Now Hear This: Daniel P. Carter On The Best New Post-Hardcore, Pop-Punk And Doom...

So this will be the last one of these from me until 2021. This year has been a fucking slog and to say its been trying would be an understatement, however, there has been so much incredible music released that has offered a refuge and sweet relief amongst so much despondency. I’m hoping good things are coming our way (to quote Mr Schriefels) for the coming year. The prospect of festivals and shows being back on by summer is something I’m really counting on. That said, there's still the matter at hand of letting you know about a bunch of bands you may not have checked out yet…

The debut album from Spice came out a while back, but like a lot of people I slept on it until pretty recently. If you’re also one of those people, then check out their self-titled record that’s out on Dais Records. The album sits in a space that’s probably easiest to describe as what might happen if members of Interpol jammed with Fugazi. Ceremony frontman Ross Farrar fronts this, and fans of that band will get it straight away (the band also feature Ceremony drummer Jake Casarotti along with members of Sabretooth Zombie). I’m putting this as one of the albums of 2021. If you want some awesome indie-punk to round out your year and aren’t all over this already, then get involved

Austin, Texas trio Troller have recently signed to Relapse Records, and Torch, the first track from their upcoming album, has made its way online. Industrial pop, darkwave and witch house vibes collide with the soaring, almost operatic vocals from Amber Star-Goers. If the idea of a synth-laden, dark, heavy trip that takes in moments of Cocteau Twins, LINGUA IGNOTA, Jarboe, Visage and more sounds like your kind of thing, then you can check out a bunch of stuff on their Bandcamp. Start by watching the stunning video for Torch.

If you’re feeling like the last couple of picks are a little on the bleaker side, you could check out Melbourne quintet Terra. They play the kind of emotive and uplifting pop-punk that fans of Paramore, Mayday Parade and Tonight Alive will be stoked on. Frontwoman Cassie Sutton has a super powerful voice that carries hook-laden new single Frenemies, which bodes well for more music which should be coming in 2021.

Nashville is known as a hub for not just country but also rootsy and gritty rock, and is home to power-trio The Dead Deads. They play pop-rock hooks fused onto grungy metal that recalls a bunch rad stuff from the late ’90s like Veruca Salt and Breeders, along with recently defunct UK faves Soeur. New single In For Blood is a rad workout of insistent vocal harmonies crashing against a Sabbathy middle eight that kinda ticks a bunch of boxes for me.

Irreparable Crack, the newly released jam from from Utrech natives Throwing Bricks, follows on from this years album What Will Be Lost, which came out in May on Tartarus Records. It's crushing doom with a blackened sprinkles piled on top of the Netherlanders base of punk and hardcore. The song was recorded in the same session as the album and is inspired by the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, which makes me think of the Jon Turteltaub directed classic, National Treasure, which some might describe as Nick Cage’s finest work. Anyway, the song sounds kinda like Pelican throttling Cult Of Luna rather than someone planning to steal the Declaration Of Independence. Rad, nonetheless.

Hear Daniel P. Carter present the Radio 1 Rock Show, Sunday nights from 9pm.