New album: Goodbye Honolulu || Goodbye Honolulu

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

Appealing music sounds familiar but at the same time offers something new – uncertainty and surprise should not deviate too much from expectations. Toronto four-piece Goodbye Honolulu understands that principle very well. Emmett S Webb (vocals, guitar, bass), Jacob Switzer (vocals, guitar, bass, hand claps), Fox Martindale (vocals, guitar, organ), and Max Bornstein (vocals, drums, drum machine, percussion, hand claps) -four individual songwriters and three frontmen – never stick to one sound: on your ibingo card with influences you can check off garage rock, new wave, power-pop, glam, and electronic music. After three EPs,  More Honey (2018), No Honey (2017) and Heavy Gold (2016; one of my favorites at the time), they have now released their self-titled full-length debut album, described by the band as their “dream record” – 13 original songs with a perfect balance between familiar and surprising. For example, the intro to Over and Over is somewhat reminiscent of Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive, and Get the Denim echoes The Specials’ Little Bitch (aka The Dandy Warhols’ Bohemian Like You), but before you can imagine the accompanying lyrics, Goodbye Honolulu has already made it its own. Anyway, this is a successful eclectic mix of catchy songs with strong riffs. Bingo!

“You gotta tell me how to make things right // But don’t teach me how to live my life // I don’t wanna save my soul // All I know is rock ‘n’ roll”

Goodbye Honolulu is out now through Stray Dog Records. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: Rabbit || Gone

By / / Power Pop, Punk / 2 Comments

There is still something magical about discovering awesome music from the other side of the planet with just a couple of mouse clicks. I am talking about Rabbit, a four-piece from Tasmania (Hobart). Rabbit has only been together for a year, but jumpstart their career with a 3-song debut 7″ full of electric and exciting powerpop. Recorded with Zac Blain of A. Swayze & The Ghosts, the single announces the arrival of Rabbit through a megaphone rather than a whisper. The three songs on the Gone single are loud, and singer Maggie Edwards attacks these songs with full conviction.

What makes the songs work well though is the band’s sense of melody. In a recent interview with Gimmiezine, the band’s songwriter and guitarist Bobby K. cites The Nerves, The Flamin’ Groovies, The Records, Vibrators, The Soft Boys, The Only Ones, Television Personalities, Buzzcocks, The Motels as primary influences and namedrops Oz punk acts like Celibate Rifles and Birdman and Saints as well.  I can also see fans of Royal Headache digging the music and guitar work of Rabbit. Good taste does not automatically translates to good music, but in the case of Rabbit it most definitely does. Gone is out now through Rough Skies Records.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Control Freaks || Get Some Help

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

You may know Greg Lowery from his work in Supercharger, The Rip Offs, The Infections, The Zodiac Killers and his label Rip Off records. In recent years, he has devoted his talent to The Control Freaks, a band that plays garagepunk’n’roll that sounds trashy, mean and catchy.

Get Some Help follow the band’s first two rippers Mindless Entertainment (2017) and She’s The Bomb (2019). If you liked those two albums, you are guaranteed to like Get Some Help as well. It’s more of the same, which is exactly what you should hope for in the case of Control Freaks who have that special kind of talent to write songs that are straightforward and yet so memorable. Songs like Gonna Be A Riot, My I.Q., I.C.U. and Popgun are a treat for any fan of rock’n’roll that is uncomplicated and real. Get Some Help is out now on Dirty Water Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: Compilation || SLN-210: 10 Year Anniversary Compilation

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Punk / Leave a Comment

Snappy Little Numbers operates out of Denver and have to be one of the hardest working labels out there. Or maybe they are extremely efficient? Anyhow, it seems that they have a couple of new releases out each month and not just digital. To celebrate its 10th year anniversary, this week the label released a 30 song compilation of past, present, and future bands they have worked or will work with. We covered quite a lot of the bands on the comp including Autogramm, Jiffy Marx (who contributes a very fun rendition of one of my favorite Resonars songs), Hooper, Spells, Friends of Cesar Romero, State Drugs, and The Animal Steel. But, if I’m not mistaken, most (if not all) of the songs are comp exclusives.

Snappy Little Numbers’ roster is very broad, even though most of their bands fall under of the many subgenres of punkrock and alternative rock. A consequence of SLN’s broad focus is that you are unlikely to fall for each of their releases. However, on a comp like this, the varied roster actually works to the comp’s advantage. Listening to this compilation is like finding a radio station you don’t want to switch off, and driving another block because you want to find out what the next song is. Cool stuff from a cool label. Happy Birthday SLN, Keep doing what you do!

30% of every compilation sold (both physical and digital) will be donated to Stop AAPI Hate (20% – stopaapihate.org – USA) and Elimin8Hate (10% – elimin8hate.org – Canada).



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || SLN

New album: Ducks Ltd. || Modern Fiction

By / / Jangle Pop / 1 Comment

With the release of the expanded re-issue of their debut EP Get Bleak, we expressed our hope that more music from Toronto’s Ducks Ltd would soon follow, and look: here’s the full-length album Modern Fiction, with ten new original jangle-pop songs. Tom McGreevy (lead vocal, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Evan Lewis (guitar, bass, drum programming) sound even more confident than before, and that’s completely justified if you know how to write and perform one standout track after the other. The duo is standing on the shoulders of the genre’s pioneers – bands like The Clean, The Chills, The Bats, Television Personalities, and Look Blue Go Purple paved the way – but this record sounds as fresh and clear as possible in 2021 (hence the title – nerd alert – taken from a university course called Gnosticism and Nihilism in Modern Fiction, influenced by Graham Greene novels). Anyway, this is an LP that provides a warm feeling, that more than lives up to my expectations, with melodies to cherish. Labelmates The Beths do backing harmonies on a few songs, and a string quartet can also be heard here and there. Highly recommended for fans of Rolling Blackouts CF.

Modern Fiction is out now digitally, on CD, and vinyl LP through Carpark Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New album: McBain || Hard Being Us

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

McBain are Ame, Ale & Enri from Italy (Milano), who formed in 2015 out of a shared love for old school pop punk and The Simpsons. Having released their debut album Revenge in 2017, they took a different route with the follow-up. Hard Being Us consists of three EPS that were released throughout the year. Each of the EPs showcases the perspective of one the band members. It’s a cool endeavour fully in line with the punk ethos which values both individuality and a sense of community.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of this project is how similar the three EPs sound. It’s way more consistent than I expected, but in a good way. It illustrates how well the interests and ideas of each band member are aligned. Expect short and fast pop punk bursts – the total playing time of the 15 songs is 20 minutes. Check out my favorite track of each EP below.




Hard Being Us is released in a highly limited run of 66 hand printed 3-CD boxsets. Artwork by Luca Loreti.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of September 2021

By / / Alternative Rock, Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Indie Rock, Power Pop, Punk / 1 Comment

Not all new music is really new, as many artists occasionally play a song they know from one of their heroes. Often they are songs that deserve to be dusted and polished, simply because they should not be forgotten. Some of those cover versions are so good, we’d like to put a spotlight on them. Chosen from a wide range, here are – in alphabetical order – ten of our favorite covers from last month – links to the pages where you can add them to your wantlist included.

96 Tears || Cover: Oort Clod || Original: ? & The Mysterians
Manchester-based five-piece Oort Clod released a nice 12-track split EP (together with Priceless Bodies), on which the 1966 garage rock single is doused with a post-punk sauce. Out on cassette through Alphaville Records.

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Dusted || The 10 Best Cover Songs Of September 2021Read More »

New album: The Mother Gurus || The Mother Gurus LP

By / / Alternative Rock, Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

The Mother Gurus is a trio from Melbourne, a city that harbours an infinite number of bands. Last week, the band released their 8-song self-titled debut album. And I have to say, I’m intrigued. The Mother Gurus mixes alternative ’90s guitars with the vocal harmonies of the ’60s and the psychedelic rock of the ’70s. It’s all there in the standout album opener As Far As I Can Tell (Papercut), which sounds like The Resonars playing early Nirvana or vice versa.

The record is not available in full on Bandcamp (yet?), so below is an earlier version of the song. You can stream the album in full on Spotify and the other streaming sites I guess. Anyhow, The Mother Gurus provide a cool mashup of styles that work surprisingly well.



Add to wantlist? Nothing to by, just stream it for now.

New album: Megadose || Wild & Free

By / / Indie Rock / 1 Comment

Megadose are from the US state of Washington and feature Stephen Steen (vocals, guitars, organ), along with James Kasinger (drums), Laura Seniow (bass) and Mikey Ferrario (guitar). Their debut LP Wild & Free is produced by Trevor Spencer, who not only gave a the record a crisp, airy and all around great sound, he also provided backing vocals and additional instrumentation (melotron & keyboard). Musically, Megadose put their own spin on ’00s indierock which takes me back to the time where Bands of Horses, The Shins, Fleet Foxes and Frightened Rabbit suddenly appeared on the airwaves.

Wild & Free is the kind of record that slowly wins you over. The guitarplay particularly takes the spotlight, and deservedly so. But for me, it’s the interplay with the other instruments and the constant dynamics between more upbeat parts and more introspected ones, and more focused and more loose parts that made me play this record several times this week. I discover something new to like with each listen. Wild & Free is a timely record, with a season appropriate cover. Autumn’s here folks!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers || Get Loose

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

You don’t hear them like this often: Molly Hanmer writes strong songs, knows how to play guitar and harmonica, is blessed with a sensual but powerful voice, and if that isn’t enough, she also has good taste. Along with her band – Keith Palmer (drums, backup vocals), Alan Hampton (bass), Claudia Miles (back-up vocals), John Bird (keyboards), Mickey Madden (lead guitar), and guests Joe Sublett (saxophones ), and Mark Pender (trumpet) – the American garage rocker / pop punker has released their sophomore full-length album Get Loose, with nine original songs, and a nice cover of CCR’s Born on the Bayou. This is swinging, bluesful soul (or: soulful blues) infused with psychedelic folk, roots rock, and even gospel, both musical and lyrical highlight after highlight. You don’t hear them like this often.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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