Moderate Rock

How fucking long has this month been!? I know it’s old news that most every January can feel a bit drawn out and depressing. Blue Monday and all that. But this one was something else. Doesn’t help that my brain thinks it must only be around May 2020 still, surely.

January is also a typically dry time for new music. Thankfully, not so this time around. There was new two-man shoegaze rock, an indie album that will make you bust out crying, and the welcome return of a punk stalwart. Not all of the songs are new- I missed the release of that excellent A Burial At Sea album in November, and it somehow took me this long to hear last year’s excellent Slow Pulp album. I hope you find something to love.

Ah, one more thing. A little bit of housekeeping. This monthly playlist has changed name from #ModerateRockRecommends to #ModerateRockMixtape. I still do “recommend” everything that makes the list, but that title started to feel a bit informal and highfalutin somehow. The playlist has always been a mixtape. Just, now the name reflects that.

• SOMERSET THROWER- ‘Too Rich to Die’
• BROKEN HEAD– ‘Rinse’
• TEENAGE WRIST- ‘Taste of Gasoline’
• A BURIAL AT SEA- ‘Breezehome’
• LAPYEAR- ‘Under My Tongue’
• JOY IN BLUE– ‘Sunflower’
• SEA TRENCH- ‘Matter’
• SLOW PULP- ‘Trade It’
• DEAFPONY- ‘I Was Talking So Loud’
• ANJIMILE- ‘Maker’
• TYPHOON- ‘Two Birds’
• WELTRAUMRAUSCHEN– ‘We Were Never Here’
• CHELSEA WOLFE, EMMA RUTH RUNDLE- ‘Anhedonia’
• PARKER LEE- ‘Drunk’
• WOMB- ‘Dust to Dust’
• JULIEN BAKER- ‘Hardline’
• AFI- ‘Twisted Tongues’
• ’68- ‘The Knife, the Knife, the Knife’
• SUFFOCATE FOR FUCK SAKE– ‘Alone’