HiddenTracks

SEMAPHORE understands what you’re going through, and they want you to know it. Comprised of singer and guitarist Siddhu Anandalingam, drummer Emmett Ceglia, guitarist Jay Kohler, and bassist Niko Hasapopoulos, the Brooklyn-based quartet has been busy over the past few years navigating the lonesome loudness of modern life. 

On the surface, Semaphore seems much like any other shoegaze band: they’re loud, atmospheric, and very, very moody. “We know we’re a bunch of sad boys singing for sad boys,” acknowledges Anandalingam, “but there’s a disaffectedness to a lot of shoegaze, an instinct to contribute to a collective droning, that Semaphore resists. We’re not trying to glorify numbness. We want to actually reach our audience.” This longing to connect underpins Semaphore’s work, lending an urgency to the band’s perspective, sound, and approach. 

Founded in 2013 by Anandalingam, Semaphore released its first album, All Too Robot, in 2016, establishing the band’s scene-bending fusion of shoegaze, post-hardcore, and impressionist classical music. “It’s somewhere between My Bloody Valentine, Glassjaw, and Debussy, with a top note of angry teenage boy.” Their latest release, 2023’s I Need a Reason to Stay, develops and complicates that premise: “so much of the music made for young people is very blunt and on-its-face. Our mission is to take the music that was foundational to us as both people and artists and evolve it into something sophisticated and inviting.” Semaphore’s unique sound luxuriates in the shifting tonalities, airy melodies, and lush orchestration of their greatest musical influences, incorporating songcraft and vocals in a decidedly un-shoegazey way. “It’s the music I would have wanted to listen to in high school.”

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On this week's episode I had the greatest of pleasures to interview Adam Rubenstein. Adam is a composer, musician, and music supervisor who currently resides in New York City. Adam has had a career that many of us can only dream of. He cut his hardcore punk teeth in SPLIT LIP that went on to become one of the greatest pioneer bands in their genre, CHAMBERLAIN. Adam opened himself up to the HiddenTracks interview process and led us on his journey to where he is today. Like many of us in our journey through life there are forks in the road that lead us to where we need to be, but only if we choose the right side. Fortunately for Adam and I the right path led us to each other and our conversation explains it all. Join Adam and I as we discuss such things as why the "World Don't Want Us" and why we should be afraid of "Red Weather."

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With their unique brand of infectiously catchy indie meets post-pop punk, LONE WOLF have been building a name for themselves and recruiting fans everywhere they go in Europe and further afield ever since forming back in 2016.

They’ve now released their third album, "HAZE WAVE", on Stardumb Records. From the first notes of the album’s opening track there’s that instantly recognizable and unique sound that Lone Wolf have honed for themselves over the years. As the album progresses, the sound is certainly familiar yet there’s a new polished edge to it that keeps things sounding wonderfully fresh.

If you’ve had the pleasure of seeing Lone Wolf live then you will know that there’s an incredibly raw and joyful energy to their performance and that vibe is not lost in the production on "HAZE WAVE". 

One of the major highlights of the album, however, has got to be the dual vocals of Merel and Ox, harmonizing and bouncing off of each other throughout – this is something that has always been apparent in Lone Wolf’s music but is taken to another level on this release.

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FREE FRIENDS,  the explosive pop punk trio, consisting of Husband and Wife Ben and Lauren DeHan along with drummer Gil Perez, have taken the scene by storm with their jaw-dropping set of songs. Collaborating with industry heavyweights like Matt Malpass (blink-182, Magnolia Park), Matt Squire (Panic! At The Disco), and Sam Pura (State Champs), they've created a unique sound that falls somewhere between blink-182 and Waterparks, accompanied by cello…
The brainchild of Ben DeHan, a musician with a DIY work ethic and a love for the pop punk music he grew up with, began after taking a hiatus from the music business. At that time Ben emerged as a solo artist, collaborating with his now wife and fellow musician, Lauren DeHan, who added her cello skills to the mix. The result was a unique sound with an authenticity that can only be earned as a kid who saw the country through the window of a 15 passenger van and the urgency of a man who has seen the inside of a cubicle.

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A punk rock unit from Santa Barbara, California featuring members of Lagwagon and Good Riddance, Versus the World issued their eponymous debut album in 2005 on Kung Fu Records.

Drawing from their dense pedigree the band blends elements of pop-punk, melodic post-hardcore and troubadour-style vocals by founding frontman Donald Spence. Versus the World has toured extensively worldwide on subsequent releases Drink.Sing.Live.Love (2012) and Homesick/Roadsick (2015) in support of bands such as No Use for a Name, The Ataris, Lagwagon and MxPx.

In 2021 the band teamed up with producer Cameron Webb (Motörhead, Megadeth) to make "The Bastards Live Forever" which is out now on SBÄM Records.

The band says, “‘The Bastards Live Forever’ was written during the height of the pandemic in 2020. It’s a disparate collection of songs about divorce, shame, love and growth. 

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From the suburbs of East Los Angeles, CA, four Mexican American kids came together in 2001 to form the band Audio Karate. Audio Karate developed a unique sound that drew from their many influences such as Descendents and Jawbreaker. Their unique mix of melodic and emotional punk rock helped them develop a big fan base and quickly caught the attention of Kung Fu records, who signed them in 2001 alongside bands like Blink-182 and Tsunami Bomb. Audio Karate were far from being just another “punk” band, and their blend of melodies and hooks set them apart, making it difficult to place them in any one genre. The band has mastered the art of writing infectiously catchy songs with deeply personal lyrics, while still remaining upbeat and fun.

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Luke and The Second Coming is an alternative rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Channelling the emotion and honesty of old school songwriters and the universal bombast of your favorite arena mainstays, L2C is finally in the right place at the right time.

Ten years from the start, Luke teamed up with his good friend Ben France and other veterans of Pittsburgh music with eyes set on finding their place in the world. Some ideas were born for a different time. Prepare for The Second Coming.

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One of Taking Meds’ greatest strengths is musical friction—Their ability to insulate instantly hummable hooks with their signature brand of disjunct, off-kilter energy and atmosphere. As a result, the moments where each element coalesces into straightforward, melodic concord feels incredibly well-earned. There’s an old standby in the alt rock toolkit of juxtaposing quiet against loud for dynamic effect, but Taking Meds instead pits the complex against the accesible, marrying their contrasting sensibilities in a way that creates a captivating push/pull.   Taking Meds are not of this era. It’s easy to imagine a world in which they’re co-headlining tours with Chavez in 1996, but the space time continuum dealt them a bad hand. Terrible News will undoubtedly register with younger music fans, but there’s just as much on offer for old school holdouts from the golden era of Merge Records and college radio. Whether you’re booking basement shows or hiding your hairline under a Sub Pop hat, Taking Meds is making music for you.

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Tired Radio is the brainchild of Brooklyn-based musician Anthony Truzzolino. 

Started as a solo project in 2017, Truzzolino released two independent singles before taking a hiatus to pursue other interests. During that break, Truzzolino continued to write songs that would eventually lead him to revisit the project in 2019 with the addition of drummer Kevin Daly. 

Truzzolino’s endearing rasp, catchy hooks, and anthemic choruses combined with Daly’s driving rhythms and distinctive fills led the band to Gradwell House Recording in New Jersey to start work on a full-length debut. 

A bruising, melodic journey down the paths less travelled, their Music infuses volume, power, and infectious choruses with the energy, independence, and autonomy of punk rock to deliver blue-collar, Americana-flavored anthem after anthem after anthem.

 So turn on, tune in, and turn it up. Welcome to Tired Radio.

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Formed in 2018, ‘glock-rock’ stalwarts Lakes have turned plenty of heads since emerging from the depths of Watford’s DIY. 

The band are settling into 2023 with their sights set on a metamorphosis, driven by a desire to forge themselves into something bigger and brighter than ever before. Step forth new album Elysian Skies. Recorded with Tom Peters at Trapdoor Studios in Liverpool, Lakes took to the studio to make their sound enormous, leaning into their penchant for positivity, charm and twinkling catharsis all while wrapping their themes in echoing guitar effects and soaring vocal harmonies. 

Where their last album Start Again saw Lakes take their darkest moments and come out of the other side, Elysian Skies is an evolution of that woe and emerging into a realm that is full of colour, brightness and hope. It’s the band forging their own path and signalling a new phase in 2023, not quite the re-birth of their previous record, but a phase that contains the very essence of what the band have grown into — and what they do best.

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