Captured Howls presents a journal of observations, a linguistic art piece… a blog on arts, music, and cinema

Listen Exclusively Here To Energetic New Screamo Goodness From Milwaukee’s snag

Milwaukee’s up-and-coming beautifully noisy screamo band snag craft music they call “milwaukee river skramz about climate anxiety,” and that description begins to touch on the unique interplay that they work with. In their tunes, you can hear and really feel an onslaught of dread like inherent in the concept of climate anxiety enacted by the ongoing changes that the environment is undergoing — and at the same time, there’s a steady stream of “beauty,” like a representation of the human perspective trying to find a place to rest their head in the midst of the noise.

Listen for the first time exclusively below to a track off snag’s upcoming self-titled full-length record. The song — which comes packed in a fittingly psychedelic, mind-trip of a video — is called “Foam Cup pt. II” (think about how many foam cups you’ve seen dotting otherwise smoothly natural environments).

It feels fitting if you’re a fan of artists from Loma Prieta to Suis La Lune. “Foam Cup pt. II” begins with a rather lengthy, carefully strummed, “pretty” intro before falling into energetic, noisy waves of melody as the journey proceeds. The feel of that contemplative space of the opening portion never really goes away throughout the duration of the track — even as the music itself gets especially super crushing by the end.

As for the video, it’s presented in a very immersive, stream of consciousness-reminiscent format in which imagery gradually progresses from a curiously colored portrait of nature at-large into more direct death and destruction including footage of a house up in flames. Thanks to the scope of the fire, wherever the imagery is from, the house likely didn’t make it.

Although you might not really need any new ways to access the troubling developments in the world around us — they’re pretty pervasive, just turn on the news and you’ll see — what you do need is a way to carve out your humanity in the midst of the onslaught. You need a way to feel the emotions that are coming — to contextualize the horrors in the realm of your own experience. That’s where snag come in.

snag will be released in full on November 9 via Europe’s Dasein Records, Middle Man Records from the U.S., and the Canada-based Zegema Beach Records. Pre-order information for physical copies will be coming soon — stay tuned; follow snag on Bandcamp.

Check out “Foam Cup pt. II”: