With the country scene receiving a reinvention via the folk or Americana boom, it’s rather pleasing to find a new band that base themselves in the older traditions of the genre.

Blackheart Honeymoon hail from Seattle and class themselves as a “folk-rock quintet”. After an initial EP release in 2013, the band did a bit of reforming to reach the current line-up, and are now ready for their first full album release. Mountains Speak is a twelve track album, and follows on from the band’s success in embedding itself in Seattle’s vibrant live music scene.

The band are a no nonsense country band. Setting themselves up in the tradition, and they obviously draw huge influence from the likes of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. However, the actual outcome and the band’s sound is more of a feeling in the modern tradition, alongside the likes of Ryan Adams or Seattle’s other folk darlings Fleet Foxes.

The opening track ‘Mountain Speak’ sets out their intention early on in a classic country track. However, ‘Bodies’ brings a more modern sound to the proceedings with beautiful harmonies and melodies from lead singer Ian Prebo backed by Adrienne Marie. Along with the traditional, subtle guitar sounds, the band has brought a fuzzy, modern twang. This blend of old meets new allows their sound to display a fresh new quality.

>’Erskine Proxy’ goes further in enhancing the qualities of this group with a more complex take on a standard country structure. Set apart from the usual tales of the lonesome heart this track does a bit of self-diagnosis en route to providing some enlightenment:

”I keep wasting time telling people how I feel / Spending too much time telling them how I felt”

The rest of the album moves along easily enough, with ‘Can’t & Won’t’ and ‘Wishing & Hoping’ providing good, staple country tracks without offering anything too different.

However, towards the end of the album, a few tracks emerge and change the tempo and style somewhat. ‘Love It All’ provides a bit more grit and displays the group’s more rocker side. This is continued with the excellently titled ‘We All Must Sometimes Stand Naked’.

These tracks also display the band’s ability to carve out the transition from straight-up country to the more complex Americana or folk-rock, to give them their new, trendier terms. Whatever the genre is called, the group have more than displayed their ability to create a new album which adds to the rich canon of country rock-folk… or whatever you want to call it. We wish them lots of success in the future.

Mountains Speak is available from Amazon and iTunes.

Auster is the second EP from Edinburgh shoegazers, Wozniak. Formed in 2012 with a mission to cause “terminal tinnitus”, this was made to be played loud. Live, their predominantly instrumental tunes have the ferocity of an industrial metal band. The rhythm section dominates and lends weight to the sound which the guitars swirl around.

It’s a different story in the studio, where the balance is shifted and the results are more Explosions In The Sky or Mogwai than Killing Joke, and more like their stated influences; Chapterhouse, Ride, The Cure, and Slowdive.

Named after the co-founder of Apple Computers, Wozniak have had a busy start to 2015. Their last EP, Pikes Peak, was released last year after a Kickstarter campaign. It has garnered them international attention from shoegazers in the US and Japan, as well as shows in London and Dublin.

Auster sounds like a continuation of Pikes Peak. The two releases could be siblings; the bastard sons of My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth. Both EPs were recorded in the same studio with Craig Ross of Broken Records, and it’s evident that Wozniak have found their voice.

The bass anchors each number while wave after wave of electric guitar rises to the fore. Competing hooks and melodies bubble to the surface before the riptide once again pulls them under. ‘Gospel of Infinity’ threatens to burst into pure guitar pop but can’t break through the torrent of reverb. Opening track ‘Snow Effect’ features a vocal track, from Sarah Cuthbert- Kerr, submerged within the oppressive vortex of fuzzed-out guitar.

There are elements of post-rock, math-rock and other indie instrumental sub-genres throughout. Cuthbert-Kerr saysL “When we first got together we were planning on more of a straightforward post-rock sound… walls of sound, lots of reverb, prominent bass lines and submerged vocals... It’s definitely about the wall of sound. It’s got to be layered, fuzzy and gorgeous, and above all, loud.” Auster ticks all those boxes.

Auster EP is available from Amazon and iTunes.