Blues & Roots

New album: Tha Retail Simps || Real Simple

Your favorite garage-'n'-roll jukebox just got catchier

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

Retail Simps change articles like it’s the most normal thing in the world, with total disregard for record-collecting purists. First Thee Retail Simp, then Tha, then Thine, then Theeee, and now… Tha Retail Simps again.

Musically, you kind of know what to expect from Retail Simps, but you should also expect the unexpected. This time, perhaps we should take the album title literally, because the surprise on Real Simple is just how accessible and easy on the ears it is. I struggled with last year’s Tantric Decapitation: 69 minutes of trichotomy and liquefaction. It doesn’t help that running this site leaves us precious little time to spend with a record that demands 69 minutes of our attention. Real Simple is practically the opposite. Has it ever been easier to fall for this band?

Sure, they still play wild rock ‘n’ roll and remain more exciting than your average guitar band. But here, things feel less complicated. There are proto-punk hits like Bored To Tears On Earth and HI-HEEL Sneakers, the jangly outsider garage pop ‘n’ roll of Gems & Sand and Garage Prelude, the Velvet-esque Daffodil Girl, and the frat-rocking Rock Jocks. It’s a Retail Simps jukebox with something for just about everyone, and you’ll want to keep feeding it coins.

Just when they were losing me, they pulled me right back in. What a band!

Real Simple is out now on 12″ via Total Punk.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Dude Cervantes and The Panchos || Dude Cervantes and The Panchos

Dude Cervantes (Mrs. Henry, Chest Fever, Howlin' Rain) enthralls with a record rooted in places, people, and sounds that shaped him

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

Following the live LP The Ride or Die of Dude Cervantes and The Panchos, the roots rockers from San Diego, California have now released their first studio album. There’s a dusty quality to this self-titled outing, as if someone left the amps humming at the end of a long desert somewhere in the adventurous no man’s land between raw blues, psychedelic soul, and energetic garage rock. The seven songs together take up 40 minutes, moving from melodic optimism in It’s A Beautiful Day to road-worn territory in pub rock hit Saturday Night and catchy standout track Lesson Learned, before the 09:47 long Reach Out heads off into the horizon. Thoughtful songwriting crosses twin guitars and a cowbell; it makes sense to pack for a road trip and blast this out into the world through open windows.



The eponymous Dude Cervantes and The Panchos album is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Blind Owl Records. Featuring Dude Cervantes, Dylan Donovan, Brenden Dellar, Ryan Grenda, and Justin De La Vega.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Salmon Sisters || Taller Than Normal

Not just another band from Melbourne

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

Early August, Melbourne’s latest hypeworthy band Salmon Sisters dropped a pretty hot two-song teaser for the thing that came out this week: Taller Than Normal, a ten-song full-length that offers a playful take on garage rock-indebted punk. And while the fast stuff hits hard, with the cluster-bomb combo of T.O.X.I.N., Cock It and MeatgrindR, that’s only one side of Salmon Sisters.

Multiple singers and absurdist lyrics make sure things never stay in one place for too long. Elevator Music is upbeat, jangly indie rock with a chorus that goes something like “I wanna be a pregnant Salmon in a sea of demon fish.” Sure. Why not? Then there’s Like This, a bluesy storyteller about a boy named Kermit Jagger, the son of Mick Jagger, who had sex with a frog. I have questions, but I’m not sure I want the answers.

And that’s what makes Taller Than Normal so much fun. Salmon Sisters have the punk energy, a clear sense of identity (look at that band pic on the cover!) but they clearly aren’t interested in following any script.

This is not your average record, but it will definitely get people talking and listening.

Count us in.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of September 2026

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

Not all new music is really new, as many artists cover songs. Sometimes these are songs by their favorite artists, e.g. 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 (only if supported by the artist, so no live videos filmed by the audience or anything like that), here are—in a kind of random order—no less than 40+ successful covers from last month.

Teenage Kicks (The Undertones) by Christina Jean & Her All Stars — digital track (Rum Bar Records)

Starry Eyes (Roky Erickson) by Veronica Falls — from upcoming S/T debut LP deluxe reissue (Slumberland / Bella Union)

The Best of My Love (Eagles) by Patton — from a digital 2-track EP with which the Pattons celebrate their parents’ 50th wedding anniversary (Radiant Radish)

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Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of September 2026Read More »

The Loose Ends || September 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk, Surf / Leave a Comment

There are more wantlist-worthy releases than time to cover them all. Starting this year, Loose Ends is our monthly fix for the great records that slipped through the cracks. Expect a key track and quick take on each release, and a link to add it to your shelves.

Apeshit || Life! On TV
This Dutch band uses punk as inspiration not a rulebook, turning the genre on its head with their powerful full length debut.


Arab Strap || Half-Told Tales
Their ninth album finds Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton in a richly textured world where gallows humour and genuine hope somehow keep dancing together.

Kurt Baker || Wonder Woman
First taste of a record that Baker recorded during the pandemic but never got released. Sounds huge…and VERY promising.

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The Loose Ends || September 2026Read More »

New single: McKinley James || Back On The Run / Hooked On You

A little grease, a lot of groove

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

As you would expect from recordings from the Easy Eye Sound Studios, McKinley James puts the past back on his dancing shoes. With sharp licks and soulful vocals (backed by a skilled rhythm section), the Nashville-based singer-songwriter/guitarist wastes no time getting into the groove. You are listening to Back On The Run and Hooked On You, two new hits with a vintage feel on one shiny black disc in 7″ format, in which gritty roadhouse boogie and swinging rhythm & blues get you moving.


Back On The Run b/w Hooked On You—produced by Dan Auerbach—is out digitally and on 7″ vinyl through Easy Eye Sound.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Easy Eye Sound

New album: Bellringer || is this the afterlife

New Orleans band carving their own little corner in underground music with their hybrid brew of folk, punk and garage music

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Indie Rock / 2 Comments

New Orleans band Bellringer is fronted by Summer Newman, who sings, plays guitar and a little organ, and wrote most of the band’s second record, is this the afterlife, one of the more intriguing new releases this week. With their raw edge, Bellringer sound like their feet are firmly planted in underground music, yet it’s difficult to pin them to any specific genre or sound. It’s their own hybrid brew of folk, punk and garage music.

Newman’s singing commands attention. She sounds like someone you want to hear, whether she’s intimidating on one song or suddenly vulnerable on the next. There’s a sonic kinship with Twisted Teens, which makes sense because Caspian Halliwell plays guitar on is this the afterlife, co-wrote a couple of songs, and most notably produced and mixed the record. With two Twisted Teens records already released this year and a third on the way, it’s impressive that the dude still found time for other projects.

But don’t expect is this the afterlife to behave like an appendix or tagalong to the three Twisted Teens records. Bellringer is a project with its own appeal, and the Newman-Halliwell collaboration feels genuinely symbiotic rather than like one artist simply lending a hand to another. The same goes for the rest of the band, with Eli Goldman (The Discussions) on bass and Howe Pearson (The Deslondes) on drums.

There’s a lot going on here, but Bellringer never sound like they’re trying to prove anything. is this the afterlife simply sounds like a band finding its own strange little corner of underground music and making itself comfortable there.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Spencer Kilpatrick & The Sand Gators || The Peach Tape

Dusty roads and greasy grooves

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk / Leave a Comment

Stirring up a stew of pounding rhythm & blues, dusty Americana, fuzzed-out rock, and spirited psych, Spencer Kilpatrick & The Sand Gators sound like they recorded The Peach Tape with the windows wide open and the desert heat pouring in, and that’s likely not far from the truth. Cut live over just two days, these eight songs sound as real as music gets, with gritty vocals, energizing guitars, warm horns, and spacey keys. True to the bluesy spirit, the lyrics touch upon some dark lows, yet it is the good-time grooves that drive this release.



The Peach Tape—recorded by Zach Peach—is available digitally and on CD (including five live bonus tracks) via Dream Cabin Sounds. Featuring Spencer Kilpatrick (vocals, guitar), Danielle Kilpatrick (bass, vocals), Rachael McElhiney (saxophone, vocals, percussion), Alex Lemnah (keys, trumpet, vocals), and Zach Peach (drums, percussion, vocals).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Seasick Steve || The Last Season of America

A growling soundtrack to a country at the crossroads

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk / Leave a Comment

Seasick Steve has never needed much more than a battered guitar, a stomping foot, and that gravelly voice to make himself heard. You Can’t Teach An Old Dog New Tricks, the American musician (born 75 years ago as Steven Gene Wold) sang in 2011, playing a few strings on a broomstick. On The Last Season of America, however, the veteran blues troubadour sounds better than ever, with a full band and plenty on his mind. Inspired by a 2024 road trip across the US, the new record takes a troubled look at a country apparently losing its way.

Protest blues is central in these ten songs, but it is expanded towards folk and rock, and there even is beautiful Latin balladry (El Camino, featuring Ricardo Arjona), dark surf rockabilly (Surf’s Flat), and funky rap (Free Man). It’s all captured in perfect production, crisp and considered, but fortunately it never manages to sand the dirt from Steve’s riffs or the gravel from his unmistakable growl, radiating righteous anger (“We got a criminal, running this place // He got lies, written all over his face”). Still, a small but stubborn flame keeps burning (“There’s bad things, but we still can change // If you believe in hope, we can rearrange”), one that embraces us here with warmth.


The Last Season of America—produced by Martin Terefe—is out on cassette, CD and vinyl LP through Eastcote Recordings. Featuring Seasick Steve (vocals, guitar), Dave Okumu (guitar), Martin Terefe (bass), and Dan Magnusson (drums).

Add to wantlist: Discogs || Eastcote

New album: Honeybear, the Band || The Cure

Keeping the old flame burning without getting stuck in the past

By / / Blues & Roots, Funk & Soul / Leave a Comment

There isn’t that much good new soul music these days, so fans of the genre have every reason to welcome Honeybear, the Band with open arms, as advocates of good new soul music. The Vancouver outfit take a well-worn path through vintage R&B, blues and roots, built around the warm chemistry of four longtime friends, expanded with keyboards, pedal steel, horns and backing vocals.

Their sophomore album The Cure is an eleven-song set—ten on streaming services; Easy Street is missing—that sounds rich without becoming overly polished. There’s nothing revolutionary here, nor does there need to be. These musicians understand that soul is less about nostalgia than about feel, and the new record has enough grit and groove to make this sound timeless.



The Cure—recorded by Jeff Zipp / John Raham—is out now streaming via Playmor. CDs and vinyl LPs are reportedly for sale at live shows. Featuring Ian Beaty (vocals, bass ), Colin Brumelle (guitar), Mike Kenney (piano, organ) and Timothy S. Watson (drums, percussion), with Cindy Fairbank (piano, organ), Geoff Hicks (drums, percussion), Scott Smith (pedal steel), Jerry Cook (saxophone), Jocelyn Waugh (trumpet), Adam Kyle (saxophone), Gregory Dent (trombone, trumpet), Dawn Pemberton (background vocals) and Colleen Rennison (background vocals) on select tracks.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || FFM

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