New EP: Crosshairs || Demo 2022

Ready for something a little shorter, faster and louder? Meet Crosshairs, a new three piece from Vancouver Island (Victoria) featuring members of Kraxxa, Bootlicker, Off The Clock and Last Crusade. Crosshair’s sound is a mix between classic ’80s American hardcorepunk and second wave UK Punk – a bit like The Chisel, but more hardcore-oriented. They open the EP with the insanely catchy stop-go moshpit inducing Picked Clean. By the second track, the rock-and-rollin’ Lechon, I was all in. They finish the EP off with two effective bullets that barely surpass the one-minute mark.

Four songs, six minutes of exciting hardcorepunk. If this is only a demo, I can’t wait for what’s next. Out now on limited cassette Slow Death Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Flaming Top Hat || Melodicized!

Earlier this year I wrote enthusiastically about Flaming Top Hat’s raw, honest and intriguing debut album Photographs And Water, a solo project by American singer-songwriter Ellie Blake. Apparently her creativity was there early on: on the just released EP Melodicized! she shares four songs she wrote when she was 15, and all show a rich imagination and an abundance of ideas. The first lines are great, and it doesn’t get any less: “We haven’t talked in like five weeks except for some interactions that were brief // And don’t count by my arbitrary standards // For social interaction // God I love my arbitrary standards” (from I’ve Been). Or a title like Immanuel Kant Goes To The Grocery Store, you and I couldn’t think of it (“You wake up from like a really weird nightmare, and it’s 5AM, and the sun’s starting to come up a little just enough to make it hard to fall back asleep but not enough to make it easy to wake up”). Poetry in motion, hopefully the start of a deserved glorious career.

Melodicized! is out now digitally via Friend’s House Records. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

New EP: Spit City || Carpe Demon

Last year I was very impressed with Spit City’s debut album Long Dark Night, on which songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sean Rose tried to deal with some heavy stuff. The cover photo of his new EP Carpe Demon shows him enjoying the sun, but the witty title already reveals that his life still has dark sides. The three new “punkacana” songs – Sean Rose on vocals and electric guitar, Patrick Ford on bass, and Johnny Bowers on drums – may even be more gloomy than 2021’s full length. Can’t Be Found is a summer punk jam on being uncomfortable in any moment, Never Goin’ Hungry Again is a southern gothic tale of petty crime, and the title track is a thundering riff-soaked warning on the hazards of toxic living that can be so hard to shake (“Sometimes when the evening’s low // Tired of all the go go go // I think how easy things would be // with this car wrapped around a tree”). Both lyrics and music are pretty heavy, but also pretty good again – in fact, if you listen more closely, you’ll hear that we don’t really have to worry, and you’ll see sunbeams breaking through the clouds.

Carpe Demon is out now digitally (self-released). Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

New single: Bad Bad Bird || Ni Peine Ni Peur + Voudras​-​Tu ‘adorer?

My French is pretty bad, but when I read Bad Bad Bird’s tagline of “chansons d’amour power pop en français” my heart made a petite jump. To my ears, the French language and powerpop are a match made in heaven, the peanutbutter and jelly of rock-‘n’-roll music. Somehow they are a perfect fit.

Technically, both songs on this cd-single were released individually on streaming services last year, but since we totally missed those, we’re happy to share them now that they will be out on the almost extinct CD-single. Of both songs, my favorite is Ni Peine Ni Peur which I think fits the late ’70s, early ’80s powerpop label better than the more contemporary sounding Voudras​-​Tu M’Adorer – a song that is constructed well and gets more powerful the longer you listen to it.

Hopefully Bad Bad Bird will find some extra time to work on more tunes like these two, because I think they are tres bien!


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Smoker Dad || Smoker Dad

“Rock ‘n’ roll, smoke a bowl.” That’s the motto of Seattle-based 6-piece Smoker Dad, which gives you an idea of what to expect (if the band name didn’t already). The cover photo of their self-titled debut album shows that they also have a tasteful sense of humor. More importantly though: Trevor Conway (vocals, guitar), Chris King (vocals, keys), Teagen Conway (guitar, vocals), Chris Costalupes (pedal steels, guitar, tambourine), Derek Luther (bass, vocals), and Adam Knowles (drums) know how to play Southern fried rock music. The ten songs here – nine originals, one cover (Ron Pederson’s Puget Sound) – are loud, fast, raucous and dirty, as it should be. Smoker Dad rocks hard, but always with a sense of melody – swinging guitar riffs and powerful vocals – that will make you dance like crazy.

Smoker Dad is out now digitally and on cassette via Freakout Records and Den Tapes. RIYL The Jim Jones Revue, The Datsuns, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Daddy Long Legs.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Les Salvatges || El Caliu I La Cendra

Les Salvatges (“The Wild Ones”) are a poppy punkrocktrio from Barcelona. Their latest album is filled with easy to digest, highly enjoyable tunes. Only one song passes the 3-minute mark, and most songs have a punk pace and a pop heart.

With El Caliu I La Cendra, Les Salvatges will make you bop your head and brighten your day – even though the lyrics are quite dark. And with the album art, they entice you to get creative doodling in your notebook during boring video calls or meetings.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Joyride! || Miracle Question

With Easter 2022 in the books, let’s kick of the work week by injecting a high dose of energy and melody. San Francisco indiepunks Joyride! went on hiatus in 2016 – finishing school, starting professional careers and all that, but kept on writing songs throughout the years. When the band decided to finally make a comeback, they had plenty of songs to pick from.

And that shows. Their new record Miracle Question is all killer, no filler. It’s full of life and heart, it’s scrappy and super catchy. Its scope should appeal to a broad audience, from indie rock aficionado’s to fans of pop punk and even twee. What makes Miracle Question such a tight and effective record is that Joyride! have mastered the art of trimming songs to their best parts only. The 86 second jolt of energy that is Flyover States is probably the best example of this. Routine Maintenance is another example. Why waste time on intro’s, when you can  seduce listeners from the get-go?

With Miracle Question, Joyride! come eerily close to indiepunk perfection. If you’re looking for 28 minutes of uncomplicated fun, look no further. Out now through Salinas Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Salinas Records

New album: Bonzo || Modest Life Advice

The four friends (in their early 30’s) from Leuven (Belgium), who together make up Bonzo, struggle with adult life. For their new record, the band dug through more than 250(!) demos about feelings such as alienation, trust and being stuck, written by the prolific singer-songwriter Thijs Boyen. We should see the 10 chosen songs – true winners – on their second album Modest Life Advice as a humble handbook for life in your twenties. As far as I’m concerned, that age indication is not necessary. This is well-crafted guitar music in the rich Belgian pop/rock tradition, both lyrically and musically appealing for all ages, with pleasant melodies, surprising hooks, and sympathetic vocals. Modesty is not necessary, because the way this advice sounds is way above average.

Modest Life Advice is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through UhmYeahSure Records. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Los Retumbes || Colección De Canciones De Mierda

And here’s another great Spanish garage rock ‘n’ roll release from Family Spree Recordings. Masked duo Andrés Alonso (guitar, vocals) and Ana Pérez (drums, vocals), who have been performing as Los Retumbes since 2017, put out their full-length debut album Colección De Canciones De Mierda. Translated the title is ‘collection of shitty songs’, but you have to take that in a positive way: shit here is everything we like: rhythm, distortion, howling, teenage rush, etc. These are 14 hits for fans of raucous rock ‘n’ roll, garage punk and surf rooted in the 60’s – not innovative, but extremely entertaining and very cool.

Colección De Canciones De Mierda is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Family Spree Recordings.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Shake Some Action! || Wide Awake

Named after The Flamin’ Groovies’ 1976 masterpiece, Seattle-based power pop band Shake Some Action! set the bar high, and 15 years after debuting they’re still going strong. Now a duo, singer-songwriter James Hall (vocals, guitars, bass, keys) and Corey Knafelz (drums, guitars, keys), have put out their new album Wide Awake, featuring 10 modern classics. Opening song Paint You a Picture immediately grabs you, then you don’t get the chance to let your attention slip. This is half an hour of powerful music that approaches perfection. You’ll hear diverse, summery indie rock with well-crafted melodies – guitars that alternately jangle and scream – interspersed with elements of shoegaze and psych. RIYL Ash, The Posies, Nada Surf, The Stone Roses.

Wide Awake is out now digitally. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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