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Review: Washington DC has one of the America's richest histories of punk and post-punk, so much so that it gave its name to the hugely influential DC Hardcore scene. DC four piece Priests are a part of the city's newest wave in the genre. On their second album 'Nothing Feels Natural', Priests wear the raw and brash aggression of their punk forebears well, but with a forward-thinking and twisted approach. Opener 'Appropriate' sounds like a classic sub-pop single, 'Jj' morphs them into a hardcore/post-punk/surf-pop group, 'No Big Bang' is a raw spoken word chugger cattle-prodded by insistent and unexpected 808 handclaps. What's most surprising is the album's dividing interlude - a minute of beautiful and wrenching effect-laden strings, that acts as a short breather in a record that otherwise rips and roars with ferocious intensity. Quite simply, anybody who thinks post-punk has become trite in recent years needs to hear Priests.

Review: In the world of slow burners, "Habit" ranks among the slowest. For some, it's the fabled iconic first EP from Lindsay Jordan, Shawn Durham, and Ryan Vieira, who shot to cult attention through a gig with the legendary Priests. For others, it'll be a slightly avant-leaning, DIY-garage rock effort packed with pained cries and instrumental cacophonies. Whichever side of the fence you fall on, it's fantastic. "Dirt" might display the band's scope the most, toying with rhythms, lyrics compelling even the most unemotional ears. "Stick" shows off Snail Mail's talent for balladry that belongs on the score to an indie movie about coming of age on the fringes of society. Throw in the forthright, uptempo "The 2nd Most Beautiful Girl In The World", which combines Jordan's innocent vocals with crashing cymbals and runaway guitars, and it's no surprise this has achieved cult status.