Norman Brannon (Shelter, Texas Is The Reason, Thursday) has relaunched his acclaimed Anti-Matter zine as an online newsletter via Substack. Anti-Matter was a fanzine between 1993-1995, a compilation album released in 1996, a Punk Planet column from 1997-1999, and an anthology book published in 2007.

Brannon envisions the reimagined version of Anti-Matter will be “the new online home for contemplation and hardcore conversation.” He plans to publish 8-10 times a month, with essays on Tuesdays, a new interview every Thursday, and “either a special feature or a post featuring the best new music of the month” every other Sunday.

Read more and subscribe here.

Rick Froberg, singer and guitarist for legendary post-hardcore bands Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes, died suddenly of natural causes on June 30 at the age of 55. Froberg was also a visual artist and he contributed artwork to many of his and other band’s releases. His longtime friend, collaborator, and bandmate John Reis confirmed his passing via Instagram:

“Rick passed away suddenly last night from natural causes. His art made life better. The only thing he loved more than art and rock n roll was his friends. He will forever be remembered for his creativity, vision and his ability to bring beauty into this world. I love you, Rick. I will miss you for the rest of my life.”

Kinetic punk rock outfit The Armed recently announced a new LP, Perfect Saviors, to be released via Sargent House on August 25. You can listen to the lead single Sport of Form below.

Perfect Saviors

01 Sport of Measure
02 FKA World
03 Clone
04 Modern Vanity
05 Everything’s Glitter
06 Burned Mind
07 Sport of Form
08 Patient Mind
09 Vatican Under Construction

10 Liar 2

11 In Heaven

12 Public Grieving

June was an exceptional month for new music. Listed below are the releases that kept our listening attention.

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Last

Loma Prieta

LP, Deathwish

Released 6/30/2023

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Systemic

Divide and Dissolve

LP, Invada

Released 6/30/2023

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I Don’t Know

bdrmm

LP, Rock Action

Released 6/30/2023

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Disaster

Ostraca

LP, Skeletal Lightning

Released 6/30/2023

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The Beggar

SWANS

LP, Young God

Released 6/23/2023

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This Can’t Exist

Native Nod

LP Compilation, Numero Group

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Formal Growth in the Desert

Protomartyr

LP, Domino

Released 6/2/2023

Animal Collective released a new song, Defeat, via Domino on July 26. The sprawling 20+ minute track plays like a piece of classical music, with surprising shifts in mood, pacing, and arrangement. Defeat features guest appearances by musicians Samara Lubelski (violin), Leila Bordreuil (cello), and Ben Chapoteau-Katz (saxophone). Listen below. Preorder the 12” vinyl version here.

Archival record label Numero Group has released an LP compilation of Native Nod reissues. The album, titled This Can't Exist, compiles the band's three highly influential and genre-defining 7" EPs originally released for the Gern Blandsten label in the '90s, along with liner notes, previously unseen photographs, and other band-related ephemera. This Can't Exist is available for purchase now in three different vinyl formats.

This Can’t Exist

01 Bread
02 High Tide in Alaska
03 Back to Mimsey
04 Answers
05 Crossings
06 Tangled
07 Lower G.I. Bleed
08 Runner

The Smile (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner) released a new song, Bending Hectic, on June 20. Listen below.

Austin psych-rock outfit Holy Wave will release a new album called Five of Cups on August 4 via Suicide Squeeze. The 9-track LP follows 2020’s Interloper. See the album’s cover and tracklist below.

Five of Cups

01 Five of Cups
02 Bog Song
03 Chaparral
04 Path of Least Resistance
05 Nothing is Real
06 Hypervigilance
07 The Darkest Timeline (featuring Lorelle Meets the Obsolete)
08 Nothing in the Dark
09 Happier (featuring Estrella del Sol)

Blonde Redhead will release a new album, Sit Down for Dinner, on September 29 via Section1. It’s the band’s first LP of new songs since 2014’s Barragan. Hear the mesmerizing lead single, Snowman, below.

Sit Down for Dinner

01 Snowman
02 Kiss Her Kiss Her
03 Not for Me
04 Melody Experiment
05 Rest of Her Life
06 Sit Down for Dinner (Part 1)
07 Sit Down for Dinner (Part 2)
08 I Thought You Should Know
09 Before
10 If

11 Via Savona

Two essential albums released in May 2023.

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The Gray In Between

Jeromes Dream

LP, Iodine and Microspy

Released 5/5/2023

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Live at Levitation (2012)

Thee Oh Sees

LP, The Reverberation Appreciation Society

Released 5/19/2023

Bay Area hardcore stalwarts Loma Prieta recently announced a new album, Last, which immediately became the year's most anticipated album in this circle. The forthcoming LP will be released June 30 via Deathwish. Stream the new single, Glare, below.

Last

01 Sequitur
02 NSAIDs
03 Sunlight
04 Dose
05 Fire in Black & White
06 One-Off (Part 2)
07 Circular Saw
08 Symbios
09 Dreamlessnessless

10 Glare

11 LLC

Jeromes Dream recently shared a video for Stretched Invisible From London, the lead single from their forthcoming album The Gray In Between, set for release on May 5 via Iodine Recordings. The video was directed and edited by Evan Henkel. Watch it below.

Our favorite albums released in March 2023.

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Two Beasts (LP Version)

Sumac

LP, SIGE

Released 3/24/2023

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Milk for Flowers

H. Hawkline

LP, Heavenly Recordings

Released 3/10/2023

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Compact Trauma

Ulrika Spacek

LP, Tough Love

Released 3/10/2023

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Suffocating Hallucination

Full of Hell and Primitive Man

LP, Closed Casket Activities

Released 3/3/2023

Animal Collective will reissue their debut album, Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished (2000), on May 12 via Domino. The reissue will feature remastered audio, new artwork by Abby and Dave Portner, and a new EP — A Night At Mr. Raindrop’s Holistic Supermarket — of previously unreleased material from that era.

Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished (Remastered 2023)

01 Spirit They’ve Vanished (Remastered 2023)
02 April And The Phantom (Remastered 2023)
03 Untitled (Remastered 2023)
04 Penny Dreadfuls (Remastered 2023)
05 Chocolate Girl (Remastered 2023)
06 Everyone Whistling (Remastered 2023)
07 La Rapet (Remastered 2023)
08 Bat You’ll Fly (Remastered 2023)
09 Someday I’ll Grow To Be As Tall As The Giant (Remastered 2023)
10 Alvin Row (Remastered 2023)

Detroit’s finest post-punk outfit Protomartyr announced a new album, Formal Growth in the Desert. The full-length LP, the band’s sixth, will be released June 2 via Domino. Watch the video for lead single Make Way, directed by Trevor Naud, below.

Formal Growth in the Desert

01 Make Way
02 For Tomorrow
03 Elimination Dances
04 Fun In Hi Skool
05 Let’s Tip the Creator
06 Graft Vs. Host
07 3800 Tigers
08 Polacrilex Kid
09 Fulfillment Center
10 We Know the Rats

11 The Author

12 Rain Garden

In this first installment of the monthly Best New Albums post, we highlight our favorite albums released in February 2023.

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Nature Morte

Big Brave

LP, Thrill Jockey

Released 2/24/2023

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All Fiction

Pile

LP, Exploding In Sound

Released 2/17/2023

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7s

Avey Tare

LP, Domino

Released 2/17/2023

Photograph by Michael Lamertz

The new album by San Francisco (by way of Connecticut) screamo pioneers Jeromes Dream, The Gray In Between, is set for release on May 5 via Iodine Recordings.

The Gray In Between

01 Conversations In Time, On Mute
02 Stretched Invisible From London
03 South By Isolation
04 Pines On The Hill (With Guests)
05 Cosmos In Season
06 AAEEAA
07 On Holiday With Infinity
08 The Future Of Memory
09 Often Oceans
10 The Last Water Pearl

Photo: Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

David Bowie’s extensive archives — a collection of approximately 80,000 items, including costumes, instruments, letters, lyrics, photos, and more — have been acquired by London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, according to the Associated Press. The collection will be on display starting in 2025 at the David Bowie Center for the Study of Performing Arts, a new public arts center in east London’s Olympic Park.

In the late summer of 2022, Liars announced a limited edition recycled vinyl series. Reissues of They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top (2001), They Were Wrong, So We Drowned (2004), and Drum’s Not Dead (2006) were released over the subsequent months. On February 10, the band’s 2007 self-titled LP (cover shown above) was also reissued as part of the series.

You can purchase Liars albums in the recycled vinyl series from first-rate record shops, online merchants, and the band’s label, Mute.

Math-metal post-hardcore juggernaut Botch have expanded their reunion plans. Today, the band announced a Fall 2023 US tour, the dates of which are listed below. Purchase tickets here. Pre-order the 25th-anniversary reissue of the first Botch LP, American Nervoso, due March 24, at Hello Merch.

BOTCH LIVE 2023:

(Some dates might be sold out.)
02/17 Tacoma, WA @ The Spanish Ballroom
02/24 Seattle, WA @ Showbox
02/25 Seattle, WA @ Showbox
10/05 Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
10/06 Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
10/07 Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
10/13 Chicago, IL @ Metro
10/14 Chicago, IL @ Metro
10/19 Austin, TX @ Emo’s
10/21 Denver, CO @ Summitt Hall

11/08 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade (Heaven)

11/10 New York, NY @ Webster Hall
11/11 New York, NY @ Webster Hall
11/14 Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
11/15 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/17 Boston, MA @ Roadrunner

11/18 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom

12/07 Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theater
12/08 Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theater
12/09 Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory
12/12 San Francisco, CA @ The Regency