noise rock – Queen City Sounds and Art

King-Mob’s Industrial Noise Rock Single “Pendulum Days” is the Sonic Equivalent of a Movie Played in Reverse

King-Mob’s “Pendulum Days” sounds like a movie played in reverse. One imagines hearing hammered dulcimer creating tonal textural rhythms, steady and accented cymbal strikes and guitar squalling and sustaining urgent sounds while in the background vocals sound almost as if coming from a trance state. As the song progresses the band takes some chances in more conventional rhythms for a few moments rising in a run for volume before dropping back into what can be described as post-industrial noise jazz. What do you compare this to as a frame of reference? This Heat? Dazzling Killmen? The algorithm recommendations suggest Sightings and Morgan Garrett for more modern references which are apt enough. It’s not quite like that but if you’re into those bands you may find a lot to like in King-Mob’s uniquely creative and strange compositions. Listen to “Pendulum Days” on Spotify and follow King-Mob at the links below. The group’s new EP Arabesque is available now.

King-Mob on Facebook

King-Mob on Instagram

King-Mob on Bandcamp

Charm School Sends Up Music Scene Gatekeeper of Privilege on Noise Punk Single “Scene Queen”

Charm School, photo courtesy the artists

Charm School seems to be accelerating the pace the entire length of its single “Scene Queen.” The relentless energy of the song suits its subject matter of the kind of person who is in most music scenes that can be a bit sanctimonious and plays like they’re poor but has a trust fund that they don’t always necessarily try to keep secret but works in restaurants yet is able to pay rent on a warehouse and then move to an expensive city or another county seemingly on a whim once they’ve long outlived their welcome and alienated so many people in the community and leaving mediocre art in their wake. It happens. If you’ve been in any creative community of size there are people that can exert an influence because they have money and thus access to spaces to dangle as important places or the funds to “make things happen” for a little while, sometimes for more than a short bit and seem important but once they’re gone it’s like their significance was way overblown. The song embodies the frustration of dealing with that dynamic with a furious run of noisy, almost abrasive, post-punk that is the band’s signature sound that fans of Drive Like Jehu, mclusky and Angel Hair will appreciate. The group’s new EP Schadenfreude Ploy released February 20, 2026 on cassette, digital download and streaming. Listen to “Scene Queen” on Spotify and follow Charm School below.

Charm School on Instagram

Charm School on Bandcamp

Taleen Kali Disentangles Ego From Self-Transformation on Urgent Shoegaze Single “Crossed”

In the churning whirlwind of noise and melody of Taleen Kali’s shoegaze track “Crossed” one hears the touch of Going Blank Again-period Ride, maybe a hint of The Vaselines in the sheer embrace of raw sound in a pop hook. The rippling/repeating synth line that opens the song is like a primer for the glorious flood of sound that carries you through the rest of the song. The songwriter’s vocals soar in harmony and solo over the proceedings while not dominating the mix. The lyrics seem to express an inner change and acceptance of transformation and change rather than holding on to outmoded ways of thinking and being. The music and its layers of atmospheric guitar and texture at headlong pace supports this untangling of self into more expansive states of spirit and the song hits as triumphant rather than melancholic. The single is also available as a limited edition lathe cut on Bandcamp. Listen to “Crossed” on Spotify and follow Taleen Kali at the links below.

Taleen Kali on Facebook

Taleen Kali on TikTok

Taleen Kali on Instagram

The Frenetic Layers of Colorful Sound and Rhythm on A Place To Bury Strangers’ “Let It All Go” Has Perspective Altering Qualities Akin to Avant-Garde Cinema

A Place to Bury Strangers, photo by Ebru Yildiz

“Let It All Go” hits immediately with the crackling and headlong energy we’ve come to expect from A Place To Bury Strangers’ more frenetic offerings. But something about the mix and production conveys an almost visual sense experienced as music. The hyped up motorik beat is insistent but guitar tones flash and fade downward and sideways like the streaks in a post-impressionist painting style lending a sense of suspended time. Oliver Ackerman’s voice echoes rapidly like a dub ghost haunting the beat, the rapid fire guitar melody both pushes to the forefront of the track and then pulls back into the rhythmic and tonal maelstrom so that throughout the focus of sonic field shifts like the musical equivalent of a Stan Brakhage film. Listen to “Let It All Go” on Spotify and follow A Place To Bury Strangers at the links provided.

A Place To Bury Strangers on Twitter

A Place To Bury Strangers on Facebook

A Place To Bury Strangers on Instagram

A Place To Bury Strangers on Bandcamp

dedstrange.com

Public Health’s Noise Rock Single “Goblets” Begins With Angular Moodiness and Ends in an Explosion of Sonic Catharsis

Public Health, photo courtesy the artists

Listening to the angular rhythms and harmonic motes of tone over the main riff in Public Health’s vibrant post-punk/noise rock single “Goblets” will remind some of DC post-hardcore, Efficies and even that band’s Chicago hardcore rivals Articles of Faith. The driving bass and the abstract guitar hanging off it while vocals hang slightly in the background When the cleaner lines in the beginning of the song head into more chaotic and intense territory you can’t help but be swept along into that catharsis. In the end the song is more reminiscent of the gnarly yet disciplined dissonance of Chicago noise rock bands of the 90s but with the dynamic swing and moodiness of a Dischord band. Listen to “Goblets” on Spotify and follow Hamilton, Ontario’s Public Health on Instagram.