Congrats to Allison Crutchfield (Swearin', P.S. Eliot), who just announced that she'll be joining her sis, Katie Crutchfield (a.k.a. Waxahatchee), on the roster at Merge Records! Her yet-to-be-titled LP will be out next year. Here's what Allison had to say about this momentous occasion. 

“Signing with Merge was always sort of a fantasy milestone in my mind, like winning an Oscar or opening a bakery in New England. It was something I dreamed about a hundred times as a teenager but never thought could actually happen. I’ve been fortunate enough to really get to know the Merge family over the last year, and now that I’m a grown-up, I’m so grateful to be able to call Merge home.”

The New York-based lo-fi grunge duo Brainfreeze is comprised of NYC born drummer Zoë Brecher and guitarist María Villar of Madrid. The two met when Villar was studying in the US, and have since released a two-song demo and two singles. Their latest single “Role Model” (streaming below) was produced by Diego Garcia of The Parrots, and while it only clocks in at 83 seconds, the song is a burst of frenetic energy and raw emotion that is buzzing with garage rock punk and grung influencese. Brecher and Villar share vocal duties on the track as they shout the lines “I will be your role model”. The band just played a show with fellow Madrid rockers Hinds at the House of Vans in Brooklyn, and will be performing at Aviv on July 8th in support of Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk. - John Honan

Voted by The Deli as one of the Best NYC Indie/Post-Punk bands of 2015 earlier this year, Big Bliss consists of brothers of Cory (drums, Party of Helicopters) and Tim Race (guitar/vocals, Russenorsk/Narrow & the Brights) along with bassist Wallace May (Young Tides). Their newest single “Old Guard” (streaming below) was just released on the Unblinking Ear Records' Office Supplies series, and will be also included in their upcoming EP, out in August. Following in the footsteps of their previous material, “Old Guard” elicits the gloomy and disturbed nature of British post-punk acts like The Cure and Joy Division. Race's somewhat anxious, restless delivery provides the ideal companion for the tense and pressing instrumentation. Big Bliss’ debut EP Keep Near will be released on August 12th via Exit Stencil Records. They will be playing Sunnyvale on July 15th before heading out on a tour in support of the EP in August with fellow Brooklyn natives Language - also a band worth checking out for those who miss the days of post punk, they just released a new cassette EP titled 'Junket.' You can see language live at Shea Stadium on August 7th- John Honan

The Guests continue to help foster the darkwave/new-wave scene that is on the rise in the Philly music community. The band is made up of Sheer Mag's Kyle and Hart Seely, Christian Vogan, Florence Lin, and Alkiviades Meimaris. Check out their latest four-song EP Red Scare '16 below! It was produced by Ronnie Stone at Fishkill Correctional Facility in Pine Bush, NY earlier this year.

Krust Toons: "Hive Mind" by Teddy Hazard - please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.