Garage Rock

New album: Empty Bones || Speed, Commitment and Luck

A decade late, but right on time

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Empty Bones are a garage rock quartet from Bremen, Germany, featuring Cederik Schwarz, Julian Kramp, Maximilian Bopp and Tim Andreas Maziull. It took them about 10 years to record their first full length album, but here it is, appropriately titled Speed, Commitment and Luck. The titles of the thirteen songs—Empty Nights, Drop In Drop Out, Drunk, Defuse Me, Funfair, and so on—reveal a period of considerable fun and quite a bit of beer, something that, with a critical eye, could also be seen as self-sabotage.

Anyway, this is over half an hour of raucous tunes with unstoppable riffs, for those who like their music raw and fast. Closing track Your Love is a delicious but almost unrecognizable cover of Jackie Wilson’s (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher, one that will turn any gig into a dancing mass full of smiles and sweat.



Speed, Commitment and Luck—recorded and mixed by Felix Margraf—is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through La Pochette Surprise Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || La Pochette Surprise

New single: The Sound Minds || Hide and Seek / She Won’t Stay For Long

The beat music revival you didn't know you needed

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The Sound Minds are a New York-based rock ‘n’ roll trio featuring Graham Tichy (guitar, vocals), Ian “Ritz” Carlton (bass, vocals) and Christopher “Gringo Starr” Sprague (drums, vocals), seasoned musicians who have played with big names like Nick Lowe, Wanda Jackson and The Neanderthals, to name a few. They have a new 45 out that may be rooted in the 1960s, but is nothing less than irresistible in 2025. A-side Hide and Seek is an awesome garage rock stomper with infectious gang vocals and killer riffs, B-side She Won’t Stay For Long is a Beatlesque hit captured in an unstoppable sound—a high-octane performance, energetic and electrifying.

Hide and Seek b/w She Won’t Stay For Long is out now streaming and on 7″ vinyl through Hi-Tide Recordings’ new imprint Go-Time.

Add to wantlist: Hi-Tide

New single: Split System & Les Lullies || Chemicals / L’étroit

A final firecracker (for now) from the mighty Legless Records

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One of the top dogs in Australia’s  punk scene teams up with one of France’s finest punky power pop outfits for a split 7″ that marks—at least for now—the final release on Legless Records. The label’s founder has pressed pause to focus on quality family time, and if this really is the end, it’s a hell of a way to go out. Over the years, Legless built a rock-solid reputation as a go-to imprint for raw and vital punk. What a run this label had!

Split System contribute Chemicals, a ripping, guitar-driven punk anthem with just a hint of garage lean—perhaps a subtle nod to their French counterparts. On the flip, Les Lullies fire back with L’étroit, injecting a shot of Split System-style snarl into their signature high-energy power pop.

Here’s hoping Legless Records returns someday. Until then, grab this final gem through the label, or via Drunken Sailor (UK) or Green Noise (North America).


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Drunken Sailor

New album: Keddies Resort || A Killer Goodbye

Lo-fi garage pop punk from Portland that never overstays its welcome

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While I was still trying to find time to write up Keddies Resort’s recent two-song single from just two weeks ago, the band went ahead and dropped a whole new surprise album in anticipation of another album that should come out in a couple of months. A Killer Goodbye includes both tracks from that single (I Know I Look Like a Reatard and Robinson), along with Medical Love, previously released on a split with SEX MEX. Talk about a young, hungry band!

Keddies Resort are quickly making a name for themselves as a hot commodity in the world of garage pop punk. Clocking in under twenty minutes, their second album doesn’t waste a second of your time. Give this band 100 seconds and they’ll hand you a scrappy lo-fi hit—rough-edged, spontaneous, and totally infectious.

There’s a first-take rawness to A Killer Goodbye that’s packed with charm. Think Guided By Voices by way of Wavves and Marked Men—short bursts of fuzzed-out energy, wired hooks, and DIY wizardry.

A Killer Goodbye is out now on Sweatband Records. It’s not on Bandcamp (yet?), but you’ll find it on your preferred streaming platform.

Add to wantlist: ?

New album: Joni Ekman & Koira || XL4

Let's boogie with these throwback Fins!

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

XL4 is Joni Ekman & Koira’s fourth album. Does the XL stands for something bigger than what came before? Well not exactly, it’s more of the same, which is fine by me. This Finnish quartet specializes in old school pub boogie’n’roll, a sound that is very much out of time with what is hip and happening and very much for people who couldn’t care less as long as it kicks ass. Or as the press release mentions: music that is delivered with “100% energy and zero IQ.” Play loud!

XL4 is out now on Svart Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Svart

New album: The Crystal Teardrop || …Is Forming

Kaleidoscopic debut LP echoing the golden era of garage psych

By / / Garage Rock, Psych / Leave a Comment

We already knew them from some floor-filling singles—Running Out Of Time b/w Apres Jeudi made it onto my year-end list—but British garage psych outfit The Crystal Teardrop also manages to captivate with a full-length album. On their aptly titled first LP The Crystal Teardrop…Is Forming, Alexandra Rose (vocals, guitar, mandola), Leon Jones (lead guitar), Stuart Gray (organ), Ed Quigley (bass, vocals), and Huw Woodward (drums) put their own spin on the analogue and kaleidoscopic sound that came to fruition in the rich 1960s (lyrically, I can’t help but hear all sorts of subtle and not-so-subtle references to that era, like “No more talk of yesterday” and “I hope it’s not too late”, although they’re actually used in a different context). Adding influences from the various revivals of the past 60 years, but more importantly a good sense of pop music, a healthy dose of creativity, and a toolbox of skills, there is much to enjoy in this versatile and sumptuous 42 minute trip. Consciousness-expanding.



The Crystal Teardrop…Is Forming—produced by Liam Watson—is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Rise Above Records / Popclaw Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Rise Above 

New EP: Old Town Crier || Peterson Motel

A roadside bar soundtrack full of hooks and heart

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

Old Town Crier is the solo project of Middleborough, Massachusetts-based singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Jim Lough. He is blessed with a character-rich voice, a keen eye for observation, and a knack for a moving melody, which he puts to good use on his new EP, Peterson Motel. It turns out to be a sonic space that feels both lived-in and exuberant—like a favorite roadside bar where the jukebox is always spinning something you didn’t know you needed.

Toe-tapping rhythms and catchy harmony vocals ring out in five infectious tunes—a rootsy sound with a punk edge—in arrangements that recall the ragged joy of pub rock, with just the right amount of sweetness in the grit. Great fun.


Peterson Motel, mixed & mastered by Dave Westner, is out digitally and on CD via STiNKBuG ReCoRDS inc. Also featuring RiLeY CoYoTe (backing vocals).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Gringo Star || Sweethearts

The dreamy melancholy of holding on and letting go

By / / Garage Rock, Psych / Leave a Comment

Sweethearts is the eighth full-length album by Atlanta’s rock ‘n’ roll quartet Gringo Star, eleven surfy garage psych songs—including a cover of Little Red Riding Hood (Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs, 1966)—on which Peter Furgiuele (vocals, guitars, percussion, keys), Nicholas Furgiuele (vocals, guitars, bass, percussion) and Joshua Longino (backup vocals, bass, guitars, percussion, keys) switch instruments again and again while Mario Colangelo (drums, percussion) provides a steady beat. They are dreamy love letters—written for the present, but with echoes of the past—full of subtle sadness and romantic nostalgia, wrapped in heartfelt warm melodies and lush doo-wop harmonies.

Don’t let the laidback feel fool you though, because there’s much more going on in the rich underlying layers than you might expect, both musically and vocally. In that respect, the multifaceted circus theme in the video for latest single Count The Ways is striking: the importance of perseverance and maintaining a positive outlook against contemporary life’s uncertainties is represented by clowns, with their happy front and hidden sorrowful side.


Sweethearts, produced by Peter and Nicholas Furgiuele, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP via Dizzybird Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Dizzybird

Dusted || The 10 Best New Cover Songs Of April 2025

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / Leave a Comment

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, eg as a tribute to such a musical hero for a special reason, or they simply feel that a song deserves to be dusted and polished to reacquaint fans with great songs from the past. Other times, bands cover songs as a parody. Regardless of intent, some of those cover versions are so good or so much fun, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are – in random order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

Paisley Park || Cover: Best Bets || Original: Prince & The Revolution
Following the iconic Purple Rain LP, Prince released Around The World In A Day 40 years ago. To celebrate that anniversary, New Zealand power pop quartet Best Bets covers its first single, Paisley Park (“Admission is easy, just say you // Believe and come to this // Place in your heart”), in their own unique style—free to download.

…

Dusted || The 10 Best New Cover Songs Of April 2025Read More »

New album: Blowers || Blowmania

Blowmania is loud, messy, and just what the doctor didn’t order

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / 1 Comment

The sun is out, the windows are open, and Blowers have a new album. I’m in the mood for some raucous garage punk, and Blowmania — the band’s third LP in just four years — is best played at full volume.

Sorry, neighbor. This is Blowers. Did you know they’re from Melbourne? That’s where all the good stuff seems to be coming from lately.
What’s that? Yeah, I know they’re a bit loud. But I kinda like my music that way.
They’re really loud, you say? Okay, let me play you I Hate You All The Time, that song is…
Wait — no, I don’t actually hate you all the time. That’s just the name of the song. It’s catchy though, right?
[blank stare]
Honestly, I think this might be their best record yet.
[blank stare]
Here, listen to Civic Duty.
[blank stare]
Alright, I get it. Maybe it’s not your thing. But this ticks so many boxes of what a garage punk record should sound like: blown-out, bratty, energetic, and completely unhinged. Did you know they have four singers?
[blank stare]
Fine, I’ll close the window.

Blowmania is out now on Chaputa Records (EU) and Trash Cult Records (Australia).


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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