Welcome to another installment of our monthly local music feature, New Music NC!
Each month highlights some of our particular favorites, followed by several categories to sift through. Think of it as your virtual record store, except all the music is new and local!
Editor’s note: A bit of a lighter batch than usual after a very hectic April. Check out our Phuzz Phest recap or one of the many new interviews!
[Pst! Get included in a future issue!]
Top Selections
dreamscent – Burning Days [Raleigh shoegaze/indie]
For a debut, Burning Days is practically oozing with confidence. dreamscent arrives with a fully-fleshed out vision that owes its bones to ’90s shoegaze but doesn’t stop there. The record threads dream pop softness, alternative rock muscle, and something genuinely melodic through the whole thing.
The band’s approach to songwriting is where they separate themselves from the average shoegaze act. Their arrangements are lush but purposeful, opening up around dueling vocals that carry the songs rather than float above them. Tracks like “Photograph” and “Lost in a Dream” build with real structural intent, and the closing “Moving Forward” gives the record a sense of direction that keeps the whole thing from feeling like a mood piece. Thematically, the album stays close to introspection and tension without becoming self-indulgent or derivative.
What dreamscent have made here is a record that stands out as a focused, unhurried, and memorable introduction to a local (and rapidly growing) act.
Top Tracks: “Don’t Mind”, “Photograph”, “Wrinkle”, “Lost in a dream”
Pretty Baby – Layaway Plot [Charlotte post-punk/post-hardcore]
Grief is an unwieldy thing to build an album around, but Pretty Baby don’t try to tame it. Their debut full-length, born out of vocalist and guitarist Rusty Colton’s loss of his mother in 2023, is a record that moves the way actual mourning does. The title alone, drawn from a bandmate’s observation about how capitalism intrudes on bereavement, sets the tone.
What makes the album work beyond its emotional stakes is how fully the band expands on their influences without being bound to them. There’s an audible Dischord Records punk lineage but Pretty Baby plays like a band that absorbed those records as teenagers and then let something more instinctive take over. Much of that comes down to drummer Vince D’Ambrosio, who serves up blasting rhythms for the guitars and bass to respond accordingly.
The quiet-loud dynamic is familiar territory for post-hardcore, but few bands use it with this much intentionality. When Layaway Plot pulls back, it’s not to give you a breather but rather make the next impact land harder. This is one of those albums that sounds like it needed to exist, made by a band that seemingly needed to make it.
Top Tracks: “Sleepdrunk”, “Ghost Teller”, “Grappled & Poisoned”
Tacoma Park – Baltimore [Carrboro experimental]
The duo of John Harrison and Ben Felton that make up Tacoma Park seem to thrive in the unhurried middle distance between acoustic Americana and experimental improvisation. On Baltimore, their second release for Centripetal Force, that space feels more deliberate than ever. The album was built slowly, shaped by personal transitions and a stated desire for clarity, and the process shows in the best possible way. Each song feels like it knows exactly how long it needs to be, even when they were once much longer.
The record moves between acoustic-leaning textures, electronic drift, and the occasional heavier electric moment without any of it feeling like tonal whiplash. Drums surface sparingly, their appearance on tracks like “Oak” and “Dawn” all the more grounding for their restraint. “Paris,” reportedly distilled from nearly twenty minutes of material, functions as the album’s gravitational center. That kind of editing discipline is rare for artists drawn to experimental music, where sprawl is often treated as a virtue.
Baltimore doesn’t demand your attention so much as it waits for it. And when you give it, there’s more here than the quiet surface suggests.
Top Tracks: “Paris”, “Lost”, “Cats”
Monthly Round-up
Rock, alternative, and punk
General Purpose – One Last Word [Greensboro progressive rock/art rock]
Looking for a band that brings clarinet and violin into a decidedly rock context, all while drawing influence from symphonic prog of Yes and Genesis? Lucky you, because One Last Word flexes this young band’s knack for incredible arrangements that feel like modern odes to those ‘70s legends.
Gumhead – Gumhead: The Covered EP [Raleigh garage rock]
Gumhead have been crafting infectious melodies for a few years now, and their debut EP makes clear why dig them so much. These three tracks lean into ’90s distortion and bubblegum pop choruses but with ripping guitar solos and an immediacy that’s entirely their own.
Indy-Pendant – What We Meant to Say [Wilmington midwestern emo/math rock]
Talk about packing a lot of range into a short runtime. Indy-Pendant moves between fast-tempo scream-alongs, slower math-rock grooves, and rhythmic passages with the kind of ease that usually takes bands years to develop. Three songs, three different moods, and none of them feel like a compromise.
Jack the Songman – “Anna’s Party” [Chapel Hill pop rock/yacht rock]
Almost missed this smooth new single from Jack, who brings some peppy-tempoed smooth pop/rock to the mix this month. His vocals and keys performance is fantastic on their own, only to be bolstered by the top-notch band behind him.
Janus 4-14 – All The Kids Are Doing It [Mount Airy punk rock/power pop]
All The Kids Are Doing It collects two recent six-track EPs onto a single vinyl statement. The songs nestle themselves somewhere between indie rock and classic rock, powered by killer riffs, big choruses, and a sonic range that drifts from Americana to Brit-pop and back.
lower management – per my last heartbreak [Charlotte pop punk]
lower management taps directly into the early-2000s pop punk hooks and executed it with real craft. What elevates this above nostalgia is the vocal harmony work, which sits closer to Emery‘s layered approach than the genre’s more radio-polished touchstones. If you grew up in that era and want to feel it again without the cringe, this is the record.
Persimmon – Ad Nauseam [Raleigh shoegaze/post-hardcore]
Persimmon have been carving out space at the intersection of moody shoegaze, post-rock, and blasting post-hardcore since 2022. Ad Nauseam is their long-awaited EP but also the band’s most developed work yet. It’s dense, reverb-heavy, and emotionally direct in the way that keeps me coming back for more.
Southern Resonance – Hits from the Barn [Winston-Salem psych rock]
Here’s a rare improvisational record in its ability to teleport you to a space of impressive musicians bouncing between spacey psychedelic rock, bluegrass, jazz, and whatever else they can toss in. The transitions feel less like genre shifts than they do like a single band discovering what they’re capable of in real time.
Terrestrial Animal – Beneath the Ocean of Names: Where a Mind Once Held the Sky [Wilmington post-rock]
Fans of ambient post-rock riffage will have a lot to love here. There’s an impressive range of influences on display, from This Will Destroy You and Mogwai to Mastodon and Pink Floyd. That breadth shows in the way this record is heavy in some places and meditative in others, with low frequencies as a guiding principle throughout.
The Neoaves – No Person [Greensboro hard rock]
Just a fun collection of songs from this one-man project. Almost feels like a Ben Folds side project at points, especially on “Raspberry Cordeau”. How can you not have respect for this level of individual musicianship?
The Unsustainables – Every Broken Heart Will Mend [Carrboro ska/reggae/rocksteady]
Ska fans, rejoice! The Unsustainables return with a new record eager to live up to its title. Get swept up in the band’s deep grooves, lover’s rock sweetness, and the kind of rhythmic commitment that makes you want to move unconsciously.
Thirsty Curses – Singles Etc. [Raleigh rock & roll/punk]
In this collection of singles and assorted covers, Thirsty Curses manages to pull from punk, alt-country, classic rock, and power pop, sometimes within the same song. Frontman Wilson Getchell ties everything together in a way that reminds of Counting Crows.
Metal and hardcore
Burn the Rose – Bedroom Funeral [High Point metalcore/post-hardcore]
If you’re looking for some 2000s metalcore vibes, check out this new record from Burn the Rose. As far as we can tell, it’s a one man project with a vast catalog to explore, plus a sound perfectly suited for a Hot Topic shopping experience.
Sunbearer – Uketena [Asheville drone metal/doom metal]
Rooted in the Appalachian landscape they call home, Sunbearer makes stoner doom with heavy riffs and atmospheric haze shaped by rugged terrain rather than studio convention. Uktena takes its name from Cherokee legend, and the record carries that weight. It’s slow, deliberate, and immersive in the way only doom done right can be.
TIDEBREAKER – SALT CORE EP [Surf City hardcore punk/sludge metal]
With three songs under two minutes long, this debut EP from TIDEBREAKER is a real “blink or you’ll miss it” release. But don’t let that fool you into missing their uniquely heavy sound, which brings the classic hardcore punk instrumentals (and a dash of sludge) and overlays borderline death metal vocals.
Too True – Reflect [Winston-Salem hardcore punk]
Big Turnstile meets Backtrack vibes on this all-out blitz of a debut EP. It’s got everything you want from the genre: fat riffs, bombastic drum fills, and in-your-face vocals. And don’t get me started on the perfect gang vocal mixing.
Folk, Americana, and country
Autumn House – Rat’s in the Kitchen/Yellow Walls (Demo) [Carbboro alt-country/rock]
This double single from Autumn House combines their fantastically country rockin’ first song, “Rat’s in the Kitchen”, with a quick, calm yet catchy B-side that was recorded in-house. Both feel perfect for this spring-to-summer transition period.
Blackberry – Velvetier [Raleigh singer-songwriter/folk]
Who doesn’t love great new music popping up out of nowhere, like a sidewalk weed. That’s how I feel about this new Raleigh duo’s debut record, Velvetier. It’s simple on paper: acoustic guitar and vocals. But the songs and musicianship that they weave into that limited soundscape is genuinely impressive and keeps me coming back for more.
Jess Ray – MAMA [Durham folk rock]
Jess Ray has spent a decade moving between folk, indie pop, and devotional music with a voice that commands attention across all of them. MAMA arrives on the heels of her acclaimed Matin series; a more personal turn that feels like an artist deepening rather than shifting, writing toward something irreducibly human.
Lonnie Rott – Cake [Durham alt-country/folk]
Another great double single, this one from the wry folk-adjacent Lonnie Rott. His vocals on these particularly anti-capitalist songs are so crisp, landing somewhere between a Josh Tillman and Bob Seger (especially on “Rich Folks”). Fantastic instrumentals, especially the trombone from Danny Grewen, and production across both tracks.
Shake the Dust – Everything Will Be Okay [Charlotte folk rock/Americana]
Phil Lomac channels years of solo experience into satisfyingly twangy Americana-meets-indie-rock, shaped by stubborn hope in the face of loss. There’s so much energy across each of these tracks, they feel perfect for soundtracking a long road trip.
Electronic, ambient, experimental, and more
Cole Guerra – Waxing [Durham chamber pop]
Cole Guerra makes chamber pop that feels like sonic dreamscapes. Waxing continues that trend with a batch of intricate and unhurried songs. The instrumentation swirls in your ears while Cole’s warm vocals guide you through their individual journeys.
IrbyMissingAK – wishing well. [Jacksonville hip-hop/indie pop/R&B]
Such a bold blend of indie pop, rock, R&B, and hip-hop on this one. It’s filled with tight production, superb guitar work, and damn catchy earworms to dig into. Highly recommended for fans of Foxing’s Draw Down the Moon.
Tashi Dorji – BYEBUYBY [Asheville experimental]
Tashi Dorji is one of those musicians whose work resists genre altogether. The way he uses his guitar to make sound is uncompromising in its vision of being very much its own thing. This new record is yet another hypnotizing entry in his vast catalog of creation.
Hip-hop/rap, soul, jazz, and funk
JUNE! – tasteful grit [Charlotte alternative hip-hop/rap]
Charlotte’s JUNE! operates in the underground hip-hop space with a voice and a vision that sits comfortably alongside MIKE and JPEGMAFIA without sounding like either. The title tasteful grit is a fair self-description: the music has texture and edges while being an ode to craft and intention.
Sean Links – Chalky White [Charlotte underground hip-hop]
Rocky Mount-born, Charlotte-based MC Sean Links traces his love of hip-hop back to Enter the 36 Chambers. Chalky White reflects that golden-era orientation with a lyric-forward, boom-bap rooted sound. All delivered with the conviction of someone who believes lyricism is still the point.
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