Fresh Mango: December 14, 2021
18 new releases that are worth checking out!
18 short reviews.
If available on Spotify, one song each will also be added to the MangoRotation playlist (MR) for 14 days.
This coverage was created via Musosoup #Sustainablecurator
Benton Luke Band - Walkaway (MR)
In their new song 'Walkaway', California's Benton Luke Band from Simi Valley in Ventura County refer to a real situation that occured to their frontman. It was one of those struggles that are completely unneccessary, and yet they leave you with frustration and a huge load of emotions and thoughts. The Benton Luke Band's advice "sometime you've got to walk way" is wrapped up in a beautiful mix of Country, Americana, and funky twist.
Poetica - Poetica (MR)
Poetica is a project from New York that forges links between genres and worlds. The nineteen-track selftitled album contains soulful and thoughtful poetry accompanied by atmospheric soundscapes. The music is often driven by Jazz with some tendencies towards darker spheres, but Folk, Americana, Blues, and Dub have also left their traces in this wholesome artwork. And thus, the album "Poetica" feels like a joyful walk through a beautiful gallery.
Miles to Midnight - Out of Time (MR)
The debut album by Miles to Midnight from Sydney, Australia is a versatile collection of Alternative and Indie Rock songs with various moods, tempi, and an honest and autochthonous attitude. On "Out of Time" the band presents themselves confident, emotional, and powerful. Soulful ballads like 'Walk away' coin the album's impression as well as sonic fireworks like the title track, or fast forward Alternetaive Punk as in 'No Way Out'.
ASSASSINS - Believe (MR)
And with Melbourne's ASSASSINS there is another Alt Rock Band from Down Under in this Fresh Mango issue. Yet, the approach towards Alternative Rock done by ASSASSINS is a very interesting one, since they let powerful 70s style Classic Rock flow into their sonic construct, and then they add the atmospheric and gloomy elements of Post Punk which makes their sound so unique. The single 'Believe' is capable of setting you in a state of trance.
The Bare Minimum - Woah (MR)
Toronto's quartet The Bare Minimum hereby reminds of the glorious 1990s - the age of skateboards, graffiti, pool parties, prank videos, and awesome music. With an ironic undertone and yet with honest admiration, The Bare Minimum pay hommage to the times when THPS was one of the most famous video game series, when CKY was more than just a band, and when going go the skatepark was a synonym for listening to some kickass Punk Rock.
Strange & The Familiars - Strange World (MR)
Looking at our planet, at the societies inhabiting Earth, at the development and the history of life on the blue planet, does it not very often appear... strange? And is it the world that is strange, or did we human beings estrange ourselves from terrestial nature?
Strange & The Familiars from Portland, OR invite us on a sonic narrative driven by Rock Opera, Folk, and Gothic. The band thereby empowers those who feel strange in these societies. In an artistic and yet sober observation, Strange & The Familiars empower those who feel isolated, because strange is the new usual.
A completely form of sonic reverie is presented in Jack Swing's 'Daydreams'. Heavily grooving Soul and Funk make this Indie Rock extremely dynamic, while the lyrics deal with the invisible portal between wake and dream that can occur at daytime - 'Daydreams'. The super catchy is filled with soulful and emotional colouring, and it ends in stunningly psychedelic coda.
Electric High from Bergen, Norway have become a regular guest on MangoWave. Their newest single 'Rough Diamond' is a powerful Rock'n'Roll anthem that contains a huge load of tasty ingredients. Heavy riffs and energetic rhythms make 'Rough Diamond' a banger to shake your hips to, while the funky elements add further dynamics to it. Soulful Rhythm and Blues in the song's harmony finally complete this amazing track which is rough after all.
On his first album as a band leader, Cambridge's Mr Griff takes a retrospective view on the first eighteen months of the pandemic. It was a time of break-ups ('Wait up' - probably the most positive break-up song I have ever heard), a time of falling and getting up again ('Later'), a time of lessons learned about life and death ('Hey Friend), or a time in which we learned about perspectives ('Somebody Else's Shoes'). Mr Griff who has been a session drummer for over two decades is hereby presenting a funky and rocky Soul and R'n'B debut - an album full of love and real feelings.
How about a night at the bars with some great live music and comfortable ambient? If time travel was not so awfully expensive, a trip to Roslyn Street in Sydney, Australia in the 1980s or 1990s would be perfect. Good thing, RJ Bacon's fifth full-length release lets us experience the soul of places like Round Midnight or Baron's no problem. Smooth and eclectic Jazz with a soulful Blues note allows us to sit down, enjoy a drink, and relax.
The video for British-French duo Golem Dance Cult's 'Nosferatu Waltz' was released as a treat for Halloween but still deserves attention. Together with backing vocalist Inga Liljestrom, Golem Dance Cult have created a beautiful horror sound that combines Post Punk and Art Rock with experimental Goth Rock à la Bauhaus. Video and song together are a tasty tidbit for fans of old school horror fiction.
Almost three years after the release of "A Miner's Canary", Siren Suit from Cincinnati, OH are back with theird album "Monstrous Chitterings". As the majority of the songs were developed during lockdowns, Siren Suit rehearsed them open air with a minimalized equipment. The technical downsizing comprimized Siren Suit's sound and made it become heavy and precise simultaneously. The result are nine tracks of thrilling Alternative Rock with great impacts by Grunge and Stoner Rock.
'Mississippi Rising' by Foundry Town Survivors from Ann Arbor, MI is a vivid and graphic description of a natural phenomenon that is more powerful than human-made technology. The duo from Michigan tells the story of a rain that will not stop and a river that just keeps on rising - "You cannot stop the river with your hands". The catchy ballad brings traditional music and current issues together.
Advice can be helpful, and following can often turn out for the best. Advice can also be annoying, and following it can mean giving up on short term goals. And finally, several advices can get into conflict with each other. So, somehow we just have to make the best of it. And that is "Sunshine in Hell" for us - the fifth single release by Atlanta, GA's up-and-coming Alternative Rock quintet Bad Guru. If you love a modern appraoch to rock music and butt-moving rhythms, this band is a hot recommendation for you.
Former one-person band Everything but the Everything from Oakland, CA has gradually grown to become a collaborative. Thus, the single 'Can't allow' features the band's head Izzy the Gent alongside his guests Tobias Hawkins (vocals), Landon Cisneros (drums), Bruce Withycombe (saxophon), and Rex Shelverton (production). Together, they create an exciting sound that combines the colourful elements of Surf Rock with the gloomy melancholy of Post Punk.
Fancy a little bit of nostalgia mixed with shame and sentimentalism? Snap Infraction from Philadelphia, PA have recently released the perfect track for this look into one's own past. Their song 'Memories of Ourselves' honestly looks back on their youth. This perspective is carried forward by a very catchy, harmonic, and anthemic chorus that rises up between massive Alternative Rock verses with heavy riffs and a nostalgic filter.
Kyiv's Сома (pronounce: Soma) consist of Maksym Bondarenko and Alexander Kolesetsky. The title of their newest album "Модуляция" means "Modulation" in English, and that is exactly what this release is about: change. Driven by multi-instrumental Synth Pop that is highly influenced by Funk, New Wave, and the inimitable atmospheric melancholy of Soviet Rock, Сома play the soundtrack of a world in transgression.
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