Living icons DI-RECT have found success in their native Netherlands. They’ve enjoyed sold out concert tours since scoring a number 1 hit in 2009. The years have been kind, and their sound continues to evolve in new exciting ways. Always infectious, their new single Through The Looking Glass matches past releases in how it grabs you and never lets you down. It retains a pop sensibility while recalling newer indie vibes heard in bands like The War On Drugs and Delta Spirit. They update this retro driving aesthetic with their signature anthemic touch. There’s an aura of the timeless 80s rock known to Dire Straits and Bruce Springsteen. It’s the same ethos that drove the aforementioned indie brethren. We can always use more infections anthemic nostalgic rock, but DI-RECT brings something more.
Through The Looking Glass is uplifting and empowering. These inspiring vibes are familiar to songs like Eye Of The Tiger, not in the sound, but in the effect. It’s motivating, calling you to dance and fueling you to fight for everything you believe in. DI-RECT brings a song to get you through, to embrace as your fight song. It’s the kind of song you select for a signature moment.
“When you’re down you got to get up. Don’t stop Dreaming.”
A generation overwhelmed by a world of infinite content craves this message. It’s important to have works like this to pull us out of our sad loathing obsession. You can still do something great in 2022.
Whether your drawn to the catchy guitar leads, energetic vocals , or a pumping backbone, you’ll be caught in Through The Looking Glass. Get hooked, hear it now on our Best New Rock playlist.
Pulse Park erupts with melodic fury on their new record Phonac Music. An intense display of double time indie rock bit with shoe gaze sensibility provides captivating contrast. Interesting arrangements bring syncopation and variation. This fiery trio is tight. They bring a lively execution in a trim package. Every song clocks in at under four minutes except for the closer, A Constant. They present these songs in a dedicated dirty guitar rock fashion, but these tunes would hold just as well clean and measured. Providing them through ripping guitars is all about their sonic aesthetic, and the charming contrast that makes them so appealing.
They offer Dinosaur Jr and the Lemonheads as comparisons. They also share similarities to classic Weezer, Parquet Courts, and Built to Spill. They are undeniably catchy while remaining entirely unconventional. You can hear underlying 50s rock roots, but more derived from the bands they inspired than that movement itself. They reference punks influence on indie rock, suggesting they may have made their start in the local punk scene before adapting a more indie ethos.
Publicly, their tight lipped regarding their founding. They present the music unadulterated by excessive bios and casting revelations. Their sound speaks for itself, and they’ve found it. Phonac Music is a comprehensive collection that makes sense. It should appeal to indie and punk fans alike, and alternative listeners thirsty for energetic guitar rock.
The entire record slaps. You can hear the fiery opening track Antibody now on our Best New Rock Playlist.
Australian duo Champion Motorist makes brooding rock instrumentals that get under your skin. Their new extensive 3 song release Emperors is all killer no filler. The textured tube toned guitars are like a living breathing organism. Gained perfectly, its more harmonious overtones than phase fuzz. Using dynamic voicings that lean into the overtones, it injects beauty into what is commonly referred to as heavy metal. But if you’re seeing this music like that on the outset, you haven’t done your homework.
Champion Motorist joins a legion of introspective heavy acts redefining cinematic post rock. Bands like Slint and Russian Cirlces trailblazed these grounds. Champion Motorist brings the additional epic anthemic appeal known to Explosions In the Sky and Mogwai. They dress it in guitar tones reminiscent of Tool and The Deftones, heavier mainstream acts known for their melodic beauty. The big dramatic percussion cues beneath distorted guitars recall cinematic landscapes by composer Hans Zimmer. Fans of all of these projects as well as associated acts will enjoy Champion Motorist. They draw a wide net in rock, and should appeal to fans of dreamy soundscapes in general.
In essence, Champion Motorist is beautiful chaos. The dirty crunch and dense mix covers the entire sonic spectrum. Both the drums tones and guitar mixes are toned to perfection. The project is a combination of wonderful writing and intelligent sound design, as the group crafted these recordings themselves.
Find yourself in Emperors, and enjoy Subtitled now on our Best New Rock Playlist.
Poison Oak caught our attention with their new single Hope You Like The View. Their third single offering ahead of an upcoming EP release, Hope You Like The View is upbeat nostalgic indie with pop punk sensibility. The band parades both The Cure and Blink 182 as influences, and their music embraces elements from both movements in pop. Like The Cure and other associated 80s New Wave guitar acts, there’s an underlying dark aura to the minor chord evolutions. The tempo and revolving guitar riff recalls Blink style power punk. Together it also connects with early Jimmy Eat World, and how they embraced pop punks culture but reimagined the musical design.
Lyrically Hope You Like The View offers a poetic alternative in the world of indie punk. The singer laments a lover who thinks they’re too good for them. We’ve all known a few!
Embracing punks working man’s ethos, Poison Oak takes a shot at the cultural elite. They know you’ve come “Way down from uptown on a pedestal you’re tearing down,” they don’t give a f#ck. We’ve got the rock, we’ve got our communities, we don’t need the fluff, you can keep it.
Hope You Like The View is an anthem for anyone who’s every been subjected to somebody else’s personal dissatisfaction. The secret weapon of artists everywhere is that we will always know what makes life worth it for us. As long as we have our art, our music, we are invincible.
Enjoy I Hope You Like The View now on our Best New Rock Playlist
The Wild Is Calling 