Making Friends As Adults – New Road

Got this press kit / review request yesterday for Making Friends As Adults, a newer band on the Baltimore, MD scene. It’s got a very 90s vibe to it, like 120 minutes / Lilith Fair style. Emo, post punkish more than punk, certainly.

It’s a well done album. A+ on the production and effort. While rather slow in points, there’s are some more uptempo tracks like Track 3 “Cupid’s Revenge for instance. Lot’s of “relationship” songs and lyrics that border on maudlin, but it’s emo though, right?

It’s a little more emo than I tend to delve into, and that is totally cool. It’s good to diversify sometimes. In a lot of ways, this album reminds me a lot of Frente!, which is a good thing in my book.

Check it out for yourself though.

Cheers!
Jerry Actually

Bio:
New to the Baltimore music scene in 2023, Making Friends As Adults (MFAA) is an energetic four-piece rock band combining elements of 90s/00s melodic punk, emo, post-hardcore, and math rock. MFAA’s lyrics explore the emotional highs and lows of relationships, mental health, and self-acceptance. Accompanying this introspective experience, the band delivers a lively performance moving listeners from fast-paced blast beats, half-time breakdowns, and complex rhythms to catchy hooks, grungy riffs, and poppy, emotive vocals.

Band:
Leigh McNally (she/her): Lead Vocals
Graham Twibell (he/him): Electric Guitar
Matt Severson (~3/4 he, 1/4 she) : Bass Guitar & Backing Vocals
Kenneth Noble (he/him): Drums/Percussion & Manager

Giglinger – Shrapnel

Shrapnel is the new EP from punk / post-punk band, Giglinger from Helsinki Finland. Two tracks and two alternate “Edit” versions of the same tracks offer up some solid atypical rock and roll. 

The songs are quick, fairly rapidly paced and rhythmically tight. The tunes are washed in shifting sonic themes. Despite the overall brevity of the tracks, they seem somehow more epic than the numbers would have you believe. At times the overall sound is reminiscent of Dead Kennedys, and the EP really carries some of the post-apocalyptic soundscape of a Voivod release. 

If you’re looking for a little something new, check out Giglinger’s new EP – Shrapnel

Cheers!
Jerry Actually

Track 1: The Man With Shrapnel in His Head
Track 2: Born Dead Buried Alive

Mantarochen – In The Badgers Cave

I’ve been listening to “In The Badger’s Cave”, the new EP from Leipzig’s Mantarochen for a few days now, and honestly, I can’t get enough. I don’t know if it’s my particular frame of mind at the moment or my tastes shifting, but this is really hitting a sweet spot.

The sound is Post Punk / Cold Wave, blending genres handily. It’s as easy to draw Siouxsie comparisons, as it is Bauhaus and Berlin. There’s a decidedly 80s vibe to the entire thing and as much as I’m a sucker for nostalgia, this EP stands on its own in a new era. 

Industrial noise and low-fi synth oscillations and arpeggios punctuate underwater guitar and pulsing bass. Lilting dreamy vocals flit in and out between the ever-so-slightly dissonant melody. 

The new EP is out on May 31, 2024 on It’s Eleven Records. Please check it out.

While you wait for the EP, checkout this video for Grey:

Cheers!

Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1. Reflection
2. I’m Sand
3. Jaguar
4. Grey
5. Blue Heads
6. Still Black

Mantarochen:
Diana – Synth, Vocals
Sebi – Guitar
Tom – Bass