If the pop-punk onslaught of the ‘90s and early 2000s left you with the impression that punk music loses its edge with the introduction of melodies and hooks, New York City quartet The Underbites are here to remind us all that accessibility and grit don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Founded by veteran guitarists and veteran listeners Jon Fox and Kurt Feldhun, The Underbites may have formed in 2020, but their origins date back to when Fox and Feldhun witnessed the halcyon days of punk first-hand. 

Their new EP, Four Songs About Girls, makes its debut today.

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When Fox and Feldhun actually met at NYU at the dawn of the ‘80s, punk was branching out into thrilling permutations like post-punk and hardcore. “Kurt and I,” Fox explains, “really bonded over Bad Brains and GBH, but we didn’t actually play in that style when we started playing together.” The Underbites sound so energized in part because Fox and Feldhun spent their entire careers up to this point—in groups like Baby Tapeworm, The Cogs, The Behoovers, and Upchuck—playing other styles. 

For Fox and Feldhun, The Underbites is a return to some of their earliest musical loves. But you’re just as likely to hear a passing flash of, say, Attractions-era Elvis Costello in Feldhun’s playing as you are a chugga-chugga riff. In fact, for a band that describe themselves as “unrepentant traditionalists,” The Underbites give themselves lots of headroom to draw from whatever they feel like dialing-up. 

Listening to the band’s full-length debut Sort It Out alongside the new EP Four Songs About Girls, one is reminded that the music from the classic CBGB, SoCal, NYHC and Warped Tour scenes were all highly distinct from one another. But The Underbites possess such fluency with the punk canon that all the music flows as if from the same source. The Four Girls track “Sincerely Jemma Jane,” for example, started out as a Rancid-influenced anthem, but it ended up landing closer to Social Distortion. 

Further afield, Michael Hoffman‘s snare figure at the start of the Sort It Out cut “Che Guevarra,” nods to John Bonham’s iconic “Rock and Roll” intro, but he executes it with sufficient finesse to recall Los Lobos’ Louie Perez channeling lendgary Meters drummer Zigaboo Modeliste.

Lyrically, Fox draws as much from The Beach Boys, Squeeze and Robyn Hitchcock as he does from the Sex Pistols. With Sort It Out, The Underbites proved that provocative music can provoke thought in the best sense of the word. Whether tackling activist posturing, consumer culture, economic decline, racial division, the sleazy machinations of politics, or polarizing figures like Donald Trump and Michael Moore, Fox is masterful at jolting listeners with an initial shock that, on closer inspection, reveals layers of thought. 

“How To Move Forward” is the new single by British keyboard player and producer Sebastian Reynolds, it features a guest appearance from ex-Navy Seal and motivational public speaker Jocko Willink. How To Move Forward will be released via the PinDrop label on 1st September and follows the Fetus single on 11th August and the Cascade single on 21st July with all tracks taken from Reynolds’ debut album, Canary, due on 29th September 2023. How To Move Forward comes with a video cut from footage taken during a night raid in Afghanistan captured by ex-army operative and YouTuber Funker530.

Watch and listen here:  

How To Move Forward follows on from the recent Cascade single, encapsulating the feeling of dread in the face of encroaching catastrophe. “Keep calm and figure out how to move forward” is an injunction from decorated Navy Seal Jocko Willink and in this context the army maxim of “keep your world small” is held up as a self-help doctrine of the simplest and highest order. Even through the hardest times self-betterment is always possible, and there is a quasi-religious overtone to it when rendered as a mantra. Musically How To Move Forward was inspired by the claustrophobic dystopia of The Eraser by Thom Yorke, and has a nod to cult stars such as Akira The Don, famed for his innovative use of sampling from stars of podcast culture.

Sebastian Reynolds has released a string of EPs and singles over the last decade including the pair of EPs Nihilism is Pointless / The Universe Remembers, Athletics EP, the Thai EPs Mahajanaka / Maṇīmekhalā and the trio collaboration records Solo Collective Pt 1+2 with Anne Müller and Alex Stolze. Alongside his own releases, Sebastian continues to work on commissions for Neon Dance, whose work that he scored, Puzzle Creature, has completed two tours to Japan and across the UK. He co-produced and scored the Thai dance and music collaboration piece Mahajanaka Dance Drama and is currently working on a film commission for Oxford University.

Fetus was composed and produced by Sebastian Reynolds in collaboration with Mike Bannard at Safehouse Studios, Oxford. Mastered by Andreas [LUPO] Lubich at Loop-O, Berlin.

Today, Toronto outfit Elephants And Stars sharetheirnew EPrelease Get Your Own Army with the leadoff single “Bled Out at the Scene,” a Cars/Springsteen-influenced rocker that once again showcased the band’s uncanny ability to find the dark heart beating away at pop music’s gooey center with a chorus that gets in your head and stays there. Frontman Manfred Stittmann‘s meditation about an acrimonious breakup made it easy to pump your fist and cry into your beer—maybe even at the same time. 

With the EP’s second single “Gimme Ketamine,” Elephants And Stars deliver the ultimate summer anthem with an infectiously catchy rocker that sees the band wearing the influence of groups like The Gaslight Anthem and The Goo Goo Dolls on its sleeve. 

Again, though, surface impressions can be deceiving, with Stittmann exploring the tension between individual conviction and social pressure, offering biting lines like “Let’s crucify everyone who disagrees” in a way that one just can’t help but sing-along with. 

“If you look at a mega-popular hit like ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police,” says Stittman, “just think how many people have played that song at weddings and occasions like that thinking it’s this heartfelt love ballad, when in truth it’s sung from the point of view of a stalker. I listen to a lot of really dark, heavy stuff like death metal and punk, but those lyrics don’t connect with me as much when the words and the sound align too closely. They end up canceling each other out. To me, death metal is almost party music even though I take the playing very seriously.”

“On the other hand,” he continues, “bubblegum pop usually doesn’t do it for me. I need some contrast—that feels more lifelike to me because, if you think about it, life is contrast. And I feel like that’s what we’re craving in art that seeks to be more than just entertainment, at least I do. I like to be entertained too, but I like to think this band can do both. You can sip your beer and play our songs at a cookout, or you can put them on to dwell on whatever you need to dwell on. I’m not the most profound songwriter, but I like to think our music can be there for you at whatever level you need it to be in the moment.”

The band’s follow-up to their 2022 full-length Last Chance Power Drive, Get Your Own Army was produced by Steve Chahley and mixed by Ron Hawkins of alt-rock legends Lowest Of The Low. Elephants And Stars is the third project formed around the long-running creative partnership of Manfred Stittmann and bassist Mike MacMillan, both of whom also formed the core of the late-’90s/early-2000s groups Soap Opera and The First Time. 

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Exploding out of their hometown of Toronto, JUNO Award-winning band MONOWHALES have been putting a new lease on the alt rock genre. They recently completed a Canada-wide tour as direct support to grandson, leading into their headline tour of the USA and Canada this fall.

“When I’m on tour, I get to surround myself with the most accepting and welcoming people on earth,” vocalist Sally Shaar explains. “I feel so heard, so supported. ‘Hear Me Out‘ explores how difficult it is for me to live without that outlet.” Their new single is “classic MONOWHALES evolved,” guitarist Zach Zanardo adds. “Emotional, proud, explosive.”

2022 was a landmark year for the band, with highlights including winning a JUNO Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year, supporting Mother Mother on their Canadian tour, playing some of the country’s biggest festivals (including Osheaga, Festival d’ete de Quebec, Hillside, and more), releasing their album Tunnel Vision and headlining their own tour across the country to cap off the year.

1. Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

This song is about two sides to my lifestyle. The one that travels, meets people, connects with our community, and enjoys all the highs, and the complete opposite of the lows when I am at home festering in my own head. I pretty much wait out the next fix of being out on the road again. It was only fitting the video be a glimpse into what our touring life looks like. And why we enjoy it so much.

2.What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

We brought out our photographer and friend Ryan Brough and pretty much asked him to listen to the song, and then document the journey of the tour we just had. He did an incredible job grabbing all those really special moments we have both on and off stage. The video is 100% real-life on tour including all the performances.

3.What was the process of making this video?

Like I said, we gave Ryan free rein. We just wanted raw authentic footage of what it looks like to be on tour with us. We hope our fans feel a part of our journey. We wouldn’t exist without their support. Answered by Sally Shaar

Vancouver-based rock singer Charlie PS has a sound that can be described as a sonic melting pot. Inspired by a wide variety of rock and blues from legends of the 20th century such as Stevie Nicks and Ann Wilson, to modern rock artists that include Grace Potter and ZZ Ward, Charlie borrows elements of strong vocals and energetic riffs and uses them to create her own blended sound rooted in modern-rock.

Her latest single “Even If It Kills Me” takes its dynamic chorus, layered with an ensemble of vocals and live horns and its modern rock inspired instrumentation and calls out to the risk takers and the secretly insecure, reminding them that sometimes it’s okay to just be you. “Even If It Kills Me” is the second of three singles to be released this year from her five song EP, also titled Even If It Kills Me, later in November.

“Even If It Kills Me” is inspired by Charlie’s journey through COVID after much self-work and going from a chronic overthinker to being in a much more peaceful and carefree head space, as well as the notion of persevering through things that you love to do, even if they aren’t always easy – for Charlie, this situation is about the music industry and being a musician. 

“I feel that a lot of people agonize over their flaws and insecurities or just care too much and want to change into a version of themselves they think will make them happier,” says Charlie. “But I hope that ‘Even If It Kills Me’ will help remind people that being the realest version of yourself and showing the world the good, the bad and the ugly is a much more freeing place to be in.”

Moh Flow‘s musical journey began as a rapper, but he soon realized that his true calling lay in exploring the depths of his soul through singing and songwriting. This artistic shift proved to be a turning point, as he found his voice and began crafting a sound that seamlessly blends elements of hip-hop, soul, and R&B. The result is a sonic tapestry that resonates with listeners on a profound level, transcending language and cultural barriers. This multi-talented artist has captivated audiences with his lyrical prowess and distinctive sound, firmly establishing himself as one of the Middle East’s most promising talents.

His song “Reckless” is a moment of brutal honesty. Moh Flow addresses people who are no longer in his life by confronting them in these verses. However betrayed he felt by those people, he still recognizes that he had a part to play in those relationships too. After some soul searching, he’s retired the meaning of the word “reckless” as in being difficult. The new Moh Flow is reckless in a whole ‘nother way – reckless as in how hard he’s going to go to achieve his dreams. 

The Reckless album is a collection of nine original songs and two remixes created during a period of creative and personal shift for Moh Flow. If you listen to the entire album, you will feel the wave of disruptive energy and experience the shifts he was going through.

“I created music that felt like the soundtrack to life at the moment; I vented on these records,” says Moh Flow. “I flexed, cried, reflected, confessed…all of it. The inspiration is so personal that a few people will hear these records and know exactly what I’m talking about. It was all on display, and then I spoke on it.”