SleekTeeth are a dark electronic duo from California, and they have released their third single “Operating” on the 20th of September. As far as I can tell, the band has been around since 2023, which is when they debuted the single “Gone.”
Instantly, you hear the old school influences like Front 242 in the electronics. The vocals are smooth and seeming sweet, though we know that not everything sweet is innocent, and there is something sinister below the surface. The clatter of rhythms and chiming of computerised bells/chimes, lulls you onto the dance floor.
This is a fine example of electropop, with its roots firmly in the industrial past, and SleekTeeth are operating in between these lines. If you enjoy “Operating” then you should check out the other singles for this relatively new project.
From the wilds of Ōtepoti (Dunedin), in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Robots In Love have crept on us, and then slapped us with a new single “The Sequel.” Elenor Rayner (vocals, production), Alex Burchell (drums, production) and Tony Lumsden (bass) are now the core of the group, which was begun a year ago by Rayner.
You are lulled into a false sense that this is another electronics only track. That is until the guitar strikes in. Robots In Love are finely balanced between punchy vocals, soaring synths and pounding rhythms, fuelled by the metal inspired guitar work. The chorus just hits me like a nursery rhyme, with its slightly sing song rhythm. but also for mentioning people and steeples, which makes me think of Here Is The Church.
Robots In Love are evolving with every single, growing in confidence as a group and it really shows. “TheSequel” absolutely kicks arse. It is heavy and ballsy, and it kind of reminds me of the 90s when you could mosh to your favourite industrial rock bands. Rayner’s vocals run the gauntlet of sweet to full on dark and brooding rock goddess. Those chords reverberate with the energy of Pop Will Eat Itself and yet…. it is modern and speaks of this generation, the children of the digitally programmed age. Buckle up people because it is about to get intense in here with “TheSequel.”
Virgin Prunes were a visually provocative goth rock/post-punk band from Ireland, and Fionán Martin Hanvey, aka Gavin Friday was a main vocalist, which is no mean feat as there were three lead singers at one point. Friday has gone on to be an actor, composer, and artist to name but a few of his endeavours, and now after thirteen years, he is on the edge of releasing a new, studio album, titled EcceHomo. These are the words Pontius Pilot addressed the seething crowd, after Jesus had been flagellated and crowned with thorns, and it basically translate to ‘behold the man,’ and “Ecce Homo” is also the first single.
“Ecce Homo,” for me, is a track about watching the world crumbling into a morass of hatred, religious hypocrisy and general destruction of this planet, knowing it all has echoes in the past. Although this may sound like a depressing concept, it is also a song of hope, that there is time to make things better, for humanity has such a capacity for acts of beauty and kindness.
The vocals of Friday deliver the lyrics, which are like a punch to the guts and the electronics are catchy. The heavens could have broken open, with the voice of an angelic female and at the end, I swear, you can hear what could be a Islamic call to prayer. What can I say? GavinFriday is back and if the single is anything to go by, the album EcceHomo is going to be something special.
Cicadas could be the rock stars of the insect world. They are the loudest, live two to seventeen years, shed their carapace and come out in Summer to mate and spent most of their lives hibernating. “Cicada” is also the latest single from LunarPaths‘ DianeDubois and KevinHunter.
Kevin has recorded live drums and it just adds to the dramatic tribal timelessness. There are samples of traditional Greek (Cretan) instruments that Diane has fiddled with and the electronics dominate the track, often matching the sounds of cicadas. They have incorporated live recordings of our little insect friends.
Diane graces us with her vocals as well as her lyrics that pay homage to the sound that marks the feel of Summer in the outdoors. The whirring and heat can be felt, often heralding in a storm after a day of building humidity and “Cicada” takes on a mystical ambience for a creature that spends most of it’s life growing up underground, to come forth for a finite period of time. Lunar Paths are going to entrance you.
In 1986, Siouxsie and the Banshees released the album Tinderbox, which yielded the all too catchy single “Cities In Dust.” Now in 2024, Naarm (Melbourne) based Velatine, have covered “Cities In Dust,” featuring for the first time the vocals of Sasha Tyler, along side the ever present lord of darkness himself, Loki Lockwood.
Electronics herald in the recognisable chords to the track, but this is not the same creature as the original. The synths strike a harpsichord tone and the singular guitar has a lot of impact. Tyler’s voice is true and strong. She is not SiouxsieSioux, for there can only be one of those, however I think she is perfect for this reinterpretation, and her vocals are like honey.
Indeed, the eldritch is strong in this track, and I swear at any moment I am going to hear Vincent Price laughing into the pall of gothic mist covered horror. Why horror? “Cities In Dust” is about the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, seemingly wiped from existence by the powerful explosion of the volcano, Mount Vesuvius. The Velatine version is a little sparser… more electronics and maybe this has upped the ante when it comes to the eeriness factor. Out on the Spooky Records label, visit Bandcamp for name your price before you go dancing at the Lares Shrine.
Aston Nyte, lead singer of goth rock band The Awakening, has once again taken on the duty of lead vocalist with US super group, Beauty In Chaos, for the single “Made Of Rain,” which is off their fourth album Dancing With Angels.
Photo by Annabel DFlux
Michael Ciravolo is a master guitarist and the notes drift in a sensuous malady. Meanwhile, Nyte sings from the pit of his being, with the tone grabbing your heart and pulling it out of the cavity it beats in. The lyrical imagery is poignant, stealing your breath with the powerful lament.
Nyte, simply put, has a superb voice with an extraordinary range, and I have to admit I hold him in great esteem along side HIM’sVilleValo. Not only is his singing beautiful, but you feel everything. So easily he causes a visceral reaction and that is what makes Nyte perfect for this track, “Made Of Rain.” The music video is also a feast for the eyes which I highly encourage you to check out.
Friday the thirteenth was the release date for the single “Stay Strange” by Swedes THENCOMES SILENCE, which features the smoky eyeliner (and vocal chords) of Dusty Gannon, lead singer of US group VideoVision, out on Metropolis Records.
From sliding down the guitar strings, to the jaunty nature that said guitars are being played, you already know you are in for a cracking tune, and the lads do not disappoint. The drums slam away as AlexSvenson and Gannon share the vocal duties, and it is a display of explosive punk styling pure joy. What a fantastic message in the chorus which simply says ‘stay strange and pure of heart‘.
Be still my beating heart, when you hear what could be a throwback to The Specials’ “Ghost Town,” with bonus points for seeing Goth DadGannon, getting on down to it in the video. “StayStrange” has a psychobilly heart, preaching a feel good anthem that it is okay to go against the grain and not be like everyone else, even when the pressure is to be a carbon copy of the general public person. THENCOMESSILENCE’s third album Trickery is all about finding your people or tribe and DustyGannon, as GothDad, brings positive inclusiveness, so all I have to add is be weird and keep on dancing.
Nikk Fail is an Italian retro synth project and his second EP, End Of The Line, was released in June. Consisting of six tracks, now NikkFail has brought some friends with him to play this time!!!
As soon as I heard the title “Bugstompers,” all I could think of was Starship Troopers, the rather questionable 90s movie about taking on alien bugs. The track itself has science fiction effects at play and seems to be promising slightly violent intent. First guest vocalist is Eleonora Ferrari on “End Of The Line,” an ominous portrayal that she is the end of everything, and will happily end everything. Ferrari goes from cooing into blood curdling gurgling squeals within a split second. The next instrumental is “Living Dead Lights,” and the music is both eerie and haunting, to the point that one could say, light as an apparition and cool as a tomb.
You cannot get many more light years away than Star Wars, so in a galaxy far, far away the synths pass and whirr as if they are lightsabers in a duel in “Anakin Rampage (The Balladof Vader).” If you listen carefully, I am sure you can hear the Cantina band. Next guests are BelvaSXE and WilliamBaxter featuring on the track “TromaBoy,” and here we hear a harsher side to NikkFail, between the growling guitar and the equally growling vocals, and all the while the electronics keep up to the wailing pace. Last track is the contemplative “CommutingParadise,” though this song, in its own way, is sassy and has teeth, with vocals from GiuliaFinazzi and guitar by Baxter again.
Already, you can see since the first EP, Nikk Fail is evolving and incorporating more into his sound. Collaborating with other musicians is a great way to extend yourself and push what you can do, and I think you can hear this on End Of The Line. Makes you wonder what is next for Fail and who he might tap into the helping him fly even higher.
We have the second single “Pills” from BURDENZ, a punk/grunge band from Aotearoa (New Zealand). The Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) based trio consists of JimmyColdham (guitars, vocals), AlexRossSmith (backing vocals) and AlexGallagher (drums).
Pealing guitars hit you from the start and soon clashes with the screaming vocals of Coldham, as each tries to bludgeon out the other, and yet the drums of Gallagher freight train through, syncing up the belting track.
For three blokes from NZ, BURDENZ sounds bigger than Ber Hur and I can just imagine seeing these guys would leave you slightly deaf, but rather pleased with the auditory bashing. So far I have no idea what “Pills” is about, I just know I sink into this track and just let it take me along for the ride.
Aaargh, I am running late and I need to show you a single from Bologna band The Peripheries! Out on Three Hands Records, “Colder Than Your Smile” came out in the beginning of June, from members Wiz (vocals), Udo (bass), Flaminia (the monster from the north), Giorgia (visuals), Morgana (beats, tailoring) and Arnar (guitars, keys, vocals). By the way, Flaminia sounds uber cool, like she is a wildling.
The track is doused in a pall of electronic fuzz, and the synths run wistfully, much lighter giving a great contrast to the wonderfully deep bass. Wiz is the lead vocalist here and his performance makes you feel all the one sided love whilst wearing all the cruelty.
The incongruency of the electronics and guitars is really great, kind of a throw-back to the early 2000s EBM music. I really like The Peripheries style and “Colder Than Your Smile” is brilliantly dark and a delight to listen to.
Onyx Music Reviews 