Andy

Listening through the tracks on this pair of releases, I was reminded of many things. For the most part, the albums contain pleasantly low key pop rock tunes, but I found myself being reminded at times of the sort of vaguely dreamy music put out by the likes of Sarah Records, classic punk, and even the ‘80s rock tunes I jammed out to on vinyl as a kid. In the case of A Room Forever, I also found it pretty impressive that the whole thing meshed as well as it did since Seraphin’s instrumental and vocal parts were filled out into more substantive pieces with the help of remotely-recorded musicians.
Premiering here is the nifty music video for A Room Forever’s opening track, “Clock Without Hands.” Check out the video below and head over to Mt. St. Mountain to preorder the 12” EP, which ships in early October. Paisley Shirt Records will also be reissuing a casette release. 

Premiering here is a playful stop-motion music video about which the band explains: "’Keep Me Going’ is the intro track off CODY’s debut EP A House That’s On Fire. The band decided to keep it simple, having front man Cody Wilson draw a nice story about love on the water and take some photos of his work for your viewing pleasure."
Dig the video below, and head over to Bandcamp or Spotify to check out the full EP.  The band is also playing a livestream set tonight, September 3rd; info can be found here.

Premiering here, we have the video for album cut “Am I?” which struck me, both in terms of the content and overall aesthetic, as seeming like something particularly wild one might’ve found on public access TV in the wee hours. About the video, the band explains: “The song ‘Am I?’ is about second guessing everything and the nervous energy that it creates. We wanted the video to reflect that. It was made using a string of cheap VCRs, a dubbed copy of Altered States, and a Gieskes Schele-Mixer.”
Dig into the mind-melting video below, Altered States indeed, and head over to Let’s Pretend Records to preorder the album. Evil Seeds is released on September 4th.
 
 

Premiering below is a track from Preface entitled “Conflict.” Founding and original vocalist Eric Reeder says this about the track: “When treasures get unburied, it’s priceless. These songs with Mic, Roy, & Jesse are still top shelf highlights in my life. After 25+ years, having all the eras of Zao still holding meaning to so many has me in awe. From all the fans to all those who added their part to the band, the movement known as Zao is such a collective experience. This was always the dream.” 
Both Zao releases drop October 9th on Steadfast Records and can be preordered here. Check out “Conflict” below.
 
Preface: Early Recordings 1995-1996 by Zao