The V13 Fix #002 w/ Mean Jeans, Belmondo, Haystack and more

Welcome to the latest The V13 Fix our weekly round-up of some of the best albums, singles and EPs to drop in our laps/inboxes this week. From pop to black metal to experimental pop to punk rock, there is something for everyone in this mix of new music. Check out and support all the bands and labels if you like what you hear and if there is a particular album you like, make sure you head over to Spotify and check out one of our specially curated playlists where there is more great new music added daily.

Alternatively, if you’re in a band or want one of your bands considered for inclusion. Get in touch. While we can’t guarantee every album or EP we receive will be included, there are still plenty of other ways we can support you.

So, without further ado, sit back, plug in your headphones and get this week’s V13 Fix of new music…

The Chisel
‘What A Fucking Nightmare’
Pure Noise Records

Spitting and kicking their way out of the London punk scene, The Chisel epitomise everything which made that scene hated by the establishment, your parents and the media. Snot-covered spitballs of furious, ugly noise, What A Fucking Nightmare is the kind of album that needs to be cranked up loud, really fucking loud while you pogo around your bedroom with your middle finger raised right in the air. Born from the streets of London, The Chisel snarl and sneer their way through each of the fuck-you drenched tracks proving that real punk rock never died.

Pick up your copy of What A Fucking Nightmare from here.

Where Oceans Burn
‘The Faces We Portray’
Prime Collective

Hailing from Manchester, England, metalcore quartet Where Oceans Burn might pull their influences from the likes of Architects and Northlane but, as last year showed the band are equally at home gigging with the likes of Decapitated. Delving into the usual themes of fear and personal struggle, the Manchester band dish up a polished blend of neck-wrecking riffery, clean/harsh vocals and pulsating electronica. Obviously it’s nothing you won’t have heard before but as they demonstrate on the likes of recent single “Euphoria”, the quartet have the ability to write some quality modern metal earworms.

Pick up your copy of The Faces We Portray here.

Like Moths to Flames
‘Paradigm Trigger/Angel Weep’
UNFD

When it comes to metalcore you have to go some to impress the hardened veteran of the scene these days. That being said, while Like Moths To Flames don’t do anything to redefine the genre, the ferocity and unrepentant fury with which they smash through this double-sided single, should please metalcore-weary ears. The first new music since last year’s, “I Found The Dark Side of Heaven”, the double-sided single has been labelled as the “most vicious the band has ever sounded.” It’s certainly hard to dispute that and these jarring, neck-snapping riffs and harsh vocals should have metalcore fans racing at great speed to the nearest circle pit.

Pick up your copy of “Paradigm Trigger/Angel Weep” here.

SNAYX
‘Better Days’
Self-Released

Brighton-based three-piece Snayx have been picking up a constant stream of fans thanks to their name popping up on tours and festivals all over the shop. Born in a mosh-pit, the trio play a sound that it’s impossible to pigeonhole. Packed with attitude, they’ve got the sneer of the punk scene, the melodies of the indie scene and the beats of the dance scene. Mangled all together it creates a sound that belongs in the very same mosh pit that spat it out. Wonderfully eclectic, even when they head down a more refrained path, as they do on “King”, there is still that expectation for things to kick off big time. If you’re still to see what the fuss is about, dive head first into this EP, you won’t regret it.

Pick up your copy of Better Days here.

Jordsjuk
‘Viva la Apocalypse’
Indie Recordings

Seeing the words “Norwegian Black Metal scene” doesn’t quite fill you with the fear it did back in the genre’s heyday but that’s not to say it doesn’t still deliver a vicious sting every now and again. Jordsjuk are the latest in a new wave of bands spewed up from the underground of the genre with their current single pulling no punches. Hammering along at the kind of speed that would get you an automatic ban, “Viva la Apocalypse” also comes with a mighty rock ‘n’ roll groove. Described as blackened rock/metal, if we are to face our impending doom, what better cold-hearted soundtrack than the one these Norwegians spit out?

Pick up your copy of “Viva la Apocalypse” here.

Mean Jeans
‘Blasted’
Fat Wreck Chords

Portland slime-punks Mean Jeans have been rattling eardrums for fifteen years now with their rapid fire machine gun punk rock anthems. Blasted sees no change from the three-piece either. Old-school Ramonesesque songs about absurd subjects like B-movie comedy horror movie Class of Nuke ‘Em High make Blasted a fifteen song punk rock party. No frills, no airs or graces, just blasts of melodic, catchy punk rock. Occasionally, the Aussie mates take a more retrospective approach (“Look What Punks Done To You” for example) but, for the most part, Blasted is the sound of a band who, in their own words, “are in it for the good times”.

Pick up your copy of Blasted here.

Infected Rain
‘Time’
Napalm Records

It felt like that period between 2022 & 2023 was the perfect time for Moldovan metallers Infected Rain to release their fifth album Ecdysis. A hit across the metal scene, the band are now back with their new album Time, a collection which takes the best elements of its predecessor and amps them right up starting with vocalist Lena Scissorhands‘ gargantuan vocals. From feral screams to ethereal singing, Scissorhands has a voice to match whichever direction the Moldovan metal band heads in. From jackhammer metal to gothic, haunting sections, Time is an album that flits effortlessly between pummelling your senses to setting your nerve ends tingling.

Pick up your copy of Time here.

Normandie
‘Dopamine’
Easy Life

We’ve all been there – tired, stressed, lethargic – and we all turn to that quick fix to give us something to get us fired up. For some it’s alcohol, for some it’s drugs, for some it’s music. Swedish band Normandie explore that theme in their new album, Dopamine, pondering the question have we pushed our minds too far in search of that quick fix? In terms of the quick fix this album provides press play and you’ll get a fifteen track shot of emotional, energetic, catchy-as-fuck anthems from the huge “Hourglass” complete with appearance of Bury Tomorrow frontman Dani Winter-Bates to the soaring “Ritual”. The future might be fucked as the band claim but, there’s nothing wrong with heading into that bleakness with this gem blasting out of your phone/tablet/laptop/toothbrush…

Pick up your copy of Dopamine here.

Pissed Jeans
‘Sixty-Two Thousand Dollars In Debt’
Sub Pop

Taken from their upcoming new album Half-Divorced, “Sixty-Two Thousand Dollars In Debt” is a minute and a half of grinding thrashy hardcore-punk. Rough around the edges, the latest offering from the album continues to dissect the shittier side of growing up into adulthood. It’s delivered with unfiltered honesty and a stack of bottled-up aggression but, with a twist which says that, despite having to wade through a mire of shit, it doesn’t always have to be like that. Thankfully, if life has got you by the short n’ curlies, there are bands like Pissed Jeans to help you through it.

Pick up your copy of Half-Divorced here.

Haystack
‘Doomsday Goes Away’
Threeman Recordings

If I told you that Haystack was formed 1994 by Ulf Cederlund (Entombed, Disfear) after a North American tour where the band Unsane opened up for Entombed, that should give you some indication of what to expect. And you’d be right. Fucked-up noise rock is the order of the day on the third full album from the band. Inspired by the likes of Unsane, Melvins and Dinosaur Jr, Doomsday Goes Away is a full-throttle, no-holds-barred sonic assault. Right from the off the album lurches through ten tracks of dirty riffs and gravel-splattered vocals recorded in as little time as possible. Minimum fuss, maximum noise exactly what you’d expect when someone from Entombed gorges on a diet of Unsane records.

Pick up your copy of Doomsday Goes Away here.

The Body & Dis Fig
‘To Walk A Higher Path’
Thrill Jockey

We all have our own definition of heavy but those of you with more expansive minds know that heavy does not necessarily mean blastbeats and indecipherable vocals. Some of the heaviest bands are all about the mood and the emotion which is precisely where The Body & Dis Fig fit in. Weaving bleak, atmospheric passages into harsh, cold electronics, “To Walk A Higher Path” is a cathartic exercise for the creators and one that, when fitted in alongside the rest of their upcoming Orchards of a Futile Heaven album, will very much challenge your perception of what heavy music actually is.

Pick up your copy of Orchards of a Futile Heaven here.

Belmondo
‘Bethlehem’
Silent Cult

Belmondo won’t be a name too many of you are familiar with but once you fall under the spell of their dark alt-rock, they won’t be one you forget in a hurry. Taken from their upcoming EP, The Blessed And The Evil, due in April, the multi-national quartet escort you into a world that is dark and haunting but dig hard enough and you’ll also find the kind of hook that sinks its teeth into you and won’t let go. The video accompanying “Bethlehem” is suitably moody capturing the darker side of both the song and the alt-rock genre perfectly. Described by vocalist Carmen Mellino as a confession that felt more like an exorcism, Belmondo craft the kind of dark musical spell that you simply won’t be able to break free from.

Pick up your copy of “Bethlehem” here.

Declan McKenna
‘What Happened To The Beach?’
Sony

Declan Mckenna’s third album What Happened To The Beach? is the perfect example of what happens when the worlds of art and pop collide. An album as quirky as the person who created it, What Happened To The Beach? is also packed with delightful little pop hooks that have your toe-tapping and your head nodding. Being recorded in the sunny surroundings of Los Angeles, goes a good way to explaining the chilled, breezy vibes given off throughout the album but, as the experimental direction takes over the record, no amount of LA sunshine is going to wipe that art pop heartbeat running through everything Declan McKenna does. McKenna commented that this album doesn’t always demand your attention but, if you are looking to kick back and sink into some dreamy soundscapes, the Londoner’s third offering should be one of your first choices.

Pick up your copy of What Happened To The Beach? here.