The Baby Seals - "Tamoo Trance"

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Photo by Jeff Pitcher

Chaos was my third favorite album of 2024, so I'm thrilled that The Baby Seals are back with a new song. The Cambridgeshire punks just released "Tamoo Trance," a fun and energetic punk track. The song is "... about getting stuck in a trance-like state in an online shop," which is perfect for The Baby Seals. It's funny without being jokey, and is delightfully biting. It's filled with fuzzed out guitars and heavy bass lines, and shows just how fun the genre can be. "Tamoo Trance" is one of those songs that's both punk and pop without being pop punk. If anything, it fits into the subgenres of noise punk and garage punk, just on the far reaches of the fun side of those styles.

Frontwoman Kerry says of the band's latest single:

“... (it’s) about noticing how quickly we get entrapped online into spending money, and spending the latest form of currency, our attention, and questioning how to break away from it.  It's about how horrifying excess is. The fictitious shop, Tamoo, which looks like it should come with a gamblers aware warning sign, stocks everything you've never wanted, and it's not just your money it will cost you being there.”

You can watch the video for "Tamoo Trance" below. The single is out now on Trapped Animal Records, and the 7" can be ordered here. For more on The Baby Seals, check out the band's website.

On Repeat...

Minibeast - "High Sea"

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Somehow Peter Prescott of Mission of Burma and Volcano Suns has another band that I never knew about. Minibeast already released an album that I completely missed back in 2012, and they are currently at work on the follow up, Free Will. Based on a track from the upcoming album, "High Sea," Minibeast shares some common sonic ground with Mission of Burma, but with an added emphasis on the groovy side of things. It's basically the noise and dissonance of Burma but heard through a 60s surf groove, as if Frankie and Annette were punks. You can listen to "High Sea" below. Minibeast currently have a Kickstarter to help fund the final production of Free Will. You can get more information on that here . It should be out sometime in June.
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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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Midnight Peg - "Thirstland"

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Photo by Cecil Sykes Midnight Peg are an Edmonton, AB based band that are referred to as "madhouse punk." Their latest single, "Thirstland," is a just barely under control two minute burst of punk. You have guitar riffs that will make you think of At the Drive In, and somewhat spoken and yelled vocals which create a feeling of chaos throughout. This is a loud and angry track that is completely in your face. But, unlike most tracks this loud and punk based, "Thirstland" still keeps a sense of art in their music. Midnight Peg feel like a higher class of loud, angry punk rock. This one is great, with just enough of an emo undercurrent to make the song kind of melodic and almost palatable to a mainstream audience. You can listen to "Thirstland" below. Skinning is due out in October on Thousand Island Records. For more on Midnight Peg, check out the artist's website .
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