MINNESOTA SOUND REVIEWS - 8/20/2025
Reviews by: Alexandra Haynes, Writer @xalexonlinex
Edited by: Andrew Perrizo, Owner/Editor @melodicnoisemedia
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Shrive "Targeted Sleeper"
Self-described noise rock band Shrive bring post-hardcore heat with “Targeted Sleeper,” a clamoring groove from their debut EP, Leach (released in May 2025.) “Targeted Sleeper” is a steady burn of a track, gripping your ear right from its twanging, fuzzily agitated start. It explodes quickly into aggressive but still funky melodies, where the three-piece band produce a ton of sound. While the vocals are a little muted in the mix, they are appropriately riotous, incredibly heavy and emotive throughout. A darkly beautiful breakdown is featured close to the song’s end that bleeds delicious metal influence.
Poliça "Dreams Go"
“Dreams Go,” is the first track on Poliça’s album of the same name, due to release in October 2025. It features a hefty rhythm section which underscores a lighter electronic soundscape. When Channy Leaneagh’s vocals arrive, they come in bright and poppy, sprinkling personal vignettes over the layered beats. There’s a dreamlike quality to the wavering tones which match Leaneagh’s ability to play with her notes as she sings — these elements combine to make the whole feel whimsical and tender. Where the tone feels hopeful and optimistic, the song’s lyrics dive into a darker glimpse at a vulnerable psyche: “When I close my eyes / My dreams don’t stay / I don’t waste my time On wishes and hopes” … “When I lay up on at night / I gasp for air / I don’t feel right.” The duality is fresh and gives the listener plenty of food for thought.
Lost in January "Poison"
“Poison,” from the dark, gazey project Lost in January, has an effortless cool, easy pace, but its contents are tragically reflective, showcasing a desolate state of mind: “…I can barely breathe / From the fear I have inside,” “The poisons in my mind / Are crowding out my soul / And I can barely feel / The numbness takes control.” The desolation of these thoughts is exacerbated by the liminal instrumentals, where spacious and reverb-tinted riffs and delicate rhythms uphold the somber atmosphere, taking a mellowed out rock’n’roll approach. This track is three of five on the EP Fade, released in July 2025.
Backgrounds "Cold Harbor"
Serious prog rock but sans vocals, “Cold Harbor” leans in to heavyweight musicianship, expertly navigating doomy, metal riffage and a sprawling, jazzy song structure. Released on the Pale Empathy EP in April 2025, there’s a certain frigidness afoot here — despite the high energy friction, a sense of frost-tipped anxiety settles in my mind’s eye as I listen to the story being told by the instrumentals and absorb the suggestion of the song’s title. I picture survivalists in the dead of winter spending their final energy conserves fighting to the death with larger than life beasts, naked tree branches bowing under the weight of the weather, camps disappearing under snowdrifts. Things do inevitably thaw and warm up in the battle scenes flashing through my imagination as rapid, frenetic fingerings and metal drum techniques ramp up and get louder, funkier. I smell copper and the sting of sea salt and sit back to feel the tension and power Backgrounds have crafted; I hope you let your thoughts wander as you listen, too.
Dom Rivers "Too Far”
Producer, rapper, and all-around hip hop star Dom Rivers released his latest single, “Too Far,” in July 2025. He stated on Instagram that this is “arguably [his] favorite song that [he’s] ever put out.” Slick, laid back beats lay down a sunny instrumental, with Rivers’ voice up close to the mic over the top, rapping and singing with a suitably warm, full-bodied tone. The flow at times reminds me of an island-coded Drake track, while Rivers’ vocals are chilled out and clean in a similar affect to one of his inspirations, Big Sean. Dabbling in stylized autotune, he recalls a heated argument between him and an inebriated lover in the choruses, “We done had too many at this bar / Things I used to believe, it seems raw / Are you hearing yourself? Something’s off / You’ve done took it too far on this call.”
Barbed Wire Bat "Bottom Line"
This Stone Cold Steve Austin themed, brutal slamming death metal track from new project Barbed Wire Bat is as intense as its genre requires. Spiced up with soundbites and effects throughout, Barbed Wire Bat have done exactly what they intended with their debut single “Bottom Line” — burst onto the scene with pro-wrestling themed sonic gore that has its own aesthetic bent. Percussion laid so thickly that it’s a consistent, rapid slap and morbid, guttural vocals are the most prominent elements of the composition, with slower, doomy riffs quirking in repetitive and interesting melodies underneath.
