PLAGUE GARDEN – UNDER THE SANGUINE MOON Ostensibly an album themed on vampires and other creatures of the night, this set of songs’ melancholic atmospheres, brooding yet vibrant vocals, and moody, pulsing rhythms leave plenty of sonic space into which the imagination can float into corridors of personal darkness. And it is that which the album explores symbolically, a will to confront, overcome and integrate the — yes — shadow side of one’s personality and life, and find therein what feels vital to hold on to when you’re feeling especially tested. This time out the band integrates some grittier sounds and punk energy on “The Dirty Dead” (which yielded the title of the album) and “Los Niños Perdidos,” and in doing so, invokes the punchier post-punk end of The Sisters of Mercy influence. TEACUP GORILLA – JANE/EYRE: NO NET ENSNARES ME Denver-based, experimental indiepop band Teacup Gorilla provided the music and performances for Jane/Eyre, a queer retelling of the 1847 Charlotte Brontë novel. The performance as a play was an especially poignant exploration of sexuality and gender identity, and the songs with vocal contributions from former Bad Luck City singer Dameon Merkl were standout on their own. When the production company Grapefruit Lab did a reboot of the original play in 2025, the band released the soundtrack as an album. While it doesn’t quite replace the experience of the humor and conceptual richness of the live experience, it very much stands on its own as an Americana-inflected work of masterful pop songcraft with warmly luminous and delicately rendered melodies. The existential storytelling has an old-timey feel that nevertheless resonates broadly with modern sensibilities, like a slice of Vaudeville rendered in the language of classic, experimental literature, yet refreshingly free of pretension and pop culture references. WHERE COULD BE BETTER THAN A HAUNTED VICTORIAN HOTEL TO TURN NIGHTMARES INTO YOUR NEXT NOVEL? FOR MORE, VISIT QUEENCITYSOUNDSANDART.WORDPRESS.COM 27
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