The summer months in the U.K. usually see a lull, as many chase the sun around the country and across Europe. This year, however, has seen a significant increase of readership around these parts. Not only is this surprising, but very much welcomed as we enter the backend of the year, so a big thanks to all the readers, both new and old.
While August was somewhat thin on the new release front, there was plenty to catch up on from the previous months, not to mention taking some time to reflect on the unexpecting deaths of two very influential figures in outsider culture, Hot Snakes’ Rick Froberg and Stars of the Lid’s Brian McBride.
Words trying to convey the indelible mark Froberg and McBride have left will always fall short for obvious reasons. Both were crucial figures in creating that pathway for discovering many of the artists who feature on this site. It was for this reason why we felt compelled to at least try to put into words just how much both artists meant to us.
In the realm of new music, those still catching up will find plenty of new interviews which have landed over the past six weeks. Those include chats with Emil Amos, Oxbow, The Pines of Rome and Infinite River.
So, as we head into the final three months of the year, it’s one last push with new releases aplenty as well as a swathe of artists – both new and old – set to feature on the site in the weeks and months ahead.
For now, this is what has been leading the way on the decks over the last three months. As always with this feature, we try to maintain a healthy blend of better known releases with those that are perhaps not. We hope you enjoy.
James Johnston & Steve Gullick Interview: “If it was always easy it would probably be boring”
Adzes: INVER
Philip K. Discs / Euphoriadic
While not released until the end of October, we felt compelled to shine a light on Adzes’ forthcoming album a little early. After all, life’s too short to keep certain things from people, and Adzes’ second LP, INVER, is one of them.
Currently based in Te Tihi-o-Maru, Aotearoa, New Zealand, Adzes embarks on a savage tourism of sound born out of a diet of post-metal and alt-rock. However, Adzes drop the pace with crunching waves of sound that are likened to being slowly crushed in a vice.
Think Kowloon Walled City partaking in an In the Fish Tank series with ISIS with production duties falling to the members of Jakob, and you may get a little closer to the mark of what Adzes have achieved with INVER.
Agriculture: Agriculture
The Flenser
Formed by Los Angeles underground lynchpins, Kern Haug and Daniel Meyer who were later joined by Richard Chowenhill and Leah Levinson, Agriculture stormed onto the scene last year with their 10-minute blast of hell that was The Circle Chant EP.
Now they follow it up with their self-titled debut LP. 31 minutes of crystallised rage that epitomises these times. With mirthless shrieks, heavy break beats and waves of guitar that cannon out of the speakers, Agriculture capture a raw energy that few have matched this year.
Earlier in 2023, Liturgy took metal down the neo-classical religious-inspired path. Here Agriculture, while socially not a world away, submit a brand of anxious, sprawling avant-metal that hits in all the right places. It’s majestically pulsating in the same vein as fellow Flenser label mates Boss-de-Nage, and most certainly not for the faint hearted.
Anti-God Hand: Blight Year
American Dreams Records
So, I think it’s safe to say that this will be the only time in Sun 13 history where an albums quarterly feature begins with three metal bands. And arguably, Anti-God Hand are the pick of the bunch with their latest release, Blight Year.
The British Columbia duo, spearheaded by Will Ballantyne with assistance from New York percussionist Greg Fox (Liturgy, Pontiak, Guardian Alien), make the kind of marauding dream-like black metal that moves with tracer-bullet speed.
So pummelling and immediate, if every there was a band in the experimental scene that hit like a sugar rush it’s Anti-God Hand. So good, Blight Year is the kind of record you have to shelve in fear of listening to it too much. Just one more listen…
BAu: Indifferentemente
Aagoo Records
Teramo, Italy-based BAu are purveyors of intangible post-hardcore, and on their latest release, Indifferentemente, the four-piece (Danilo “Bau” di Francesco – guitar; Stefano Galassi – drums; Gianluca “Mastino” Rosato – guitar; Eugenio “Barabba” Barracchini – vocals) take us around the houses on nostalgic trip through the ’90s.
And while clearly influenced by that period, BAu bring their own tricks to the table, with blues-tinged noise-rock you may have expected Helmet to master in a room with End Now should the two bands had reached their peak in the same era.
Indifferentemente is a record that may not change the world, but BAu have an uncanny knack of conjuring up the kind of sound waves that continue to pull you in. They are essential in their own way, and your life will be far better off with this record in it.
Big Garden: To the Rind
Gilead Media
Led by Thou’s Mitch Wells, Big Garden resurrect the ghost of Layne Staley on their latest release, To the Rind.
Melding the metallic sludge punk of Thou with waves of melodic grunge and alt-rock, Big Garden might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but with repeated listens, To the Rind resonates with its own kind of majestic bliss that transports us all the way back to the ’90s.
While Thou are steeped in the DIY aesthetic, one thing they also maintain is an attitude of is not taking themselves too seriously. Big Garden are cut from the same cloth, and while the influences are a little more direct during To the Rind, essentially the ethos remains the same. Give it some time and it will all make sense.
Brown Spirits: Solitary Transmissions
Soul Jazz Records
We’ve caught a hot one here, and it comes in the way of Melbourne collective, Brown Spirits, who release their latest album, Solitary Transmissions.
Multi-dimensional with so many different sounds jumping out of the speakers, Solitary Transmissions is the kind of record that you can never quite get a handle on. An earworm’s earworm, if you will, basically born out of deep love for Keith Hudson, and with that foundation of dub, Brown Spirits stretch beyond the boundaries with something that bursts with funk-inspired psychedelic spirit.
Solitary Transmissions is loose, free, and the jams well and truly hold up in something you can’t help but keep going back to. Alongside Emil Amos’ Zone Black, it’s one of the key escapist records of 2023, taking psychedelia to the outer world.
Ben Chasny & Rick Tomlinson: Waves
Voix Records
A release that’s gone under the radar in 2023, in truth any record involving Ben Chasny should be cause for celebration. This time the fractured folk pioneer teams up with intricate fingerpicking guitarist, Rick Tomlinson for a collaboration many could only have dreamt of, and while Waves has taken a while to hit the shelves, the wait has been worth it.
Recorded six years ago in Tomlinson’s native Todmorden, throughout these five compositions the pair combine to creative a beautiful acoustic-based record, radiating with a warmth and locality that combats the howling West Yorkshire crosswinds.
Even with the epic outlier in the tape-looped Paths of Ocean Currents and Wind Belts, Tomlinson revisits the ghosts of David Peace’s Red Riding series, navigating through the undercurrents of darkness that the Moors often evoke. It’s another wonderful release out of the north, and alongside Chasny, another to file under “must listen”.
Dorthia Cottrell: Death Folk Country
Relapse
With her long-awaited follow up 2015’s self-titled debut, Virginia songstress Dorthia Cottrell (also of Windhand) returns with Death Folk Country.
And what we have here is an album filled with desert, roadhouse folk inspired by ’90s MTV Unplugged sessions and early Jarboe records. With beautiful washes of sound and effortless melodies, those who have been enamoured by Steve Von Till’s latest output may have just found their new go-to.
Death Folk Country is a record that’s organic in feel (Harvester) and deep with emotional force (Effigy at the Gates of Ur), and as far as alternative folk goes, Cottrell joins the likes of Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle as the leading voices.
Baxter Dury: I Thought I Was Better Than You
Heavenly Recordings
London crossover marvel, Baxter Dury, never makes the same record twice, and that doesn’t change on I Thought I Was Better Than You.
On his seventh studio album, Dury has never sounded more self-deprecating (Shadow) in what is 27 minutes of razor-sharp lyrical dexterity that is some of the best out of the country this year. (Sadly, for the most part, it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.)
Again, on Shadow, while lamenting that he is a hit in France while struggling to overrun the shadow of his famous father Ian, ironically, had Baxter been born across the channel, then he would be lauded as a national treasure. I Thought I Was Better Than You only adds weight to these claims, and following 2020’s The Night Chancers, it’s Dury’s his best run of form since his first two records.
Flyying Colours: You Never Know
Club AC30 / Poison City Records
I don’t know how we missed Flyying Colours’ You Never Know over the year’s first two quarterlies, however it’s better late than never and, true to form, it’s exactly what you’d expect from the Melbourne four-piece.
Flyying Colours have spent the last couple of years making galloping shoegaze-inspired jams, and You Never Know continues to add to their already wonderful body of work with another set of recordings that don’t contain an ounce of fat.
They’ve never strayed far from their original sound template, but with bands like Flyying Colours, there’s really no need to. Through a strong kinship and musical telepathy, Flyying Colours continue to grow stronger, and You Never Know will be appease those already locked in with this band while also drawing in new listeners, too.
Helvetia: The Beach at the End of the World
Self-released
With his Helvetia project, Jason Albertini has been prolific, with a constant stream of releases over the last three decades.
Following Duster’s release of last year’s Together (their second wonderful record since their 2019 reset), Albertini resumes the Helvetia story in epic fashion with The Beach at the End of the World.
18 songs at 45 minutes, on The Beach at the End of the World, Albertini carves out a catalogue of wonky AM Beatles-inspired psych and mashes it up with the shoegaze fuzz that has underpins the Duster experience. Helvetia never deal filler, and they don’t start here, pulling together the best parts of their catalogue and presenting it on one shiny disc.
HORMA: Gutiziak
Self-released
It’s refreshing when bands contact you directly with their music; by and large, they are the ones who end up featuring throughout these pages instead of some mediocre outfit via an unsolicited email from a PR.
HORMA most certainly lie within the former category. The Basque Country duo of Javier Gómez and Iñaki Alonso release their second album in as many years with Gutiziak. With a David Yow-inspired absurdity, HORMA conjure up beautiful slowcore rhythms and razor wire riffs that sound like Shellac at quarter-speed.
Essentially, it’s music made by people with collections that would put a record store to shame. For the noise-rock, post-hardcore and slowcore aficionados. HORMA’s Gutiziak should be your new obsession.
The Man From Atlantis Interview: “I have a solid idea of how I want the project to sound”
Lanaya: I’m Picking Lights in a Field
Anima Recordings
Based in Santa Barbara, CA and Seattle, WA, Lanaya (Lynn McTague – guitar; Ari Brown – synths; Juno Callender – multi-instrumentalist) make glitch-y, bolt rumbling sludge-rock that contains shoegaze-inspired reflections.
On their latest release, I’m Picking Lights in a Field, some could well render Lanaya unclassifiable. However, one thing’s for sure – each member of Lanaya is bringing vastly different things to table, with each listen unearthing something slightly different in what is one of the more interesting guitar-based releases of 2023.
I’m Picking Lights in a Field sees Lanaya expel plenty of brawn, but through several ambient passages, the band exposes everything from Kranky-reverence to love for post-metal throughout these eight tracks. It’s an album that keeps getting stronger.
Madder Rose: No One Ever Gets Hurt
Trome Records
In 2019, New York alt-rock veterans, Madder Rose, returned with their first album in 20 years, To Be Beautiful. Any momentum from the release was stunted by the COVID pandemic, but it didn’t deter the band from releasing an equally great follow-up in No One Ever Gets Hurt.
Once again, Mary Lorson takes the reins with a series of neo-psych alt-rock songs inspired by the Velvet Underground, and while their ’90s peers, Julianna Hatfield and Kristin Hersh, may have delivered alt-rock fit for road-trips, Madder Rose preferred the warmth of the campfire flames.
And it doesn’t change here. For those a little underwhelmed by the latest Mazzy Star release, you could do a lot worse than Madder Rose’s No One Ever Gets Hurt, which continues the band’s solid run of form.
Mammatus: Expanding Majesty
Silver Current
Mammatus came up in the Santa Cruz scene which boasted the likes The Fucking Champs and Six Organs of Admittance. However, the three-piece sound like neither, and on their fourth record, Expanding Majesty, that doesn’t change.
From the artwork to the sound itself, Mammatus carve out a brand of metallic krautrock that espouses the imagery of Iron Maiden being a jam band! Mammutus’ jams are their own, of course, steeped in long-form psych that has as many twists and turns as the roads throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains.
There are no diminishing returns on Expanding Majesty. Just more goodness on top of what they’ve produced over the last three decades, and while it may not grab any new fans, those already in the Mammatus space capsule will be more than pleased.
One Hundred: In Conversation with Hell on Hearth’s Sean Wárs
Jason Allen Millard: The Truth Is Always Changing
Self-released
Minneapolis songwriter Jason Allen Millard makes skewed country ditties that are made on the fly. Well, perhaps not on the fly, per se, but there’s a sense of “first thought best thought” on his latest album, The Truth Is Always Changing.
Written during an A.M. haze, Millard bypasses that glorified lo-fi bluster that filled many a loungeroom over the past decade thanks to the likes of Mac DeMarco, instead melding country and psychedelia into something that slowly seeps into the pores.
If Blake Edward Conley ever wanted to do something more conventional, it would probably sound like some of the songs from The Truth Is Always Changing. Those previously unfamiliar with Millard’s work, this isn’t the worst place to start the journey.
MODOKI: Luna to Phobos
Riot Season
Featuring Japanese underground veteran Mitsuru Tabata (Boredoms, Acid Mothers Temple et al), Mike Vest (BONG, Downtime, Neutraliser et al), and Dave Sneddon (Gruel, Threads, Flat Earth Records), MODOKI make a quick-fire return with their second album of 2023, Luna to Phobos.
A little different in feel from Atom Sphere, Luna to Phobos sits somewhere between the ear-gouging mess of Boris and the this is sci-flying psych of the above-noted Mammatus. There’s a lot of push and pull between Vest and Tabata here, creating a healthy tension which the songs are better for.
With this latest release, the Mike Vest faithful will once again be placated, and with three months of 2023 left, who’s to say there’s not more? Watch this space.
Moundabout: An Cnoc Mór
Rocket Recordings
Moundabout (the project featuring Gnod’s Paddy Shine and Los Langeros’ Phil Materson) return with their second album in as many years with An Cnoc Mór.
Once again, Rocket Recordings unveil an artist who drag us out to the scorched-earth terrains (see Smote from earlier in the year). For Shine, it’s a nice left-hand turn from the aural pummeling he is accustomed to dishing out with Gnod, and here alongside Materson, the pair conjure up a series of acoustic-led compositions that echo the stirring intricacies of ’00s-era Six Organs of Admittance.
In fact, An Cnoc Mór is a lovely foil for the above-noted release between Ben Chasny and Rick Tomlinson – one for quiet surroundings and an agent to help gather your thoughts.
Mr. Phylzzz: Fat Chance
Amphetamine Reptile Records
Chicago noise-rock duo, Mr. Phylzzz (pronounced Mister Flies) shift the goal posts on their latest long-player, Fat Chance.
And it’s for the better, with the pair releasing a record filled with buzzsaw guitars and the kind of garage sludge rock that sounds like a shotgun wedding between the Melvins and the Blood Brothers.
At 25 minutes, Fat Chance is like pouring Red Bull into your morning coffee. While an instant rush of no-frills noise-rock for the most part, Mr. Phylzzz keep it interesting with the closing track, Pick Scrape. Seven minutes of mind-altering feedback that’s like being sucked into the abyss.
Nonconnah: Unicorn Family
Mutual Skies
Preceding Magpie Corsa’s collaboration with Blake Conley as Jesus’ Twin Brother (review here), the Memphis native reveals the latest chapter in the Nonconnah story, Unicorn Family.
Similar to what Conley does for country, on Unicorn Family Corsa deconstructs doom and shoegaze with something likened to a white-hot fever dream, with sharp ambient reflections and perceptive waves of sound that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
Unlike many doom acts out there, Nonconnah captures an emotional power that runs deep. It’s not obvious, but the more time spent in its company, and you realise that Unicorn Family operates in multifunctional ways. It’s wonderfully off-kilter and brutally hypnotic. All told, it’s just a downright lovely record.
Palehound: Eye on the Bat
Polyvinyl Record Co.
Mixing sharp wit and a whip-smart sense of humour with crunching choruses, Palehound’s El Kempner goes beyond the staple bedroom pop troupes that are, well, bland and predictable.
On the latest Palehound dispatch, Eye on the Bat, Kempner makes the good out of a string of bad situations, and seemingly influenced by the Silver Jews and more recently Kurt Vile, the songwriter delivers an album of underdog anthems designed for long road-trips and shouting at the top of your lungs.
With 10 songs at 29 minutes, Eye on the Bat is the kind of countrified indie-rock every record collection needs. It’s the finest album Kempner has delivered so far.
Pere Ubu: Trouble on Big Beat Street
Cherry Red Records
The Cleveland veterans return with their nineteenth studio album, and, well… it’s what you would expect in an expect-the-unexpected kind of way.
Once again, Pere Ubu twist punk into obscure shapes and, at times, Trouble on Big Beat Street sounds like the result of Scott Walker and Don Van Vliet messing about on the shrooms back in the early ’80s.
Where experimental music is concerned, few have matched the uncompromising attitude of David Thomas and Pere Ubu. And their legacy will forever be etched in music history because of it. Trouble on Big Beat Street doesn’t change that.
Tomoyuki Trio: Mars
Riot Season
Idle hands are the devil’s workshop, and it doesn’t ring truer in Mike Vest’s case. His second release in this month’s quarterly, this time alongside old sparring partner, percussionist Dave Sneddon, and Japanese legend Tomoyuki Aoki (UP-TIGHT) as Tomoyuki Trio.
On their debut release, Mars, the trio make psych and hard rock seem like a two freight trains colliding. There’s Vest’s face melting riffs and Sneddon’s blasting arena drums, all for Aoki to part with his signature tones as he unveils the sort of exhibitionism that would take the roof off.
Mars is a release for the psych heads to completely wig out to. It’s what you’d expect from these three musicians, but when this form of music is done right, it really does feel like an essential part of the day.
John Witherspoon: Heart In Head Out
Self-released
Following his 2020’s debut release, Showin’ Up, Startin’ Again, Liverpool songwriter John Witherspoon returns with his much-anticipated sophomore release, Heart In Head Out.
Over the past three years, Witherspoon has been the city’s most honest songwriter, and on Heart In Head Out, he dispenses his most explicit ranges of songs so far (look no further than lead single, Shame).
Heart In Head Out is another solid outing for one of Liverpool’s mainstays in the folk / Americana echo system, and with two solid releases now under his belt, it’ll be interesting to see what Witherspoon serves up next.
Yawning Man: Long Walk of the Navajo
Heavy Psych Sounds
You only have to look at the cover of Yawning Man’s Long Walk of the Navajo to know what you’re in for.
Or do you? The Palm Desert, California collective aren’t the kind of blokey doom psych concern manufactured in a garage making short work of a carton of Peroni. No, there’s a real subtle sense of atmospheric stoner rock here. Almost like a well-informed idea of comedown rock that dances around the core idea of psychedelia.
With three tracks at just under 40 minutes long, on Long Walk of the Navajo Yawning Man have created something that could almost be defined as lovely background noise that would appease your culturally starved parents. In fact, I can’t think of another record like it.
Previous AQs:
Sun 13 
10 replies on “Sun 13’s Albums Quarterly #11”
[…] Sun 13’s Albums Quarterly #11 […]
LikeLike
[…] excellent collaborations; firstly alongside Peter Fosco as Rabbit Hash, and most recently alongside Nonconnah’s Magpie Corsa as Jesus’ Twin […]
LikeLike
[…] Ohio has always been fertile ground for punk and hardcore, with the likes of Pere Ubu, Devo, The Cramps and Rocket From the Tombs all emerging from the area (of course, we all know the […]
LikeLike
[…] all the heavy hitters from Liturgy, BIG|BRAVE Anti Hand God and King Woman, there’s a valid argument that none sound as visceral as the howling blast of […]
LikeLike
[…] Forest Bohrer, while Adzes’ INVER featured last month throughout these pages via our latest Albums Quarterly dispatch, having spent another month in its presence, and the dark, melodic tones sink that much […]
LikeLike
[…] Sally Gates (Titan to Tachyons), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle)and Greg Fox (Liturgy, Man Forever, Anti-God Hand et al), combine for the excellently titled (and sounding) Deliriant […]
LikeLike
[…] To The North is the collaboration between United Bible Studies’ David Colohan and Nonconnah’s Zachary […]
LikeLike
[…] Nonconnah’s previous album, Unicorn Family, featured in our last Quarterly, that’s basically what Zachary and Denny Corsa do: constantly create and get their material out […]
LikeLike
[…] to have new ones from TiM faves, En Attendant Ana, FACS, Connections, Melenas, Sunwatchers and Guardian Singles, as well as debuts from new roster additions like The Tubs, The Serfs, Onyon and of course, Martin […]
LikeLike
[…] #12AQ #11AQ #10AQ #9AQ #8AQ #7AQ #6AQ #5 AQ #4AQ #3AQ #2AQ […]
LikeLike