PREMIERE

Bichkraft - Desire

By Phillipe Roberts

Long before “dystopia” lost its edge in a buzzword death spiral, Urkanian four-piece Bichkraft were conjuring up squalls of noise-forward post-punk that gleefully bit back at the rise of global authoritarianism. Their first three Wharf Cat releases culminated in last year’s liberating 800, which saw the band take a sonic leap towards a tighter, more refined sound. Back in the studio yet again, Bichkraft fashion a subversive new sound on “Desire,” a bombshell in their discography that downshifts on the nervous energy towards a swaggering dance rock track that takes a brutal government to task. 

PRE-ORDER - https://www.wharfcatrecords.com/store/bichkraft-desire PRE-ORDR ON APPLE MUSIC - ADD LINK PRE-ORDER BANDCAMP - ADDLINK About “Desire” Kiev, Ukraine’s Bichkraft is back with their first single in English, "Desire" b/w "Rod." Where Bichkraft's lauded 800 was comprised of sprawling collaborations with Sam York (Public Practice), Elizabeth Skadden (Finally Punk, WALL) and Carson Cox (Merchandise, Too Free), here we see Bichkraft streamlined to the duo formation of Jenia Bichowski and Dima Novichenko. These concise and hook-driven tracks do not shy away from addressing the chaos and uncertainty of living in Ukraine. A-side "Desire" is about a police raid in a bar where young men were forced into military service afterwards. You can hear the fatigue and disappointment in Jenia Bichowski’s voice as he sings, “Baby, baby it's true / There's no safe place for you.” The B-side “Rod” sees Bichowski taking his vocal delivery to new places over an endless stream of Novichenko’s concise and morphing riffs. These two songs hint at an exciting new direction for Bichkraft, and we can't wait to hear more. The 7" flexi-disc is a limited run of 200 and comes with artwork designed by the band and a download card. About Bichkraft Dima Novichenko and Jenia Bichowski formed Bichkraft in the winter of 2014. They were joined by bassist Serzh Kupriychuk and recorded the Mascot LP. Shortly after, Zenya Fenec joined to play live drum machines. This four-piece recorded the album Shadoof in their hometown of Kiev, Ukraine. While visiting New York they recorded tracks for their most recent album, 800. They followed up 800 with the release of the "Desire" single in August of 2019. Bichkraft have played with such groups as WALL, Merchandise, Sonic Death, Selbram, The Sediment Club, Bambara, Ian Svenonius and Lust for Youth.

Lounge-style keys and bouncing percussion cover for lyrics indicting the repressive Ukranian regime for raiding dance clubs to forcibly conscript young men into the military, a relatively common occurrence in Bichkraft’s native Kiev. Vocalist Jenia Bichowski’s anguished delivery of the haunting hook - “Baby, baby it's true / There's no safe place for you” - speaks to the depth of dread churning beneath the surface of their collective minds, poisoning romance with fear. Guitars gleam like knives in the background, shifting between angular melodicism and frayed noise as they stumble, seasick, over each other. With the track careening to a close, Bichowski sings “I’m just hanging on” in a stupor, wounded by the violence he’s seen and anticipating the violence that’s sure to come as men are ripped off the streets. As both reportage and rock n’ roll, “Desire” hits the mark, dead center.

You can pre-order a 7” of “Desire” over on Wharf Cat’s site here.

REVIEW

Alpenglow - Speculator

By Jordan Feinstein

Alpenglow is a psychedelic indie rock band based in NYC. Their newest single, Speculator–off their upcoming album Oceans in Between–searches the bounds of space and time for a deeper understanding of the self. How focused on the future should you be, if that focus means your present is just passing time at work.

“Yeah it matters where you’re going, [but] take a moment to be out of ticking time,” he sings. Does existing solely in the present make you “adrift,” and does being adrift have value in itself? The song compares the narrator, working a barback job but spending his days out and about living life, with a second character who commutes and works a boring, full time job. More subtle than any conclusions as to who’s living their life correctly are the songs final lines: “Lay your life on my / I’ll give mine to you / Don’t mind if I stare / I know you’re staring too / I know you’re staring into.” Both of these characters wonder about what the other has, both of these characters wonder about what they’re missing. Look at me, it says, and don’t mind if I look at you. Maybe we’d both wonder less if we shared more together.

PREMIERE

0 Stars - Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Gerard Marcus

Mikey Buishas is a Brooklyn-based artist who has the amazing ability of depicting the emotional energy of passing thoughts. His new single from his project 0 Stars, “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” is a one-minute melancholic tale of fear, self-analysis, and love. Buishas says his inspiration for the song was “an immediate response to Leica [his dog] barking herself awake after a baby in the adjacent apartment screamed.” In this short minute, he explains his reasoning for not reprimanding Leica, choosing instead to sympathize with her, understanding that barking in this situation is just her way of expressing fear. And everyone should be allowed to express fear without judgement. The attention of the song then shifts and Buishas turns the lens on himself, using Leica’s fear to analyze his own sadness at driving away someone he loves. But if he’s the reason for them not being there, is it fair for him to depend on them to make him feel better? It’s beautiful, simple songwriting about a complex idea, presenting its emotional weight in a tight package, allowing it to linger long after its short running time is over. “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” is the first single off of 0 Stars debut album, ‘Blowing on a Marshmallow in Perpetuity,’ coming out August 30th on Babe City Records. Pre-order the album HERE.

VIDEO PREMIERE

Mood Tattooed - No Compromise

Gerard Marcus

Brooklyn-based Mood Tattooed is a musical project which balances elements of electronic synthesis, American folk tendencies, and fluid song structure to create music that sounds free of constraints. Written by singer-songwriter and composer Hagan Knauth, his music is generally melancholic, dealing with themes of both internal and external fear and anxiety. His new music video for “No Compromise” explores these themes visually. Made in collaboration with videographer Matthew Sullivan and artist Margaret Pinto, the video follows an alien being as it explores the forest and small towns of rural upstate New York. The creature is immediately odd juxtaposed against its surroundings. In a statement from the artist, he says he “wanted the creature to appear inefficient and out of place in the landscape,” which gives the character an enjoyable sense of absurdity. As you watch it move through the wilderness of rural upstate New York, it just seems odd, less of an immediate threat than just a confused being clearly in the wrong place. It’s almost funny, until you realize the creature’s mission, which is to collect various objects and eventually abduct a human for a bizarre ritual of unknown purpose (except to the creature performing it). Who or what is this creature? What is it doing here? Should we judge it based off of its absurdity or its actions? There are all good questions with no definite answer, other than to pull it back to themes found in the music. In the words of the artist himself, “perhaps the fact that the creature is simultaneously threatening and laughably absurd is all a metaphor for the little monsters we make in our heads.”

VIDEO PREMIERE

Toebow - Key Song

By Gerard Marcus

New York indie pop wizards Toebow’s entire persona seems to exist in the surreal. They describe themselves as a “cartoon psych pop party,” and their recent debut album ‘Themes’ and accompanying video for “Mr. Tony” have done a great job of creatively honing the power of the outlandish. Their new video for the track “Key Song,” directed by Bernard Feinsod, is no different, stylishly showcasing a day at the beach with the group–a perfect visual accompaniment to the fun loving, playful tune. But their surreality manages to shine through, the peppy tone and sunny vibes in stark contrast to the song’s story of the end of a toxic relationship. It shows the beach as place to process and meditate, spending some time in the sun with friends to try and cope with stresses that seem ever present and extremely distant all at once. It’s a perfect summer track for an imperfect life, and it has me looking forward to many days at the beach.