New album: Patty PerShayla & The Mayhaps || Cheap Diction

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

Singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Patty PerShayla has a beautiful name, but more importantly, she has a great powerful voice that she knows how to use in the right raw way. After her solo EP Oracle Bones (2019) and many cover requests, she has now released the full length debut album Cheap Diction, together with guitarist Lucas Powell and drummer Alec Klinefelter. Here the power trio plays ten energetic songs, inspired by blues and classic / progressive rock, with a nostalgic feel (there are even guitar solos) but completely contemporary in terms of lyrics and sound. “I’ll lose my balance if I // Tiptoe around your feelings // You might have the floor, sure // But I’m dancing on the ceiling”, PerShayla sings on opening track Walking on My Hands. Like I’m upside down from this music.

Out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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Gimme 5! Nakia & Simon Black (The Sound Station) Share 5 Must Own Records

By / / Uncategorized / 1 Comment

Photo by Rachel Yas

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

Here is a love story. Two strangers coincidentally end up in the same apartment building in Atlanta. They are introduced by a mutual friend who invites them to jam and rock out together. They instantly bond and become best buddies over a shared love for Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Love with Arthur Lee, Howlin Wolf, T. Rex, We Five, The Beach Boys, Captain Beefheart and many many others. They both recognize they are falling in love, but don’t want to mess up their good musical chemistry. Those two strangers are Nakia and Simon Black, who ultimately decided to take that leap anyway. To this day, they have zero regrets.

What about that musical chemistry in Nakia and Simon’s band The Sound Station? As evidenced by their two songs on a  2020 split single for Outro Records, it never left. Give Your Lovin’ To Me is an absolute blast, and Things Will Never Be The Same is another killer track. Kafadan Kontak picked up the two songs to promote it online, and the band received rave reviews. The songs of Sound Station are the kind of nuggets you’d expect on your favorite greasy garage rock-‘n’-roll compilation. Fortunately, a new Sound Station record is in the making.  “We’re going back to the Jazzcats studio with Jonny Bell to record an album’s worth of material. In the meantime, this summer, we are releasing 3 previously recorded early versions of our songs to streaming platforms that we will re-record for the album release,” Nakia explains. The first of that trilogy has just been put online. It’s called Down To The City and is a teaser of good things to come. [post continues below]


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New album: The Planes || Eternity On Its Edge

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

Certain styles of music occupy a constant spot in the music world: never going out of style, but always at a safe distance from becoming the latest fad. That spot is exactly where The Planes operates on their new record Eternity On Its Edge. The trio from New York play catchy straightforward indie rock that is neither complex nor simplistic. The vocals are hushed and understated, the guitar work drive these songs to their destination unafraid to take some jangly sidetours, and the drums are tight and upbeat.  On Eternity On Its Edge, The Planes leave it up to you how much attention you’d like to spend on their music. Regardless of whether you’re playing it as a backdrop to your workday, play it loud in your car or or carefully take it all in with the lyric sheet, it all seems to work. RIYL: Knapsack, The Jealous Sound, The Magnolias and Eric Richter post-Christie Front Drive (The 101, Golden City).



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Dany Laj And The Looks || Ten Easy Pieces

By / / Indie Pop, Power Pop / 1 Comment

It’s the NHL playoffs and when I noticed Dany Laj rooting for the Habs aka the Montreal Canadiens, I had this voice in my head saying “I am definitely not writing about this dude’s new record.” You see, I support the historical rivals of the Habs, and am basically programmed to hate anything Habs related. But then I actually listened to Laj’s new record, and suddenly that sports rivalry felt kinda petty and trivial.

Ten Easy Pieces, out now on We Are Busy Bodies, is Laj’s third record with The Looks and his very best yet. It’s a well chosen title, because the music is an highly accessible mix of different forms of upbeat pop, including powerpop, ’60s, Paisley Underground and even some country influences. Ten Easy Pieces is a sympathetic and carefree record full of hook filled and punchy sunshine pop that evoke images of some of the best music of the sixties, seventies, eighties. The videos provide some old school entertainment as well – watch You & Me, and one of my favorite tracks on the record; Don’t Keep Me Guessin’.

So congrats Dany Laj on a great record. And on the Habs making it to the Semi-Finals whereas my team got beat by the freakin’ Islanders. Okay, gonna watch this video of the Bruins beating the Habs in Game 7 overtime on repeat now.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Quivers || Golden Doubt

By / / Indie Pop, Jangle Pop / 1 Comment

It’s perfect timing when a pre-ordered album arrives on the day of its release. It’s even better when you discover that the full album exceeds the high expectations raised by the previously released singles. Truly, Golden Doubt by Melbourne jangle masters Quivers is quite the achievement. Musically, this is beautiful indie pop, with great harmonies and group vocals. All of the best qualities of Quivers are on full display in Gutters Of Love, and that is only the first song on the record. It’s the kind of song that starts slowly and keeps building up tension ultimately ending in cathartic release. It’s the ultimate show closer that will leave  audiences elated and with goosebumps.

To fully appreciate Golden Doubt, note that the band describes it as “life-damaged but hopeful jangle pop”. It is a record born out of grief – two band members lost their brothers. But the record is also an appreciation of how friends, music and the occasional laugh can help us get through even the darkest times.  Quivers will break your heart with their songs but also mend it, putting the pieces back together one at a time. For example, listen to songs like Nostalgia Will Kill You (“It’s a poisonous dart / It will slow you down / If it reaches your heart”) and You’re Not Always On My Mind (“Just mostly all the time / And I miss you”). Golden Doubt is a gorgeous record that is given me the feels. Get it now at Ba Da Bing (US), Bobo Integral (Europe) & Spunk Records (Australia).



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Die Mädchen || Wenn die Gesellschaft​.​.​.

By / / Indie Rock, Psych / Leave a Comment

To be honest, I don’t really speak the German language, but sometimes it adds a dimension to music. For example, imho David Bowie’s Heroes gained eloquence when he performed it in German (“Und wir sind dann Helden // Für einen Tag”). That said, I don’t understand most of what Die Mädchen (translated: the girls) sing and shout on their album Wenn die Gesellschaft​.​.​. (translated: ‘when the company…’), but it does get to me. The mysterious punk / krautrock / electronic artist group from Düsseldorf is inspired by the music of Kraftwerk, NEU! and CAN, but they translated that into an original sound of their own. Electronic noise isn’t necessarily a bad thing, when it’s blended so well with strong guitar, organ and drums structures and fascinating vocals. These eight songs are about solidarity, empathy, freedom and education – this is political rock that wants to change society. Die Mädchen in the role of heroes?

Out now digitally and on vinyl LP. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Paris Pick || Hope For The Best

By / / Funk & Soul, Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

Canadian singer/songwriter Paris Pick does everything a little differently than usual, and we can only applaud that. The way she uses her voice, how she mixes genres / instruments in her heterogeneous music and adds twists / contradictions in her honest lyrics: quirky and therefore interesting – somewhat similar to what appeals to me in the music of Jens Lekman. She just released her sophomore (digital) album Hope for the Best, for which she brought in some great musicians, who looked beyond guitar and drums. These are eight original soulful indie pop songs about growing-up, colorful and upbeat. Slightly different, but it makes me happy and isn’t that what music is all about?

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Fred Lee & The Restless || Sleepwalking In Daylight

By / / Alternative Rock / Leave a Comment

Fred Lee is the alter ego of Swedish musician Fredrik Lindkvist, who in the past 20 years played in several punk bands (Knugen Faller, RIWEN, Royal Downfall, Sista Brytet, Totalt Jävla Mörker). Now he follows the path Frank Turner (with whom he has a great voice in common) also took, from hardcore to folk-rock. He wrote some narrative, soulful songs, put together backup band The Restless, with whom he recorded this strong, powerful debut album Sleepwalking In Daylight. The ten new tracks may not be as fast and loud as in the punk days, but they might hit harder (and will appeal to a wider audience). This sound can make festival fields go wild.

Out now digitally and on vinyl LP via Lövely Records. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Freight Train

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New album: Jeb Loy Nichols || Jeb Loy

By / / Funk & Soul / Leave a Comment

“Now I was born in the country // And I was raised in town // We came back up here looking for // A place to settle down // But it’s hard times in the hills // Dark clouds gather at our door,” Jeb Loy Nichols sings in We Gotta Work On It, one of the tracks on his new record. The fact that it’s titled Jeb Loy indicates that it has a personal character, just listen to the lyrics about his live experiences, relationships and moments on the road. The musician / writer / artist is born in America but now lives remote in the hills of Wales. He grew up with southern soul, bluegress, jazz and punk, and his first recording was a rap song called I’m A Country Boy (1980, unreleased), influences that came together nicely in his previous work. However, this new album is much more unambiguous: folk soul with gritty grooves and mellow melodies, carried by those recognizable, raspy vocals. The fact that the ten new songs were written and performed together with Timmion Records’ awesome rhythm section Cold Diamond & Mink makes for a tight and cohesive collection.

Out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Timmion Records. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Shine || The Shine

By / / Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Punk / 1 Comment

Tetryon Tapes strikes again! In April they released an awesome tape by Danny’s Favorites. This week, they released another project by the two members that make up Danny’s Favorites, multi-instrumentalist Trevor Lake and drummer Aaron Mika. Together with Lake’s brother Brendan (bass/vocals) and Derek Sapienza (guitar/vocals) they are were * The Shine. Two years ago, the band recorded an album of lo-fidelity throwback rock-and-roll-and-soul-and-garage. I totally missed this 2019 self-release on Bandcamp, so thank you Tetryon Tapes for giving this self-titled album a second life.

On the album, The Shine essentially take you on a tour through rock-‘n’-roll history. They open the record with Give Us Some Credit, which is as close to a classic r-‘n’-r sound they get on the album. Reconcile, however, with Les Greene on guest vocals, has the heart and soul of a Reigning Sound track. And then there are songs like Same Song, Smooth Operator and Lucky One, which have a serious late ’70s powerpop vibe and sound like they come frome the vaults of Paul Collins, Jack Lee and/or Peter Case. Oh, and let’s not forget Give It To Me Straight and When I Think Back. Those are beautiful classic ’60s pop songs with hints of the Beach Boys. You get the point, I like this one a lot!

*Unfortunately, The Tetryon Tapes tape of The Shine marks the first and, most likely, last physical release of The Shine. The band is no longer around. Fortunately, Lake and Mika have a new band together with Lake’s two brothers. They are called Televisionaries, and their sound builds on what they try to do with The Shine. Make sure to check Televisionaries’ video for their standout track Over And Out.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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