Holy smokes! ALARM’s fan-boy meter is registering off the charts, and for good reason: hardcore quartet Converge is covering Entombed’s classic “Wolverine Blues” on a new seven-inch split with pioneering grindcore outfit Napalm Death. And it gets better, because the cover includes guests in the form of Tomas Lindberg (At the Gates, Disfear), Aaron Turner (Split Cranium, Mamiffer, ex-Isis), and members of The Hope Conspiracy and Trap Them. Calling it “epic” seems like an understatement.
Review: Hush Arbors / Arbouretum’s Aureola
Hush Arbors / Arbouretum: Aureola (Thrill Jockey, 4/24/12)
“New Scarab”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Arbouretum-New_Scarab.mp3|titles=Arbouretum: “New Scarab”]Bands that traffic in psychedelic/stoner-rock orthodoxy often follow a dogmatism that rings shallow. In one fell swoop — three songs, to be precise — Baltimore quartet Arbouretum effectively lays waste to anyone who’s ever bowed at the altar of the fuzzed-out guitar to mask (or revel in) creative bankruptcy.
Review: Loop 2.4.3’s American Dreamland
Loop 2.4.3: American Dreamland (Music Starts from Silence, 4/24/12)
“Sakura (We Must Love)”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Loop_243_Sakura_We_Must_Love.mp3|titles=Loop 2.4.3: “Sakura (We Must Love)”]The “singularity” is the predicted moment in the future when technological intelligence surpasses that of humans and renders all previous knowledge null and void. It’s an oft-discussed sci-fi notion, but not your typical album opener. But Loop 2.4.3 is not, let us state for the record, a typical band. Instead, it’s a “percussion duo” that uses a lot more than percussion: piano, strings, and electronics, as well as voices that are all soulful, raw, and classically trained.
Review: Cock and Swan’s Stash
Cock and Swan: Stash (Lost Tribe Sound)
“Sneak Close”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Cock_and_Swan_Sneak_Close.mp3|titles=Cock and Swan: “Sneak Close”]With its fourth album, Stash, Washington duo Cock and Swan makes a sharp departure from the sound of its previous records. Whereas the band was once rooted in haunting, trip-hop-ish electronic music, Stash sees it in a new direction towards a more stripped-down, acoustic aesthetic.