Bambara

Hailing from Brooklyn, Bambara crafts a severe strain of post-punk marked by Western Gothic overtones. Their tracks fuse thunderous percussion and shadowy, resonant guitar lines with eerie loops of noise alongside screamed, declamatory vocals that probe life's underbelly. The trio first surfaced through abrasive, low-fidelity recordings, among them the 2013 full-length debut Dreamviolence, before sharpening their approach on later efforts including Stray in 2020 and the 2022 release Love on My Mind.

Reid Bateh, handling guitar and vocals, joined forces with his identical twin Blaze Bateh and bassist William Brookshire to establish the group. The three had previously collaborated under the name 23jinx, adopting the Bambara moniker in 2007. Originating from Athens, Georgia, they put out the EP Dog Ear Days via their self-run Emerald Weapon imprint and then shifted base to Brooklyn. After the 2012 experimental noise EP Rings, the outfit delivered their self-produced first album Dreamviolence through Arrowhawk Records in 2013. Subsequent road work alongside A Place to Bury Strangers, METZ, and Algiers preceded the noise EP Night Chimes and the second album Swarm, captured by Ben Greenberg of the Men and Uniform. Continued performances, both on their own and supporting Girl Band plus Liars, gave way to a five-piece configuration once Reid sustained an onstage hand injury in late 2016. Reid and Blaze later augmented Liars' live roster in 2017.

Bambara inked a deal with Wharf Cat Records the next year and issued Shadow on Everything, directing greater attention toward Reid's words while retaining the group's lacerating guitar textures and full sonic force. Following American and British tours, the quartet resurfaced in 2020 with Stray, their fourth album, which refined an already brutal post-punk aesthetic. The EP Love on My Mind, emphasizing synths and horns, surfaced in 2022.