New album: Matt Moody || Still A Kid In A Painted Sky

By / / Country & Folk, Indie Pop / 1 Comment

Los Angeles based singer-songwriter/guitarist Matt Moody has the name and the voice as well as the songs to become as much of a hero as his role models Tom Petty and Jonathan Wilson. His full-length debut album Still A Kid In A Painted Sky has just been released and already feels like a classic. This is richly orchestrated and diverse indie folk rock, full of dreams about better times after a dark period, about convincing yourself that you’re worth living – doing what feels right – and that everything will be fine in the end. Moody has a pleasantly gritty voice with a wide range, with which he manages to convey his poetic but vulnerable stories in a captivating way. His skilled band – Lee Kolarik (drums, percussion), Todd Marshall (bass), Mike Abbadini (keys, whistles), Jacob Wynne (trumpet), David Kasper (sax, flute) and Megan Sullivan (violin) – knows how to create the right, warm atmosphere for every story with its varied set of instruments. “It feels like I’ve been yappin’ my best // But I don’t have much left, that ain’t been said // Except we’ll all be dead // Like rocks and such // And I don’ t mind, it too much”, you hear in standout song I Don’t Mind, but this LP is something to remember anyway.

Still A Kid In A Painted Sky is out now digitally (self-released). Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Supercrush || Melody Maker

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

The five songs on Supercrush’s EP Melody Maker were lying on a shelf since 2019, but they may just as well have their origins in the ’90s. This is the kind of punchy altpop that will be gobbled up by fans of It’s A Shame About Ray, Bandwagonesque and Girlfriend.

The songs were recorded in the same sessions as their 2020 debut LP, which makes me wonder why these songs were excluded from that one. They are far from throwaways, and I like to make the case that songs like Perfect Smile, Trophy and Melody Maker actually would have improved Supercrush’s already very likeable Soda Pop LP.

Melody Maker is out now on 12″ through a bunch of labels: Debt Offensive – who are on a roll lately with releases by Motorists and Night Court, Don Giovanni & KR Records (US), Erste Theke Tonträger (Europe), and Flake Records (Japan).


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New EP: Wasted Youth Club || WYC

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Early this year, Dutch four-piece Wasted Youth Club dropped their 5-song debut EP WYC. Wasted Youth Club’s inspirations include Fidlar, Ty Segall and Bass Drum Of Death, which should give you a good idea of their sound. Expect quarter-life crisis garage anthems about adapting to the expectations of being a responsible adult. Dealing with frustrations by rockin’ out? Check!

This week Wasted Youth Club released the video for Worth It – watch below. Pretty sure we need not worry about Wasted Youth Club.


Add to wantlist: streaming only…

New album: Widespread Haze || Move

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Psych / 1 Comment

Tommy Whiteside (drums, vocals), Matthew Campbell (guitar, vocals) and Kristi Rifenbark (bass, vocals) describe their band Widespread Haze as “a time-travelling, hip-shaking, psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll trio, specializing in organic earworms and lyrical hash.” That’s pretty adequate phrasing for the sound on their self-recorded and self-produced debut full-length album Move – “a lifetime of genre-bending emotion, jam-packed into an hour-long joy ride” – although the local record store probably will file it under Southern rock. The 15 tracks here are bluesy and folky, raw and authentic, lighthearted and laid-back, entertaining and danceable, soulful and groovy, summery and cool, diverse and timeless. The musicians from Roseburg, Oregon (US) convey a live feeling, all three know how to sing and play to strike the right chord. When you put so much passion for Waffles into your opening track, you really can’t go wrong with what follows. This introduction to Widespread Haze is love at first hearing.

Move is out now digitally, and on CD via Atomic Disc. For fans of Natural Child, G. Love, Nude Party, The Lee Sankey Group.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Widespread Haze

New album: World Image || World Image

By / / Indie Pop, Jangle Pop, Psych / Leave a Comment

While browsing Bandcamp, I came across the song World Image, which turned out to be the opening track of World Image, the debut album by Canadian three-piece World Image. I liked what I heard, and luckily there were seven other jangly tunes that are just as captivating. World Image features Malcolm Jackson Biddle (vocals, guitars, harmonica, songwriting, production), Calen Degnan (bass) and Allan Miller lll (drums), and they play dreamy psych pop with a summery feel. The music, inspired by Meat Puppets, was recorded and mixed on a Tascam 388 at “Taco Tuesdays” last spring. In the words of the frontman: “We wanted to do something lowkey but glassy, some kinda 90’s northwest hippie grunge.” Anyhow, World Image is another great discovery for fans of great jangle pop – we’ll definitely be listening to it in the fall as well.

World Image is out now digitally (self-released). Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Deadly Cliffs || Deadly Cliffs

By / / Alternative Rock, Indie Rock / Leave a Comment

Please meet new alternative rock duo Deadly Cliffs from Bergen, Norway, which is best done by listening to the eight tracks on their self-titled debut album. The song titles are stories in themselves – Nowhere Then, No Hair now!, I Want a Secret That I Can Tell Everyone, Between Facebook and Shitting in the Woods – and so is their music. Vegard Wikne and Sondre Veland play wild, drawn-out rock music with hard-hitting drums, heavy guitars and captivating vocals. You could call it prog rock, but you also hear influences from psych, blues and garage – unpredictable, and catchier than you would expect. RIYL White Denim, Ron Gallo, Deerhunter.

Deadly Cliffs is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Apollon Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Drove || A Lovely Evening​.​.​. with The Drove

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

The bad news is that Seattle garage rock band The Drove are breaking up after 25 years. The good news, however, is that they are not quietly leaving. Last month they released their final full-length album Every Day I’m Sinking, and now here’s the swan song EP A Lovely Evening​.​.​. with The Drove. Let’s thank Tim Tracey (vocals), Liam Barksdale (guitar, keys), Brad Wright (guitar), Jacob McMurray (bass) and Jasen Emmons (drums) for that, because it’s a legacy that we take great pleasure in – these are energetic guitar-driven tracks that are guaranteed to make for a lovely evening.

The EP A Lovely Evening​.​.​. with The Drove is out now digitally, the Every Day I’m Sinking LP is out digitally and on vinyl LP. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Routes || The Twang Machine

By / / Garage Rock, Surf Music / 4 Comments

Japan-based underground garage outfit The Routes are on a roll. Last year the three-piece released no fewer than three albums, and here is yet another full-length. “Whether you see it as musical blasphemy or musical alchemy, this album is set to become a cult classic, destined to irk or jerk future generations for years to come,” the press release promises. Chris Jack (guitar, bass, percussion), Bryan Styles (bass) and Toru Nishimuta (bass), with special guest Katsuhiko Matsusue (organ), have dared to transform ten classics by Kraftwerk into pretty cool instrumental surf rock crackers. Earlier Messer Chups showed with a single cover song that this idea can turn out well, but The Routes prove that you can’t have enough of such a sound even after 34 minutes. Very well done, The Twang Machine is a worthy tribute to the German electronic music pioneers, for fans of mid-60s rock ‘n’ roll.

The Twang Machine is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Double Crown Records and Otitis Media Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Otitis (US) || Soundflat (Europe)

Gimme 5! T.E. Yates Shares 5 Albums He Listened To During His Most Prolific Phase As A Songwriter

By / / Country & Folk, Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

With ‘Gimme 5!’ we take a peek into the collections of artists we admire. The premise is simple: artists WE like share five records THEY love.

Thomas Edward Yates aka T.E. Yates is a gifted multi-disciplinary artist – singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, illustrator, animator – based in Bristol (UK). After a single in 2012 and an EP in 2013, he released his debut full-length Silver Coins and White Feathers (Debt Records) in 2017, followed by the EP Strange Weather (self-released, self-designed) late last year, with six songs from the same recording sessions. It’s richly orchestrated indie folk, with a well-thought-out structure and beautiful, sincere vocals. The video for Condition showcases Yates’ qualities as musician and creator, but Palace of Your Master is his personal favorite (for me Jack of All Trades is the track that stands out – just saying).

Given his versatility, we wondered what Tom’s influences are. He was kind enough to provide his response in some interesting stories.

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Gimme 5! T.E. Yates Shares 5 Albums He Listened To During His Most Prolific Phase As A SongwriterRead More »

New single: Rat Parade || Phantom Draw b​/​w Pressure Cooker

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

Hamiltion (Ontario) three-piece just dropped their latest cassingle featuring two new songs they recorded in Threshold Recording Studio. Pressure Cooker is a solid punk rock track, but it’s Phantom Draw that makes this cassette worth the purchase. It’s super catchy and has a massive chorus you’ll be singing along to before you know it.

Out now through Weepy Eye!


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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