Wreck EP.

The single arrives via Blackjack Illuminist Records. You can keep up with AIMING and their upcoming releases through the AIMING Bandcamp page.

You can follow AIMING on their socials here….