Boston’s Bedroom Eyes imbue their emblematic shoegaze qualities—hazy, dreamlike melodies and irrepressibly noisy instrumentation maintaining a delicate tightrope walk between cacophony and clarity – with a more pronounced heaviness delivering maximum impact.
The resulting compositions are a love letter to thundering tones and spellbinding atmospherics that deliver an immersive plunge into a vivid musical canvas that proves as inspiring as it is tempestuous. Now with more than seven years into their run, Bedroom Eyes is as confident and conceptually aware as they have ever been, a band fully ready to make an impassioned and impactful artistic statement. Their songs find beauty in tumult, build on meaning drawn from maelstrom, and shimmer spectacularly like the light through a prism even as they shake the floor beneath your feet.
Available variants
Second press: - Cloudy clear with baby blue splatter vinyl - limited to 100 - Orange vinyl - limited to 150
"Columns of Impenetrable Light" is the cold new split between oppressive post-punk/darkwave outfit Bleached Cross (Protagonist Music) and post-punk stalwarts The True Faith (A La Carte Records). After working together on the co-release of the Bleached Cross B-Side and demo compilation "Exhumed," which featured a remix by The True Faith, both bands and labels have converged to deliver a sonic exploration of two sides of the same coin- ruminations on life and death, hope and despair, presented across 8 new propulsive and brooding tracks featuring two unique vinyl colorways on reverse stock jackets adorned with foil stamped lettering. The record also features art design by Coward's Way for a complete audio and visual experience. This is music for contemplating the void between the earthly realm and the infinite blackness that awaits us after our last breath. This is Columns of Impenetrable Light: step inside and see what lies beyond.
Available variants
First press: - Black color-in-color with silver and white splatter vinyl - limited to 250
Pricing
Wholesale: $13.00 MSRP: $25.00
Recommended if you like
Bleached Cross: AFI, Soft Kill, Health The True Faith: The Chameleons, Southern Death Cult, The Alarm
This new 7" by Paris dark punkers Bleakness features two unreleased songs from the last album studio session, that were put on hold to get the spotlight they deserve. A side song "Words" is the last song the band wrote before entering the studio, it is another death-rock anthem while B side "Greed" is based on riffs written during the bands' first ever European tour years ago, it is reminiscent of the early 80's melancholic Southern California hardcore punk scene . With both songs gathered together, this 7" is a good summary of the musical spectrum of the band between hardcore and post-punk, more energetic than ever and for sure with a heavy done of guitar melancholy.
Docile Bodies "Light Will Come Our Way" LP - ALC-129
Collapsible content
About
Further honing their craft, Docile Bodies builds upon the aural foundation constructed by post-punk powerhouses The Cure and The Chameleons. Since the group’s inception, they have drawn comparisons to contemporary acts Iceage, Protomartyr, and Eagulls while simultaneously carving their own niche of sonic landscapes and post-modernist prose. Light Will Come Our Way is a collection of meditations on art, nature and family. In their previous works, such as their debut single Only This (2020) and their first EP Arc (2022), the (botanic) landscape mainly served as a metaphor for hopelessness and desolation. On this new album a shift occurs and moves towards a more confident notion of nature, although it does not entirely embrace it.
The album is also about ancestry and descendants. About restored bonds, future offsprings and deaths in the family.
Available variants
First press: - Light yellow-in-clear vinyl - limited to 250
Say Something New For Once is an ironic commentary on the process of songwriting. Most bands have the opportunity to say something unique about their lives but instead get lost in trivial cliché. Does this song say anything new to you? Is it supposed to? Don’t Get Lemon is the collaborative artistic work of longtime friends Austin Curtis, Nicholas Ross, and Bryan Walters. After touring the west coast off of their debut album, “Hyper Hollow Heaven”, DGL returned with new singles Autocratic Gore and Blow-Up, including a remix by De Lux. With DGL’s triumphant second album, “Have Some Shame” the art-pop trio have expanded their sound to glittering new heights as they dance between shimmering synth-pop and stomping glam rock.
The 9 song 37 minute album, out on à La Carte Records (Soft Kill, Madeline Goldstein, Lesser Care, The True Faith) and Summer Darling Tapes, recorded in rural Texas by Dan Duszynski (Loma / Sub Pop) and mastered by Paul Gold (LCD Soundsystem, Animal Collective) revolts against the bored distant gaze of cliché coldwave, and instead retaliates with the warm fiery embrace of what the band dubs “Heatwave.” This heartfelt sound forms an idiosyncratic identity that also wouldn’t be out of place in a classic John Hughes 80s film soundtrack. Singer Austin Curtis’ looks and stage performance sits comfortably between the sensual sway of Elvis Presley and the chameleon fluidity of David Bowie.
Each performance is an internal battle between masculine and feminine forces punctuated by northern soul style dance movies and the desperate magnetism of Joy Division. Flanked on both sides of him, guitarist/keyboardist Nick Ross and bassist Bryan Walters provide a daring and original take on new-wave acts such as Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Talking Heads, and Simple Minds, as well as contemporaries like LCD Soundsystem, Alex Cameron, and Cold Cave. Together with Curtis’ smooth yet desperate croon, recalling Morrissey and Bryan Ferry, the Anglophile Texans stretch their hands across the Atlantic to fashion a genuine grasp of pop culture past and future.
Available variants
First press: - Maroon and cloudy clear half-and-half vinyl - limited to 200 - Orange vinyl - limited to 200 - CD - limited to 100
Don't Get Lemon "Hyper Hollow Heaven" LP - ALC-099
Collapsible content
About
"If modern life is a black comedy, then Don’t Get Lemon have crafted a sound fit to reflect off it. The Texas-based electronic music trio, best described in their own genre terms as “heatwave,” a more appropriate companion tag to the more familiar coldwave, are set to release debut album Hyper Hollow Heaven on March 29, 2022, via independent label à La Carte Records.
The LP is led by a string of singles: Boxing Day’s kaleidoscopic “Industrial (Amusement) Park (Revolution)”; February’s glossy synth ballad D.I.E.I.N.T.H.E.U.S.A.”; and mid-March’s kinetic table-setter and LP closer “Purple Hour Kingdom,” featuring guest vocals from Renay of Monochrome Lover.
Each single, alongside the five other tracks on the LP, further common lyrical themes that echo the fear, panic, and anxiety we’re forced to live with on a daily basis as our future grows inherently darker. To borrow a line from Adam Curtis’ 2016 BBC docu-film HyperNormalisation, regarding Patti Smith and how she experienced New York City in the ‘70s, the eight-song Hyper Hollow Heaven is “best experienced with a slight cool detachment.”
Available variants
First press: - Purple eco-mix vinyl - limited to 200
Don't Get Lemon "Working Man's Ballet" Flexi 7" - ALC-096
Collapsible content
About
Don’t Get Lemon’s pounding drums and screeching guitar on their anthemic new single, “Working Man’s Ballet,” could equally be heard ringing out over a football pitch’s speakers or in a sweaty nightclub. Their brand of noisey dance shines over sugary melodies that leave the listener with a sense of sehnsuct, a wistful longing they never knew they carried.
…Almost There’ is a 30 minute, 8 track EP by the dark post-punk band Executioner’s Mask.
The band exploded with their Profound Lore Records debut ‘Despair Anthems’ which was praised by artists from Leviathan’s Jef Whitehead to The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle for its potent songwriting and stark execution. This was followed by the dreamy ‘Winterlong’ and its two hours of remixes by members of Full Of Hell, Deafheaven, Xiu Xiu and a litany of others.
Stripping down each song down to its essence over three blisteringly hot days in Houston, TX, ‘…Almost There’ is snarling, noisy and crushing. The songs are visualized through the unflinchingly raw illustrations of Gerald Scarfe (Pink Floyd) and refined through production by Anthony Sanchez and Jack Endino (Mark Lanegan, Soundgarden, Dwarves).
Available variants
First press: - CD - limited to 100
Pricing
Wholesale: $4.00 MSRP: $12.00
Recommended if you like
Sisters of Mercy, Rudimentary Peni, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
After Drive, it felt like every indie artist with access to thrift shop synths pivoted to the sound of College & Electric Youth’s “A Real Hero,” twinkling pads and breathy femme vocals and cavernous drum machines as ubiquitous as that jacket. We’re far enough away from that now that it can sound fresh again, particularly when it’s done with as much flair and heart as Flesh of Morning’s “Everytime.” Lusher and more playful than previous single “Death Becomes Bitter,” “Everytime” feels like music for dwelling on new feelings for someone, that alternately giddy and nervous longing as you try to navigate optimism for something great and the fear that it will sour sooner rather than later. That must be the key ingredient making Flesh of Morning stand out from those long forgotten Drive clones– they sound like real human beings.
Available variants
First press: - Clear flexi - limited to 300
Pricing
Wholesale: $4.00 MSRP: $8.00
Recommended if you like
Sisters of Mercy, Rudimentary Peni, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
Merging the unlikely gap between dreamy shoegaze and turbulent drum and bass, forever ☆'s transcendent mixture of alternative rock and dense electronica is unlike anything that has come before it. Yet in spite of their vastly eclectic inspirations, the combination somehow feels familiar in the hazy, collective unconscious of 90's alternative nostalgia.
On one hand, soothing, hushed vocals reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine and Bowery Electric firmly anchor the group's indie sensibilities in the realm of shoegaze and dream pop; all the while, syncopated percussive loops incite riotous energy into an elated form of jungle/breakbeat hardcore evocative of early 90s UK rave.
As airy lead vocals levitate in the dense sandstorm of monstrous guitar work and vicious breakbeat percussion, we're found witness to an improbable marriage of microcosms that forever ☆ has managed to blend with a sophistication that feels effortless and uncomplicated.
The first track of the EP is "Rain Forever", which opens with a glassy, manipulated guitar looped against whirring, mournful leads. The next track, "Your Angel Speaks" is a chaotic merger of loops and distorted bends: a crushing synth bass enters, and with it modulated breakbeats, mellowed only by the calming vocal delivery of singer Rachel Stang. The EP culminates with the poignant final track, "Shine Your Eyes" -- an ethereal synth repetition reminiscent of Orbital and early RAM Records' high BPM DnB pushes toward a finale of layered, high-gain guitar and melodic, phasing vocals.
The sonic onslaught that is 3 Series accomplishes both beauty and fierceness in its brevity. In just three tracks, the EP leaves a lasting imprint worthy of many repeated listens, and hopefully, as the front cover suggests, "at max volume".
Available variants
Second press: - Transparent yellow cassette - limited to 50
To understand the future of horror, one must look at the present. And to understand the sound of Future of Horror, one must listen not only to the now, but look around at what surrounds it. It’s a stylistic and philosophical approach applied by the new electronic music duo, composed of co-vocalist and lyricist Vanessa Matic and co-vocalist, songwriter, and producer Joey Camello (Fearing, Death Bells), who together release their self-titled debut EP on November 19 via à La Carte Records.
Surrounding the EP’s unveiling are equal points of intrigue: A music video for “Funny Games” is set for November 2021, followed by a live performance at the in-demand Substance 2021 Fest on November 28 at The Belasco alongside Nitzer Ebb, Chelsea Wolfe, HEALTH, John Maus, Choir Boy, and others.
Available variants
First press: - Maroon vinyl - limited to 250 - Black vinyl - limited to 250
Austin new-wave torch-bearers Holy Wire have carved out a niche taking early post-punk and cold-wave sounds and refashioning them into hi-fi synth-pop. Their new single, I Still Feel Alone All The Time, doubles down on this approach, refining a style that’s somewhere between Grauzone and Hall And Oates. The music hangs on a precipice where robotic drums, rigid basslines, and synthetic blips out of a soviet laboratory give way to a gauzy, dreamlike chorus. Icy synths ebb and flow, instilling a sense of perpetual winter. Sung from the perspective of talking to a lover, I Still Feel Alone All The Time touches on a greater sense of loneliness; of living in a crowded city, seemingly brimming with opportunities for connection, but just as alienating. “Between all the restless bodies / we’ll find a dark place to meet / I’ll leave in the middle of the night / with no promises left to keep,” the vocals croon over a mechanical beat. Holy Wire is the project of Alain Paradis, who drew inspiration from his time living in Park Slope, Brooklyn. After ending a turbulent relationship and moving away from his social enclave in Bushwick, he spent nights drinking at the local bars and darting around the city meeting women through dating apps. “I always lacked a sense of belonging,” says Paradis, “it just felt like this cosmic wash of winter darkness.”
After floating around Brooklyn and playing in a few bands (Fixtures, Miserable Chillers, Your Dream Coat), his prolonged search for community eventually led Paradis to the music scene in Austin, Texas, where he moved in 2021. Paradis cannibalized a years-forgotten solo project, reminted as Holy Wire, and enlisted a rotating cast of musicians for the live show, with members of DAIISTAR, Pelvis Wrestley, and Cloud Champion making cameos. Since its inception, Holy Wire has opened for The KVB, Urban Heat, and Xeno and Oaklander.
Available variants
First press: - Black and orange half-and-half vinyl - limited to 100 - Black and white segmental vinyl - limited to 200 - CD - limited to 100
With her debut solo EP, Blur Divine, Paris-based American musician Julia Gaeta invites listeners into a nocturnal world of introspective yet danceable ‘unlove’ songs. Blending lush dark pop with industrial textures and sultry grit, Blur Divine explores the warped perception, fragmented reality and obsession that comes with love gone awry – but drapes these more sinister themes in an ethereal, fragile veil.
Growing up listening to metal, grunge, post-punk and goth music, Gaeta inevitably carries with her the influences of bands such as Alice in Chains, Depeche Mode and Killing Joke. But she also draws from her deep love of ‘90s and early ‘00s pop and hip hop – plus the era of big production they helped usher in. Blur Divine feels like an enigmatic melding of these influences, with some early 4AD vibes added for good measure. After playing guitar in bands for nearly a decade, Gaeta dropped her first solo single, “Weight of You,” in early 2022 – which featured a rare production and mixing appearance from James “Perturbator” Kent. That was the first taste of her immersive world, and it was welcomed with praise among fans across genres. “Weight of You” is set to be included as a B-Side on Blur Divine.
Gaeta has now teamed up with LA-based producer Alex DeGroot – best known for his work with Zola Jesus – to expand her sonic landscape. Laced with massive beats, distorted synths, echoing guitars and Gaeta’s undeniable vocal depth, Blur Divine reels us in immediately and intimately, and beckons us to follow a path into realms oddly familiar yet unexplored.
Available variants
First press: - Green and black half-and-half vinyl - limited to 100 - Green and ivory splatter vinyl - limited to 200
There’s no doubt that France has produced some of the greatest Oi bands of all time. This rich history goes as far back as bands like La Souris Déglinguée and Camera Silens. Fast forward to today, bands like Rixe and Syndrome 81 continue to dominate the scene. It’s no coincidence that France was the epicenter of La Vague Froide—the first coldwave scene. Thus, it is only logical that it serves as the nidus for a hybrid of the two.
Perfectly executing the unlikely combination of Oi and coldwave is Brest-based newcomer Justice Divine. The brainchild of Jacky Cadiou (Syndrome 81, Prisonnier Du Temps, Grisaille), Justice Divine makes their presence known with their self-titled seven-song debut album. The group seamlessly integrates driving anthemic Oi rhythms, incensed hardcore vocals, brooding coldwave synths, and oddly enough—ethereal Gregorian chants.
Combined, Justice Divine takes a unique approach to the genre that leans heavier on the darker side that draws comparisons to “Second Empire Justice” era Blitz, Sisters of Mercy, and Death Cult.
Available variants
First press: - Transparent red vinyl - limited to 200
Kai Tak "Designed in Heaven Made in Hong Kong" LP - ALC-121
Collapsible content
About
Kai Tak is an LA-based music collective led by producer Chris King, known for his role in Cold Showers, as well as production work for artists such as Still Ruins, House of Harm, and Fearing.
Named in homage to the now-retired Hong Kong airport known for its harrowing approach through the city’s skyscrapers, Kai Tak sculpts moody soundscapes that pull sonic inspiration from shoegaze, trip hop, and electronica.
Initially conceived as a love letter to both the stylized fictional version of King’s birth city portrayed in John Woo and Wong Kar-wei films, as well as its real life vibrancy, the project features a number of different collaborators, who each bring their own unique perspective to the songs, and the resulting mix would serve as the perfect soundtrack for wandering the restless city’s gritty alleyways.
Visual art by Paige Emery captures the time-warping, paradoxical reminiscence at the heart of Kai Tak, using a hopeful impressionist style to create a full sensory immersion into the hazy, neon-lit Hong Kong.
Available variants
First press: - Red, blue, and yellow splatter vinyl - limited to 250 - Blue, light blue, and purple splatter vinyl - limited to 250
Underneath, Beside Me” is the 9 track debut, from El Paso based band Lesser Care. Written in the winter of 2020 & opening of 2021, the album’s notion is made entirely out of prospects dealing with grief, loss, love, and the aching acceptance of it all. As being the group’s first full length, consider these songs as personal introductions to new ends, and old beginnings. Entirely mixed & engineered by Chris Common (These Arms Are Snakes, Goatwore, Chelsea Wolf) and mastered by Corey Coffman (Gleemer, Ridgeway, Modern Color) “Underneath, Beside Me” holds the subject of dreamy post punk, with an unrecognizable face.
Madeline Goldstein "Other World" Single-Sided 12"/Maxi CD - ALC-112
Collapsible content
About
Employing the production prowess of producer-engineer and synthesist Matia Simovich (SRSQ, RIKI, Body of Light), Goldstein has been working diligently behind the scenes to deliver a masterful collection of songs finally unveiled as Other World. The EP arrives amidst a wave of momentum that Goldstein has been building throughout her tenure, touring extensively and securing coveted slots in high-profile dark music festivals such as Substance LA and Chicago's Sanctum Festival (alongside The Soft Moon, Kontravoid, Lust for Youth, and more).
Since the release of her debut solo full-length (Forget This, 2020) and her singles thereafter, Madeline Goldstein has quickly become a benchmark amidst her contemporaries in the current scene of synth-based new wave revival, steadily amassing a devoted fan base in the LA scene and beyond. Goldstein differentiates herself with an impressive alto-soprano range and a magnetic presence akin to the 80's femme icons by which she is influenced. A veteran performer and vocalist (formerly of Portland's Fringe Class), Madeline Goldstein formed her solo project after relocating to Los Angeles in 2019. Last January, Goldstein joined the roster of up-and-coming post-punk label à La Carte Records (Soft Kill, The True Faith, Lesser Care), adding a breath of electro sensibility to the cavernous post-punk that has become a trademark of the label's catalogue.
Madeline Goldstein's sophomore release begins with a cold, pulsing synth that enters alongside a synchronous 808 kick. "Seed of Doubt", the first track from Other World, establishes an unyielding presence within the song's opening bars that is felt brooding throughout the entirety of the record. The song demonstrates Goldstein's symbiotic relationship with her home-base LA, a bustling urban metropolis of lavish texture and grit, density and sparseness, characteristically similar to that of her arrangements.
"Other World", the tranquilizing title track, is a continued exploration of the artist's marriage of synth-drenched darkwave and spacious new wave. At its entrance, "Other World" lures its listeners in with weaving, segmented drums, droning synths and a soaring soprano delivery bridging the ethereal yet danceable trademark of Goldstein's style. The main vocal line, delivered with Goldstein's signature elegance, gains intensity towards its climactic third act -- the track culminates as backing vocal harmonies careen, levitating above the composition and making way for a distant saxophone to bring a soothing warmth to the track's end.
Madeline writes, "I wanted to create a soundscape that was reminiscent of theatrical ballads from musicals and the most dramatic of 80s love songs...looking at the edge of your own desires but not being able to say what you really want. It’s about not advocating for yourself and the spiral of self-doubt in love and creativity."
Available variants
Third press: - White vinyl - limited to 100 - Maxi CD - limited to 100
Mirror of Venus are Joy Damert, Jose Espinoza, Heidi Weber, and Margot Rhodes—a Los Angeles post-punk outfit whose time together dates back a decade, to nights spent playing in a small but tightly knit scene in San Francisco’s Mission. Now transplants in Southern California, they’ve found one another again, bonding over their love of late ‘70s/early ‘80s UK post-punk pioneers like The Durutti Column, Sad Lovers & Giants, and Wire.
Their debut single, “Never Say Forever”, is a nearly six-minute rain of spidery guitars and feverish synths that began to take shape early in the pandemic, Rhodes starting to writing again as she first arrived in Los Angeles. Built around an insistent, almost haunted rhythm, it’s a meditation on what we lose when we give ourselves over to social media.
“The song is about a person who feels isolated from the modern world and begins to battle with an internal monologue that is trying to convince them that the only way to fit in is to completely lose their true identity and to succumb to a new digital version of themselves,” says Espinoza, also of LA darkwave project, Shock Doctrine. “The new self being obsessed with aesthetics, being photographed, and being perceived in a way that would suggest that this normally meek person is actually very wild and outgoing. Towards the end of the song the person begins to question their decision. The ‘voice’ in their head begins to fill them with doubt about their choice and then they begin to question the validity of the happiness that these people portray with their online presence.”
Available variants
First press: - Dark blue cassette - limited to 100
Pricing
Wholesale: $4.00 MSRP: $10.00
Recommended if you like
Xmal Deutschland, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Black Tamborine
Old Moon is the solo project of New Hampshire based musician Tom Weir. Weir seamlessly blends elements of post-punk, classic indie, and shoegaze to create a sound that is immediately familiar without falling prey to genre tropes. Weir began recording music as Old Moon in the winter of 2019 and has since put out multiple acclaimed releases including the EP Past Lives, his debut album Altars, and the compilation tape Dreamer, Sleeper.
Where Old Moon’s debut LP Altars was a descent into a swirling, gloomy world; his forthcoming Cities of the Plain exists in the clear light of day where guitars chime brightly behind Weir’s introspective vocals. Cities of the Plain was written and recorded by Tom Weir with additional drum engineering from Todd Whitehead at Up North Studios. The album was mixed by Shaun Durkan (Soft Kill, Weekend) and mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios.
“‘Soma’ is a move towards a cleaner, brighter Old Moon sound and the first song that I wrote after finishing up my previous record Altars last year,” says Weir. “It’s about trying to find a path forward even when the future is unclear and about weeding out the things in my life that were dragging me down. I worked with Shaun Durkan again for the mix on this song, and I love the way it came out so differently than the songs on Altars while still occupying a similar sonic space.”
Old Moon’s debut album Altars is a descent into a swirling world where shimmering noise meshes with clamoring guitars, pounding drums, and melodic hooks. The album was written and recorded by Old Moon’s Tom Weir in rural New Hampshire and mixed by Shaun Durkan (Weekend, Soft Kill) in San Francisco and Portland. This album marks Old Moon’s first full length release after a string of EPs and demos throughout 2020, and its first release on A la Carte Records.
Pet TV, the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Cody Bass, blends Britpop influences with a 90s slacker rock edge. Born and raised outside Jackson, Mississippi, Cody found a DIY music community that shaped his creative approach, teaching himself instruments as needed and playing in numerous bands. His debut album, "Terriarum," set to release on à La Carte Records, began as a pandemic project to dive into home recording and solo songwriting. Pet TV delivers fuzzed-out, no-frills songs with nods to Guided By Voices, Pixies, and Beck, crafting a sound that feels both fresh and familiar.
Available variants
First press: - Lime green cassette - limited to 50
It’s been said that a whole wave of punk was misclassified in the 90’s, called Grunge instead. Taking punk’s aggression and bolting to the experimentation of the post-punk movement while being unafraid to infuse moments of heavy influences, the evidence left behind in those discographies tells the tale. Southern California’s Sin + Passion arrive on their 3-song debut 7-inch in 2020.
“For Those In Misery” offers up a reminder of both things that have been and issuing a statement on what is now. Sin + Passion alternate between dreamy explorations of post-punk echoes and ominous hardcore punk pinned between current day post-hardcore and the thundering heavy bands of their time.
Threaded between these bookend tracks is “Pistol,” which could be passed off as a lost B-track to any of the heavier Seattle bands from twenty years ago. This is just a start, a way point on their journey; an introduction, if you will, of what Sin + Passion have to offer.
Available variants
First press: - Purple smoke vinyl - limited to 80 - Clear vinyl - limited to 100 - Pink smoke vinyl - limited to 100