Garage Rock

New album: Twisted Teens || Florida Water Blues

The underground's most spellbinding band keeps rolling with their second of the year

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Back in 2024, the first Twisted Teens record didn’t feel like a debut. It felt like stumbling across a dusty tape that had somehow been waiting for decades to be discovered. Since then, the project has gone from mysterious cult favorite to a genuine underground force, with Blame The Clown proving earlier this year that the magic was no accident.

Then came another surprise: Florida Water Blues, announced and released with almost no warning. And after spending time with it, I suspect Blame The Clown was less the destination and more a scenic detour. This new record feels like the album Twisted Teens had been building toward all along.

Where Blame The Clown embraced looseness, odd turns, and a box-of-gems unpredictability, Florida Water Blues is tighter, more focused, and loaded with songs that seem engineered to lodge themselves in your brain. The tempos stay lively, the hooks arrive fast, and the lyrics continue to sound like they were pulled from some half-remembered piece of Southern folklore. “You can drink that Florida Water and go blind” is exactly the kind of line only Twisted Teens could make sound both ominous and ridiculously catchy.

Cas P. Ian remains one of the most distinctive vocalists operating anywhere near the underground, while RJ Santos threads pedal steel and slide guitar through these songs with the confidence of someone who knows precisely when to add beauty, when to add sadness and when to add danger.

Most importantly, Florida Water Blues captures the thing that made me obsessed with Twisted Teens in the first place. They take folk, blues, punk, garage rock, country, and old-time music and turn it into something that feels both ancient and brand new. The debut was a revelation. Blame The Clown was a reputation builder. Florida Water Blues sounds like a band realizing just how big this strange, sweaty, spellbinding thing they’ve created can become.

And apparently the madness isn’t slowing down. Another Twisted Teens record is already on the way in a couple of months. I learned that, and a lot more, from a fantastic Paste Magazine feature on Cas P. Ian and RJ Santos. The impressive thing is that the article doesn’t demystify the band at all. If anything, it makes the whole Twisted Teens universe even more fascinating.

Florida Water Blues is out now on Going Underground Records


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Going Underground

New EP: OP ED || E.P.

L.A.'s "The Kinks on speed"

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

What OP ED lack in money -they’re apparently scraping by in Los Angeles- they make up for with a gloriously snotty strain of garage punk that sounds like there’s something on the line. Preferably a tiny underground label willing to press these songs onto vinyl before somebody else gets there first.

The band describe themselves as “The Kinks on speed,” and honestly, they might be underselling it. The four songs on E.P., which I believe is their debut, feel beamed in from the ’70s: catchy enough to get stuck in your head, but rough around the edges in the way that makes you worry someone might knock over a microphone stand or knocks his guitar neck in your face before the song ends. Think pop hooks wrapped in sandpaper.

If this is what OP ED sound like while scraping by, imagine the damage they could do with a proper recording budget. Then again, maybe let’s not find out. I am liking this plenty already!


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: HEX || HEX

Surf-soaked garage pop from Greece

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Greece’s all-caps HEX are the kind of band that do Jacuzzi Boys-style garage pop right while adding their own surf-soaked twist. Apparently this self-titled EP was recorded nine years ago, which may explain why it instantly takes me back to that fuzzed-out garage-pop scene that was impossible to avoid back then.

I have no idea whether HEX ever saw the light of day back in the ’10s, but I do know that a song like Burn Down Your House is an excellent way to kick off a weekend.

Vinyl co-released by Body Blows and Patari Records.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Private Eye || Grape Eaters

Mod spirit meets West Coast heart

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

We were already raving about Los Angeles quartet The Private Eye a couple of years ago. Their follow-up, the eight-song EP (or mini-album, if you prefer) Grape Eaters, only gives us more reasons to keep doing so.

The Private Eye sound like an American band gleefully importing UK mod while blending it with jangly (Strum and Thrum) underground punk, left coast power pop, and indie rock. It’s a combination that’s hard to pin to a single genre, but that’s exactly what keeps things exciting. Better yet, they deliver it with the kind of rock ‘n’ roll energy that makes me suspect their live shows are an absolute blast.

In what can only be seen as a blatant attempt to win us over even more, the EP also includes a song called Rotterdam, which is, in our completely humble and entirely objective opinion, the most interesting city in the Netherlands. The song is about losing your heart on the way to Rotterdam, and believe us, there are far worse places for that to happen.

The Private Eye are one of those bands that deserve a permanent spot on your radar.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The TSG || Skydiver

The not so secretive kickass new project from The Tubs drummer Taylor Stewart

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

Following that mighty fine Bramwell 7-inch, Gob Nation delivers another essential release. Meet The TSG, the new project from Taylor Stewart, who may already have made a lasting impression if you’ve ever witnessed The Tubs live as their drummer. That said, let’s leave The Tubs comparisons at the door. The TSG is very much its own thing. Three songs of punky power pop, all killer and no filler.

The title track Skydivers reminds me of Outtacontrol in the best possible way: completely unfussy, ridiculously effective, and built around the kind of repetitive melody that makes the hook feel like the entire point. And honestly, it is. Alright might be the biggest earworm of the bunch. It shoots out of Stewart’s basement (attic? garage? Taylor, where are you recording these things?) at light speed and lands directly in your brain.

Then there’s Fools Gold, which sounds like a lost gem from the UK underground. Something that could have slipped out on Good Vibrations in the late ’70s or found a home on Bomp! Records. It comes with a super funny video that fits the chaotic force that is Taylor Stewart.

Pretty sure this one will show up on my favorite EPs of 2026. Out now on 7″ vinyl.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Surf the Band || Hiding In Plain Sight

Making enemies one song at a time

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

I couldn’t find a single thing about Surf the Band online, but after hearing what I assume is their debut EP, I’m fairly certain they’re not afraid of getting kicked in the face at one of their own shows.

Just look at the track list: Your Whole Culture Is Vapid, I Find Your Tattoos & Piercings Boring, and my personal favorite, Ride Your Motorcycle in Another Circle, Tough Guy. As if that weren’t enough, the closing track is called Alienating Your Fan Base With Snarky Song Titles Is a Bad Decision. At least they’re self-aware.

Musically, Surf the Band seem determined to make rock ‘n’ roll feel dangerous again, drawing equally from ’70s proto-punk and ’60s garage rock. The result is primal, loud, and blissfully unconcerned with making friends.

Then again, maybe that’s exactly how they’ll make them.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: PEDICO || Untitled Girl Groups Project EP

Girl groups, basement amps, perfect chemistry

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

PEDICO are one of those bands I will recommend until one of us calls it quits. They’ve been a staple on Add To Wantlist for years now, and every new release leaves me with the same problem: how do I avoid writing the exact same review when, once again, the answer is simply, “this rules”?

We’ve covered their originals. We’ve covered their Beach Boys obsession. We’ve covered their oldies obsession. Truth be told, the line between all of those has always been deliciously blurry. PEDICO have spent well over a decade grabbing the greatest pop and rock ‘n’ roll songs ever written, throwing them in a basement with the Ramones, and seeing what survives. The answer is: pretty much everything.

Summer is here, and so are PEDICO. This time they’ve dedicated an entire mini-album to the girl groups that helped shape their DNA. I reached out to the band for some background. While they didn’t write the review for me this time around (they’ve done that before), they did send me something that explains the project better than I ever could:

“Long before punk had a name, there was a sound just as raw, just as urgent, and just as loud in its own way: the girl groups of the early ‘60s. The Shirelles, The Crystals, The Ronettes — groups who took heartbreak, longing, and teenage rebellion and turned it into three-minute pop perfection, all wrapped in Phil Spector’s towering Wall of Sound production.

PEDICO has always worn that influence loud and proud — the “teen beat” DNA runs through everything we do, from our surf-inspired originals to our Beach Boys covers. But the girl groups are where the real heart of it lives: the drama, the doo-wop harmonies, the sense that every song was a life-or-death teenage confession set to a beat you could dance to.”

There are ten tracks here, although Be My Baby sneaks in twice. Songs like Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, One Fine Day, and The Loco-Motion get the full PEDICO treatment: faster, fuzzier, and just scrappy enough to remind you that these songs were punk long before punk existed. My favorite surprise is There’s No Other Like My Baby, where the band briefly eases off the gas and display a level of nuance that only further shows how much love they have for these melodies. They don’t just cover these songs. They practically adopt them.

So what’s next for PEDICO?

“Back to the drawing board for some originals.”

Good. We’ll be here. And if they decide to throw another curveball before then, chances are we’ll love that too.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Paranoyds || Late Nighter

Back with fuzz and attitude intact

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Three years is long enough to start wondering when The Paranoyds would return. Thankfully, since their 2022 Talk Talk Talk LP and their 2023 I Like it Here EP , they haven’t lost their knack  for making garage rock sound effortlessly cool. Produced in part by Jamie Hince of The Kills, Late Nighter gives the Los Angeles quartet’s fuzzed-out grooves and scrappy punk energy a little extra bite without sanding off the rough edges. Four songs is hardly enough after such a long wait, but Tracy Don’t, Girls Like Me, Paint Thinner, and DNA all make a convincing case that The Paranoyds haven’t missed a step. More of where this came from please.

Add to wantlist: Streaming only (available on CD and Tape through the band)

New EP: Show of Strength || Gewalt!

The soundtrack to looking like you're about to start a fight when you're actually just having a great time

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

In their own words, English trio Show of Strength has been kicking in doors since 2024, and it’s easy to believe them. Their debut EP barrels forward on the back of Daisy’s commanding vocals, Jack’s swaggering rock ‘n’ roll riffs, and Charlie’s relentless drumming.

This is garage punk rock with one foot planted in rock-‘n’-roll, the kind of record that has you pulling your meanest face while secretly having the time of your life.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Sex Mex || 21:12

100+ songs in, the official Sex Mex debut arrives in glorious fashion

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Sex Mex is an abnormal band. Clark Gray’s one-man Texas synth-punk operation has only been around for about five years, yet I’m fairly certain he’s already crossed the 100-song mark. Take one look at his discography and you’ll find no fewer than eight compilation albums. That’s not normal, right?

Then, this week, Gray dropped a record that’s being presented as the official Sex Mex debut. Can he do that? Apparently he can, because 21:12 is the first proper full-length release, arriving via Candy-O Records. And no, the title doesn’t refer to a Bible verse. It’s simply the album’s running time. Ten songs. Twenty-one minutes and twelve seconds. That sounds about right.

If you’re familiar with Sex Mex, you already know what you’re getting: buzzsaw guitars, robotic drumming, the occasional gloriously cheap synth melody, and hooks that arrive at a frightening rate. You could argue that if you’ve heard one Sex Mex song, you’ve heard them all. Fine. But what if that one song absolutely ruled? Then hearing ten variations on the theme suddenly sounds like a great idea.

The difference is that Gray keeps getting better at writing them. His hooks are sharper than ever, and Ride Or Die, Need Ya Til I Don’t, and Hot As Hell form one of the strongest runs he’s put to tape. Reaction is impossible to shake, with its staccato verses exploding into an aggro chorus, while At The End proves, once again, that a slightly corny synth line can elevate a great punk song. Then there’s I Like It, where Gray finally answers the question nobody should have to ask: “Why is your music so damn loud?” Because I like it!

After years of singles, EPs, and compilations, 21:12 proves that Sex Mex can deliver a front-to-back killer just as easily. It’s uncomplicated fun, a welcome escape from an overactive mind, and twenty-one minutes you’ll almost certainly want to spend twice.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Scroll to Top