Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug operate from their home in Lawrence, Kansas, a former nude studio where they work on dozens of projects and bands. Sweeping Promises is 'the one that took' off, as Mondal told Pitchfork. That launch happened with their 2020 anthem 'Hunger For A Way Out' which, although written before the pandemic, suddenly gave a slogan to a generation of incarcerated artists and punks. What also helped is that, as a listener, you only need two notes to be wrapped up by the song's raw power and urgency. The bass and drums immediately kick open the door, attacked sideways by Schnug's razor-sharp guitar stabs. Lira Mondal - trained singer - sings the lungs out of her body.

'Hunger for A Way Out' is so good that it sounds like it can only succeed once. Until you put on the accompanying album and hear it: this is a DIY art-punk rollercoaster without equal. Sweeping Promises is unstoppably catchy and simultaneously swears by lo-fi and purity (which is how they recorded their debut with just one microphone). With album two 'Good Living Is Coming For You' (2023), they were brought in by Sub Pop and sharpened their sound. It's a late-capitalism album that blows the fear away with an overload of bubblegum pop hooks and frenetic guitar riffs.

The experimental pop outfit Psymon Spine combines the excitement of leftfield electronica and dance with the euphoria of catchy pop melodies. Psymon Spine was founded in Brooklyn by Noah Prebish and Peter Spears, aiming to make music that is experimental on the one hand, but also accessible and fun. Influences they drew from pop adventurers such as Talking Heads, Os Mutantes and the sultry NYC dance scene.

With the addition of keyboardist/producer Brother Michael and multi-instrumentalist Sabine, both recruited from the buzzing dreampop band Barrie, the band became complete. Psymon Spine perfected their own blend of addictive disco grooves, motoric beats, the pumping feel of early techno and lushly fanning synths on their album 'Charismatic Megafauna' (2021). With the remix album 'Charismatic Mutations,' for which Hot Chips' Joe Goddard, among others, contributed a version, they beckon once again to the indie dance floor.

In the spring, Psymon Spine will release a new album which they come to present at Cactus Café. For fans of LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club.