“...Quiet songs with minimal arrangements.”

Jeremy Leasure describes the aim of his tandem debut with Brittany Beppu, Thoughts on Future Hindsight, concisely. As NewBalance, the duo draws something different from Leasure’s older project, Canyons, of which Beppu occasionally contributes to. They're more influenced by songwriters like Scott Walker and Townes Van Zandt, Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn. Poignant and noble.

Beppu's voice stands out in the album’s tape scratch “Shirley Temple”. At first the lyrics are cryptic, but the songs emerge as individual character sketches, says Leasure—an attempt "...to understand how we cope when things don't go the way we imagined they would." He hopes that the songs provide the same comfort to his audience as they did for him. NewBalance’s next performance on the 19th at The Smell with Tone in Georgia, Hannah and minimall. Listen to the opener "Cartoon Captions" off Thoughts on Future Hindsight, out now. - Kaitlyn Tang

From the twinkle of emo-tinged post-rock to the suffocating gravity of drone, OC's trio The Human Machine wields an amorphous sound that is undeniable in its grandeur and technique. Displaced by geography — Jake Ingalls (bass) and Patrick Whitehill (guitar/vocals) lived in the Bay for a time, while Jonathan Modell (drums) stayed in the OC — the three built the "Contrashiva" EP on modulating textures, down-tempo rhythms and chordal intricacies — stuff that would make Don Caballero and American Football fans ecstatic. Following a split EP with Oakland's Stars Are Projectors (now Valley Girls), THM released their 2014 self-titled debut album. Tonally rich and unapologetically honest, the seven-song album immersed listeners in jazz cadences and psychedelic atmospheres.

Their newest album Patterns is the second body of work (following January's "Palimpest") that the trio have had the luxury of working on at length — "All material up to "Palimpest" was done under time limitations and living throughout different parts of California," says Modell. Shedding some shoegaze and post-rock influences in favor of improvisational and functionalist grooves, Patterns welds textures of Duster and Can with the thrum of Earth into titanic passages. "My inspiration behind Patterns was to make music that sounded desolate," says Whitehill. "Music that makes you anxious; music that makes you feel like you are moving slowly through a desert."

Modell adds, "THM's progression as a band has been a very natural arc that shifted with our influences. I wouldn't call Patterns a hard shifting point. It was the natural step for us after "Palimpest" — focusing less on the technicality and more on the textures and grooves that can be carried for extended lengths of time."

Tonight, The Human Machine celebrate their newest album Patterns with a release party at Beatnik Bandito with New Balance (of Canyons), Dead Recipe (Santa Cruz), Young Jesus, and Known Bird Sightings. - Ryan Mo

Get your rocks off with the rock band (full-stop) Media Jeweler tomorrow as they kick off their West Coast tour, saying and playing their goodbyes at the Beatnik Bandito in Santa Ana with Canyons, Slow Rose, and Rufrano. Sam and the gang will make a pit-stop in time for Pehrspace's "First Fridays" 9/4 with support from Pregnant, Bloody Death Skull, and Madame Headdress, and then it's off to the mystical lands of Norcal and beyond!

Unfortunately, y'all missed your chance at a free download of their debut album $99 R/T Hawaii, with songs that have recently been lauded by big-name tastemakers Pitchfork and Stereogum (we wrote some nice things about them, too). Media Jeweler had originally planned to self-release in August as we previously reported, but that's all changed after a solid partnership with the Brooklyn-based label Fire Talk Records, whose roster includes acts like Dreamcrusher and Advaeta. Now, the album will be cut and released in limited quantites pink and black vinyl so you can get sensual with a physical copy on or before November 20th! And of course if you pre-order you'll also get a digital download of the album, which is slated for a release September 18th on their Bandcamp. 

Because let's be honest: that round-trip airfare isn't gonna pay itself.

Check out their most recent collaboration with up-and-coming director Anthony Joseph Lucido in the music video for "Passport Invalid" below. - Ryan Mo