post-punk – Queen City Sounds and Art

Amiture Music and Eliana Glass Evoke an Intense Sense of Pending Existential Crisis on Avant Post-Punk Single “Idela”

Amiture Music teams up with experimental pop/jazz artist Eliana Glass for the song “Idela” and its accompanying music video. We see Hanna Gabbler on a patio in New York looking across the bay to downtown and making shapes with her hands toward the clouds and sun. The music begins minimal and builds to an urgent melody paired with a discordant part that suggests tension and an internal conflict. The view goes from Gabbler standing and walking around to a negative image of a hallway while the visuals seem to focus on angles, close-ups and long shots. Directed by both Jack Whitescarver of Amiture Music and Eliana Glass it is reminiscent of the kind of underlying menace present in the film version of High Rise where normalcy is surface level. But it never quite goes as dark except that the lyrics suggest skullduggery and the decay and fall of Western civilization. But that’s just on point for the time and place we’re living. If there’s a film version of Jim Di Bartolo’s 2026 graphic novel F*ck Billionaires this should probably be on the soundtrack. Watch the video for “Idela” on YouTube and follow Amiture Music at the links below. The new Amiture Music EP 2 Women releases October 30, 2026.

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Taleen Kali’s Dark Shoegaze Single “Viper” Charts a Path For Breaking Out of Oppressive Cycles

Los Angeles-based post-punk band Taleen Kali has been known for its expansive and immersive sound that blurs the boundary between shoegaze and post-punk. For its latest single “Viper” the group journeys into a heavier sonic palette and in its gritty melody one might hear the resonance of doom bands like SubRosa and Kylesa including the emotionally rich vocals but it is because both of those bands didn’t seem to be confined to doom and had well-developed atmospheric guitar that transcended genre. The structure of the song and its repeated themes bring to it a hypnotic aspect that is reminiscent of early Dead Can Dance and the ways in which that band utilized ritualistic strategies in the songwriting to lend the music a sense of being outside normal time. The music video for the song directed by Alex LeGolvan gives us a view of dark spaces of the psyche from which the themes of the song occur of the effect of breaking someone down repeatedly and how that can result in a wounded psyche yet the song suggests that one can break from that cycle. Watch the video for “Viper” on YouTube and follow Taleen Kali at the links below. The new Taleen Kali album Apex will be released in early 2027.

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Queen City Sounds Podcast S6E18: Hypnolovewheel

Hypnolovewheel, photo courtesy the artists

Hypnolovewheel formed in 1986 in Long Island, New York. The group sound threaded together elements of psych, garage rock and power pop but essential a post-punk band in the left field mode that emerged in New York in the 80s. By the time the group split in around the mid-90s it left behind a body of work that was difficult to narrowly categorize but which made an impression on anyone that heard that music. A staple of college radio if you heard them you might think they were in the same realm of music as Flaming Lips, Archers of Loaf and Alice Donut though distinctly different from all of them. Pick out any of the band’s seven releases and you’ll find a record that should have been more well loved by the alternative music audience for its expert songcraft and willingness to experiment with lyrics not short on irony and humor. The classic lineup of the band included guitarists Dave Ramirez and Stephen Hunking with bassist Dan Cuddy and drummer Peter Walsh. All had been veterans of the local underground scene and the first three members of garage rock outfit Plastic Device.

In 2026 Hypnolovewheel is beginning to reissue all of its records since getting rights to their music back and beginning with the reissue of its career spanning compilation Parallel Universe. The tracks were selected by no other than James McNew of Yo La Tengo and remastered by Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks, Young Fresh Fellows). Originally released in a limited edition vinyl the record is now more widely available as of June 19. 2026. A quick listen to the compilation reveals that Hypnolovewheel was making the kind of noise pop music that would in the 21st century be called indie rock and precursors to that music.

Listen to our interview with bassist Dan Cuddy and follow Hypnolovewheel at the links below.

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Jupe Jupe’s “Down With the Setting Sun” Leans Into the Cathartic Potential of Melancholic Melodies to Get Through Dark Times

Jupe Jupe’s new single “Down With the Setting Sun” and its music video looks like it was conceived and shot in the space where the band brings ideas to solidify from feelings and sentiments into the kind of mood the band has excelled at up to now. In the video we see scenes from the Stardate Records studio with engineer Jack Knight on camera juxtaposed with footage from the air and from nature often in black and white to convey a stark sense of wonder and isolation. The song is melancholic but with a touch of emotional urgency fitting themes of the ways in which people can accidentally hurt each other in a relationship in times of elevated tension and a yearning to keep connection even though that hurt seems to weigh heavily in moments. The song doesn’t offer solutions but expresses a complex sentiment with musical elegance. Sure the post-punk style and its lonely piano figure is reminiscent of later period The Sound but not many bands do and The Sound is a group that too wrote songs about feelings that are more nuanced and deep with an ear for how leaning into melancholy can help you get through the darker times. Watch the video for “Down With the Setting Sun” on YouTube and follow Seattle’s Jupe Jupe at the links provided.

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A Very Special Episode Captures the Moment of Clarity After Fulfilling One’s Desires on Fuzz Punk Single “Too Cool”

A Very Special Episode, photo courtesy the artists

“Too Cool” by A Very Special Episode begins with a lightly distorted bass line and hushed vocals and a sense of menace but at the same time reminiscent of Wet Leg in its playfulness. Once the song gets off the ground with every element in direct motion it’s like a wall of sound of singular irresistible hook. All appropriate for a song that seems to be about fulfillment of desires, the heated anticipation of that next connection and the comedown and moments spent reflecting on the significance of it all. Fans of obvious touchstones like the aforementioned as well as fuzzed out psychedelic rock bands like Death Valley Girls will appreciate the band’s edge paired with uplifting melodies. Listen to “Too Cool” on Spotify and follow A Very Special Episode at the links below. The group’s EP AVSE released July 31, 2026.

A Very Special Episode website

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A Very Special Episode on Bandcamp

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.

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J’cuuzi’s Genre Bursting Psychedelic Post-Punk Single “Greasy Comb” Fuses the Ominous and the Otherworldly

When “Greasy Comb” starts you might think J’cuuzi is doing a lo-fi cover of “Edge of Seventeen” mixed with Sparks. But both impressions fade when the song picks up speed and the bass line waxes more funky and the vocals come in with ominous tones and a second set of vocals, or the first, processed as though through a vocoder. As the song progresses like a mutant post-punk song born of a mix of !!! and Black Moth Super Rainbow it swings into a nearly industrial beat with tracers of distorted, glitched out, melodic vocals as notes. Then the song’s layers of sound drop out into the creeping vocals spare percussion for a moment. The effect is psychedelic and like the band listened to a lot of Tran Am’s 2000 album Red Line. Live the band makes its own outfits and makes a performance art presentation of the music and even the recorded output is an embodiment of a willingness to push beyond genre limitations and standard music forms and structures. Listen to “Greasy Comb” on YouTube and follow J’cuuzi at the links below.

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The Dark Urgency of Kallsup’s “Kino” Reflects the Impetus to Exit a Situation Outgrown

The urgent and melancholic guitar melodies in Kallsup’s “Kino” layered with sustained rhythm guitar distortion sets the mood for when the vocals come in with a passionate energy that suggests a will to break free from a situation one has outgrown. The lyrics are in Swedish but the emotions come across with an immediacy that brings you along for a journey through personal struggle. The music video is set in a dark space but with vivid, cool colors that lend the presentation of the song a dreamlike aspect that contrasts well with its headlong pace. Fans of Ladytron will appreciate the moods Kallsup strikes in the song and its fusion of personal darkness and uplifting rhythms. Watch the video for “Kino” on YouTube and follow Kallsup at the links provided. The band’s album Alldeles för nära is set for release in fall 2026.

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Saint Kitten’s Moody Yet Liberating “Stay” is a Song About Casting Off the Comforts of Familiarity and Misplaced Nostalgia and Pursing the Fulfillment of Your Dreams

Saint Kitten’s “Stay” begins murky and creeping with a spare and resonant bass line accenting her vocal lines that seem to be about taking an assessment about a place and a life one is leaving for new opportunities and and the life you want rather than the one you have settled a bit into even when as it doesn’t serve your dreams. The song addresses the way comfort in familiarity can have a seductive effect on your mind coaxing you into a world and life you already know. The past can be a mixed influence as something that shapes us and perhaps puts a limit on our potential if we let it. The lens of nostalgia can cause us to view situations and experiences more romantically than is warranted. The song itself picks up pace and the fogginess of reverie clears and the words become simpler and repeat as though pushing through the tendrils of one’s old life to something perhaps uncertain but with more potential to fulfill dreams buried or smudged over by habit, routine and self-imposed sense of tradition. At turns minimalist and moody and orchestral the song doesn’t bear immediate comparisons to other artists but fans of late 90s Einstürzende Neubauten and Jenny Hval may appreciate the tones and moods of the song. Listen to “Stay” on YouTube and follow Saint Kitten at the links below.

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Bank Myna’s Live Video of “No Ocean of Thoughts” and “The Shadowed Body” is Darkly Cosmic, Heavy Post-Rock Evocation of Spiritual Catharsis

The live video for Bank Myna’s performance of “No Ocean Of Thoughts” and “The Shadowed Body” was filmed at Chapelle des Petits Augustins in Paris, France on February 4, 2026. The setting with the old art pieces along the walls and subtle lighting plaster casts and bas-reliefs line the walls with a replication of Michaelangelo’s Last Judgment, images of French Renaissance monuments and other sculptural images enhances the majestic sound of the music that is a fusion of heavy post-rock and moody post-punk reminiscent of late 80s Dead Can Dance. During the second piece the band strikes upon an urgently menacing section halfway through that juxtaposes dynamic footage of the band with the classical statuary invoking and channeling some kind of ancient energy that predates classical music and reaches something more Gothic, even tribal and the band builds the tension expertly that fans of Swans, Museum of Light, SUMAC and SOM would appreciate. When that build breaks into more ethereal moments, bass thrumming from being struck by drum mallets, the group escalates the sound into an even more intense build that is sustained through a noisy and hypnotic repetition that tumbles into a crushing processional outro and intensely cathartic release. Watch the video of Bank Myna performing live at Beaux-Arts de Paris on YouTube and follow Bank Myna at the links below.