trauma ray

Carnival, the new EP from trauma ray, finds the Fort Worth band capturing some of their strongest, most intense, and exploratory work within the boundaries of a whirlwind year. The breakout success of Chameleon, their 2024 debut on Dais Records, further established trauma ray amidst the current wave of shoegaze revivalists, yet increasingly agile, able to weave between scenes, touring throughout 2025 with the likes of Deafheaven, Loathe, and Touché Amoré. A confluence of blitzing riffs and stark beauty, their sound continues to evolve, nodding to loud-quiet-loud greats across metal, grunge, and shoegaze from Slowdive to Smashing Pumpkins. Carnival delves into moodier, more cerebral material, like holding their past excursions against a funhouse mirror. There's a distinct sense of unease in these songs, built as a band in a fleeting window of time, proving they work best under pressure and when pulling from the darkest corners of their subconscious.

"When Chameleon came out, we just never stopped touring. We're driving ourselves, so it's not like we have some situation where we can sit in a van and write," explains Jonathan Perez, who moved to San Diego after returning from recent Deafheaven dates, adding to the challenge of getting the band all in one room. They used a break in the summer 2025 schedule to regroup in Texas for a few days, recording a flurry of tracks, then sent them to Corey Coffman for mixing and mastering. "At first I thought this was gonna be really bad and rushed, and now I feel like it might be my favorite thing we've ever done," Perez says. "It's the most collaborative we've been, where everyone was both hands-on and hands-off," adds Uriel Avila. "You can really hear each person's influences in almost every song in a very unique, non-biting way." Avila and Perez, the band's core songwriting duo to date, welcomed more contributions from others, notably an eerier strain of rhythmic and textural ideas from guitarist Coleman Pruitt. The direction coincided with a growing sense of collective dread and anxiety, and a striking photo set of a deserted amusement park near Brighton, England, taken on tour by drummer Nicholas Bobotas and now featured as the artwork. "It really looks like we specifically chose this theme and like had this whole preconceived idea, but it truly appeared out of like thin air," says Perez.

The wordless "Carousel" ushers in the EP's unsettling atmosphere with blasts of static and downcast strums giving way to "Hannibal", an anthemic track packed with power riffs and raw emotion. The band has hit this kind of sheer power before, from 2018's "Solstice" to Chameleon's title track, while "Hannibal" contorts with a tinge of unprecedented evil, slithery, "Stone Temple-y, Alice in Chains-y," Avila quips. Lyrically, he taps into teenage angst, the feeling of being dissected and rejected.

"Méliès", named after the French illusionist and filmmaker Georges Méliès, cuts between heavy, sludgy chords and a skyward chorus, "from something scary to like a dream state," says Avila, who channels the namesake's surreal abstraction. His lines detail "being stuck in your head and just making up realities that probably aren't the real thing going on, when you don't want to face the truth." "Funhouse" dips into doom metal, with sparse guitar work and possibly the band's slowest ever BPM, as self-proclaimed Sleep-heads. Lyrics play with shifting perspectives, culminating in the call-and-response outro ("take my hand / this is not your wonderland") that conjures two forces, or frames of mind, at odds with one another.

In contrast, the final track "Clown" jolts, flashes, and pummels, like the listener has come out the other end of a house of horrors, now fully immersed in the jarring, disorienting lights of the carnival. Personified by a knotty, synthy lead guitar squal — "the lead tone is something I'm super proud of, we've never had something like that in a trauma ray song," per Perez — "Clown" reminds them of Robin Williams, an archetype of tragic happiness, how the people trying the hardest to make others laugh may privately be the saddest. Sonically, the band is quick to credit the influence of “Undone” and “Stuck on You” by '90s cult favorite Failure, alongside the omnipresent Loveless, which gets to the greatness of trauma ray: five musicians absorbing, synthesizing, and expanding on what they love. Carnival offers a brief and highly loopable detour into darkness from a band growing more formidable by the mile.

Glixen

Glixen is a Phoenix-based shoegaze band formed in 2020, made up of vocalist/guitarist Aislinn Ritchie, guitarist Esteban Santana, bassist Sonia Garcia, and drummer Keire Johnson. Arriving as a standout force in the American shoegaze renaissance, Glixen blends heavy, textured soundscapes with dreamy, ethereal vocals—crafting music that nods to the genre’s roots while sounding distinctly modern.

Their sound draws from a wide range of influences, including My Bloody Valentine, Björk, t.A.T.u., Godflesh, and Hum, resulting in songs that balance intensity and introspection. Aislinn’s lulling vocal delivery floats over walls of distortion and reverb, creating a striking contrast that defines the band’s sonic identity.

In 2024, Glixen released their sophomore EP, quiet pleasures, produced by Sonny DiPerri (DIIV, My Bloody Valentine) and mastered by Dave Cooley (Paramore, Rancid). Recorded at Pale Moon Ranch in Juniper Hills, CA, the five-track release showcases their growth—melding syrupy melodies, heartfelt lyricism, and dense guitar work into a deeply emotional and immersive experience.

Glixen has toured with Interpol, DIIV, and Softcult, and made their Coachella debut in 2025, cementing their place at the forefront of the genre. Their name, taken from a lovesliescrushing song, speaks to their deep connection to shoegaze’s dreamy, otherworldly spirit—while forging a sound that is unmistakably their own.

Her New Knife

Her New Knife is a shoegaze/alternative band based out of Philadelphia, PA. The group’s members include Edgar Atencio (guitar and vocals), Ben Kachler (guitar), Carolina Schooley (bass), and Elijah Ford (drums). The band’s recent EP, ‘chrome is lullaby’, captures a raw, vulnerable allure, offering fans of shoegaze and post-punk a profound connection to their unique sound. Their live performances are a mesmerizing experience, where

scraping guitars and relentless, machine-like drums create an atmosphere that is both intense and ephemeral. Each show is an oblique journey, drawing the audience into fleeting and intimate moments. Her New Knife is currently working on a debut LP, expected to release in late 2025.

Knifeplay

Knifeplay is a band that eludes definition, existing somewhere between the nihilistic detachment of shoegaze and the emotional honesty of folk songwriting. Originally a solo bedroom recording project of Tj Strohmer’s, they’ve made a slow and careful shift into a collaborative, production focused, studio recorded band. Through their ever-expanding genre palette, range of fidelities, and long list of collaborators runs a unique current that ties everything together.

Informed by his experiences living in Philadelphia and their contrast with his rural southern Maryland upbringing, Strohmer’s sometimes straightforward, sometimes dreamlike, but always philosophical lyrics feature scenes of darkness from many different aspects of life. He deals with existential themes of death, drugs, heartbreak, and self-destruction, all expressed through a delicate vocal style, which, combined with the band’s lush orchestral instrumentation gives a beautiful lightness to the heavy subject matter.

Since their 2017 debut of home-recorded EPs, Knifeplay have earned a dedicated cult following through acclaimed debut album Pearlty (2019) and a lengthy B-Sides Compilation (2020), all either self-released or through small run tape labels. In 2021 they entered the studio with producer Jeff Zeigler, known for his work with Kurt Vile, Nothing, The War on Drugs, and more, first producing the Hurt Someone EP (Born Losers Records) before recording their critically acclaimed sophomore full-length, Animal Drowning, released via Topshelf Records on October 19, 2022. In 2024, Knifeplay continued their work with Zeigler, releasing their Spirit Echo EP last November, also to critical acclaim. In May 2025, Knifeplay would tease songs from their forthcoming LP on Live in Seattle released via Funeral party. Knifeplay is Tj Strohmer, Alex Stackhouse, Max Black, John Klein, and Johanna Baumann.