Dennis

New album: The Mellons || The Mellons In Color

Good vibrations meet grand arrangements

By / / Psych / Leave a Comment

On 2022’s amazing debut album Introducing…, Utah neo-baroque band The Mellons used just about everything in their surroundings that makes a sound, and for their sophomore full-lengther In Color they have expanded their arsenal even further. Not as an end in itself, but simply to mine the late-1960s habitable zone as best as possible, serving up sunshine psych and baroque pop with an infectious sense of joy.

The fifteen new tracks are packed with orchestral flourishes, playful hooks, and kaleidoscopic arrangements that must have been lovingly handcrafted. From the first notes of the short opening tune You’re Invited!, you feel that these guys are determined to embrace you with warmth. Even the commercial-style breaks add to its charm, creating a whimsical, immersive listen. Above all, the flawless harmonies and richly layered instrumentation make this a vibrant, contemporary celebration of pop’s most colorful era.




The Mellons In Color is out digitally and on vinyl LP through Earth Libraries. Produced, arranged, and performed by Andrew Colin Beck (vocals, guitars, piano, organ, mellotron, tenor saxophone, aux percussion, claps, Nord Electro 6D, recorder, tubular bells, glockenspiel, bongos, Ringos, French horn, kazoo, voice-over) and Denney Fuller (vocals, bass, guitars, trumpet, euphonium, French horn, fife, banjo, mellotron, piano, organ, aux percussion, toy piano, glockenspiel, slide whistle, Nord Electro 6D, tubular bells, claps, stylophone, bongos, kazoo). Also featuring Ian Francis (drums, background vocals, aux percussion, bongos, claps), Rob Jepson (vocals, claps), Glenn Brigman (guitars, background vocals, claps), Nelson Devereaux (flute), Nicole Pinnell (cello), and Allison King (violin).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Earth Libraries

New album: The Get Alongs || Second To None

RIYL: The Replacements, The Lemonheads, Primal Scream, The Lemon Twigs

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

On their sophomore full-length Second To None, Toronto’s The Get Alongs sharpen the cool nonchalance of 2024’s debut LP Weather Permitting, delivering a hook-filled set of guitar rock that pulls from ’60s garage, ’70s power pop, ’80s heartland rock, and early ’90s grunge. The ten new songs hit with instinctive energy and punchy immediacy, ranging from mean riffs, catchy rhythms and ragged vocals to jangling melodies, tempo changes and introspective moments.

It’s that sweet spot where grit meets gloss, never letting one overwhelm the other, which contributes to the magnetism it radiates. The same applies to the lyrics, rooted in relationships, fleeting moments, and everyday uncertainty, thriving in life’s in-between spaces. The album title isn’t even an exaggeration; inspired and haunting, these 36 minutes keep opening up in unexpected ways on repeat listens.



Second To None—produced by Clayton Dupuis and The Get Alongs—is out digitally and on vinyl LP through Having Fun Records / We Are Busy Bodies. Featuring Harrison Pickernell (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rory Pickernell (lead guitar), Eric Wood (bass), and Tristan Catenacci (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Having Fun || We Are Busy Bodies

New album: Ryan Pollie || Rolling In My Grave

Lo-fi textures, dub rhythms, and psychedelic detours prove unexpectedly addictive

By / / Funk & Soul, Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

Every now and then, a song slips through the cracks of your usual tastes and refuses to leave. For me, that song was Nights I Cried Alone, whose addictive charm deserves to be shared. It is one of the eight short tunes from Rolling In My Grave, the new album by Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Ryan Pollie, an artist constantly evolving, falling from one experiment into another. Via folky bedroom pop, he has now entered more adventurous waters, stitching together indie rock intensity, echoing dub, ambient textures, tape-warped production, and flashes of reggae into something that feels loose, soulful, and pleasantly strange.

The whole thing lasts less than nineteen minutes, yet we drift through dreamlike landscapes where fragile melodies and familiar sounds gently transform into something distinctive. You hear an unmistakable knack for warmth and atmosphere, but it is filtered through a more abstract lens, curious, intimate, and subtly psychedelic. The tracks may not trade in carefree summer clichés (just take a look at the album title), but few soundtracks feel more destined to accompany the season, at least for me.



Rolling In My Grave, mixed and mastered with Prince Fatty, is out digitally via New Jersey Wildlife.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Jeb Loy Nichols || You Know Where I Live

Thoughtful, beautifully crafted songs from a singular voice

By / / Country & Folk, Funk & Soul / Leave a Comment

On You Know Where I Live, US-raised/UK-based singer-songwriter Jeb Loy Nichols delivers one of the finest albums of his extensive career. Written from the perspective of life on his remote Welsh smallholding, these ten new country soul songs are intimate, reflective and deeply rooted in place, finding elegance in cold rain, records that he used to dance to, wooded hills, and everyday relationships.

Recorded with longtime collaborator Clovis Phillips, the record glows with a warm, unhurried sound inspired by early 1970s folk rock. Yet this is a unique release, thanks to that familiar, soothing voice—always reassuring and gratifying, even when the lyrics are limited to “Oh-la-la-la” as in the title track—which comes into its own particularly well over the thoughtful, soulful, and beautifully crafted arrangements.

It makes for the perfect soundtrack for a lazy summer day, but I bet it works just as well in the autumn.




You Know Where I Live—produced by Clovis Phillips—is out digitally and on vinyl LP. Featuring Jeb Loy Nichols (vocals, flute, guitar) and Clovis Phillips (guitars, bass, double bass, piano, keyboards, backing vocals, drums), with James Welch (organ) and Jack Gonsalez (piano) on select tracks.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Wooden Overcoat || Hello Sunbeam

Captivating sonic landscapes create a melancholic escape

By / / Indie Pop, Psych / Leave a Comment

Hello Sunbeam, the debut EP from Portland, Oregon’s Wooden Overcoat, is a compelling blend of garage-psych, dream-pop, and shoegaze that feels both intimate and expansive. Across four lo-fi tracks, Brant Hajek and his band construct a hazy, emotionally charged world of reverb-soaked guitars, layered harmonies, and immersive melodies.

It’s all about ambience, which is colorful, mesmerizing, and hypnotic (I could have embedded a Bandcamp stream below, but the videos add this dimension, highlighting the dreamlike qualities that define the release). Warm, immersive, and deeply personal, the four musicians transform personal turmoil and fragile connection into a richly textured and affecting listening experience.


Hello Sunbeam—written, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Brant Hajek—is out digitally (self-released). Featuring Brant Hajek (guitar, lead vocals), Mac (guitar), Dillon Glusker (bass), and Brian Levin (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

New album: Disco Lizards || Life Lessons

Bad habits and big riffs

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

To manage expectations, the question “Do you like rock ‘n’ roll?” is the first thing you’ll hear when you click the Play button. East London’s Disco Lizards return with Life Lessons, a loud and loose sophomore album that sounds bigger and bolder than the hooky indie rock they first unleashed on 2020’s Ride Ride Ride. Across eleven punchy tracks, the band fully steps into their own identity, pairing melodic garage-rock riffs and punk-infused basslines with confident, new wave-indebted vocals and the kind of self-evident energy built for sweaty club shows and sun-soaked festival afternoons.

Beneath the humor and laddish charm, Matt Stolworthy’s lyrics capture the absurdities of modern life. The struggle with burnout, digital overload, rising costs, social disconnection, and the endless pressure to keep moving forward, meet every frustration with wit, optimism, and a determination not to take things too seriously. Whether celebrating holidays, calling out toxic personalities, laughing at social-media obsession with “Double D’s advertising Sidney Sweeney jeans,” or embracing the reality of a dad bod, Disco Lizards make everyday chaos sound like a party.




Fun fact: the band name is taken from the lyrics of Arctic Monkeys’ Science Fiction: “I feel rougher than a disco lizard tongue along your cheek.”

Disco Lizards’ Life Lessons, produced, mixed, and mastered by Werkhouse (Ian Flynn), is out digitally and on vinyl LP (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: The Forty Fours || Now She’s Gone

British Invasion spirit recharged with youthful bite

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Released a few weeks ago, but now that an official video has arrived, we can finally share something here (how can words truly capture a song if you cannot hear its pulse?), and as soon as you see it you will immediately understand why. Now She’s Gone, the first single from London trio The Forty Fours, is a sharp burst of Merseybeat-inspired guitar pop. Built on melody, harmony, and urgency, it conducts Beatlesque memorability through youthful fire, likeable and ecstatic as can be. The B-side, a spirited cover of Baby, Please Don’t Go (the well-known traditional popularized by Big Joe Williams), confirms their palpable love for rock ‘n’ roll’s pioneers.

This is a promising start that makes us look forward to their forthcoming debut album, scheduled for later this year.

Now She’s Gone b/w Baby, Please Don’t Go—produced by Roman Jugg—is out on limited 7″ vinyl through Blow Up Records. Featuring Oliver Harriss (guitar, vocals), Jason Bazeley (bass, vocals), and Andrew Stander (drums, vocals.

Add to wantlist: Blow Up

New album: Stop Calling Me Frank || Miles To Go

Sax-fuelled chaos from a pub rock spirit

By / / Garage Rock, Power Pop / 1 Comment

Boston’s Stop Calling Me Frank return with Miles To Go, a loud, loose blast of working-class garage rock and soulful rhythm & blues drawing on power pop energy and pub rock grit. Previous records—Spider In My Beer And Other Songs (2019) and Haberdashed (2020)—made it onto my year-end list at the time, and since this band refuses trends, the new record is cut from the same cloth, thankfully.

We get eleven raw tracks bursting with ragged hooks, built for thirsty, sweat-soaked live shows. The cover of Whiskey in the Jar ranks among the most spirited versions of the traditional, but it’s the originals that really lock in the band’s identity, especially Good Enough, which bookends the album in two slightly different versions as both opener and closer. Heartfelt vocals and punchy guitar work drive things forward, but it’s the riotous, honking sax that gives this music its unmistakable bite and personality.



Miles To Go—produced by Ed Valauskas—is out digitally and on CD through Rum Bar Records. Featuring Lennie Donohoe (lead vocals), David Forbes (guitar, backing vocals), Jeff Ousborne (guitar, backing vocals), Terry O’Malley (saxophone, harmony vocals, organ, piano), Dan Casparriello (bass, harmony vocals), and Eddie Barese (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Well Wishers || Expected Outcomes

A first listen that feels like a homecoming

By / / Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Expected Outcomes is the 14th full-lengther in 22 years from Jeff Shelton’s San Francisco-based power pop vehicle The Well Wishers, but he shows no signs of running out of hooks. Built on chiming guitars, alluring melodies, and richly layered harmonies, these 11 new songs—Soldiering, from 2023’s How I Won The War, returns in an alternate version—arrive with the effortless confidence of a seasoned songwriter still operating at the top of his game.

The magic lies in how naturally it all comes together, actually in just about every track: tight three-minute structures, yearning riffs, relatable lyrics, and choruses that refuse to let go. Sharp arrangements, expertly crafted. This is one of those rare albums that connects instantly, wrapping itself around you with a sense of familiarity that feels both timeless and enduring.



Expected Outcomes—written, performed, and produced by Jeff Shelton—is out digitally and on CD (self-released). Also featuring Charles Winmill (guitar), Robert Riley (guitar), Shwa Losben (piano, keyboards), and Nick Laquintano (drums) on select tracks.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Mutant Band || Just Play Rock And Roll

Rockabilly's simplest pleasures still go a long way

By / / Garage Rock, Surf / Leave a Comment

The Mutant Band is the one-man garage-rock wrecking crew of Barcelona’s Diego Santillán, and his Just Play Rock And Roll EP does exactly what its title promises. Across six lean, fired-up cuts, the multi-instrumentalist tears through a wonderfully scrappy mix of primitive garage rock, psychobilly swagger, and twangy surf riffs, keeping things raw, loud, and gloriously uncomplicated. The chants are every bit as direct as the music (“If you feel so bad // Or you feel so sad // Just play rock and roll”), but that’s precisely the point.

These short tunes aren’t interested in overthinking anything; they’re built on instinct, energy, and the enduring belief that a fuzzed-out guitar and a good beat can solve at least a few of life’s problems. Fast, fun, and refreshingly unpretentious, this is rock ‘n’ roll reduced to its most essential ingredients.


Just Play Rock And Roll is out digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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