Wand Plum Drag City Released: 9.22.17 No Ripcord (Quick Take) review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Unsane Sterilize Southern Lord Released: 9.29.17 Unsane has been mainlining stress, panic, fury, anxiety, and frustration since 1988, the grim layout of yesteryear NYC tapped, injected, and purged as the pen has scrawled line after line of lyrical catharsis, words to be later shouted over top an unrelenting mass of distorted, chugging uproar that’s been carried through eight studio albums. And #8 is Sterilize , which checks in on the band’s mid-90s output while opening new wounds, sludge-weighted hostility like “Factory,” the drum-n-bass muck of “No Reprieve,” and the seasick rhythmic lean of “Lung” still composed with intensity in mind. As the proliferation of noise rock bands like KEN mode , Helms Alee , Spectres , Pissed Jeans , and METZ continues to garner attention during what’s been a renewed focus on guitar-generated aggression for the last 10 or so years, (which has interestingly coincided with rock n’ roll’s so-called mainstream demise), Sterilize could certainly re

Boston area label, I Heart Noise , will be reissuing Tommy Bell , a highly obscure indie rock album from Boston's own,  Turkish Delight .  Originally released in 1996, Tommy Bell is certainly of its era, vocalist Leah Callahan stretching each syllable with the necessary resignation and charming disdain characteristic of the decade, a distortion-laden glaze employed for grit.  The band also evoke the experimental guitar harmonics of Sonic Youth  and the abstract funk of bands like Gang of Four , A Certain Ratio , or Pigbag , Turkish Delight's evident fondness for early 80s post-punk and NYC fringe predating the retro-informed spawn from bands like The Strokes , Yeah Yeah Yeahs and, very recently, Naked Lights and Guerilla Toss .  If you grew up plugged into the output of K Records, 4AD, or Matador, Tommy Bell is a fascinating, overlooked artifact worth checking out.  You can check out the video for "Grammy" below.  Tommy Bell will be released via I Heart Noi