GRIEF MOP
RECORD: I Want To Pull The Sleep From Your Eyes
RELEASED: 10|09|2025
LABEL: Sunday Drive Records
COLOUR | EDITION: Eco Green, Limited to 200
FAVORITE TRACKS: I’D Prefer To Be Nobody, Strange World, Headhigh
PURCHASED: Deathwish
BAND DISCOVERED
Through promotion by Deathwish Records, I became aware of the band Grief Mop. In late summer 2025, they released their advance single Strange World, followed shortly afterwards in autumn by their debut album I Want To Pull The Sleep From Your Eyes. Since then, their dark songs—situated between emo, dream, and shoegaze—have been in regular rotation for me. However, Deathwish only handled the distribution; the credit as the responsible label belongs to the good folks at Sunday Drive Records. For Friends of Trauma Ray, Gleemer, Slow Blind, Glare.
WISH
Of course, to catch them live at some point and to own their 2024 EP You Were Right Here But So Far Away on vinyl.
GREET DEATH
Live at KEXP
00:35 country girl
06:05 motherfucker
11:06 love me when you leave
17:22 same but different now
WHERE IS MY TAPE DECK? – Volume 1
From time to time, as a kind of homage to the days when I used to sit in front of the stereo putting together mixtapes, I release a playlist of selected songs. It features artists and bands from this music blog, compiled with a small nostalgic touch.
That is, after all, the story behind the name „WHERE IS MY TAPE DECK?“.
HELMET
RECORD: Betty
RELEASED: 06|01|2024
LABEL: Interscope Records
COLOUR | EDITION: Gray, Interscope Vinyl Collective Edition – 30th anniversary vinyl release, 2LP with Derek Hess illustration etched side D, Limited to 3.000 units
FAVORITE TRACKS: Wilma’s Rainbow, Biscuits For Smut, Milquetoast, Tic, Vaccination, Speechless, Overrated
PURCHASED: Interscope Vinyl Shop
STREAM: Spotify
BAND DISCOVERED
It was in the summer of 1992 when I was 15. We hung out in a friend’s room and were listening to various bands when somebody put a disc into the player, which was unknown to me. I was still in my „getting to know all of these grunge and noise bands-time“. Most of the 1980s I was listening to pop and mainstream sounds. The northwest rock explosion and MTV shows like 120 Minutes, Headbanger’s Ball or Alternative Nation converted me into a more focused and introverted listener. My friend played us Helmet’s Meantime, which was their second album and first big deal. Songs like In The Meantime, Unsung, You Borrowed or FBLA II were kicking instantly. And when Betty, their third record, arrived in 1994, Helmet played an immense role regardless of the party or mixtape. Therefore, the release of this reissue thirty years after I first learned about noise rock was a unique purchase for me. What a record.
DEAD CALM
ARTIST DISCOVERED
Dead Calm is another project by Irish musician Liam McCay, who has also reached impressive streaming numbers under the names sign crushes motorist and Take Care. I came across Dead Calm’s now second record simply through an Instagram post on his main channel. Acoustic, ethereal slowcore and lo-fi folk — raw and unpolished. In parts, it reminds me of St. Thomas.
FAVORITE LYRIC LINE
Can you love me now / When you finally see me fully stripped down – from Grow
I’m a man made of fear – from Turn Around
CHARACTERISTICS THAT APPLY
choral | lo-fi | acoustic
MILITARIE GUN
RECORD: God Save The Gun
RELEASED: 10|17|2025
LABEL: Loma Vista Recordings
COLOUR | EDITION: Blue & Black Smoke (EG Exclusive)
FAVORITE TRACKS: Fill Me With Paint, God Owes Me Money, Kick, Wake Up And Smile, I Won’t Murder Your Friend
PURCHASED: Evil Greed
BAND DISCOVERED
During the Covid-19 time, I recognized this new band with members from different bands I already followed. The drummer from Regional Justice Center, one guy from the band Modern Colour, and the other guy from Drug Church. The first EP, My Life Is Over, and the following EPs, All Roads Lead To The Gun I & II, were phenomenal. Partly, I ordered them overseas in the U.S. Militarie Gun was in about a year on every hardcore stage and platform. I loved the energy from the live shots from Philadelphia, which Hate5Six delivered, or the Sound & Fury Festival performance. In 2022, after several lockdowns, I had the chance to see the band in Cologne. In a venue for nearly 400 people with an attendance of perhaps 50. The development from hardcore to a more alternative sound is, perhaps, for most HC fans, difficult to handle. But for me, the sound of Ian Shelton and the guys fits my ears nearly perfectly. The new album is extremely personal, fragile, and angry at the same time.
BESIDES THAT
I can’t wait for the next European Tour in January and a great venue in Cologne. Much smaller, much sweatier, more energetic. Also: Ian Shelton’s social media presence is filled with recommendations for cool music. Keep an eye on his music taste.
