Yeggs Record

Superhuman Happiness: Beacon [CD]

Urist Josh: The Cold Equations [CD]

Dave Harrington Group: Pure Imagination... [CD]

A decade since their last record, DIY noise-rock monolith The Usaisamonster has reformed, and is dropping a new album on the End of the World. The album, Amikwag, arrives Nov. 6, 2020 via the NYC-based artist-run label, Yeggs Records. Colin Langenus and Tom Hohmann do not pick up where they left off. Amikwag carries a different sort of intelligence and heaviness, prioritizing space and vocal connection distinct from the awesome leaden bombs of prog they lobbed in years past. Langenus's post-Monster work as a sound-engineer endowed him with a utilitarian knowledge of contemporary pop music. He has a toolkit and the aptitude to use it, just as Hohmann's activist-vigilance targets those dire existential threats as they emerge in real time. The Usaisamonster seizes on a revolutionary cultural moment and a socio-sonic vision of the apocalypse.

Take one listen to Hearing Things and you'll be led straight through the grooves of a well-worn 45, back to a time of instrumental pop hits like "Walk Don't Run" by The Ventures, "Tequila" by The Champs, and "Sleep Walk" by Santo & Johnny. Dressed in searing white blazers, Hearing Things weave elements of surf rock, lounge pop, soul, and jazz. The band crafts songs that speak without words, borrowing a language that feels familiar yet unexpected-something we last heard through a speaker in the late '50s and early '60s. With the first single, "Tortuga," the band delivers a garage-au-go-beat that has been a runaway live show favorite.

Urist Josh: Cold Equations (Soundtrack) [Vinyl LP]