New Music – Page 24 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Kaput Saws Into the Fake Security of Complacency on Industrial Post-Punk Single “Small Talk”

The accents on the layered rhythms of “Small Talk” by Kaput gives it an especially heady pace. The sawblade edginess of the synth sound frames the vocals well as they ring out and echo ever so slightly like there’s a bit of dub production to the whole song. Tones whorl and rattle, buzz and fry lending an era of menace and confrontation. It’s a song about complacency and how it can’t protect you forever. When atrocity is happening right in front of you in forms that only a completely delusional person could pretend is something else. The line “Break your neck to look away” speaks to the cost of this level of self-deception and the effort required. “The lies you tell/It’s gonna be ok/It’s all gonna be ok/It’s not you today/You’re not afraid” also hits hard. Without being topical it seems clear the song is about so much of what’s going on in the world right now and not necessarily the obvious subjects of genocide, fascism, political malfeasance, police brutality, the crushing reality of wealth concentration and hovering pandemics but also climate change and how that’s the elephant in every room. The song is just one of a debut album full of commanding songs that are an evocation of ambient anxiety, desperation, insecurity, anger and sadness running rampant. That album titled I was released April 25, 2025 digitally and available as limited edition vinyl. Listen to “Small Talk” on Spotify and follow Chicago’s Kaput at the links provided.

Kaput on Instagram

Kaput on Bandcamp

Kaput on YouTube

Sheri Miller Channels the Idealism, Passion and Fearlessness of Another Era on the Acoustic Version of “Chelsea Summer Nights”

Sheri Miller’s “Chelsea Summer Nights” in its acoustic version is vivid in its capturing the spirit of a time and place in 1960s Manhattan when the Hotel Chelsea was home to elements of the American creative class like Bob Dylan and associates of Andy Warhol. Miller’s vibrant vocals command attention with expertly cadenced lyrics that make you feel like you’re there experiencing a time of youthful romance in a context where idealism seemed to be readily at hand and folk music could be radical and even revolutionary as a vehicle for a generational zeitgeist. Miller effortlessly taps into that energy in her performance with only vocals and acoustic guitar and makes it obvious that the resonance of a cultural moment she channels powerfully in the song could be something we could have now and to feel that purity of love, endless possibilities and fearlessness many people yearn for but don’t always get to indulge in this deeply conflicted and diminished era. Listen to “Chelsea Summer Nights (acoustic)” on Spotify and follow Sheri Miller at the links below.

Sheri Miller on Twitter

Sheri Miller on Facebook

Sheri Miller on Instagram

Sheri Miller on YouTube

Elegant and Tender Shoegaze Single “Freeze Frame” by Chicago’s Slow Mass is a Masterful Evocation of Processing Heartbreak

The video for Slow Mass’ elegant and tender “Freeze Frame” is a black and white collection of scenes from studio work with the band and it looks like something from another decade. The music itself with its layered rhythms, minimalist aesthetic, great delicacy of feeling and entrancing melodies is reminiscent of something from the later era of Unrest. Musically it has an increasing dynamism reminiscent of one of the early slowcore bands like Codeine and Low. The tension and the tranquility breaks toward the end with surges of guitar distortion and an opening up of the rhythm but it all shifts effortlessly into the quiet and heartbreaking outro. Its a master class of arrangements that work perfectly and smoothly together to deliver the emotional peaks and valleys in a way that makes you feel better in the end if with a touch of the bittersweet. Watch the video for “Freeze Frame” on YouTube and follow Chicago’s Slow Mass at the links below. The band’s new album Low on Foot released May 16, 2025 on Landland Colportage on limited edition colored vinyl and digital formats.

Slow Mass on Instagram

Slow Mass on Facebook

Slow Mass on Bandcamp

AAA Gripper’s Jagged Post-Punk Single “The Arcade Claw King” is an Acerbic and Thrilling Commentary on the Essential Scam of Neoliberalism

The sped up footage of people passing by an arcade in black and white for the video of AAA Gripper’s “The Arcade Claw King” is the perfect visual representation of a song about being a working class person in the consumer culture rat race most people living under Western capitalism exist within as if it’s a genuine choice of “lifestyle.” The jagged, clashing chords and nearly spoken word lyrics reminiscent of the delivery style of both Sleaford Mods and IDLES. And with a similar political orientation. But this song feels more discordant than either but with a similar edge. The title of the song brings to mind the machine that is emblematic of the whole neoliberal shebang/scam where you pay to feel like a winner like you’ve actually accomplished something if you do happen to be able to dislodge a prize from a game that’s rigged for someone to succeed with a skill set that doesn’t reflect their lived experience and talents, rather your energies and attention are channeled into an incredibly narrow range of activity and the best prizes need someone to dislodge those less exciting but it’s all a pile of junk in the end but the thought of attaining one of these trinkets feels like it means something in the moment. The song sounds like that desperation and conscious realization that most of what’s asked of us everyday is a load of shite and a distraction from how society is set up to funnel all goods and the fruits of label are channeled to the top and often not to a human but an organization that is “owned” by people largely detached from how that wealth is created on every level. The song is just one part of a fantastic album full of incisive commentary about life in the world we live in today mixing post-punk angularity with a composer’s sense of atmosphere but implemented to augment a sense of unease and hanging catharsis that does burst into flares of release now and then but not so much that you feel like you’re being pandered to by someone who is going to lie to you and tell you it’s all going to be okay if you just play along with being exploited like a good proletarian. Watch the video for “The Arcade Claw King” on YouTube and follow AAA Gripper from ‘round about Glastonbury, UK at the links below. The band’s album We Invented Work For The Common Good came out on May 16, 2025 via Wrong Speed Records on the 12” LP format and the usual digital versions.

AAA Gripper on Instagram

Scared Little Toaster Gives Voice to the Delicate Balancing Act of Internal Psychological Tensions on Instrumental Noise Rock Song “NO DECAF”

Scared Little Toaster, photo courtesy the artists

Typically when one is told “No decaf” at a coffee shop you might think that’s a good thing. But Scared Little Toaster’s song “NO DECAF” sounds a little frustrated, gnarled with some internal back and forth expressed as tonal runs at a lower register and then a higher register like if Hella was way more into stoner rock and toned down the frenetic energy but kept to the math-y structure and performance. And hey, sometimes maybe caffeine is just the thing to send you spiraling. Mid-song the sounds turn more melodic and contemplative with an undertone of anxiety as the spoken word vocals come in going on about a breakfast meal that is just going to go sideways after all. There is an absurdity to that fitting the song but also an understated humor that pairs well with the sentiment suggesting it might be more amusing to express that kind of frustration even if it does make one’s life a little bit more glum for a day and thus threatening to be the tiny bit to set you over the edge in the already brittle psychological territory we often have to navigate in everyday life. It’s not quite like Mr. Creosote having a “wafer-thin” dinner mint in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life but close enough. Listen to Scared Little Toaster’s instrumental, noisy math-rock single “NO DECAF” on YouTube and follow the UK band at the links provided.

Scared Little Toaster on Instagram

Mercy Land Taps Into Memories of Melancholic Nostalgia on Darkwave Dance Pop Single “Kid A”

“Kid A” by Mercy Land is like a backward look at a time and place in one’s life when your brain is caught up in both the strong feelings of late adolescence and complex emotions. The driving beat, gorgeous synth dissolves and female and male vocals strike the right tone to create a sense of melancholic nostalgia that is more like reflecting on how easy it is to romanticize someone that strikes your fancy even if they’re not right for you because your heart wells up for whatever reason at the thought of that person and you find yourself obsessing a little and your recollections of what they’re into live in your mind as something to focus on unbidden. But then one day you realize it’s all been in your mind and not in theirs or at least not in the reciprocal way you would hope. In that moment you feel a little silly but also crushed by this simple fantasy having no foundation in reality. Yet that capacity to feel that way about someone isn’t so wrong and it’s an emotional resonance that any thoughtful person will connect with immediately in this darkwave dance pop single. Listen to “Kid A” (not a cover) on Spotify and follow Mercy Land on Instagram.

Rival Consoles’ Electro Ambient Single “Known Shape” is a Musical Model of the Life of Technological Processes

“Known Shape” finds Rival Consoles seeming to model a process video in a song. We hear individual rhythmic pieces working in conjunction with each other in a techno beat, accenting melodic tones, background harmonics and a slow-moving textural stream beside it. In the foreground there are bright filigrees of tone as well as hushed low end swells. It’s a bit like getting lost inside the hidden world of a computer at work and being somehow aware of all the components functioning in a way that makes all the things we take for granted with electronic devices happen. Being able to take in this granular detail abstracted to sound has a parallel to both musically and conceptually to Kraftwerk’s classic 1974 song “Autobahn” in being a musical expression of human technological achievement but focused on a smaller scale yet creatively on the same plane of conception. Listen to “Known Shape” on Spotify and follow Rival Consoles at the links below. The new record Landscape from Memory is out July 4, 2025 via Erased Tapes.

Rival Consoles on Instagram

Rival Consoles on Facebook

Rival Consoles on Twitter

Rival Consoles on Apple Music

Big Cairo Fuses Arabic Music, Hip-Hop and EDM on the Bold and Hypnotic “Mesh Rage3”

The sense of space and rich tonality of the beat on Big Cairo’s track “Mesh Rage3” is what impresses immediately. That and how expertly the Auto-Tune is employed in processing the vocals like a tightly controlled pitch shifting that augments rather than really transforms the quality of the vocals. It lends it a more hypnotic quality even if, like this reviewer, you don’t know much if any Arabic. The rhythms and sound palette are largely Middle Eastern in flavor but the production methods feel more in line with a trap beat. But with the instrumentation and percussion choices it just hits as more interesting and robust. With production by George Masri the phrasings take on a dramatic dimension that meshes hip-hop and the aesthetics of Arabic dance music. Listen to “Mesh Rage3” on Spotify and follow Big Cairo there and on Soundcloud.

Velatine’s Moody, Darkwave Pop Single “Till Death We Do Art” is a Heartfelt Statement of Commitment to the Creative Life

The title of Velantine’s song “Till Death We Do Art” is a clever turn of phrase on its own but one that seems earnest while not coming across as try hard. The lyrics reflect a will to keep at the creative efforts we’re driven to pursue in spite of outside recognition and affirmation of of the worth of what it is we do. The song and its melancholic overtones, its low-end saturated atmospheres, measured yet low-key urgent pace serve well with vocals that hold an even yet expressive quality with words that capture a broad range of what motivates most creative people including the sensitivity and attunement to the social and political forces in the world that inform and too often come crashing down on anyone that dares to express anything outside what is deemed acceptable by any culture narrow in its conception of “normal” in thought, behavior and sentiment. The song could be loosely described as in a style of lushly atmospheric darkwave pop but what the song has a clearly broader appeal and its message a universal statement of being in the creative life for the long haul. Watch the colorful video for “Till Death We Do Art” on YouTube and follow Australia’s Velatine at the links below.

Velatine on Facebook

Velatine on TikTok

Velatine on Instagram

IN COVERT Summons Strong Spirits of Cacophony and Chaos on Noise Metal Post-Punk Single “Nowhere To Turn”

When “Nowhere To Turn” by IN COVERT first crashes into your ears it’s like hearing a bizarre amalgam of grunge if one of those bands leaned more into the influence of Flipper: challenging, archly noisy, disorienting. But as the song’s clashing sonics progress it’s reminiscent of the edgy hardcore and deathrock hybrid of Final Gasp. But in the mix are clear strands of electronic sounds that both propel and hold together the surging energy of the track like the underlying skeleton of a whirlwind of thorny emotional fragments that the band orchestrates to great, cathartic effect as the feral vocals seem to spin a desperate tale of hypocrisy, abuse and abject neglect. When the song ends it’s like you’re hearing he door to a chaotic dimension close and the world feels all too normal again and you miss the onslaught of feelings and the cacophony. Fortunately, rather than relive the experiences that may have inspired the song, one can simply press play again. Listen to “Nowhere To Turn” on Spotify and follow IN COVERT at the links below. The band’s album Bleak Machinery released on May 9, 2025 via Dune Altar on vinyl and digital formats.