Berlin-based English producer Jam Rostron, better known as Planningtorock, has just unveiled a brand new track named “Transome”. If the title of this new synth pop song could announce another politically engaged album, it’s actually not the case. “Powerhouse” will be their most intimate and personal project to date. It is already palpable in this sex positive and carnal new track. It also comes with a self-directed video that you can watch below.

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUYK0RcWw8s”]

Planningtorock – “Powerhouse” tracklist:

1. Wounds

2. Transome

3. Dear Brother

4. Somethings More Painful Than Others

5. Much to Touch

6. Jam Of Finland

7. Non Binary Femme

8. Piece Of My Mind

9. Beulah Loves Dancing

10. Power House

NYC-based psychedelic collective Guerilla Toss have just announced their third album “Twisted Crystal” and their collection of art-rock puzzle pieces and crazy pop songs are set to sound more personal this time. Ahead of the release set for this fall, they also unveiled the lead single “Meteorological”. In the accompanying visuals, which were directed by Nicky Giraffe and Juliana Giraffe, the singer Kassie Carlson plays a weather presenter. Watch the video and check the details about the album below.

[su_youtube_advanced url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrgvzAS7h9g”]

Guerilla Toss – “Twisted Crystal” tracklist:

01 “Magic Is Easy”

02 “Jesus Rabbit”

03 “Meterological”

04 “Hacking Machine”

05 “Retreat”

06 “Come Up With Me”

07 “Walls Of The Universe”

08 “Jackie’s Daughter”

09 “Green Apple”

TOUR DATES:

09/17 Winooski, VT @ The Monkey House

09/18 Montreal, QC @ l’Escogriffe Bar Spectacle

09/19 Toronto, ON @ The Baby G

09/20 Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s

09/21 Athens, OH @ The Union

09/22 Chicago, IL @ The Hideout

09/24 Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club

09/25 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry

09/26 Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge

09/27 Lawrence, KS @ White Schoolhouse

09/28 Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive

09/29 Salt Lake City, UT @ Diabolical Records

09/30 Boise, ID @ Funky Taco

10/02 Butte, MT @ Covellite Theater

10/03 Spokane, WA @ Bartlett

10/04 Seattle, WA @ Vera Project

10/05 Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar

10/06 Eugene, OR @ Lorax

10/07 Arcata, CA @ Outer Space

10/09 Redding, CA @ The Dip

10/10 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill

10/11 Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon

10/12 San Deigo, CA @ Whistle Stop

10/13 Tijuana, MX @ Moustache

10/14 Phoenix, AZ @ LBX

10/15 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress

10/19 Austin, TX @ Hotel Vegas

10/20 Denton, TX @ Dan’s Silverleaf

10/21 Fayetteville, AR @ Smoke & Barrel

10/23 Nashville, TN @ The End

10/24 Asheville, NC @ Mothlight

10/25 Durham, NC @ Wicked Witch

10/26 Richmond, VA @ Gallery 5

10/27 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s

10/28 Cambridge, MA @ Elk’s Lodge

10/30 Providence, RI @ Columbus Theater

10/31 Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel

Formed by members from CC Dust and Trans FX, this aptly named supergroup (their words, not mine!) has just made their debut with a self-titled EP (because, of course, releasing EPs is what indie bands do). What else? Oh yes, they come from Olympia, Washington; a sort of haven of alternative culture that has been a foundational stone for the developing of several music scenes since the late 1970s. As for the music, it achieves an unlikely blend of dream pop instrumentation with programmed drumming that works quite well for some reason.

If “CCFX EP” is not a revolution, it does lay a nice foundation and secretly features one of the best indie pop songs of the year

Being comprised of only four tracks, the “CCFX EP” could be seen to serve merely as a brief introduction to the band’s microcosm, but it’s rather a rare celebration of the EP as a valid, self-sufficient thing. After all, there might be an argument for EPs being the go-to format for indie pop bands – just off the top of my head, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive or Cocteau Twins released iconic EPs early in their careers. If you want to trace down CCFX’s referents on a purely musical level, though, you’d have to go back a few years earlier from the era when those bands started to put out music. Just listening to one of their tracks will make it fairly evident that CCFX blatantly take their cue from the slightly odd reveries of The Cure, and I’m surely not the first person to mention how much lead singer Mary Jane Dunphe sounds like a young Robert Smith. That can be a good thing, though – her dreamy vocals take over the lovely “Ode”, an evident call-back to The Head On The Door-era Cure, while the wistful “2Tru” relies on its mechanic rhythmical pattern to set up a sombre atmosphere, just like Smith’s band at their most post-punk.

CCFX are hardly the first band to openly re-appropriate The Cure’s sound for their own purposes, but they are definitely one of the few that actually bother to shake things up a bit and introduce some genuine elements. It’s precisely the EP’s opening track and clear highlight “The One To Wait” that constitutes a perfect example of the band’s artistic vision. It starts just with a heavy bassline that is soon followed by reverberated guitars; up until that point, all rather standard indie pop music. But then some strange beat kicks in just out of the blue and you’re physically forced to be immersed in the track’s sonic development. The song goes on for more than six minutes, but it’s actually hard to notice if you don’t look at the track length; it flows so seamlessly that you get the impression that it’s all over after a couple of minutes. It sounds a bit as if Reni from The Stone Roses had joined The Cure for a band rehearsal that had somehow turned up alright; or, if we’re going for more realistic scenarios, you could say that CCFX‘s “The One To Wait” is highly reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine’s “Soon”, an incredibly unforeseen noise dance track that just pops up in “Loveless” and leaves you wondering about what has just happened.

Although highly enjoyable, “CCFX EP” is not a particularly remarkable piece of work – as a debut EP, though, it does lay a nice foundation on which the band will be able to build in future releases. Their odd approach to dream pop is definitely more attractive than their sense of melody; for all its oddities, CCFX is slightly less memorable than it could have been. There’s still a lot of promise in it, though, and if CCFX are able to come up with songs like “The One To Wait” or “Ode” on a regular basis, be ready to hear a lot about them in the coming years.