Author: Abel

HALLOWEEN HORROR HOTLIST ’25

We are back for another ghoulish round of the most unsettling, mind-altering, feverishly diabolical list of Halloween Horror Movies to astound and debilitate your wicked souls. Once again, our most putrescent progeny bestow upon us their favorite spook-tastic picks, answering the age-old question “What is the one horror film that every mere mortal simply must witness?” Their answers have invoked a cadaverous cadre more splatterific, more bone-rattling, more phantasmagorical than ever before! So ready your rituals, steel your mind, and brace yourself… for the horrors that await below!

ACTUAL PEARLS: The Brood (1979)

“It’s so weird and sensitive and psychological.“
Where to watch: HBO MAX

ASSISTED LIVING: Cure (1997)

“A masterclass in tone, pacing and intention. All facets are so thoughtfully composed, not just the cinematography.
Preceded a renaissance in Japanese (and subsequently, western) horror at the turn of the century.

There are no jump scares, gratuitous gore, or heavy-handed sound design, but the movie is simultaneously beautiful, meditative, and incredibly unsettling. Dare I say: hypnotic. The film is in no rush to draw you in with curiosity/intrigue until you’re as a committed as the main character to figure out what the hell is going on. No exposition; no frenetic editing; no wild, unmotivated camera movements; neither ham-fisted with didactic intent nor embellished with esoteric pretension. No neat and tidy bow-tied denouement. Pure kino.

Mike also offered “Eaten Alive!” as trash pick”
Where to watch: Criterion Channel

BEAUTY: Meatball Machine (2005)

“The wildest shit ever. Tetsuo the Iron Man but way more dumb”
Where to watch: YouTube

BIG BURLY: Bio-Zombie(1998)

“If Dawn of the Dead was filmed in an underground mall in Hong Kong and the nostalgia was updated to the late 90s aesthetic. It’s more silly than scary. And also makes you wish you still had your Game Boy camera…just watch it”
Where to watch: Archive.org

BODY OF RESEARCH: Eyes Without A Face (1960)

Where to watch: HBO MAX

BRUISE BATH: The Thing (1982)

“We’ve all seen it, all love it, and have all dipped a hot coat hanger in each others blood to make sure we’re not the thing.”
Where to watch: Archive.org, Shudder

CALEB FLOOD: Possession (1981)

Where to Watch: Pluto, Shudder

CONCRETE CAVEMAN: Bloody Muscle Body Builder In Hell (1995)

“A group of college kids in japan in the 90s prove once and for all you don’t need a million dollars to make a great and fun movie. You just gotta want it, work really hard and be insane. FFO of shlock, bad effects made with love by hand, slapstick, and evil dead.”
Where To Watch: Eternal Family, Shudder, Tubi

DIURETIC: Martyrs (2008)

“We took the still image from [Martyrs] for the art featured on our EP Martyrfucker”
Where to watch: Shudder, Tubi

DOG LIPS: The House By The Cemetery (1981)

“fuckin bob”
Where to watch: Archive.org, Shudder

DROOPIES: The Blob (1988)

“A big droopy terrorizes a town. The practical effects are brilliant and disgusting”
Where to watch: Shudder

FALSE TRACKS: The Eight Immortals Restaurant: The Untold Story (1993)

“Way more subversively political (and fun) than you’d think for a Cat III HK slasher. I could say The Hills Have Eyes (1977) cause we have a song on the new record called that. And if you have been living under a rock with your mutated family for 50 years, go watch that”
Where to watch: Tubi

FAMILY GARDEN: Pizza Party Massacre (2024)

“OHHHHHH YEAH!!!!”
Where to watch: Trailer

IDIOT MAMBO: The Addiction (1995)

“It’s from the 90s it’s very grungey they use vampirism as a metaphor for addiction and gluttony.”
Where to watch: Shudder, YouTube

LIQUID CROSS: The Blair Witch Project (1999)

“Blair Witch Project. The terror felt real to me, and it still holds up as a reminder that so much can be done with only a little. Also the last image is burned in my brain and still gives me chills.
Bonus recs:
Jon: “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre when Leatherface slams the sliding metal door shut omfg.”
Travis: “EVIL DEAD A true visual treat for the eyes.”
Where to watch: Shudder, Tubi

MOROS: Weapons (2025)

“Well shit I think it’s gotta be weapons”
Where to watch: HBO MAX

SANDCASTLE: The Iron Rose (1973)

“It’s a vibe”
Where to watch: Prime,

SNOW CAPS: Get Out (2017)

“Get Out is a classic”
Where to watch: HBO MAX

SPESIMIN: Island of Lost Souls (1932)

“Part man, part beast…thing!

Early adaptation of The Island of Doctor Moreau, with Charles Laughton having the time of his life hamming it up as the mad scientist ruling over his clan of human/animal hybrids, and featuring Bela Lugosi as a hairfaced proto-Wolfman. Since it’s pre-Hayes Code, the movie is heavy on the torture, cruelty, blasphemy and bestiality from the book, and doesn’t shy away from it’s social commentary or critique of colonialism either. It also just looks great, with amazing sets and creature design, and flies by at 71 minutes. It’s also the movie that our song Stubborn Beast Flesh was inspired by. What are ya waiting for?

Honorable mentions to hallucinatory giallo gore fest Autopsy (1975), haunting adolescent vampire tearjerker Let the Right One In (2008), and bonkers addiction allegory Brain Damage (1988), sure to please highbrow cinephiles and psychotronic goo-fiends alike.”
Where to watch: Archive.org

TLOOTH: Kill List (2011)

“As horrible as it gets, it still leaves the worst parts to your imagination.”
Where to watch: Shudder, Tubi

TRUCULENT: Nightbreed (1990)

“Gotta watch the directors cut. David Cronenberg is a super convincing psycho psychologist”
Where to watch: Prime, Shudder

WEBB CHAPEL: Mommie Dearest (1981)

“Faye Dunaway really throws the football on this one”
Where to watch: Paramount Plus

Out Now: Liquid Cross – Don’t Think EP SM076

“This EP is about everything. It sounds like the Pacific Northwest as the band experiences it.”

Liquid Cross is a punk band from Eugene, Oregon, formed in 2025. Starting in a garage with minimal gear the group quickly found a voice in writing fast, abrasive songs with a dark edge. Once their permanent bassist joined, the lineup solidified, and the band began capturing their sound using whatever borrowed equipment was available.

Drawing influence from the Saints and the Wipers, Liquid Cross blends classic punk urgency with a distinctly Pacific Northwest atmosphere. Members bring experience from other projects: Jon (Ball Pythons, Cool Piss), Travis (End Time), and Kelly (Milked, Geronimo!). Their approach is driven by the raw and immediate energy of conviction.

The Don’t Think EP was recorded entirely DIY after the band abandoned plans to use a studio. Final mixing was handled by Ian Norris (The Shield), while the bulk of the work took place in a cluttered garage filled with cables, mics, and a discarded punching bag. The tape includes a hidden track exclusive to the physical release, and all proceeds benefit Trans Lifeline. For the band, the EP captures not only their early urgency but also the sound of their environment—what it feels like to live and play in the Pacific Northwest.

ALL PROCEEDS BENEFIT TRANS LIFELINE
translifeline.org
Trans Lifeline connects trans people to the community support and resources we need to survive

“With a healthy Wipers influence leading the way, these songs skid and cascade with dimly lit melodic distortion, muscle, and perpetual energy, barreling out of the Pacific Northwest garages into a blown out speaker near you.” – Post-Trash

Check it out!

Today’s release is a very special one Truculent AKA Dan AKA “Dad” of Mom and Dad is finally releasing a full length vinyl! Hypnotizing guitar arrangements backed by fully formed anti fascist anti capitalist sentiments. This album was a long time coming, in addition to the vinyl you’ll receive a mini zine of Dans pseudo psychotic (actually very sane) writings on enduring the downfall of democracy. I could go on and on about how meaningful this is but I’m a little biased (lolol Jess here) so you’ll just have to buy it and find out!

“Truculent is what happens when one guitar embodies an entire worldview. Bending time, tone, and tuning at will, mastermind Dan Timlin transforms everyday sounds and experimental guitar into equal parts protest, meditation, and memoir – with political and emotional intensity woven into each reverberation.

More than a project or band, Truculent is a practice, where Timlin crafts songs and builds environments of immersive storytelling, both in the studio and on the stage. As the world of Truculent continues to evolve, listeners are certain to find new and unpredictable experiences that reflect Truculent’s ever-expanding sonic landscape.” – Chelsea Nelson-Fernandez

The concept of a Brain-Weave was explained to me as “the collected unconscious of a group of people, in variable states of sensory arousal, connecting and in that connection a new reality blossoms”. A psychiatrist might call this “foille et deux” or “mass hysteria”. While I agree that in some instances the negative connotations of this diagnosis is warranted, I differ in interpreting the Brain-Weave as wholly negative. Are not the members of any given punk band intertwined in a Brain-Weave of sorts? Does their passion for the subject of their songs, and the visceral sensory experience of blaring drums and amplifiers not produce the arousal needed? Does the hypnotic act of rehearsing and performing as a collective not hint at the subconscious connection? To the Brain-Weave there is no difference between the sporadic improvised movements of a Jazz ensemble and the rigidly rehearsed pop of any top 40 artist. The connection exists in a state uncontrolled by us. Sure we can feed it and try to mold the circumstances to be advantageous for producing the weave. But in the end it’s not ours to choose. We can no more choose to participate in the weave than we can choose to participate in the beating of our hearts. When I lost my friend I could tangibly see the effects of his absence in my life. I could see the box with his ashes, I could read all the nice things everyone had to say about him. I could commiserate with peers about him never playing his guitar again or fixing that amplifier, or microphone. But I couldn’t feel that he was gone. I could not feel that he was no longer a part of my life. Mike and I had a complicated relationship but I know our friendship is alive because unlike an animal the Brain-Weave can never die…

Dedicated to Wynn Bruce, Hind Rajab, Linda J. Zhang, Aaron Bushnell, Max Azzarello, Matt Nelson, Demetrius Wallace, Trayvon Brown, DeAndre Gordon, Thairie Ritchie, and all victims of corporate imperialism. 

released October 10, 2025

All songs by Dan Timlin
Recorded spring 2024 with Dan Angel in Philadelphia, PA
Tracks 10 & 17 Jessica Kramer plays Upright Bass
Cover art by John Bussott
Mastered by Chris Lawson-Allen
©Strange Mono 2025

PROCEEDS BENEFIT
The Immigration Bond Freedom Fund
secure.actblue.com/donate/immbondfreedom

“Right now, immigrants face a multi-pronged attack from many directions. The number of people in ICE detention has skyrocketed in the past four years. Every day, community-led immigration bond funds raise money to free our friends and neighbors from immigration detention, intervene in deportations, ensure people can pursue their cases from a place of freedom & keep their families and communities together.”

CHECK IT OUT

Out Now: Indirect Satisfaction SM074

Shoegaze, slowcore, dream pop, and psych rock converge on Indirect Satisfaction, featuring four of the best underground bands from southeast PA. bands ASSISTED LIVING, Bruise Bath, Droopies, and Tlooth.

PROCEEDS BENEFIT:
baitulmaal.org
Baitulmaal provides life-saving, life-sustaining and life-enriching humanitarian aid to under-served populations around the world regardless of faith or nationality.

ASSISTED LIVING Meant to remind everyone that Philly doesn’t give a shit, but its really good at not giving a shit. assistedlivingphl.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/asstdlvng/

Bruise Bath Philly’s finest slowcore an altar of nothing erected for no one.
bruisebath.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/bruisebath/

Droopies Psychedlic WTF rock balancing pop melodies and deranged guitar tones.
droopies.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/droopies_official/

Tlooth Reading band that thrives in the tension between opposites. tlooth.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/tlo.oth/ released

September 22, 2025

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Out Now: Dog Lips – Danger Forward & Caleb Flood – Hot Tub Music For Frogs

Hailing from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Dog Lips deliver a raw and relentless blend of punk, hard rock, and new wave on their sophomore album, Danger Forward. Channeling the urgency of Mission of Burma, the swagger of Thin Lizzy, and the abrasive edge of Wipers, the band carves out a sound that’s both chaotic and controlled. These nine tracks tear through themes of warped Americana, B-movie delirium, and the absurdity of modern life, punctuated by the unrelenting drums, confrontational vocals, and sleazy riffage. It’s an album that refuses to sit still. Dog Lips are brash, unapologetic, and wired for maximum impact.

Recorded in just three days at Rhode Island’s Big Nice Studio with producer Bradford Krieger, Danger Forward captures the band’s live intensity with minimal polish and maximum grit. The sessions were fast, loud, and volatile, resulting in a sound that feels like it’s teetering on the edge of collapse. Razor-sharp guitars, pounding rhythms, and sneering vocals collide in a way that’s both immediate and gripping..

Since forming in 2022, Dog Lips have been a wrecking ball on the East Coast DIY circuit, sharing stages with like-minded miscreants and leaving audiences battered and buzzing. Danger Forward is the next logical step, a bigger, meaner, and more focused statement from a band that thrives on chaos. Whether you’re a fan of garage-tinged punk, pub-rock hooks, or noise-laden hardcore, this album doesn’t just demand your attention it grabs you by the collar and bites down hard.

Check it out

On the opposite end of the spectrum we also have Caleb Flood‘s newest work “Hot Tub Music For Frogs“.

His new record showcases his intricate playing and penchant for ethereal compositions. All proceeds benefit RVA Community Fridges, Caleb’s commitment to community support comes from his own need to rely on these resources over the last year. His music draws from years of collaboration with notable Appalachian musicians, shaping a sound that is both technically refined and deeply rooted in tradition.

“I didn’t really sink in to playing more fingerstyle stuff until I moved to Richmond and was living alone” says Caleb “but I’d say that this record is mostly influenced by my time living in Blacksburg VA where I had the fortune to work with some great Appalachian players like Mike and Cara Gangloff, Matt Peyton, and Kaily Moon Schenker.”

Recorded in a stripped-down setting with longtime collaborator Tyler Newbold, the album captures Flood’s precise songwriting through an intimate, minimalist production approach. The process highlights the intuitive creative partnership between the two musicians, honed over years of playing together. This will be Caleb’s first purely instrumental release and stands as an interesting turning point for the artist.

“I recorded this record with Tyler Newbold, who is in Cold Toast with me. We recorded it in our practice space with a pretty simple setup” states Caleb on the recording process for the album. “He was infinitely patient with me tracking some of the songs many times, and I love working with him. Maybe it’s because we have been working together for so long but I feel like it’s just magical when somebody shares your sonic intuition to a degree where you can relax and just focus on the performances.”

Check it out

Out Now: Flash Hits – Witch Kids Seek Magic World SM075

Flash Hits emerged in 2012 as a four-track experiment between Damien C. Taylor (The Sounds of Kaleidoscope, Asteroid #4) and Mike Hammel (Lilys, False Tracks). Their creative back-and-forth yielded the sprawling 38-song demo World Tore, with contributions from Jordan Blumling (Gondola). Expanding into a full-band effort, they recorded The Basement Tape in South Philly, followed by The Bloodline Tape, and Noises capturing sessions across the East and West Coasts with a rotating cast of collaborators, including members of Pink Skull, Adam & Dave’s Bloodline, and Asteroid #4.

Taylor’s move to Los Angeles in 2013 saw Flash Hits shifting lineups while continuing to evolve, releasing Arts & Crafts in 2015 and frequently performing alongside Dead Meadow. By 2017, they recorded Recognitions with a returning Hammel, Blumling, and longtime collaborators like Scott Verrastro (Bardo Pond) and Dennis Wilfong (Wolf Fang). Their sonic experiments culminated in Growths (2022), produced by Jason Simon (Dead Meadow) and released by Frontier Records, capturing their heady blend of post-punk, art rock, and micro-psychedelia.

Amid relocations and disruptions, Taylor’s songwriting remained the band’s anchor, ultimately leading to Witch Kids Seek Magic World, recorded with Bill Fries (Wax Pets, Creepoid) at Basement Beach in Philadelphia. Featuring contributions from Ryan Van Kreidt, Dan Angel, and Kacey Barnes, the album sees Flash Hits continuing their vibrant, exploratory approach-melding adventure guitars, hypnotic rhythms, and poetic lyricism. Set for release on Strange Mono in 2025, it marks another vivid chapter in their ever-evolving sound.

“It was somewhere in 2023 that Bill and I had begun talking about working on something together; I was floating from California north and south, Maryland, DC, Detroit and Philadelphia looking for a place to live and Bill was styling and dialing his recording realm.

Tracking began on a Friday evening. Our tapes were from a bad bake batch and were flecking with each rolling; Bill and Dan and David were pulling the reels and cleaning the machines between every take. By Saturday, basic tracks were down and Bill, David and Dan submixed the drums that night. By Sunday night we had completed recording; full-band tracks, the RC5 and Farfisa based stuff, percussion, guitars, sitar, samples, saw, vocals… On Monday we constructed tape loops and built about 3 hours of loop performances. We were done by suppertime.

Between all that, we watched Dark Shadows with the sound off and listened to Flying Saucer Attack and Frank Sinatra. Drank Ethiopian coffee, smoked and ate and stretched and listened to Autolux and the 2nd X record while we looked at Dan’s painting of George Jones for comforts and inspirations. We spent a year together there that weekend.” – Damien

Check it out!

Out Now: Idiot Mambo – Shoot The Star (SM071)

Idiot Mambo started as a bedroom project from primary songwriters Benji Davis and Leah G. Their sophomore record, Shoot the Star, is a kaleidoscopic homage to their eclectic influences, from punky pop and thrift-store glam to country sparkle. Joined by Jared Brey, Dan Timlin, and Dan Angel whose drumming and engineering prowess laid the foundation for a newer, more polished sound. The band embraced experimentation, layering synthesizers, pedal steel, and even a pill bottle shaker to create a sound that’s both raw and meticulously crafted.

RIYL: Purr, Mac DeMarco, Belle and Sebastian, Alex G, Bonny Doon, Yo La Tengo

“Our first studio session features Dan Angel on drums and Jared on bass.” says Benji “We have one rehearsal prior. Dan learns the tunes, lays down amazing rhythms and engineers the session, living up to his reputation as the hardest working man in showbusiness.“

Lyrically, Shoot the Star is a wild ride through themes of insomnia, existential musings, and partying through the chaos. “The record has wreckless homages to all sorts of stuff.” says Benji. Several songs on the album were written in collaboration with spoken word poet Colbert Root who joins the band live as a theatrically effective orator. Tracks like “Tailchase” and “Deathdriver” explore failure and rebirth, while “Bop Til U Drop” and “Light Bulbs” deliver infectious, off-kilter energy. With its reckless charm and genre-defying spirit, Shoot the Star is a record for nowhere people. Idiot Mambo is here to remind you that rock and roll is alive, weird, and undeniably fun.

“Idiot Mambo have a dream where they exit the bedroom and enter the studio to make a catchy, cockeyed rock and roll record with their friends.

We get invited to play a show. Jared joins to play bass. Colbert joins in as a theatrically effective orator. We use a sample pad to trigger some beats, Benji & Leah sing and dance and we all have a great time.

Dan T offers to play drums and host us at his practice space, so he jumps in and we form a rock band.
We put aside the sample pad and go on to play a couple awesome shows. It’s time to capture this energy and put something to tape. The band rolls into Dan Angel’s place neighboring boner4ever. Dan A feels the vibe and cements the band as rhythm daddy-o.

Our first studio session features Dan A on drums and Jared on bass. We have one rehearsal prior. Dan A learns the tunes, lays down amazing rhythms and engineers the session, living up to his reputation as the hardest working man in showbusiness. We get vocals down and start mixing a track, but we aren’t finished. We need a second session.

Dan T performs drums on the next studio outing. We track a couple of numbers that we’ve been knocking around on as a band. The takes are good. Dan T then intrepidly lays down beats to some completely unrehearsed songs that Benji, Leah, and Colbert brought from home. The takes are good! We overdub bass, mess around with the Nashville guitar, do some singing. We need more time to finish this.

One more studio session to add pulsing percussion, get trippy, and make things really sparkle. We paste in some synthesizers and pedal steel from home recordings. We shake a pill bottle because it sounds better than the egg shaker. We rip a guitar solo. We tap the glockenspiel. We wrench the noisemakers. We finesse the tape delay. A couple more vocal embellishments. It all fits.

Dan A dolls up the record while intensely gazing at the album art, handcrafted by Leah. Cell phone propped on the console for the entire mixing and mastering process. Once the kitty cats begin to dance to the music, we’re certain the track is sufficiently tarted. Soon, all ten tracks make the cats dance, and we call it done.

The record has wreckless homages to all sorts of stuff. A pinch of punky pop, a dash of shitty Revolver. A love for early rock, a kind of thrift store glam schlock. Some country sparkle and some tripped-out r&b. It’s like a collection of theme songs about diddly.

A
Tailchase is about a failure to relinquish. Lockjaw is a strange cover of a rap song by French Montana and Kodak Black. Bop Til U Drop is an intriguing reimagining of a Ramones song. Braindead is about partying on. Lightbulbs posits civilization as a fad. Deathdriver is about transportation and samsara.

B
Pillowcase is a case of insomnia. R U Dumb is, in truth, pretty dumb, but then again, so are you. Hot Potato is both baked and fried. Dead Roses is where we wake up from our dream and realize that, hey, we’re a real rock band after all.

In like a sour gummy worm, out like a satisfying turd, Shoot the Star is a kinetic, yet languid foofaraw.
Shoot the Star is mostly uptempo rock music for nowhere people.
Shoot the Star is your new favorite record.” – Benji

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OUT NOW: Tlooth – S/T SM072

Tlooth returns with a new chapter: a self-titled debut full-length steeped in duality, embracing both lo-fi grit and unexpected beauty. When a band falls apart, it usually stays that way—but for Tlooth, dissolution became the catalyst for something new. The result is a record that retains the raw edges of lo-fi recording while pushing into new sonic territories, balancing the immediacy of live tracking with the textural depth of layered production.

“There was a moment when Tlooth wasn’t a band anymore,” the band admits. After a period of near-collapse, Joe (guitar), Pat (bass), and Dave (percussion) found themselves at a crossroads. Then David (vocals, guitar) witnessed what could have been their final show. “I stepped forward if they ever decided to do it again,” David says. “We didn’t have to think about it long,” Pat adds and laughs. With renewed energy, the four-piece quickly set to work, writing and recording their debut album over the summer and fall of 2024.

The album itself is a study in contrasts—recorded in fragments yet cohesive, embracing imperfection yet deeply intentional. “Recording for this album was in piecemeal,” Joe recalls. “Drums and bass were tracked live in Dave’s nonagon cabin—oh, and fujara as well. I recorded guitars at home or the DIY space Pat and I and friends run called Pleasuretone; David recorded vocals, guitar, and synth at home. Once it was all mixed, Dan Angel mastered everything at his new studio in Germantown.”

Tlooth’s rhythm section is jazz-strong, their guitars roughed-up, and their vocals unflinchingly honest—a sound as restless as the ideas that fuel it. “We’ve always been drawn to sci-fi, the relentless news cycle, the absurdity of end-stage capitalism… aliens,” David shares, reflecting on their wide-ranging influences.

That same sense of playfulness and unpredictability is embedded in their name. Taken from the absurdist novel by American experimental author Harry Mathews, it reflects the band’s wandering, rule-bending approach to music. “Like the book, we stray freely, playing at games that, in the end, may have no purpose past a joke we tell ourselves,” Joe concludes.

With this release, Tlooth is also taking action beyond the music. Proceeds will support Phillips Black, a nonprofit dedicated to providing legal aid for incarcerated individuals facing the harshest penalties under U.S. law. “We believe in a future without prisons,” Joe says simply.

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Family Garden – Dreams Beyond Control SM066

“It was in the crumbling, labyrinthine depths of Philadelphia-a city steeped in the whispers of forgotten centuries and the weight of unspoken horrors-that I first heard the name Family Garden. This blasphemous triad, composed of three figures who seemed less like men and more like vessels for some unfathomable cosmic will, had emerged as if spat forth from the gullet of a ravenous void. Chubbrock, Ryan Flannery, and Evan Madden, though cloaked in the guise of human flesh, bore within them the taint of something far older and more sinister. Their veins pulsed not with blood, but with the eldritch ichor of heaven’s forbidden magic, a dark gift that bound them to their unholy purpose. Their music, a grotesque fusion of black metal’s glacial malevolence, crust punk’s feral rage, and the disorienting, acid-fueled chaos of a mind unraveling, was no mere performance. It was a ritual, a ceaseless call to the cultivation of an earthly garden whose roots delved deep into the abyss, sprouting tendrils of cosmic dread that threatened to ensnare any that dared to listen.

I learned of their past affiliations with ill-reputed harbingers of sonic annihilation YDI, Eat The Turnbuckle, Crackhouse, Woods of Ypres, and Woe yet it was clear that Family Garden represented something far more debauched and terrifying. Chubbrock’s guitar shrieked like the death throes of a dying star, his vocals a ululating invocation of entities best left forgotten. Ryan’s basslines throbbed with the rhythm of a world submerged, his voice a guttural blasphemy that intertwined with the cacophony like a serpent coiling around its prey. Evan’s drums were the heartbeat of the void itself, a relentless, chaotic pulse that seemed to echo the madness of the cosmos blasting deeper into my psyche with each turbulent kick. Together, they tended their garden, a grotesque parody of Eden where the fruits of their labor were not life, but the sweet, rotting nectar of existential despair. To witness Family Garden was to feel the roots of their creation burrow deep into your soul, twisting and spreading until escape was impossible. I know it must have been a dream, for it to be a reality this bleak, this dominating and vile could not exist on Gods earth. And yet, even as I write these words, I cannot shake the feeling that their garden is still growing, its tendrils reaching ever further into the unsuspecting world…” – Fragment of a scrawled note found on South St. 

The name Family Garden originated from the band’s guitar player, when his mother sent him a childhood drawing he had made of a garden with his siblings, parents, and pets, titled “A Family’s Garden”. This resonated with the band and became a nod to family, roots, and personal history. Chubbrock’s artwork plays a significant part in Family Garden’s vision, exploring artistic freedom with no rules or obligations, only paint to canvas, and eventually, to album covers.

With each new creation, Family Garden offers a sound that breaks free from tradition and stays true to their DIY roots. Their latest album was an arduous but rewarding journey, recorded at Permanent Hearing Damage in South Philly with Steve Roche, and releasing on Strange Mono Records, whose charitable efforts were a part of the band’s decision to work with the label. Family Garden has chosen PAWS – Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society – as their charity to benefit from the proceeds of Dreams Beyond Control.

Looking ahead, Family Garden is already pondering future releases, with discussions around another full-length album or potential EP. They’ve recently shared the stage with Vile Form, Cesarian, and Thin in Philadelphia, and continue to expand their presence in the punk and metal scenes, and beyond.

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Out Now: Fugue State – In The Lurch SM070

Western Massachusetts has a new face of weirdo punk in the likes of Fugue State, who are slated to release their debut LP “In The Lurch” in the spring of 2025 with support from Philadelphia label Strange Mono.

Originating in 2022 as a solo project of songwriter Shane Bruno (Bridge of Flowers), the music of FUGUE STATE is drenched in cavernous echo, searing Soviet fuzz, and raw urgency, accosting the listener through a makeshift telephone mic about ruminations on themes of existential peril, hometown blight, relationships, and other stream of consciousness pontificating.

“In The Lurch” marks Fugue State’s full band debut. Bruno originally recruited Gage O’Brien and fellow Bridge of Flowers comrade Jon Hanson to form a band and reanimate the 2023 six-song EP “Subtlety’s Dead” for live performance. This proved so successful that they managed to churn out enough material to fill out a record, doing so in urgent process.

The resulting effort elaborates on the first release and draws on influences like Pere Ubu and Roxy Music, focused through the lens of contemporary garage rock, punk, and psychedelia. The band’s live sound has drawn comparisons to Butthole Surfers, Crime, The Flesh Eaters, and “The Gun Club if they took mushrooms instead of dope.”

Adding to their eclectic sound, In The Lurch features guest appearances by Wednesday Knudsen (Pigeons, Stella Kola) on tenor saxophone and Vigilance Brandon (Trance Macabre) on trumpet, showcasing the band’s openness to unconventional instrumentation.

The LP will be released on a one-off pressing of 200 vinyl records via Fugue State and Strange Mono. There will also be a limited cassette release, with proceeds supporting mutual aid funds. Fugue State is building a unique niche in the punk genre by blending raw energy, experimental noise, and a DIY ethos that is sure to resonate with weirdo music fan.

CHECK IT OUT!