Maraad’s new album, “BUFF”, is a strange and beautiful paradox, an object forged in the very fire it’s meant to protect you from. Each track is presented as a "buff," a bit of protective magic for the spirit, but the energy humming underneath feels less like a polished shield and more like the faint, determined glow around a figure in a centuries-old altarpiece—somehow both...

Groove Vultures’ latest single, "Flytrap Love," lands with the subtle grace of a dropped toolbox – which is exactly its charm. This Melbourne quartet kicks up a glorious racket, a potent brew where garage rock's raw edges fray against punk's agitated pulse, all weighed down by grunge's heavy heart and occasionally flashed with a metal glint in its eye. It’s music that sounds like...