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Raucously ebullient with a penchant for experimental music, And And And release their Buy You EP today via Tender Loving Empire. They’re sharing a teaser, the hyperkinetic title track, on Soundcloud.


And And And – Buy You by fanaticpro

Oklahoma City’s The Boom Bang play lively, noisy, punk-inflected pop. The leadoff single for their forthcoming album, World War Fun (Nice People Records) is below.

These New Puritans
Hidden
Domino

These New Puritans

On Hidden, their sophomore release, These New Puritans incorporate orchestral instruments alongside synthesizers and driving post-punk rhythms to create an unusually hybridized sound palette. But adding choir, woodwinds, and brass to the mix has done nothing to dilute the urgency of TNP’s songs. They don’t incorporate them in a suave, neoclassical fashion. Indeed, Jack Barnett’s classical chops were honed in a month-long crash course in notation. Instead they appear in angular block-like formations, glaciers a-swirl in a maelstrom sea of pop signatures. Sounds affects – including a sample of knives being sharpened – are also liberally incorporated, as are out-of-the-box dance-hall beats and synthetic loops.

But the severity of these incorporations suits Hidden, an album more about stark juxtapositions rather than finely nuanced transitions. It also manages to blunt any notion that the use of classical forces or filmic effects on a rock record necessitates sonic domestication. Quite the contrary, this is a woolly and wild, yet eminently gratifying, recording.

Motorik

Klang!

Self-released

A trio of Seattle self-starters, Motorik creates boisterous songs that combine art rock with dance-punk. Theirs is an incendiary rhythmic approach, featuring cannonading percussion, syncing downbeat ‘thwacks’ with bass guitar punctuations, and retro New Wave-style guitar riffs. Meanwhile, bassist Sio also supplies hearty vocals, indulging the occasional wail amid staccato outbursts.

“Utopia Parkway” is a standout; Motorik creates a mathy groove with danceability at its core – despite multiple layers of simultaneous activity. As a title,”Box of Knives” has an attitudinal snarl to it. But musically, it’s much more than just ‘tude; a combination of sharpened guitar ostinati, tight-knit rhythmic underpinning, and a bellicose post-punk refrain makes for a substantial lead-off single.

True, the band gets a bit giddy on “Robert Palmer;” but one can forgive a few over-the-top synth flourishes and yelps in service of such exuberant rocking! Indeed, just when you think that the songs have hit a predictable stride, “It’s Just Sugar” throws a few off-kilter bass-lines, unexpected keyboard harmonies, and a noise-based guitar break into the mix – all reminders that Motorik is a band capable of providing pleasant surprises.