post-hardcore – Queen City Sounds and Art

Bondo seems to sketch and stretch out musical ideas on “Running Back,” like its structure was arranged like stringing together journal entries. Connecting thoughts and feelings with a hypnotic and meditative bass line and drums. The vocals are nearly laconic and meditative but the guitar fractures that peace and feeds back slightly to give the song some evocative dissonance. The song’s mood is reminiscent of a more mellow Unwound or more discordant Versus song which is what makes it immediately relistenable. It is economical in its composition and hits the dramatic notes at the right times with a sense of emotional urgency. What isn’t as obvious initially is how it isn’t conventional in its structure. There is no intro or outro, just moments in time in the songwriting and the way it draws you into its dreamlike tone and thrilling moments of peak catharsis. Watch the video for “Running Back” on YouTube and follow Bondo at the links below. The band’s latest, self-titled, album releases July 24, 2026 on limited vinyl, digital download and streaming.

Bondo on Instagram

Bondo on Bandcamp

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.