ARTISTS
Tune-Yards
Formed by Merrill Garbus in 2006, Tune-Yards has become a name synonymous with creativity and forward motion. Known for explosive performances, surprising song structures, and danceable rhythms, their music also highlights connections between song and social consciousness. The New York Times praised their debut album, BiRd-BrAiNs, as “a confident do-it-yourselfer’s opening salvo,” and relentless touring established Garbus as a commanding live performer. Garbus stepped into the producer role with 2011’s w h o k i l l, a bold and sonically inventive album that earned critical acclaim, including the #1 spot on The Village Voice’s Pazz and Jop poll. By 2021’s sketchy., Garbus and bassist Nate Brenner had solidified their partnership, creating a fully collaborative work.
Automatic
Automatic makes deviant pop music that cuts through the brainrot. Balancing irreverence with sharp commentary, the L.A. three‑piece approached their third album with a dark sense of humor and a swing in their step. Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Halle Saxon (bass, vocals), and Lola Dompé (drums, vocals) — believe that the message of change is best served with a backbeat and a cheeky groove, and on Is it Now? they demand we look at the world’s oppressive structures with fresh urgency.
Video : Is It Now?
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Mermaid Chunky
It’s all in a name, sometimes.
Freya Tate and Moina Moin are two visual artists and musicians from Stroud and South London, places where they importantly found communities (Stroud’s SVA and the capital’s Total Refreshment Centre) of like-minded people just as willing to chase down an idea to its possibly illogical conclusion. And it is in the collective and the idea of participation that Mermaid Chunky really shines. This is a party, a gathering made all the better with more: people, ideas, layers, kick drums, recorders, saxophones, frogs.
Wombo
Wombo are back. The Louisville-bred art-rock trio of Sydney Chadwick (bass/vocals), Cameron Lowe (guitar), and Joel Taylor (drums) return to announce their new album, Danger in Fives, out August 8th on Fire Talk Records. Danger in Fives isn’t a reintroduction; it’s a reminder. Throughout the record, Wombo not only enhance their formula, but routinely perfect it. Maintaining the confidence of their last full-length, 2022’s Fairy Rust, Danger in Fives reconnects with the intuition that led their wild experiments on the 2020 debut LP Blossomlooksdownuponus. The elements central to Wombo remain true, and are only strengthened across a near-decade of crafting mesmeric rock.
Video : S.T. Tilted
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Roomer
With Leaving It All to Chance, Roomer don’t quite leave everything up to fate. The Berlin outfit’s debut album hums with guitar-driven heartbreak, pairing mind-splitting noise with seductive melodies. Capturing the gritty yet emotive energy of their live performances, the album welcomes in the occasional ear-candy, staying true to the raw physicality of a
hazy club show all while sharpening its edges—crafted in true DIY spirit and released by Munich's Squama Recordings.
Video : Leaving It All to Chance
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The Hobknobs
The Hobknobs is the project of Yaël Dekker (singer/songwriter in The Klittens) and Arie van Vliet (singer/songwriter/guitarist/violinist of Lewsberg)
“To describe the music of The Hobknobs, use the word ‘natural’. And what you will mean is: fitted to itself; essentially, albeit politely, uninterested in whether or not you’re looking. You might think of early rock ’n’ roll and you’ll be thinking of its energetic nonchalance and honest economy minus any sentimentality. Sonically and lyrically, the elements of the songs dovetail showing how they move but giving no temptation to take them apart. The duo Yaël Dekker and Arie van Vliet have long admired each other's music but their collaboration here is not a closed conversation -- at the same time colloquial and cerebral, we are invited in, if we can hang. As a natural thing is self-possessed, The Hobknobs deftly maneuver so that we stand with them, hearing and seeing with them, and find that each song is a place to be.” – Karina Gill
Video : The Mind
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