CALUTRON GIRLS

Several years in the making, the debut self-titled EP from from Victoria BC post-hardcore group Calutron Girls arrives on July 11. Crafted by longtime veterans of the island music scene, the EP features the blend of emo, hardcore punk, and prog that has made Calutron Girls a fast-rising buzz band in the local underground. 

The release marks a collaborative effort between the band and several heavy-hitters from across the contemporary alternative music scene; the song was engineered and mixed by Liam Moes (Peach Pit, City & Colour, Xana), mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, Nails, Drain), and features album art by Colby Carruthers (White Reaper, Nothing, Japanese Breakfast).

AVERSIONS

Vancouver/Nanaimo three-piece Aversions make clamorous post-punk that is at once cathartic and anxiety-inducing, where the structured womp of post-hardcore shares space with the chilly, subterranean textures of goth to conjure a unique strain of “lush brutality.” Empty Century, the band’s fourth release, finds them expanding on 2023’s hard- hitting You Wanted the Bike with songs that run the gamut from straight-ahead goth-rock on “Empty Century” and “Kind Word” to proto-metal, Sabbath-like ballads like “The Cockroach.”

SPARKLE BLOOD (Lethbridge, AB)

Sparkle Blood is a no-nonsense power-trio featuring airtight songcraft delivered in the time-honoured guitar/bass/drums combo. Topped off with some of the most winsome harmony singing you’ll hear this year, Sparkle Blood offers a succinct, melodic meditation on the world today: half outrage, half celebration, and all hooks.

THE OCTOBER CRISIS

Victoria BC mathcore legends are back from the dead once again. Originally formed as teenagers in the mid-00s, the power trio gained a reputation for their dizzying live show that featured technical musicianship, blood-curdling screams, and a penchant for the unpredictable.