Triathalon: ‘Pressure Can Create Magic’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Interviews with tags on 07/05/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

New York bedroom pop trio Triathalon spent two years writing, demoing, recording and mixing the record in bedrooms, studios and houses, as if they were on a scavenger’s hunt. Read my New Noise profile on the band.

The Armed’s ‘Kingbreaker’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Reviews with tags on 07/04/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Celebrate July 4 by listening to a new song by The Armed that reminds us America is a country with No Kings. And go to Treble to read more of my commentary on the scorching song.

Sub Pop Partner Share It Music Puts Artists Over Profits—And Wins

Posted in Features with tags , , , on 07/04/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

As humble a music industry executive if there ever was one, the eminently genteel and likable Sharratt cut the ribbon on his project in February 2018 after interning at Sub Pop to cultivate his skills in the music biz. Seven years later, Share It Music barged into 2025 with prized full-lengths by the Unfit and Cumulus. Read my feature story on the admirable nonprofit courtesy of Music Connection.

WPTR’s ‘Redness and Swelling at the Injection Site’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 07/04/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Peter Gill’s lovely debut record, which he’s issuing under the nom de plume WPTR, contains 18 short musical vignettes documenting his observations of nature, animals and human behavior. Read more of my take on the song courtesy of Treble.

Wytch Hazel Obey Black Sabbath’s ‘Mob Rules’ on Their Fifth LP

Posted in Interviews with tags , on 07/03/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

“I wrestle with some things that have got worse in my life, or deeper (into my psyche,) and I wanted to get into the weeds of those ideas and express them.” Get deep with English hard rock squadron Wytch Hazel in my profile on the band for New Noise.

Activity’s ‘A Thousand Years in Another Way’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 07/03/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

The third LP from the pigeonhole-proof Brooklyn collective Activity proves just how far they can stretch the boundaries of indie rock with this radically diverse set of songs. Read my review of A Thousand Years in Another Way courtesy of FLOOD.

Matador’s Lifeguard Come to Save the Day–Without Even Knowing It

Posted in Interviews with tags on 07/03/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

As a fresh-cheeked posse with pedigree, musical talent, creativity and sensitivity in tow, anyone would be a fool not to bet on Lifeguard, Matador Records’ newest hope. They don’t seem to know it, but riveting success appears to be their destiny. Read my Treble feature on the band for confirmation that you should take this post-rock project to the bank.

Leafblower’s ‘Burn Cruise’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 07/02/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

On their latest album, Burn Cruise (Max Trax), Leafblower delivers its riffs with frequency and ferocity. But this time around, they have an objective in mind: to ensure that each song Leafblower presents (excluding the brief banjo outro reminiscent of Panopticon) rocks hard. Read my Music Connection review of Burn Cruise.

For Your Health Gives the Straight Diagnosis

Posted in Interviews with tags on 07/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Boldly going where precious few artists—Brainiac, Racebannon, HORSE the Band—have dared go before, screamo brain-scramblers For Your Health prove that ingesting berserk art-noise does a body good. Except for the occasional bout of heartburn, that is. Vocalist Hayden Rodriguez gets candid about the trials and tribulations that preceded the screamo band’s newly released debut for 3DOT, This Bitter Garden. Read the whole shebang via FLOOD.

Supergloom Shimmy Closer to Debut LP With New Single ‘Shimmer,’ Accompanying Video

Posted in Exclusives, News, Videos with tags on 07/01/2025 by Kurt Orzeck

Private eyes are stereotyped for sticking close to, but not scaring off, their target until the person reaches their ultimate destination. Similarly, The Bad Penny continues to monitor the activity of supergloom as the shoegazing LA newcomers inch closer to realizing their first full-length record.

Earlier this year–on April Fools Day, to be precise–we introduced you to supergloom around the time they released “sideFX,” the first single from their still-untitled debut. The heady, cleverly named song exemplified what would become their maiden release. We touched base with supergloom toward the end of April, at which point they let The Bad Penny exclusively unveil a new song, “Kingfisher.”

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