Grungegaze alternative rockers Entropy have announced their sophomore LP titled "Dharmakāya" set for release on August 30, 2024 via Crazy Sane Records. The new album which follows their outstanding debut LP "Liminal" (2020) and follow up EP "Death Spells" (2022) presents a light-flooded sonic architecture that marries highly melodic vocal lines and jangly guitars that echo their Britpop influences with the band’s roots in posthardcore and shoegaze, drawing from bands like Jawbox, Sugar, and My Bloody Valentine. This results in ultra-catchy tunes like “King of Rain”, “Don’t Deny Me” and “Americans (Will Save You in the End)”, which also manage to connect to present-day bands such as Hotline TNT, Alvvays and Nothing. True, heavier moments can still be found, from the Raga-tinged rock stomp of the title track to the metallic, HELMET-esque riffing in “Pyrotheology” and lead-off single “Papered Over Some”, but it cannot be denied that the overall musical atmosphere of the album is decidedly energetic and hopeful. As mentioned above ENTROY obviously take their cues from the 90s, but they refuse to succumb to mere complacent nostalgia. Instead, the vital spark that these songs radiate demands that they find their listenership in the here and now – because they want to live in this time, not in the distant past.

The album was recorded and mixed by Phil Meyer-Wien at Heavy Kranich Studios in Münster/Germany and mastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio (NY), whose previous work includes bands like Braid, Fiddlehead and Jawbox. Lyrically, there are songs that deal with dating (albeit while struggling with chronic illness, as in “Don’t Deny Me” and “Gap-Toothed”), songs that delve into questions relating to mental health (as on display in “Americans (Will Save You in the End”)) and songs that explore spiritual themes (“Pyrotheology”, “Olympian”), drawing from the ideas of writers like Peter Rollins and Robert Pírsig. The title of the record is derived from the latter’s work, where the Buddhist term “Dharmakāya” is used to describe the experience of letting go of one’s intellectual defenses and, quite literally, letting the light in. Check out the lead off single below and be sure to pre-order the new LP because it's well worth it.

RIYL: Sugar, Jawbox, My Bloody Valentine, Nothing, Hotline TNT