Garage Rock

New EP: Xray Xeroxx || Art Rock!

New shades for this one-man show

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Xray Xeroxx returns with Art Rock! Does this mean he has traded in his sweaty punk balaclava for a black turtleneck, angular haircut, and a thoughtful stare into the middle distance? Not really. These four songs do reveal new layers to the one-man show though, sounding a tadsy more artsy than previously, without any hint of pretension or grand plans to become the next Monet or Talking Heads.

The spirit is still scrappy at heart, just dressed up in a slightly different shade. And in true Xray Xeroxx fashion, the presentation gets its own twist too, with 3D artwork (and video!) and accompanying glasses for the 7″ lathe-cut vinyl. A tape version exists as well, if that is more your speed. Out now on Low Ambition Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Friends of Cesar Romero || Soul Scouts

18 minutes of late Doomed Babe series magic

By / / Garage Rock, Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

I am both in the denial and bargaining stages of grief over J Waylon’s announcement that he will wrap up his Doomed Babe Series after installment 50. Making his latest (#48) a full length (in our dimension, ten songs in 18 minutes counts as an album) definitely helps the process. The record arrives with a quote by Elizabeth Hardwick that essentially summarizes the whole series:

“There are only two reasons to write: desperation or revenge.”

And like what came before, Soul Scouts has that strange mix of devotion and bitterness, jealousy, and resentment. But perhaps I am seeing things through the lens of the approaching end, J Waylon sounds particularly weary and wounded here, on a record that is as catchy in melody as it is raw in emotion. “I’d rather starve than share a crumb of your affection,” he hollers in A Sonnet For Lee Lazy Horse, a bittersweet garage power pop punk classic. The sentiments may be universal and all too familiar, but few musicians manage to pour so many great tunes out of them, let alone sound this passionate and inspired. Think of those long-running TV shows that somehow hit a late creative peak seasons in, the ones that stay sharp while others fade into autopilot. Soul Scouts has that kind of energy, like a series finding a second or third wind when it could easily coast.

There is plenty of bite on Soul Scouts. This definitely sits on the punky power pop end of the FOCR spectrum, but the melodies reign supreme as always. The second half is particularly sticky, with Nurse Midwife Crisis, Tassels and Bitter But Better stacking up like a run of back-to-back hits.

I am not anywhere near the acceptance stage. But if the end really is coming into view, this feels like the kind of late-series highlight that reminds you exactly why you got hooked in the first place.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Powerband || Life on the Death Machine

Fuel for the unhinged soul

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

If you like your punk rock raw, unhinged and filthy, put the new Powerband album straight at the top of your playlist. It might be all you listen to for the rest of the day, leaving the people around you wondering why you are even more amped up than usual. Powerband sounds like D.C.’s scrappy answer to Melbourne’s Split System, winning you over fast with their feral rock-‘n’-roll and never letting up, steamrolling their way deep into your system while greasing your heart with motor oil.

Recorded in a basement in Arlington yet sounding like the kind of house party you wish you had stumbled into, Life on the Death Machine is relentless from start to finish.  By the end, you may find yourself wondering how to enroll in their Death Machine cult. This is absolutely killer stuff. And if you are here for the covers, their thrilling take on Working Man by Rush is definitely worth the ride.

Powerband is Carl Deluxe frantically hitting with sticks and Codi Roach wielding everything else, with Bob Seger hovering somewhere in the background as spiritual guidance.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Music City || Welcome To Music City

Seven years in the making and worth every second of the wait

By / / Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Conor Lumsden does quality over quantity. Best known as one of the driving forces behind Dublin’s The Number Ones (who finally returned with new music last year) and recently parting ways with power pop sensations The Speedways, he now steps out with Music City. It’s been over seven years since he first released music under this moniker, and I’ve been waiting for its next step ever since. It’s finally here, and given its timeless sound, it could have been released anytime in the past six decades. Welcome To Music City sounds less like a side project and more like a parallel universe where classic songwriting gets a fresh jolt of electricity. Lumsden gets it: rock ‘n’ roll isn’t something to preserve, it’s something you play because it still absolutely works.

Lumsden’s writing thrives on everyday moments and small observations, ones that don’t distract from his killer hooks. This is guitar music that wears its influences lightly but proudly. Ask Lumsden to namedrop influences, and you’ll be here for a while: Buddy Holly, The Beatles, T. Rex, Elton John, Big Star, Todd Rundgren, Carole King, Steely Dan, Judee Sill, The Clash, Tom Petty… You can hear echoes of all of them, but nothing feels retro for the sake of it. Music City moves with confidence, built on chiming guitars, sturdy rhythms, and hooks that land without trying too hard. There’s a warmth and polish to the production that gives the record mainstream radio appeal, and songs like the rock and rolling Common Sense and the soulful pubrocker It’s Alright could slide right into a ’70s AM playlist or a modern indie station without raising an eyebrow. At the midpoint of the record sits the major pop hit Pretty Feelings, the song that started it all seven years ago. It still sounds timeless in 2026.

Welcome To Music City is out now on Redundant Span Records.



Welcome To Music City is more than the working of one talented musician. Evan Walsh and Pete O’Hanlon (of The Strypes) are part of the band, Paula Cullen and Ceeva Derwin shine their vocal talents throughout the record, while friends from across Lumsden’s musical life chip in on specific tracks. This includes Tina Halladay (on the designated hit Common Sense) and Hart Seely from Sheer Mag, Alastair MacKay (Dick Diver), Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh and her brother Fiachra, Jay Arner, Leigh Arthur.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Mal Thursday Quintet || Mods & Gods

A joy-driven second act that channels the soul of the 60s while keeping both feet on the floor

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

At the end of 2023 we wrote about the Mal Thursday Quintet’s amazing single Kitten with a Whip, a foretaste of this album, Mods & Gods, that is now finally seeing the light of day, five years after their debut LP If 6 Was 5. The band, fronted by Austin, Texas-based creative Mal Thursday (vocals, harmonica), who is backed by a range of skilled musicians, delivers twelve uplifting rock ‘n roll songs—fuzzy garage rock meets hooky rhythm & blues—including a new tune called If 6 Was 5 (not the title track from the previous record or anything), two live versions, and a bonus track titled Excitement Transfusion. Vibrant music wrapped in a vintage sound, tough yet charming, but above all catchy and danceable.




Mods & Gods—produced by The Glimmer Quints—is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Chunk Archives Recordings / Teen Sound Records. Also featuring—in alphabetical order—Dave Berkham (guitar, bass, organ, vocals), David Boatwright (guitar), Nelson Bragg (percussion), David Champagne (guitar), Chuck Ferreira (drums), Jim Fitting (harmonica), Keith Kinkle (guitar, vocals), Ken Maiuri (guitar), Brian T. Marchese (drums), Bob Medley (bass, organ, piano, guitar, drums, tambourine, vocals), Frank Padellaro (guitar, bass, vocals), Greg Saulmon (guitar), Steve Schecter (guitar, vocals), Jamey Simms (guitar), Luke Strahota (drums), Thom Sullivan (drums), Patrick Timmons (bass), Bobby Trimble (drums, percussion, vocals), and Tom Trusnovic (bass, vocals) on select tracks.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Misty Lane

New EP: TADA || 308

Cool new band alert!

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock / 1 Comment

Please meet TADA, a garage rock duo from Berlin, Germany, featuring Jan Martens and Yann Le Bars, making their debut with the 308 EP. We get five exciting songs that burst with wiry urgency and street-level swagger, pairing sharp guitar riffs with forward-charging rhythms, recalling the energy and sound of early Arctic Monkeys. A subdued sixth track concludes: the acoustic instrumental Leave A Message, a reassuring answering machine memo that lets you catch your breath.


308 is out now digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Itchy & The Nits || Greeting From…

Summer Fun and gang-chant perfection from Australia

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Well, here’s a postcard all of us were waiting for, checking the mailbox every damn day with full-on anticipatory jitters. It’s the new LP from everyone’s favorite bubblegum budget garage pop punk trio Itchy & The Nits. Cue the theme song from their debut!

“ITCHY & THE NITS! ITCHY & THE NITS!
Scratch your head and scratch your bits!
Shake ya butt and shake ya tits!
Itchy and the Nits (Nits, nits, nits)!”

Oh wait—this new LP starts with another theme song? Can they do that? Apparently yes. The gang now sings: “Welcome to The Itchy & the Nits show, dance like you’re at the disco.” Okay, I’m on board. Honestly, this one’s an instant hit.

And wouldn’t you know it: Anti Fade and Total Punk definitely upped the budget. Maybe the band has some dirt on the label folks, but more likely it’s because Itchy & The Nits have improved across the board (not that I had any issues with their previous level). They play better than ever, sound better than ever, and still manage to keep the charm of DIY indie independence fully intact. The care and love poured into their Secrets video alone is enough to make your heart flutter. Itchy & The Nits turn minimalism into an art form, inspiring a new school of girls, boys, and everyone beyond to pick up a guitar, learn a chord or two, and write their own theme song.

Greetings From… is a total summer record—which might not make sense to our winter brains, but hey, winter for us is summer in Australia. And so you get songs about crusty boys, skinny dipping, watching cartoons, and love interests. Itchy & The Nits write songs like they’re inventing pop punk from scratch, armed with nothing but enthusiasm, instinct, and a killer sense of fun. And Greetings From… is catchy and fun in all the right places, packed with extremely sticky gang choruses. There are even sound effects (in Cartoon)! This thing has more hits than I can handle and is an absolute must-own.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Total Punk

New album: The Dallas Badgers Club || Your Brother’s Bar

Heartache and hope reflected in the glass of an all-night room

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

Please join The Dallas Badgers Club, a garage rock duo from Mesa, Arizona, featuring Dylan Morrison (vocals, guitar, bass) and Raymond Goodwin (drums, percussion). On their debut album, they transport us to Your Brother’s Bar, to atmospheres reminiscent of Edward Hopper’s 1942 Nighthawks painting, although the cover art (by Darren Simoes) and sound are set some 30 years later.

You’ll hear eight blues-soaked rock songs, gritty yet controlled, with an unmistakable live feel. Just like the riffs and rhythms, the lyrics drift between tenderness and anxiety (flowers in the head, hearts racing in the morning, traveling long distances just to confirm a feeling you already know will hurt), capturing the push and pull of desire, boredom, and self-doubt. Taken together, this record hits like a late-night confession, finding beauty in vulnerability and the slow crawl back toward steadier ground—a fitting soundtrack for a fluorescent-lit night where everyone is alone together, lingering too long.



Your Brother’s Bar, engineered and mixed by Josh Medina, is now out digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Yuasa Exide & Waylon Thornton || U.S. Hypothetical

One generous split from two homerecording obessives

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

Getting the output of two of the most fanatical home recorders for the price of one is already a great deal, but this split by Yuasa Exide (Minnesota) and Waylon Thornton (Gainesville) goes one better: it’s pay-what-you-want, with proceeds benefiting Minneapolis mutual aid funds. Good guys, and very fine musicians at that.

Yuasa Exide’s batch continues the excellent run Doug Busson has been on lately. Add Mnemonic Worship and Xerox Me to your ever-growing list of reasons to worship at the altar of Yuasa Exide. On the flip side, Waylon Thornton sounds a little less noisy by comparison, but his messy, hooky garage rock (Tristan Tzara and My Lollipop are particularly sweet) complements Busson’s material perfectly.  This split album sounds like two basements talking to each other through tape hiss and overdriven melodies. Is this what they mean by synergy?




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Vieira and The Silvers || Well Fed, Fully Clothed and Completely Sane

Garage rock maximalism with sax, sweat, and swagger to spare

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

British rock ‘n’ roll outfit Vieira and The Silvers swept us off our feet when we saw them live at the Left of the Dial festival last fall, and now they’re finally releasing their long-awaited debut EP. While the six musicians operate as a steaming rock ‘n’ roll machine full of madness on stage, they manage to surprise us in the five songs on Well Fed, Fully Clothed and Completely Sane by showcasing even more facets of their skills.

Expect exuberant garage rock with adventurous detours into psych, blues, and proto-punk, driven by a raucous instrumental line-up in which saxophone, harmonica, guitars, and rhythm section all vie for attention. Anchored by commanding vocals, the songs twist through unexpected tempo changes and groovy hooks. Drawing inspiration from the pioneers of the 60s and 70s, these tracks unfold like miniature rock operas—an increasingly rare feat today, yet one that feels perfectly attuned to the present moment.



Well Fed, Fully Clothed and Completely Sane, produced by Sean Read, is out now digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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