New music review with two double singles from New York's Lip Critic and The Thing
- Julia Mason aka The Decibel Decoder
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Our weekly fix of the best new music as Julia Mason (aka The Decibel Decoder) brings us her new music review with New York singles from Lip Critic Mirror Match/Second Life and The Thing Something To Say/Insane
Artist: Lip Critic
Track: Mirror Match/Second Life
NYC’s Lip Critic return with their first new music since last year’s acclaimed album Hex Dealer. Double singles Mirror Match and Second Life continue Lip Critic’s furious experimental energy, born in a flash of cosmic coincidence and baseball-fuelled mysticism.
Mirror Match is a twitchy, high-octane confrontation with your doppelgänger, arriving alongside a bespoke Lip Critic-designed pinball game set in a cloning facility. Second Life throws the chaos into bass-heavy nightmare territory, accompanied by a surreal music video styled like an off-brand cooking show episode, complete with Sandra Lee-inspired semi-homemade absurdity.
Lip Critic’s Bret Kaser says about the creation of the songs: "We were on tour near the end of 2024 and had just played our LA show. We had a two day gap before our next show in Santa Ana so we got a room at the hotel Casa Grande. That night after the drive I fell asleep watching Randy Johnson highlight reels. All the great moments from his time as a Diamondback, as well as his years on the Yankees and the Giants.
That night I had a dream I met a tall man with a body made entirely of radiant light wearing a baseball cap. He opened his arms and from them came two perpendicular rays that shot around me to form the shape of a diamond. When the tips of the rays connected I was engulfed in a thunderous sound, like that of a waterfall. It shook me so much that I woke up in a jolt. I woke to see that I had been writhing in my sleep and had completely displaced the other 3 members I had been sharing this queen bed with.
I apologised and brushed it off as another bad dream brought on by a late night binging baseball history videos on YouTube. Upon checking my phone, I saw I had received a text in the night from a number I didn’t recognise, offering us two days of unexpected studio time.
When we arrived at the studio that day, he opened the door wearing a fitted baseball cap, towering over our band with an average height of 5’8”. I instantly felt a familiarity. As he showed us around I felt a sense of having returned, like visiting your old elementary school once again for a younger siblings' graduation. He led us to the control room which was equipped with a speaker system large enough for a room quadruple the size. He stood at one corner and I sat in a chair directly opposite. The square room shifted to a diamond by our perspectives
He turned the speakers up and without hesitation played us through a whirlwind of different music at an unbelievable volume, and I was engulfed in a thunderous sound, like that of a waterfall. Mirror Match and Second Life were two tracks made and completed in the two days at his studio."
Lip Critic Live Dates
July
19 - Brooklyn, NY - Market Hotel*
20 - Boston, MA - Middle East Upstairs*
21 - Troy, NY - No Fun*
22 - Pittsburgh, PA - Bottlerocket*
24 - Cleveland, OH - Mahall’s*
25 - Columbus, OH -Dirty Dungarees*
26 - Grand Rapids, MI - T-Rex Fest
27 - Chicago, IL - Wicker Park Fest
29 - Minneapolis, MN - Zhora Darling*
30 - Lawrence, KS - The Ship*
August
1 - Denver, CO - Marquis*
2 - Salt Lake City, UT - The DLC*
3 - Boise, ID - The Shredder *
5 - Seattle, WA - Barboza*
6 - Portland, OR - Polaris Hall*
8 - San Francisco, CA - Neck of the Woods*
9 - San Luis Obispo, CA - Humdinger*
10 - Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room*
11 - San Diego, CA - Casbah*
12 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress*
14 - Austin, TX - 29th Street Ballroom*
15 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada*
16 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia*
September
23 - Charleston, SC - Music Farm+
24 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theatre+
27 - Brooklyn, NY - CBGB Festival - Under the K Bridge Park
November
1 - Austin, TX - Levitation Halloween
*(MSPAINT & Pat and the Pissers)
+(w/ Mannequin Pussy)
* * *
Artist: The Thing
Track: Something To Say/Insane
New York City's The Thing share the final double A-side ahead of their upcoming self-titled album: Something to Say and Insane. Out in full on 6 August via Onion Records, The Thing has been unveiled gradually since March, released in a series of thematic A/B-sides that echo the analog ethos behind its creation.
The singles showcase the band’s raw dynamism. Something to Say bursts out of the gate with the kind of conviction only earned through restraint - led by a video shot whilst on tour throughout Europe. A fuzz-laced statement of intent about “having a voice” according to the band. Underpinned by a retro-quality, the New York band takes the blueprint and runs with it all the way to the California beaches of yesteryear.
Insane, meanwhile, mirrors the chaos of its own recording: a broken tape machine, late-night spirals, while also harking back to “a bad end to a situationship,” according to frontman Zane Acord. And for a band that stays as busy as they do, it’s not a stretch to imagine they’re slowly losing their minds.
Formed in New York City in 2022, the band have since played over 300 shows across North America and Europe. Well recognised for their relentless work ethic, dynamic live shows and staunchly DIY ethos, The Thing are torchbearers of the current NYC scene, and a vanguard of what the city’s rock history means under a modern lens. The Thing was self-produced, tracked entirely live to tape, and recorded without a single computer - capturing the band at their most immediate and unfiltered.
The Thing Live Dates
NORTH AMERICA
July
10 - New York, NY - Night Club 101
17 - New York, NY - Night Club 101
24 - New York, NY - Night Club 101
26 - Austin, TX - Grandmaster’s Gala
August
22 - Amagansett, NY - The Stephen Talkhouse
AUSTRALIA
October
14 - Brisbane, Australia - Crowbar
18 - Melbourne, Australia - The Curtin
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