noise rock – Queen City Sounds and Art

Kim Gordon at the Ogden Theatre 7/23/26

Kim Gordon and her band came on stage with little fanfare but with the expected effortless cool and poise. Everyone in the band contributed to the rich electronic soundscapes that ran throughout the show and everyone played a more standard rock instrument as well with a drummer (Madi Voigt), a bassist (Emily Retsas) and guitar duties with Gordon and Sarah Register. Immediately it felt like we were hearing something born out of the various interests and creative leanings across Gordon’s career as an artist and pushing past immediate expectations of some kind of No Wave noise rock. It was more like a thorough fusion of various styles of hip-hop, industrial aesthetics and stretching notions of what role guitar plays in songwriting. Like real time sampling in moments with rock instruments dropped into a track. The percussion was a combination of programming/sequencing and live drums played with an ear for the various beat styles that have emerged in the past two or three decades: trap, Dilla-isms, drill. The effect was cinematic and emotionally-charged with Gordon’s nearly spoken word vocals accenting the rhythm with her own lines of spare poetry as though she was replicating a production method with own performance.

The band played all of the new record, Play Me (2026) seemingly in order as well as a few songs from The Collective (2024) and No Home Record (2019). But it all felt like a vivid yet hazy dream with Gordon singing songs that felt like they were a commentary on the current era and zeitgeist in a way that was creative like stream-of-consciousness poetry or free verse and free association on a theme. The social commentary was pointed and cathartic with the production lending the music a textural and cinematic quality so the experiencing of witnessing it live had a tactile aspect that was riveting and seemingly personal because Gordon’s words framed the ideas of tech oligarch and the dream of a world after the fall of the imperial program that has been burning through the world with an accelerated spirit of consuming destruction an attainable goal. The caustic menace of “Sub Con” and “Square Jaw” got into your head like hope through validating one’s anger and desire for liberation from the various tools of late capitalist repression. Both songs and “Post Empire” were a string of songs that seemed to draw heavily on hip-hop production and sounds of the past decade and a half but with a little different sound palette and informed by Gordon’s insight into the ills of the horrific aspects of current human civilization.

Hard to imagine Gordon isn’t affected deeply by this music and the words performing them on a tour and yet it has to feel good to get these thoughts and feelings out there and sharing them with people who may not be as focused in their expression when everything can feel overwhelming and you just have to show up to your job or jobs just to survive. But the show did feel like an expression of human solidarity for the collective, ambient anxiety and horror of what feels like the worst timeline of recent years. With the update of “Bye Bye” as “ByeBye25” as a kind of exclamation point on the album it was obvious that Gordon’s new album showcased her masterful wordplay perhaps influenced by the hip-hop artists that have inspired her for decades. Beginning to end the songs sounded like the chaos, fragmentation and collapse of the American experiment but also like a hope for something better to replace the old world order. It made this era feel survivable.

Setlist from JamBase.com

PLAY ME
GIRL WITH A LOOK
NO HANDS
BLACK OUT
DIRTY TECH
NOT TODAY
BUSY BEE
SQUARE JAW
SUBCON
POST EMPIRE
NAIL BITER
BYE BYE
Trophies
It’s Dark Inside
Psychedelic Orgasm
Paprika Pony
Cookie Butter
Encore
Cigarette

Subaqua’s Urgent Post-Punk Single “What a Bliss” Imagines a Future When the Psychic Weight of Patriarchal Culture is Gone

Subaqua imbues “What a Bliss” with a great sense of urgency and exhausted frustration at the inequality of society as we know it. The title refers to how it must be wonderful to not have to walk at night and having to be extra cautious, to be out in public in general and not draw unwanted attention immediately just for being female. And to have one’s natural personality and authentic self being picked apart for its arbitrary value in a patriarchal cultural conception of gender and the “proper” role of anyone and everyone. After decades of so-called progress it’s an ambient weight on the psyche for women and female-presenting people even today and with the upswing of the normalization of misogyny operating completely in the open of recent years it certainly has to be something that anyone with a sense of humanity hopes we can outgrow sooner than later. Musically the guitar and tenor of the vocals are reminiscent of Sonic Youth’s embrace of melody and discordant sounds equally and of Versus whose gift for the left field change-up in pace and tone can be heard here as well. Listen to “What a Bliss” on Spotify and follow Subaqua at the links below.

Subaqua on Facebook

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Fan Girl’s Noisy Slowcore Single “Worth It?” is a Song About Emotional Disconnect and Quiet Devatation

Fan Girl released the 8HRS EP (out April 24, 2026) marking its more extended offering since reconvening several years back in the wake of the tragic 2018 death of founding member Jack Wood. The lead single “Worth It?” begins somber with quiet but emotional vocals, a simple piano figure and harmonic drones in the background like distant city lights to accompany the existential sentiments expressed in the song. The song sounds like someone going over a moment of disconnect with a loved one where it feels like it might be through or is in serious danger and our narrator is not ready to just let go and looking for some kind of confirmation. Musically the song begins in a melancholic, slowcore mode but ramps up to a noisier piece in the final quarter to reflect some of the anguish that lead up to the soul weary part in the beginning but perhaps most interesting the last ten seconds or so of the song we hear a sound like static sputtering out from a radio station that is going off broadcasting status for good. It speaks volumes in a way that makes the rest of the song sound hopeful, a quiet bit of devastation that not many bands would attempt. Listen to “Worth It?” on Spotify and follow the Australian band Fan Girl at the links below.

Fan Girl on Facebook

Fan Girl on Instagram

Genre Is Death Savage Inauthentic Aspirations on No Wave Punk Single “Attractive People”

Genre Is Death, photo courtesy the artists

On “Attractive People” Genre Is Death sound like they took a time machine back to 1980s New York (their hometown) and got to experience bands like Live Skull, early No Wave and Pussy Galore firsthand and shed obvious influences on their return to our era. What we hear is a caustic and noisy, haunting and thrilling song that weds mechanistic rhythms to discordant guitar and a hypnotically driving bass line to create a different kind of musical darkness with which the band shreds shallow aspirations and lifestyle over substantive living and creating. The lyrics are minimal, mostly “You don’t have a life/You just want to be attractive” and “It’s just a lifestyle” that can seem general but when combined with the music’s headiness and confrontational sound it speaks to anyone that recognizes certain social phenomena in the culture when there seem to be people who like the association of cool within a subculture or parasocial attachments without having to do anything to actually be so and live in a way that commits to something real which requires actual effort more than being attracted to the image of authenticity and accomplishment. Watch the video for “Attractive People” on YouTube and follow Genre Is Death at the links below. The band’s LP is out May 1, 2026 on In the Red Records.

Genre Is Death on Instagram

Genre Is Death on Bandcamp

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.