The Alternative Weekly Roundup is a column where our staff plugs a variety of new releases in a concise, streamlined format. Albums, singles, videos, and live sets. Check back each Monday to see what we were jamming the week prior.
Luna Vista – Somerset (Demos & B-Sides)
Luna Vista’s Somerset is one of the most underappreciated emo albums of the past few years, and their Somerset (Demos & B-Sides) digital album, dropped on the two-year anniversary of the original LP’s release, shows that even in demo form these songs were still incredible. There’s even a beautiful cover of Jimmy Eat World’s classic “For Me This Is Heaven,” and it rules. Unfortunately, Luna Vista announced their breakup alongside this album, playing their last show in mid-April. So this is the end–but it’s a hell of a way to go out. I bet they still feel the butterflies.
Somerset (Demos & B-Sides) by Luna Vista
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Suntouch House – Laugh to Myself
Halfway between metallic hardcore and melodic hardcore, Suntouch House’s Laugh to Myself takes the promise of their 2022 demo and absolutely obliterates it. The four songs on here are bouncy and abrasive, as good as anything from skronky ’90s giants like Rorschach and Deadguy, two bands Suntouch House names as key influences. “Honest Man,” in particular, is a highlight for the way it slows in its final minute into a noisy, feedback-laden breakdown.
Laugh To Myself by Suntouch House
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Blurred City Lights – 天使のいない街で
The title of Blurred City Lights’ debut full-length, 天使のいない街で, roughly translates to in a city without angels, but the Nagoya dream pop band’s music sounds positively angelic. It sounds like something you’d hear in a dream, fleeting and floaty, heavy on pianos and light on the fuzz and distortion that so many bands in this lane tend to rely on.
天使のいない街で by Blurred City Lights
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Second Impact – Effigy
Jacksonville, Florida, is a hotbed for incredible hardcore (see: that Suntouch House tape above). Second Impact’s debut EP Effigy is an incredible mission statement, ten minutes of vicious, noisy hardcore that never lets up.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Ducks Ltd. – Harm’s Way
The sort of breezy jangle- or power-pop that Ducks Ltd. makes is certainly in vogue lately. On their sophomore LP Harm’s Way, the Toronto duo doesn’t seek to reinvent the style–they’re content to perfect it. It’s the sort of album made for early spring walks and iced coffees on porches.
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
Day of Salvation – Falling from Grace to Eternal Damnation
Day of Salvation aren’t shy about their influences, but on Falling from Grace to Eternal Damnation, the Malang, Indonesia, five-piece honor their metalcore forefathers without aping them directly. Their sound is nostalgic but still distinctly modern, and the two instrumental cuts (“Killed by Wisdom” and the title track) are as essential as the other three tracks on here in building and sustaining a mood.
Falling From Grace To Eternal Damnation by Day Of Salvation
Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
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