This band is from Texas but it sounds like they should be from somewhere colder and foggier. A place where at a certain time of night, the shadows come alive and dance in the realm of the living. Perhaps centuries of fallen souls grow restless and are beginning to channel their despair into the vessels that inhabit the area. In hopes of reaching the outside world and communicating their woe and agony to anyone who will listen and take pity. This I feel could be what Nocturnal Prose are projecting through their music. Through this other dimensional pain, come lessons and warnings to us, the living here and now.  OUR MI$ERY IS THEIR CURRENCY by Nocturnal Prose I wouldn't say Nocturnal Prose is a full on goth or death rock band, but they certainly cut in heavy slices of it into their sound salad. The rest of it is sprinkled with what remind me of darker new wave like Red Lorry Yellow Lorry or The Chameleons. The singer has a voice that sounds like it's echoing back to you from ins...

Erica Rose (Appaloosa) and Marco Palumbo (Miscalculations) step into the macabre with this new collaboration. The overall tone of this album is shadowy, sharp and striking. It's the perfect blend of desolation and ferocity riding on a stream of melodic guitars and sure fire drum beats. Self Incrimination sounds like a lost late 70's or early 80's 4AD goth/post punk record. Even right down to the minimalist production which makes the songs on Recreation of an Empty Space  drip with despair and savagery. Palumbo bellows out some great guitar riffs reminiscent of, but never poaching, Billy Duffy's in The Cult's Love or Wayne Hussey's in The Sisters of Mercy's First and Last and Always. Rose's vocals are remarkably haunting yet cut with a sense of anguish that's like an emotive mix of Nico and Siouxsie Sioux.  Recreation of an Empty Space by Self Incrimination It is my opinion that a lot of bands, especially bands that are now playing dark rock music lik...

A week ago, I knew absolutely nothing about Station Model Violence, zero, zip. However, it's bands like this that are the reason I started writing about music and built a platform on which to do it on. I got several emails, all from different people urging me to check this band out. I hate to say I love a good buzz band and it seems like Station Model Violence has folks getting the tingles on several continents.  The band is from Sydney and has members of Total Control, DEN, and R.M.F.C. They've been called "supergroup" but that doesn't mean squat to me. You know how many "supergroups" I've heard that stink up the room something awful? Well, let's just say it's enough for me to squint my eyes and think, supergroup huh? Well, we'll see about that! I mean, I thought Total Control were kind of a "supergroup" already as well? One of the things I found so interesting is that a lot of  the songs have such a different feel to them. The...

Paradox Intact  is the band's first release since 2020 I believe . This is when their remarkable The Perfect Candidate LP   came out . So if I'm counting correctly, this would make it Miscalculations sixth long player since their debut dropped back in 2013. I mention this not because the band is starting to sound trite or dull after so many releases, quite the opposite in fact. Shaun Clark and Marco Palumbo Rodrigues jump back into the melee head first with fists tightened and teeth clenched. On this much anticipated new record, the band's resolve appears herculean, vision seems clearer, and direction is locked in and focused. Like urban nocturnal hunters honing in on their prey in the darkest of moonless nights. The band continues to take us down a rainy, dimly lit, neo-futuristic world with songs that evoke only the most ruinous of human emotions. Most of the time the tracks on this record have the bass guitar guiding the way through the murky waters like Charon th...

T-Red - Partie 1984-1985 LP (Nausea Records) This Belgian three piece formed in 1981 when the band members where still in high school! As you can see by the title of the record, the band was unfortunately short lived. Before disbanding however, they managed to record a 4-track promo tape called Partie , which is all included here. The fine folks at Nausea decided to include the band's 8 track demo to make this a bonafide full length release, and thank the maker they did! The original band members just uncovered these tracks just a couple of years ago! This is the kind of thing that actually does keep me up at night. The thought that a brilliant band like this exists in obscurity out there somewhere and it just passes me by like a warm breeze in the night. All of the tracks here have been restored and remastered too by the way and they sound great! The demo portion of this release sounds excellent, the production is a tiny bit leaner just because that's how it was originally rec...

The self proclaimed "dorkwave" band Smart Shoppers came out with their third LP in 2025 and it was one of the most original and entertaining records I listened to last year. Their caffeinated mix of XTC meets The Dickies is loud, bouncy and always obnoxiously poking at your eyeballs. They got the pop hooks, they got the tightly coiled guitar riffs, they got a slide whistle! So call it dorkwave, spazpunk, or jtterrock, Smart Shoppers are here to make sure things stay awkward and eyebrows remain furrowed.  photo by Adam Ziegenhals Shock Treatment: Let’s start out with who’s all currently in Smart Shoppers? Smart Shoppers: Smart Shoppers is and will always be Aaron Smart(Rice) on guitar, Jash Thrift(Stamps) on drums, Norby Shopko (Rev. Norb) on bass, and myself; Joey Shops(Lambert) on vocals and random sounds. ST: How did you guys all meet and decide to form the band? SS: Aaron and Jash are brothers-in-law and most of us have known one another for a couple decades at least. Ther...

Eel Men released their debut LP in 2025 and I can't remember the last time I heard a debut record sound so unique yet fully formed right out of the gate! Is it power pop? Is it post punk? Does it sound a bit like Wire meets Nick Lowe? The answer is yes, yes and yes! Trying to pick apart the Eel Men and pin down  their influences is not an easy task and that's what makes them so great.  Shock Treatment: Let’s get things going by telling me who is currently in Eel Men and what everyone does in the band? Eel Men: Hi Jay and Shock Treatment! We are Jimmy on vocals and guitar, Rory on guitar, Alec on bass and backing vocals and Matt on Drums. ST:  On your website, it says you guys formed in 2021, what’s the band’s origin story?  How did you guys all meet and decide to play together? EM: We all know each from playing music around north London. Rory and Jimmy have been in bands together forever and Matt and Alec are brothers who moved over to London from Atlanta, Georgia ye...

  One of the things that initially drew me to punk rock music was earnestness. I guess you can say it's the main ingredient that continues to bring me back to that particular cookie jar over and over. Do you have something to say? And more importantly do I believe in you enough for me to buy what you're selling? I can't recall the exact moment I first heard Home Front or even the first song, but I can tell you how it made me feel. I know this because it's the same way listening to this, the band's second LP. It makes me sit up straight, pay attention, clench my fists, and decide whole heartedly that the struggle is worth carrying on. From this, you can conclude that I indeed opened up my old Boba Fett wallet and bought what Home Front was selling me.  I have been eagerly awaiting this release since the very first announcements were made. After listening to Watch It Die  a few times, swishing it around my head and really taking it in, I decided that it did not disapp...

The Estranged have managed to hitch the cold, brooding atmospherics that are associated with bands like Wire or Joy Division to the hard driving vehicle of punk rock. This marriage is, as most may think to the contrary, not an easy task to accomplish. The qualities that exist in punk and post-punk take a certain kindred spirit or a particular frame of mind in a person to fully appreciate what each of these genres has. So the binding of these two sounds doesn’t produce the most palpable form of music for most. It’s not power pop, or bubblegum, The Estranged play a type of music with a seriously dark and unforgiving side to it. I think many people don’t like to be reminded that these aspects are part of the very essence of what makes one human and it exists in everybody, in some more dormant than others. Once you come to this realization and let this band’s music sink into your soul, you’re gonna wonder where they’ve been your whole life. This interview originally appeared in Audio Ammun...

Man Hands is a tightly coiled powerhouse of a band with apparitions of Chrome and The Fall swirling around them. The band released their self-titled debut LP in the winter of 2012, which was a powder keg of frenzied lo-fi anxiety. In the middle of the sweltering summer of 2013, Man Hands hit the dehydrated youths of Arizona with their second long player titled Misadventures. This time the band came out sounding darker, chaotic and agitated; emotions many Phoenicians can relate to in the sweltering 120° weather. The band has been touring, playing SXSW and have become a fixture in the local music scene in the Phoenix/Tempe area, steadily gaining a loyal following. Soon it won’t just be the good people of the Grand Canyon State, but the entire country, then the world will pledge their allegiance to Man Hands! This interview originally appeared in Audio Ammunition on December 12th, 2014 Interview by J Castro Shock Treatment: So, who’s all in the band what does everyone do in it? JACKIE: M...