Suffering Jukebox

This morning's episode features an interview with Maja Milner & Hugo Randulv from Gothenburg, Sweden's Makthaverskan. Glass And Bones is Makthaverskan's latest album, which is due to be released on Friday 3rd April through Welfare Sounds & Records. Find out more about Makthaverskan (and purchase their music) here; https://makthaverskan.bandcamp.com/music

Nick's Pick of the Week is Land Whales' How To Make Breakfast, which was released on Friday March 13th. You can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here; https://buhrecords.bandcamp.com/album/how-to-make-a-breakfast and my review can be read below.

Land Whales: How To Make Breakfast (Buh Records)

Released March 13th 2026

Formed in 2021 in Havana, Cuba, Land Whales were originally called Hey Joni and (if the band name didn’t give it away already) were heavily influenced by Sonic Youth and other 90s indie rock stalwarts. Their first album Null Days, from 2023, had a scrappy, alternative-rock feel and was recorded with an expanded —four-piece— lineup. Land Whales’ key figures and only constant members are Martín Schellekens and Martín Espinosa, who, as a duo, performed, recorded and mixed How To Make Breakfast themselves.

Land Whales’ sophomore release heralds a sonic shift for the band. Far heavier than their debut, How To Make Breakfast bears the influence of noise-rock and drone, landing somewhere in between Flipper and early Swans, albeit slightly catchier. Album opener, Pierce builds slowly over a single palm-muted chord that is almost drowning in distortion and feedback. Pierce sets the tone for the rest of the record early, chugging along sluggishly and taking almost two-minutes before it really kicks into gear. The Trial, Eyes Out and Little Glow, pick up the pace and form a trio of faster and punkier affairs, driving the record forward before Slit Your Guts drags things to a crawl once again.

Even slower —and far more menacing— is How To Make Breakfast’s centrepiece, the nearly nine minute drudge-fest that is No Privacy. At its core, No Privacy is little more than overdriven and distorted guitar, played at a snail’s pace and at times reminiscent of acts like Sunn0))), Earth and early Boris. No Privacy has a loose improvised feel that fits the band perfectly, emphasising  the fact that Land Whales are at their peak when they play their slowest —and act their weirdest. 

Released by Lima, Peru’s trailblazing Buh Records —who deserve endless credit for documenting the diversity Sof outh and Latin America’s musical underground— How To Make Breakfast has garnered significant (and well-deserved) international attention. Land Whales highlight the presence of an alternative voice in a country that is better known for its Buena Vista Social Club than anything remotely resembling a punk scene. How To Make Breakfast is a spark from the dark, a sludgy brick of discontent that serves as a reminder that incredible things often hail from the unlikeliest of places.

Nick Stephan