Dennis

New album: Wild Billy Childish & The Chatham Singers || Step Out!

A fine selection of Chicago-style blues songs that feel like a greatest hits compilation

By / / Blues & Roots, Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

In what feels like the emptiest release week since we started our blog, we can safely leave it to Billy Childish—who else?—to fill the void. He is present, this time with The Chatham Singers, for another full-lengther, entitled Step Out!. You’ll hear twelve raw Chicago-style blues tunes that sound like familiar hits. This can be explained by the fact that some of the songs were previously available as limited 45s, have been released in a different form, and/or are covers of classics (Billie Holiday’s Fine and Mellow and I Love My Woman, Bo Diddley’s I Can Tell, Muddy Waters’ Rollin’ And Tumblin’ and I Just Want To Make Love To You, Slim Harpo’s I’m a King Bee and Howlin’ Wolf’s Meet Me (Down at the Bottom)), but even more by the characteristic vocals and sound of the four musicians who do what they do best.

Step Out!, produced by William ‘Spook’ Loveday, is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Spinout Nuggets. Featuring Billy Childish (vocals, guitar), Julie ‘Juju’ Hamper (vocals, bass), Wolf Howard (drums, percussion) and ‘Bludy’ Jim Riley (harp).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Spinout Productions

New EP: The Pale Love Unseen || Fate

Rewarding debut EP, completely written, composed, played and sung by Eko Sutrisno

By / / Indie Pop, Jangle Pop / Leave a Comment

The Pale Love Unseen is the solo indie pop project of singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Eko Sutrisno, based in Tangerang, Indonesia. On his DIY debut EP Fate he tells a personal and true story, raw and real, and in that respect the titles of the four songs are telling: Stars And Stillness, Forever With You, A Dance With Hope, and The Point Of No Return. This could have been a poem, but the underlying lyrics offer more beautiful musings. However, it is the jangly guitar melodies that make this release shine even more.


The Fate EP is out now digitally and on cassette through Shiny Happy Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Late Shift || The November Tapes

Another three captivating tracks from four old friends

By / / Alternative Rock / Leave a Comment

About ten months ago we were introduced to South Wales alt rock quartet The Late Shift. They now follow up that Not Yet A Ghost… EP with The November Tapes, three new captivating stories over compelling dynamics. From the first notes (potent guitar melodies that go well with the charismatic vocals) and words (“Oohh… I was on my way home, when my phone rings // So I choose: Hello?”) of opening song My Boat we can only listen with full attention, to conclude at the end of closing track The Heart is a Graveyard that these were fourteen minutes well spent.

The November Tapes EP is out now digitally via Used Films.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Balto || No Hard Feeling

Americana masterpiece with lyrics that deserve a place in your heart

By / / Alternative Rock, Country & Folk / Leave a Comment

“Hey hey hey, I want to feel everything // Love as a tidal wave, pain as a razor blade // All of the weight, everything.” That’s what we hear Dan Sheron sing in Novocaine, one of the fourteen original songs he recorded with his fellow band members of Balto for their new album, No Hard Feeling. It’s tempting to quote more lyrics, because line after line is memorable here, but perhaps it’s even more that mix of emotions, which goes together with variation in tempo, instrumentation and intensity, that makes this record so appealing. The Californian roots rock quartet tops it off with heavenly harmonies, captivating guitars and a grooving rhythm section, wrapped up in a warm sound—it’s all done so well that this would have made my year-end list if it had come out a few weeks earlier.



No Hard Feeling is out now digitally (self-released).

Add to Wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Los Canotipos || Las Rockambolescas Aventuras Del T​í​o Momia

Witty lyrics and big riffs guarantee a party full of chaos and fun

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Los Canotipos are a Spanish pub rock outfit featuring Javi Botanz, Óscar “revientabaquetas” Cano, Raúl Delgado, Juan Díaz-Faes and Juan Díaz-Terán, five friends who occasionally met in Óscar’s supermarket to eat and drink together, while playing some music. The latter became increasingly important, without  taking themselves seriously for a moment. On their sophomore long-player Las Rockambolescas Aventuras Del T​í​o Momia they show that fun comes first. With absurd lyrics and apt nods to well-known hits and riffs—most notable in Talking Heads pastiche Psycho Cleaner—laughter is guaranteed, but the band is actually more than that. These twelve songs full of distinctive vocals, hip-swaying guitars and danceable rhythms will get any party going.



Las Rockambolescas Aventuras Del T​í​o Momia is out digitally and on vinyl LP through Folc Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Folc

New album: The Nude Party || Live at Sam’s Town Point

How the New York septet performed their best in a hot Austin show

By / / Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Psych / Leave a Comment

All those people who had to declare that they could keep their clothes on, can now provide evidence of where they actually have been. New York rock ‘n’ roll collective The Nude Party hit Sam’s Town Point in Austin, to play a selection from their catalog (including crowd favorites like Records, Sold Out Of Love, What’s the Deal?, Chevrolet Van and Ride On), plus some seamlessly fitting covers of Texas classics (Texas Tornados’ Little Bit Is Better Than Nada, Dr. John’s Somebody Tryin’ to Hoodoo Me) and Gary P. Nunn’s London Homesick Blues)—that 19-song show is officially released. The sympathetic musicians serve their signature warm stew of country-tinged psychedelic rock with hints of blues and surf, controlled but passionate. This is an authentic, intimate live show with skilled, layered interplay, a pure mood lifter—apparently so hot and sweaty that clothing wasn’t necessary.



Live at Sam’s Town Point, engineered and mixed by Jonathan Tyler, is out now digitally and next month also on vinyl 2-LP. Featuring Patton Magee (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Shaun Couture (guitar, vocals), Alec Castillo (bass, vocals), Don Merrill (organ, piano, vocals), Jon ‘Catfish’ Delorme (pedal steel), Austin Brose (percussion, vocals) and Connor Mikita (drums) with Billie Buck (saxophone) as special guest.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || The Nude Party

New album: Sean Keel || Ferals Welcome

Stripped down indie folk with jazzy touches, dripping with emotion

By / / Country & Folk / Leave a Comment

With A Dry Scary Blue, Sean Keel was responsible for one of the most beautiful records of 2022. The Austin-based singer-songwriter (and University of Texas mathematics professor) is back with his next album, titled Ferals Welcome—apparently on streaming services since June, but only now available on Bandcamp, which makes me late to the party (although this music is not festive at all). You’ll hear ten raw and fragile indie folk songs with jazzy touches. That means: sparse acoustic guitar or piano strumming and intimate storytelling (“I was scared about bears for good reason // Scared I wouldn’t know how to get laid” – from Laurentian Divide), carried by that characteristic weathered voice. It’s not exactly easy listening, but it moves in a way that music rarely does.




Ferals Welcome, produced by Gabriel Rhodes, is out digitally through Icons Creating Evil Art.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Music Year-End List || Dennis’ Favorite Albums of 2024

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / 3 Comments

Heart and soul, that’s not too much to ask, right? To be honest, I didn’t have an easy year exploring new music. The flood of releases is too much to keep up with—the conscious realization that you continuously miss more than you experience is quite demotivating, while exploring the sonic cosmos should be exciting—and wading through all the copycats and AI disciples makes it increasingly difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Thankfully, just when I thought the journey had become more important than the destination, and the future was finally losing out to the past, it turned out that there were still plenty of raw pearls and creative authenticators to be discovered (I don’t necessarily value perfection or innovation). And so I regained the feeling that blogs like ours actually add some value to all those algorithms around by putting them on display. Regardless, in my forays into the depths of the musical universe, I checked out 2,800+ new albums, resulting in a passionate longlist of 140 wantlist-worthy releases—the ones I liked and played the most, just a matter of taste I guess , are in the Top 50 below. Slightly eclectic, but all as real as it gets.

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Music Year-End List || Dennis’ Favorite Albums of 2024Read More »

New album: Schmoon || Pretty Darn Pretty

Life’s bittersweet bedlam captured with heart and humor

By / / Country & Folk, Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

Schmoon is the indie folk project of Portland, Maine-based singer-songwriter/filmmaker Matt Cascella, who presents a compelling cast of characters on his new album Pretty Darn Pretty. For the discerning listener there is a lot to discover. This is a playful yet poignant exploration of nostalgia, anxiety and hope, with sharp yet witty lyrical observations. Melancholic melodies go well with kind-hearted vocals, but fluid feelings also cause some confusion about how seriously we should take this. Credits are given for wine glasses, breadsticks and farts, but actually the instrumentation and stories are much richer than that.



Pretty Darn Pretty, mixed, engineered and produced by Brendon Thomas, is out now digitally (self-released). Featuring Matt Cascella (vocals, drums, acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, breadsticks) and Brendon Thomas (electric and acoustic guitar, banjo, keys, bass, background vocals, harmonica, wine glasses), with Christy Thomas (background vocals), Sam Kyzivat (effects, additional keys, vocals), James Downes (acoustic guitar), Brett Crudgington (additional keys), Jeremy Fink (horns), Jessica Richards (birthday singing), Jen Cordery (birthday singing), Bean Friend (accordion) and Lizzie (fart).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Alex Kasznel & the Board of Directors || Board Music for Bored People

Five songs in five minutes

By / / Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

Now that was a nice surprise, to find a new 45—the Board Music for Bored People EP—from Alex Kasznel, Heather Sampanis and Andrew Gable in the mail. This time, the idiosyncratic trio from Cincinnati, Ohio delivers five one-minute pop-punk songs, with straightforward rhythms and witty lyrics, as we’ve come to expect from them. I could try to describe here what the tunes—Supporting Cast, Re-elect Don Marisconi, Adenosine Antagonist, Training Wheels and Bowling Alleys of the Midwest—are about and what they sound like, but it will only take you five minutes to decide that for yourself, so I’ll leave it at that.


Board Music for Bored People is out now digitally and on 7″ vinyl through Air Quotes Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

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