10 Best Free Bandcamp Downloads: Smirk, Miracle Blood, Jute Gyte, Rat Champion, Iodine Sampler
Strapped for cash but hungry for great music? You won’t have much luck camping out at the grocery store these days; Bandcamp is a way better destination. Here’s a rundown of 10 rad releases, about half of them newly released, that The Bad Penny recently came across on Bandcamp.
(Note: If you do have some green to spare, please show your thanks to these deserving artists and labels.)
1. Smirk’s “Domestic Dog” b/w “Manhunt In Paradise”
Connecticut punk prince Smirk greased the wheels for a swing of spring dates last year with this single, which Industry Standards just put out today in the form of a 7-inch. The still-free digital version tops our list of gratis Bandcamp releases because the humble artiste donated all proceeds from sales of it to HEAL Palestine.
2. Miracle Blood’s LIVE at New Alliance Audio
The Bad Penny has become something of a champion for these wicked cool post-hardcore-meets-metal noisemakers from Boston (and their pets too). After forming about eight years ago, Miracle Blood are breaking through thanks to their most extensive tour to date earlier this year. Enjoy this seven-song live set, which the Nefarious Industries luminaries slipped out last week, ahead of their shows a week from today in Woodbridge, Connecticut; and the day after in Medford, Massachusetts.
3. Jute Gyte’s entire catalog
“Generous” doesn’t begin to describe this revered ambient black-metal project created by Adam Kalmbach. By our count, he is offering 39 Jute Gyte releases at a pay-what-you-can price point – although your conscience will motivate you to throw down some coin, as Kalmbach donates proceeds to organizations including Doctors Without Borders and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Stay tuned to The Bad Penny for a rare interview with Kalmbach in the very near future.
4. Various artists’ Iodine Furnace Fest Sampler
Label samplers are almost always a steal, but with 12 tunes by Jeromes Dream, NØ MAN, Modern Life Is War, Drought and the Casket Lottery, snatching up this comp is a no-brainer. Iodine Recordings released this collection just over a month ago, coinciding with Birmingham, Alabama’s Furnace Fest, where some of the Boston indie label’s roster performed.
5. Rat Champion’s Shame Chamber (Demos)
After Boise’s Rat Champion churned out their long-awaited Burn It All LP last year, we dug through the metal-meets-shoegazers’ back catalog and discovered that the brilliantly executed debut LP was not an anomaly. Don’t just take our word for it: Savor the winning rodents’ first release from 2019, which contains rough versions of songs that go by the smirk-inducing names “xBHXCFSx,” “Chungus Burger” and “Fuck You, Officer Lahey.” Is the latter a Trailer Park Boys reference? We thinks so.
6. Charlie Nieland’s “Canal” b/w “Lost Ocean”
After recently speaking to us about America’s horrific, speedy transformation into an authoritarian hellscape as part of our On Tyranny series, Charlie Nieland’s songs continue to be in constant rotation in Bad Penny Land. If you’re still unfamiliar with the New Jersey dream-pop purveyor, these two freebie tracks are a solid place to start.
7. In Lieu’s Hatemail, Edible EP, Falling in the Right Direction EP, Grammy split EP
Minneapolis noise-rockers In Lieu blew us away late last month with their new full-length Hooligan, so much so that a deep dive into their back catalog was mandatory. Much to our delight and surprise, we discovered that the first half of In Lieu’s oeuvre is available on Bandcamp at no charge. Thank us later – or thank the band now by tossing them a few shekels.
8. Something Is Waiting’s The Something Is Waiting Band
What, exactly, is waiting? Your ears, which will melt with joy upon hearing this Chicago metal/post-punk band’s debut record from roughly nine years ago. Something Is Waiting are riding high on their latest album, Livelick, following its release late last month – but if you need further convincing, test-flight the loud louses gratis.
9. Various artists’ Count Your Lucky Stars Records Sampler #7
Few record labels take more pride in their samplers than Michigan’s Count Your Lucky Stars, which has issued six seven such comps thus far. Issued in March, this 16-track platter has an impressive shelf life thanks to smoking contributions from Drunk Uncle, Camp Trash, Singing Lungs and an army of other indie acts whose new and old material is well represented here.
10. The Twilight Sad’s Stripped Back // December 2004
Deciding whether we saved the best for last will be in the ear of the beholder, but there’s no denying that a free live recording by the recent Robert Smith collaborators is a diamond in the rough. Recorded at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland, the Twilight Sad’s 11-track document dropped in early May and is certainly worth the 82.8 MB it’ll take to store on your laptop, to say the least.
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