NO FIDELITY IS...
CJ Alexander (squared), Sam Miller, Calla
James Ruff, Em Whiteaker (squared), Mary Kathryn Wert, Bre Moore, Xaden Gullickson,
Eliza Blue Farley, Mahdia Tully Carr, Stewie Goon (cubed), Rachel Bond, Emma Morrison, Jimmy Carlson, Perry Hefferson-Harkless, Adiana Contreras, Dario Rissolo, Lily Akre, Nicky Pierce-Ralph, and Josephine Luevano (cover).
hello my beautiful sweet readers!!! welcome to the very first edition of nofi produced by the (very tired) hands of your very own percy vermut. first off, i want to thank again everyone who contributed to this magazine that you hold in your hands. nofi is nothing without the love and passion that you all pour into your submissions, and i am forever indebted to everyone who made this happen. this is a landmark issue (at least in the context of the past 5 years) with a WHOPPING 22 PIECES!!!! i am so unbelievably honored and humbled to be able to say that. this issue is my very first foray into anything editing or layout related, and to say that it has been a long process is an understatement. even just with this issue, the nofi community has grown so much and i cannot wait to see what lies in its future. thank you thank you thank you, from the bottom of my heart. i also want to thank rachel bond for being the absolute best unofficial assistant editor of all time. i genuinely could not do this without you. well, that’s enough from me. please take the time to read through every one of these incredible pieces, i promise it’s worth it.
with all of the love in my heart, percy.
Have I Told You About Ezra Bell Yet???
by Clara James Ruff
Allow me to introduce you to the only artist I know who can make a song that is both melancholic and jaunty. Sneaking onto the music scene in 2013 with EP Don’t All Look Up at Once, Ezra Bell has had a spiritual and haunting career. Releasing five studio albums and plenty of EPs over an 11-year period, the raw and surprising vocals of singer, songwriter, lyricist, and bandleader Ben Wuamett stab you mercilessly over and over until you realize you’ve been lying on the floor for four hours. The only relief comes from the rest of the band, sporting horns, violins, mandolins, and even the occasional banjo. (I cannot stress enough how much I love mandolins. It is a damn shame they’re so rarely used—the indie folk scene is seriously missing out. The twing-twang speed, the way they so perfectly complement Wuamett’s unexpected—yet so necessary—voice, how they can so drastically change the speed of the tune… Obsessed.)
My first Ezra Bell experience came half a forever ago with “Junk Food Chimney,” a song whose first line is “I could be happy if I died today.” So, really, it shouldn’t have shocked me when, as I did a smidge of research for this piece late one night in a Chicago Greyhound station, I quickly discovered that Wuamett passed away a mere six months ago, in October 2024. Given the way he’s been writing for the past decade, foreshadowing his death (like his life was a novel that’s up for a Pulitzer) with endless lyrics about drinking and dying—“come about on some strange couch / just wishing that I were dead” (“Heaven is a Chandelier”), “death with wild hair he came barging up the street” (“Eva”), “death near has its boots on / Little it knows, we can’t be killed” (“Ode to Victoria”)—it should’ve been no surprise.
But as I sat there, growing delirious with the hour and exhaustion and surrounded by people I did not trust, I noticed a sadness settle over my shoulders, a reflection on a tragically short life defined not by struggles with addiction and prison but by music that has made so many souls feel seen for the first time in a life. Poking observantly around the internet, one can find personal accounts all over the place documenting the way the music of Ezra Bell has pulled them back from the brink. The point of poetry can be said to be in pursuit of the sublime; Wuamett has never missed. His lyrics are tattooed on a small but desperately loyal fanbase, people who saw the band perform once eight years ago in a bar somewhere that no longer matters, people who don’t have a home but for the music, people wishing to float so vulnerably on their backs on the ocean until the signature horns played by Aaron Mattison, like Hermes, walk them gently into the next life, the forgiving psychopomp we can only dream of.
Most of their albums are short, 7-9 songs running at about half an hour. They tell stories under the steady swell of the grounding piano like their music is a production of A Streetcar Named Desire, but instead of an insane asylum greeting you at the close, it’s the album calmly pulling away from your hug while you cling on. Each song is a narrative; each album a novel. I’ve been to Andrew’s wedding; I’ve been to Andrew’s funeral.
Let me tell you exactly where to start and why. First: “Junk Food Chimney.” It was my first, so it must be yours as well. Raw and divine and deliciously short, the kind of song that doesn’t need a second more to reach perfection. “Tourists.” The closest Ezra Bell ever gets to catchy. Starts the way it ends, big up-and-down that alternates with a more stripped hand percussion type beat to balance out and keep things light. The kind of song I don’t realize I’m singing along to until halfway through. “Ode to Victoria.” Immediately catches your attention and draws you in. You are sat. You want to know every lyric and scream them. Wuamett lets you be next to him, alternatively talking to you and in terms of “us,” “we,” “we can’t be killed.” Togetherness. “Heaven is a Chandelier.” Tragic from the first note, ironic, overflowing with emotion and story. “Eva.” It’s just the two of us all the way through, no one quite gets it except the other, the shit we’ve been through can never break us because we have each other. “Elizabeth Cole.” Jazz, late night. “They Think We’re Stupid.” I could play this game forever.
1. Choose a quote!
What Kpop Group Are You?
by mary-kathryn wert and bre moore
by mary-kathryn west and bre moore
“Too much is as bad as too little.” A “I like girls… generation.” B “Shy, shy, shy.” C
“The possibility of those possibilities being possible is another possibility that could possibly happen.”
“This moment, this unwavering first step, will mark the beginning of something great.”
2. What would you be best known for? Your Looks A Your Vocals B Your Dancing C Your Personality D
3. Which color is best suited to your personality?
4. What concept fits you the best? Boy/Girl Crush A Anything B Cute C
5. How would you describe your personality?
If you answered with BTS/Blackpink the most, congratulations! You might be a little basic but in a way everyone loves. You have an iconic energy that others can recognize and a cool vibe to offer the world.
If you answered with Seventeen the most, congratulations! You have an infectious energy that fills everyone around you with laughter and cheer. You might have lots of friends or a couple of very close ones you hang out with all the time.
6. What would be your most viral moment as an idol?
Lazy Dancing Scandal A
Plan a Roo!op Fight D
Repeating the same encore song B
Performing in North Korea E
7. What is your favorite genre? Hip-Hop A Noise Music B
8. What is your favorite season? Spring A
9. A friend invites you out for coffee, what do you order?
Eating Ice on Stage C
Release a Flop F
Americano A Latte B Frappucino C Espresso D Tea E
10. What do you prefer to do?
Bringing show/movies
Hanging out with Friends E
If you answered with NCT the most, congratulations! You are chaos personified. The vibe you bring to the function is incredibly unique and you like things that few people are into. This makes you a trendsetter and the first to many many things.
If you answered with Itzy/Nmixx the most, congratulations! You are a bundle of joy with a large variety of different interests. You dabble in many things and stick to few, but it makes you a well-rounded and interesting person.
If you answered with Twice the most, congratulations! You are an absolute sweetie cutie pie. You have good friends and are a caring person with so much love to share with the world. However, you can be a little unpredictable at times.
If you answered with Red Velvet the most, congratulations! You are an extremely cool person with a chill personality that makes people envious. People might o!en wonder what is going on inside of your head. You can be goofy sometimes despite your stoic appearance.
Nmixx,
Red Velvet,
Twice, F - Red Velvet
Is Your Smile a Rifle?
by Xaden Gullickson
I can say with certainty that everyone has had the misfortune of listening to the California based rock band, The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Whether it’s someone playing “Can’t Stop” or “Under the Bridge” in a public setting or a radio station broadcasting “Otherside,” no one wants to say it, but everyone thinks the same thing: “Somebody PLEASE turn this off.” After an experience such as that, many have likely wondered what would happen if you took out the unbearable and honestly irritating voice of Anthony Kiedis, the funky and complex basslines of Flea, the passionate drumming of Chad Smith, and left only the absolute genius of John Frusciante with a TASCAM Portastudio 424 and maybe just a little bit of heroin. The answer is that you get the masterpiece Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt. Yes, “Running Away Into You” and “As Can Be” are beautiful tracks that add to the artistry of this album, but one track in specific, a diamond among slightly less valuable gems, turns this album into more than that which we can comprehend. This track, of course, is “My Smile is a Rifle.” After a first listen, some may cry, others may laugh, but none can deny that this song is something special. It starts with an incredible opening riff with a guitar that is just a bit out of tune, a decision that is absolutely intentional by the music genius Johnny Fru. At the end of the first verse, Frusciante hits what can only be described as the “Fruscetto.” Hearing these notes, one might even say screeches, is the closest you will get to feeling the true emotions of another person. Then comes the first guitar solo, where J. Fru Fru shows off his guitar mastery while continuing to bless us with his heavenly fruscetto. The final verse arrives, and Frusciante hits us hard with the line
His happiness comes at the expense of others, and in particular, the rest of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. During a performance on Saturday Night Live, The Fru seemingly sabotaged the rest of the band by playing out of tune and inserting random guitar solos. This was either due to his conflicting feelings on the fame he was receiving or because he simply wanted them to cut the mic on Anthony Kiedis. The latter is why I find this song so relatable. It sets in front of the listener the question of whether or not the happiness that comes from not hearing the voice of Anthony Keidis is worth pointing a rifle at him. It is really something to think about.
What I ask of you now, reader, is to listen to this song and consider how it makes you feel. Do you cry or do you ask yourself “Is this real? Why is he singing like that?” Do you smile or do you turn it off because maybe the Red Hot Chili Peppers are simply just not good, whether it’s the whole group or one member by himself? Think about it.
A Selection of Songs in My Playlists with Memorable Provenances
1. “Landline” - binki
by Eliza Blue Farley
2. “Go a Tell You” - Samantha Mumba
a. This song was highly recommended by an artist on Instagram who I loved deeply. They were funny. Talented. I even purchased a print from their online store. Unfortunately, I believe they su ered some kind of psychotic break or otherwise had a crisis of conscience, because without warning, they completely wiped their online presence soon after I purchased my item, taking with them all of their beautiful art that I hadn’t bothered to save. At least they refunded me. Sometimes I wonder where they are now; I wonder if they’re even alive. So much can happen in so li le time. Anyway, the song is really good.
a. I was in the lobby of a hotel in Dublin when I heard this song for the first time. The singer is, perhaps obviously, Irish, but for some reason, because she didn’t sound like the singer from “Tell Me Ma” by Sham Rock (listen to that btw), I just couldn’t reconcile that fact with my preconceived notions. Irish people should never be allowed to trick us into thinking they’re normal.
3. “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” - Kate Bush
a. I have never watched Stranger Things. I do not intend to watch Stranger Things. I have a moral opposition to watching Stranger Things, which is likely preventing me from enjoying a critically-acclaimed and widely-beloved piece of media. It doesn’t ma er. I need it to be known that “Running Up That Hill” was not my top song of 2022 because of TikTok. It wasn’t!!! I found the song WEEKS before it got popular!! I’m avant-garde! I’m niche! I’m special!
4. “The Killing Moon” - Echo & the Bunnymen
a. When my father was a junior in college, he went abroad for a year to Edinburgh. His roommate at school was a Luxembourgish guy named Sebastian Hoogewerf. This guy was super rich, but despite his means, one of his favorite activities was to go to the charity shops and buy records for dirt cheap. He would return to the room he shared with my father and ask, “How much would you expect to pay for this?” He was a particular fan of Echo & the Bunnymen, and would often play his charity shop record of theirs (featuring “The Killing Moon”). I have never met this man, but I hope that somehow, in some way, he knows how important this story is to me.
5. “Bad Man (Smooth Criminal)” - Polo G
a. I was in the backseat of my friend’s car. We were driving about 2 minutes down the road to go to the gas station. I had never been in a car that so flagrantly disregarded the speed limit before or since. Polo G was my Charon through that valley of the shadow of death. “Annie, are you OK?” he asks, in a clever reference to that classic MJ song. No, Polo G. Annie is not OK. Annie is rather afraid.
6. “中庭の少女たち” (Nakaniwa no Shoujotachi / Girls in the Courtyard) - SHISHAMO
a. The year was 2021. I was in the 9th grade and trying to get into idol gacha games (do not recommend). I saw an edit for a BanG Dream! Girls Band Party character set to this song. I cried excessively. Let not this origin story turn you away from SHISHAMO’s discography, however. Their songs are still great even if you are not 15 and pitiful.
Is This Your New Favorite Album???
by Mahdia Tully Carr
Are you Indie? Are you Sleaze? Do you like concise and well-created bodies of work to listen to on repeat? Well, then, look no farther than Closebye’s Hammer of My Own! It’s the album for you, with nine beautiful songs that pull gently at the deep parts of the soul. Closebye lets you rock out and break down with their steady beats and bruising lyrics—so if that’s your vibe, this is your band! Take a listen and feel the music.
some songs about the feeling of incomprehensible joy accompanied by the incredible fear that it could all go away at any minute and the resulting dizziness from this juxtaposition, but the energy varies wildly.
first time-----------------------------------------------------------------------lucy dacus all i’ve ever know-----------------------------------madison cunningham demi moore---------------------------------------------------------phoebe bridgers
365-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------charli xcx cannock chase---------------------------------------------------------------labi siffre by emma
morrison
by stewie goon
two new pieces of my heart by em whiteaker
Big Blood - First Aid Kit
i think Big Blood is so fucking cool. freaky in a loving way. defined production that feels cavernous. tickle tickles my brain so gently. originally the project of partners Colleen Kinsella and Caleb Mulkerin, this album is special because they wrote these songs with their daughter Quinnisa. the band essentially has always been a family endeavor, and Quinnisa contributed to the band’s music even before she was specifically featured on First Aid Kit. there is a quaint intimacy outside of the lyrical content, mostly coming from the home-completed production, that provokes a diy burst in me when i listen. this album just makes you want to write music. all the vocal performances are fantastic; the bass bites at you from your headphones; and the production entrances you as if you were “reaching infinitely through space.” listen, get inspired, and write something in under the time it takes for your laundry to get done.
“I’m lost in the stars above I’m only flesh and blood I’m lost in the stars above I’m only flesh and blood”
- from “Flesh and Blood”
specific track standouts:
“Diamond Jubilee,”
“Glitz,”
“ All I Want Is You,”
“Dallas,”
“ Always Dreaming,”
“Flesh and Blood,”
“Kingdom Come,”
“I Have My Doubts,”
“Realistik Heaven,”
“Dracula,”
“Deepest Blue,”
“Golden Microphone,”
“If You Hear Me Crying,”
“Don’t T ell Me I’m Wrong,”
“Crime of Passion,”
“24/7 Heaven”
“Don‘t tell me it’s the end I only want to see your face again”
- from “Kingdom Come”
specific track standouts:
“1000 Times,”
“In My Head,”
“Infinite Space,”
“Never Ending Nightmare”
“When I wake up, I feel something new
But it’s nothing compared to when I see you
And I know that I really love you
I think about you at least a thousand times today
I can‘t get you off my mind
What’s wrong, what’s wrong, what’s wrong with me?”
- from “1000 Times”
Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee noise obliterates and clarifies. buried in clouds of distortion, Matt Flegel’s voice, previously of the band Women on guitar and lead vocals, is refracted and coated in a sugary layer of reverb. Cindy Lee combines elements of hypnagogic pop, psychedelia present and past, lo-fi indie, and searing guitar wizardry for a listening experience that leaves you wanting to dance, cry, and hold someone close. i can’t recommend a full sit down with this double album enough, preferably with a great speaker and some comfy floor seating arrangements. Diamond Jubilee provides an even more 60s pop-centric outing than the project’s previous albums which had a greater variety in terms of samples and synthesizer presence. i love Cindy Lee’s other albums, but i cannot get over how defined the sonic landscape of this album is despite the constant genre differentiation built into Flegel’s songwriting and guitar prowess. Cindy Lee’s textural mastery is a must study for songwriters and feels otherworldly regardless of your musical background. when i listen to this album, i remember the world is open and that static is beauty.
i truly cannot say anything about the beauty of the songs on the album aside from saying to listen to them, so please listen on bandcamp and experience one of the best albums of the past decade.
Insert melodramatic title here: top metal albums of 2025 so far
Wow. Itʼs finally here. After 3.3 star-studded years of musical opinion-sharing, my time as NoFiʼs weird metal guy is coming to a close. Itʼs been an amazing run. Iʼve raved about the discographies of weird bands, done rankings of every song by weird bands, shared multiple albums at once from several weird bands, analyzed what your favorite weird band says about you, did some individual album reviews, and even ranted about crowds at shows of weird bands. I tear up just thinking about it. A year ago I shared my favorite albums from weird death metal bands of 2024 up until that point. It was super fulfilling, and for my last NoFi contribution, Iʼve decided to run it back with my top 10 metal albums of 2025 so far. Itʼs been challenging to prepare for this article. Iʼve heard over 120 metal albums from this year, and shaving it down to just 10 took some uncomfortable decisions. 2025 is a seriously strong year for metal so far, and itʼs only uphill from here. Out of necessity for my conscience, honorable mentions (with genre descriptors) go to:
Conan - Violence Dimension (sludge)
Neptunian Maximalism - Le Sacre du Soleil Invaincu (drone + indian classical music)
Dan Meyer - Kneeling (shoegaze + atmospheric black (not blackgaze))
Havukruunu - Tavastland (folk)
Phrenelith - Ashen Womb (death)
***Iʼm also only considering albums from May 9th or earlier, and they canʼt have only one or two metal songs in an otherwise non-metal album (but shoutouts to Spellling and Brian Ennals & Infinity Knives anyway). And with that out of the way, hereʼs the list!***
10. Trauma Bond - Summer Ends.
Some Are Long Gone*
The first to crack my current top ten is a noisy, crushing stab of industrial grindcore from London duo Trauma Bond. Itʼs the third in an ongoing quadrilogy of season-based albums from them, and my first time trying them out. If Iʼm being honest, I havenʼt stewed on this one enough to reveal every nuance of its music and lyrics, but the few listens Iʼve given have proven that itʼs more than the sum of its genres. It has all the basic elements you need. Pummeling punky drums, hellish roars and riffs like a hail of fists in the grindcore bits. In the industrial bits, the riffs somehow get even heavier, and the atmosphere is just titanic. “Regards” has the best combination of both, just an absolute nuclear bomb. The breaks from the heaviness are carefully crafted bits of noise too, and it all comes together in a sick and tortured full package that I will certainly be revisiting throughout this year.
I have so much respect for Thét Älëf, aka Damian Ojéda, and their work as Trhä (pronounced “tra” but with one of those noisy German rs). The last time Ojéda was featured in NoFi, it was for their solo blackgaze project Sadness. Trhä is another solo project of theirs which eschews the “gaze” and features even rawer production, more unusual song structures, and extensive synth work. Trhä already has three albums out this year, and it is the first one, ∫umʼad∂ejja ∫ervaj (this is where my pronunciation guides end) that Iʼve picked out as my favorite. Itʼs carefully balanced between raw, noisy, remolo-picked cacophonies and meditative, ethereal soundscapes. All of the sounds throughout this record are suffused with intense passion and longing, as all emotional black metal should be, which complements Trhäʼs lyrical themes. Though they are entirely written in four languages that Ojéda have constructed themselves, they have said that the lyrics and song/album titles of all Trhä releases relate to endlhëtonëg, an imagined world of faeries and magic whose influences are responsible for the magic in our own lives (the band name means “key,” your access point to this secret world). With that in mind, Trhäʼs music goes from an esoteric blend of raw black metal and dungeon synth to an enchanting step into the magic thatʼs always around us, but not always seen.
8. Cave Sermon - Fragile Wings
Cave Sermon, the solo project of Melbourneʼs Charlie Park, released one of my favorite albums of last year with Divine Laughter, an astoundingly grandiose mixture of death, black, sludge, and post metal with ambient electronics. Fragile Wings isnʼt quite the tour de force of its predecessor, but takes the Cave Sermon sound in interesting new directions. Where songs on Divine Laughter would introduce a main riff or two, diverge with some electronics, and then bring it all together in a great, unfolding climax, the songs here ebb and flow a bit more loosely. The heavy sections focus more on the billowing leads above than the crushing thuds below, and the clean sections are sweet, mostly consisting of gentle guitars rather than synths. The great strength of Fragile Wings is, unsurprisingly, its songwriting which blends each beautiful moment together in unexpected ways. Reading into the lyrics reveals poetry that requires more contemplation than Iʼm able to give it, but which certainly deals with generational trauma and difficulties in emotional communication. This album is just a treat.
7. Sumac & Moor Mother - The Film
This is an unlikely collaboration between two challenging artists, both of whom are coming off strong releases from last year. Sumac, a sludge metal supergroup who incorporate free improvisation into their crushing musical landscapes, dropped my favorite album of 2024 in The Healer. Moor Mother, aka Camae Ayewa, is an experimental hip-hop artist whose latest release The Great Bailout takes the listener through dark, intimate soundscapes to investigate Englandʼs history of slavery. Both artists work outside of traditional meter and song structures, and their collaboration is an exciting prospect. Much of this album is as good as you could dream it to be: the longest tracks, “Scene 2” and “Scene 5” (they really lean into the film idea) leave plenty of time for monumental buildups and harrowing orations, and “The Camera” impressively fuses noise and some creepy, robotic spoken word with the heaviness. There are times when Moor Mother and Sumac seem out of their element though, like neither is able to take full creative rein and so both must hold themselves back a smidge. The effects are most visible with Moor Motherʼs flow and lyricism - I wouldnʼt consider myself a hip-hop expert but lines like “America pissed and shit itself no diaper” and “whip and nae nae ourselves away from all our dreams” seem suboptimal, and the repetition insists upon itself at times. There is no denying the cinematic ambitions of this album though, which pay off more often than not and create some unforgettable moments.
6. Messa - The Spin
Iʼve been enamored with Messa since I heard their 2022 smash hit Close. It offered a subtler, moodier approach to doom metal than the singular focus on heaviness the genre often attracts, and left plenty of room for the entrancing croons of singer Sara Bianchin. And it was groovy as hell. The Spin offers a lot of the same subtlety, but brings the music in more of a goth rock direction. Messa wouldnʼt be the first doom band to take on such a sound, but they do it here in a way that feels very much their own.With the shift in sound comes more fast-paced, straightforward songwriting and an even greater focus on hooks and choruses. Thankfully Bianchinʼs voice makes these moments shine, and the band behind them still knows how to spice things up with a ripping guitar solo or, better yet, a slow moody clean break. Moody indeed remains the M.O. for Messa, though there are some seriously chunky moments here, especially the Iron Man-esque, blastbeat-backed riff on “Reveal.” There are times when the album seems to lose its focus and leave a bit too much space for instrumental wanderings, but those are the exception. The Spin remains my favorite doom release of the year so far, and a great addition to the Messa catalogue.
5. LANDMVRKS - The Darkest Place Iʼve Ever Been
I sometimes have trouble with melodic metalcore. In the majority of cases, I find its tropes can boil metal down to something predictable, self-serious and a little lifeless. Sometimes though, a band pours enough energy and twists into their sound to make it tasteful and exciting for me, and Marseilleʼs LANDMVRKS have pulled that off on their latest album. Though the opener is an embarrassing attempt to fuse metalcore and hip hop, the rest of the songs sell the combination very well. Lead vocalist Florent Salfati screams and sings in English (where the French accent slips out at only the right times) and raps in his native tongue, both to great effect. The rapping infuses the music with complex sentimentality you just donʼt get with typical metalcore vocals, and it makes the latter hit all the harder. The band behind him meanwhile fires on all cylinders with fantastic riffs and breakdowns, open melodic breaks, and just enough originality to leave you wondering whatʼs next. “Creature” and “Sulfur” especially have me pumping my fist, and “Blood Red” brings the strongest emotion to the heaviness.
4. Uulliata Digir - Uulliata Digir
Coming in at number four is a truly out there debut from Poznanʼs own Uulliata Digir. Thereʼs an extraordinary lack of information about this band out there, and I couldnʼt even figure out what language theyʼre writing in (no available lyrics, and google translate failed to interpret the song titles). With only the music to speak for it, I can tell you that this album throws together a lot of different sounds and emerges with a strikingly powerful result. The haunting, reverb-soaked growls, slow-burning atmosphere and creepy dissonance remind me a lot of Oranssi Pazuzu, but the heavy use of trumpet and the crashing chaos that comes out at sudden times shows the band isnʼt willing to stop with that reference point. The structure alone shows this albumʼs ambition: itʼs bookended by two 15+ minute tracks, with two interludes and a seven-minute song in the middle. The two big ones kinda go all over the place but also kinda flow brilliantly, with lots of masterful tension-release play and great riffs. Thereʼs no moment on this album that doesnʼt go hard, even though the way itʼs put together can make one lose patience. The seven-minute track, “Omni Dirga,” is the true masterpiece here as it fits all the ambitions of the two 15 minute songs into a more condensed runtime.
3. Zeicrydeus - La Grande
For a metal album to be in consideration for my favorite of the year, it usually has to push the boundaries of the genre somehow, but sometimes a band has such mastery over classic metal that they rise to the top out of sheer heavy brilliance. This first offering from Zeicrydeus does both. This is a new solo project from Foudre Noire, aka Phil Tougas, the multi-instrumentalist Québécois virtuoso behind First Fragment, Chtheʼilist, and Worm. Here, he brings together U.S. power metal à la Running Wild and black metal, specifically the raw, speedy Hellenic kind. Itʼs a fantastical journey full of epic riffs and blasphemous fury, dripping with sinister, barbaric atmosphere. Foudre Noireʼs technical chops shine without going too far, and a preference for bass solos makes the album sing. Taking a look at the lyrics behind the snarling growls, we find the epitome of satanism as a metaphor for anti-fascism, told through epic tales of fantasy violence. Everything here makes my nerdy heart squeal. Tracks one, two and three are essentially flawless to me, the fourth is nearly as good, and the fifth is a bit looser and less memorable. Then thereʼs an interlude, and a killer cover of “The Era of Satan Rising” by Thou Art Lord. Overall, this is by far my favorite homage to classic metal to come out this year, and it leaves me frothing for more from Zeicrydeus.
2. Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
Deafheaven are a controversial band in black metal circles. The popularity and strong shoegaze influence of their 2013 breakout Sunbather brought new life and recognition to the genre, but also drew glares from its purists. 2015ʼs New Bermuda leaned more into the melancholic metal side of their sound, but then subsequent albums switched directions and went full shoegaze. In Lonely People With Power, they make their long-awaited return to blistering heaviness, and it hits with titanic emotional weight. The atmosphere and tension-building is absolutely top-notch here (even the interludes are entrancing), and many of the releases are simply euphoric. The awe-inspiring combination of “Incidental III” and “Winona” is alone enough to make this album great, and tracks like “Doberman” and “Body Behavior” arenʼt far behind. For me, Deafheaven artistically self-actualize when their songs have dynamic contrast and space to flourish, but when they go full blast for an extended period, it can wear itself out a bit. George Clarkeʼs vocals are a microcosm of this, where the lyrics are always poetic, but the screams have such an inhuman inflection to them that they can muddle the beauty of the words they utter. The criticisms just about end there though. This album was straight up number one on the RateYourMusic albums of 2025 chart for a while, and itʼs not hard to see why.
1. Imperial Triumphant - Goldstar
And to round it all out, a great, gilded pentagram for Imperial Triumphant and their sixth fulllength, Goldstar. These New Yorkers rose to the top of freaky, jazzy avant-metal circles in the 2010s for their odes to the greed and grime of the big apple. This was my first time trying them out, and boy did they deliver. This album sees them continue their trademark reality-warping insanity, but they inoculate it with hooks and accessible songwriting which make it hit even harder (see the transition between “Lexington Delirium” and “Hotel Sphinx” for proof). The musicianship here is simply top-notch as well, both in terms of theoretical knowledge and technical ability, and it allows them to pull off next-level sonic fuckery, which peaks in “Rot Moderne” (you can hear Steve Blancoʼs bass inhale a cigarette near the end). One last edge that put this over Deafheaven for me is the personality and intelligibility of Zach Ezrinʼs extreme vocals. Thereʼs a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to the vampiric inflection he puts on his raspy growls, and the anti-capitalist irony comes through clear when itʼs meant to. If I have any criticism for Goldstar, itʼs that its weirdness sometimes feels more like a musical exercise than the most satisfying choice, but itʼs all enjoyable and certain songs have no such issue. Many have said that this could be the best Imperial Triumphant album yet, and I have a hard time seeing anything else in this style topping it.
Hello there dearest NoFi reader. Welcome to my first, and certainly not last, submission to this wonderful publication. Here are five albums coming out this summer that I am extremely excited for. I’ve included the artist, album name, release date, and my favorite song released so far from each. If you want a TLDR (although this article is quite short so you may as well just read the whole thing) here is a list of each standout song: “Stay Young,” Green Day
“NEVER ENOUGH,” Turnstile
“Hello Heaven, Hello,” YUNGBLUD
“Fall Apart,” As December Falls
“Bloom Baby Bloom,” Wolf Alice Anyways, onwards to the full list!!!
Artist: Green Day
Album: Saviors (édition de luxe)
Release Date: May 23
Standout Song: Stay Young
Let’s start this list off with an album that’s already out.
One of the best albums of the last year by one of the best bands of the past thirty years, listen and find out if they possibly could have made it better with this deluxe version.
I’ll spare you my full opinion on this version of the album but let’s just say there’s a reason they put these songs on the deluxe version over the main version. However, there are some great moments here. Stay Young is an emotional hit that almost holds its own against the main album’s bangers. The acoustic versions of Susie Chapstick and Father to a Son are beautifully emotional songs that lend themselves wonderfully to this format. I would be remiss if I did not strongly suggest that you listen to “Bobby Sox” from the original album. It’s one of my favorite Green Day songs and solidifies Billie Joe Armstrong’s rightful place amongst the greatest bicons of the 20th and 21st centu-
What more could you possibly want from an album? Hard rock, disco, and soothing ocean soundscapes: the upcoming release from the genre-bending hardcore band has it all, and they’ve only released four out of fourteen songs. The title track sets this album up to be one of the most emotional and introspective releases by the band so far. Don’t worry though, they haven’t lost their edge—the last ten seconds of the song sets up a hard rock beat for the following track and the singles “BIRDS” and “LOOK OUT FOR ME” pack plenty of punch. Accompanied by a 55 minute visual album premiering at Tribeca Film Festival, this record is perfectly lined up to be the soundtrack to the summer. Also, can we talk about how beautifully simple the album cover is? I mean, it’s just perfect. Some people (mostly my brother) are worried this album might be a little too similar to 2021’s GLOW ON (which is also an amazing album you should check it out), but I have faith that it will hold its own among their expansive discography.
Artist: Turnstile
Album: NEVER ENOUGH
Release Date: June 6
Standout Song: NEVER ENOUGH
Artist: YUNGBLUD
Album: Idols
Release Date: June 20
Standout Song: Hello Heaven, Hello
P.S. Rumor has it that if you buy his vinyl he’s poured his own real blood into the casing (#limitedtimeoffer, #thisisnotanad).
Words cannot describe how excited I am for this album. YUNGBLUD somehow always finds a way to write songs that speak directly to your soul and this album is no different. Before releasing any information about this record, he deleted all his instagram posts—a sign that big things were to come. He said that this album “is an adventure that’s sonically more ambitious than I have ever been before, a journey that’s meant to be listened to in its entirety that doesn’t for a moment hold back or let its imagination be filtered.” The first single, Hello Heaven, Hello, reads as an attempt to join the legacy of such iconic rock operatic songs like Bohemian Rhapsody and Jesus of Suburbia. YUNGBLUD addresses the listener directly multiple times in the song, inviting them into the world of the album. Will his album succeed in becoming a rock opera that rivals American Idiot? Only time will tell, but I choose to believe. Stay tuned because the next single, “Zombie” drops on May 30th to tide you over until the full album releases.
Artist:
As December Falls
Album: Everything’s On Fire But I’m Fine
Release Date: August 8
Standout Song: Fall Apart
Artist: Wolf Alice
Album: The Clearing Release Date: August 29
Standout Song: Bloom Baby Bloom
As December Falls was the first pop punk band I ever seriously listened to and made me fall in love with the genre and its sonic relatives. I would not be the same drummer, let alone person I am today if it weren‘t for this band. They’ve come a long way in terms of production quality and what’s been released from this album so far is a testament to that. The breakbeat-heavy single Fall Apart perfectly captures the rambunctious energy of the band and includes a very on-brand face-melting guitar solo. I’d like to think I’ve grown with them musically and I can’t wait to continue enjoying their music with this upcoming album. I owe a lot to this band and I’ll always be a gratefully indebted fan.
I. Love. Wolf Alice. They make the perfect mix of mosh-worthy heavy songs, beautifully chill songs, and everything in between. Their lyricism is off the charts and Ellie Rowsell has the extremely versatile voice of an angel with incredible range. Perhaps some might say that she and her band rival the brilliant music of baroque pop legends Florence and the Machine. I never know what to expect when it comes to this band and I am pleasantly surprised by this album so far. I chose “Bloom Baby Bloom” as the standout song not just because it’s the only single that’s been released so far but because it’s phenomenal. The jazzy piano, syncopated claps, and powerful tom groove are guaranteed to make you get up and dance. It’s a little bit sweet, a little bit angry, a little bit chaotic—it’s everything that makes Wolf Alice so amazing.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article and I hope you’ll give these songs a listen, if not the entirety of all the albums.
Tennis Is Over; I’m Going To Match Songs With Webkinz
That I Own
song:
Never Work For Free
by Adiana Contreras
webkinz: Pink Pony
I forget what I named the pony, but whenever I played with my stuffed animals, she was always part of insufferable love triangles where she never won. I put her through the dryer and her hair got ruined, so maybe that’s where all her suffering started. She lived this song over and over, she tried so hard and for what?—I don’t even remember her name.
Pollen Song
Pom Pom Kitty
I lived abroad for two years, and that first year a suitcase came that had the Pom Pom Kitty in it because I bought it with my own money. One of my brothers bought a Webkinz too, so whoever packed the suitcase thought it was unfair that only two of us four siblings got stuffed animals, so they packed two more that my siblings didn’t have to buy. Then, when the suitcase arrived, we weren’t even allowed to see the stuffed animals, because earlier that day, all four of us got in a fight so loud the neighbour heard us and told our parents. Maybe Tennis wrote Pollen Song about that moment—maybe it’s about how unjust it was to feel pain in a moment that was supposed tobe so beautiful and joyous. I named the Pom Pom Kitty Luna.
Haunt You
I picked the Yorkie for I’ll Haunt You because when I got it I named it after a classmate, who since elementary school has transitioned and changed their name. The Yorkie now has their deadname, so now the Yorkie is haunting me. When I told them at school that I named my new Webkinz dog after them, they disapprovingly said that I should have given the name to a cat, not a dog, so they weren’t even a fan of my decision at the time either.
Borrowed Time
12 Blown Tires
Red Panda Endangered Signature Series
Like Borrowed Time (the Tennis song made for Rick and Morty), the big red panda Webkinz is also something that probably wouldn’t be expected to be real. But it is.
I do not know what a Googles is, but there was a time when if you didn’t add a new pet to your Webkinz account often enough, your account would expire. During that time, they sold these at the dollar store by my house. As a result, my siblings and I bought a lot of these—something about that is just like this song.
Googles
All the Desert’s a Stage: Music in
the Last Free Place
Our road to Slab City began in El Centro, driving north on the 111, up and out from the border, passing up through Brawley and then Calipatria, each town smaller than the next, the houses getting sparser and dustier, empty ones more and more often, and up to Niland, last stop of regular lawn-mowing, property-tax-paying, taking-the-kids-to-soccer-practice Society. Turning right in Niland, off the numbered streets and onto Beal Road, straight past the solar plant and onto the first guardshack. Mockup of the Vegas welcome sign but for Slab City instead, unintelligible graffiti on the back. Past the hot springs and the first of the gift shops, dirt tracks stretching out into the flat desert. RVs, shiny toy haulers and old busted ones, wheels long since removed and siding peeling in the sun. Countless smaller camps, hodgepodges of plywood and plastic sheeting and corrugated metal, decorated with sculptures and signs that say JUNK FOR SALE or KEEP OUT.
Wind blowing dust over the roofs of the camps, hot and dry wind from the mountains. Wind controls the valley in the summer, brings the heat down from the hills and sweeps across the flats, tears pieces off buildings and carries them with sand and trash and swirls them around, collecting them in mounds around the smoketrees and the tamarisk that grow in the arroyo. Locals call it the Slab City Dump and pick through the piles in the evenings when the sun is low over the Salton Sea, repurposing them and turning them into new pieces of buildings. Concrete slabs here and there (you can guess why it’s called Slab City), most already built on, remnants from when this was a military base. After that, a winter home for old snowbird retirees from the Midwest or anywhere that’s colder in the winter, which is everywhere, and then a refuge for desert rats and addicts and runaways and artists and still some of the old snowbirds. And before all that, desert, expansive and interminable desert like the playas that still backdrop the town to the northeast, that stretch into hills and then mountains, all of them arid and dust-choked and molten in the sunrise.
We’re in Slab City for Acoustic Night at the Oasis Club, Slab City’s very own restaurant/ café/library/venue/bocce ball court. There’s a membership fee, relatively rare in the slabs, thirty dollars a season, which gets you free coffee every morning and somewhere to be out of the sun. Fortunately, Acoustic Night is free, for both performers and audience members. The road leads us next to Salvation Mountain, densely painted and almost too bright in direct sun, the monument that brought the artists to the slabs. Here with my dad, who’s been coming to the Slabs for years, watched it change and desiccate and grow, who knew Leonard Knight, the man who envisioned and built and painted the fifty foot mound of adobe. He knows Ron, the caretaker of the mountain, and a volunteer docent finds him for us while we watch the late afternoon sun soften on the huge cross that tops the mountain.
Ron emerges from his RV wearing a Red Wings jacket over a Lions jersey, paint-stained pants from hundreds of hours fighting off the advance of the desert on Leonard’s life’s work, a desert patina on his face and in his hair. He tells us about the cult set up behind the water towers off to the east, who tried to buy out the mountain a few years ago. He talks, as always, about much work he’s been doing and how much he still needs to do. I ask Ron if he plays any music and he says yes, only there’s never anyone to jam with. Oh, and it’s Monday, so Acoustic Night at the Oasis Club tonight. At dark thirty. He used to go more often, but not so much anymore, on account of there being nobody to jam with. A man rolls up on a motorcycle and Ron offers him a cigarette from an Altoids tin, gives him the tour. Invites him to Acoustic Night at the Oasis Club, but the man tells us he wants to be at the border by dark and rides off.
by dario rissolo
We meet Jordan outside of his complex, a sprawling compound in the middle of town lined with a chain-link fence. He pulls open the gate and welcomes us in with a smile. It’s a recording studio called the Rock and Roll Boot Camp, which Jordan calls the “most badass school of Rock And Roll on the planet”. Concrete courtyard in the middle, ringed with various structures, some RVs and the rest handbuilt. Outside, building materials are scattered everywhere, along with water tanks, skateboard ramps, a sink, and chairs in varying states of decay.
In the back of the lot, a geodesic dome rises over the wooden buildings and the RVs. It’s covered in fabric and tarps and houses a staggering array of instruments, many of them donated. Jordan had to get the Boot Camp registered as an official nonprofit to get donations and grants. Sometimes you just have to work with the authorities. The Boot Camp loans the instruments out and provides free lessons to anyone that asks. Jordan tells me he can never get anyone to show up for lessons, because nobody keeps track of the time or the day of the week.
Though unassuming, the plywood box to the left of the entrance is the real attraction– inside is a complete recording studio, insulated for sound and heat and lined with rugs and spare fabric. Crucially, it has air conditioning, a necessity when the summers hover around 105 degrees during the day. There’s a costume rack and a fully-stocked deep freeze and a hookah pipe that’s so big I have to lean forward to see Jordan behind it.
More climate-controlled than most of town, the studio is comfortable year-round and popular as a space to just hang out. The various RVs scattered around the property serve as housing for Jordan’s friends and for artists passing through the Slabs, to record or to play a show at the Range. Jordan only charges bands that come in if he thinks they can afford it. Anyone that wants more upscale accommodations during their residencies tends to stay in Niland, or doesn’t come out here in the first place.
Jordan has big plans for the future. He’s only just finished the recording studio, but already there’s more to do. He hopes for more artists coming through, more donations, more people checking out instruments, more grants for the nonprofit. As many people engaging with the music as possible. He reminisces on the time they were able to run a Carnival-style marching band, and hopes to get enough people to show up in order to do it again. I wish him luck in this endeavor as I take pictures of the studio. On my way out, he reminds me to come check out Acoustic Night at the Oasis Club, and that he’ll be playing a few songs.
Every Saturday night is open mic at the Range, Slab City’s oldest venue. Builder Bill started working on it in the early 2000s to fix, as he likes to say, the severe gender gap in the Slabs at the time. Before that, people would play music in the camps for the snowbirds to earn beer. Bands play on a stage of patchwork plywood, lights made from five-gallon buckets strung overhead. On each side of the stage is a hollowed-out school bus full of instruments and spare amps. The entire system used to be run off of gas generators, but Bill is upgrading to solar panels and batteries. When I get there to look around, a man is on the roof of the snack shack installing panels, at the direction of Bill. Winter is the busiest time of the year in the Slabs, the only time of the year when you can work through the day. Audiences sit at pews made from two-by-fours, and the front row is a set of decrepit couches and armchairs. Like at the Oasis Club, it’s free to play and free to watch, and dogs wander onstage and through the crowd constantly. I ask Bill if his plan for the Range worked out. Indeed it did, as he found a girlfriend shortly after finishing, he tells me with a low rumble of a laugh. It’s a shame you couldn’t come on a Saturday to see open mic night, Bill says, but it’s Acoustic Night at the Oasis Club tonight.
Finally Acoustic Night at the Oasis Club. No parking spaces, so our truck’s parked next to the nearest bush. After a while in the desert you stop thinking about things like that, stop checking the time, stop noticing the dust everywhere and that you’re never really inside. Here about thirty minutes after dark, on time but awkwardly early. Dark thirty, I learn, is arbitrary, meaning whenever the event decides to start. Small groups sit in miscellaneous chairs and at homemade booths. The club has been built by hand, a low corrugated metal roof balanced on two-by-fours and clad with plywood panels. No real interior, and when the wind picks up the dust blows across the floor where it isn’t packed down. There is no stage or sound system; the artists just play wherever they’re sitting. The kitchen hasn’t started up yet but one of the cooks is trying to explain that they don’t have enough patties for everyone, tries to ask around for a ride into Niland to buy more. No response until my dad offers to drive her, and I sit alone as the club fills in. Jordan sits at my table and offers me a hit of his joint. I decline and he shrugs. Nobody is playing any music yet, or seems to want to be the first.
A guy in a leather jacket who’s already a few beers deep goads Bill into playing. Bill denies having any talent as he begins strumming his guitar. Jordan joins in on guitar, another guy on harmonica, and Bill starts singing a gravelly rendition of “Knocking On Heaven’s Door”. He interrupts himself to yell at his dog, which has wandered in and started barking. People laugh quietly at the scene until the dog wanders back out. A loose circle of musicians forms around a clearing of tables, and everyone who’s here to listen hangs around the periphery. There’s a haze collecting above our heads, of cigarette smoke and joint smoke and bong smoke and pipe smoke, as a man walks in balancing a 28-pack of beer on his hip so he can hold his cigarette in his other hand. He draws cheers from the crowd with a triumphant grin. A girl on a keyboard joins him, more for her own entertainment than anyone else’s, I think, because almost all of it is inaudible.
Bill finishes and the next person in the circle starts playing, this time Neil Young’s “Unknown Legend”. A bag of mushrooms gets passed around, the man calls them Fruity Pebbles. Another guy offers some weed in exchange, but the man says they’re free. Someone across the circle tries to start a song, but the other musicians are quick to intervene, tell him he needs to wait for his turn to play. Jordan plays a soft cover of “Such Great Heights” by the Postal Service on his guitar, halting at the beginning but I watch his face get more animated as he finds his stride. A barefoot man walks in, slides a full joint across the table to us. My dad and I try to decline but he thinks we’re just trying to be polite and insists. More songs as the concert makes its way around the circle, “Do You Pray” by Chuck Ragan, “Money Game” by Ren, “Mariner’s Revenge Song” by the Decemberists, originals here and there. Songs about the open road and loneliness and malcontent. The guy in the leather jacket, a growing assortment of beer bottles at his table, yells out “LET’S GO!” at the end of all the songs and in the middle of them too. Someone comes by, asks if any of us wants the joint, and picks it up off the table. Dogs wander through constantly, eating scraps of food and brawling in the courtyard formed by the tables. People talk over the songs, engrossed in their conversations, and I can never tell whether anyone’s listening until a song ends and the place pauses for an applause. As my dad and I leave, the next guy starts up a rendition of “Creep”, accompanied by his friend on the spoons, a small cheer when people recognize the melody, the sound spilling out of the door and into the desert behind us.
Minneapolis shoegaze
sweethearts she’s green on DJ names, Minnesota winters, synesthesia, and more
she’s green, pictured right:
Zofia Smith (vocals)
Liam Armstrong (guitar)
Raines Lucas (guitar)
Teddy Nordvold (bass)
Kevin Seebeck (drums)
interviewers:
Percy Vermut ‘28
Lily Akre ‘25,
Lily: We’re gonna start simple. I know that you [Teddy] were a Radio K [The University of Minnesota’s radio station] DJ…
Teddy: Real College Radio!
Lily: I gotta know, what was your DJ name?
Teddy: So, my DJ name was DJ Tedward.
Lily: Nice, very classy.
Teddy: I didn’t have one for a while, but a bunch of my friends started having really, really good ones. Like my friend Sam was DJ Cold Turkey. I was like, I gotta keep up with this! That was the best I could come up with.
Lily: What are your guys’ favorite pedals? Band: ooooh
Liam: So tough. I’m gonna hold strong with the Memory Man. It’s Electro-Harmonix’s Memory Man.
Teddy: Like, one that we have, that we use or just in general?
Percy: Go wild with the questions!
Raines: Well, I’ve been looking at this one called the Dark Light, which is kind of a boring name. It’s pretty sick. The reason I’m thinking about it is because - it’s a combined pedal. They got two reverbs in one. But [Teddy] sent me a Facebook Marketplace link to it. I’ve been messaging the guy and he came down $75 in the price. $275 is pretty good, but once I agreed to that he hasn’t been responding.
(everyone spends a second chatting about the inefficiency of Facebook Marketplace sellers. much frustration is expressed.)
Raines: But it’s the Old Blood Noise Endeavors Dark Light. They don’t make it anymore.
Teddy: Mine’s fairly nebulous, like it changes everyday pretty much. I’d say, the one I’m really coveting as of late right now is- it’s by this company out of Portland called Does It Doom? It’s called Baghdad. It’s a replication of this rig from this band called High On Fire that was used to make one of their early records, which has a song on it called Baghdad, but it’s like, it’s a combination of a Madamp g2120 style pre-amp with a Soldano style distortion circuit. It’s another kind of combined pedal thing, but it’s one of the gnarliest and it’s got this weight that I find really cool.
Zofia: I don’t perform with guitar, but I really like the LoFi Junkie by ZVEX. I like just using that one by itself with an acoustic. It sounds really nice and just like, a veteran amp setting. Raines: (to Kevin) What about you?
Kevin: You know, a lotta people would say, there are a lot of [DW]5000 fans out there, but I’m getting quite fond of the 2000 that I’ve been using that I originally bought just cuz it was cheaper. But, now [sic] double chain pedals, but its like ugh, I’m used to the single chain. But now I wanna get a direct drive,
eventually.
Lily: I don’t know anything about pedals, but I need to know.
Teddy: Ooh! Recommendation. There’s this Youtube channel that posts very irregularly now, but back in the day this was like, my resource. Best pedal demos on Youtube were by this channel called Knobs. And, he actually lives in Minnesota!
(she’s green raves about Knobs, in awe that Knobs lives somewhere in this great state.)
Percy: What pushed you guys towards shoegaze?
Zofia: Honestly, I feel like it was just a very emotional time for us, and the music provides so much comfort when you’re just, I don’t know, when you’re feeling a lot. It just feels like a warm hug. We just leaned into that feeling.
Zofia: Yeah, its really quiet. It’s easier to hear your thoughts.
Teddy: And then the summertime is for just soaking up all the good vibes, and trying to internalize them for when it’s time to write in the wintertime again.
Liam: The summertime reminds me of how much life is everywhere. But it is nice to have that rhythm, because I don’t know what it would be like for us to live somewhere where it’s a very comfortable climate all the time. We have a good cycle with that reflects the seasons, and the perpetual change that keeps us on our toes.
Zofia: We really, really love being outside, so when it’s nice out, and we have stuff to do, I’m so bad. Let’s just go by the river for the day!
Liam: The textures and the cadence of shoegaze really spoke to us, resonated with us. Whereas [other music I’ve made] was more lighthearted, and just, fun, but this is more of an avenue for me. For all of us to express our emotions, more authentically.
Lily: I know nature plays a big part in your guys’ music and visuals, and I read in an interview with KVRX [an Austin college radio station], Liam you said, “The winter helps us write music that longs for the outside.” How do you feel like the seasons affect your creative process? Especially as Minnesotans.
Lily: I have another question that’s related to outside. Do you have any places in Minnesota, or like spots, or like experiences in nature that remind you of, like, your music in any way, shape, or form?
Zofia: Definitely.
Liam: For sure.
Raines: Nah, not at all. (everyone laughs)
Zofia: No, there’s the Kinnickinnic River.
Teddy: It applies, though it’s all the way over the border.
Zofia: We spend so much time there. Like, in the summer, we’re there every few days. It really helps us write and just like, stay grounded.
Raines: I don’t know, it’s not an exact science but I do feel like a lot of the times we accidentally write summer songs in the winter and winter songs in the summer.
Teddy: I think a big part of that is just, with how tough winters can be here, it kind of forcing everyone to hunker down inside, it kind of locks us in to that kind of, let’s all meet up together. There’s not really much else to do in the wintertime, so we all romanticize, and long for warmer days, and channel that into whatever we’re cooking up at the time. But winter’s normally when we’re either trying to be the most productive or when we’re the most productive.
Liam: I grew up in River Falls, and there’s like a river there, people can trout fish. But, yeah, I don’t know… it’s like, I have a special connection to that place. It’s just so beautiful, and I feel lucky to have that area.
Raines: And the Mississippi’s good too, it’s a really good spot.
Kevin or Teddy or Rainer?: We shot the “Graze” music video by the Mississippi.
Liam: And the St. Croix also, there’s a lot of spots.
Teddy: Yeah, uh, the sandbars in the St. Croix by Hudson.
Liam: It’s probably when we write the saddest songs.
Zofia: There’s a lot of time to think. When you’re stuck inside.
Liam: It’s really quiet.
Liam: Chillin’ under the High Bridge [in St. Paul].
Teddy: I actually haven’t been back in a while, but there’s this one little haven on the Superior Hiking Trail up past Grand Marais, I think it’s on a spur trail, following the, I think it’s on the
map of she’s green’s minnesota/ wisconsin musical memories
Kadunce River. I’ve been backpacking up there a few times.
Liam: Cliff jumping.
Teddy: Like Palisade Head up on the North Shore and all that stuff.
Lily: But are there specific songs, or parts of songs that feel specifically connected to those places?
Liam: I would say like all of Wisteria, pretty much was like, I mean, the cover we shot in a tributary by my parents’ house, which feeds into the Kinnickinnic.
Lily: That’s so special.
Liam: Yeah. But it’s cool cuz that body of water goes into the Kinnickinnic, and that goes into the St. Croix, which goes out all the way to the ocean.
Teddy: Another one though, is some of these songs that we recorded, and are gonna be releasing pretty soon, really remind me of being in that cabin where we wrote a couple of em, up on the south shore of Lake Superior in Northern Wisconsin last year.
Liam: I would say, the first EP [Wisteria] definitely [is] that kind of stream. This second EP is more Lake Superior, Bayfield [Wisconsin] area.
Zofia: Yeah! Raines: Facts.
Lily: Part of what I love about shoegaze is how visual it is to me, and I’ve always been curious about your song “Purple,” and just generally do you have - synesthesia is really interesting to me, and I was wondering if you guys could talk a little bit about creating the visuals for your music, or how you think about [the visuals]?
Teddy: Synesthesia is a really fascinating concept to me, and I’ve seen a couple of those videos of people who have clear cases of it, where they’re like ‘oh yeah, this sounds red, or this sounds blue or something.’ I don’t necessarily have that, but sounds and soundscapes sometimes remind me of a visual field, or I’ll be like ‘hey, I like the kind of sheen you have on this guitar.’ It feels like glistening, glassy sort of thing.
Liam: When we’re mixing, [Teddy] has great descriptors. He’ll be like ‘I want this one to sound like being pelted by a billionTeddy: Flower petals.
Raines: I remember a specific text, it was a random day, but it was when ‘Purple’ was being mixed, but Liam said ‘it feels like I’m getting pummeled by lilacs.’
Zofia: ‘Purple’ came together really beautifully…the lyrics just spewed out of me. It just like all came, and then the whole lilacs thing, it just formed. Like that image of pretty purple flowers, and everything…
Raines: I don’t really know what synesthesia is, to answer your question.
Liam: Like Wednesday’s orange. (interviewers proceed to fight with the band about the colors of folders for school subjects…sorry, she’s green)
Zofia: But it’s like you see color.
Raines: I think every song we make, I can see a visual vibe. It’s definitely, if that’s what synesthesia is, it’s a thing. ‘Graze,’ I feel like, I’m wearing a flowy white dress, and floating into the sun, and maybe I’m dying, and it’s ok. And ‘Figurines’ is like I’m in a creepy old house and some lady’s about to get me or something…I feel like that’s when you know you’re liking a song. When you have that specific image. I think it’s a bad sign if you can’t put anything, if it’s not making you feel anything. But if you’re getting, even if it’s a weird vibe, if you’re getting a specific vibe then it’s a good sign.
Percy: You guys have been talking about setting, do you have specific songs that you’re like ‘you should be in the car for this, you should be in the water for this’?
Liam: I think we’re not really thinking about that really.
Teddy: I think that everyone should listen to them in whatever setting is calling to them, I guess.
(everyone laughs)
Zofia: That’s a terrible answer. I was gonna say though, I really love drives. I have a friend that told me that it’s her favorite in the car. There’s something about it being dark. Lily: And also being contained.
Zofia: Yeah.
Teddy: If I could have a recommendation I guess, find a body of water to sit next to and listen to it.
Liam: Or stare into sunlight.
Zofia: Go on a nice walk.
Liam: Stare into the water. That’s my biggest inspiration, is the sun hitting ripples in water. If I didn’t have that, I dunno…
Thank you she’s green for bringing your lush sounds and good vibes to Carleton College’s The Cave!
interviewed on 5/16, interview has been edited for length and clarity
by stewie goon
