With a sound dubbed “Casio-grindcore” by the press, U.K. concept-metal trio Trencher mix the brevity of hardcore with grindcore’s ferocious incomprehensibility and Cookie Monster vocals, sprinkle a little prog on top, and wrap it up in a cartoonish, psychedelic, synth-driven package. Midway through Lips, their newest full-length, a curious track called “In Reverence” even finds the band exploring several minutes of uncharacteristic drone. (more…)

Written and recorded over 18 months, Portland-based Grails returns with their new album to be released on October 7 on Temporary Residence. Entitled Doomsdayer’s Holiday, the album is an even heavier and darker work of psychedelics and riffs. (more…)

Oakland psych-punk band Triclops have announced a string of tour dates for the remainder of August, in support of their debut effort, Out of Africa (Alternative Tentacles), an album which ALARM recently described as, “visceral and disconcerting— definitely not for dinner.”

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Sweden’s psychedelic rock group Dungen hasn’t hit these shores since 2005, if you can believe it. Three years later, with new drummer Johan Holmegard on board, the group is set to embark on a very special tour to coincide with their latest release, 4. Beginning in New York City during the CMJ Festival this October, the show will include favorites from past albums Tio Bitar and Ta Det Lugnt. Frontman Gustav Estjes has contributed a special guest column to ALARM #33.  Don’t forget to grab your copy this September! (more…)

In a festival coup, Roadburn welcomes heavy metal innovators Neurosis in hosting their first version of “Beyond the Pale,” outside of the United States for the 2009 festival. According to Steven Von Till of Neurosis, “The mission of Beyond the Pale is for us to honor the spirit and power of sound with people that we feel are kindred spirits. We want to bring together a diverse group of people who push the envelope, are truly original, and have that unspeakable fire and inspiration flowing through their art.” Therefore, for the last day of next year’s festival taking place Saturday, April 25th, Neurosis will have complete freedom in choosing the bands and organizing the lineup for each of the stages at next year’s festival. Always an arbiter and supporter of underground art and music, Neurosis is prime to organize a truly unique experience for Roadburn 2009.

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The folkronic hop moniker that Talkdemonic once proclaimed as an accurate description of their music seems altogether forgotten on their third and latest album, Eyes at Half Mast (Arena Rock). The album, brimming with everything from analog synths, banjos, fuzz violas, and rhodes is more indicative of atmospheric, instrumental chamber pop than the quieter and more subdued moments on the band’s previous two albums, 2004’s Mutinysunshine (Lucky Sunshine) and 2006’s Beat Romantic (Arena Rock). Indeed, whereas Mutinysunshine was a rougher representation of the band’s experimentation with folk instruments, electronic beats, and a hip hop ethos and Beat Romantic was a sweeping, yet softer take on the duo’s original sound, Eyes at Half Mast is fueled by a range of different sounds and instruments to create something fresh. (more…)

According to The Chemical Brothers, their music provided the soundtrack to countless memories in your life since the group’s conception in 1993. Although that claim might be questionable to some, for others, the sentiment is true, and it’s only fitting then that the group  give their fans (and even their detractors) the opportunity to help collaborate on the sort of user-generated content that currently drives the music world online. (more…)

There are several velvet-rope bars on Christie Street in Manhattan, in a section of the city formerly reserved for lower-income working class immigrants, especially Ukrainians, Italians, and Germans. The Europeans gathering on the outside of the ropes are hardly working class, however; everything they’re wearing is either designer or ironic, and the price they’ll have to pay a for bottle of champagne or vodka in the club is about what it would cost to have that bottle flown in singly in its own airplane seat. (more…)

If in the last ten years you’ve traveled under the auspices of attending a lefty rally, protest, or conference, or you’ve spent time in a community center, a crusty punk group house, a union hall or a progressive bookstore, then you’ve probably seen some of the graphic arts distributed by justseeds.org. One particularly popular set of posters is the Celebrate People’s History series, organized by Justseeds founder Josh MacPhee. These posters, highlighting hidden and obscured histories of social movements, from the abolition of slavery to ACT-UP, show up in the most surprising and diverse contexts. In public school classrooms, they serve as the graphic curriculum equivalent to Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States, whereas in the social centers and bookstores of today’s leftist and sub-cultural movements, they serve as a constant reminder of the roots of struggle and of significant battles for emancipation and justice. (more…)

Takka Takka are a band with a myriad of influences. While listening to Migration, the band’s sophomore effort, it becomes apparent that although indie rock is at the core of the band’s aesthetic, the group is not afraid to experiment in terms of texture and song structure to create a warm, melodic, and rich record of folk rock more befitting of the fall than its summer release. That’s not to say that everything works. In fact, the music often blends so seemingly from one song to the next that you find the need to skip over one track and go to the next in the hopes of finding something better, only to be disappointed.

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