Post by roboticempire on Aug 26, 2014 10:32:07 GMT -5
Los Angeles / New York duo ALPACA today release their sophomore offering, a four song EP titled Post Empire.Recorded throughout 2013 and 2014, the two man electronic/rock outfit comprised of Allen Blickle and Justin Nuckols explore a slightly darker territory on their latest effort. While retaining the catchy elements ALPACA established on their debut album Demimonde, there's increased melancholy compared to the breakout debut last year. The proggy sensibilities are more apparent in the less-conventional song structures, and a haunting dissonance balances this new material's impressive impact.
Blickle's bombastic and technical drumming style that he grew throughout his tenure with rock group BARONESS shines bright on the harder groove tracks, while Nuckols' at times ethereal guitar style and vocal performances resonate further maturity on the duo's new work.
Comments Blickle on the release, "Post Empire in essence portrays a present picture of our personalities musically and contextually. Exploring new territory for every record we work on is what excites us to move forward in our musical relationship."
The Post Empire EP is now available digitally worldwide via iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp and others.
On the opposite end of the format spectrum, THOU's monster 12" EP, The Sacrifice, from earlier this year has just been re-pressed. Quickly blowing out when it landed late spring, this tidy beast returns to wax in all its tip-on jacket / 180-gram vinyl glory! Comprised of five burly tracks recorded during the Heathen album sessions, the 25 minutes of The Sacrifice offers some of the band's most condensed work to date, eschewing the crawl found on most of their long-players and upping the tempo a bit while retaining their revered doom and roar.
Several new bludgeoners ("New Orleans Is a Hole," "Pill," and "Eulogy") are joined with the masterful drone of "I Believe Because It Is Impossible" and, per usual, a ferocious NIRVANA cover, this time putting "I Hate Myself and I Want to Die" through their apocalyptic grinder. Accompanying the 45 RPM heavyweight clear vinyl 12" is a high quality digital download included, where THOU once again presents the thunder with quality and class.
* Grab THOU vinyl, cassettes and t-shirts at the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* Get THOU's most recent digital releases (The Sacrifice, Heathen, the Algiers collection and others) at Robotic Empire's Bandcamp
Further color wax is also available for TILTS latest offering, Cuatro Hombres, along with the re-press of their Self-Titled debut album - both now available on vinyl.
Each of these longplaying rock and roll bangers feature cover imagery by Tom Huck, the renowned 'Evil Print' woodcut artist also responsible for THE ROOTS Phrenology cover. Including a high quality digital download as well, TILTS catalog is responsibly available once again.
* Find TILTS vinyl (including a limited hand-numbered TEST PRESS edition of Cuatro Hombres) in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
Beyond that, we've been chugging through the recent t-shirts stocked from MAN IS THE BASTARD / NOISE and the GRATEFUL DEAD X MISFITS limited design we scored stock of. Although famous rappers are snatching them up pronto, some sizes of each are still available in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
Big ups & Jah Bless!