Surface Noise Weekly: Sigur Rós, Dirty Three, Chavez, Hank & more

12 FEATURED RELEASES + 30 MORE BELOW

3 new releases · 1 reissue · 5 pre-orders · 1 back in stock · 2 first time on vinyl

Sigur Rós

Ágætis byrjun 4LP [Rough Trade 50th Anniversary Edition]

This sold out through Rough Trade over the summer, and now the remainder of the 2000 copy run is being made available directly, with worldwide shipping this time. If you missed it the first round, this is your second chance at the same edition, not a new pressing.

Jaberdarwin

The Soft Collapse

A debut album blending dub, jazz and ambient, with a lineup that includes Eraldo Bernocchi on guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Tomas Järmyr on drums and Gareth Davis on bass clarinet. That’s a pedigree worth paying attention to even before you hear a note, and the limited Mountain Ore pressing gives it a bit of extra weight on the shelf.

Seefeel

Loz.s

A companion EP to Sol.Hz, pairing a new live arrangement of “Brazen Haze” with two brand-new tracks. One side is beatless drone, the other edges toward techno — classic Seefeel territory, working the space between haziness and rhythm with precision. If Sol.Hz reminded you why this band matters, this is the follow-through.

Dirty Three

Ulterior Motives

This was a CD only sold at shows back in 2012, so getting it pressed up proper now matters if you care about the band’s early, rawer side. Demos and radio sessions from their formative period, ragged and unrestrained rather than polished. Worth it for the Dirty Three completist who never managed to snag that original tour CD.

Details

Details

An instrumental post rock outfit out of Essex, four musicians aiming for something of their own rather than just retreading the genre. They’re pointing to Mogwai, Slint and Radiohead as reference points, with angular riffs set against actual melody and a decent amount of noise. If that combination appeals, this is worth a look from a newer name.

The Ninth Wave

There's No Such Thing as Death

Glasgow’s The Ninth Wave have been building toward something bigger since their first record, and their third album on Rock Action is the confirmation. Synth-heavy post-punk with a gothic streak and genuine melodic weight — the new single “SD54 FXZ” is as good as anything they’ve done. Preorders are live now ahead of a March release.

Afflecks Palace

Sunshine Death

Two years after frontman J. Fender survived a widowmaker heart attack mid-flight, Afflecks Palace return with a record shaped entirely by that experience. Self-produced, urgent, and drawing on the melodic sensibility of Manchester guitar music alongside the intensity of post-hardcore. The Piccadilly exclusive is on orange vinyl in an alternate sleeve, limited to 500 — worth the preorder if you want that one.

Hank

Hero Weak Thing

Hank take cues from Swirlies and The Breeders and make something that feels genuinely theirs — gloriously noisy without losing the fragility underneath, with almost every member stepping up to take a lead vocal across the nine tracks. Recorded at Teeth Studios with Jamie Neville. The Dinked Edition is translucent magenta, numbered, and already moving fast.

Michael Scott Dawson & Aiko Takahashi

Two Places At Once

Ten tracks made across a real distance, a Vancouver guitarist and a musician living between Gorizia and Nova Gorica trading pieces back and forth rather than sitting in a room together. You can hear that process in it, the sense of two people actually listening to one another rather than filling space. Pressed on an 80g blue/white split, which suits the quietly divided nature of the record.

Chavez

Ride The Fader

Thirty years on, Matador is putting Chavez’s second record back into print on limited clear vinyl. This is the Lower East Side quartet of Matt Sweeney, Clay Tarver, James Lo and Scott Marshall at their sharpest, jagged punk dissonance running up against the spooky pull of 70s hard rock hooks. If you missed it the first time or just wore out an old copy, here’s a clean shot at owning it properly.

LE TEMPS DU LOUP

Herida

Years of touring across Spain and Europe have pushed this band toward something messier and more electronic, analogue synths and loops folded into their sound alongside darker textures. The record sits with the thin line between genius and madness, alienation, obsession, resilience, that kind of territory. Available on a Wound / Marble Blood pressing, with separate US and EU stockists.

Emiliano Melis

What the Future Left Behind

This one started as a digital release back in September and already had its live moments in New York and Los Angeles before getting a physical pressing. Now it exists as a black LP, which for an album that already found its audience onstage feels like the right next step rather than an afterthought.

THIS WEEK’S SOUNDTRACK

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