Miri Tyler of DC punks Ekko Astral told us about five of her favorite bands from the DC-area, past and present: Ekko Astral's most recent album was 2024's Pink Balloons, one of our favorite albums of that year. They've released some singles since then, most recently last month's "horseglue," which takes them into noise rock territory. Watch the video for that below.
As we become more comfortable in the digital world, our tolerance for any discomfort in the physical world seems to decrease. We stand in the corner at the party looking at our phones to avoid making small talk; we let our eyes flit between screens to smother any thought that we might otherwise have to sit with alone. If this is what we do for fun, then what does work look like?
The album opens with a reading of Douglas Dunn's The Kaleidoscope, a poem about being trapped in a cycle of grief, as sparse drums boom arhythmically alongside bursts of noise and a low metallic drone. As it transitions into the distant shriek of vocalist / guitarist Chip King, "A Lament" sputters in fits and starts as it struggles to take flight.