2020 may be the year we’d like to return for a full refund, but at least there’s some good music coming out. My current escape is Covet’s new album technicolor (lower case intentional), released June 5th on Triple Crown Records. The mostly-instrumental California trio serves up an engaging sophomore album; effervescent guitar riffs perform a looped dance over jazzy percussion and thoughtful bass lines, with strings and vocals making occasional appearances. Guitarist Yvette Young also created the striking album art. Kicking back to technicolor, it’s easy to imagine that we’re all going to have the best summer ever. Turn it up….
The Hawkins are another band that transports listeners to a more positive dimension — and it’s the most “pop-punk-sounding” group I’ve heard from The Sign, although I can’t claim to be an expert on the label’s entire catalog. If Blink-182 was a classic rock band, they’d sound like these Swedish headbangers. Their debut album Silence is A Bombis an energetic, beer-raising in the backyard kind of listen. (Fittingly, the band has their own IPA called “F*** You All I’m Drinking Beer.”) I didn’t understand the message of “Black Gold,” but other than that, the album was a lot of fun! It will be released on September 4th, so keep an eye out.
On a darker note, Connecticut’s own Curse The Son will be unleashing Excruciation via Ripple Music on June 12th — their fourth full-length and a must-listen for doom fans. Frontman/guitarist Ron Vanacore, bassist Brendan Keefe, and drummer Robert Ives take it beyond Sabbath-worship for this one, with songs like “Devil Doctor Blues” coming straight out of the Mississippi Delta and “Phoenix Risin'” that continues Soundgarden’s sonic legacy. But even with all these influences on display, Curse the Son has struck on a sound that’s all their own — perhaps best represented by the devastating title track. Keefe played a larger role in the songwriting this time around, following his recovery from a 2018 motorcycle accident that could have killed him. Certainly a play-through of Excruciation will show a band that’s come out of the ashes stronger than ever.
What have you been listening to as the world burns down? Leave a comment.
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