All the shades of loud and quiet.
How about this, new music Friday with FOUR new releases under the Dinked banner for you!
Now we have already talked about it a fair bit already, but indulge us, because OSEES have a new record out called Abomination Revealed At Last and not only is it hard as F, we also worked with the main man on a custom, limited and utterly rippin’ Dinked Edition. Pinch me, we feel nothing now!
As they explain themselves, The twelve tracks on ABOMINATION... are a hypnotic, maniacal, and propulsive attack on the senses. It is one of the most thrashing entries to their esteemed vaults. Fast, ferocious and hard hitting punk songs about oppression, war, toxicity and apathy. In that way and against the current climate, it’s one of the most vital albums that they have produced, with plenty of odd moments that take the fever into weird sonic pastures. Bloody good, bloody thrilling. Record of the Week.
Learning Greek is the debut LP from Glasgow band Humour and it is gonna win them a lot of admirers. It’s broadly in the post-punk world, but there is a real anthemic quality to what they do amongst the changes of pace. Grunge sonics, big rock choruses, some prickling noise and plenty of motoriks to keep the pace rolling. Messy in the best possible way.
David Balfe returns as For Those I Love with Carving The Stone and it’s another focused, pensive and frequently euphoric set. His spoken-word vocals are furious, ranting and venting as the production builds and swells around him. Social commentary is always a tricky one to get right, but the sheer force here clearly comes from experience and abject frustration.
The last of the four pack sees Wrexham four-piece The Royston Club return with Songs For The Spine, a big old guitar record. The production is massive, really maximal and making the most of Tom Faithful’s vocals alongside the epic guitar tones. Little bit Strokes. Little bit Manics. Good stuff.
Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You is the new LP from Ethel Cain, a gothic and sepia-toned set that's really high on mood. The narrative is a knotty concept piece about the titular Willoughby Tucker, high on filmic energy. Homespun slowcore and dust blasted Americana hues. There is a lot to take in.
+ We have limited print editions.
Magic Of The Sale is the second LP from Texan band Teethe and it really is a bit gorgeous. A southern slowcore heartbreaker, full of both vastness and space. Most impressively, they don’t repeat a beat across the album’s 45 minutes, which makes each mini orchestral swell or whining pedal steel hold all the more special. Full of subtlety and melancholy.
+ Available on limited Red Dusk vinyl.
Also this week… Ohio duo The Black Keys release No Rain, No Flowers, possibly their most pop-influenced LP to date. We have some very limited goodie bags to give away with this one. Unsinking The Cypress is the debut album by Memory Of Jane, the pop swoon of British-French multi-instrumentalist Maïlé Doremus-Cook. Little flashes of Arthur Russell pop energy. We have signed prints. Now solely under the steward of Jasamine White-Gluz, Canadian shoegaze outfit No Joy make their Sonic Cathedral debut (uh, naturally!) with Bugland. John Cale releases MiXology (volume 1) a companion release to his POPtical Illusion and MERCY releases, featuring previously unreleased songs and alternate versions taken from the albums’ sessions. Live in America is the latest part of the A Certain Ratio reissue series, with an essential artefact from the band’s career, capturing their summer ’85 US tour supporting labelmates New Order (then fellow Factory artists) across the East Coast and Canada. 
Lastly then, This Better Be Something Great is the debut EP from the much-hyped Manchester-based quartet Westside Cowboy. In the best possible way, it’s a glorious mess! Loud and thrashing about, but also really charming, funny, very knowing and able to switch gear into something more pastoral and subtle too. We saw them play live a while back and the live set was even more erratic (again, in a very good way), full of ever-changing energy and voices. Really exciting stuff and absolutely ones to watch.
Reissues include the hugely exciting Galaxie 500 live LP, Songs: Ohia’s Impala and The Magic of the Majestic Arrows. Bangers!
