Motihari Brigade have dropped a massive, heavily distorted wrench into our algorithmically curated lives with their biting new single, "The Great Refusal." Preceding their upcoming full-length album, "Problematic," the track delivers exactly the brand of defiant "Rock-n-Roll Thoughtcrime" the band uses to shake independent minds awake. Deriving their name from George Orwell’s Indian birthplace, the group zeroes in on a very specific modern sickness:...

There is something deliciously conspiratorial about Hidden Shores and the release of the "Neon Silence" EP. I find myself picturing the artist wiping chalk dust off their hands after a day of teaching elementary schoolers, only to go home, dim the lights, and converse with algorithms. It’s not your typical moonlighting gig; while most are decompressing with reality TV, Hidden Shores is out there...