Blues & Roots

New EP: Half Deaf Clatch || Melancholy Mondays

Finding comfort in feelings that never quite resolve

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A new year, and it seems British blues genius Half Deaf Clatch (aka Andrew McLatchie) is continuing his streak of releasing new quality work every month with a naturalness that’s unheard of for everyone else. In January 2026 this will be the Melancholy Mondays EP, with four subdued country blues tracks that well reflect the atmosphere of the title.

The songs circle around melancholy as a liveable space rather than a problem to fix. There’s a recurring tension between sorrow and comfort, withdrawal and engagement, warmth and cold, isolation and perspective. Seasons, moments, and ambiguous musical moods all become metaphors for finding peace inside low moods, accepting emotional grey areas, and gently negotiating with one’s own mind rather than conquering it. As Somewhere In Between concludes: “It’s all relative you see.”

Confident proof—once again—that consistency doesn’t have to mean predictability, and sadness doesn’t have to mean darkness.


Melancholy Mondays—written, performed, recorded, mixed and mastered by A D McLatchie—is out now digitally and on CDr via Speak Up Recordings.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of December 2025

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Punk / 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, here are—in a kind of random order—a bunch of successful covers from last month—links to pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

Happy new year!

We start 2026 with a final look back at 2025. December saw quite a few Christmas-themed covers, but there’s little point in sharing them now (we’ll close below with just the nicest ones)—please remind me in 11 months to put together a Xmas edition of this feature. Nevertheless, there was much more to enjoy.

Ace of Spades (Motörhead) by West Texas Exiles — digital track (Floating Mesa Records)

Lean On Sheena (The Bouncing Souls) by The Kilograms — from Strike A Match EP (Rad Girlfriend Records)

Just Like Honey (The Jesus and Mary Chain) by Spare Snare — from American Psychocandy compilation (Almost Halloween Time Records)

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New album: Faz Waltz || Strike Ten

Grit and groove, with nothing held back

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

Strike Ten is—you guessed it—the tenth album from the Italian power trio Faz Waltz, picking up where last year’s Endless Beat left off. Loud and lean, that is. Frontman Faz La Rocca has written eleven new, punchy songs—25 minutes in total—that growl and rattle as if his life depended on it. Raw vocals, heartfelt piano melodies, and grooving rhythms convey a live, front-of-the-stage feel, with more subdued moments—crooning in Full Moon Serenade and Lonesome Me—making for a balanced listening experience. Good old rock ‘n’ roll powered by contemporary momentum.



Strike Ten—produced by Brown Barcella and Faz La Rocca—is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Head Perfume Records and Melody Bunker.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Faz Waltz Shop

New album: Anna Dukke || Reborn Wild

Spanish honky-tonk girl follows her heart on soulful debut LP

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Anna Dukke aka Ana Duque Fernández grew up in a rural Spanish mountainous area, but her heart lies in African-American popular music from long before her birth. In that respect, the title (and sound) of her debut full-length—following two previous EPs: Broken Chains (2022) and Black Honey (2024)—is more than apt: Reborn Wild. In ten profound songs, influences of rhythm & blues, delta blues, and gospel merge into swinging rockabilly, with her powerhouse vocals taking center stage. This record is rooted in tradition, rolled anew, and built to last.



Reborn Wild, produced by Ely Agramunt, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Folc Records. Featuring Anna Dukke (vocals), Emi Ernesto (guitar), Tonete Puerto (bass), and Carlos Mirat (drums).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Folc

Music Year-End List || Dennis’ Favorite Singles and EPs of 2025

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk, Surf / 1 Comment

Last week we posted the overviews of our favorite LPs of 2025 (here is Niek’s, there is mine), but this year also saw countless short-format releases that deserve to be listed. Below you can listen to the 50 singles and EPs that I enjoyed most last year (note: individual songs are excluded), in alphabetical order. Links point to Bandcamp or another sales outlet (the titles), and to previously posted reviews (in the body text).

While I traditionally prefer albums, if only because you don’t have to get up as often to turn the record over, but also because it literally gives you more time to immerse yourself in the artist’s world, I’m increasingly enjoying the pleasures of singles and EPs. They’re often explosions of positive energy packed with hooks, which immediately make for a good time, and that was certainly the case over the past 12 months. If this were the soundtrack to a night out, I’d return home exhausted but utterly delighted.

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Music Year-End List || Dennis’ Favorite Albums of 2025

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / 3 Comments

“When the universe looks right at you // You’d be wise to hold its gaze // Averted, missed opportunities // A crisis on its way” (from Universe Blues by Moon Orchids).

“What once was pure through your childish eyes is complicated by the truth // What once was pure as a shot so sure has you longing for a time // When you could stand judging right and wrong through tight drawn blinds // At safe distance” (from At Safe Distance by Patterson Hood).

We live in uncertain times, but music still knows how to meet us wherever we are, whether by giving voice to our feelings, offering an empathetic hug, or simply providing a much-needed distraction. The journeys songwriters take—often more compelling than any destination—lead us through personal and family reconciliation, anxiety and imagination, nostalgia and escapism, emotions and vulnerability, holding on and giving up. Bridging past and present, my favorite musicians and new discoveries shape their messages and sounds with equal parts mind and heart (usually with a guitar in hand, but that goes without saying). Throughout last year, there was plenty to appreciate, if not get completely lost in.

In 2025, I checked out 2,600+ new albums—it’s far from possible to listen to everything that came out—which ultimately led to a diverse longlist of 130 wantlist-worthy releases (the ones I was able to buy are shown in the photo above). Let’s dive in. The 50 records I liked and played the most—is there any accounting for taste?—are listed below, each with a standout song embedded (it’s all about the music after all). Links point to Discogs or Bandcamp (the headings), and where available to our previously posted, more extensive reviews (in the body text). As always: add to your wantlist—or even better: your collection—whatever you like!

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Album review: The Guppies || The Answers To Which We Do Not Know the Questions

Meet The Guppies, a wild new outfit from Brooklyn

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

The Answers To Which We Do Not Know the Questions is quite the album title for quite the record. The Guppies are a Brooklyn quartet. What else can I tell you about them? Not much, other than the album cover suggests they enjoy sitting around naked together. But I digress. These 14 songs, recorded in just two days on an 8-track Tascam, show a band with a natural gift for scrappy, garagey pop’n’roll that’s constantly shifting lanes.

The Guppies bounce from catchy punk rock to trash-country detours to surprisingly cool instrumentals. It’s quirky, it’s messy, and it’s absolutely a blast. The kind of chaos that feels less like a place to live and more like a place you’d visit just to hear wild story after wild story.

Disclaimer: to get the full Guppies experience, don’t stop after a couple of tracks—let the whole thing unspool. Cassette out now on 4 Your Ears.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Bacon Fat Louis || Come On!!!

Grit, gravel, and groove

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

We’ve had to wait four years since their Bfl#3 LP, but Dutch power trio Bacon Fat Louis is back with their next unpolished full-length, bearing a title that’s open to interpretation. With Come On!!!, Bo Hudson (guitar, vocals), Thomas van den Berg (guitar, harmonica), and Rik Penninga (drums) deliver ten pieces of steaming blues & boogie, where delicious and dirty are synonymous.

The title track—previously also released in their native language (Kom Op!!!), although with a local accent—kickstarts the record with a filthy groove and raw sound, and the speakers actually only stop shaking thirty-five minutes later. There’s an honorable cover of Give Me Back My Wig (Hound Dog Taylor) and a sincere moment of calm in My Dog Is Dead, but it’s always intense and poignant. Harps howl, guitars rip, drums roar.



Come On!!!—produced by Jim Diamond—is out digitally and on vinyl LP (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bacon Fat Louis Store || Bandcamp || Discogs

New EP: Half Deaf Clatch || Western Gothic (Chapter One)

The wandering one sketches a cinematic soundscape that’s hard to resist

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It’s impressive to see how British blues musician Half Deaf Clatch, aka Andrew McLatchie, continues to explore innovations within the genre and repeatedly challenges himself. This month’s release marks the start of his Supernatural Western project, with four Americana-tinged songs with a cinematic feel.

The first line immediately draws you into the story: “Let me set the scene: it’s 1816, soon to be known as the year without a summer.” And the cliffhanger that ends the final track leaves you longing for the sequel: “Where did that Wendigo go, oh my lord, it must have hit the ground running, but no matter where it goes, I will find it.” Either way, the union of raw storytelling, delicate strings, and weathered vocals feels impossible to turn away from.

Western Gothic (Chapter One)—written, performed, recorded, mixed, and mastered by A D McLatchie—is out now digitally and on CD through Speak Up Recordings. Chapter Two follows in December, and future installments are planned to be released every couple of months, developing the story over time.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Update:
Here’s Chapter Two.

New album: Dan Dinnen & Shorty || Jeff’s Shed

Where trouble knocks, but the groove answers back

By / / Blues & Roots / Leave a Comment

Melbourne-based singer/songwriter/guitarist/harmonica player Dan Dinnen and drums/percussion powerhouse Anthony “Shorty” Shortte are back with a new album, entitled Jeff’s Shed. It’s a raw, rolling session that captures the grit and groove of their sound on stage—it feels like a front-row seat to a smoky bar gig. This is blues played with effortless chemistry, but even more so with heart, sweat, and soul.

The eight songs here (or seven, since Porch Swing is instrumental) tell stories of being knocked down and getting back up again, circling around heartbreak, resilience, and redemption—the blues’ timeless terrain. It’s about surviving the hurt, and finding groove and grit in the healing. The combination of spirited lyrics, spellbinding fingerpicking, and rootsy rhythms is earthy, unvarnished, and utterly alive.



Jeff’s Shed—recorded mostly live by Jeff Lang (hence the album title) at the Enclave Recording Studio, Melbourne—is out now digitally (self-released).

Add to want list: Bandcamp

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