Hey, is it Bandcamp Friday?

...there's only one way to find out. Click here, and it will either be, or not be.

In my house, any Friday can be Bandcamp Friday. But having the day is a good opportunity to talk about new music I've been listening to and records I'm planning on buying. Here's a few worth looking into if you have some bread to spend.

I definitely slept on the release last February of "Brave Faces Everyone", the newest full-length from L.A.'s Spanish Love Songs. It took this showing up in the #1 slot for Best of 2020 at Sophie's Floorboard to even hit my radar. And you may ask yourself, as I did, "Who is this band with the terrible name, to have the best record of 2020?" Well, fer Crissake, do yourself a big ol' favor and stream it, tout en suite! Then drop the $5 on a digital download, or $20 for a record via their MerchNow. I'm almost embarassed at how into this record I've been. I've seen it described as "Depression: The Record". That ain't wrong, but that's not the full story, either. It's angsty without being melodramatic. The songwriting is great; the lyrics are a reflection of what it's like to be overeducated, underemployed, and up to your neck in meds and debt. A very apt record for this day and age.

I loved Loved LOVED Slant's 2018 demo, released on cassette from the folks at Pissed Off! Records. Just an angry hardcore band from Seoul, doing what they do best. They released a really limited 7" on Iron Lung the following year that I slept on; no doubt because it would have cost me over $10 for seven minutes of music on an EP. But they're back with their first full-length, titled "1집" (imaginatively), collaborating again on the release with the best label in Seattle (don't @ me). It's 10 songs, 17 minutes, and comes in marble blue, translucent pink, or black. As the page alludes, this mixes the fury of the NEHC scene of the teens with the classic rhythms of, say, a Minor Threat. And Yeji is a brutal vocalist. Approved! I'll be taking mine in pink, please and thank you.

Those Taylor boys are back at it again. I make no secret of what love I have for their previous bands, pageninetynine and Pygmy Lush. We may not have been next door neighbors, but they were kindred spirits who I was always happy to see out in the world. They have a new band with Ryan and Adam from City of Caterpillar called TERMINAL ESCAPE. Based in Richmond, I'm pretty sure they have yet to play out. But they do have their first record coming out, a one-sided 12" called "BRUTE ERR/ATA" on Relapse that's been ripping me from neck to nuts every time I listen to it. Think of your favorite iconoclastic hardcore bands from the past 40 years: this harkens to each of them, whether it's in Cris's lyrics (a la Born Against or Dead Kennedys) or in the absolutely gross, blackened sound (Void, Gauze, Necros). Their Bandcamp has a few preorders left for the limited-to-300-copies on clear with black inside. This is the aural equivalent of this Takishi Miike movie I'm watching right now; brutal, dense, and weird.

My buddy Jumbled has a new physical release coming, inventively called "Just The Singles". He provides the beats, lyrics come via Dwell, Taylo, Nyoka Ny-D, Ill Conscious, Vans_Westly, JBerd, ALYX Ryon, Jack Wilson, Berko Lover, Cody Cody Jones, Alaska, Action Bastard, Dot Com Intelligence, Butch Dawson, salk., Ullnevano, Drew Scott, Special Berriez, Torito, Bito Sureiya and more. If you're into the boom bap, or backpack hip-hop, or just punks making non-punk music, give this one a spin. He also has a new beat tape out, "Classic Rock Breaks Vol.1", in a limited edition of 10. It's not J.Dilla, but I like it. Don't think it's not tearing me up inside that I can't remember what this cover is calling back to.

This is but a sample of what's out there. I actually like going to Bandcamp's front page on days like today, and just finding something that catches my eye. Had I previously considering copping some Flying Lotus? No, but seeing this article makes me think about it. So, you know, live a little. It's Friday, you just got paid, son.