This Track Is Fire!

You know, in another place, another time, disco never died and Italo ruled the music charts, but here on this Earth, that didn't happen, though Nuovo Testamento are doing their damnest to create that reality here. What is Italo? You see, when disco died here in the US in the 70s it continued on in Europe, taking hold in Italy and evolving, where it became known as Italo. Music never stops, it takes everything that exists around it and incorporates it into itself, constantly growing, shifting, changing. HI-NRG (think 80s Dead or Alive) exists because disco crawled, Italo walked, and Hi-NRG ran with it. But Nuovo Testamento saw how awesome Italo was and decided to bring it back, and for that, I thank them. For me, a fan of all of the above, this is wonderfully delicious. If synths and dancing make you happy, but you want something a little more like disco than Depeche Mode, New Order, or the Pet Shop Boys, well, this, my friend, is for you. I love it! Enjoy! New Earth by NUOVO TESTAM...

  Buckle up, this is a long one... Today is my birthday so it would be no surprise to anyone if I posted yet another Depeche Mode song, but that's not what I am doing. I said the topic this week was all about the songs who informed who I am, and this one was integral to that entire process. I had never heard of Siouxsie and the Banshees before encountering them late one night on MTV, most likely while watching 120 Minutes  some evening, probably in the summer. From the very first sound of "Peek-A-Book" with its reversed instrumental track. The effect is jarring, but not uncomfortably so; to my ears it was intriguing. I mean, who the fuck does that? Yeah, Missy Elliott did years later, but other than the Beatles, how many artists have tried to build an entire (alternative) pop song built around a track played in reverse? My mind was blown and I wanted to hear it again and again. This was well before the internet, before YouTube, and certainly before music streaming, so unl...

Keeping with the synth and post-punk mood I have been in lately, this is a recent rediscovery. It has to be, the track is 20 years old, but despite coming out decades later this song just feels  so 80s in the best possible way.  It's slightly lecherous, like good pop can be, because after all, even the term rock'n roll was just slang for intercourse back in the day, so shouldn't gothy music like this be dripping (pun intended?) with desire, even if it's a little sinister? I want to hold you close soft breasts, beating heart, as I whisper in your ear I want to fucking tear you apart Damn, I think so. The slowly throbbing bassline works perfectly with this song about forbidden, dirty, maybe even controversial, lust, leaving the listener with only one real option: Succumb. Welcome to midweek! Enjoy!

This is a recent discovery, but it fits with my unintended theme this week of synth-based music (other than, you know, the celebrities we lost). Also, I've been listening to it non-stop for the better part of the last day, but that's how my obsessions work. A couple listens? Sure, it's a good track. Almost constant repeat over the last 18 hours? Yeah, that has to go on the blog. I've already added this to my Bandcamp wishlish and will most likely be buying this track, if not the entire album, next week during Bandcamp Friday. I don't claim to be goth, but I am certainly goth adjacent in many of my interests, and that electric, throbbing synth line send chills up my spine, as a good post-punk track should. What can I say, this track is fire! Welcome to Friday, you've made it through the week! Enjoy! Matter of Choice by Cold Showers

Last week while I was writing about the Killing Joke-minus-Jaz-Coleman-adding-Chris-Connelly band of Murder, Inc. I took a small trip down memory lane as I thought about Killing Joke. I think it would be easy, almost expected of me, to highlight their song "Eighties," which is fantastic, no question, but I admit that I did not discover that song until much later in my life. My first real exposure to Killing Joke was via Murder, Inc. and thereafter, when they released the album  Pandemonium.   A friend of mine had grabbed it on CD, and before I knew it "Mathematics of Chaos" was on near-constant repeat. Of course I went back and checked out their earlier works, but there's something very nostalgic about this track that takes me back in time and melts my face off. Also, it just fucking rocks. Enjoy!

As a teen I was not an R.E.M. fan. In fact, I was considerably anti-R.E.M. for far too long, mostly centered around the fact that for some reason my adolescent mind severely disliked "It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)." Why? Almost 40 years later, I honestly can't tell you why; I don't search the song out, but if it comes out I don't always automatically hit "skip" now. What changed? In March of 1991 they released Out of Time , and more importantly for me, the song "Losing My Religion." The first time I heard the song I actively tried to dislike it. Again, I don't know why; blame it on my close-minded view of music as an young idiot. Despite my efforts, I cam around much more quickly than anyone would have guessed. I listened to more songs and eventually, bought the album. Out of Time  had melted my misplaced resolve again R.E.M. as a band, and from then on I appreciated and respected them, as they continued to relea...

Note: In honor of one full year of This Track Is Fire I thought I would highlight the top 10 posts over the last year, but there's a tie in the seventh position, and a three-way tie in the tenth position, so instead you're getting the Top 12 Posts over the past year. At #10 is  Perturbator "The Glass Staircase ," which, to be fair, is a strong track in an entire album of fantastic songs. It was honestly hard to pick just one, but there was something about this track that just grabbed me.  I would dare to say that Pertubator isn't anything near mainstream music, so I am tickled that this post has seen more love than some more well-established bands. If you haven't already, please do check it out !

As I launch into the weekend I am looking for calm and serenity to counter the anxiety that I have been feeling the last couple (several?) weeks. While I would not call myself a fan of The Shins, I do love this particular song and can hardly believe that it's 25 years old, almost half my age. It blows my mind that 1976 is as equistant from when this came out as today. Getting old is mindblowing. Sometimes when the world is crazy you want to slip into something familiar, and today this track is a like a big warm blanket for me. Have a great weekend! Oh, Inverted World (20th Anniversary Remaster) by The Shins

In late January my friend Jeff sent me a link to an Instagram post from KEXP and the band Chalk  and since then I have posted here about them twice, so three times in two months is probably a bit much. And yet, here we are. Chalk are playing a handful of US dates before jetting off to Europe, so after much hemming and hawing I decided to grab tickets for their Chicago show (I knew I wanted to go, but I had to make sure I had someone to go with). I mean, listen to "I Can't Feel It" and tell me it doesn't tickle your synthpop pleasure centers (if you have them; I do!). Their entire debut album is great, but I've gone back to this track more than a few times now. Enjoy!

Thanks to the Instagram algorithm I was fed Prostitute a few days ago, who will soon see their debut album released around the world on Mute records March 13. This is not a comfortable or easy listen, similar in that aspect to Death Grips, though Prostitute unleashes their rhythmic cacaphony through the medium of noise rock. Hailing from Dearborn, Michigan with Lebanese, Polish, Roma, and Maltese members, their music is an unrelenting assault on the ears. Prostitute may not be for everyone, but if you give it a chance you'll be rewarded with a unique musical experience. Enjoy! Attempted Martyr by Prostitute

INXS, one of my favorite bands from the 80s/90s, and honestly, the first band I was obsessed with before I discovered Depeche Mode, has finally been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame . Their return to the news of course has me reflecting on their music and some of my favorite tracks of theirs. Sure, there are the big hits like "Need You Tonight," "New Sensation," "Suicide Blond," "Never Tear Us Apart," and many, many others, but that's not the one that I chose today. It's not a particularly important memory, but whenever I hear "Don't Change" I think back to my teen years, specifically a day during a sunny day at my friend Dan's house, where I believe he and another friend of ours, Marre, were swinging in a hammock and one/both of them asked me to play this song again. A whole group of my friends were there, just hanging out as teens do on a warm, pleasant day, and it's just a few seconds of a memory tha...

It's only been two weeks since I first posted about Chalk, so I probably should give it more time before I post about them again. The thing is, since first posting about "I.D.C." I have since purchased their three EPs and have become properly obsessed. There's not a bad song in the lot, but of particular appeal to me of late is the track "Afraid." A song like this make me want to turn it up loud and drive fast.  I don't, but I want  to. So, drive fast and listen to Chalk (only don't, because that's dangerous)! Enjoy! Conditions III by Chalk

Last week my friend Jeff sent me a link to an Instagram post from KEXP and the band Chalk thinking I might like their music and boy, he was not  wrong.  I think I was hooked within the first minute, and by the end of the two songs I was full-on obsessed, so much so that I had already started looking for their live dates. I am now debating if I want to go see them in March in Chicago. To say that I was immediately impressed with this band in a very short time is an understatement. Their debut album, Crystalpunk, debuts on March 13, but they've released "I.D.C." as one of its singles. I fucking love it! Enjoy!

On this day celebrating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., it is appropriate to play this song. Thank you, Dr. King! Have a safe MLK, Jr. day!

Is this track new? No, it's actually quite old. Is this track fire? 100% Last night I had the opportunity to go to a viewing of The Cure The Show of a Lost World , which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I wanted to be clear that I am a fan of The Cure with a lowercase "f." I do notn know the deep cuts that hardcore fans might know, in fact, I don't even know Songs of a Lost World especially well .  That said, I saw/heard every song by The Cure that I wanted to witness last night. Every time I thought that the performance was about to wrap up I would think to myself "well, they aren't going to play 'X' song," and then a moment later they would play that very song. It would be easy for me this morning to post "Boys Don't Cry" or "Just Like Heaven," but "The Walk" is the song that put the biggest smile on my face. Maybe to get more blog hits it would make more sense for me to post something from their most recent album in...

It was the final Bandcamp Friday of 2025 three days ago, and yes, I made several purchases (more on that later), but one of the standouts is this track by Perturbator. I think the best way I can describe this track, and the entire album, is that it's the soundtrack to a badass sci-fi/action movie that does not yet exist. After making my purchases that afternoon I was listening to them as I drove to/from my friend's house for our weekly poker game when this track came on and I was like, "DAMN!" It's already a solid track, but then at about the 1:15 mark it shifts to this sinister, throbbing beat. Dark Wave, indeed! I love it! Age of Aquarius by PERTURBATOR

I know this track came out all the way back in April, but I didn't start this blog until a couple of months later, so I am going to cut myself some slack. I have enjoyed this song since I first heard it because it is still quintessentially Wet Leg, but also darker and more aggressive, yet still weird and esoteric. I'm good with this. So why am I bringing it up now? I make "mix-tapes" of the songs that grab my attention and download them to my phone. I was driving home from the east side of the state the other day and this track came on and though it's only six months old, I was again struck by how good it is. I don't want your love, I just wanna fight! By itself that sounds violent, and maybe it is, but Wet Leg wraps it up in layers of indie-pop goodness that makes this listener joyfully sing along. Maybe you do too. moisturizer by Wet Leg

  A lot of people will tell you that punk can't be fun or even catchy, but those people forget that groups like the Ramones had a deep love for the melodies of the Beach Boys. Besides, if you  like it then listen to it! And me, I really like Teen Mortgage. Listen to that almost-twangy rock-a-billy/garage rock intro as the drums and guitar jump in before the fuzzy lyrics take hold, and then BAM! you're getting yelled at by that lovely chorus. For me, this is the hit of dopamine I need to get my blood flowing. This is the fun, aggressive punk that I enjoy so much! Enjoy and have a great weekend! TEEN MORTGAGE by TEEN MORTGAGE

I realize this is my blog with my own thoughts, but I like this song, and instead of trying to come up with different way of saying the same thing I think I'll just quote the blog where I found this band and this album : The new record from Newcastle’s Parastatic really shouldn’t work. Concrete Reborn is a post-punk, noise-rock, art-rock concept album about… brutalist architecture. It’s the kind of idea that sounds like a parody of a Pitchfork review. I’m here to tell you: it works. Does it ever. Concrete Reborn is dense, beautiful, political, and deeply strange. I really could not have said it any better myself, so why should I? Because, yeah, I agree with  Turn & Work , when it comes to this song and this album: this shouldn't work, and yet, it does ! First, I hope you enjoy this track, and secondly, I hope you check out and enjoy  Turn & Work .  They don't know me and I don't know them, but I've really been enjoying their blog since I discovered it a co...

  My last post I noted how it was a touch difficult to post songs that weren't  synth-pop from my purchases on Bandcamp.com, because the bulk of my purchases do, in fact, involve a synthesizer mixed with pop. "Have You Ever?" is no exception.  Maybe it's a cop-out to say this, but there's a musical umami about this track that just works for me. I can't put my finger on it, but when I first heard this song all I could do was nod my head and say, "YES!" Side note: what is it about Austin, Texas that there are so many new synth and post-punk bands coming from there? Maybe it's the water, the food, or the atmosphere, whatever it is, I hope they keep pumping out bands like Urban Heat. I hope you had a good Bandcamp Friday last week. I'll be writing about my purchases soon! Enjoy! Wellness by Urban Heat