Searching for some new bands? Radio 1 Rock Show host Daniel P Carter has the stuff you need to be listening to right now…
We’re into April already which is mildly scary, but also exciting ’cause it means that the Tool shows are just around the corner and that festival season is fast approaching! 2000trees, Download, ArcTanGent, Bloodstock, Reading & Leeds are all looking rad, but now we can travel a bit, I’m stoked to hit up a few festivals outside of the UK, with Hellfest, Louder Than Life and When We Were Young all on my list.
There's a lot to look forward to on the live music front, but also on the new band and new releases front. This month I’ve got a few, which range from frosty U.S. black metal to Brighton-based nerdcore. Enjoy!
Starting with the UK, Exit Dream is a new project featuring ex-members of Casey and Napoleon and sounds like the kind of shoegaze-influenced metal (or maybe metal-influenced shoegaze) of bands like Loathe, Deftones at their most ethereal, and Slow Crush at their weightiest. There are a couple of tracks out there already that the band produced with members of Loathe and Counterparts, the videos for which were shot with Olli from Static Dress. Full UK scene points to Exit Dream. Love to see bands all supporting each other like this and working together on creative aspects of everything. I really like this band a lot, it’s super vibey and inspiring.
Speaking of which, in a similar vein we have the second of today's UK bands, Love Is Noise. The two-piece have taken their name from a track by The Verve and again mine similar grounds as Exit Dream with that kind of dreamlike swoon, but this has crushing moments and the odd blast that draws in a little bit of the Deafheaven post-black metal vibe. Check out the latest single Azure – it rules. Cam, previously drummer in Lotus Eater, has stepped forward to sing in this, and the move seems like a good one.
Continuing with the ex-members vibe, we shift over to Brighton (and Bristol and Bath, the big three Bs) for Radillac, the album due around Halloween from Skin Failure. This is the new project from previous Black Peaks frontman Will along with former bandmate Dave, plus Sam and Toby from Memory Of Elephants and Paul from the fishmongers Net & Line in Bath. Ha!
Musically it's like Every Time I Die cuddling up with Mastodon in a ludicrous post-apocalyptic future wasteland, with bursts of old-school thrash and a smattering of proggy wig out. It rips and is very silly in places. You’ll probably love it. Have a listen to Give’r By The River to decide if you’re prepared to get stuck in when more drops later this year.
On a slightly lighter note is Prince Daddy & The Hyena, which occupies that indie rock / punk trash sweet spot, with the addition of some Johnny Marr-esque guitar shenanigans on newest single Shoelaces. The Albany quartet bring to mind the kinda slack ’90s vibes of Lemonheads and Dinosaur Jr. with some frenetic punk pushes, but then you’ve got a track like Curly Q which has that ’verbed-out melancholy that always sits super well on long sunny drives.
Finally, we have a one-man U.S. black metal project rising from the Adirondack Mountain region of America’s eastern coast. Black Braid is Native American black metal that is infused with indigenous spirituality and culture. While first offering from the upcoming self-titled album, Barefoot Ghost Dance On Bloodsoaked Soil, rages with blackened ire and draws you into a harsh and beautiful landscape of the area in which it was made, other tracks like the acoustic As The Creek Flows Softly By feel haunting, with flute lines and chiming guitars. If you’re a fan of Cascadian black metal like Wolves In The Throne Room or Alda, I can’t recommend this enough. Certain artists' work resonates heavily within when you listen to it, and that's what I got from listening to Black Braid. Very real.
Listen to Daniel P Carter host the Radio 1 Rock Show, Sunday nights from 9pm
