The Sneaky Beaver Music Blog

  Coral Zero is the solo instrumental project from Lauren Chang, or oh_lorn on Instagram and TikTok. TikTok is where I first came across Lauren's music, where she posts mostly melodic and tranquil math-rock inspired riffs. Her guitar playing is excellent and the snippets shared on TikTok and Instagram always had me hoping for a full release, so I was excited to hear that she released her first EP 'Windwalker' under the name Coral Zero a few weeks ago. 'Windwalker' is a short EP - coming in at less than 10 minutes long, it feels like a quick breath of fresh air. The title could not be more fitting either, as each note feels like it's bouncing on the wind. Genre-wise, this would probably be classified as math-rock, and although math-rock style guitar is at it's foundation, there is a lot more electronic production and a lot less 'rock' than in most other music of the genre.  In oh_lorn's oldest TikTok post, she wrote that her goal is to "make ...

Broken Head is a Massachusetts based alternative-rock band that has released two EPs and a couple of singles since 2020. The blurb on their record label's website lists 90's shoegaze bands Catherine Wheel and Swervedriver as major influences, which can definitely be heard especially when listening to everything that was released after the Sungazer EP. Having never really listened to either of those bands, my first reaction when hearing Broken Head's first single 'Rinse' was that it reminded me a little of Balance and Composure.  Founding members and dual vocalists Rob Hooper and Alessio Tranchell both come from the punk scene (hardcore and pop-punk respectively), and while Sungazer stylistically fits much more into alternative-rock, there are elements, especially in the vocals, that are reminiscent of punk at times.  I chose to write about Sungazer specifically even though it is their first EP because it is my favorite Broken Head release so far. Everything released...

  Busan, Korea seems to be have to an active underground rock scene from what I've been seeing, and is home to at least a few bands playing British-inspired rock with a swagger and rawness that is not seen amongst the more popular Korean bands, who tend to play softer, more indie-rock style tunes. The Cowchips are unique even amongst the Busan scene though, and I've become a huge fan of their old-school American blues rock sound. So far they've released one album in 2016 called Return Home (귀가) and a bunch of singles throughout the years.  I recommend starting with the album, which is kicked off by the fun and energetic 'Get up your mind.' Vocalist Choi Se-ryun (최세련) belts powerfully over bluesy guitar licks with plenty of groove, and finishes off the song with a laugh. The album also includes some more laid back tracks, like the title track, which contains a tasteful and melodic guitar solo that has become one of the highlights of the album for me.  I recommend che...

              PHOON - Phoon (EP) I first discovered PHOON on Youtube, through their song "You!", which was the only song they had released at the time. I was immediately drawn in by the catchy vocal melodies and the interplay between the electric guitar and keyboard. I listened to their first (and as of yet, only) EP as soon as it was released in 2019, and it has been frequently in my rotation ever since. PHOON is, or was, a four member band from Hong Kong, that seems to be inactive according to a recent comment from vocalist Lili Forest on his Instagram post about how the song "You!" hit 1 million streams on Spotify. His comment from September 2023 reads: "we are basically disbanded now hahaha lets see how things go in the future" so I guess there is a sliver of hope that they may reunite, but in all likelihood, this EP will continue to be the only release from PHOON. Lili Forest has released a few solo songs under that name though, which are wor...