Highlight: Twisted Ankle – ‘Cilla Black’

A whole lot of unpredictable noise and abstract nonsense, ‘Cilla Black’ is the latest track and debut video from Twisted Ankle, following their initial demo last year. As unexplainable as the music, the black and white clip just features a fan – not the sort you’d normally associate with music – and the seemingly random phrase ‘Eat A Phone’, which has been revealed as the title of their forthcoming EP.

Highlight: Black Surf – ‘Sink’

Subliminally teasing their debut EP on social media via random polaroids and an unexplained hashtag, Black Surf have now properly unveiled ‘Let’s Pretend It’s Summer’. With the announcement comes a startlingly shimmering new song; blending jangly pop with some dense and screeching noises, ‘Sink’ fuses the ridiculously catchy and horrendously dirty in just the right balance to avoid sounding claustrophobic. Listen to it below and get psyched for the EP’s release on 26th August!

Highlight: Baby Strange – ‘Want It Need It’

Ahead of the release of their debut album, Baby Strange have revealed a video for title track ‘Want It Need It’. The song is a short and manic blast, all jagged guitars and abrupt vocals, tied together by an unrelenting drumbeat. The visuals match this with abstract, flickering clips shifting from grayscale to harshly overexposed light quicker than a blink, pummelling your eyes at the same time as your ears. It definitely serves as a very intriguing taster for the record, which will be out 2nd September.

Highlight: Cassels – ‘Cool Box’

Their latest single ‘Cool Box’ takes Cassels trademark venom and directs it very specifically at one person – the brothers’ stepdad. As open letters go, this one is painfully honest; and even for those of us who have never had to experience the effects of an abusive family, it’s impossible to hear this song without feeling the fear and anger at the heart of it. Harrowing a listen as it is, there’s a beauty to the band’s refusal to mask the truth and I hope that this brings not only a release for themselves, but a sense of empowerment to anyone else in a similar position. The track is one of four on newly announced cassette EP ‘You, Us And They’, which will be out 12th August via Big Scary Monsters.

Highlight: Deadlines – ‘Fermi’

So throwing litter around your own living room might seem a bit of a strange activity, but in their new video Deadlines do just that to emphasise the point they’re making in ‘Fermi’ about the often-ignored effects of the throwaway culture inherent to consumerism. Socially aware music is in far too short supply compared to the problems our society has, and with its rasping vocals backed by tuneful indie-punk, songs like this make insight far more attainable to those open to it. What too many people don’t realise and this band assert is, punk isn’t dead, it’s just no longer about three chords and slagging off royalty. ‘Fermi’ is the lead single from forthcoming EP Sprawl, which will be out 6th July via A Jingle Four Records. They’re celebrating the release with a mini-tour that weekend, accompanied by Jaded and including a Cardiff house show on the Saturday (9th).

Highlight: Trust Fund – ‘Together’

After releasing not one but two albums last year, Trust Fund has been seemingly quiet for the past few months, though apparently busy working on the follow up to ‘No One’s Coming For Us’ and ‘Seems Unfair’. Surfacing now with a new song ‘Together’, which is an unflinching look into the awkwardness of growing up and adapting to adult relationships, delivered in his unmistakable voice that somehow always suggests optimism despite the circumstances. This song is the first taste of the next record ‘We Have Always Lived In The Harolds’, due for release 20th June and available to pre-order from bandcamp now.

Highlight: Totem Terrors – ‘Freeze Tracks’

Cardiff-based post-punk maniacs Totem Terrors are back – apparently risen from the dead following events in their recent video for ‘Witch Proof’, they’ve now announced the release of ‘Freeze Tracks’, containing that song along with four new ones. The EP will be released 10th June and can be pre-ordered now; it should be an interesting showcase of how TT’s new line up are getting on.

*UPDATE* So Totem Terrors‘ new EP is out today, and it’s their first release without Rosie. The lack of female vocal isn’t the only difference that’s obvious here though; without any moderation ‘Freeze Tracks’ is Max’s playground. From the screeching guitar opening to the sudden jumps between spoken word and full-on racket, it’s clear that everything is being pushed to extremes, not least in the often too-personal lyrics. But that’s where the beauty lies – it’s not pretty and it’s not clean; this is real, stark, confrontational and disturbing – life is uncomfortable and Totem Terrors are truly alive.