Best Bets’ On an Unhistoric Nightwas my favorite record of 2022, and their follow-up, The Hollow Husk of Feeling, might just take the top spot this year as well. This new album has all the elements that first made me fall in love with the New Zealanders: punchy rhythms, jangly guitars, a touch of angst, and irresistible melodies. Their powerpop is a brilliant blend of Britpop, power pop, New Zealand underground pop, and American indierock (listen to the very Superchunk-like When You Walk Out), created by musicians who clearly own more than a few classic punk records. Best Bets plays with the fervor of a fresh-faced band but delivers their songs with the confidence of seasoned veterans.
The record kicks off with Heaven, an anthem perfect for rolling down the windows and belting out the chorus. Then comes Sylvania Waters, an upbeat, sunny jangle-pop hit that keeps the momentum going. Monster follows as one of those quintessential Best Bets songs, with a verse brimming with nervous energy and a chorus that sticks like glue. By the time we’re three songs in, I’m already messaging my brother Dennis (aka Add to Wantlist’s head honcho) to say this album is shaping up to be a repeat favorite.
And the hits just keep coming. Hairshirt is fueled by infectious organ riffs, Spooky Signals is an earworm you won’t shake, and Autumn Morning is a pure powerpop gem. The Last Grand Prix adds a playful twist, while Pensacola showcases a tight bass and guitar love affair. Then there’s the heartfelt power ballad When You Walk Out, the short and speedy Malaise Era, the rockin’ Pillory Parade, and finally, We Are Prepared, which might just be the most New Zealand-sounding track of the bunch.
Yes, I’ve basically listed every song on the album — and yes, it’s that good. The Hollow Husk of Feeling is out now on Meritorio and Melted Ice Cream, and it’s another scorcher from Best Bets. Don’t sleep on it.
Garage punk enthusiasts, you’re in for a treat. Straight out of Amsterdam and featuring members of The Covids, Burlers, and Achterlicht, meet The Protos. Their debut album is a gritty, high-energy ride that’ll wake you up faster than a double shot of espresso.
The Protos have shredded catchy melodies in a vintage coffee grinder and brewed a punk rock concoction that’s anything but smooth. This isn’t for the faint of heart, but for those who prefer their music raw and rough, it hits just the right spot.
The standout tracks for me are where pop sensibilities crash into punk attitude, like the explosively catchy 577-1, Bored, and How Do I Know? These songs will leave you buzzing.
Drain in My Brain is out now on 12″ vinyl via No Front Teeth and Gips Records. Find a stream of the full album here.
Paperface Zinehas been a go-to treasure chest for fans of outsider pop, offering deep dives into releases and Q&As with all the bands we love (and write about). So, it’s only fitting that their first tape release is a treasure trove of its own — a compilation bursting with unreleased tracks, demos, and covers from an all-star lineup. We’re talking Itchy & The Nits, Class, The Smashing Times, Plastic Act, The Umbrellas, Kiwi Jr., ABC Gum, Feeling Figures, Sharp Pins, Pack Rat, and so many more. Oh, and did I mention that both D’Addario brothers of The Lemon Twigs chip in, along with a hidden power-pop gem from Uni Boys’ Michael Cipolletti and Noah Nash? Yep, this tape is basically a who’s-who of cool underground acts.
Action Now! is not just a sampler platter of bands you should know; it’s a full-course meal of sounds that is just as tasty as a whole as experienced in seperate bites. Blast this on repeat, and I guarantee your day will instantly improve.
Oh, and there’s more. All proceeds from this compilation go directly to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, so you get killer tunes while supporting an important cause. Win-win, right?
Tape out now, with digital downloads available as well, both for just $10. Time to hit play!
Strange New World by Space Age Zeros is one of those albums I’ve been meaning to spotlight but kept slipping through the cracks, thanks to the relentless flood of new releases and the ever-elusive work-life balance. Yet, after giving it another spin this morning, it’s clear this one deserves its moment in the sun.
Comprised of punk rock veterans from bands like Naked Raygun, Bollweevils, The Bomb, I Love Rich, and Urban Idols, Space Age Zeros could easily have coasted on their reputations. Instead, Strange New World is a heartfelt and refreshingly strong collection of mid-paced pop punk jams. From the opening track Fireworks, it’s clear that Space Age Zeros know how to craft catchy tunes — bittersweet rather than sugary, despite some undeniably sweet harmonies, like those on April First. The album features eleven original tracks and a solid unironic cover of America’s Sister Golden Hair, showcasing a band that knows how to honor their roots while still delivering something fresh.
This is one of those under-the-radar punk records that could easily make its way onto more than a few year-end best-of lists. Strange New World is available now on CD and LP via Mystic Records.
With ‘Gimme 5!’ we take a peek into the collections of artists we admire. The premise is simple: artists WE like share five records THEY love.
This Friday, Dandy Boy Records is dropping a Cleaners From Venus tribute compilation titled Tales of a Kitchen Porter, and it’s definitely one to get excited about. The line-up includes some incredible artists like Yae-Ming, Chime School, Flowertown, Whitney’s Playland, The Smashing Times, Owen Adair Kelley, and Sob Stories — the band fronted by today’s Gimme 5! guest, Joel Cusumano. We’ve already had a preview of a couple of tracks, and you can check them out below.
The upcoming release gave us the perfect excuse to chat with Joel and ask him to share five tracks that influenced his own songwriting. Joel is a talented guitarist with a style all his own, as you can hear in his past work with Cocktails, Razz, Talkies, and his current project, Sob Stories. He’s also an in-demand player, lending his guitar skills to R.E. Seraphin’s band and others. Beyond that, Joel has a keen ear for curation — his Odd Pop playlists are pure gold. If your daily soundtrack is feeling a bit stale, Joel’s eclectic taste will shake things up in all the right ways.
This Gimme 5! has been a long time coming, and we hope you enjoy diving into Joel’s picks and seeing how they’ve shaped his approach to songwriting as much as we have. He wraps things up by explaining his choice for the Cleaners From Venus track he covered with Sob Stories, which will be out this Friday. Pre-order your copy here!
1. John Cale || Fear Is a Man’s Best Friend (from 1974s Fear)
“Music is godlike. Creation ex nihilo, conjured from vibration. John Cale is some sort of trickster deity; luring you in with deceptively sweet melody and arrangement while smuggling in stories of violence, rape, and obsession in the lyrics. That tension of levity and darkness is really appealing to me as a songwriter. This song’s great paranoid druggy opening line recalls one of The Velvet Underground’s most notable songs: “Standing waiting for a man to show / Wide-eyed, one eye fixed on the door”.”
2. The Adverts || Cast of Thousands (from 1979s Cast Of Thousands)
“Around age 15, I dove headfirst into ’70s punk after buying the US version of The Clash’s first record at Sam Goody. I think I bought Highway 61 Revisited that day too. Anyways, The Adverts were a discovery of that era, but only later did I hear their second album, Cast of Thousands. I loved that early punk music wasn’t restricted to the strict power chord chugging that it became (though I still love those kinds of records). This album is in line with other punk bands’ sophomore albums that opened up their sound with different instrumentation, arrangement, rhythms, etc. If there’s a single guitar other than the one in the B section, I don’t hear it. The song’s condemnation of dehumanizing, sensationalist media is brilliant. The recording quality on Cast of Thousands notoriously “sounds bad”; but that’s wrong, it sounds perfect.”
3. The Church || Violet Town (from 1984s Persia)
“I got heavily into The Church a few years ago, having only previous known their US hit Under the Milky Way. On a trip to Venice the week of New Year’s Day 2019, I was listening to their first few records on repeat as I wandered the freezing streets. Venice was founded on a swamp by Roman refugees fleeing Attila the Hun’s army. It became one of the wealthiest cities of the Middle Ages, and, its glory days now long gone, is a romantic and haunting mausoleum of an ancient world. I don’t know what Violet Town is about, but for wandering the streets of Venice you couldn’t do better. The Church have a knack for evoking an impressionistic mood on their records, and this is one of their best tunes.”
4. Graham Parker || Love Without Greed (from 1980s The Up Escalator)
“I was and am a huge Elvis Costello fan, but age has helped me appreciate Graham Parker, from whom Costello controversially (may have) derived his early sound. I think it’s very easy to love them both. Parker’s songs cover comparable angry young man angst, but his language is clearer, more direct and more confrontational. And Brinsley Schwarz is a hell of a guitar player. Love Without Greed finds Parker mining rich territory — the transactional nature of love and the destructive power struggle that results. “He may get your kiss / and believe that it’s his / But you know baby I hit your heart / where the others only missed” — damn, wish I’d written that!”
5. Cleaners from Venus || Victoria Grey (from 1986s Living With Victoria Grey)
“When Bobby from Dandy Boy Records said he wanted Sob Stories to cover a Cleaners from Venus song for his upcoming tribute album, I immediately knew I wanted to do Victoria Grey. The jazzy chord progression in the verse is fantastic, and the post-chorus guitar tag is killer. I’m a bit of an Anglophile (could you tell by this list?), and this is one of the most distinctly British of Cleaners songs. A song about the specter of Queen Victoria that references the UK miners’ strike and Falklands War possibly sounds odd sung by an American. I hope we did it justice.”
Listen to Sob Stories’ version of the song below. Read our review of the compilation here.
Denver quartet Bad Year are named after a Sicko song (ICYMI and off-topic: Sicko announced the reissue of four of their albums last week) but judging by the cover art, they might also be moonlighting as Skid Row superfans. The tracklist doesn’t hide it either —Youth Gone Mild is a pretty hilarious nod to Youth Gone Wild, and yes, they actually belt out that iconic chorus in the album’s final moments.
While Bad Year doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it delivers solid melodic punk rock packed with ’90s nostalgia. Fans of the era will appreciate itsfamiliar vibe and execution.
The album is out now via Snappy Little Numbers and Motorcycle Potluck Records.
They’re Just Like Us by Celebrity Sighting might not be the easiest title to Google, but it’s definitely worth seeking out. The band from Madison (Wisconsin) delivers a scrappy debut full of punky alt-rock and garage-y noise pop gems. Most of the songs are short, lo-fi bursts, perfect for fans of bands like Night Court.
Tracks like Stuck Up POV and Hourglass immediately stand out with their catchy riffs and raw energy. Meanwhile, songs like Are You Insured? and Trust might draw in fans of The Breeders, offering a different shade of the band’s sound.
Overall, it’s a charming and punchy first release from Celebrity Sighting, one that is out now on Nightbell Records.
It’s mod revival week in the indie music scene! Hot on the heels of yesterday’s feature on Food Fight, we’re excited to dive into Welcome To The Matinee Show (Of The End Of The World), the sophomore album from Nottingham’s Sharp Class. This trio’s new record builds on their established sound with infectious melodies and a strong Jam influence, delivering straightforward, memorable tracks that echo ’80s mod, but comes with modern production.
If you’ve been following Sharp Class, you may recognize two previously released singles on this album — consider them a teaser for what the rest of the record has to offer. The remaining nine tracks continue in the same vein, full of crisp guitar lines, punchy rhythms, and lyrics that stick in your head long after the songs have ended – sample lyric “Welcome to the latest edition of This month’s hysteria.”
The band self-produced this album, enlisting some notable collaborators to add extra flavor to the mix. Drew Stansall (The Specials), Linda Pardee, Tim Gillis & Bruce Caporal (The Chelsea Curve, USA), Gary Knight, and Alex Townsend all make guest appearances, enriching the already vibrant sound of Welcome To The Matinee Show.
Whether you’re a die-hard mod enthusiast or just a fan of catchy, well-crafted rock ‘n’ roll, Sharp Class has something for you. With their sophomore effort, the band proves they’re no flash in the pan. So, grab your parka and get ready for a trip back to a time when rock was sharp, stylish, and full of energy.
There’s no need to play detective with the latest single from Paint Fumes (Charlotte, NC). The culprits are clear: Elijah Von Cramon and his band of musical accomplices are back, armed with their weapon of choice — irresistible hooks. In no time, you’ll find yourself shouting along to the anthemic chorus of their latest power pop’n’roll hit, Crime of Love (“It’s a crime, a crime, a crime, a crime of love!”).
The B-side offers an unexpected delight with a cover of James Brown’s Try Me, which they pull off with the same fervor as the Sleeveens did with their recent take on Bernadette by the Four Tops.
Paint Fumes first made their mark on Slovenly Recordings back in 2012, and this 7” marks a triumphant return for both the band and the label. Clearly, neither has lost their touch.
The second album from MITRAILLE has arrived, and like their 2022 debut, it’s also self-titled — or so I thought until I noticed the sneaky second “I” in MITRAIILLE. This subtle change hints at the small but significant evolution the Belgian band has undergone since their first LP. They’re still churning out bouncy, spastic tracks that sound like they’ve been guzzling coffee non-stop, and they’re still absolutely tearing it up. But this time around, they’re adding a bit more variety and finesse to their frenetic sound.
The result is a record that defies easy categorization: depending on your musical diet, you could call it post-punk for garage rockers, punk for alt-rockers, or just plain chaos for adrenaline junkies. As the press release aptly puts it: “Think Uranium Club if they were Motörhead roadies with anger management issues.”
MITRAIILLE is out today on Spastic Fantastic Records (Dortmund, DE), Belly Button Records (Antwerp, BE), Ronny Rex (Diest, BE), and Rockerill Records (Charleroi, BE). It’s a record that will keep you on your toes, and possibly, bouncing off the walls.
