As we’ve been alluding to on the podcast for the past couple of weeks, world events are likely going to result in shows and tours being cancelled (as well as simply not being booked), as well as would-be attendees being incapable of attending live shows, or simply being hesitant of travelling to do so. We mention this by way of telling folks that if there are shows or festivals happening near you, the bands and promoters involved are likely going to be counting on local audiences more than ever. Obviously economic uncertainty in addition to travel security is a factor right now (oh, what a time to be alive), but if you do have the means to do so, consider dishing out a few extra shekels here and there to help out the artists in Our Thing as well as those working to put them on stage. On with this week’s Tracks!

Bootblacks, white coats

Comaduster, “Wavelike”
It’s been ages since we had new music from friend of the site Réal Cardinal and his Comaduster project, but the first seconds of new track “Wavelike” certainly made the wait worth it. If you know the project, you’ll no what to expect; incredibly elaborate sound design with endless amounts of micro-glitches and edits, married to honest-to-god-songwriting and melodies. Interestingly we’re hearing a lot of Cardinal’s interest in the current wave of hyper-comples progressive metal more than ever before. Great stuff, as it always has been and always will be.

Rhys Fulber, “Running Out Of Sand”
At the clip that Rhys Fulber’s solo run has been going, a layoff of nearly a full year since his last LP actually seems substantive…which is of course to ignore his heavy touring, remixing, and even photography schedule. Still, this stripped down and direct banger is a great reintroduction to the style Fulber’s been plying so well, its core programming and rhythm feeling both of the moment and calling back to the earliest roots of electronic dance, all augmented with just enough of the subtle atmospherics which Fulber’s imbued his standalone work with.

Bootblacks, “Only You”
Bootblacks have been priming the pump for the June release of Paradise for a while now, releasing singles like “Forbidden Flame” and “Wilderness” that rank amongst the best songs in the band’s catalogue to date. New taster “Only You” continues that trend, taking the bands synth-tinged post-punk and wedding it to a groovy rhythm courtesy of Chris Vrenna (!!) and some smokey sax from session player Benjamin Harrison, resulting in a genuinely great rave-up that showcases the NYC band’s unique identity in full.

Unter Null, “Coming Up To Breathe”
We couldn’t tell you exactly when we shifted from thinking that Unter Null was simply on hiatus to presuming that Erica Dunham’s long-running industrial project had been permanently retired, but the sudden appearance of this new cut not only undoes those presumptions but has us flashing back to the lay of the land the last time we would have heard from Unter Null. Immediate and flashy with a healthy amount of acidic bite, this is a great reintroduction to one of the stalwarts of a classic club-focused style.

Give My Remains To Broadway, “Coke – Remix (feat. Casket Cassette)”
Give My Remains To Broadway’s take on darkwave has relied on lean, speedy minimalism and a heavy influence from pop-punk and indie rock of generations past, and so it’s not especially surprising that their new set of remixes of the This Party Sucks EP don’t go for easy four-four club layups. Instead, reworkings like this one with a feature from LA’s likeminded Casket Cassette play things close to the chest, making only minor modulations to the already dialed in and focused original.

Mari Kattman, “Anemia”
Recent Metropolis Records signee Mari Kattman brings her signature powerful vocals and some mid-tempo dancefloor grooves with new single “Anemia”. If you’ve followed Kattman’s work between her numerous guest appearances, as half of Helix with Tom Shear, and her solo work the control and confidence of her delivery won’t be a surprise, but the single does show some growth in song construction, with a strong instrumental hook and nice tight dancefloor arrangement that compliment the vocal perfectly.