The pandemic may have put a wrench in the production of Another Heaven's debut record, but it didn't keep the band away from us for too long. As a stop-gap, the sludgegaze act put out a single series in the middle of last year while they worked on the follow-up to their second EP,  For Ever.  The band has returned with the first single "Over It" off their forthcoming record.  For those familiar with Another Heaven, their music is a dark cloud that permeates everything. "Over It" is no different. Sonically, the trio moves between billowing fuzzed-out guitars and ethereal atmospherics, making the single a perfect soundtrack for society on the brink of collapse. They tap into the existential horror and subsequent apathy found when those in power do everything they can to maintain the status quo.  Thematically, "Over It" embodies the bystander effect of living in a world that wants to burn itself alive. The band comes from a place of wanting to someone...

Cover art by Keegan Burckhard Anyone who has ever been to a gathering in someone's house has probably found themselves with a small group of people chilling in the kitchen. Hidden away from everyone, those conversations always feel more intimate and honest as you can turn off your public persona and connect with the handful of people gathered with you.  Hannah Morton, most notably known for work with LASKA, is trying to tap into this feeling of honesty and rawness with her new project Kitchen Congregation . In early June, Morton released the first single for the project, "Can't Find Sleep." The single draw you in with a synthy drone and vocalizations from Hannah. For those with backgrounds in the church (like myself), the opening few seconds feels almost like a call to worship or a call to gather. "Can't Find Sleep" deals with struggling to trust yourself and your surroundings. Hannah spends the first verse painting a picture of life's changes and fi...

(Artwork by Brick ) The Eau Claire punk act Gash has returned! After releasing their debut record haha in 2018 (partnering with the sorely missed Heavy Meadow Records) and releasing a split in 2019, the band took a breather between releases before returning last week with their roaring new single " Life of Dan ." Gash will be releasing their follow-up to haha on Friday, May 7, Leftern , but instead of having to wait for the full thing, Ear Coffee gets a chance to premiere the follow-up single, "My Head Hurts." For anyone who has had a migraine, you know that they are more than just a gnarly headache. It's completely debilitating, which is what vocalist and guitarist Logan Nyberg said they were trying to capture when writing this single. Throughout the entirety of "My Head Hurts," the band is on the verge of total collapse. With rickety, borderline discordant instrumentation, Gash piles forward with a scream while they look for moments of respite. Ny...

Cover art by Noah Lawrence-Holder It's been a minute since we've heard from Smellkin Ernesto . The songwriter last released music back in early 2019 with his EP, Cambios . The release featured lyrics in both English and Spanish, which were blended together as Ernesto reckoned with his identity as a Colombian adoptee in Minnesota. Earlier this month, he released "Solo Dimelo" and followed it up with a new track "How Much Longer," released on March 15.  In a forthcoming interview on the Ear Coffee Podcast, Ernesto said that the single was written in response to the events of the last year. "How Much Longer" is a sobering track to listen through - he smoothly delivers line after line detailing the frustration and resentment built up by generations of oppression. The message is underscored by his blend of lofi soft rock and soul to create an eerie dichotomy between rage and exasperation.  Without sounding too cliché, Smellkin Ernesto is an artist that ...

I first wrote about Greg Siganos' solo project Pinched. about a year ago when he released his self-titled " 3-P ." With a single seven-minute song  released in the interim, Siganos is back with (fool) , his first full-length album since 2018. Pinched. has always been Siganos' place to tap into the raw energy that comes from making music in your bedroom with a few pieces of equipment; this record harnesses that rawness and pushes it to Siganos' creative limits, blending subtlety and introspection with chaos.  (fool) starts out in the aftermath of change, leaving Siganos to pick up the pieces. Most of the lyrics in "Change," the opening track, flow in a stream of consciousness, almost cutting each other off. The shock and rawness are apparent with the final lines of verse one - "You say, 'Hey man, all okay?' / How could one with all this change?" Much of (fool) 's opener feels like a back and forth between that inner monolog and the ...

I did not write about a ton of music this year due to the stressors that affected all of us. Despite my burnout and a lack of drive, there was a ton of fantastic local releases put out during a year where hanging out at a gig involved the chatbox of a live stream. It was still amazing to be able to interview, write about, or just enjoy the music put out by bands here in Minnesota.  Granddad - What Happens After  (Brace Cove Records) What Happens After follows up  the Minneapolis-by-way-of-Alaska emo act's turbulent 2018 record. The EP chronicles the existential dread of moving into your late 20s and figuring out what to do with yourself. Vocalist Kellen Baker spends much of the release reckoning with what it's going to take to grow as a person. I've always loved Granddad's ability to turn otherwise bleak feelings into moments of combined catharsis. We don't have it figured out, but we are in this together. The band is joined by a host of their friends to bring thi...

Earlier this month, Minneapolis punk trio The Bloodies  put out their debut record, Salem Bitch Trials . The band is made up of vocalist Holly Axelrod, bassist Kim Crimson, and guitarist Chelsea Oxblood with Jeremy Klash handling drums for recording the record.  Salem Bitch Trials  would easily feel at home on a "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" soundtrack with its personal blend of goth, horror, and hooky pop-punk. However, there's more going on just underneath the record than meets the eye. The last few lines of the album's closer,  "The most dangerous thing you can be in this world is a pretty girl who knows what she is doing,"  serves as its thesis. The trio spends the 22-minute run time outlining and challenging the shortcomings felt by femme people in the music industry. Leading up to the closer, The Bloodies examine the power held by a scene's gatekeepers, specifically through the lens of a woman scorned. The band walks a fine line between the tongue-i...

Minneapolis stoner rock quartet Denim Matriarch is back with a spooky new music video just in time for Halloween. Hailing from their 2019 EP Critters , the new video "Snake in the Grass" digs into the cost of seeking fame and power.  Like all good cult horror movies, the video for "Snake in the Grass" opens with vocalist and guitarist Nathan Levin paging through the Necronomicon while the band scoffs. Fast forward, the quartet finds themselves in an ominous forest where they find a mysterious box filled with a golden snake idol and other magical objects. The band accidentally summons a group of cultists, who perform a ritual that grows more and more sinister through the duration of the video. The video for "Snake in the Grass" was shot by Alex Tuthill-Preus of Alleygators and True Hallucinations . According to Levin, the band first approached Tuthill-Preus last year about the video. " Alex was definitely the mastermind behind the whole video. He sho...

Artwork by Randy Timmy and Alyssa Liecht In May of this year, Cedar Falls, IA rockers Hex Girls put out their first release since their 2018 debut album More of That  with the single "Cats With No Teeth (Catch No Mice)." The quartet is currently working toward their sophomore record. Back in September, Hex Girls released a music video for the single.  "Cats With No Teeth (Catch No Mice)" showcases the Hex Girls' love for the grimier side of glam rock that was prominent in the 70s. Disco drumbeats and raucous horns offset the track's darker tone as the band turns their pop sensibilities upside down. The track's central figure feels more like Patrick Bateman strutting along to "Hip to be Square" than a faceless killer looming in the bushes somewhere off in the shadows. While you probably shouldn't kill people, Hex Girls make sure to spend the chorus affirming that sometimes you got to indulge in a little vice if it means they get what they d...

Joel Drzycimski 's music and Ear Coffee have gone hand in hand since the beginning. Some of those early cringe-worthy articles that I wrote featured Joel's old band Cureton and a few of his side projects. All of those songs ranged from parody Christmas music to quirky pop-punk jams to scathing critiques of the religious culture  we witnessed going to college. It had been a while since we heard something from the sonic chameleon, but now Joel is back with the single "Plastic." The track feels at home among the ska-punk of the late 90s and early 00s. Its bouncy guitars and walking basslines propel it through Joel's musings over the existential dilemma of growing older and the consumerism that comes with it. References to targeted marketing and various social media influencer products are thrown in a nihilistic glee as the track's chorus ends with "hail to my plastic god." "Plastic" shows Joel's songwriting chops haven't dulled in the...

After a quiet few years, the Minneapolis-by-way-of-Alaska emo act  Granddad is back with the brand new EP  What Happens Afte r, just in time for Bandcamp Friday. The release follows up Kellen Baker and Matthew Harris's tumultuous 2018 record Quitter, which chronicles the growing pains and aimlessness felt in your teens and early 20s. Instead of dwelling on the past, Granddad looks at what's coming next with this new EP.   Change is rarely quick and easy, and that is on full display on What Happens After 's opening track, "Not Twenty Anymore." Twinkly guitar riffs break up emotionally wrought lyrics about growing as a person. The opener feels like a natural response to the Quitter track "Slacker With a Death Wish." The desire to be better is still there, but now, growth is a response to being unsatisfied with what you've become. In the bridge, Baker sings about forgetting his early 20s, so he can contend with "becoming a brand new person overni...

(Cover art by Grover Hogan ) Following their smoldering June track "Taste," Minneapolis' premier funky, sexy trio Static Panic is back with single, "Spice Rack."  Ro Lorenzen's breathy opening vocals pull you close in a single motion before you can think, "Wait, this song isn't about cooking!" A bouncing synth bassline propels everything forward while Ro reads from her list of epicurean delights. The song indulges heavily in the band's electronic side to create a pulsing bop of breakbeats and additional percussion that keeps you from wanting to stand still. It continues to builds to climax before pulling back from the edge. Ro's playful vocals get turned up to eleven during the breakdown. "Did I hear you correctly when you said you want your baby back" is asked with a goosebump raising giggle. "Well, this roast is one roast you can't set and forget, alright?" is spoken with a knowing wink and nod before building...

There's a reason cutting a record, live on the floor, has the vibe it does, because you are putting lighting in a bottle. So when musician and engineer Colin Loynachan approached multi-instrumentalist Warren Thomas Fenzi about trying to capture that magic, the pair went all out with Fenzi's newest project,  Live in the Atrium . "I wanted to approach this project differently to that of past projects," Fenzi told Ear Coffee. "The main goal being to really capture the human aspect of acoustic performance in all of its imperfect glory." Loynachan, Fenzi, the Kremblems (his backing band), and the Delphia Cello Quartet set out to record the album in the four-story-high atrium of the A-Mill Lofts, where they not only put music to tape but also shot a series of videos that feel less like individual performances and more like film vignettes. Fenzi's knack for storytelling combined with the vision of filmmakers Alex Munro, Garrett Wells, and Charlie Ber...

Following up their January single, 26 BATS! is back with the next track from their forthcoming EP, Sweet Fang . This time the genre-fluid quintet is back with "National Anthem," a scathing look at the American existence and the privilege that "us white folks" enjoy on a regular basis.  "National Anthem" hits you from the get-go as Bailey Cogan paints a picture of the apathetic middle Americans. "Mom's drunk and dad's watching TV / I think they're stuck doing the same thing," Cogan laments. The situation is a common occurrence in the Orwellian existence that seems to plague our world. Cogan croons over a smoldering r&b ballad continuing to pick at society's failures with its unflinching look at Flint Michigan and unrestricted consumerism. The track is unrepentant in its criticisms choosing brutal honesty in the hope that it may lead to future change before the world ends.  " National Anthem " is out now. Liste...

After a bit of waiting, we have brand new music from the Twin Cities-based quartet Optimal Crime . The feminist hardcore act put out a three-song demo in December of 2018 and have now partnered with the Chicago record label Don't Panic Records and Distro to release their debut EP A Lifelong Fight . The EP's single "Reaper" is nothing short of a pure outburst of energy. At just 47 seconds, Optimal Crime release an unrelenting torrent of sound. Guitarist Siobán Fideler, bassist Mike Giraliaco, and drummer Ace R. synchronize for frenzied blast beats while Alissa D.'s vocal stand defiantly in the middle. "Reaper" is uncompromising as Alissa lets the listener know the score. It's one of those songs that feels like it's over before it even starts, demanding you to press play again for another white-knuckle ride of absolute fury. A Lifelong Fight is set to be released on June 3. Go preorder the EP and pick up a tape on Don't Panic's B...

There are few bands in the Minnesota music scene that can translate the world at large into an all-encompassing wall of sound the way Another Heaven does. Their last release For Ever , released in 2018, was described by the band as a "crushingly heavy yet intensely melodic collection of songs that casts a jaundiced eye on the modern American wasteland." There's a certain nihilistic tint to the lens the band looks through, and before the world came to a halt, Another Heaven was in the process of putting together their debut record, but instead of sitting on that music, the band has decided to put out a three-part series of singles over the next few months. Each part in the series features two original songs and a cover. Another Heaven kicks everything off with "Knot," a slow-burning track about the Earth destroying humanity. The lyric "A dying Earth's sweet revenge" floats among cavernous guitars and washing drums. It's a bleak response to...

Live music may not be a thing currently, but we still have new music and new projects popping up that we can hopefully see live in the future. The first to bless us is the new art-rock project from Braden Fischer (formerly of Bob Ross Mob Boss, currently of Baumgardner), Kinsey Nephele, and Greg Siganos (Pinched.), Try Not To Breath . "Stationary" is hauntingly beautiful from the get-go. Wilting guitar leads are underpinned by a fizzy bass rocking back and forth. It almost feels like that bass is the only thing keeping the whole song from just floating away. The whole affair turns up the 90's lo-fi slacker vibes as Nephele's vocals come in. Her voice is just close enough to be heard but stays aloof among the haze of guitars and drums. It's not until the last few seconds where we can hear Braden and Kinsey's overlapping duet, leaving us with a final line, "I find no peace in sleep, no stillness in silence, no calm for my heart." Try Not to Brea...

(Artwork by Stephanie Murck )   Following the release of their 2019 debut record Chew Toy , the grunge-pop quartet Sass showed they were anything but easily tossed aside. The record had the band's quick wit and petulant punk attitude on full display while handling some heavy topics. Stephanie Murck, Joey Hays, Alex McCormick, and Willem Vander Ark are now back with their first new single of 2020, "11:11." Making a wish at 11:11 am/pm has always been used as a moment to speak a desire into existence. It's rare to think about the thing we desire most not being what we expected. From the get-go, Murck questions whether she made the right decision, circling back on the phrase, "I swear that I'd be fine alone." It feels like a tug-o-war as the band goes back and forth between the verse and chorus before Murck relents say,  "But now I know how it feels, and I don't want to let it go."  Underpinning "11:11" is a wall of fuzzy gui...

Photo courtesy of The Florists I don't think that it's an overstatement to say that  The Florists  make some of the most interesting music in the local scene. The trio of Jo Kellen, Jared Hemming, and Luke Michaels released their sound collage of debut record, Prayer Starter  in March of last year. Now, the band is ramping to release its follow up full-length Hold It Together in just under a week. While I don't think The Florists had any sort of knowledge of what the world would look like when they released the self-titled single, it's hard to deny the eeriness of putting out the song "Hold It Together" amid a pandemic. The single is primarily rooted around the chanted line "Hold it together / It's gonna be alright." Damn, do they get the most out of those seven words. The track slowly devolves from a simple drum beat and synth bass line to a surrealist look at what noise music can add - I'm pretty sure there's a slide whistle b...

There is no way to describe the anticipation that built up before Harper's Jar released their debut record. The band had already left an incredible mark on the Twin Cities DIY/DIT community with the Paperhouse that could be felt everywhere. Almost every conversation about local music over the last few months has somehow pointed to  Thank You Ancestor Finger . I was even invited to attend a show by another band on the bill just so I could see what they described as "one of the best bands in Minneapolis." That band, of course, was Harper's Jar. Like everyone else, I'd listened to Harper's Jar debut EP Ode to a Luna Moth  and was instantly transfixed with the band's blend of brooding '80s alt-rock and the cutting side of '90s grunge. When the record's first single "Dandy Golden Blue" dropped last November, I was beyond excited to see what was to come next.  With all that momentum behind them, the trio of Devin Ware, Alex Dunn, ...