Everybody’s favorite groovy hardcore group, Turnstile, is back for a new EP, the infectious 4-track banger “Move Thru Me.” This is the first (and presumably last) release on the band’s own label Pop-Wig Records, with the band signing a contract to major label Roadrunner last year.

Turnstile (featuring members of Trapped Under Ice and Angel Du$t) formed in 2010, and rose quickly through the ranks of the Baltimore hardcore/punk scene, winning over the hearts and ears of listeners through their infectious music and incredibly energetic live shows.  Two EPs and one album later, they very well may have become the most well-known and well-liked band in the game.

The band certainly opts for an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” formula on “Move Thru Me,” cranking out dance-able riffs and mosh-worthy grooves in a manner as good (or better) than they ever have before. Opener “Come Back For More” features all of the band’s trademarks: Brendan Yates’ energetic screams, Daniel Fang’s upbeat and frantic drums, as well as fast, gritty, and melodic riffs.

The EP also features a cover of “F**k Me Blind,” originally by the Revolution Summer revivalists Give. While Give’s song had energy, Turnstile’s version pumps it full of something else entirely, delivering a sunny-yet-furious vibe that is altogether unique. Besides the track “Blue by You” off of 2015’s release “Nonstop Feeling” this track features clean vocals in a slot more prominent than normally would be used by the band.

For fans of: Stage moshing, two stepping, front flips, hardcore meets nu-metal

Touché Amoré have been a staple of the Los Angeles post-hardcore/screamo scene for quite some time now. Their confessional and deeply personal lyrics, coupled with a welcoming clean guitar sound and a hard-hitting rhythm section has set them leagues apart from many of their contemporaries, and earned them a reputation as one of punk’s best modern acts.

“Stage Four,” their fourth LP and first on Epitaph, displays the group’s refined indie-rock sensibility delivered along with their more aggressive d-beats and throat-shredding vocals. It also marks Touché Amoré’s first use of clean vocals as well as screaming, and it works. Vocalist Jeremy Bolm has improved not just in terms of vocal technique, but in terms of songwriting as well, yielding some of the band’s most complex and emotional songs yet. The majority of these tracks reflect on the loss of Bolm’s grandmother, and the accompanying guilt and frustration that have since plagued him.

A fine example of this is lead single “Palm Dreams,” a song about Bolm’s yearning to discover his mother’s reasons for moving to the western United States. The song makes it apparent from the very first notes; this is the best Touché Amoré has ever sounded. The guitars swell and meander about the driving drums, as Bolm sings in a clean voice that compliments his screams as much as it does the instruments.

Although songs such as “Displacement,” (whose title is a subtle nod to the d-beat genre), are classic aggressive post-hardcore, this doesn’t mean the band has abandoned their sense of atmosphere. Throughout the album, especially on “Rapture” and “Skyscraper” (the latter of which features singer-songwriter Julien Baker), a refined and beautiful post-rock and indie influence bleeds through the angrier walls of sound, delivering what can only be described as a completely cathartic and emotional listening experience.

For Fans of: Defeater, Explosions in the Sky, older Pianos Become the Teeth, indie-screamo

Who doesn’t love concept albums about a dystopian future and bleak worldview of humankind? I know I do. This is a review of one.

Sure, London-based indie pop act Bastille doesn’t fit the typical “wannabe Dream Theater prog act” image of the band that makes sci-fi concept albums, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t deliver.

And yes, I know that most of you know Bastille as the band who provided the song “Pompeii” as the theme song of the 2015 film “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” (an excellent film by the way) but there’s more to them than that. Releasing an hour-plus, 19-song slab of music (albeit one that doesn’t sound unlike Imagine Dragons) is no easy task, especially with the fact in mind that the majority of concept albums fall prey to the trap of focusing too intensely on the story and not enough of the music. However, Bastille (for the most part) pulls it off.

Any fans that the band won with 2013’s “Bad Blood” will not be disappointed with “Wild World” in any way. It’s chock-full of the same catchy indie-pop that their audience has grown to love, and that is in no way a bad thing. Songs like “The Currents” (although heavy on the movie-sampling trope that haunts concept albums everywhere) are just as catchy and likely to stick in people’s heads as anything off of “Bad Blood.”

For Fans of: Imagine Dragons, The 1975, British Indie Pop

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Album Review: The Bible 2

The play “Hamilton” has, of late, captured the hearts of more or less everyone. It’s blend of catchy hip-hop, an almost entirely African American cast, and an interesting take on colonial America has propelled it to the status of acts such as “Cats” and “The Lion King.”

One of the cast members, Daveed Diggs, who portrays the Frenchman Lafayette in the play, has garnered special attention for his unique voice and his especially quick rapping. However, what many fans of Hamilton do not know is that Diggs isn’t limited to the stage. He also records and performs with the experimental noise-hop act clipping. While we’re on the subject of sci-fi concept albums, he just released one too!

“Splendor and Misery” picks up not at all where 2013’s “CLPPNG” (notable for never once using the word “I” throughout the length of the album) left off. Where “CLPPNG” focused on the inner city, drugs, and violence, “Splendor and Misery” is a no-holds-barred space opera.

The story follows the sole survivor of a slave uprising aboard a deep-space cargo ship and the onboard computer that falls in love with him. The whole story is delivered by Diggs atop unorthodox noise beats, taking the listener on a journey into the trance-inducing depths of space.

However, this album does sometimes fall victim to the trap mentioned earlier, in that it sometimes sacrifices musical focus for the storyline. For the most part the music is much more airy and (fittingly) spacey, however, it simply does not fit the group as well as the more driving beats found on their (sort of) self-titled album. Mostly gone are the bouncing choruses and slamming noise, instead replaced with Digg’s bars over simple ambient noise.

Although this album is certainly a unique and enjoyable listen, it simply doesn’t deliver as strongly as clipping’s previous work.

For Fans of: Death Grips, Shabazz Palaces, Merzbow, Experimental hip hop