New Videos from Upset the Rhythm: Brontez Purnell and Screensaver

I’ve made no secret of my adoration for all things hitting from Upset the Rhythm; they seem to be locked into my coverage, and today they’ve got two brand new videos that I felt were worthy of sharing. The first cut is the new single from Brontez Purnell; he’s a Berkley based artist laying down playful pop punk songs that sound like they were made by your best friend in his garage (I mean that in a good way!). The label releases Confirmed Bachelor on November 10th. On the other video, you get the video version of Screensaver‘s latest, “Future Trash,” which I covered a few weeks back. This is a dark wave goth hit; you’ll find it on their Decent Shapes LP, dropping this Friday!

Last Week’s Jams (10.2 – 10.6)

Kind of a hectic week on my end over here, with RayRay being out of town, B.Gray getting ready to fest, and well, the usual life goes on. Managed to squeeze in a couple of phenomenal shows, so that’s a bonus, catching both Lewsberg and the Walkmen. Tons of fun songs hit last week, though admittedly, it seemed a bit thin in comparison to weeks gone by. Still, Onyon dropped fresh tunes, and Lower Plenty finally dropped their marvelous new No Poets LP. Loved that English Teacher bop, so chose it to start off the playlist. Unfortunately, one of my favorite tunes was that new Lightheaded, but it wasn’t streaming yet, so be sure to check in with Slumberland Records on that note. Monday is here. So is the music.

Screensaver Drop Future Trash Single

A few more weeks and we’ll be able to hear the entirety of the new LP from Screensaver, but for now, I’ll settle for another stunning single to keep my ears ready. This one opens with a purely goth opening, industrial vibes filling the space, which allows the vocals to stalk your speakers, guiding you through the song. While the vocals and the goth nods operate in the front of the mix, you get some added flare behind, listening to the guitars run up and down the corridors from behind, with horns skronking behind in various spaces, filling every inch of the song. Decent Shapes will be out on October 20th via Upset the Rhythm.

Checking In on New Screensaver

This Screensaver track has been around for a few days, but I’ve been busy okay! Still, I love the rawness of the tune, so I had to be sure that someone over here gave it a look-see. It’s a really challenging vibe, in terms of my ability to pigeonhole things and put them into little boxes, but I’ll give it a go. The track has these varying textures; it feels very much like an early 00s synth band in one channel; the other ear gets to hear this industrial toying, like machines gone awry. All of it gets paired up with this exasperated punk howl that dominates the band’s performance while also fusing all the pieces into one concise musical throttling. the group will release Decent Shapes on October 20th via Poison City and Upset the Rhythm.

Last Week’s Jams, Today (3.21-3.25)

Been a hot minute since we compiled all our weekly jams into one nice little playlist for you, but here we are again, wrapping up last week on a Monday. We’ve got tons of great jams in store, with some of the latest releases also featured. Austin gets some love, with singles/videos from Letting Up Despite Great Faults, Queen Serene and Blood (kind of/sort of). We also ran some new videos from the likes of Red Pants and Breakup Haircut, not to mention the newest jams from Jeanines and Say Sue Me…so you know, this playlist is going to be your jams.

Screensaver Share Clean Current

It’s barely been a few months since Screensaver dropped Expressions of Interest, and they’re right back at it blending their various influences to drop this ridiculously solid single. The rhythm section holds firm to a proto/kraut brand, while the synths and vocals aim to take the song into new territory, though not necessarily aligned with one another in their approach. In the vocals, and guitars, you get this pogo-ing kickstart; it’s a jittery jump that tries to outrun the drum work. But, the synth work seems to roll out into psychedelic realms, blending the noise into this sort of acid washed mind fuck. It’s all rolled into one royally ripping A-side off the band’s new AA side single, out April 8th via Upset the Rhythm.