Dune Altar – Queen City Sounds and Art

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.

In Covert on Instagram

In Covert on TikTok

In Covert on Apple Music

In Covert on Bandcamp

Oakland-based dream pop group Pillow Prince brings powerful blend of urgency, vulnerability and righteous questioning to the single “Care About.” The delicacy of its guitar work and orchestrated swells of emotion hit with real resonance with lyrics that were perhaps inspired in part by the horrific Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs on November 19-20, 2022 but the lyrics expand and resonate poignantly well beyond a specific incident and context. When Olivia Lee sings “When are you gonna care about/Everyone that should be here now/How many faces and names ago/And the hate spewing through their mouths” it is an appeal to conscience and humanity that when delivered with the soaring guitar and an emotionally rich vulnerability it is an example of empathy that reaches deep into you. In the beginning of the song the lines “And finding some little thing to love/Cause everything is fucked” identifies the sense of overwhelming hopelessness that can sink into you which must be overcome if things are to ever get better. The arc of the song traces that psychological path with great nuance and demonstrates how one can find hope in the worst of moments which is a capacity that the world greatly needs now. Watch the fantastic music video for “Care About” on YouTube and follow Pillow Prince at the links below. The band’s new EP pretty, baby! Out April 25, 2025 on download, vinyl and streaming via Dune Altar.