Live music – Page 4 – 7th Level Music

American Sharks are “Not Dead Yet” thanks to their new single.

Austin trio American Sharks drop a new single today, the title track to their first new album in 6 years, Not Dead Yet. The song, “Not Dead Yet” is available to hear and share on all DSPs HERE.

The band returns to the stage this week with two special performances at SXSW in Austin. First, Hotel Vegas’ 15th Anniversary Party on March 12th, and at Sagebrush for Duel Step with Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol on Friday the 13th. American Sharks will be main support on the upcoming full U.S. tour dates with Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol beginning in April. Please see all dates below. Tickets for all shows are available HERE.

American Sharks is a three-piece band hailing from Austin, TX. Their punk-metal hybrid sound blends pop hooks with blasting-yer-face riffs resulting in something akin to if Weezer went Stoner Rock. Coupled with hook-laden singalong lyrics, American Sharks’ forthcoming 2026 album Not Dead Yet is, well, a breathtaking return.

The band is joined on the album by special guest guitar soloists: Mike Derks (GWAR), Zach Blair (Rise Against), Kyle Shutt (The Sword), David Sullivan (Red Fang), and Leo Lydon (Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol).

Since the release of their 2013 self-titled debut album, American Sharks has toured extensively supporting the likes of GWAR, Clutch, The Sword, Red Fang, Big Business, Corrosion of Conformity and many others. After touring to support their debut album on The End Records, American Sharks took time off to write and record their self-produced follow up album, 11:11 on BMG. After a 5 year break, American Sharks are back (centered around founders, vocalist/bassist Roky Moon and drummer Nick Cornetti) with 9 fast-paced, pummeling tracks.

Not Dead Yet will be available on LP, CD and download on April 17th, 2026 via Permanent Teeth.

Pre-orders are available HERE.

AMERICAN SHARKS – LIVE 2026:

04/16 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater *#

04/17 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge *

04/18 Kalispell, MT – Rocky Mountain Riff Fest

04/19 Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern *

04/20 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios *

04/22 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of The Hill *

04/23 Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon *

04/25 San Diego, CA – The Casbah *

04/26 Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s *

04/28 Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge *

05/01 Oklahoma City, OK – Resonant Head *#

05/02 Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck *#

05/03 Omaha, NE – Reverb *#

05/04 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry *#

05/06 Milwaukee, WI – Falcon Bowl *#

05/07 St. Louis, MO – Blueberry Hill Duck Room *#

05/08 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle *#

05/09 Cleveland, OH – Mahall’s *#

05/10 Toronto, ON – The Garrison *

05/12 Montreal, QC – Cabaret Foufs *

05/13 Boston, MA – Sonia *

05/15 Brooklyn, NY – TV Eye *

05/17 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s *

05/18 Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery *

05/20 Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre *

05/22 Atlanta, GA – The Earl *

05/23 Nashville, TN – The Blue Room *

* w/ Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol

# w/ Pink Fuzz

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous releases first batch of their 2026 lineup.

COSMIC SONIC RENDEZVOUS hits North Brooklyn on May 23rd/24th at The Brooklyn Monarch. LIMITED early-bird weekend passes available NOW.

From the dark and menacing riffs of Pentagram and Eyehategod to the sky-gazing grooves of Dead Meadow and Al-Qasar, guitar driven explorations of the best psych and heavy rock will take over an industrial Brooklyn block for one lovely weekend in May.

It’s a Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous.

Teepee Records is thrilled to welcome:

Pentagram
Eyehategod
Legions of Doom
Dead Meadow
The Obsessed
Al-Qasar
Sacri Monti
The Atomic Bitchwax
Freedom Hawk
Satan’s Satyrs
Casket Rats
Sun Voyager
The Golden Grass
Worshipper
Carousel
Mirror Queen
Black Moon Cult
Mick’s Jaguar
Cat’s Eye
River Cult
Dead Hits
and more to be announced

Venues: The Brooklyn Monarch; The Meadows; The Woodshop
Website: cosmicsonicfest.com

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Jason at Teepee Records.]

Live: LCD Soundsystem and Automatic – Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL – March 07, 2026

This was the third performance of a four-night residency at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago for LCD Soundsystem. They’d done this a couple years ago, and like the last time I saw them here, all four nights were sold out. It was cold and windy, and all the bars and restaurants in the area were packed, so my fiancée and I waited in the sharp wind with everyone else to get a decent spot on the ballroom floor. Much to my delight, I learned from a guy behind us that Automatic was opening the show.

I hadn’t seen Automatic since I’d caught them at Levitation France a couple years ago, so I was surprised to see someone other than Lola Dompé on drums. I’ve since learned that she’s left the band, and their new boy drummer’s name is still unknown to me. Regardless, he won me over with his Kraftwerk shirt and precision drumming. Meanwhile, lead singer / synth player Izzy Glaudini and bassist / vocalist Halle Saxon were having a fun time. Saxon’s fretless bass riffs are impressive and the crowd was solidly with them by the end of their set.

LCD Soundsystem came out to a packed house, but thankfully everyone seemed to have room to dance. They started out with “Oh Baby,” which brought the crowd to an early frenzy when spotlights hit their trademark giant disco ball during the song’s big, bright moment.

“You Wanted a Hit” was a nice one. I didn’t expect to hear it, and following it with “Tribulations” was great. I’d forgotten how good “Tonite” is, as it features some of James Murphy’s best lyrics (if you ask me).

“I Can Change” always delivers, and “Other Voices” was another surprise. The whole band was clicking, hopping around on various instruments the whole time. LCDSS is a big group, and the amount of gear on stage with them is impressive (and a good chunk of it is vintage synths that are difficult to find or afford). “Losing My Edge” had a fuzzy grit to it that I loved.

The encore included “North American Scum,” which feels more appropriate than ever in 2026, and the classics, “Dance Yrself Clean,” “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down,” and “All My Friends.” It was a solid end to a solid show all-around, and a great way for me to kick off my 2026 concert season.

My fiancée, who fell in love with them when we last saw them, said, “They feel like a family.” when they play. That’s accurate. The camaraderie between all of them on stage is splendid and almost pulls the audience up there with them.

Unseen in this photo: At least four other band members manning bass, percussion, and synths.

Keep your mind open.

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Miss Grit’s new single is a “Mind Disaster.”

Miss Grit—the project of New York-based, Korean-American musician Margaret Sohn (they/she)—releases “Mind Disaster,” the third single from their forthcoming album, Under My Umbrella, out April 24th via Mute. Following the “trippy, futuristic electronica” (The Forty-Five) of “Tourist Mind” and the “dreamy electro-pop track” (Stereogum), “Stranger,” “Mind Disaster” is a warped lullaby that swells and swoops with fizzing drums, dramatic choir pads, a heady electronic pulse, and euphoric synths, evoking a raw electronic sound. It’s about trying to wrestle free of the social anxiety that comes with being overwhelmed by others.

Margaret describes “Mind Disaster” as “the one that really helped create the palette for the rest of the album for me. It’s my favorite instrumental on the record and so many good friends helped make it happen.” Some of those friends include electronic visionary and film scorer Sae Heum Han (mmph), producer Luciano Rossi (Mui Zyu), drummer Preston Fulks (Momma), and Aron Kobayashi Ritch (Momma), who mixed the whole record.

Watch the Visualizer for “Mind Disaster”

Sohn is a bold experimentalist and architect of sculptural texture, known for deftly moving between analogue and digital, guitar and synths, and creating an immersive cosmos of sound with futuristic frameworks for their searching introspection. For their second full-length album, Under My Umbrella, they’ve lifted the lid on their internal world, lasering in on the anxieties and heartbreak of the past two years. It’s an album that is as immersive and expansive as it is intimate, channeling the noirish atmosphere of classic trip-hop bands, while adding a hefty dose of maximalism and a dream-pop sensibility.

Under My Umbrella began to take shape when Sohn returned from an intense touring schedule where they’d driven themself around North America totally alone. When they returned home, Sohn found themselves yearning to capture that specific, less restrained energy of playing live. Like Follow The Cyborg, its creation mostly took place in Sohn’s Queens apartment. The music came to them quickly, streams of consciousness with one new guiding principle: don’t overthink it. “I tried not to edit too much or force a moment to happen,” they explain, leaning into big choruses where it felt right. Some guitar sounds were first takes, ditto vocals, thus preserving the immediacy and authenticity of the emotion. As such, it’s a densely layered album, charged with electric crescendos that build to moments of unbridled catharsis. “It feels truer to myself, and more of a representation of what is actually coming out of me,” says Sohn.

Miss Grit will play record release shows in NYC on Friday, April 24th at Nightclub 101 and Los Angeles on Saturday, May 2nd at Scribble. Prior, Sohn will appear at Rough Trade in NYC for an acoustic set and signing with free entry along with a pre-order of the album. Fans can RSVP here. Additionally, there will be a listening party for the album at Yu and Me Books in NYC on Saturday, April 18th.

In May, Miss Grit will support Just Mustard on their North American tour. A full list of dates is below.Under My Umbrella will be available digitally and on limited-edition crystal clear vinyl and CD.

Pre-order Under My Umbrella

Watch the Visualizer for “Stranger”

Watch Video for “Tourist Mind”

Miss Grit Tour Dates:
(New Dates in Bold)
Fri. April 24 – New York, NY @ Nightclub 101
Sat. May 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Scribble
Fri. May 8 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern *
Sat. May 9 – Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret *
Sun. May 10 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall *
Tue. May 12 – San Francisco, CA @ Café Du Nord *
Thu. May 14 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
Sat. May 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour *
Sun. May 17 –Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar *
Tue. May 19 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge *
Thu. May 21 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle *
Sat. May 23 – Toronto, ON @ Garrison *
Sun. May 24 – Montreal, QC @ Bar le Ritz *
Fri. May 29 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s *
Sat. May 30 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd *

* = supporting Just Mustard

Keep your mind open.

[You not subscribing feels like a disaster in my mind.]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: “Soul to Soul” soundtrack (2025 reissue)

This reissue of the 1971 concert film Soul to Soul soundtrack (not to mention the Blu-Ray) is a treasure. It’s packed with jams, grooves, and funk.

“Hi, everybody!” says Tina Turner to start off the concert. After the reply, she says, “We’re gonna go to work now,” and, boy, does she, Ike Turner, and their band ever do it. The title track is a flat-out rocker with Ike Turner’s guitar chugging out a steady riff while Tina sings, “This is where it all came from, the rhythm that will turn you on.” to the Ghanaian crowd who were going bonkers from the first note. “River Deep – Mountain High” has Tina belting out fierce proclamations of love while the band almost struggles to keep up. They then drop a blues classic, “I Smell Trouble,” and Tina’s voice becomes a whole different instrument that probably had everyone in the audience spellbound.

Already off to a blazing start, The Voices of East Harlem come on next with “Run, Shaker Life” and keep the fire burning. Their version of the gospel classics “Choose Your Seat and Set Down” and “Walk All Over Heaven” are lively and exciting. Les McCann and Eddie Harris‘ cover of “The Price You Gotta Pay to Be Free” is so damn groovy that it’s difficult to describe. That Hammond B3 organ, the slick bass, the jazz drums, and the psychedelic guitar all combine to give you quite a thrill.

The Staple Singers next take the stage with one of their classics – “When Will We Be Paid?” “Are You Sure?” is another gospel classic that they deliver with power and love before going into the revival-ready “He’s Alright.”

Santana then comes on with a different sound altogether, but no less energy. “Jungle Strut” has the whole place jumping and Carlos Santana shredding. This live version of “Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen” blends Latin and African rhythms into a wild psych-rock jam. Santana’s guitar sounds great. The mix of this is well-done.

Wilson Pickett comes out to wrap it up with three of his classics: “In the Midnight Hour,” “Funky Broadway,” and “Land of 1,000 Dances.” His horn section earns their pay right away on the first track, sounding funky and triumphant. Pickett gets the crowd singing with him on the second, and by the third he’s practically leading a gospel revival and has the place almost in a riot.

Again, this is a treasure of good stuff. The full concert event was over fourteen hours long. I don’t know if we’ll ever see or hear all of it, but it must have been a great experience judging from this record.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Randy at Prime Mover Media.]

A Place to Bury Strangers drop “Acid Rain” on all of us.

New-York based band A Place To Bury Strangers release “Acid Rain,” the second single from their new rarities album, Rare And Deadly, out April 3rd via Dedstrange. Following lead single, “Everyone’s The Same,” “Acid Rain” was born out of the first Trump presidency and pulses with unruly energy.

Reflecting on the track and era, Oliver Ackerman says; “Cruelty felt not just normalized, but weaponized. Watching people in power openly coerce others into silence, compliance, and violence was horrifying, and still is. What shook me most was how casual it all felt, how easily people turned their heads while others were being crushed.” In the song’s opening lines, Ackerman sings: “Cover your eyes // Cover your face // Walk in line // Don’t embrace.”

He continues: “The chanting at the beginning was recorded during the George Floyd protests in Manhattan and Brooklyn, real voices, real streets, real fear mixed with hope. For a moment, it felt like maybe people would finally wake up and refuse this racist machinery. But here we are, still watching detention centers, modern slavery, and countless other atrocities continue under different names. ‘Acid Rain’ is rage, grief, and disbelief all colliding at once, the sound of watching history repeat itself while knowing exactly how wrong it is.”

The accompanying video was shot on January 16th, 2026, for one song, one stop and a bridge. A Place to Bury Strangers took over the New York City subway and turned it into a moving stage for a raucous rendition of “Acid Rain.” The track detonates in real time as the train makes its way through the Williamsburg Bridge into the Lower East Side, no choreography, no script. All this industrial pulse and feedback over screeching train tracks was shot guerrilla-style, this video is not a reenactment. It’s a live wire running through a frozen subway car of lucky witnesses who showed up anyway. Bold, relentless and built to last. New York at its finest.

Watch the “Acid Rain” Video

Rare and Deadly cracks open a decade-long vault of raw nerve and sonic chaos from A Place To Bury Strangers. Spanning 2015–2025, this collection of demos, B-sides, abandoned experiments, and forgotten fragments reveals the band at their most unfiltered—caught between breakthrough ideas and beautiful mistakes. Pulled from Ackermann’s personal archive of late-night recordings, blown-out tapes, and half-finished sessions, here the interference is closer, the electricity more dangerous, the edges left jagged on purpose.

What makes Rare and Deadly truly unprecedented is that every format tells a different story. The CD, cassette, vinyl, and digital editions each feature their own unique tracklisting, a fractured release strategy that is almost unheard of. No single version contains the “complete” album. Instead, each format becomes its own window into the archive, revealing alternate paths, missing links, and parallel versions of the band’s inner life. It’s a deliberately unstable document: the album shifts depending on how you choose to hear it, mirroring the chaos of its creation.

Across these recordings, you can hear the evolution of Ackermann’s restless mind. Some pieces feel like prototypes for future chaos, seeds that later bloomed on studio albums. Others are dead ends—ideas too volatile, too strange, or too personal to ever fit the frame of a proper release. But together they form a secret history of the band, a parallel world of possibilities that existed just outside the spotlight. The tracks contain riffs mutated by malfunctioning pedals, songs born from gear pushed past its limits, or delicate melodies overwhelmed by walls of feedback until only their ghosts remain.

Rare and Deadly is less a compilation and more a documentary—an aural snapshot of how sound takes shape before it hardens into something finished. You hear the room, the accidents, the restless experimentation, the immediacy of a moment being captured before it disappears. It’s a reminder that A Place To Bury Strangers has always thrived in this in-between space: the tension between control and collapse, melody and noise, beauty and distortion.

Pre-order Rare And Deadly

Watch:
“Acid Rain” video
“Everyone’s The Same” video

Rare And Deadly Tracklists Per Format

A Place To Bury Strangers Tour Dates:
Tue. April 7 – Hamburg, DE @ MS Stubnitz
Wed. April 8 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
Thu. April 9 – Praha, CZ @ Futurum Music Bar
Fri. April 10 – Brno-město, CZ @ Kabinet múz
Sat. April 11 – Bratislava, SK @ PINK WHALE BAR
Sun. April 12 – Budapest, HU @ A38
Mon. April 13 – Belgrade, RS @ Karmakoma
Tue. April 14 – Sofia, BG @ Mixtape 5
Wed. April 15 – București, RO @ Control Club
Fri. April 17 – Thessaloniki, GR @ Eightball Club
Sat. April 18 – Athina, GR @ Gazarte
Mon. April 20 – Rome, IT @ Monk Club
Tue. April 21 – Florence, IT @ Ex Fila
Wed. April 22 – Bologna, IT @ Social Center TPO
Thu. April 23 – Milan, IT @ Santeria
Fri. April 24 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Sun. April 26 – Brussels, BE @ Magasin 4
Mon. April 27 – Cologne, DE @ Gebäude 9
Wed. April 29 – Utrecht, NL @ De Helling
Thu. April 30 – Deventer, NL @ Burgerweeshuis
Fri. May 1 – Eindhoven, NL @ Fuzz Club Festival 2026

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

A Place to Bury Strangers set to release “Rare and Deadly” rarities album on April 03, 2026.

New-York based band A Place To Bury Strangers announce their new rarities album, Rare And Deadly, out April 3rd via Dedstrange, and release the lead single, “Everyone’s The Same.” Following 2024’s Synthesizer, Rare and Deadly cracks open a decade-long vault of raw nerve and sonic chaos from A Place To Bury Strangers. Spanning 2015–2025, this collection of demos, B-sides, abandoned experiments, and forgotten fragments reveals the band at their most unfiltered—caught between breakthrough ideas and beautiful mistakes. Pulled from Oliver Ackermann’s personal archive of late-night recordings, blown-out tapes, and half-finished sessions, these tracks pulse with the unruly energy that has always defined APTBS, but here the interference is closer, the electricity more dangerous, the edges left jagged on purpose.

What makes Rare and Deadly truly unprecedented is that every format tells a different story. The CD, cassette, vinyl, and digital editions each feature their own unique tracklisting, a fractured release strategy that is almost unheard of. No single version contains the “complete” album. Instead, each format becomes its own window into the archive, revealing alternate paths, missing links, and parallel versions of the band’s inner life. It’s a deliberately unstable document: the album shifts depending on how you choose to hear it, mirroring the chaos of its creation.

Across these recordings, you can hear the evolution of Ackermann’s restless mind. Some pieces feel like prototypes for future chaos, seeds that later bloomed on studio albums. Others are dead ends—ideas too volatile, too strange, or too personal to ever fit the frame of a proper release. But together they form a secret history of the band, a parallel world of possibilities that existed just outside the spotlight. The tracks contain riffs mutated by malfunctioning pedals, songs born from gear pushed past its limits, or delicate melodies overwhelmed by walls of feedback until only their ghosts remain, as on today’s single, “Everyone’s The Same.”

Reflecting on the track, Ackerman says: “I had a dream where a man led me to a brook, peaceful and calm. When he turned his head slightly, I saw the most evil smile imaginable. But when I looked directly at him, it was just the back of his head again. Beauty and horror coexisting in the same space. It felt like hell leaking into something serene. Maybe that’s reality sometimes. And maybe pretending otherwise is a kind of survival.”

Stream “Everyone’s The Same”

Rare and Deadly is less a compilation and more a documentary—an aural snapshot of how sound takes shape before it hardens into something finished. You hear the room, the accidents, the restless experimentation, the immediacy of a moment being captured before it disappears. It’s a reminder that A Place To Bury Strangers has always thrived in this in-between space: the tension between control and collapse, melody and noise, beauty and distortion.

Pre-order Rare And Deadly

Rare And Deadly Tracklists Per Format

A Place To Bury Strangers Tour Dates:
Tue. April 7 – Hamburg, DE @ MS Stubnitz
Wed. April 8 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
Thu. April 9 – Praha, CZ @ Futurum Music Bar
Fri. April 10 – Brno-město, CZ @ Kabinet múz
Sat. April 11 – Bratislava, SK @ PINK WHALE BAR
Sun. April 12 – Budapest, HU @ A38
Mon. April 13 – Belgrade, RS @ Karmakoma
Tue. April 14 – Sofia, BG @ Mixtape 5
Wed. April 15 – București, RO @ Control Club
Fri. April 17 – Thessaloniki, GR @ Eightball Club
Sat. April 18 – Athina, GR @ Gazarte
Mon. April 20 – Rome, IT @ Monk Club
Tue. April 21 – Florence, IT @ Ex Fila
Wed. April 22 – Bologna, IT @ Social Center TPO
Thu. April 23 – Milan, IT @ Santeria
Fri. April 24 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Sun. April 26 – Brussels, BE @ Magasin 4
Mon. April 27 – Cologne, DE @ Gebäude 9
Wed. April 29 – Utrecht, NL @ De Helling
Thu. April 30 – Deventer, NL @ Burgerweeshuis
Fri. May 1 – Eindhoven, NL @ Fuzz Club Festival 2026

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

New Colossus Festival announces its massive 2026 lineup.

Returning to New York City’s vibrant Lower East Side and expanding to six days, the New Colossus Festival begins on Tuesday, March 3, and runs through Sunday, March 8, 2026. This showcase festival and industry conference offers a unique opportunity to discover the next wave of emerging artists across multiple independent NYC venues, including Arlene’s Grocery, Baker Falls, Berlin Under A, The Francis Kite Club, Niagra, Nublu, Nublu Classic, Parkside Lounge, Pianos, Silver Lining Lounge & Sour Mouse

The New Colossus and DITTO Music will also once again present a series of panels and workshops called Colossal Conversations. Discussions on artist management, touring, production, sync licensing, festivals, publishing, and other relevant topics focused on the future of the global independent music scene.

Founded in 2019 by music industry veterans Mike Bell, Lio Kanine, and Steven Matrick, The New Colossus Festival has quickly become the first stop in the US for many emerging international artists. Past festival alumni include: A Place To Bury Strangers (US), Baby Queen (ZA), CHAII (NZ), Delivery (AU), Ducks ltd. (CA), GIFT (US), Hachiku (AU), Jaywood (CA), Kiwi Jr. (CA), La Securité, (CA) NOBRO (CA), Peel Dream Magazine (US), Penelope Isles (UK), Personal Trainer (NL), Pom Poko (NO), Pom Pom Squad (US), Robber Robber (US), Sid Simons (US), Slow Fiction (US), Sobs (SG), Starcleaner Reunion (US), The Orielles (UK), Thus Love (US), Water From Your Eyes (US), Ultra Q (US), Zoon (CA)

Named after Emma Lazarus’s 1883 sonnet featured on The Statue of Liberty, The New Colossus Festival is a multi-day, multi-venue showcase and conference that brings together emerging musical talent from around the world to New York City’s Lower East Side.

Badges Available on DICE: https://www.newcolossusfestival.com/badges

For more information and updates, visit newcolossusfestival.com

Full the full line up here: https://www.newcolossusfestival.com/artists2026

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Hold onto your hats, U.K. Barren Womb are coming.

For the first time ever, Barren Womb are bringing their incendiary live show to the UK. In March/April, the duo will rip through 11 dates from Brighton to Dundee, presenting their unique brand of heavy noise rock. For over 15 years, the Nordic noise rock powerhouse has been a primordial force in the ever-evolving international heavy underground. Once described as “easy listening for the hard of hearing”, the duo of Timo Silvola (drums/vocals) and Tony Gonzalez (guitar/vocals) conjure an unholy racket that is as unorthodox as it is weirdly catchy. Stark minimalism, grinding repetition and quiet-to-loud dynamics are all essential parts of Barren Womb’s primitive approach to punk rock, creating a rowdy backdrop for howling laments about the shared dystopian fever dream more commonly known as modern life. “There are no tracks or trickery involved here”, explains Gonzalez. “What you get is pummelling, dynamic drums, heavy riffs through stacks of amps, on-the-fly loops and a tandem vocal attack that ranges from piercing screams to soothing melodies”.

With their energetic performances, the duo often leaves audiences wondering how such a wall-of-sound can be built by solely two people. A rather simple recipe at its core: an authentic human experience centered around connection and chemistry, and there really is no better place to take part in this experience than in small clubs like the ones set up for this tour. Talking about the expectations on the upcoming dates, Tony Gonzalez stresses: “Through hard work, determination and old school punk routine, Barren Womb has taken us to corners of the world beyond our wildest dreams, but so far the UK has eluded us. This is finally about to change and we could hardly be more excited for it. All the venues we’ll be visiting look amazing and the bands we’re going to share stages with sound incredible, so all systems are definitely go. We’ll bring the fire straight from the Norwegian underground, hope to see all you fine folks there!”

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Dan at Discipline PR.]

mclusky set to release a new six-song EP.

mclusky release i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley, a six-song mini album featuring four new tracks as well as two songs previously available digitally only, on march 20 (digital)/may 1 (vinyl) via Ipecac Recordings.

Available now for pre-order (https://mclusky.lnk.to/bowling), the collection is available physically on black vinyl, translucent red vinyl (exclusive to the ipecac and band websites), and a rough trade exclusive variant on crystal fuchsia.

The release follows the 2025 album, the world is still here and so are we, the UK outfit’s first new album in over 20 years. It debuted in the top 20 on the rock, alternative, and independent sales charts. NPR said it “is just bursting with creativity,” Pitchfork called it a “reminder of what mclusky are still capable of… melting faces,” and Brooklyn Vegan said the three-piece are “as sneering and sarcastic as ever.”

Falco: “Content. It drives the modern music world. Photos. Opinions. More photos. More opinions (please note – not all photo and are options are bad, just 99 percent of them). How about – and indulge me here – music? That content-y enough for you? Fact is we can’t stop writing, at least at the moment. It’s fun (that’s all it needs to be). It’s the common denominator of band. Only death will slow us down (note – it won’t stop us).

The idea for this release starts as a bit of a stop-gap – a thing with which to help promote the north american tour – and ended up as something else entirely. ‘i know computer’ and ‘as a dad’ are new and are singles (they may make the next album, who can say, it’s already half-recorded and you will like it). Damien probably likes ‘I am computer’ a bit too much but that’s okay, the heart wants what the heart wants.

‘spock culture’ and ‘hi! we’re on strike’ were recorded during the the world is still here… why didn’t they make the album? I’m not sure. Lyrically they are important historical documents. Up there with the ‘pusheen the cat’ books and/or the u.s. constitution.

‘fan learning difficulties’ and ‘that was my brain on elves’ have only had a digital release before and are, to quote british children from forty years ago, ‘skill.’ Hopefully you can agree that iI, and by osmosis, all of us – have read a lot of books.”

mclusky North American tour dates:

March 24 Denver, CO Marquis Theater

March 26 Seattle, WA The Crocodile

March 27 Boise, ID Treefort Festival

March 28 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater

March 30 San Francisco, CA The Chapel

March 31 Los Angeles, CA The Regent Theater

April 2 Austin, TX Empire Control Room & Garage

April 3 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line

April 4 Chicago, IL Metro

April 6 Toronto, ON Mod Club

April 10 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts

April 11 Washington, DC Black Cat

Keep your mind open.

[I know you’ll use your computer to subscribe today.]

[Thanks to Monica at Speakeasy PR.]