Best New Releases April 2024

There really isn't a super elegant way to say it: April absolutely killed it with the new releases. I mean, across the board: stoner, desert, garage, grunge, psychedelic...some traces space as well; it's all here! Needless to say, it was a busy month of keeping up with everything and blogging as time permitted. Of course, when you feel very strongly about an album, it makes the writing process infinitely smoother and more pleasant, and I would have happily written about of all the albums listed below if I could! 

That said, I hope I can do these awesome albums justice with these little blurbs, and the reviews I did manage to complete will be listed with its corresponding album below. 

Here is exactly what I submitted to the Doom Charts for April 2024, in ascending order:

1. Yeast Machine - Sleaze

Oh, Yeast Machine... My heart still hasn't recovered from this one.

I'm sure it doesn't come as a huge surprise to most that Yeast Machine's Sleaze landed firmly at #1 for me this month; it certainly wasn't a surprise to me either. What was a surprise is just how it's possible for Yeast Machine to top the sheer beauty, delightfully nostalgic 90s grunge vibes, and raw emotion of their first two EPs, but they did...Oh, did they ever. 

I could write an essay (or more) about this album, and in fact, I did just that. You can go on a crazy, deep, heart-wrenching, therapeutic deep dive of Sleaze with me here. We'll laugh, we'll cry, unlock some core memories...but most of all, we'll give this gorgeous album the time and spotlight that it deserves. But if you take away only one thing from this post, know this: Yeast Machine outdid themselves in delivering on their promise to give us something "louder, fuzzier wilder. Calm becomes tension and dissolves into sensation." 🖤

Favorite Track: Garden Wall

2. Stonerhead - Running High

Stonerhead delivers a very developed, polished, and refined version of stoner music. Not only that, but they do it while tapping into various styles, including stoner rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, doom metal, and stoner metal. Vocals and instrumentals alike deliver a powerful, emotive performance that seamlessly moves from clean and melodic to heavy and riffing to trippy and psychedelic. Running High indubitably proves that stoner music can be incredibly sophisticated with an intricate, thoughtful composition. Stonerhead is a band made up of legitimate musicians whose hard work, creativity, and meticulous attention to detail are palpable throughout this album. 

Read my full review HERE.

Favorite Track: Super Mario

A huge thank you to the band and Broken Music for sharing this amazing album with me!

   

3. Sunface - Cloud Castles 

There are so many amazing new albums being released today, but I definitely want to shine a big spotlight on Sunface's highly-anticipated new release, "Cloud Castles". 

Make no mistake, with its overall maximum chill, dream-like sound, "Cloud Castles" is the atmospheric fuzz-drenched psych rock we know and love from Sunface. However, this album takes on a more airy, diaphanous vibe than the band's previous work. I mean this, of course, in the best possible way. "Cloud Castles" is an unbelievably immersive, sensory experience. It's what the feeling of filling your lungs with crisp, fresh air or jumping carefree and headfirst into a turquoise tropical pool sounds like. These atmospheres form gossamer clouds that float languidly alongside light and breezy vocals. However, it's the almighty riff and a beautiful array of percussion from around the world that provide the tether that keeps these sonic landscapes grounded to the earth, ensuring that they never float away entirely. 

Favorite Track: Tall Trees

4. Tet - Tet

Tet is a heavy psych band from Poland whose debut self-titled EP tends to have a thicker undercurrent of dark, heavy riffage running beneath it than many other bands in the genre. Beautifully garnished with dazzling lead guitar and grounded with prominent bass and pulsing percussion, this album gives psychedelic rock fans the best of both the darkness and the light, never straying too far in either direction. 

Favorite Track: Dom w cieniu gruszy

 

5. Spacedrifter - When the Colors Fade

This four-piece genre chameleon from Sweden certainly pays homage to Homme with their debut full-length album, When the Colors Fade. However, it won't take the listener long to discover that there are a plethora of influences here, including garage, stoner metal, alternative rock, psychedelic rock, grunge, and punk. With these influences to guide them, Spacedrifter's adaptability and ability to play multiple genres shine brightly on their debut, all while providing a bit of a nostalgic 90s feel. 

Favorite Track: Through the Desert

 

6. Monolith - Horizon 

Bremen's doomy retro rock trio Monolith is finding themselves at least waist-deep in psychedelic territory with their new album, Monolith. Previously leaning more on a doom-laden retro rock sound and heavier guitars, the band is lightening things up a bit with their latest release. While keeping their signature captivating vocals, retro sound, and weighty instrumentals, this is interspersed among the lighter, kaleidoscopic vibes of psychedelia. As a relatively new psychedelic rock fan, I greatly appreciate this palpable vein of darkness in a genre that is often very light and atmospheric. 

Favorite Track: Neptune's Daughter

   

7. Eleanore - Full Throttle In All Directions

Full Throttle In All Directions reveals a more sophisticated, well-rounded sound that clearly demonstrates the band's ability to play more than garage rock. I think it's safe to say that Eleanore is putting the final touches on that "wall of sound" that they strive for, adding a massive amount of dimension on this album, honing their craft while developing new skills. This is a band with a ton of ambition and a willingness to always expand their repertoire, and that's palpable on Full Throttle In All Directions. Furthermore, they always manage to keep things very down to earth with their approachable lyrics and by incorporating elements of the music many of us grew up on. That being said, listening to Full Throttle In All Directions feels like catching up with an old friend you haven't seen in a while. There are many things that are familiar, some things that are new to you, but that fundamental core that established the friendship will always be there. 

Read my full review HERE.

Favorite Track: One For The Road

A big thank you to the band for sharing this one with me and for their continued support of the heavy underground scene as a whole!

   

8. Cactusfizz - The Ruins

In spite of the brevity of The Ruins, Cactusfizz adeptly manages to provide us with a complete thought; four full songs that progress very naturally. These songs not only leave one marveling at the musicianship present throughout the album, but they certainly inspire a bit of thoughtful contemplation as well. Happening upon The Ruins was the most pleasant surprise for me, providing a digestible but quality sampling of heavy psychedelia with a garage rock flair. I would recommend this album to any fan of psychedelic rock, but I think it makes an especially good album for fans who are just starting to get into the genre or those who don't have the attention span for those 10+ minute psych rock tracks (I'm guilty of that, myself!)

Read my full review HERE.

Favorite Track: No Life Found

9. The Cosmic Dead - Infinite Peaks

Infinite Peaks is the highly-anticipated ninth full-length album from Scotland's psychedelic space cadets The Cosmic Dead. Bringing together sonic portraits of both the barren, windswept dunes and the vast, daunting beauty of the cosmos, The Cosmic Dead has created something truly awe-inspiring. 

Favorite Track: Space Mountain - Part I: Desert Djilo

10. No Man's Valley - Chrononaut Cocktailbar/Flight of the Sloths

Chrononaut Cocktailbar contains songs that have a very retro feel; bluesy, sexy, loungey, and post-punky, with a bit of a rockabilly/alternative rock flair. It certainly has a dark feel, but in a very intriguing, and often, a very relatable way. Best of all, said darkness is delivered in a really fun manner with the incredibly infectious instrumentals and smooth, clean vocals. 

Then, of course, you have the other side of the coin: Flight of the Sloths: a fifteen minute meditative psychedelic rock jam that is both structured and improvisational in style. Accompanied by a beautiful, immersive, calming AI video, this combination is downright theraputic to watch.

   

Even though these sides of the album are polar opposites, it's quite easy to see how they fit together once you listen to everything in its entirety. If Chrononaut Cocktailbar explores darkness head on, particularly the darkness of the human experience, then Flight of the Sloths is the healing; the proverbial therapist you'll need after all of that other stuff. You can certainly see how this material was written during the pandemic; a bleak time that made the world reexamine how we treat ourselves and each other, shining a much-needed light on mental health and self-care. As silly as it may sound to legitimately recommend a song as a therapeutic tool, I feel that I can safely do just that with Flight of the Sloths, especially in the realms of mindfulness, meditation, and self-reflection. And seriously, major props to No Man's Valley for creating such a thing. 

Read my full review HERE. 

Favorite Track: Orange Juice

11. Kintsugi Empire - Shun

Kintsugi Empire is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Pieter Holkenborg from the Netherlands. The album is (delightfully) both a smooth and pleasant and jarring and thought-provoking listen. Incorporating elements of post punk, indie rock, alternative, and experimental rock, Shun lyrically serves as an expression of solace and empathy for those on the fringes of society. 

Favorite Track: Into Nothing

12. Kolonel Djafaar - Getaway 

I'm back at it again with my jazz! This month, it's jazz in a more prominent form, but still a jazz fusion nonetheless. 

Belgium's noteworthy brass ensemble, Kolonel Djajaar, is back with their second album, Getaway. Here, they combine Afrobeat, Ethio jazz (eerie undertones of traditional Ethiopian music combined with the soulful tones of its more familiar counterpart), and psychedelic rock. The Afro beat and Ethio jazz elements make this an incredibly unique jazz fusion. The jazz elements together with psychedelic rock's uncanny ability to paint sonic imagery allow the listener to easily conjure views of urban life in the not-too-distant past, with an undercurrent of apprehension. 

Favorite Track: Urban Dweller 

That was quite a month! It may take me a while to recover from this one, and to listen to all of this music. While I'm busy doing that, don't forget to show your favorite underground bands some much deserved love! Follow, share, and support them at gigs and on Bandcamp whenever possible!