“Salt” by The Dead Ringers is a Maryland 2-piece that incorporates raw and energetic garage punk with surf keyboards and sunshiney vocal touches that create an interesting juxtaposition that is unique and refreshing. Their new EP is “Dull Life”, a…

At just over 2.5 minutes, The Moonjacks’ “Bowl” is a buzzy-poppy number that has all the right stuff to be stuck in your head for days. It’s blown out while still having decipherable melodies and lyrics, it’s high energy without…

Hotmom’s “Crutch” combines great hardcore attitude with a bit of an experimental edge that really separates it from the rest of the pack. Hailing from Austin, TX the band shows that you can still be powerful and fast without relying…

Within the first seconds of the Table Scraps’ new single, “I Wanna Stay Home With You” you wonder if it’s the latest single from a band on Burger, and… well, it is. Which is actually quite a good thing. The…

Alternative Radio’s “Julie’s Got A Gun” comes straight out of the mid-70’s New York proto-punk songbook. With hints of The Heartbreakers and the 101 associated projects, the song is raw and so clearly defined by the time that they belt…

Cup isn’t exactly your typical garage rock outfit, combining elements of Garage, Dark Indie Rock, and Power pop. While you hear shades of many of the great west-coast garage rock bands of the past 10 years or so, there’s also…

Gateway Drugs’ new track “Wait (Medication)” is loud, trippy, druggy, and possibly the best example of whatever you would, personally, consider bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain & Brian Jonestown Massacre. Produced by Sune of the Raveonettes, the track…

Once past the tightly wound post-punk intro that has hints of early The Cure, German 4-piece Drens’ new track “Saditsficiton” is a piece of buzzy lo-fi garage-pop perfection that would give anything off of Nobunny’s debut “Love Visions” a run…

Much like the child-like name of “Floor Is Lava” might suggest, French Alps Tiger’s new single is full of playful energy that recalls a more innocent time in your life. Full of sugary energy, the song buzzes through it’s running…

Furlong’s new single “Hate Girls” starts off with a halting and slightly uneasy chunky guitar riff that recalls the 90s in such a non-nostalgic way that makes the song feel like something else completely while holding its roots in hard-driving…

Lizard Prom’s “Betty Goes To Hell” has an otherworldly quality to it that really makes it sound not much else that’s out there right now. With equal parts noise and pop hooks it’s definitely a band I’m interested in hearing…

Neighbours Burning Neighbours’ “Softly” is a moody, dissonant burner that touches on post-no wave that specifically recalls early Sonic Youth in a way that will make you nostalgic for the 80’s underground in a way that very few songs recall…

C.C. Potato’s “Almost Alright” is one of the first new songs in the 90’s Epitaph mold that really surpasses quite a bit of that classic LA/Skate-punk sound. With super high energy and more than a passing resemblance to the vocals…

Sløtface has a sound that is an uptight good time, loud and noisy, but a little stiff. “Tap The Pack” has a frenetic energy that’s infectious. Having checked out a few of their tracks at random this one is a…

Midwestern Medicine’s “Everything I Have To Offer” has one of those timeless, raw and ramshackle rock and roll sounds that sounds just as good today as it would have if it came out anytime during the last 70 years. Hailing…

This live in-studio version of east-coasters Tiffy’s “I’m Not Equipped For This” is an interesting combination of ’90s alt-pop with a bit of shoegazer/dream pop mixed in (mostly in the withdrawn vocal delivery & production). After you’re done listening to…

First, little digression if I may. A year or two ago a compilation was put out called Subnormal Girls collecting post-punk by some of the best, yet underappreciated women-fronted groups from the original era. Why am I talking about this?…

Combining an interesting array of sounds from the Slowcore opening to the sweeping noisy dream-pop heights Winter’s “Nothing More” is as shrouded in hazy mystery as it is a truly engaging and hooky. An extremely hard combination to pull off,…

The fourth appearance of Leggy on Pop Occulture. So for those of you who haven’t read about them here before, here’s the shortest recap. “Leggy is a trio from Cincinnati, OH. Creating some of the interestingly smeary/dreamy/noisy punk out there…

Lot Lizard’s “Ice’ has a tight dark sound, that reminds me of East Bay Ray providing guitar for a post-punk outfit circa 1979. Hard but infectious, the pained / yelled vocal style provides a nice balance against the slick high-energy…

King Williow’s “Your Band” is a ferocious yet sweet-sounding power-pop track railing against a certain kind of egotism that exists in pretty much every scene that I’ve, personally, ever witnessed. With cleverly stinging lyrics, King Willow strikes back with enough…

One of the unfortunate side effects of the current musical climate is that it’s few and far between that I actually see a video that actually pulls me in visually. However, every once and a great while I see something…

Broken Baby’s “My Head’s A Television” is a buzzy energetic romp that feels like a steamroller bowling down to the seconds of it’s less than 3 minute runtime. Full of amazing hooks, and frantic playing it’s possibly one of the…

Desert Sharks “Sorceress” is a high energy track that smacks you in the head from the opening chords all the way through until the end of the song. In a time of lackluster pop-punk and even worse hard rock. It’s…

From it’s crunchy VHS aesthetics, both for the video, nearly danceable beat, and guitar that cuts through the rest of the mix like a weapon — Human Beat’s “Contact” screams early Post-Punk / No Wave without beat it over the…

Jesus Did’s “Kills Birds” is a track absolutely bounding with a retrained energy that jumps out of the speakers and makes you want to listen to the song on repeat. With touches of PJ Harvey, the song is unique and…

Ian Ferguson’s “Worried Walk” is a slice of West Coast styled (though apparently from the East, I can’t find much information on the band) sunshiny garage rock mixed with a healthy dose of T-Rex filtered through Nobunny that you need…

Musically deepening the mysterious sound of Bauhaus’ original track “She’s in Parties”, VAZUM takes complete control by thickening the sonic pallet and giving it a depth that is a little lacking in the original. It’s refreshing to hear a Bauhaus…

One of the hardest things to do with a cover is to have it be true to the original, but also do it in such a way as to bring your own energy to it that will make it stand…

There is an interesting background level of darkness I’ve been noticing increasing in music the past several months. While most of these bands are latching onto the tried and true tropes of the Peter Murphy voice, a ripping off later…