SONIC MASALA: I Got PNKSLM'd

Wednesday, 3 June 2015

I Got PNKSLM'd

Luke over at Stockholm label PNKSLM Records has been keeping quite busy this year. Besides his own outlet Lucern Raze, he has a bunch of cool releases that are prepped and/or out there, diseasing the ears of all who deign to listen. And now I intend to continue that infection...

Let's kick off fullest and latest, with Melt, a four track EP by Stockholm trio Magic Potion that came out on Monday. It's the kind of wonky guitar pop that Unknown Mortal Orchestra kicked off with, with heady elements of Mac DeMarco, Ariel Pink and the more bucolic moments of Thee Oh Sees. The weird rounded vocal delivery adds to the bubblegum acid, and some liquid guitar in 'Booored' and jangled instrumentation in 'Deep Web' ensures that there is a lot more than quirky novelty here. They have an album on the way this year too...

Over to Russia now and Angelic Milk, a slightly grizzled indie band with a serious degree of hook addiction. Or should I say girl - Sarah is a 17 year old who recorded 'IDK How' in her St Petersburg bedroom. It strikes a ebullient chord, somewhere between Colleen Green, Speedy Ortiz and Best Coast. She now has a band behind her - the world is her oyster, not that she cares.

The Castillians are from Birmingham and have been kicking about for close to five years. PNKSLM is priming to release their second album You & Me later in the year, but are just as keen to get people dipping into the jumped-up retro party anthems from their debut LP Show Your Teeth. This is much more throwback garage rock than many of their contemporaries - it sounds more like a time capsule relic from the 60s than a barely-heard CD-r from 2011 - therefore is bound to have a longer shelf life. Go on, smile - show your teeth.

And lastly (for now) we have Holy, who I mentioned back in January. They released Stabs earlier in the year, and it is again a pastiche of pastoral psych pop and the modern garage rock movement encapsulated by San Francisco, with some warped warmth all of its own. These songs are ones that linger and lick at the ears, wanting lengthy gratification, begging for repeat performances

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About

It was early on a Sunday morning at ATP - A Nightmare Before Christmas 2009. After downing a fair few, at 4am we decided to cook a curry. It was during the consumption of this drunkenly delicious breakfast treat that we decided to actually do something about the music we talk about all the time.

So we started a blog – and Sonic Masala was born. Now into its seventh year, the blog has spread out to call both Australia and the UK its home (and the rest of the world), and has expanded to include gigs, festivals and a record label under its black umbrella. Come on, eat the noize.

If an mp3 is up here, it's because we have been talking about it, and think the whole world needs to know more. It's there to give you a little taste. Then, if you like, check out the band live and spend all your hard earned cash on their records. If we've posted up an mp3 of your stuff and you're not too keen on the idea, let us know and we'll happily take it down pronto.