Unstable Shapes

Thanks to Andre and Operation X-RAY for saying such nice things about our live cover of Rites Of Spring’s “For Want Of” and for giving it a spin. If you’re not already following Operation X-RAY, you’re missing out on some really excellently curated stuff so get to it!

Operation XRAY ep 222 - April 10, 2026

LINK: https://on.soundcloud.com/84qRgYfhvp5xkbLaWy

Classic Rippers
1. GLOOP “Salamander“
Album: The Tourist
(June 2018) Baltimore, MD, USA
2. These Arms Are Snakes “La Stanza Bianca“
Album: Oxeneers or The Lion Sleeps When It’s Antelope Go Home
(Sept 2004) Seattle, WA, USA

New Amazing

Chapter 1
NOISE ROCK 0hr5m36s
3. APE AMP “Worse”
Album: S/T EP
(TBR April 24, 2026) Bordeaux, France
Flippin' Freaks Records
4. Wealthy Women “Take This Back”
Single (April 3, 2026) SF, CA, USA
5. CS Cleaners “What’s That?”
Album: What’s This?
(TBR June 26, 2026) Brooklyn, NY, USA
6. Makeshift Art Bar “Chocolate”
Single (April 8, 2026) Belfast, UK
7. Hammok “Gooning For Free”
Album: When Does This Place Become Our Scene
(TBR June 1, 2026) Oslo, Norway
Sargent House

Chapter 2
POST PUNK 0hr25m48s
8. Bad//Dreems “Kangaroo Skull”
Album: Ultra Dundee
(Mar 20, 2026) Adelaide, Australia
9. Unstable Shapes “For Want Of (Rites of Spring Cover)”
Single (March 27, 2026) Minneapolis, MN, USA
Learning Curve Records Forbidden Place Records
10. Getdown Services “Scrub It”
Single w/ The Radiator (April 1, 2026) Bristol, UK
11. Edging “Scam Likely”
Album: Unload Your Shame
(TBR June 26, 2026) Chicago, IL, USA
Hex Records
12. My Wife Is An Angel “Lil Bug“
Album: keep honking i’m about to fu***ng kill myself
(TBR April 24, 2026) Philadelphia, PA, USA
Knife Hits, GRIMGRIMGRIM, Broken Cycle

Chapter 3
GARAGE NOISE PUNK 0hr43m12s
13. Iguana Death Cult “Reckless Running”
Album: Guns Out
(April 10, 2026) The Netherlands
14. Cairo Jag “Terminal Existence”
Single (TBR April 13, 2026) Indianapolis, IN, USA
15. Lacross Club “Spar Song”
Album: Blesh
(Feb 6, 2026) Tenby, UK
REPEAT RECORDS
16. Dion Lunadon “Dead Or Alive”
Single (March 27, 2026) Brooklyn, NY, USA
17. Stepmother “Vacant State”
Album: Absurdus Manifestus
(April 10, 2026) Melbourne, Australia

Chapter 4
WEIRDOS 0hr56m51s
18. SUGARHORSE “Ex Human Sheild”
Album: Not A Sound In Heaven
(April 9, 2026) Bristol, UK
19. Cheap Teen “Beach Death”
Album: Out Of Nothing
(April 3, 2026) Maisons Alfort, France
20. Orcutt Shelley Miller “Hot Head (featuring David Yow)”
Single (April 7, 2026) SF, CA, USA
21. Hyper Gal “Tinnitus”
Album: Our Hyper
(April 10, 2026) Japan
Skin Graft Records

Chapter 5
SCREAMO/SKRAMZ 1hr14m25s
22. Portrayal Of Guilt “Human Terror”
Album: Beginning Of The End
(TBR April 24, 2026) Austin, TX, USA
23. L’idylle “Phlegton”
Album: Pardon pour mon absence, je suis allé mourir a l’abri des regards
(TBR April 12, 2026) France
No Funeral Records
24. Knumears “One Light, sunshine”
Album: Directions
(April 3, 2026) CA, USA
25. Gravess “deconstruction patterns”
Album: losing everything that makes life beautiful
(Jan 21, 2026) Germany
Zegema Beach Records

Chapter 6
SHOEGAZE 1hr28m21s
26. The Same Sky “Sad Songs”
Album: Haunting In The Mountains
(April 2, 2026) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
27. Airline “Tourniquet”
Album: Koi
(April 11, 2026) Sydney, Australia
28. Cherry Pick “Aster”
Single (April 7, 2026) Vancouver, BC, Canada
29. Weird Nightmare “Where I Belong”
Single (April 2, 2026) Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Classic Rippers 1hr43m24s
30. These Arms Are Snakes “Big News“
Album: Oxeneers or The Lion Sleeps When It’s Antelope Go Home
(Sept 2004) Seattle, WA, USA
31. Gloop “Who Ate The Sun?“
Album: The Tourist
(June 2018) Baltimore, MD, USA
22. These Arms Are Snakes “Darlings of New Midnight“
Album: Oxeneers or The Lion Sleeps When It’s Antelope Go Home
(Sept 2004) Seattle, WA, USA
33. Gloop “Samurai Birthday“
Album: The Tourist
(June 2018) Baltimore, MD, USA
34. These Arms Are Snakes “The S**t Sisters“
Album: Oxeneers or The Lion Sleeps When It’s Antelope Go Home
(Sept 2004) Seattle, WA, USA



LINK: https://on.soundcloud.com/84qRgYfhvp5xkbLaWy

Our live cover of the Rites of Spring classic “For Want Of” is available now wherever you listen to music.

This recording is taken from our 4th show ever (April 26th, 2023 at Icehouse Mpls) and was originally engineered and mixed by Ryan Mach with post-production mixing and mastering by Knol Tate. It first appeared on the Learning Curve Records & Forbidden Place Records compilation Escape to Weird Mountain Volume 11 (and we still encourage you to pick up that rad slab of rock on Bandcamp) but we got such nice feedback about it, we wanted to give it a wider release. We hope you enjoy it. If you do, share it around or whatever.

All revenue from this song will be donated to MIRAC - Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee.

Wow, last night was...🥰! A sold out show to celebrate the release of Battery Eyes’ tremendous new album, Zero Three? Not a bad way to return to the stage after a few months off. Our deepest gratitude goes out to our beautiful boys in BE, the savage sonic annihilators In Lieu, the always-inspiring Laura Larson, the dedicated and devoted crew at Cloudland Theater, and the people of Minneapolis and St Paul for showing up. It was great seeing so many familiar faces and meeting a ton of new people, too. Together, we raised $1600 for MIRAC - Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee! We love you all and this scene. You keep us going. 🙏

As for us, we’re going back into the lab to work on some new jams but we’ll be back before too long so keep your eyes open for future announcements right here.

📸: Andrea Lee

Hello from the frontlines of Minnesota!

As you (hopefully) are aware, the Twin Cities, specifically our immigrant community, have been under a prolonged siege of terror by ICE thugs for several weeks now. Innocent people have been abducted in the most brutal way and 2 people have been murdered simply for standing up for our neighbors. While national news coverage has seemingly gotten bored and moved on, things are still very bad here.

To that end, our label, Learning Curve Records, is teaming up with Forbidden Place Records (both of which are based in Minnesota) to release a compilation called Escape To Weird Mountain Volume 11 which will benefit MIRAC - Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, an all-volunteer, grassroots, multiracial, and multinational immigrant rights mass-movement organization. MIRAC fights for legalization for all, an end to immigration raids and deportations, an end to all anti-immigrant laws, and full equality in all areas of life.

The list of artists on this comp is unreal: Chat Pile, Blacklisters, In Lieu, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, Christy Costello, Buildings, Scrunchies, and about 20 more!

We contributed a live cover of Rites of Spring's “For Want Of” (with a tiny nod to Soul Asylum’s “Somebody To Shove”) from our 3rd show ever. As all the jazzbos might say: “It’s a fun piece.” We couldn’t be more proud to stand with the other artists on the album in support of the people who contribute so much to our community.

You can (and should) purchase it today (since it’s Bandcamp Friday) in the comments below👇

Stay strong, stay loud, we love you!
US

P.S. If you're in Minnesota, we'll see you tomorrow at Cloudland Theater for the Battery Eyes album release show with In Lieu and Laura Larson. It's going to be a real scene!

Cloudland Theater is a wonderful space and their dedication to our community is impressive and inspiring. We’re honored to play on their stage and hope you will come out on Saturday for their first show of the year. All ticket sales will be donated to MIRAC - Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee!

We will be donating the venue cut of the door from all February shows to Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee. We believe hosting shows is a positive thing for the community, but we feel all things need to be acts of resistance at this time. This is our way of dovetailing live music directly with the fight against the fascists who are violently terrorizing our city.

Show info + tickets available at www.cloudlandtheater.com

F**K ICE.

I (Cahak) was thrilled and honored to lay down some hot vox on the new Battery Eyes track. Czech it out wherever you get your music and come to the album release show next Saturday at Cloudland Theater with us, In Lieu, and Laura Larson. All ticket sales go to support MIRAC - Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee and this will probably sell out so get ‘em now. Event link in the comments.

This song RIPS!
I can say that without sounding conceited, right? I had very little to do with it.
It was written and sung by Johnny and our good bud, Andrew Cahak of Unstable Shapes.

You can find it on any streaming service now, or on our new LP, Zero Three out next week!

This was very cool to see. Operation X-RAY has been really supportive of us and we appreciate it very much. This Best of 2025 list is made up of an incredible group of artists and we’re honored to be included!

OPERATION XRAY EP 211 - Jan 3, 2026

BEST OF 2025 POST PUNK EDITION
4hrs05m30s - 67 songs - Intro plus 6 Chapters

LINK: https://on.soundcloud.com/btNYKLbO07uNJSJ2FL

Song of the Year: 0hr11m20s

Blue Youth “Patient Patient”
Album: Defeatist
(April 15, 2025) Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Zegema Beach Records The Ghost Is Clear Records

Vo**ur “The Burden Of Desire”
Album: The Burden Of Desire
(Nov 5, 2025) NY, NY, USA

Spares “Grease Stains”
Album: Spares
(Feb 14, 2025) Portland, Oregon, USA

Album Of The Year: 0hr23m41s

Care Home “Stained Glass”
Album: For Nothing
(April 25, 2025) Leeds, UK

Belted Sweater
“More Rack Toms (than people in the audience)“
Album: S/T cassetteLP
(Feb 22, 2025) LA, CA, USA
Softseed Music

University “Diamond Song”
Album: McCartney, It'll Be OK
(June 20, 2025) Crewe, UK

Albums of The Year (Double Trouble): 0hr38m12s

Sentries “Charmed Houses”
Album: Gem of the West
Album: Gem of the West (Disc 2)

Nape Neck “The Shallowest End”
Album: The Shallowest End (Sept 2025)
Album: S/T (Mar 2025)

Comp Of The Year: 0hr44m31s

Album: Farther Than Ever Before - A tribute to Transatlanticism
Drought “Death Of An Interior Designer (Death Cab for Cutie Cover)”
(March 7, 2025) CA, USA - Iodine Recordings

Chapter 1 - 0hr47m18s
1. Water Margin “Plague Runner”
2. Cure For Youth “The Trap”
3. Vexations - Edinburgh “Let Me In”
4. This Is Wreckage “Truncheon”
5. Stratford Rise “Gunshow”
6. Unstable Shapes “You’ve Been Selected To Become Bones”
7. Gloin “controlfreak69”
8. FACS “You Future”
9. Crowd Of Chairs “The Watcher”
10. Corker “Distant Dawn”

Chapter 2 - 1hr23m38s
11. Hubert Selby Jr. Infants “Jail Money”
12. Makeshift Art Bar “Sonic Shelf”
13. Heet Deth “King of Swords”
14. Bambara “Pray To Me”
15. DITZ “Space Smile”
16. Alpha Hopper “Night’s Calling”
17. Haunted Horses “Grey Eminence”
18. Die Spitz “American Porn”
19. Last Waltzon “Fat Piss”
20. Marcel “basho basho basho”

Chapter 3 - 1hr56m34s
21. Model/Actriz “Cinderella”
22. SOWT “One More Fu***ng Love Song”
23. Lifeguard “It Will Get Worse”
24. Strange Pink “My Friend And You”
25. KLAMP “Wet Leather“
26. Chemical Bank “Go With the Faux”
27. Heavy Lungs “Call It In”
28. Lung “The Mattress”
29. AAA Gripper “Wasp Women”
30. Taxidermy “Impending”

Chapter 4 - 2hr32m32s
31. GUCK “Gubar”
32. Force Model “Barricade”
33. Murina “Sugar Free”
34. KNIVES “Rhinestone Cowboy”
35. Thought Partner “Nub City”
36. Pleasure Dome “Nightwatcher”
37. No Hoper “Trait Maps”
38. Docents “Double Fantasy”
39. Chore “Cowards Can”
40. Virgin Mother “Limp Condition”

Chapter 5 - 3hr04m18s
41. Wife “Wish On A Number”
42. Bloodsports “Anything Can Be A Hammer”
43. TV Face “Get What We’re Given”
44. Midnight Peg “Swallow”
45. Blood Cookie “Out At Sea”
46. Humour “Neighbors”
47. Frana “Ferns With Benefits”
48. Pile “Born At Night”
49. Computer “Concrete Ships”
50. Flender “Wasp Salad”

Chapter 6 - 3hr40m00s
51. GI JINX “My Secret Passion“
52. Editrix “The Big E”
53. Spite House “Ashen Grey”
54. Marrowbone “The Chase, The Sweat, The Fear”
55. No Violet “Migraine”
56. YHWH Nailgun “Iron Feet”
57. Baxter No One “Death Trips”
58. PONS “Knuckolas”



LINK: https://on.soundcloud.com/btNYKLbO07uNJSJ2FL

An incalculably large thanks to Brad Gunnarson and Cardinal Sun Records for all of the support throughout the years, especially 2025 which was our biggest year yet. Make sure to follow Cardinal Sun Records for lots of cool stuff coming down the line.

Thanks to Dan at the Getting It Out Podcast for including Delicate Machinery on his Top 25 of 2025. It’s a pretty impressive list with some incredible artists and we are honored to nab the #3 spot. 💋 🙏

Part two of Getting It Outs Top 25 of 2025 is here! The final ten selections of my favorite records of the year and they span several genres, all of them good. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

What was your favorite record of the year?

Very excited to see our friend Steven take on co-ownership of one of the best record stores in the Midwest, Down In The Valley! Plus, DITV has copies of our full length debut, Delicate Machinery, in stock so go check them out and tell ‘em we sent you!