Real Farmer – Heart Out

by Stephan Boissonneault

Back in 2024, which feels like a lifetime ago for me, Real Farmer, a scrappy post-punk group from Groningen, Netherlands, released one of my favourite heavy music releases I’ve heard in a while. I’ll still throw on the buzzing and volatile Compare What’s There album when I feel a need for mayhem—that insatiable thirst to beat the concrete into submission. They’ve followed it up with a small EP, RF II, and a few newer singles, including this new one, “Heart Out.”

This newer song is straight to point punk anthem—an impassioned plea for giving up and thriving in resistance, chained to love. As trilling, feedbacky guitar rings, a steady drum beat, and the grooving bassline (the true hero of this track in my opinion), vocalist Jeroen Klootsema (with a bleeding or ketchup-ridden nose, you know this is art) absolutely loses his shit in Margate’s greasy spoon diner, Dalby cafe—the audience? The cameraman, Roger Sargent (The Libertines, Vona Vella, Baxter fuckin’ Dury), and two dudes eating their breakfast.

More importantly, Real Farmer has a new record coming out on Strap Originals in May called Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right. Is this the follow-up I’ve been waiting for? Only time will tell.

Art Pop / Art Punk / Art Rock / Post-Punk

Sunglaciers Announce Spritual Content LP with new single “Eye to Eye”

by Stephan Boissonneault

Sunglaciers, your favourite velocitized Albertan speedfreak alchemists are back with a hot new single and trippy video called “Eye to Eye,” the first from their upcoming fourth album, Spiritual Content (out March 27 via Mothland). “Eye to Eye” is classic Sunglaciers—buzzing vocals cutting through the static, motorik procession drums, an angular lead guitar that is as evil as it is dancy, and a message to all stay together—even though we’re all surrounded by constant chaos. There is also a strange synth breakdown that feels like an orchestra slowly melting and conceding to that same static. Sunglaciers’ songs are always a vibe, like watching a Ron Howard film in an altered state.

“Eye to Eye” comes with a sporadic black-and-white music video, directed by Sunglaciers’ vocal stooge Evan Resnik, featuring old propaganda imagery and movies from the ’40s. It feels like a bad flashback to an unruly acid trip, the ones that make you feel happy and sad to be alive.

Sunglaciers will be rolling through Montreal during Mothland’s Taverne Tour on February 13. I’ve personally had the privilege to listen to Spiritual Content multiple times, and it is easily Sunglaciers’ best work since their 2022 album, Subterranea. Kids, you are not prepared.

Alt Folk / Country Folk / Folk

VIDEO PREMIERE: Dominique Claire – When We Get Older

by Stephan Boissonneault

You may know the music of Sherbrooke, Quebec’s Dominique Claire, from a past Queb funk/pop album project called Bermuda, back from 2022, but she has now unveiled a new chapter of her evolving sound with a debut single under her own name, “When We Get Older.” The track, written in part with Montreal singer-songwriter Justin Saladino, has a more alternative folk country vibe—acoustic guitar, slide guitar, a steady backbeat, and Claire’s nostalgic verse married with the deep vibrato of Saladino’s—than the Bermuda project, sung in English and touching on the power of everyday life, growing up and resilience.

“When We Get Older” drops with a powerful, gorgeous music video, though the term “short film” might be more accurate, shot on 16mm and directed by Montreal indie powerhouse Maïlis. The video is a coming-of-age film following a boy (Jayden Sauvé) as he navigates personal growth, exploring junkyards and hazy memories. The camera work by Antoine Ryan pairs beautifully with the calming energy of Claire’s alternative country sounds, and brings to mind the work of director Lynne Ramsay, specifically her Scottish coming-of-age epic, Ratcatcher. “When We Get Older,” is a monolithic debut that will stay burned in your mind and make you remember the easier days of growing up. The single is out November 5, pre-save here: https://tr.ee/FeKf9084Yg

Horror Punk / Post-Punk / Rock / Surf

Bossanova Frankenstein – Bossanova Frankenstein

by Stephan Boissonneault

From a darkened, suburban and cob-webbed laboratory in Burlington, Ontario, a reanimated corpse was born—one ready to shock and groove on this Hallow’s Eve. Bossanova Frankenstein is the brainchild of Evan Henderson (who you may know from the electro art punk group, AUS!Funkt). It apparently began as a cheeky AUS!Funkt single idea and morphed into a full-fledged monster ego project.

The track features some kitschy lyrical chaos, perfect for the night of ghouls, surf rock guitar, haunted house synths, and of course, a discount, syncopated Bossanova beat. It feels like one of those musical ideas you have while stoned out of your gourd, but once you actually bring it to fruition, it all comes together perfectly. This song is catchy as hell and comes with a DIY $0 budget video, featuring Henderson—dolled up as the Bossanova Frankenstein and some greenscreen horror magic. No word on whether this Halloween idea is a one off or if Henderson will jump into a Dubstep Dracula, or glam rock Werewolf next, but until then, groove with “Bossanova Frankenstein.”

Experimental / Hip Hop / hip-hop alternatif

Boutique Feelings Announces Debut Album with “Long Shore”

by Stephan Boissonneault

Boutique Feelings, the Montreal alternative hip hop project of Atsuko Chiba’s Karim Lakhdar, has finally announced the follow-up to their self-titled three-song single release earlier this year. Across nine tracks, Shwaya, Shwaya, the debut LP, will be released in mid-November via Mothland and explore all facets of hip hop while holding somewhat of a heated and lyrical sociopolitical lens. Lakhdar explores themes of alienation, social justice, and personal identity through sounds of psychedelic trip hop, funk, and other experimental textures.

The madness begins with “Long Shore,” a newly released single that addresses the plague of social media. For Lakhdar, social media is a cesspool that warps your mind. “From videos of death and war to videos of cats and food, our brain is forced to jump from emotion to emotion within seconds. I noticed this behaviour in myself, where I would scroll through my feed and cry, then laugh, then feel hopeful and then sad again, all within minutes.”

“Long Shore” begins with a heavy and distorted “drunken drummer,” swing beat, a mishmash of synthesizers and noise, and some melodic flute flourishes for good measure. The song is accompanied by a mostly black and white music video (directed by Anthony Sifoni) featuring Lakhdar rapping directly at the camera, which brings back that old-school boom-bap vibe. Still, the instrumentation is enough to make your head spin.

Opening photo by Aabid Youssef

Experimental Rock / Post-hardcore / Prog Rock

Atsuko Chiba – Climax Therapy

by Stephan Boissonneault

Following up on the absolutely unhinged, post-hardcore single “Pope’s Cocaine,” which revealed a new shade of Montreal’s experimental rockers, Atsuko Chiba, the boys are back with the next single, “Climax Therapy.” This one is much more of a slow burn, starting with a minor desert-type lead as lead vocalist and guitar player Karim Lahkdar croons about deception, crippling fear, and a need for love.

The song eventually explodes into a messed-up motoric prog rock (peak Atsuko Chiba) as the band throws out a number of labyrinthian melodies to make your head spin and drops into a pit of webbing and noise. We’ve got a psychedelic, mutating visualizer for your eyes (I feel like I’m watching Videodrome or something) as you sing along or just sit back and witness the madness.

Psychedelia / Trip Hop

Brainwasher – At Least It Beats an Actor

by Stephan Boissonneault

Acid-brained trip hop could be a way to describe ” At Least It Beats an Actor,” the debut single of Brainwasher, a duo project made up of Matthew Duckworth Kirksey and Tommy McKenzie, of The Flaming Lips. Kirksey (vocals, drums, keyboards, sampler) and McKenzie (guitar, bass, keyboards, sampler) create a truly psychedelic atmosphere with in-the-red lead guitar, thundering bass, and a standard drum sample, while Kirksey’s hypnotic vocals slowly pull you closer and closer. This feels like the type of music that plays in the back of your mind right on the come up of an unruly trip.

“At Least It Beats an Actor” is the first single from Brainwasher’s upcoming LP, 39 Lightyears from Heaven (out via Mothalnd on September 9). The album is basically 10 years in the making, as the duo have been working on it in secret while touring with The Flaming Lips. Surrealist art, the American West, David Lynch, Nick Cave, Portishead, and their home state of Oklahoma are Brainwasher’s direct influences.

“At Least It Beats an Actor” also comes with a sporadic, strobe-drenched music video you can check out below.

Indie Rock / Shoegaze

Karma Glider – Love Bleeds

by Stephan Boissonneault

Karma Glider is back with a new single, “Love Bleeds,” a shoegaze pop fever dream featuring sampled vocals, synthesizer swashes, amped up guitars, and much, much feedback. This track sounds like someone fired a glitter cannon during a breakup—sparkly, chaotic, and oddly beautiful. The fuzzy guitars and reverb-soaked vocals swirl together as the vocals float in like a ghost who’s really into dream journals. Every chorus hits like an emotional confetti bomb, leaving you unsure whether to cry, dance, or just lie on the floor. It’s heartbreak you can dance to—if your idea of dancing includes staring at your shoes and feeling all your damn feelings at once.

“Love Bleeds” comes with a cool animated video by Philippe Beauséjour, depicting the face of a shadow man covered by shapes and splotches of colour. The song is also the lead single of Karma Glider’s upcoming debut LP, From the Haze of a Revved Up Youth, out July 11 via Mothland.

Art Rock / soft-rock / Yacht Rock

SAMWOY – Diamond Eyes

by Stephan Boissonneault

If you look back on all of SAMWOY’s music videos, there is always a cinematic thread or through-line to them. He’s a guy who loves films and isn’t afraid to step into a genre, or in the case of his latest, “Diamond Eyes,” fuse two into a transfixing 4-minute video.

To match the luminous, yet crooner-tinged vibe of the latest track, he and director Jefferey Mitchell (who slays on saxophone in SAMWOY’s band and the video) went for a film noir vibe, but the kind of surreal film noir you’d find from Luis Buñuel, Federico Fellini, and of course, David Lynch.

As a subdued artsy yacht rock takes hold, SAMWOY roams the streets of Montreal, donning an eye patch, dwelling on his encounter with the beautiful Kandle Osborne (who comes out a bit more than scarred). The overlay effect of the film adds to the subdued chaos, leading up to the explosive sax solo from Mitchell. Top stuff from SAMWOY as he quickly approaches the release of his album Even Sad Boys Like to Have Fun out at the end of May via Hidden Ship.

Neo-Psychedelia / pop / pop psychédélique

Meggie Lennon – My Best Self

by Stephan Boissonneault

The flower of Montreal’s psychedelic pop scene, Meggie Lennon, is back with her new single, “My Best Self,” a lush and grooving self-reclamation of beauty standards, self-identity and emotional freedom. The track features a cascading piano, vibrant yet subtle rhythm section, some bright saloon-esque guitar, and the star of the track, Meggie’s sweet-as-honey voice.

Honey is featured in the looping music video. As the screen intersects, we have a slow-moving image of Meggie’s arm about to be waxed—the absurdity of beauty standards—and on the other, it is contrasted by a man’s simple joys—oozing honey on a baguette. The two videos eventually meet and flow into each other after an arm writes out the words “My Best Self” in honey and then loops again. By the third time the video loops, it kind of feels like you’re trapped, much you are by societal beauty standards. It’s a simple video, and quite effective.

“My Best Self,” comes from Meggie Lennon’s upcoming sophomore album, Desire Days, out June 20th via Mothland. Meggie will also be playing the album during the Montreal Jazz Fest in early July.

Alternative / Noise Rock / Post-Punk

Model/Actriz – Cinderella

by Stephan Boissonneault

Model/Actriz, a weird post-punk/noise rock group now based in New York, has had a mysterious allure to them since they started getting recognition in 2019. Their music is dark and frenetic and often has heavy undertones of lyrical queerness, really separating them from a pretty hetero-dominated genre. The latest single, “Cinderella,” is quite similar in vibe (think of an evil club) to much of the content on their debut album Dogsbody. Still, the visual narrative video, by Nathan Castiel, puts it in another universe.

Using the fairytale of Cinderella as a metaphor and literal embodiment for a man who, as a child, wished he had a “Cinderella birthday party” gives the whole song a sincere quality. But the video itself is like a modern fever-dream adaptation of the fairytale. Lead vocalist Cole Haden plays the role of Cinderella while going through the many toils of the character before he meets his fairy godmother, and they attend a darkened rave. Taxidermied rats follow the story and some Lynchian-style Prince’s Henchman characters. Is it a happy ending? Who’s to say? “Cinderella” comes before Model/Actriz’s follow-up album, Pirouette, in May.

Alt-Country / Americana / Country

Les Hay Babies – Some People

by Stephan Boissonneault

Acadian folk-rock trio Les Hay Babies released their fourth album, Tintamarre last October under Simone Records and they have now with charted out an extensive Canadian tour running from March to October.

To kick off the upcoming festivities, they’ve released a new music video for the Anglo track of the album “Some People.”

Under a bed of honky tonk country rock, “Some People” addresses those on the go – specifically, people searching for something, whether they’re heading to L.A. to make movies, Brussels or Dublin for a beer, or Nashville to become a star. But as the girls sing, wherever you go, don’t forget where you come from. You can chase fame or stay away from the big city. Either way, your roots follow you wherever you go.

Les Hay Babies I Elizabeth Landry

The music video from Elizabeth Landry feels very 70s-inspired. It features a man (Antoine Bourque) dancing in his Americana basement, picturing a bigger life for himself as his mother (Suzanne Morin) asks what all the racket is. She then promptly joins in the dancing. With references to Alan Jackson and The Buffet, it’s hard to imagine this song coming from ladies from Acadian New Brunswick…