Phototroph - Moon Tooth (2022)

ideated from: some new releases I’ve been into lately

The post-Nirvana 90s were the golden age of surprisingly noisy and complex hard rock on mainstream top 40 radio. These guys are a throwback to that era in some regards, but they probably would have had a hard time cracking the airwaves even then. This is very intricate, brainy, and complex.

Still, it has everything I loved about that radio-friendly heavy rock of yore. Sing-along choruses, pop song structures, vocal harmonies and gaudy chord structures. And a lot of shred.

Tracks I liked:

Deathwish Blues - driving and thrashy until it explodes into an ethereal final third

Alpha Howl - snaking guitar lines and a great vocal

The Conduit - more of the same, but awesomer