Hey everyone! Welcome to the sixth episode of Buried on Bandcamp the podcast with your host Taylor.

In this episode, we will discuss Cheekface, their music, and their unique lyrics.

Cheekface is an indie rock band hailing from Los Angeles. They formed in 2017 and currently consist of Greg Katz on vocals and guitar, Amanda Tannen on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Mark Edwards on drums and percussion. The most defining feature of their music is their dry and usually monotone vocals. This sounds like a bad thing on paper, but it’s really fun and entertaining! It’s the reason why I like them. Coupled with their lyrics about societal dread and anxiety in a strange roundabout way, it makes it even better. Their lyrics are my favorite part of their music, and I think I’ve laughed out loud at some before, that’s how good they are. Not to discount the instrumental, either- my favorite songs of theirs are the ones with a particularly catchy background. It’s just that, like with most music, the vocals are the main focus, and in this case, they’re what makes Cheekface unique. And what made them popular- sorry to go against the idea of this podcast, but Cheekface is a good amount less obscure than other bands I’ve covered here. Sorry!

I know I just said they formed in 2017, but they spent their first year of existence writing music. Their writing process was mostly just trying to make each other laugh with their lyrics. They regularly released singles before officially putting out their first album, titled Therapy Island, on March 20th, 2019. I really like all the songs on this, but I’d have to say my favorites are I Only Say I’m Sorry When I’m Wrong Now and Eternity Leave. No particular reason, I just think it’s catchier than the others. I’m pretty sure it’s the most popular on the album, too. They repeated the same process, releasing singles until the next album was released. The next album would be called Emphatically No, released on January 11, 2021. This is, I believe, their most popular album, and how I discovered the band. I don’t think there’s a single mediocre song on here, I like all of them. The song that introduced me to them was “Listen to Your Heart.” “No.” I think this is their most popular song as well? It’s very fun and catchy, and a perfect epitome of what Cheekface is all about. I’ll talk about that later. I also especially like (I Don’t Want to Go To) Calabasas, Best Life, and Don’t Get Hit by a Car, the third of which contains one of my favorite set of lyrics ever: 

“Sometimes I wonder if a single good thing exists on Earth, and then I eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch”

Absolutely fantastic. After that, they released a few more singles and B-sides of Emphatically No, aptly titled Emphatically Mo’, which I think is very funny. My favorites are Reward Points and Friend Mountain; I really like the backing vocals in these. After that was a few more singles and two more albums: Too Much to Ask on August 2nd, 2022 and Don’t Ask on November 2nd of the same year, the latter being the B-sides version again. When Life Hands You Problems is without a...

You are listening to Buried on Bandcamp the podcast with your host Taylor.

In this episode of Buried on Bandcamp the Podcast, we discuss the band Pretty & Nice, their work, and their unrelenting positivity.

Now, I have to start this episode off by saying I don’t know much about Pretty & Nice themselves and their background. Most of the information I’m getting is from their Bandcamp or what I assume to be unauthorized sources, so maybe take everything I say with a grain of salt. Their last release seems to be from a good while ago, back in 2014, and their website is now defunct. From what I can gather, the band consists of three members: Holden Lewis, Jeremy Mendicino, and Roger Lussier. They are a pop-rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, and they released music from 2006 to 2014. I don’t know what happened to them after they released their final album, since like I mentioned before, I don’t have a lot of info on them. This doesn’t stop me from liking them, though- I don’t see why it would. Their music is very post-punk, but they lean a lot into the experimental side, with electronic elements as well. And, as you can from the title of this episode, their music is very upbeat and fun, but we’ll delve into that in a later segment. For now, let’s actually discuss their discography.

Pretty & Nice’s first was release was on December 6th, 2006, titled Pink & Blue. (tangent starts around here!) I didn’t know about this and their other earlier work from the late 2000s, mostly because I just didn’t check if they had any other music than the album I first listened to. Luckily, I remedied that recently- very recently, maybe just over a week ago.

• Went to a hotel in Pennsylvania for my sibling’s birthday Veteran’s Day weekend
• On the ~hour and a half ride there, I binged whatever parts of P&N’s discography I hadn’t listened to yet
• And I really really enjoyed it! Their earlier work is much more rock-y than their later work
• I found myself listening to their earlier stuff, especially Pink & Blue, all the time throughout the weekend
• it was nice :) tangent over now
• My favorite songs are definitely Hey Hey Come On and Lazy Lazy Bumblebee. Both have a more? Emotional and dramatic vibe than the rest of the album? But that’s what I like about it. They’re also much louder and erratic, which I always find is a plus.
• After that was Blue & Blue, released in July of the next year, with one new song- Pretty Shells- and remixes of songs off Pink & Blue.
• I’ll be honest, I don’t really listen to their releases where most of the songs are just remixes. Just not my thing, personally
• So I’m afraid I won’t be talking too much about those in depth....

You are listening to Buried on Bandcamp the podcast with your host Taylor.

In this episode of Buried on Bandcamp the Podcast we discuss: the band Angel Electronics, their album Ultra Paradise, and their usage of juxtaposition.

Angel Electronics is a duo from Los Angeles. It consists of Ash Nerve on lead vocals, songwriting, piano, and drum programming, and Ada Rook on vocals, songwriting, guitar and bass, and drum programming. Ada Rook is what brought me to this project- I really enjoy her music and would really love to do a future episode on her but given reoccurring subject matters of her music, I don’t think I could on this school-friendly podcast. And Ash Nerve I hadn’t heard of them before discovering Angel Electronics, but I greatly enjoy his presence in the band, and I’m definitely checking out some of his other work soon. The duo specializes in a genre they call “brutal euphoria wave,” which sounds confusing but if you listen to their music, you’ll find it’s a perfect descriptor. Their music is fun, optimistic, and sweet, while simultaneously loud and messy, but it balances perfectly. We’ll discuss their album, Ultra Paradise, after this short commercial break.

https://angelelectronics.bandcamp.com/

Alright, welcome back to Buried on Bandcamp. Time to talk about Ultra Paradise. This is Angel Electronics’ only album at the moment, released January 23rd, 2023, but it certainly packs a punch. The first thing I noticed when listening was the religious themes in their work. There are many mentions of angels, even in the name of the band itself. The next thing I noticed is how optimistic their work is. Most of their lyrics are so sweet and charming and paired with the electronic background it seems even sweeter. You’d think that makes the loud and messy parts stand out like a sore thumb, but it doesn’t. I’ll talk about that more in a bit.

My personal favorites off the album are One Thousand and One Nights, Evil Behind You, and Party Girl. One Thousand and One Nights was the first song I heard from Angel Electronics, and I was immediately hooked and went to listen to the album in full immediately afterward. It’s not as sweet and optimistic in the lyrics as some other songs on the album, as it discusses regretting treating a former significant other wrong and missing them badly. But it’s still catchy and the instrumental is still upbeat and fun. Evil Behind You is also a very fun and unique song, especially since even less sweet and silly seeming. A hint of hope and optimism can be gleaned in the lyrics, though- trying to break free from the titular evil behind you. To quote the song, “It doesn’t die / but you don’t have to keep it alive / there’s an evil behind you / but you can leave it behind you.” The guitar in this song is fantastic, and the synths add a layer of determination- it’s great. Around two-thirds into the song, the main melody drops out and the guitars really kick in, with Rook bringing screamo in the background while Ash keeps up the main vocals. It’s an...

You are listening to Buried on Bandcamp the podcast with your host Taylor.

In this episode of Buried on Bandcamp the podcast, we discuss: Rinse & Repeat, their music, and the stories they tell with it.

Rinse & Repeat is a band that I admittedly don’t know much about. I don’t even know the names of the members of the band. What I do know is that they are a duo from Los Angeles, but that’s about it. Their music is categorized on Bandcamp as punk, synthpunk, new wave, and darkwave. If you’ve listened to my first episode talking about the band Corker, this is one of the bands that I said I liked and was darkwave, which led me to discover Corker. And if you’ve seen my second episode, I mentioned I found Funerol by seeing that they were touring with Rinse & Repeat. So neither of those episodes would’ve existed without Rinse & Repeat! It’s interesting how one thing can lead to another. Honestly, I’d say Rinse & Repeat is one of my favorite bands at the moment, and that’s one of the reasons why.

https://rinseandrepeat.bandcamp.com/

Now, onto their music. (I’m going to have to go through this a bit quickly since their discography is much larger than those I’ve covered in previous episodes.) Their first EP, Fig. 1, was released on September 20th, 2017. I do think this is their weakest release, but that’s more than forgivable, seeing as it’s their first. Even from their first songs, you can hear the sci-fi inspirations in their work, and it will only become more apparent as time goes on. Raygun Rampage is my personal favorite, but they’re all pretty close. And I feel like Introduction serves as a perfect first song, for both the EP and their discography, for reasons I’ll talk about later. After that, they released a single, Throw the Switch, on November 17th, 2017, and a small EP with two songs; Y2Kme and Name of the Game on January 22nd, 2018.

Then, they released their second full album, titled Fig. 2, on May 1st, 2018. This is, in my opinion, the most lore-packed of their releases. There are lots of key details here, some much more explicit than others. My personal favorite on the album is Creator’s Comet, for packing so much variety into one three-minute song. I also found the bonus song, Again Again, since because it’s only on Bandcamp I didn’t discover it until long after I had initially listened to the album. I like the drum and bass in that song as well.

After that, they released their next album, Fig. 3, not long after on July 9th, 2018. It’s much shorter than the other two and doesn’t have as much explicit lore dumping, but you can tell they’ve improved since their last release. Only three days after that, they released two more songs; Battlecry and The Cycle, both of which are also heavily related to the lore. I really like the former of the two, since it’s so exciting and fun.

You are listening to Buried on Bandcamp the podcast with your host Taylor!

In this episode of Buried on Bandcamp the podcast, we discuss: the band Funerol, their music, and discovering new music.

Firstly, who is Funerol? They are a self-proclaimed (their bio on Bandcamp!) rock ‘n’ roll band from Los Angeles. Their current lineup of members- as of their most recent release- consists of Evan Escoboza on vocals, Jimmy Baeskens on guitar, Adam Avalos on drums, Graham Gould on lead guitar, and Coda Hampton on bass. As said before they are a rock ‘n’ roll band, specifically alt-rock, punk rock, and hard rock.

https://funerol.bandcamp.com/

Now onto their music. Their first release, an EP titled Club Sounds, was released on October 23rd, 2019- almost four years old as of right now! My personal favorites off the album are Honor Amongst Thieves, and especially Six in the Chamber, which you just heard as the intro music for this segment. Six in the Chamber may actually be my favorite song by Funerol, also being their longest song to date at six minutes and 12 seconds. The song starts off sounding mostly normal, led by the vocals and an interesting-sounding keyboard melody- repetitive, but not in a bad way. But around halfway through the song, the lyrics slow down and the guitar takes over, playing a somber but strong tune that moves me every time I listen. It’s a fantastic song and a great EP.

Their next release would come over a year later on January 17th, 2021, with the release of the single Till It Starts to Rot. After that, another single was released on June 24th, 2022, titled Afraid of the Weekend- again, over a year after their prior release. The reason why I didn’t elaborate on either of them is because they’re both songs on Funerol’s most recent release and first album, also titled Afraid of the Weekend. This was released on February 24th, 2023. You can easily tell they’ve grown in experience from their last release. My personal favorites off the album are, coincidentally, the ones they released prior to the album’s release- Till It Starts to Rot and Afraid of the Weekend. I’d say Till It Starts to Rot is my favorite of the two, though. It’s the first song on the album and a great first song at that. The guitar is outstanding in this song- I’m always a sucker for a good guitar solo. But honestly, it’s a little hard to choose a favorite song, because all of them are great. Afraid of the Weekend is easily my favorite out of their two albums.

I think the story of how I discovered Funerol is an interesting one, mainly because there is a story at all. For most other bands I listen to, my “discovery story” is usually:

• hearing about the band, or having it recommended to me by an algorithm or a person
• listening to...

You are listening to Buried on Bandcamp the podcast with your host Taylor.

In this episode of Buried on Bandcamp the Podcast, we discuss the band Corker, their album Falser Truths, and the fluidity of genre.

In this first segment, I talk about a band I’ve discovered recently by the name of Corker. 

• Hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, under the record label Future Shock
• Their first full release, an EP titled A Bell That Seems To Mourn, was released on September 3, 2021

 A Bell That Seems to Mourn was labeled under the punk, coldwave, industrial, post-punk, and synthpunk genres. Keep that in mind, because it’s going to connect to what I talk about later. I do like ABTSTM a lot, but it’s not my favorite of their two albums. https://futureshockrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/a-bell-that-seems-to-mourn

After nearly exactly two years of radio silence from Corker, on September 1st of 2023, they presented their second release and their first actual album, called Falser Truths. This was how I discovered the band- I saw the album was recently released and I thought the album cover was cool, so I listened and enjoyed it. My personal favorite on the album is Seeking, Marching- not only do I simply like the sound, I also like how well it combines two genres. 

https://futureshockrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/falser-truths

Seeking, Marching is a very fun song for me because of how well it blends two genres that granted, are pretty close to begin with, but to hear so clearly in the same song- it’s very cool to me. The song opens with some kind of instrument, I’m not sure what it is, but it has such a unique sound it grips you in immediately. After that, the bass and some miscellaneous electronic noises come in, then the guitar and drums come in, and finally, the deep and buried yet still powerful vocals arrive last. Now, on Bandcamp, for Falser Truth’s genres, it is listed under punk, coldwave, darkwave, post-punk, and punk rock. I’ll admit it- I’m not the most knowledgeable with identifying genre. I was specifically curious about coldwave and darkwave listed. I didn’t know what either of them was- darkwave I only know from music I like that’s been labeled as such, but I didn’t know what it entailed. And coldwave I’d never heard of. So I looked it up. 

• Coldwave is distinguished by its emphasis on electronics and simplistic approach. 
• Darkwave, on the other hand, is characterized by its heavy, emotional lyrics and minor key...

Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network 

Show Name: Buried on Bandcamp

Episode Title: Welcome to the Show

You are listening to Buried on Bandcamp the podcast with your host Taylor.

In this episode of Buried on Bandcamp the Podcast we get introduced to our host and discuss plans for future episodes.

The host, Taylor, introduces themself and why they decided to start this podcast. After that, they go over the contents of each episode, discussing planned segments. Finally, they talk about plans for an upload schedule.

• Breezy - mandimore

• @theHVSPN