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…

Rebecca Lou’s “Take Ur Time” is one of those interesting songs that picks and choses little bits and pieces from all over the history of rock, and puts together something new. From the vocals that remind me of an underground…

CATSIGNS’ blissful version of psych-pop is infectious and sunny, without slipping into overwrought cliche. Typically drug songs can really start veering towards the later, as bands think that they’re being more clever than they are. However, “Smokin The Clouds” is…

With a great riff and clever lyrics, Glamper’s “Life Finds a Way” lives in an interesting world between a tongue in cheek send-up and a sincere tribute to everybody’s favorite Spielberg dinosaur movie Jurassic Park. A fuzzy catchy track, that…

Rule #1 when doing a cover, don’t cover the Beatles. It’s just too hard to mess up, and there’s already so many of them out there that they’ll get lost in the mix. However, if you do have an interesting…

Lauran Hibberd’s “Hoochie” is sweet and crunchy and going to be caught in your head the second you hear the opening chords for at least the next few weeks. In a world of a serious lack of emotionally honest feeling…

There’s a fine line that a band takes when covering a song, trying to stay true to the original while bringing something new to the table so it doesn’t sound redundant. This is a very hard line to stay on,…

Back to Pop Occulture are the UK’s FALSE HEADS and like their previous efforts, this is a buzzy poppy alternative rock song with a solid foundation in the roots of rock. As I said in my previous reporting on the…

Self described as a combination of the psych sound of the bay area with the sounds of New Order, isn’t very far off the mark of this interesting gem that got sent to me the other day. Very well produced,…

If the Breeders had been 10% more into shoegazer, Blushing’s “Dream Merchants” would have sounded right at home on Pod EP, the song is full of shimmering hazy melodies that will worm there way into your head without feeling either…

Miami’s Glass Body has a very unique sound that I can’t quite put my finger on — with riffs straight out of the Black Sabbath songbook, the song is heavy, but not brutal — with vocals that sound like they’re…

The buzzy first single from California’s The Moonjacks “Cigarettes” is a catchy fuzzy hard driving poppy little single that has an earworm that will be in your head for days after listening. Currently they have a few other demos on…

Fluttery, and lo-fi The Frownsss “Beesides” is something that you could hear coming straight off of a Pebbles compilation. Bringing raw and focused garage psych that will worm it’s way into your ear. From what I can tell this is…

Did you ever wonder what Jay Reatard would have sounded like if he wasn’t so depressed all the time? Well wonder no longer, because that’s the exact impression that Bee Bee Sea’s “Be Bop Palooza” gives me upon the first…

Honestly, this is one of the weirdest submissions that I’ve ever gotten — simply because when I got it the band’s bio was their Wikipedia article. Which should be a little bit of a hint that the band already has…

If there’s two things that I’m a sucker for it’s haunting vocals, and Daniel Johnston. So this is one of those “you got your peanut butter in my chocolate” Recese commercial moments that is just the perfect storm of things…

The Exbats have been on my radar for a while, they’re one of those bands who’s infectious energy just pulls you in from the first chord of the song until it throws you back out into the real world just…

Not the typical sound that we cover here at Pop Occulture, but over the years I’ve held tight to one simple philosophy. If you don’t like Mississippi John Hurt, I don’t like you. Done in a style recommencement of musicians…

It seems like northern Europe has been spawning a lot of my new favorite music for the past several years. It’s an area that didn’t really pique my interest until now, but it’s becoming a hot bed of some great…

Brooklyn, NY, QWAM’s new “Mail” is an energetic anthem about next to nothing. The song is a mall-pop anthem on antihistamines, I can’t underestimate how much of an earworm this song is, and the fact that I’m running around singing…

LOUD HOUND’s “Youthful Stranger” crackles with a suppressed energy that is full of dread and longing that can’t be understated. This dream-garage track comes from the same place as early Jesus and Mary Chain or the Raveonettes, but has a…

Completely unlike the namesake, Black Leather Jacket’s “Village People” is a song that has energy and a dynamic that bowls you over from the opening chords all the way through. The song has a very West Coast garage rock sound,…

Somewhere between the fuzzy pop of Buzzocks and the sonic perfectionism of The Killers, Rock Europa’s “People in my Head” is a frenetic blast of pop punk that feels both timely and a vintage slab coming from any of the…

Wizard/Witch EP by ACDEATHSTRIKE The song title itself kinds of shows off the dichotomy of the song itself, going from gentle to brash with an interesting vocal interplay that never lets the song go stagnate. In a world where nice…