The hottest month of 2021 so far delivered some of the year’s biggest hits. Here are several can’t miss new music releases to keep you moving all weekend long.
We love our clients. Over the last decade in business, Haulix has played a small part in helping thousands of records reach tastemakers worldwide. Watching artists reach and even surpass their dreams is immensely humbling. We take no credit for anyone’s success, but we do want to highlight a few clients whose recent new music releases are currently on repeat in our offices. Check it out:
Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! – Gone Are The Good Days (Fearless)
After half a decade away, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! are ready to restart again. The group the last several years to live their lives and figure out their individual paths in life, but the COVID-19 pandemic provided the perfect opportunity to revisit the ability to work together. Gone Are The Good Days recaptures the magic of early C!NCC! releases and adds a decade of experience to the mix. The songwriting is tighter, the breakdowns heavier, and the energy higher. C!NCC! perfectly balance unabashed self-reflection with the need to give people hope across twelve tracks that radiate an optimistic outlook for a world that constantly lets us down. If you spent your teens years thinking every other pop-punk anthem was written for you, Gone Are The Good Days will remind you that period of your life was never a phase.
Dee Snider – Leave A Scar (Napalm)
Dee Snider is perhaps the hardest working living icon in metal today. While many of his peers rely on aging catalogs to sell tickets and bring in song streams, Snider remains hard at work on his craft. The 66-year-old rock God is still chasing the next hook that sets the world on fire, and Leave A Scar showcases just how far he’s come as a songwriter. The catchiness you expect from Snider is present as always, but there is a level of brutal honesty and reflection that only comes with age and experience. If you can make it through “Down But Not Out” or “Time To Choose” without feeling something, you should probably seek immediate medical attention because you may be dead.
Capstan – SEPARATE (Fearless Records)
Many alternative groups are written off for what people perceive to be childish or immature lyrics. Critics of the genre seem to feel that upbeat heavy music is best when marketed toward teenagers who know nothing of the world at large. Capstan argues that alternative music is for everyone. SEPARATE is an album born from feelings of isolation and loneliness. It came to life amid a pandemic, just a short period after the band’s guitarist and songwriter began divorce proceedings. All the pain, confusion, and frustrations of those two life-changing events are channeled into this record, and the result is a wonderfully cathartic ode to the resilience of the human spirit.
Sleep Waker – Alias (UNFD)
Rock music is angry again. After years of the genre’s biggest names churning out regurgitated versions of the same tired anthems about overcoming obstacles and persevering through hard times, a new crop of musicians is refusing to fall in line. Sleep Waker writes music for people trying to find meaning in the chaos of existence. Their songs rally against the dying of hope and community with ferocious vocals and thunderous production. Every track off Alias is just as likely to spark a revolution as they are to incite mosh pits. You need the release this album can provide. The last year has left us all feeling a little shaken, but Alias offers a chance to purge those emotions for good. Let go.
As Time Fades – Trust Fall (self-released)
The problem in alternative music isn’t a lack of musicians. There are plenty of groups vying for clicks and followers. The issue is their approach. Too many artists today are trying to duplicate the sound or style of someone who came before without realizing that it’s the individuality that sets that group apart. As Time Fades is an exception. Though their sound is deeply rooted in traditional pop-punk values, the storytelling is theirs alone. Here we have a group of young men from the midwest capturing life in the digital age when you live somewhere that feels stuck in the last century. They’re young people caught between childhood and adulthood writing songs about figuring themselves out while also being painfully aware of the multiple looming threats that could wipe us off the planet. It’s realist pop-punk for the social media age, and it’s quite good.
Domination Campaign – Onward To Glory (Prosthetic)
There is an undercurrent of aggression running throughout Onward To Glory that may cause listeners to drive fast, act reckless, and completely stop caring about the opinions of others. Domination Campaign has crafted an album for the battles we face in life. Each song plays like a call to arms, commanding listeners to get off their butts and make something of themselves. It’s engaging and propulsive to such an extreme extent that you cannot help being impressed at the band’s ability to maintain such a high level of energy throughout the record. You won’t need coffee or Red Bull after Onward To Glory enters your life. All you need to do is figure out what you’re going to accomplish first.
The Maine – XOXO: From Love & Anxiety In Real Time (Photo Finish / 8123)
The members of The Maine are outliers in the world of alternative music. After sneaking into the late-era neon phase of pop-rock with sugary sweet songs about young love and bad decisions, The Maine blossomed into touring professionals with a knack for infectious songwriting. They outlasted virtually every one of their peers by refusing to play by the established rules of the corporate music industry. The Maine owns their branding, their songs, and their legacy. They choose their destiny, and their fans help them make it a reality. XOXO: From Love & Anxiety In Real Time is another entry in an arguably flawless catalog, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, it’s incredibly good.
Empty Heaven – Getting The Blues (self-released)
There is no other artist like San Antonio’s Empty Heaven. An amalgamation of synthesizers and punk distilled with heavy literary influence, empty Heaven crafts genre-blurring songs about life and the concept of existence. You never know where the tracks will take you, but that’s part of the fun. Empty Heaven has the unique ability to make you think while also making you want to move your feet. It’s like listening to Aristotle ponder life’s biggest questions while simultaneously serving as the DJ for a party taking place in a middle-class American basement that is known online as a popular DIY venue.
Born Of Osiris – Angel Or Alien (Sumerian Records)
There is a moment near the end of “Poster Child,” the opening track on Born of Osiris’ latest album, where the track is stripped down to reveal its jazz-friendly foundation. In those few fleeting seconds, Angel Or Alien shows its true colors. For as heavy and digitally engineered as the production may be, BOO continues following the footsteps of music legends from previous generations. Their sound may be more chaotic than their influences, but the technical skill of the group is never up for debate. There is a craftsman-level quality to every aspect of this record. Finding that kind of precision in metal today is increasingly rare, but BOO makes it look easy. Suffice to say, Getting The Blues is the sound of the underground.
New Music Friday recommendations feature a collection of new releases from Haulix clients chosen by the company staff. Join Haulix today and gain immediate access to the industry’s leading digital promotional distribution platform: http://haulix.com/signup.
