Out June 3 on Hot Grits Records
Contact: alyssa at teamclermont dot com
 
http://whatmoonthings.tumblr.com
https://facebook.com/WhatMoonThings

Conceived in a dark, moldy basement during the summer of 2012, New Paltz, NY-based What Moon Things blends distorted guitar hooks, somber synthesizers, and the rubbed-raw vocals of Jake Harms and John Morisi to jolt listeners wide awake with stinging dreamo (shoegazey, dreamy, and a little bit emo…) sound. Drawing inspiration from a range of influences including the Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Modest Mouse, and the Cure, the band, comprised of Harms (guitars, lead vocals), Morisi (drums, lead vocals), and Chris Kehoe (bass, synths, backup vocals), began recording together in the early summer of 2013, and within a few frenetic months had completed their eponymous debut LP.

Though recorded in Morisi’s sparse and tiny New Paltz apartment (nicknamed “The Dump”), WMT’s full-length album was mixed by Scott Nicholas and mastered by Jesse Magnum in Athens, GA, a town whose legendary music scene has produced such acts as R.E.M., the B-52s, and Neutral Milk Hotel. All but one of the record’s eight songs were co-written by Harms and Morisi, who form the band’s creative core (“Moon Things”, a roiling noise collage, was contributed by Nicholas). Their songs exist as the two bandmates’ reciprocal transmissions on disappointment, monsters, and the human vulnerability revealed through death and heartbreak. Harms and Morisi share lead vocal duty on the record. Their fevered tenors undergird the wide-hipped, reverby vessel of the album, serving as anchors for Harms’ messy, brilliant guitar work and Morisi’s syncopated drum motifs.

The real bursts of brilliance on the album—”Astronaut,” “Squirrel Girl,” “Staring at the Radio,” and “Doesn’t Make Much Sense”—send the listener on an undulating journey through waves of fuzzed-out plasma, floating among fractured tempos and searing vocals. These tracks are awash with Harms’ and Morisi’s shared pathos on the subject of growing up. “I’m nostalgia, I’m an astronaut,” declares Harms on “Astronaut.” “I’m still a punk kid, starting fights / with my neighbors.” What Moon Things succeeds not only in creating a mood, but in pulling anyone who happens to be within range into the same warm, dark space it occupies. It is music that seeps in slowly and dawns on the mind of the listener like a dream; a record that belies its small-town provenance and creates a sound much larger that its origins.

What Moon Things is managed by Left Brain Artist Management (founded by Deerhunter and Drive-by Truckers producer David Barbe, also member of Sugar) in Athens, GA. What Moon Things is set for a June 3rd issue on 12” vinyl and CD as the inaugural release on the Athens label Hot Grits Records.

What Moon Things - "The Astronaut"

Knew No Different, the new single from Batsch, is a powerful, introspective reflection on the struggles of neuro-divergence. As the first song from the Coventry-based duo to be penned and feature a lead vocal by drummer, Matt Rheeston, the track marks another leap forward in their quest to defy genres with skewed beats and infectious hooks.
Knew No Different explores the difficulties Rheeston faces expressing himself with words. As he puts it, it’s about ‘the pressures you put on yourself to keep up, and how you end up beating yourself up over not meeting those expectations.’ In the context of his recent autism diagnosis, this takes on an added potence, with a vocal performance that is clear and powerful, inviting listeners to empathise and connect on a profound level. “Funny how it sticks with you, echoing inside of you.”
Knew No Different was co-produced with and features the eerie harmonies of Mason Le Long, the other half of Batsch. Le Long is a producer and mastering engineer in his own right, operating from his studio, ‘Subwüf’, which is attached to The Tin, a Coventry venue which has been the band’s home for many years. He has worked with artists such as Mabe Fratti, Crack Cloud, Anthony Pirog, Jarrett Gilgore, Pick a Piper (Caribou band), Duke Keats, Project Overload and Duck Thieves. Rheeston plays in Bar Pandora, as well as recording and performing under his solo moniker, Riizbo. Together, as Batsch, they have toured extensively and collaborated with artists such as Laetitia Sadier, who featured on their 2021 album, ‘Attend Every Party’, as well as Marker Starling, Nicholas Krgovich and Pink Shabab.
With such a pedigree, it’s little surprise that with their latest work, Knew No Different, this partnership has created another fine example of the off-piste, electronic pop music they are known for, and the depth of their combined production skills. From the opening bars of the playfully programmed ‘Danger Bass’ loop that runs throughout, to the intricate rhythms provided by the dual drum beats, and the warped synths fizzing beneath, this track is sure to resonate with those who have grappled with questions of identity and belonging, or perhaps those who just have a penchant for a killer hook. If Rheeston’s catharsis comes from writing a banger such as this, deliberate in its composition, economical in its arrangement, articulate in the language of instrumentation, then evidently, he’s found a form of self-expression that works for him.
“Hey, don’t you know, you could choose to let it go. Eventually you might find peace.”

Batsch - Knew No Different

Soak Up The Sun

Beach Slang's cover of "Younger Us" by Japandroids appears on the Polyvinyl Plays Polyvinyl compilation - a 20-track covers album featuring Polyvinyl artists covering songs from other Polyvinyl artists, out Nov 25, 2016.

Purchase 2xLP / digital here: http://plyvnyl.co/pv20store

Beach Slang - Younger Us (Japandroids)

The Underground Youth - Addiction

Composed, Performed, Produced, Recorded by SAM FLAX 
From the record AGE WAVES

Available on vinyl from Burger Records: http://www.burgerrecords.org/apps/webstore/products/show/3422304

Available digitally here: http://samflax.bandcamp.com
or on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, etc.

Fire Doesn't Burn Itself

All This I Do For Glory

Spindrift

Taken from the new album, Attack On Memory. Available on Wichita Recordings from 6th February 2012.
http://www.smarturl.it/liy5ql

All songs written by Cloud Nothings
Published by DB91 (SESAC)
Engineered by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio, July 2011.

Dylan Baldi – vocals, guitar
Joe Boyer – guitar
TJ Duke – bass
Jason Gerycz – drums


(p)&(c) 2012 Wichita Recordings Ltd., under exclusive license from Cloud Nothings. 

Cloud Nothings - No Sentiment

HH011 New Release 
Whenyoung - Actor (Audio)
7" single coming soon!

Whenyoung - Actor

Pinkshinyultrablast - Dance AM

Private Life

Sleep

Wichita Recordings is an independent record label established in 2000. The label releases - and also manages in some cases - a wide range of artists including Total Babes, Simian Mobile Disco, FIDLAR, Spectrals, Peggy Sue, Gold Panda, Waxahatchee, Dam Mantle, Peaking Lights, Cloud Nothings, Frankie & The Heartstrings, Sky Larkin, Wild Flag, Veronica Falls and more.

Cloud Nothings - No Sentiment

Wichita Recordings

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