Ethos Collective and Úm Ba La are launching Scene Incubator, a recurring Sunday series built around Saigon’s original acts. Starting May 17, every other Sunday brings two to three bands to a professional stage with an affordable flat fee and a drink included. First lineup: Lulaby, Route 59, and ChipPunks.
Mish.Rec, the bassist behind Nha Trang’s 7/4 Surfers, steps out solo with debut album Undercurrent, trading jam energy for layered synths, dream pop drift, and psychedelic loops. Produced alongside his band’s drummer, it’s a DIY record that moves like a motorbike through Vietnam’s alleys and opens like the beach at dusk.
Kobe Town’s newly relocated District 2 space opened its doors to its first proper heavy show, with District 105 wrapping up their Cycle of Violence Asian tour alongside Mikey Rotten, Kamiyada+, Under Pressure, I’m Not Sure, and Sixxk Boy.
Saigon post-metal project Bedlam Royals surface with their debut single “Ode To Not A King,” a rework of a song born during frontman Viktor’s time with Serbian act LEER, now rebuilt into something new. Mastered by Cult of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg, it’s a precise and deliberate first move ahead of their debut album “The Gap.”
Saigon alternative rock band Thangca have released 100 Ngày (100 Days), a slow-burn single written during the COVID-19 lockdown and out now via Gió Đông. Built around the suffocating stillness of a city under quarantine, it is one of the more considered releases to come out of that period.
Cúp Học Thêm bring the energy of a night where the music brought everyone closer — loud, restless, and full of emotion, like a recess that didn’t want to end. The student-uniform dress code added a special layer to the atmosphere, bringing people back to the feeling of being on school grounds again, where everything felt both familiar and new in its own way. Take a look back at the moments from that night — where the music stayed at the center, and youth was everywhere.
