Blues & Roots

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

Dusted || The Best New Cover Songs Of June 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, 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, 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—a bunch of successful covers from last month.

50 Ft (PJ Harvey) by The Bobby Lees — from New Self LP (Epitaph)

Foggy Notion (The Velvet Underground) by Bob Bert — from Beach Bongo Bloodbath (Bar/None Records)

Hotel California (Eagles) by Bandit Voyage — from Daddy Core EP

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

The Loose Ends || June 2026

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / 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 (40+ this month!), and a link to add it to your shelves.

Annual Leaf || Sign of the Bellbird
In April’s Loose Ends, we’ve put the spotlight on the most recent EP from these Melbourne indie pop janglers and slackers. This new CD compiles that EP and songs from 5 other releases of the past 5 years. Turns out Annual Leaf have been great for a while!

Baby Jane || Surfing To Hell
This Barcelona “kebab punk” riot grrrl quartet looks like trouble and sounds even better. Fast, loud, and gloriously unruly.

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New album: Fancy Weapon || Fancy Weapon

Explosive proof that musical curiosity only gets sharper with age

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

Bringing together Melbourne underground lifers Mick Turner, Joel Silbersher, Claire Birchall, and Guy Maddison, Fancy Weapon’s self-titled first long-player finds common ground in a blaze of rock ‘n’ roll chemistry. Recorded in a single session at Head Gap just before the studio’s dramatic demise, these nine songs capture a band operating on decades of accumulated musical knowledge and the need to explore new directions.

They are in the realm of experimental, minimalist, heavy blues rock, where it is dark and dangerous. Sleazy guitars are the obvious focal point here, with distinct styles colliding and intertwining. Shared vocals add even more ragged personality, while the rhythm section provides a powerful, unwavering backbone. This is a fascinating, intoxicating debut brimming with confidence, character, and the thrill of discovery.



Fancy Weapon’s eponymous debut album—co-produced, recorded, and mixed by Finn Keane—is out digitally and on vinyl LP through Poison City Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Poison City

New album: Zoh Amba || Eyes Full

Rough-cut guitar songs as vessels for healing and transcendence

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

With Eyes Full, versatile musician Zoh Amba steps away from the avant-garde saxophone world that first made their name and returns home, to Kingsport, Tennessee, and to their first instrument, the guitar. Recorded live with guitarist Kevin Hyland and drummer Jim White, the album blends ragged acoustic blues, Appalachian folk, and bursts of scorched alt-rock into something intriguingly idiosyncratic, deeply personal, and spiritually charged.

The thirteen songs are as pure as can be, delivered with fire and carried by raw and unguarded vocals declaiming stories of working-class lives, redemption, and hard-earned grace. A rough-cut instrumental backdrop lends them an even greater sense of urgency and vulnerability. Eyes Full is a fearless, heart-on-sleeve record that finds beauty, dignity, and mercy in overlooked places.



Eyes Full is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Matador Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Matador

New album: Domenic Marcantonio || Earthbound Spaceman

A charming blend of acoustic warmth and finely crafted songwriting, with hooks hiding in plain sight

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

Domenic Marcantonio is the gifted singer/songwriter/guitarist of the Green Bay, Wisconsin-based power pop band Beach Patrol, but solo he draws from a different well. His new album, titled Earthbound Spaceman, can be found in the lo-fi layer of the garage pop corner, but on the rootsy side, where a door is left ajar to let other influences seep in. If you try to imagine Dead Moon basking in the afternoon sun rather than prowling after midnight, you’ll have a rough idea of ​​what awaits here.

Across these ten tracks, acoustic guitars do most of the heavy lifting, paired with distinctive vocals that give every song its own personality. What starts as a pleasant listen—despite or thanks to the DIY feel—gradually reveals itself to be surprisingly addictive, with hooks and rhythms that burrow into your subconscious, and you catch yourself reaching for the repeat button. The lyrics are clever and accessible, while the choruses practically dare you not to join in. Even when you’re not singing along, chances are you’ll be whistling the melodies (especially in Strange Transformation), nodding your head, tapping your foot, or more likely, all three at once.




Earthbound Spaceman is out digitally and on CD. Also featuring Mirra Laes (vocals) on two tracks.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

The Loose Ends || May 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 (40+ this month!), and a link to add it to your shelves.

Above Me || Soften The Blows
Debut LP on Dandy Boy Records from this non average dream pop project by Rick Altieri (Blue Ocean, Aluminum).

Big Nothing || Big Nothing
The third album from this indie punk/alt country/guitar pop/classic rock a-bit-of-everything band from Philadelphia just dropped their third album (with a new lineup) on Dead Broke Records. It is another fine slice of warmblooded, bighearted basement pop.

Blitzer || The New Conspiracy
Ten fierce blasts of post-punk on this exciting debut LP from Berlin trio Blitzer. Urgent, tense, and full of forward momentum. Out now through Mangel Records.


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The Loose Ends || May 2026Read More »

New album: Troy Mercy || Let The Night Begin

Video premiere of focus track "Better and Better"

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

After years cutting his teeth as a guitarist alongside heavyweights like Booker T. Jones and The Fabulous Thunderbirds, brave new blues genius Troy Mercy steps into the solo spotlight with Let The Night Begin. Produced by Tim Carman (you saw his name previously in these columns as a member of Parlor Greens, Canyon Lights, and GA-20) and recorded live through glowing tubes in a wood-heated cabin, his debut full-length is a fuzz-soaked jolt of raw, vintage-toned rock ‘n’ roll in a loose blues jacket.

While he’s a certified six-string master, the Massachusetts-based musician puts sharp songwriting first. Lyrically, the ten original tracks wrestle with the nagging pain of the human condition, weaving gritty tales of  escapism, fractured love, and the urgent drive to outrun the past. Yet, beneath the road-worn heartache, an undeniable current of vibrant optimism and resilience anchors the record. This hard-won hope is most fiercely championed on Better & Better (the video premieres below!), a stomping anthem of perseverance that urges the listener to keep moving forward: “Dig a little deeper // You have to do the wrong thing // Till the right thing comes along.”

Layered with formidable vocals, a deeply grooving rhythm section, and the sudden wail of a jaunty harmonica, this effortlessly cool throwback proves Troy Mercy isn’t just reviving the blues, he’s carving out a gritty, thrilling territory all his own.

Let The Night Begin is out tomorrow, released on vinyl LP through Gitcha Records. Featuring Troy Mercy (vocals, guitar, harmonica), with Harrison Foti (drums, percussion), Tim Carman (drums, percussion), and Marty Ballou (bass) on select tracks.

Add to wantlist: Troy Mercy || SelectOHits

New album: Little Barrie || Gravity Freeze

A genre-defying psych-rock record driven by feel rather than force

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

Little Barrie has grown up. Twenty-one years after their debut record (and the first time I saw them live), the British rockers return with Gravity Freeze, following 2025’s AOTY-list-worthy Electric War. Here, Barrie Cadogan, Lewis Wharton, and new drummer Tony Coote explore even deeper into hypnotic grooves and jazzy rhythms, fitting with the phenomenon of sleep paralysis after which the new album is nicknamed. Recorded with a loose DIY spirit, it all sounds spacious, intuitive, and full of echo-drenched tension.

The nine songs move with instinct rather than polish, blending dusty psychedelic soul, nocturnal blues textures, and tightly wound garage rock fuzz with sharp hooks and slow-burning bravado. In the seven minutes of the central masterpiece Luggin’ Hurt, everything that makes this band so unique comes together (can’t wait to see them perform again soon), from the virtuoso guitar licks and the characteristic vocals to melodic restraint and widescreen atmosphere. This is Little Barrie fully grown into their own strange, soulful space.



Gravity Freeze—recorded, engineered, and mixed by Rupert Lyddo—is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Easy Eye Sound. Featuring Barrie Cadogan (vocals, guitar, bass, percussion), Lewis Wharton (bass), and Tony Coote (drums, percussion), with Rupert Lyddon (cimbalom, synth), Holly Quin-Ankrah (backing vocals), and Frida Touray (backing vocals) on select tracks.

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

New album: The Karma Effect || Cruel Intentions

Sleaze, soul, and stadium-sized ambition

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

On Cruel Intentions, their third full-length album in as many years, The Karma Effect sharpen their “modern vintage” mantra into something bigger and bolder. The London five-piece delivers eleven hard rocking songs that revive the golden years of Headbangers Ball, pairing mighty vocals and chunky blues riffs with soulful swagger. Every box gets ticked here, from towering stadium anthems to lighter-in-the-air power ballads, all blasting from the speakers at full volume and built for fists-in-the-air moments. The tales of obsession, temptation and self-destruction are captured in sound that drips with a sleazy charm that stops things becoming too heavy, the sound of a hungry band pushing for more.



Cruel Intentions—produced by Michael Charman—is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Earache Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Earache

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