Autumn Rundown - Fast 'n' Bulbous (2025)

The fourth and final quarterly report of 2024 post-punk, art rock, psych pop, art rock, death metal, psych prog, goth metal, heavy psych and more.

With Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds reaching #5 in the UK album charts, and The Cure at #1, it seems Gothmas has come early. This might have seemed inconceivable 20 years ago, but both have crossed over into mainstream stadium fillers. Both artists had the luxury to grow and evolve, and even take some missteps through the first decade of their career, but they still flourished. A slightly younger band, Opeth, around merely 30 years, may also be on the verge of making the top 10. Kim Deal may also make a dent with her first solo album. All good things, but the rest of the younger artists on this rundown remain completely subterranean. Rosalie Cunningham has the support of PROG magazine, recently featuring her in a four page interview and a feature review, but I don’t see her graduating from small clubs anytime soon. Let’s just hope we’re around to see these artists achieve some success too.

The Buttertones – Face to Face With Fantasy

On their first four albums, Hollywood garage/surf rockers The Buttertones seemed content to inhabit a murky, lo-fi sound influenced by The Cramps and The Gun Club. It’s a good sound, and plenty would have been happy if they stuck with it, but on Jazzhound (2020) they revealed greater ambitions, upgrading to a more sleek mix of post-punk and psych noir. A lineup shakeup threatened to end the band, as remaining members Richard Araiza (vocals, guitar) and Modeste “Cobi” Cobian (drums, multi-instruments) considered a new band name (the title of their sixth album, Face to Face With Fantasy), but wisely chose to stick with The Buttertones. Their sound has expanded even more, similar to how Fontaines D.C. and Thus Love have stretched out, encompassing poptastic melodies on “Awesome Monster,” ethereal female backing vocals on “Judy Do a Spin” and stuffing a song to the gill with riffs that would make Interpol jealous on “Jarring.” The slippery saxophone lines on songs like “Sweetest Sweetheart,” “Bye Guy Gotta Fly” and “Fingerwoman Found” bring to mind a mix of Psychedelic Furs and a touch of mainstream sophisti-pop. Araiza pushes his singing beyond his normal repertoire of Ian Curtis baritone and Jeffrey Lee Pierce yelps, achieving Morrissey levels of range and expressiveness on the latter song and “Weight of Blood.” In the middle is a nice Jim Morrison/Ian McCulloch mix on “Let the Songbird Drink.” While it’s their most diverse, melodic and accessible album they still go dark, such as the fierce deathrock dirge on opening title track, which includes an Explicit warning for it’s frank subject matter, as well as the frantic “Chaos Reigns.” With each repeated listen I’m increasingly confident that this beats out all competition this year in terms of post-punk/garage noir guitar pop.

Neon Nightmare – Faded Dream (20 Buck Spin)

Sometime back in 2023, Nate Garrett (Spirit Adrift) mentioned a new project that had been percolating in his head on his semi-weekly YouTube channel Big Riff Energy. He said he wasn’t going to talk about it in detail until after it’s released and he was true to his word. Before any tracks were laid down, I took a guess that it would be incorporate influences that weren’t usually found in his Spirit Adrift albums — shoegaze, post-punk, maybe some gothic country and metal along the lines of Type O Negative, who he’d talked about listening to as a kid. Once the first video was released, the narrative was that it was just a Type O Negative tribute. But that’s just one small element of many, including Danzig, and bits of all the genres I guessed at except for country. I also hear some subtle horror synth vibes. It remains song based, with no extended synth textures, and yet the spirits of John Carpenter and Goblin lurk in the shadows. Honestly, while I had a few of the Type O Negative albums in the 90s, I like this project better. It’s more focused, a concise album that manages to be both dark and exuberant, and packed with nearly as many great riffs as a Spirit Adrift album. A perfect album for those who keep their Halloween decorations up through New Year’s.

Sergeant Thunderhoof – The Ghost of Baden Hill (Pale Wizard)

The most highly regarded band on the heavy psych/stoner/doom scene in recent years, Elder, has influenced a ton of bands. Some recognizably borrow from their sonic signature, but even more positively, others have taken the queue to push boundaries outside of the typical subgenre confines, such as King Buffalo, Vitskär Süden and Sergeant Thunderhoof. The band has been around for a decade, releasing their first EP in 2014, but really made a move to stand out with This Sceptred Veil (2022). As they’ve expanded the scope of their sound palate, they’ve also grown more ambitious in songwriting and concepts, this time tackling The Battle of Badon, the accounts of the 5th century clash between Britons and Anglo-Saxons were hazy and fragmented with Arthurian legend mixed in. Prime material for a progressive psych metal album. While the band’s earlier work had been aligned with stoner doom, like Elder, Pallbearer and Anathema, they’ve evolved beyond those boundaries into an elegantly moody, melodic territory that could be comparable to bands outside of their genre confines, like Radiohead and Elbow.

WIZRD – Elements (Karisma)

Starting as Hallvard Gaardløs’ student project at Trondheim’s Jazz Conservatory, WIZRD includes members of Krokofant, Soft Ffog, Draken, Megalodon Collective, Spidergawd and more. Their debut Seasons (2022), produced by Martin Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist), which was one of the year’s best, a unique fusion of jazz-rock, psych prog and Southern rock. German band Epitaph touched on this combo in the early 70s, but it’s largely been an untapped goldmine waiting for other bands to take it further. In my review of the debut I noted an uncanny resemblance to White Denim, and here both are releasing albums on Dec 6. There is no indication either band is aware of each other, though they reference two other American bands, The Mars Volta and Black Mountain. The harmonized vocals reach higher registers, floating over some frantic yet swinging fretwork, bringing to mind early Yes jamming with Mahavishnu Orchestra and The Allman Brothers. Their countrymen Motorpsycho is also present in spirit, as they sing a few of the songs in Norwegian. The band really let’s loose with over the top performances that should please the musician nerds while remaining exciting and accessible for a potentially larger audience. If King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard can get away with releasing academic music theory exercises as albums and grow a vast audience, why not the more consistent Norse counterparts.

White Denim – 12 (Bella Union)

Since their debut EP Let’s Talk About It (2007), White Denim songs have been a glorious mess of sometimes conflicting styles like garage prog, psych, soul and chooglin’ boogie rock together. They were also one of the very best American bands one could see live in the 21st century. The pandemic didn’t seem to slow them down, as they gave themselves a challenge to write, record and release an album within 30 days – World as a Waiting Room (2020). A year later, Crystal Bullets / King Tears was released on vinyl only. By that point, bandleader James Petralli had relocated his family and recording studio from Austin to L.A. Would this be the end of White Denim as a band? Petralli’s growth as both artist and technician, producing and writing songs for others, working as a guide vocalist on the Daisy Jones and the Six TV series, watching producers work at Sound City and absorbing knowledge, could logically end up with him being a Prince-like auteur. While that could very well where he ends up, for now we still have the band, actually an expanded lineup with old members like Steve Terebecki sending in contributions from Texas, original drummer Josh Block contributing to tracks and also doing the mix, and guests like Tameca Jones and Jessie Payo on vocals, Midlake’s Jesse Chandler on woodwinds. Members Michael Hunter wrote the Steve Wonder-ish “Second Dimension,” Matt Young “We Can Move Along” and Cat Clemons wrote “Precious Child.” Citing Scritti Politti, Aztec Camera, Nick Lowe and Joe Jackson as influences, it makes sense, as the density of styles and ideas are still there, but the enhanced production provides more clarity on highlights “Light On” and “Look Good,” which outdoes Beck’s Midnight Vultures-era Princeisms. “Flash Bare Ass” sounds like a hybrid of Dave Edmunds‘ robobilly and Ween in the best way. “Swinging Door” could be their “Bohemian Rhapsody,” with four drummers and three bassists pieced together, except it all sounds smooth and cohesive. Not the first descriptors that used to come to mind with White Denim, but we’re in La-La Land now, so get used to it.

Thus Love – All Pleasure (Captured Tracks)

Battleboro, VT’s Thus Love hit some long-neglected pleasure buttons for fans of the jangly post-punk of The Chameleons on their debut Memorial (2022). Like their British counterparts IDLES and Fontaines D.C., they were not content to mine the same influences beyond their debut, and moved on to a wider palate of British guitar pop and art rock. While Echo Mars’ vocal range and louche swagger ‘n’ strut resembles Alex Turner on latter era Arctic Monkeys, he also brings to mind some fellow Yanks along the lines of Hamilton Leithauserof The Walkmen and Tony Rolando of We Ragazzi. This can border on affected, but it’s all in the interest of expression and passion, which Thus Love has loads of. Most importantly, they’re honing their songwriting skills, with several standouts that should bring them to the attention of fans of any of the aforementioned bands. If they keep this up for a couple more albums they should be spooking the sales charts and headlining decent sized venues too.

Ian Blurton’s Future Now – Crimes of the City (Pajama Party)

Toronto hard rocker Ian Blurton’s first project under the name Ian Blurton’s Future Now, the scorching Second Skin (2022), had me slavering for more, digging up his history in the solo Signals Through the Flames (2019), Public Animal and C’mon. The new album pares down some of the more complex, proggy layers of the previous album into a more simplified rocker, continuing to mine proto-metal (Budgie, Wishbone Ash, Blue Oyster Cult), the pioneering twin-guitar work of early Judas Priest and hard rock ranging from Cheap Trick to Danzig. If it sounds too good to be true, it depends on your perspective. It doesn’t keep me sucked in quite as relentlessly as the previous album, but is still a total blast.

Kosmodome – Ad Undas (Stickman)

I liked the debut by Bergen, Norway’s Kosmodome back in 2021, a very promising psychedelic album with touches of prog. Three years later, their follow-up progresses exactly as much as I could ever hope for — the musicianship is more nimble and fluid, vocals improved, more clarity in songwriting, and best of all, the lead track “Neophobia” features some exquisite jazzy flow in Sturle Sandvik’s guitar playing and Severin Sandvik’s percussion that reminds me of the greatly missed Canterbury psych proggers Syd Arthur, who have not released new music since 2016. At 8:20 it’s the longest track, and I’m onboard with it never ending. They’ve fine-tuned their dynamics between heavy passages and more ethereal, spacey textures that meld beautifully on the also lengthy “Hyperioon,” which shows a hint of influence from fellose Norsemen Motorpsycho. The album only falters briefly in the instrumental “Turmoil,” which is good, but could use something more surprising and engaging before the final track, “Fatigue.” It’s the heaviest track, with plenty going to keep you engaged, and left wanting more.

The Smile – Cutouts (XL)

Radiohead’s guitarist Jonny Greenwood was quoted saying he’d rather reduce the quality of album 90% in order to up the frequency of releases. He’s done just that, getting around the roadblock of making an “important” Radiohead album by cranking out three albums in just over two years with side project The Smile with his bandmate Thom Yorke and Sons Of Kemet’s Tom Skinner. The albums are more experimental and loosey goosey than Radiohead usually allow themselves to be, and yeah, about 90% as good as A Moon Shaped Pool (2016), enough that it certainly satisfies a lot of fans for the time being. Mostly recorded at the same sessions as Wall of Eyes, Cutouts is better than it’s title suggests, and covers some territory the other album doesn’t, like allowing their drummer to venture into some jazz-funk that he’s so adept at. “Colours Fly” reflects Greenwoods explorations into Middle Eastern music, and anything that approaches the adventurous spirit of Mahavishnu Orchestra is always welcome, and Greenwood goes bonkers on his guitar on the noisy “Zero Sum.” The band chemistry has really developed, the point where when the next Radiohead album comes out, some fans might even prefer The Smile.

Garrett T. Capps & NASA Country – Everyone is Everyone (Spaceflight)

San Antonio based Garrett T. Capps is no newbie to country psych, cosmic country, or “cowboy kraut” as he’s called it, but his first album under the NASA Country name, People Are Beautiful (2022), got a bit of extra attention for it’s whimsical presentation. The follow-up is thematically meant as a prequel to the Shadows trilogy that started with In the Shadows (Again)(2018) andAll Right, All Night (2019). Everyone is Everyone continues the charmingly hippie sentiment of loving all humans, and doesn’t make any significant stylistic departures, much like the country psych project Rose City Band’s series of albums that present a consistently alluring variation of psychedelic motorik choogle, Capps adds a distinctly Texas flavor that is tasty enough for several courses.

Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More (4AD)

The fact that Kim Gordon received her first Grammy nominations at 71, and Kim Deal’s first solo album at 63 is making several year-end album lists feels especially important with the full on culture war against women. I’d been thinking of a historically underrated artist like Marianne Faithfull, who by her 15th album, Easy Come Easy Go (2008) at the age of 62, had been finally getting some belated respect for the past few years. Hopefully this is a trend that more female artists will keep creating music for their entire lifetimes, like Willie Nelson. Kate Bush and Madonna haven’t released new albums since they were 53 and 61, respectively, but Kim Deal’s music feels like the beginning of something, not the end. She’s always been a singular talent since joining the Pixies in 1986, and releasing the first The Breeders album in 1990. With some songs recorded over a decade ago, this feels shockingly fresh, with approaches to art and dream pop that are more creative and innovative than artists a third of her age.

Bubbling Under

Needlepoint – Remnants of Light (BJK/Stickman)
The thing about Canterbury Prog, I like it conceptually but not enough to listen to 99% of it very often. And yet there’s bands who have taken influences from that pretty diverse sounding umbrella of bands, and done things I’ve absolutely loved, like Syd Arthur and recently Kosmodome. Oslo, Norway’s Needlepoint has been at it since 2010, and I had a similar experience in that the albums sounded A-OK to me at the time, but I never returned to them. That’s begun to change on recent(ish) albums, and particularly this one, their sixth album, which is more song focused and less noodly/jammy. I’ve found myself repeatedly surprised how much I’m enjoying repeated listens as songs pop up on the playlist. Their core sound of pastoral psych prog hasn’t changed drastically, but the more engaging songwriting has me coming back for more.

Bobbie Dazzle – Fandabidoz (Rise Above)
Bobbie Dazzle is Siân Greenaway, who took over from Sophie Day with Birmingham doom metal band Alunah in 2017. Her new solo project allows her stretch beyond heavy metal into her love of glam and power pop. Despite the abundance of melodic hooks, the brisk songs rock hard as Sweet, powered with Thin Lizzy twin guitars that reach Maiden level overdrive on opener “Lightning Fantasy.” The band add even more cinematic color and dimension with cool psych prog elements including Hawkwind steampunk-powered space laser synths and flute, with nods to Jethro Tull via Blood Ceremony and Rosalie Cunningham. The cumulative effect is like a superhero in a skintight latex catsuit kicking down your door to save your ass from saying something embarrassing like rock music is dead. We may not always know we need saving, but believe you me, we do.

Lydsyn – H​ø​jsp​æ​ndt (Bad Afro)
When I reviewed Uffe Lorenzen’s third solo album, Magisk Realisme (2020), I thought I had finally gotten a handle on his entire catalog, all 22 albums, from On Trial and Baby Woodrose to Spids Nøgenhat, Dragontears and his alter ego Lorenzo Woodrose. Then that damn psychedelic rascal went and released the self-titled new project, Lydsyn in 2022, which completely flew under my radar. His work can still be characterized as a Dutch Monster Magnet, but with significant variations, this time the lyrics are all in Dutch, and there’s more of a garage rock feel. The second album is even better, loaded with killer riffs and attitude. I have no idea what he’s singing about, but I’m sure it’s all cool as hell.

Miranda And The Beat – Can’t Take It (Ernest Jenning)
Just a year after their self-titled debut, Miranda Zipse and her crew deliver on their promise, moving their garage punk and surf noir forward with touches of new wave keyboards and glam crunch, all coated with grime of the Lower East Side circa 1975. “These Days” glowers with goth levels of ominous intensity, while “Earthquake Water” draws on spastic qualities of no wave. “The Last Time” is no Stones cover, sounding like it belongs on Johnny Thunder’s solo joint So Alone. The one cover they do pull off is “I Tried” by Portland garage punk legends Dead Moon. The album ends on high notes with the tuneful “Up in Smoke” and the smoky atmospherics and textures of “The Secrets,” promising clues that the band have plenty more good choons up their black leather sleeves.

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 – Heavier Yet (Lays the Crownless Head) (Record Kicks)
As long as the scions of Fela still roam the earth, Afrobeat will persist undiluted. One could compare Seun Kuti with his father and wonder why he can’t manage to release three albums a year while also being regularly beaten and jailed by police, but the 70s were a unique time. Just his fifth album since 2008, he keeps getting better, with his pan-African activism and simmering political rage increasingly focused, as police brutality and military dictators still plague the world just as they did fifty years ago. Lenny Kravitz produced this, adding some sweeter, melodic elements that could help this cross over to a bigger audience.

Mirror Queen – Dying Days (Tee Pee)
I was surprised to realize these New York psychedelic hard rockers have already been in action nearly fifteen years and are on their fifth album. It seems like yesterday they were up and coming contenders for twin guitar supremacy. I’m just glad they’re still getting up and comin’, even though they remain underground, mining unused and forgotten musical nuggets from the rich, Cenozoic Era of Psych Prog, that includes Wishbone Ash, Camel, Blue Oyster Cult, UFO and early NWOBHM. This has remained steadfast on the Rancho Bulboso playlists the past couple months along with labelmates Sacri Monti and Ian Blurton’s Future Now.

Peter Perrett – The Cleansing (Domino)
Before I could locate copies of the original LPs of The Only Ones, the Peel Sessions CD got heavy rotation on my radio show, especially the heart wrenching “Miles From Nowhere” and of course the timeless effervescence of “Another Girl Another Planet.” Since then, the albums have only grown in stature and importance for those who wished there were more bands that snaked between the cracks of glam, prog, punk and Television-inspired post-punk. Having started in the early 70s pub rock scene, Perrett’s junkie ways seemingly tied his fate with the likes of Johnny Thunders. However against all odds, he survived, and on his fourth solo album, he sounds impossibly bright eyed and bushy tailed. Seriously, his vocals are as strong as ever, not to mention the endurance of 20 songs in sixty seven minutes. Remarkably, they’re some of the best he’s done since Baby’s Got A Gun (1980).

6kitty – Under Pins (Hardstop)
On the followup to their promising full-length debut Tux (2022), Chicago dream rock power trio 6kitty are progressing nicely, showing their expertise of a rich palate, including the noirish “My Desire,” that melds the glowering moods of Nick Cave’s “Stranger Than Kindness” and PJ Harvey’s “The River” with Siouxsie & the Banshees. First single “June” also has some weight — those with mild synesthesia might imagine it pulsing with a charred and smoky heart compared to the pastel gauze of most dream and noise pop efforts of late. “I Like it Rough” is fresh take on an early song that could have been a lost indie classic for those who come for the hooky whimsey, and stay for the dark irony. “I Would Keep You Under Pins” is another standout that keeps the mood dial set to simmer, with Donna Dee achieving a fantastic guitar tone that’s both fuzzy and prickly. Even the more uptempo, percolating “Hey Now” and “The Bottle” have a post-grunge heft that fans of the likes of Juliana Hatfield and Throwing Muses would appreciate. “In A Mood” rocks that hardest, but takes it’s time getting around to the explosive noisy part like The Breeders at their best. Fans of Kim Deal’s outstanding solo debut would also find much to love here. “In Denver” ends the album on another highlight. It’s matte black finish may reflect no light, but is a comforting presence in dark times.

Scarecrow – Scarecrow III (Ritual Sound)
Scarecrow first impressed me with their 2019 self-titled debut with their unique hybrid of proto-metal, doom metal and symphonic elements. Vocalist Artemis was easily able to match the best wailing of current doom vocalists like Brendan Radigan of Magic Circle. Their third album was preceded by the Golem EP released on Halloween. Located deep in landlocked Russia, Perm Krai near the Ural Mountains, the band immerses themselves in movies, books, role-playing games and a wide variety of music, including sweepingly dramatic Arabic and classical, with Artemis contributing oud, flute and clarinet. The band has released a series of ambitious adventure-fantasy videos, culminating in a 16 minute film to accompany the final track, “Scarecrow III: The Suite” performed with a percussion orchestra and all ethnic instruments. Unlike nearly all modern prog metal, the band don’t allow things to get too overly slick, allowing enough grit to remain in the parts where they doom the F out on tracks like “The Foe,” “The Turtle” and “Rising Sands.” A must hear for all prog and doom metal fans.

The Gates Of Slumber – The Gates of Slumber (Svart)
Eleven years since the Stormcrow EP and the death of the rhythm section Jason McCash and J. Clyde Paradis, Karl Simon is back. With the help of members of fellow Indianapolis doomsters Apostle Of Solitude, The Gates Of Slumber’s burly and chonky doom sounds better than ever. Nice touch with the horror sound effects in the middle of “Full Moon Fever.”

Ist Ist – Light a Bigger Fire (Kind Violence)
A band that had a pretty consistent style for three albums in a row can be easy to take for granted. However, I’ve realized that there aren’t a lot of bands around now that nail what they’re going for every time. Their fourth was seen by some as potentially a breakthrough, with more forward pop hooks and production by Joe Cross. Unfortunately there’s an intangible element that draws the masses to an artist that often has little to do with quality or logic.

Magick Potion – Magick Potion (RidingEasy)
This Baltimore trio plays unapologetically retro heavy psych and proto-metal, the production has just enough analog haze and cannabis seed debris to sound like 1968 era Blue Cheer in overdrive. Bands like Radio Moscow and Smokey Mirror have done this kind of thing quite well, but Magick Potion, formerly known as Head, really nail the sonics like no one else.

EggS – Crafted Achievement (Howlin’ Banana)
This French indie pop band’s debut, A Glitter Year (2022) made my radar, but their big step in improvement on their second album is inspired by a new, garagey jangle pop approach that suits them nicely. “Head in Flames” really grabs you by the ears and demands an emotional response, as an album opener should, with help from a Hawaiian surf slide guitar intro that leads into the jangle. At 23:40 it’s barely more than an EP, leaving us wanting much more.

The Honey Pot – The Happiness Exploision (Mega Dodo)
While this is the sixth album from The Honey Pot, you could also count the numerous albums from bandmembers Crystal Jacqueline and Icarus Peel, who don’t stray too far from their repertoire of psych, progressive folk and space rock. This one is a sprawling 17 tracks, and currently isn’t streaming anywhere but Bandcamp that I can tell.

Familiars – Easy Does It (Full Moon)
This Ontario band’s debut All in Good Time (2020) was fairly heavy stoner metal and heavy psych, whereas their followup is identified as folk rock. Yes, but it’s also Cosmic Americana/country psych with sprawling Crazy Horse style guitar epics. This is a good direction to take, keep it up.

Wizard Must Die – L’Or des Fous (Klonosphere)
With it’s stunning cover art and psych prog flavored stoner metal, this band from Lyon, France grabbed my attention on their debut In the Land of the Dead Turtles (2018). Six years later, we have their followup, and it was worth the wait. Here they’ve expanded their instrumentation with mellotron and sax, delving deeper into prog without sacrificing their heaviness. The epic length “The Disappearance of Camille Saint-Saëns,” is driven throughout by explosive sounding drums that retain a nasty splat effect that you’re not going to find on any sterile, digitally cleaned up music currently in vogue. Not to say it all doesn’t sound sublime, as a lot of love is clearly put into the arrangements and tones, reminding me of fellow French psychonauts Mars Red Sky and Glowsun.

Sleepers

Hamish Hawk – A Firmer Hand (Fierce Panda)
This singer-songwriter’s most well-known song so far is “The Mauritian Badminton Doubles Champion, 1973” from his third album Heavy Elevator (2021). It’s a great jangle pop tune, but one can get only so deep messing with Morrissey influences. Gifted with a buttery voice that melds Peter Murphy and Patrick Wolf, he finally figured out on his fifth album that gothy post-punk is the key to all.

Coughin’ Vicars – Curses & Prayers (Venn)
This Liverpool band has been developing their pretty fresh take on post-punk, garage noir and goth since 2019 (their first two tapes are compiled on Ritual Discipline) and their full-length debut retains a prickly, noisy quality that will please some and present a barrier to others. While I’d prefer if Roman Remains andGabriella Rose King balanced out their hardcore punk style shouting with a bit more singing, the album is completely my thing, as I detect hints of The Sound, The Cure, Killing Joke, Gun Club and The Damned woven into their sound.

Zombi – Direct Inject (Relapse)
Chicago via Pittsburgh progressive electronic/horror synth/synthwave duo Steve Moore andA.E. Paterra recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut Cosmos (2004). One would think there’s only so much one can do with the templates established by Goblin, Tangerine Dream and John Carpenter, but their touch of analog, proggy musicianship keeps things fresh.

Jack White – No Name (Third Man)
It only took seventeen years and five patchy solo albums, but Jack White finally made an album at least as good as the worst White Stripes album (not counting the solid Ranconteurs collabs). Really, that’s an impressive feat.

MONO – Oath
A few years ago I took a deep dive into the rabbithole of current post-rock, and quickly overdosed. There’s so much of it, I can’t even comprehend how so many of them exist. And yet, bands like Japan’s MONO, who have been at it for a quarter century, have become kind of the gold standard.

Rosegarden Funeral Party – From the Ashes (RFP)
When I saw their live show at a small Austin club in 2022, their sounded more like a hard rock band leaning toward metal than the post-punk/goth styles they’re normally identified with. That’s totally alright by me, and the albums do contain a good balance of ethereal textures with the more slamming tunes, same with their third album.

Then Comes Silence – Trickery (Metropolis}
These Swedish goth rockers have released seven albums since 2012, and it’s great timing that the latest is their strongest, given the renewed interest in goth. They’ve never been afraid to lean into the synth textures and new wave melodies. This is full of catchy choruses and memorable melodic hooks, without losing their brooding essence. Shouldn’t this be the kind of stuff filling stadiums?

The March Violets – Crocodile Promises (Metropolis)
These Leeds goth legends released a classic string of singles in 1982-86, then disbanded without ever releasing a full-length album (though The Botanic Verses compilation in 1993 does nicely). Realizing there was still demand for their music, they reunited and released Made Glorious (2013). Now just a short 11 years later, they have their second album, and it’s really good, certainly better than when all the goth bands imploded trying to crossover to the mainstream or awkwardly incorporate Industrial in the late 80s. Rosie Garland must be drinking the same illicit goth brew as Robert Smith, as her voice hasn’t aged a day.

Karkara – All Is Dust (Stolen Body)
Space rockers from Toulouse, France, Karkara distinguished themselves from the psych pack on their debutCrystal Gazer(2019) with Middle Eastern influences from the 60s and 70s era of the Northern African Maghreb region and Turkish psych, plus didgeridoo and kosmische. Their third album leans in on the frenetic space rock of Nowhere Land (2020) with plenty of garage fuzz still littering the spaceship. Slift and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard clearly are not the only space rockers worth hearing.

Streaming Playlists

Spotify | Tidal

Video Playlist

Autumn Rundown

1. The Cure – Songs of a Lost World (Polydor) | Nov 01 | UK | Buy
2. The Sea Kings – Fear is All Around (Iffy Folk) | Nov 01 | UK | Bandcamp
3. Opeth – The Last Will and Testament (Reigning Phoenix) | Nov 22 | Sweden | Buy
4. Rosalie Cunningham – To Shoot Another Day (Esoteric Antenna) | Nov 01 | UK | Bandcamp
5. The Buttertones – Face to Face With Fantasy (Buttertones) | Oct 28 | USA | Buy
6. Neon Nightmare – Faded Dream (20 Buck Spin) | Nov 01 | USA | Bandcamp
7. Sergeant Thunderhoof – The Ghost of Badon Hill (Pale Wizzard) | Nov 15 | UK | Bandcamp
8. WIZRD – Elements (Karisma) | Dec 06 | Norway | Bandcamp
9. White Denim – 12 (Bella Union) | Dec 06 | USA | Bandcamp
10. Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere (Century Media) | Oct 04 | USA | Bandcamp
11. Thus Love – All Pleasure (Captured Tracks) | Nov 01 | USA | Bandcamp
12. SoftSun – Daylight in the Dark (Ripple) | Nov 08 | USA/Norway | Bandcamp
13. Goat – Goat (Rocket) | Oct 11 | Sweden | Bandcamp
14. Ian Blurton’s Future Now – Crimes Of the City (Pajama Party) | Oct 30 | Canada | Bandcamp
15. Kosmodome – Ad Undas (Stickman) | Oct 11 | Norway | Bandcamp
16. The Smile – Cutouts (XL) | Oct 04 | UK | Bandcamp
17. (Spaceflight) | Oct 04 | USA | Bandcamp
18. Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More (4AD) | Nov 22 | USA | Bandcamp
19. (Record Kicks) | Oct 04 | Nigeria | Bandcamp
20. Smoke Bellow – Structurally Sound (Moon Glyph) | Oct 11 | USA | Bandcamp
21. Oranssi Pazuzu – Muuntautuja (Nuclear Blast) | Oct 11 | Finland | Bandcamp
22. Iotunn – Kinship (Metal Blade) | Oct 25 | Denmark | Bandcamp
23. Mo Dotti – Opaque (MD) | Sep 20 | USA | Bandcamp
24. Jim Nothing – Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn (Meritorio) | Oct 18 | New Zealand | Bandcamp
25. Needlepoint – Remnants of Light (BJK/Stickman) | Oct 11 | Norway | Bandcamp
26. Bobbie Dazzle – Fandabidozi (Rise Above) | Oct 04 | UK | Bandcamp
27. Lydsyn – Højspaendt (Bad Afro) | Oct 25 | Denmark | Bandcamp
28. Miranda And The Beat – Can’t Take It (Ernest Jenning) | Oct 25 | USA | Bandcamp
29. Mirror Queen – Dying Days (Tee Pee) | Sep 27 | USA | Bandcamp
30. Peter Perrett – The Cleansing (Domino) | Nov 01 | UK | Bandcamp
31. Ist Ist – Light a Bigger Fire (Kind Violence) | Sep 20 | UK | Bandcamp
32. 6kitty – Under Pins (Hardstop) | Dec 12 | USA | Bandcamp
33. Memorials – Memorial Waterslides (Fire) | Oct 04 | UK | Bandcamp
34. Humdrum – Every Heaven (Slumberland) | Oct 18 | USA | Bandcamp
35. Scarecrow – Scarecrow III (Ritual Sound) | Nov 13 | Russia | Bandcamp
36. The Gates Of Slumber – The Gates of Slumber (Svart) | Nov 29 | USA | Bandcamp
37. Magick Potion – Magick Potion (RidingEasy) | Nov 08 | USA | Bandcamp
38. EggS – Crafted Achievement (Howlin’ Banana) | Nov 01 | France | Bandcamp
39. The Honey Pot – The Happiness Explosion (Mega Dodo) | Nov 20 | UK | Bandcamp
40. Demon Head – Through Holes Shine the Stars (Svart) | Sep 20 | Denmark | Bandcamp
41. Magick Brother & Mystic Sister – Tarot Part II (Sound Effect) | Nov 22 | Spain | Bandcamp
42. Weite – Oase (Stickman) | Nov 22 | Germany | Bandcamp
43. Inca Babies – Ghost Mechanic Nine (Black Lagoon) | Nov 29 | UK | Bandcamp
44. Chat Pile – Cool World (The Flenser) | Oct 11 | USA | Bandcamp
45. Familiars – Easy Does It (Full Moon) | Nov 15 | Canada | Bandcamp
46. Wizard Must Die – L’Or des Fous (Klonosphere) | Nov 15 | France | Bandcamp
47. Mt. Misery – Love in Mind (Prefect) | Nov 01 | UK | Bandcamp
48. High Vis – Guided Tour (Dais) | Oct 18 | UK | Bandcamp
49. Naima Bock – Below a Massive Dark Land (Sub Pop) | Sep 27 | UK | Bandcamp
50. High Reeper – Renewed by Death (Heavy Psych) | Oct 04 | USA | Buy
51. Cemetery Skyline – Nordic Gothic (Century Media) | Oct 11 | Sweden | Bandcamp
52. Moin – You Never End (AD 93) | Oct 25 | UK | Bandcamp
53. The Asteroid No. 4 – Several Shapes of Solar Flares (Little Cloud) | Sep 27 | USA | Bandcamp
54. Gaoled – Bestial Hardcore (Iron Lung) | Dec 13 | Australia | Bandcamp
55. Chimers – Through Today (12XU) | Oct 08 | Australia | Bandcamp
56. sunshy – I Don’t Care What Comes Next (Makeoutmusic) | Oct 11 | USA | Bandcamp
57. Lünd – Ancient Steel EP (Lünd) | Oct 03 | Canada | Bandcamp
58. Drug Church – Prude (Pure Noise) | Oct 04 | USA | Bandcamp
59. Michael – Nite Salad (Cranked Ankles) | Oct 18 | UK | Bandcamp
60. Nubya Garcia – Odyssey (Concord) | Sep 29 | USA | Bandcamp
61. Des Demonas – Apocalyptic Boom! Boom! (In the Red) | Nov 29 | USA | Bandcamp
62. Crippled Black Phoenix – The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature (Season Of Mist) | Nov 08 | UK | Bandcamp
63. Terry Gross – Big Improvement (Thrill Jockey) | Sep 20 | USA | Bandcamp
64. Tribulation – Sub Rosa in Æternum (Century Media) | Nov 01 | Sweden | Bandcamp
65. Stick In The Wheel – A Thousand Pokes (From Here) | Oct 11 | UK | Bandcamp
66. Jeff Parker ETA Ivtet – The Way Out of Easy (International Anthem) | Nov 22 | USA | Bandcamp
67. Bedsore – Dreaming the Strife for Love (20 Buck Spin) | Nov 29 | Italy | Bandcamp
68. Plastic Crimewave Syndicate – Tales of the Golden Skull (Cardinal Fuzz) | Oct 04 | USA | Bandcamp
69. Slower – Rage and Ruin (Heavy Psych) | Nov 01 | USA | Bandcamp
70. Acid Rooster – Hall of Mirrors (Tonzonen) | Oct 25 | Germany | Bandcamp
71. The Psych Fi’s – Can Con (Bobo Integral) | Dec 06 | Canada | Bandcamp
72. Caracara – Hortis Mentis Cantos (Caracara) | Nov 13 | USA | Bandcamp
73. Bananagun – Why Is the Colour of the Sky? (Full Time Hobby) | Nov 08 | Australia | Bandcamp
74. Kit Sebastian – New Internationale (Brainfeeder) | Sep 27 | UK | Bandcamp
75. Maxïmo Park – Stream of Life (Lower Third) | Sep 27 | UK | Buy
76. The Hard Quartet – The Hard Quartet (Matador) | Oct 04 | USA | Bandcamp
77. Thee Headshrinkers – Head Cheese (PropertyOfTheLost) | Nov 29 | UK | Bandcamp
78. The Verge – The Verge (Is It Jazz?) | Oct 04 | Norway | Bandcamp
79. Jeffrey Alexander & The Heavy Lidders – Planet Lidders (Worried Songs) | Sep 27 | USA | Bandcamp
80. Amyl And The Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness (Rough Trade) | Oct 25 | Australia | Bandcamp
81. Certain Death – Strange Garden (Certain Death) | Oct 17 | USA | Bandcamp
82. Oda – Bloodstained (Oda) | Oct 11 | France | Bandcamp
83. Mount Hush – II (Mount Hush) | Nov 08 | Germany | Bandcamp
84. The Surfrajettes – Easy as Pie (Hi-Tide) | Oct 04 | USA | Bandcamp
85. Lowen – Do Not Go to War With the Demons of Mazandaran (Church Road) | Oct 04 | UK | Bandcamp
86. The Cromagnon Band – Mode (BBE) | Oct 25 | UK | Bandcamp
87. Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few – The World is on Fire (Division 81) | Oct 18 | USA | Bandcamp
88. Longheads – Layers of Wax (Stolen Body) | Nov 04 | UK | Bandcamp
89. Phantom Hound – From Boom Town to Ghost Town (Glory Or Death) | Sep 18 | USA | Bandcamp
90. Dead Pioneers – Dead Pioneers (Hassle) | Sep 16 | USA | Bandcamp
91. Touché Amoré – Spiral in a Straight Line (Rise) | Oct 11 | USA | Bandcamp
92. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – No Title As of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead (Constellation) | Oct 04 | Canada | Bandcamp
93. Ezra Collective – Dance, No One’s Watching (Partisan) | Sep 27 | UK | Bandcamp
94. Yasmin Williams – Acadia (Nonesuch) | Oct 04 | USA | Bandcamp
95. Swirls – Top of the Line (Howlin’ Banana) | Oct 04 | UK | Bandcamp
96. Held By Trees & Martin Smith – Held By Trees & Martin Smith (Tweed Jacket) | Sep 27 | UK | Bandcamp
97. The Great Divides – (i’m sure) (Spoilsport) | Nov 15 | Australia | Bandcamp
98. Karl D’Silva – Love Is a Flame in the Dark (Night School) | Oct 04 | UK | Bandcamp
99. 1000mods – Cheat Death (Ripple) | Nov 08 | Greece | Bandcamp
100. KANT – Paranoia Pilgrimage (Sound Of Liberation) | Sep 27 | Germany | Bandcamp