Following the announcement of their second album, Albeit Living, to be released on July 14 via felte, LA-based trio Sextile have shared a new video for ‘One of These’. The clip features camera work & projections by Cloaking and brings together the band’s infamous visceral live show with imagery capturing the vast industrial sound that underpins this striking new record. ‘One of These’, a tirade on the feelings frontman Brady Keehn experienced during his personal struggle with addiction and escapism, is empowered by these suitably impassioned & urgent visuals.

As a stable fixture in the Los Angeles underground over recent years, Sextile have been gaining a devout following since their inception in 2015. The band boldly throw convention out of the window to create and genre-bending imprint that combines the raw energy of ‘70s punk with the intricate and sophisticated structural elements of ‘80s post-punk and synth-wave.

Sextile’s first release, A Thousand Hands, marked a signature sound - a dark and primitive form of angry rock ‘n’ roll, blending surf-punk, early industrial, and post-punk against a backdrop of violent energy. The album caught steam with each flailing, chaotic, electrifying performance, including a standout run with The Soft Moon. Brady Keehn’s intense vocals and piercing guitar sounds bounce effortlessly off Eddie Wuebben’s hypnotic synth-lines and Melissa Scaduto’s commanding stand-up drumming style.

After hunkering down in a basement in Echo Park to record for a couple of weeks, Sextile is back with their second LP, Albeit Living. The album title, inspired by a Circle X song, means in-spite of living and sets the tone for a politically charged, introspective album of impassioned observations on our world today. Musically, Albeit Living is a testament to the band’s growth in the songwriting department and effort spent fine-tuning their burgeoning compositional skills: the synth is in the forefront on this album, allowing it to shine through more powerfully than we saw on A Thousand Hands. Despite its more sophisticated sound, the album manages to match and even intensify the seductive energy of their live shows and debut album.

The ten-song LP is a strong statement as a follow-up to their primitive debut. The album launches abruptly, pulling you almost instantaneously into its orbit of hard-hitting techno beats, juddering synths, and zooming feedback, hinting at influences including The Jesus & Mary Chain, the frostbitten analogues of Cabaret Voltaire, the myth of Public Image Ltd., and the taunting soundscapes of bands like D.A.F. and Section 25.

Albeit Living tracklist:

1. One of These (Youtube | Soundcloud)

2. Who Killed Sex

3. Ripped

4. Floored

5. Mental

6. Sterilized

7. Das Cat

8. Situations

9. Crisis 

10. AVC

Hailing from Ghent, Belgium Hypochristmutreefuzz are at the forefront of Ghent’s noise-rock scene. Other than a secret weapon for passionate Scrabble-fanatics (their name comes from an avant-garde jazz piece by Misha Mengelberg) the band, formed around Belgian musician Ramses Van den Eede, is a frontal attack to all of the senses, thanks to a crushing groove, the use of a power drill as an instrument and inconveniently lovable bone-shattering and shamanic vocals.

Following on from a number of single releases and an EP release in early 2015, they are now ready to release their debut album Hypopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (phobia of long words). The band have previously received praise from the likes of the Guardian and the Quietus for their incredibly individual and cacophonous yet strangely danceable noise-rock, which has attracted comparisons to the likes of Jesus Lizard, Pere Ubu, Mr Bungle, Butthole Surfers and The Residents. The album is a collection of ten frenetic, fuzz-driven, unhinged and at times seemingly depraved tracks. However, whilst wild and undeniably distinctive Hypochristmutreefuzz understand that a song being intelligent and complex need not exclude it from having a raw, rhythmic energy and a strong sense of melody, conjuring up imagery of a pop-infused satanic ritual.

This translates into their live shows, performing in total darkness with one strobe light per artist and Ramses Van den Eede frantically thrashing and gyrating around the room amongst the audience members. Their bizarre and almost ceremonial live performance is enough to get even the most unassuming and inhibited members of the audience moving. The band have played one-off gigs all over, from historic underground castle vaults in Southampton, through to the likes of Live at Leeds and Glimps Festival. Following their album’s release in August, the band are set to return to the UK with dates to be announced.

If you’re lucky enough to have heard Hypochristmutreefuzz or have even seen them live before, and believe us, you’d know if you had, then this incredibly strong debut effort should be instantly recognisable as a consummate and direct snapshot of the devastatingly efficient unit; with instruments, ideas and personalities bouncing off each other in an audible culture of creativity. If you’re still yet to hear them, then now is your chance. Throw up your arms. Join the cult.