There are a lot of things that make Industrial Music, Industrial Music. Intensity, absurd sounds, samples of movies everyone should stop sampling (I’m looking at you Full Metal Jacket). One of the others at the top of the list is authenticity. True industrial music is a gory high fidelity pulsing vein of truth that lays an artist bare spread eagle on a sun dial at high noon with a metal pole bursting through their chest for all to see. That is who Matt Fanale is. That is what this record is.
All songs by Caustic/Matt Fanale, except Thirsty Dog, lyrics by Nick Cave
No AI went into the making of this. Don’t be a hack.
Why do we love Madison Wisconsin Industropunk Caustic? The punk rock ethos? The intelligent political vinegar? Is it the fact that Matt loves bad ass beats as much as you do and dedicates his life and time to making sure your fuking bones quake when his bassline drops? Pick an answer. One truth remains, for 1.5 decades now Caustic has been giving you both barrels of fearless phosphorus dragon round industrial music and the Fiend dual albums leave it all on the floor.
Favorite tracks:
“I Love You Matt, but fuck off” – Pure Industrial bare boned self-flagellation. It’s mean, it’s fearless, it’s beats are thrashed within an inch of their life. I love the craft, I love the energy. This the sound a 16 year old me screamed at the moon for.
“Pushing Rope” Part of the amazing beauty of Caustic is to scream rusty nail anger while tearing yourself down a peg. It is real, it is relatable, it is staring at your own mortality how fuking dare you universe.
“I‘ll Throw A Mountain At You” – “When you’ve got nothing to lose I’ll throw a mountain at you” Unhinged aggression with glitchy beats relatable in the modern times. I love the classic growling cadence and exposed emotion.
Rather you are talking Caustic, DaddyBear, or Klack, Matt Fanale is a geyser of propelled emotion and boot stomping beats. There is a Part II of Feind out and I look forward to reviewing it too. Matt is one of the real ones, Caustic is a legend.
Before I talk about these incredible artists separately, I wanted to just say that this evening was a masterclass in the many possible moods of live performance. It was an absolute joy to witness. Let’s start with the legendary Stabbing Westward.
Stabbing Westward
This band needs no introduction to our audience (although I had to learn more as I’d missed their huge years while being overseas and unaware). We’ll mostly be focusing here on what this incredible band did at this very special, intimate show.
It was Crucible’s first ever sold-out concert, and the buzz and anticipation was palpable. Filled with people from all over, some who’d even flown in for the show, the club had a festive feel during and after being entertained by the incredible Bellhead and Caustic. Now it was time for the moment many of the people present had waited two decades for.
Photo courtesy of DMNX.photo
Chris Hall is a rock vocalist like few others. With an incredible range and control, he powered into their first song, “Ungod.” As the foreboding, slow-build grind of bass and Chris’s voice start the song off, we are suddenly taken into a classic SW chorus…
Take this as an offering/Take this as a sign/How much can you take from me?
Other original band member, Walter Flakus, was an energetic presence, with his keyboard set right on the lip of the stage when he wasn’t leaping around on bass. Carlton Bost (of Orgy, Deadsy, and The Dreaming [Hall’s other band]) on guitar and Bobby Amaro (Orgy) on drums rounded out the incredible line up.
Photo courtesy of DMNX.photo
Three songs in, they launched into The Cure’s “Burn.” The gothier element of the room were especially thrilled and danced in whatever space they could find. It was a gorgeous and loving take on the song, assisted by beautiful crow imagery from the video backdrop.
The more industrial, synth-and-bass heavy “Lies” was probably my favorite moment of their set. It brought me back to what I loved most about 90s alternative music with its heavy guitar riffs and anxious synth lines.
Photo courtesy of DMNX.photo
Though they didn’t play much from their latest, critically-acclaimed album from 2022, Chasing Ghosts, when they did, the results were electrifying. “Dead & Gone” is a throbbing beauty, with Hall’s vocals at their richest on the verses, while most urgent and powerful on the chorus. Vocals being my absolute focus when at any live show, this song, which shows off his skills so beautifully, was an absolute joy to hear. I was especially astonished to hear that Hall had dealt with throat cancer just two years ago. What a talent and survivor.
Photo courtesy of DMNX.photo
“Violent Mood Swings” (video below) was so much fun. Being up at the front with everyone singing along was so great to experience. The beat of this song is so intense and Hall continued to work the crowd, coming up on the middle monitor throughout the show, encouraging their participation. He was clearly having a great time.
Ending the set with two encores, and 16 songs in total, was “Save Yourself.” Hall asked, “You guys ok if we end with a brand new song?” This song was a perfect way to end this intense and intimate set. The crowd were in heaven and the band (especially Hall and Flakus) seemed to be relishing every last moment.
An absolute delight to see. May we see more of this beloved band on the road in the future.
Stabbing Westward’s setlist: Ungod Falls Apart Burn (The Cure cover) Wasted Lies Sometimes it Hurts Drugstore What Do I Have to Do? Slipping Away Dead & Gone So Far Away Nothing Inside You The Thing I Hate Violent Mood Swings Save Yourself
Stabbing Westward’s 2022 album, Chasing Ghosts, can be found here on Bandcamp:
Caustic’s Matt Fanale came ready to party. As he said in a later interview, “I want to harness the energy and the passion of the moment and not pretend I’m all angry when I’m in a good place in my life and with my music. I want to throw a party. The world is a fucking mess right now. Let’s lose our minds for 45 minutes. Trust me, we’re going to have fun.”
Having seen Fanale’s other projects Klack and daddybear live, this was my first time seeing Caustic. When I asked about Caustic’s onstage persona, he said, “A lot of artists like to assume a character on stage, but I’m pretty much the louder version of myself.” He prowls back and forth like a slightly crazed tiger who’s in on a joke no one else knows, and it’s incredibly fun to watch.
Photo courtesy of DMNX.photo
Caustic was joined onstage by core live members Eric Oehler (of Klack and Null Device), (who was in charge of tracks, manipulation, and glitch) and Katja Lunde (formerly of Sensuous Enemy), providing atmosphere and “additional beep boops” and vocal support, as well as newer addition Bob O’Tron (of Sensuous Enemy and Subcutaneous) on drums.
Second song in, “White Knuckle Head F—k” (video below) was pure industrial joy. If there’d been more room in the sold out show, I’d have been dancing like a maniac. Irreverent, self-deprecating lyrics like:
Watch me fall… I’m your favorite trainwreck
are part of what has earned Caustic such a loyal following over the years.
Video courtesy of Jen Wilson-Farley
“Bigger Better Faster Now!!!’s” repeated opening squeal is the intro to a song that reads like a scathing critique of the last gasps of end-stage capitalism. Its driving beat is intense and exciting.
“F—k that Fascist Beat” (video below) continued Caustic’s assault on the powers that be. All of which feels increasingly relevant, even though these sentiments can be traced back to the early days of punk. As Fanale said of his ethos, “it’s always been more punk than ‘industrial’ anyway. The more chaos and insanity I can put out the better, and the more the crowd comes with me, the more of an experience it is for everybody.” Refuse/resist/raise your fist… always feels reassuring to hear in ridiculous and terrifying times like ours.
Video courtesy of Jen Wilson-Farley
During “Bury You Alive,” it was cathartic and fun as hell to hear Caustic scream “EAT SHIT!” and ask the audience to scream back “FUCK YOU!” (in the style of UW Madison student football fans) repeatedly. If there were ever any question of pretense, the punk-inspired back and forth between Caustic and the audience blew it out of the water. Watching Caustic and the fans flip each other off was a delight.
Photo courtesy of DMNXphoto
When I asked Caustic what it meant to open for the legendary Stabbing Westward, “I’m definitely a fan. Chris Hall has a great sense of humor in front of a crowd, so it’s a nice notch on my bedpost playing with them at a sold-out show in my hometown. We all brought the noise. It was a great time.”
A Caustic show is irreverent, sarcastic, fun, and never takes itself too seriously. It is hugely refreshing to witness. He’s been taking Caustic’s sound in a different direction, as seen on his most recent release, Buggy. This was inspired heavily by artists such as Techno Animal’s Brotherhood of the Bomb, Kevin Martin, aka The Bug, Scorn, Gorgonn, Choke Chain, Puerta Negra, and Nuxx Vomica. When reflecting on his slower tempo, mostly instrumental Buggy EP, he said, “There’s so much energy in slower BPMs that have a lot of low end bass on them. It’s been fun playing with those sounds,” he explained.
Sadly though, according to Fanale, there may not be many more Caustic shows going forward, though he does plan to make more music. He said, “I kinda like the thought of my stay being finite. I’d rather do an Irish goodbye than stick around until it’s embarrassing that the handjob guy is still yelling F—K a lot at a crowd which may not wanna pay a babysitter to hear that anymore. We’ll see, the internal debate rages on.”
Even without more live shows in the works, Caustic’s new work, along with Klack and daddybear, keep him a very busy man.
Caustic’s setlist: Intro White Knuckle Head F—k Bigger Better Faster Now!!! Little Pharma Emmanuel Lewis Handjob F—k That Fascist Beat Bury You Alive
I have reviewed and interviewed Chicago’s Bellhead before, after seeing them for the first time at Crucible a few years ago. I was beyond thrilled to see them again as they opened for Stabbing Westward and Caustic. Starting 2024 off at the inaugural Thrashnetic Festival (a memorial and suicide prevention benefit) in Milwaukee, Bellhead have been touring a lot this spring, and will be heading to Missouri and back to Tennessee this summer.
For those new to Bellhead, their website’s tagline reads: Post-punk male-female duo band. Two basses and a drum machine. No Guitar, No BS. MADE IN CHICAGO
This really is the cleverest and most accurate description of a band I’ve ever seen. High bass, lead-vocalist Ivan Russia and low bass, vocalist Karen Righeimer-Schock and are on a mission as one of the most exciting and unique bands in our scene. Labeled as everything from punk to goth, and everything in between, they defy the norms and expectations all too often set in the darker genres.
Photo courtesy of DMNX.photo
Ripping into the set with “Mercy,” the grungy low bassline set the tone for their set. The audience, likely very new to them, was immediately won over.
Next was a newer song, “Into the Deep,” from their most recent EP, Good Intentions. This song shows off Russia’s lyric-writing skills, which are marvelous and unique.
I was a drowning man/She had a cold war stare/Under blood red skies/We had a sordid affair I was a penitent man/She was my skeleton key/I had a new handshake/Before they turned on me
I asked them about the themes of their lyrics, and Russia had this to say, “I like unreliable narrators. When there is a sole survivor of a shipwreck, do you take him at his word? I wanted to go all in on song lyrics that were open to interpretation. Are the intentions truly good or is there something else unseen?”
Soon following was their cover of Prince’s “I Would Die For U.” They put a decidedly darker post-punk turn on this classic, which was brought down to its brass tacks in a most beautiful way. Its lyrics weirdly match so much of their style.
Their stage presence is fun and commanding at the same time, while looking somehow effortless. Launching into “Bad Taste,” Russia hams it up to mock his protagonist. Halfway through, he screams his lyrics midway in a convincing burst of anger. Then as Righeimer-Schock starts a juicy, low solo, they go into their signature double bass bridge that, to me, shows off the core of their unique sound (video below).
Video courtesy of Jen Wilson-Farley
Bellhead’s philsophy of performance is highly refreshing. When I asked what the most important elements of their shows were most important to them as a band, Russia responded, “We’re here to entertain. We work to make sure every minute we are onstage is entertaining. I try to give everyone in the audience at least one eye locking moment of attention during the show. We strive to give back to the audience all the joy they give us. Enthusiasm is a virus to spread.”
Photo courtesy of DMNX.photo
They ended their high-energy set with what’s become one of my favorite songs in general, “Unicorn Bones.” The crowd was definitely giving back the joy for this song, with many at the front dancing as much as they could on the packed floor. Always a great sign for an opener for such a huge band as Stabbing Westward. They explained that they are not only fans, but have also worked with them in the past. A Chris Hall remix will even be appearing on their next EP!
I loved their responses to my question about how to stay sane while touring as a busy band with many other responsibilities in their lives.
Photo courtesy of DMNX.photo
Russia: “Bananas and water keep my body taped together.” Righeimer-Schock: “The trick is to be kind to yourself. And don’t forget to call your mother.”
Bellhead’s setlist: Mercy Into the Deep Frankenstein I Would Die For U Bad Taste Heart Shaped Hole (New Song) Nothing as it Seems Unicorn Bones
BELLHEAD BAD TASTE TOUR 2024
5.3 Black Lodge: Memphis TN w/ Palm Ghosts / DJ Evonech 5.4 5 Spot: Nashville TN w/ Palm Ghosts / Cold Equations 5.10 Cobra Lounge: Chicago IL w/ Young Medicine / Danny Blu 5.11 Healer: Indianapolis IN w/ Cemetery Sex / DJ Kaleidoscope 7.19 Flavor 90s Bar: Nashville TN w/ Cassette Stress / Sugar Skulls 7.20 Rude Dog Pub: Cape Girardeau MO w/ Gary Robert and Community
Everyone needs to get Klacked! I have been a big fan of the EDM super band team up from Madison WI “Introducing the 1984 Renault LeCar“. The band is comprised of Matt Fanale (Caustic/Daddybear) and Eric Oehler (Null Device). It always strikes me when I listen to Klack these are two long term friends having fun. You can hear it in the music. An effortless communication that makes every track feel like a dialog without singing to each other. The samples have a glorious tongue and cheek blend of listening to LA Style and beating Portal at 2am. Eric and Matt have such contrasting and distinct vocals that expand the dynamics of looping dance beats.
Klack has built our foundation on revering our influences and electronic past while moving the genre forward and beyond. Klack‘s mission is bringing the world together under the beat. Join us. Klack with us, as we are the keepers of the beat, and we are the ones that move you.
Favorite Tracks:
Beat Unity – Glorious glitchy bleep bloops with a gravelly chanting refrain. They are the keepers of the beat, the ones that move you. Taking a simple concept and executing it with no margin for error is a bold and beautiful thing. It makes me want to dance, dance all night long.
Dot Dot Dot – I had to call out this track because Eric has such an underrated voice which features heavily here. Brilliant Pete Burns Dead Or Alive vibes. Sassy and stinging intricate layers which return to a vocal hook.
Let’s Go To Berlin – To anyone who has gone to Berlin in their 40’s and thought “24 year old Ken would have thought this city was the coolest place in the world, but 44 year old Ken needs a nap. This song hits on every note of slamming beat, and self aware humor. I love when a book “A Confederacy of Dunces” for New Orleans as example, turns a city into one of the primary characters of the story. This track perfectly encapsulates the city of Berlin as an American middle-aged tourist. I was transported back in the best possible way. There is true power in a song that can take you somewhere without a passport.
Foto: Arne Müseler
Modern Production is another great example of two great artists paying homage to something they love and having fun. It’s so easy to get lost in a sound when you can hear the people playing it are just as big a fans as you are. When Matt and Eric put out this album, Matt put out an essay of some of the modern promotion techniques used to get folks attention. I ask Matt to include it in the review.
So let’s talk promoting a new album. It’s time to talk MODERN PROMOTION! It’s long, so apologies in advance. Hopefully it’s interesting.
We finished Modern Production in January. For a breakdown of our workload, Klack works like a restaurant– Eric is back of house in the kitchen, and I’m up front taking care of the guests. I come up with the song ideas and write the lyrics and find samples and Eric works on the music and production. We offer tweaks to each other’s side of things to tighten everything up, and ta-daah! BRILLIANCE!
And when it’s all finished I take over to promote it (with his input of course).
In the past we’ve always released albums as a surprise to ride the momentum and energy of the reaction. This time I wanted to be more “traditional” with the release, as we’d already built some steam when we released Beat Unity as a remix single (Eric did several remix styles) and “Body2Body2Body” with remixes from an amazing newer artist (Crystal Geometry) and legendary ones (Portion Control). I also handled an extended DJ remix I did that went to our DJ list.
So that’s where we’ll start…
Last year we compiled a list of all the DJs we knew who wanted to get our stuff early. We added people as we discovered them and now have a couple hundred on the list. I used a macro in Mailchimp to send them their own Bandcamp codes. Why that instead of links to a Google Drive or Dropbox? Because when they download the album in any format they want we start building the avatars on the album page. Optics is sometimes a small thing, but it’s a) Nice to see a bunch of people already checked out your album, and b) We can see how many codes were redeemed.
In this case about half of the codes sent out were redeemed. Some emails probably got caught in spam filters, and some people probably forgot. 50% was my goal anyway, as that’s higher than previous codes we’d sent out. Success.
Next I made a plan to contact any media sites friendly to me over the years to get the the album early. I wanted those sources to get as much advance notice as possible in case they were interested in interviews or writing about the album, as most are DIY and have a lag time. We got a few interviews out of it as well as some better-than-usual press coverage. After all, we wanted to get as much enthusiasm towards the album as possible, but in that challenge I also wanted to come up with ways the album could get attention and stand out promo-wise from the pack. Then it came to me: promo flyers.
I figured since online is a quagmire of algorithmic horsefuckery that PHYSICAL promotion may get noticed more. If nothing else it may have surprised a few folks seeing something other than social media promotion. I contacted a ton of pals who are DJs in the U.S. and Canada who had semi-regular nights and asked if I could send them some. Almost all of them said yes. I got the info for flyers to Eric (including the “LONG LIVE THE NEW BEAT” catchphrasey-thing I came up with) and he designed them. We also included QR codes to our Bandcamp and Linktree for ease of access. Prices for high quality flyers are pretty damn reasonable these days and the turnaround was incredibly fast.
While doing the flyers I worked separately on getting a lyric video for Weight of the World together so we could get another track out, and we thought Weight had the most appeal to it. Always put your best foot forward.
In terms of online stuff I tried to build up our Instagram and Tiktok presences, just to have more avenues to find potential fans (especially younger ones). Our numbers didn’t go up by thousands, but after liking a bunch of newer artists in a similar vein to us we got some more traction there.
We kept dropping little nuggets of content we thought would get people excited, like the aforementioned lyric video and that we were doing vinyl as well. Basically I wanted to roll the content out intermittently, but always wanted it to be something a chunk of people would be into. The more cool information the better.
In regards to the vinyl, we considered waiting on producing it until after the release was out so we could gauge interest, but ended up just going for it as we’re very confident in the material and Synthicide was crazysexycool and said we could release the three tracks from our split cassette on the album. More value = PROFIT$$$!!!
I sent Weight of the World in to Spotify’s editors for consideration, as well as discovered how to send it to Bandcamp’s editors. I didn’t hear back from either, but it was good to practice and for Bandcamp I now know it’s an option.
The other big thing we pushed was pre-saves on Spotify. I even ran an ad on Facebook for a week to see if that would inspire more. We didn’t get a zillion– maybe 40– but I wanted to spike our numbers on streaming services as hard as possible. We prefer people get the album on Bandcamp (ideally spending a few bucks), but still to stream the crap out of it otherwise.
The flyers came in and I packaged them all up about a week before April. We also sent Klack the Planet stickers with them so people could put them on their laptops or cats or something.
We had previously gotten in touch with Post-Punk Magazine, who had done a great story on the Body2Body2Body video, and were able to push the album and Weight of the World there. We were able to time the story to get out the week of release, and ultimately released the album the Thursday evening before Bandcamp Friday to capitalize on the relative lack of email notifications going out then, as opposed to the onslaught the next day. We also let people know when the limited metallic silver edition and “regular” editions were going on sale the next day.
When it comes to Bandcamp Fridays I hyperfixate on the numbers like a freak. When things slow down after the initial push (especially for the vinyl) I hit Facebook groups with info on the album, as well as Instagram. I don’t want to overdo it with posts to Bandcamp followers, but another reminder email later in the day always gives us another spike in sales/downloads. The same with another post on my wall here. There are so many places to post it’s good to space them out. I also do a big “thank you” post on our Klack page and on Bandcamp because we are INCREDIBLY thankful, but it also serves as another reminder to get those last people in there to push our numbers up a bit more.
Yes, it’s a lot of work. Yes, it can be tiring. Yes, it’s worth it if you’ve built a foundation and make it fun for everyone (especially yourself).
So how did we do, and were the monetary investments worth it?
In short, pretty damn great. We didn’t get thousands of downloads, but we did get our biggest sales day to date. A lot of that was for the vinyl, but either that or shirts helped our previous largest sales days. We had a ton of people grabbing the album for free, which is to be expected. About 1/2 of the people paid for it (minus the DJ codes that were already claimed), and a decent percentage of those people paid more than we would have expected.
We’ve always gone the pay-what-you-want route with Klack. When we say “Klack is for everyone”, we kinda mean it. We just want our music in people’s ears. Most everything we do is in-house (literally) so our overhead is minimal minus promotions. Plus we believe in our klackprodukt and people pay what they can, often generously. We hope they stream it on their platform of choice, too. Then we make money on both ends.
We had some solid improvements on Spotify. For the first time ever we have a song doing better than the Hatari remix that was put out a few years ago. Our followers and plays are also up significantly and the album looks to have been already saved by twice as many people as our last release.
Modern Production also topped a bunch of the charts on Bandcamp (where we’ve now got dozens of new follows to promote to) and was the lead mention on pages like Synthpop Fanatic and some other sites, which had never happened to us before. That’s a big win to me. Lots of firsts.
The biggest relief was that the vinyl sold very well. At this point we have about 25 copies of the ltd edition left and most of the regular edition. That’s what we wanted, however. We’ve made enough back to pay for the entire run plus most of our promotion and still have a lot to sell at shows and online. That’s a great feeling.
Some other small perks popped up. One fan hooked us up with a German store to help with some European distro, and we were directed to another potential place to work with. It’s not a zillion copies, but this allows us to get our albums into the European market more and ideally if they sell we can build our relationships further for the next release. We’re also hopefully taking the DAC by storm again. We don’t expect Modern Production to top the charts like DEKLACKED did for like 5 of the 6 weeks, but we hope it will do well again.
I still have some things to do, like get the album up on Soundcloud and keep a FB ad going for a bit if it looks like it’s getting some attention. We did a great “unofficial release” show in Milwaukee to celebrate our new effort, which went really well. We can only also hope all the reviews are as amazing as Kollektiva’s, which just came out.
I think overall I did a pretty damn good job promoting the album given our limited budget and me not doing something of this size in years, let alone having it be organized. The response to the album has been amazing so far, so now we just need to keep maintaining that momentum. We’ve had several hundred downloads so far and sales keep coming, so fingers crossed Modern Production stays in people’s minds for a while. We’ll be doing our best to keep it there.
We’re almost three weeks out from the release of Klack’s Modern Production and things are slowing down a bit. The big push is over, but now we’re relying on word of mouth and a lot of “fingers crossed” things to happen, like positive reviews (heck, just REVIEWS) and play from DJs that might turn someone new on to the new release. Yesterday was the first day we had no downloads for the album on Bandcamp, but that’s the longest we’ve got to the best of my recollection before it happened. Our Spotify numbers have dipped some but I’m using a boosted post on here and all the other Meta bullshit to try and boost those numbers a little bit more. Regardless, things are still moving positively. I could blame Taylor Swift’s new album, but she didn’t top EBM in Bandcamp so I don’t see her as a threat.
Whenever I see a new review (and fortunately they’ve all been really positive) I make sure to thank the reviewer and post it on the Klack page. The big thing that happened this week was we debuted at number one on the German Alternative Charts. The DAC is a DJ poll of a few hundred DJs, most of which are European. We’ve fortunately always done well there, but this was a real confidence boost when you normally see significantly bigger names debuting that high (Cassandra Complex, who we bumped to second, for instance). It doesn’t mean that it will translate to more sales, but the optics on it are great and it’s nice being recognized by a lot of people we don’t know for our hard work.
I’m holding back at posting on Bandcamp to not lose anyone. We continue to have a nice uptick of followers and I don’t want to jeopardize that. I’ll post when the vinyl is in, most likely. That should stoke the embers enough to move some more sales and not annoy anyone too badly.
I need to step up my Tiktok stuff, as I haven’t said much there recently. Instagram is chugging along, and Threads is whatever. It all helps incrementally and is easy to post on (and free), so I’ll keep hitting it. I’ll also hit the Facebook groups when more reviews come in so I can toss some more quotes in for the album. The key is to have SOMETHING to talk about that’s worth hearing. It doesn’t need to be earth shattering, but something to keep people interested and motivated in some small way to keep paying attention.
By the way THANK YOU AGAIN to everyone who generously helped us push the downloads over another mountain top. We hit a pretty big number for us, and Modern Production is already the 11th most downloaded Klack release in LESS THAN THREE WEEKS. We aren’t doing Boy Harsher numbers but we’re staying in the game, and continuing to push the release weeks after it’s out is imperative to keeping ears on it and making sure it’s not forgotten in the next wave of releases.
tl;dr- We’re in maintenance mode, just hoping the word keeps creeping out, that new people give the album a listen, and that everyone else who already likes us keeps downloading the album. It’s not as much about the money (much as we can use it), it’s about building and strengthening the foundation for longevity.
This was an amazing month for new music heading into October the most goth month of the year. In September we had our highest vote count yet. All the songs below were Sept 2022 singles released in the broad “Darkscene” genre and voted on by the S & S collection of Djs, Artists, Promotors, Reviewers, and Superfans. A LOT of BANGERS here. Please take a listen, find something you enjoy, and support artists on Bandcamp. If you have a single releasing in Oct, or know someone who does, add it to the voting poll. Also it was a lovely feeling that the majority of the artists in the chart have done an interview with us.
Leathers – Ultraviolet – Artoffact Records
Caustic x Grabyourface – Not Your Body
A Cloud Of Ravens – The Blackest Mantra – Nexilis Records
Exa X – Control – Distortion Productions
Fatigue – Saudade (The Way Of Love)
Ashes Fallen – A New Normal
The Burying Kind – Coming Through
Mark E Moon – Dark Love – Cold Transmission Music
Curse Mackey – Smoking Tongues – Negative Gain Records
Cyborg Amok – Wicked Close
Junksista – Death By Heartache – COP International
Shannon being so Daddy I dropped my gum
LEATHERS – Ultraviolet – Brand new single from the Canadian synth extravaganza that is the project of Actors members and currently on tour with them. I love how if this was ever a “side project” it has evolved into a distinct powerhouse of twilight all on it’s own. There is a reason it was a definitive #1 in our most voted on chart to date. Force of nature single you need.
Caustic x Grabyourface – Not Your Body – This team up of Matt Fanale and Marie has evolved into an amazing partnership that just keeps rolling out hits. This one dropped at a perfect moment when a womans right to choose is under attack and this song hits back hard.
A Cloud of Ravens – The Blackest Mantra – I am so excited for the Brookland duo and all they have coming up. Jason Corbett of Actors mastered this at Jacknife Studios. The opening drums have this amazing old school Cult pulse and the guitar is a burning laser. Absolute banger of a single.
Eva X – Control – Another Canadian talent back in our chart again with digital assault pop. I really like the rubber bounce of this single and Gaby’s light touch on the delivery for the vocals. I also love seeing the top four are all bands we have interviewed 🙂
Fatigue – Saudade (The Way Of Love) – MA based Dj/Electronica artist with this fierce electronic builder that shimmers on the wire of a harp string. I love the breathy delivery on the vocals. What an infectious dance club banger. There is a breakdown around 2:50 that is pure artwork.
Ashes Fallen – New Normal – Usually when I am discussing Sacramento CA goth rockers Ashes Fallen it usually comes back to the guitars. On this new single it is all about the 16 wheel concrete crushing drive of the bass. Tight corners and overdrive to give you a thrill ride gripping the leather of the seats.
The Burying Kind – Coming Through – I will never tire of this story. A goth singer ( A Covenant of Thorns) and a Industrial drummer (The Joy Thieves) making gorgeous, romantic, spinning tapestry dreamgaze. This whole album is so deep with romance, anguish, beauty, and devotion. This one hits special.
Mark E Moon – Dark Love – From the Isle of Man off Cold Transmission Music a new single and definite new feel from Mark Sayle and crew. This single has a very 90s rebirth Duran Duran sensuality. Shelly Rourke vocal addition really adds another layer that is giving me goosebumps. Adding in Crying Vessel’s Slade Templeton is another shape on the powerful horizon. 10/10 banger.
Curse Mackey – Smoking Tongues – The Industrial legend from Texas returns for his sophomore solo offering. This single is a soulful narrative response to a world that wants art to become easier and easier to swallow. Even with slow dance singles Curse is showing trust in the intelligence of his audience to demand more.
Cyborg Amok – Wicked Close – New Jersey father/son prog goth duo with this dystopian sci fi single. I love the concept and the dramatic cape twirling creep surrounding the crunching Industrial guitars.
JUNKSISTA – Death By Heartache – Ok I am going to do a special mention here because we had a tie that came down to the decibel for the first time so I am adding the German dark pop siren on COP International to the 11 spot. Junksista is a talent I have never given their due in terms of listening time. I am always impressed with the perfect craft sound jewel shaping and dangerous delivery. This is a moment that I have experienced too often where I say “I need to listen to a lot more Junksista.
in 1996 Canadian terror tech artist Craig Joseph Huxtable issued a politically charged molotov cocktail upon dance clubs around North America. The influence of that sizzling motion puzzle is still felt on the modern scene today. Today Sounds and Shadows is proud to premier a remixed video for “No Cable”. The track will be released on bandcamp 4/15/22 and features additional remixes by Urceus Exit, Caustic, The Gothsicles, and Slighter. Pristine enhanced production by Chris Peterson allows the thunderous bass beat to burst into your chest. The video by Jason Chaos features a robo stegosaurus made of cars, exploding rockets, and more profanity than is recommended to play in your work cubical. An eerie and aggressive fever dream set to trance synths. Anyone who has ever had to call Charter customer service can instantly relate. I am eagerly awaiting what this team of electropunk luminaries unleashes with the unburied source material. Watch and Burn my friends.
