New album: Colt Wave || You Already Know

By / / Indie Rock, Jangle Pop / 1 Comment

Remember Knapsack? Knapsack founding member and drummer Colby Mancasola currently plays in Colt Wave, a long distance project with Ken Lovgren. Both are long time friends and played together in Downtime before Mancasola formed Knapsack. In Colt Wave, Lovgren writes the songs and takes on most of the instruments, with Manascola responsible for the drums.

I totally overlooked Colt Wave’s 2021 debut Radiotelegraphy, but I plan on revisiting their new record You Already Know frequently this year. It’s full of short and understated jangly indie rock songs that are easy on the ears and calming to the nerves. The record gently flows from song to song, and it’s easy to miss where one song ends and the other begins. Only two of the 15 tracks on You Already Know surpass the 2-minute mark, and just barely. Most songs have no clear verses or choruses, but I believe that lack of clear structure actually benefits the record. The excellent guitar work and strong melodies of Lovgren will hold your attention even in the absence of massive choruses. Before you know it, you have escaped reality for 24 minutes.

To my ears, Colt Wave sounds like a concoction of Ultimate Painting, Connections and The Stevens, if that makes sense. Colt Wave has that same talent for writing songs that sound spontaneous, effortfless and flawless. Give Colt Wave a try: You Already Know is a special kind of record.




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Mercvrial || Brief Algorithms

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

The first word that comes to mind while listening to Brief Algorithms, the debut LP of Mercvrial? The word you’ll read in any review of the band’s sound? Eighties. There really is no way around it. It’s the most eighties sounding record we shared on this site.

Mercvrial is based in Rosarito (Mexico). The biggest strenght of Mercvrial is that they sound authentically ’80s but are are impossible to pigeonhole in a specific genre. Every song taps into a different style, which transcends the post punk or new wave label. The only common denominator is that it is drenched in eighties nostalgia – the collaboration of guitarist Terry Bickers (House Of Love/Levitation) on half of the songs strengtens this vibe.

To be sure, Brief Algorithms won’t be for everyone. In fact, I’m still not sure what to make of it, let alone have the words to describe it. I do know it’s something else, decidedly out of time and unworried about what is hip or happening. It has songs like I’ll Get You Home On Time and Waiting On A Miracle (a reimagining of Ride’s Jump Jet/Dub Jet) that are too far out of my comfortzone to fully appreciate. But then there are songs like Dark Stars, Be That Someone and I Never Liked You Anyway that slowly get under my skin and make me want to return to the record and discover other Easter eggs Mercvrial have hidden on the record.

Brief Algorithms is out now through Crafting Room Recordings (UK), and available through Meritorio Records (Europe) and Jigsaw (US).



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Oddballs || Tales of Terror

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Spanish garage punk rock band The Oddballs introduced themselves to the world in 2016 with We Are The Oddballs. The band now returns with Tales Of Terror, which they recorded last year in The Hollers Analog Studio in Malaga.

At its core, Tales Of Terror is a punkrock record. But The Oddballs infuse that sound with whatever they found lying around in the history of garage rock. The addition of Sax, piano and Farfisa organ give The Oddballs wings and let these nuggets fly out of the speakers.

Get your dancin’ shoes on, The Oddballs are here to start your rock-‘n’-roll dance party! Tales Of Terror is out now through Spanish powerhouse Folc Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Folc Records

New EP: The Sparks || Heartbreak Songs

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

While browsing the Bandcamp universe I stumbled upon The Sparks: a power pop/jangle/rock’n’roll band from Minneapolis influenced by Springsteen, Lowe, Earle and Big Star. I found myself still listening to the band’s new EP (Heartbreak Songs) an hour later. The Sparks are too catchy to ignore and too good to overlook.

The song that drew me in? Runnin’! It’s one of those songs that you know you are going to dig 10 seconds in, only to discover it’s even better than expected. And the remaining 5 songs on the EP show that those cool harmonies and strong choruses are no coincidence. These guys can write songs! Have a taste of Slow Burn with its amazing hooks, or the jangly powerpop hit You, Me and the Highway.




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Baywitch || Apocatropica

By / / Garage Rock, Psych, Surf / Leave a Comment

A title like Apocatropica evokes various associations, but Baywitch’s members Lila Burns, Jake Meierdierck and Sicily Robinson explain that we should think of it as “a realm marred by mists, myths and monsters, a campy parable for very real-life wildfires, colonialism, bias, capitalism and the never ending ever pending doom-news whirlpool.” On this new mini-album (6 songs in 26 minutes) the Seattle-based trio may play surf-rock, but due to the addition of dark lyrics, hazy vocals and psych influences, their sound is more reminiscent of Thee Oh Sees than The Surfrajettes. It’s “smurf-rock toon doom” as they call it, ominous and hypnotic – quite impressive.

“Victory was forecast but misfortune feeds on faith. All eyes looking forward to an ego-manic fate.”

“Look, look, look for liars, preying on your tall desires; never had a clue, so goes the doom generation down.”

Apocatropica is out now digitally, on cassette and 12″ vinyl through Halfshell Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

New EP: C Alley || Fake Flowers

By / / Jangle Pop / Leave a Comment

C Alley is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He processes the feelings that he finds difficult to talk about in his music, in the hope that his listeners will benefit from this. On his debut EP Fake Flowers you’ll hear 5 songs with jangly bedroom pop — pleasant vocals, warm melodies and soundscapes that are indeed therapeutic.

Fake Flowers is out now digitally. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Sin City || Welcome To Sin City

By / / Country & Folk / 2 Comments

On a day off this week, Niek descended into the depths of Bandcamp, where he found Sin City, and dragged me there too. Although the Welcome To Sin City album was already released in the first week of this year, both the backstory and the music are too good not to share with you now.

Match-fit touring musicians Nick Armstrong and Jack Beesley found themselves quarantined in a sleazy flat in Alicante (Spain) with a guitar, a piano and enough bottles of beer, gin, rum and red wine. They wrote and recorded about 126 demos based on their love for country, soul and rock ‘n’ roll records. Back home in Auckland (New Zealand), they got 25 songs on tape in 3 studio days, with a live band set up with enough session musicians (John Segovia, Alistair Deverick, Dave Khan, Delaney Davidson, Takumi Yanai, Liv Shaw, Liam Davis and Lucas Fritsch), instruments (guitars, bass, drums, banjo, pianos, percussion, lap steel, tambourine, fiddle, organ, mandolin, whistle, trumpet and saxophone) and fun to build a party. The 13 standout tracks ended up on this LP, on which the country, soul and rock ‘n’ roll influences melt together wonderfully. Sin City is a good find, isn’t it?

Welcome To Sin City is out digitally and on vinyl LP through 1:12 Records. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Jaguero || Worst Weekend Ever

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

There’s no shortage of Italian bands on our site. Most of those bands operate somewhere on the spectrum of old school pop punk (Limoges, Hakan), powerpop (Radio Days) and glamrock’n’roll (Faz Walz). For me, those are in fact the musical (sub)genres I usually associate with Italian music.

Here’s a new Italian band that plays a kind of punk rock that I normally associate more with US bands. It’s polished, full of soft-loud dynamics and well-timed gang vocals. It’s a sound that can get old quickly in the wrong hands, but when executed well, it can also be exciting and rewarding. With their Worst Weekend Ever EP, the four friends in Jaguero managed to create something that sounds well built and lively. Their songs mix accessibility with punk energy, and subtly incorporate influences from other genres like ’50s jazz to hardcore. To an extent, the band reminds me of Hostage Calm, who shared a similar level of pop sensibility and ambition in taking punk rock into new directions. I am happy I gave this one multiple spins, because I’m liking the EP more with each play.

Jaguero’s motto is to have a lot of fun and zero stress. The Worst Weekend Ever EP “was born from the extreme urge to play songs at full volume, after a long break from live concerts.” Mision accomplished. Out now through Epidemic Records!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Amoeba Teen || Amoeba Teen

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

It doesn’t happen that much anymore in these harsh times, but UK four-piece Amoeba Teen kicks off their new full-length with the statement that it’s good to be alive. Of course, that has everything to do with love: “He met a girl at the rock ‘n’ roll show // She’s got it going and she loves The Ramones // She’s not in the mainstream // This week she’s aquamarine” (from Mainstream). That almost sounds too good to be true, and as you could expect halfway through the LP the situation is less positive: “Every morning I awake alone // It got me thinking // Maybe I’ve been doing it wrong” (from January). These are two highlights of the album – it’s a self-titled one, which is a deliberate choice because it was a real band effort to capture the live energy, and a labor of love over two disrupted years. You’ll understand, the ten fresh songs here touch on the perennial classic pop themes of love and loss. Mark Britton (guitar, vocals), Mike Turner (guitar, vocals), Carl Bayliss (drums, vocals), and Simon Muttitt (bass) deliver them in a melodic power pop package, but the content with harmony vocals and suggestions of new-wave, twang, balladry and – strongly – glam rock make it a colorful and varied whole. One of the tracks was written using artificial intelligence – we don’t know which one, but I suspect a computer isn’t creative enough for lyrics like this: “Give it up // You couldn’t give it up // You got physical // (Ooh)… alcohol, pills and methanol // You’re so invincible – mystical – ooh… // You had to taste it all” (from Barlight Crawl, another standout). The band wanted to make a kick-ass album that people could turn their car stereos up and enjoy during the first hints of summer, and in that mission they succeeded magnificently.

Amoeba Teen is out now digitally and on CD through Big Stir Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Big Stir

New EP: Frida Kill || EP 1

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

Please meet Frida Kill, a feminist four-piece punk band out of Brooklyn, New York. Maria Lina (vocals, bass, drums), Lily Gist (vocals, guitar, bass), Jeanette D. Moses (vocals guitar), and Gaby Canales (drums, bass, guitar) share their instruments to make noise about the dystopian nightmare in which we are currently wandering. The five songs on their debut EP are a convincing introduction, but the standout and most urgent track is the first single Mujeres Con Mangos, a danceable song with bilingual lyrics that gives humanity and visibility to those who often go unseen (in this case harmless but undocumented workers getting a ticket by the cops in the freezing cold for selling mangos). With awesome vocals and a powerful guitar riff on driving bass and drum rhythms, this could have been a Rancid hit.

EP 1 is out now digitally and on cassette via Insecurity Hits. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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