STRANGE LOT - "Rain and Fog"

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Photo by Stellina Stampouli

As the current generation of bands continues to redefine the shoegaze genre, our latest discovery is STRANGE LOT. The Austin band just released a video for "Rain and Fog," the B-side of their recent 7". This new song adds some synths and unexpected psychedelia to shoegaze, creating an intense, swirling sound. Along with the standard heavy fuzz, the synths add some pop and the psychedelic aspect of the song, plus there's some wonderfully noisy feedback at times. "Rain and Fog" also includes driving beats that almost make you want to dance. STRANGE LOT have taken the decades old genre and reworked it into a sound all their own. 

STRANGE LOT says of their latest song:

“Rain and Fog is a glimpse into the next chapter of our sound, blending shoegaze guitars with driving bass and crisp synths. We tracked most of it at my home studio, and Adrian Quesada (The Black Pumas) kindly let us record drums at his Electric Deluxe Studios. Dave Fridmann mixed it, which is a dream for me since he worked on some of my favorite records, Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker, the MGMT albums, The Flaming Lips, Spoon. He brought his own vibe and touch, and it really set the cherry on top.”

You can watch the video for "Rain and Fog" below. The song is available now on a 7" from Greenway Records, and is available here. For more on STRANGE LOT, check out the band on Instagram.

On Repeat...

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The Beths - "Mother, Pray for Me"

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Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it.   “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
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