New album: The Smallgoods || Lost In The Woods

By / / Indie Pop, Psych / Leave a Comment

Good news: after almost ten years of radio silence, Melbourne four-piece The Smallgoods return with a new full-length album, Lost in the Woods. Not being able to find the way is in itself a good reason not to make music for a while, but luckily the wandering has provided fresh inspiration, because Lachlan Franklin, Gus Franklin, Ben Mason and Ben Donnan have written and recorded ten beautiful new melodies and lyrics. The song titles alone are appropriate and poetic at the same time: Where’ve You Been All This Time, On With the Show, Hurry Up & Slow Down, A Month of Sundays, Settle Down, etc. This is dreamy indie pop mixed with psych and folk rock influences, a wonderful autumn soundtrack. This comeback couldn’t be much stronger.

Lost in the Woods is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Lost And Lonesome.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: L’Resorts || Vacation

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

If the singers of L’Resorts sound familiar to you, it’s likely you have heard Vincent Kircher’s work in Jaill, or Martha Cannon’s in Lady Cannon. Under the L’Resorts moniker the duo are helped out by other veterans from the Milwaukee scene, and write folky (electric) americana pop tunes that are as pleasant as they are soothing. From what I’ve read, the duo started working together after Cannon send Kircher a Facebook message. At first, they did their recordings remotely, but when they finally met, their chemistry wasn’t just musical. Now the couple live together in Milwaukee.

L’Resorts is quite the departure from the garagepop of Jaill, although I could easily see album opener and title track Vacation reworked in a Jaill version. I love how the band namedrops Velvet Underground and Camera Obscura as influences, because these two acts signal of the bandwidth of the sound of L’Resorts on Vacation.: Pop music, but the good kind. And with an edge. The playful instrumentation of L’Resorts (listen to Bubbles for example) makes Vacation a joy to listen to, and the dual boy/girl vocals give the songs a timeless pop feel. Having been quite the fan of Kircher’s work in Jaill, I am kinda ashamed this is the first time I’ve heard about L’Resorts. But the band has been prolific since their start late 2018. Last year alone, they released two full lengths: Bad Love and Sad Happens (a fundraising kids album). In my book, L’Resorts are worth (re)visiting!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Joshua Powell || Skeleton Party

By / / Psych / Leave a Comment

American singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Joshua Powell celebrates a Skeleton Party on his new album, his first truly full band composition. That means that we have to introduce the band: next to Joshua Powell himself (vocals, guitars, synthesizers, programming, coins) they are Adam Shuntich (guitars, theremin, mutant koto, death star laser beam), Jacob Powell (drums, percussion, vocals ), and Josh Townsend (bass, programming) – each band member has songwriter credits. Their psychedelic / progressive indie rock music is no easy feat – layered in instruments, versatile in styles, kaleidoscopic in lyrics – and an Auto-Tune-esque experiment even somewhat disturbing, but that there’s so much to hear is also fascinating and intriguing. Anyway, listening to these eight songs – 46 minutes – is an impressive journey, a hallucinatory experience, and especially the guitar playing is great. As Powell warns in standout track Sad Boy at the Skeleton Party: “I can’t protect your delicate sensibilities // It happens how it happens when you get into it with me.” It will depend on your taste: are you joining this party or not?

Stream the full album below.

Skeleton Party is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Romanus Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Romanus Records

New single: Spells || Fangirl

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

Usually we don’t post single songs, but if there is a physical release we are happy to make an exception, but only if it’s as good as this one. In this case it is actually a magazine: the first edition of Fangirl. Each issue of the Colorado fan-zine revolves around one local band – bio, record reviews, interview – and comes with a 7” flexi disc with music by the featured band. Issue #1 features Denver five-piece Spells, which we also wrote about last month, performing the track Fangirl. It’s a lo-fi, super-catchy pop-punk song, whose enthusiastic, complementary sung lyrics you can’t get out of your head.

The orange translucent 7″ flexi disc with issue #1 of Fangirl is out now through Snappy Little Numbers Quality Audio Recordings. The digital-only single version is pay-what-you-want. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Pep Talk || Live, Laugh, Lobotomy

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

The line-up of Pep Talk reads like a cast of comic book characters: Rocky, Rookie, Guli, Azeem, Grivetis. You may know this gang from their work in The Young Rochelles, The New Rochelles, Sketchy, House Boat and The Steinways. Is Pep Talk is a nod to the Descendents song? I am not sure, but it’s a great name for the upbeat old school pop punk they blast out of the speakers. To be sure, Pep Talk sounds decidedly more Ramones and Screeching Weasel oriented than Descendents – CJ makes a cameo on Trespass.They are the kind of band that would fit perfectly on Lookout! Records, Mutant Pop or Stardumb and songs like Next To Me and Dumb Love would not look out of place on those infamous Lookout! samplers back in the ’90s. Next To Me has the most hit potential, and its pop perfect melody even works really well in a 8-bit chiptune remix.

There are a lot of pop punk bands that have cool fast songs, but the best bands also know how to write killer midpaced pop punk tracks. Pep Talk certainly pass that test with songs like Who Would’ve Thought and Big Big Baby. But still, most of Live, Laugh, Lobotomy though is tailor-made for people with short attention spans and a desire for speedy punk. Throughout it all, this record is a blast, and it’s kinda crazy that Hey Pizza! Records released it on the same day they as the Capgun Heroes debut LP. What a week for fans of pop punk!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Hey Pizza! Records

New album: Casper Television || Basic Cable

By / / Garage Rock, Indie Rock / 3 Comments

All we know about Casper Television is that it’s a New York City based band (Sharon Ettinger on vocals, Sei Smith on guitars and vocals, Vladyslav Svyrydenko on bass, and Alexander Altskan on drums), that they don’t take themselves too seriously (they say they formed after meeting at a charity golf tournament where they were the only ones who showed up, and then started making music, music meant for feral children), that they have guts (they kick off their new album Basic Cable with a cover version of classic Whole Wide World, and then put their own songs against it), and that they are open to commercial collaborations (they pretend their videos are sponsored by major brands – All Your Thoughts would be a partnership with Ford (NB this is one of the two songs previously featured on Mistakes and Other Takes, a collection of songs from 2018). Anyway, forget this thoroughly researched background information and take a listen: this is catchy, rambling indie rock, with great hooks, and the combination of female and male vocals works really well. The six original songs can compete with the four covers (besides Wreckless Eric, they also do The Moldy Peaches, M. Ward, and King Princess). Fun, no more, but certainly no less. For fans of Holiday Ghosts, Jeanines, Dude York.

Basic Cable is out now digitally. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Killer Hearts || Skintight Electric

By / / Garage Rock, Glam Rock, Punk / 1 Comment

Opening the record with some high octane guitars, fast drumming and the vocals howling oeh’s and aah’s, Killer Hearts from the get-go provide you with two options on their debut full-length Skintight Electric: you’ll either hate us or love us. But either way, the Houston band (w/ members of Texas Terri & The Stiff Ones, and The Wrong Ones) play their energetic version of glampunk’n’roll with full conviction. It’s not just the denim and leather, there’s a decidedly ’70s vibe to the songs of Killer Hearts – imagine New York Dolls, but faster and louder. Killer Hearts harbour a sense of suspense and meanness and I wouldn’t be surprised if Killer Hearts sound even more intense in their live shows.

That album opener of course is Get Some, a song that was already making some waves last year. It’s a major hit, and made me mark Skintight Electric as an album to look forward to. It was originally slated for a 2020 release, but with the pandemic and all (or vinyl press delays, who knows) the record took another year to land, and I almost forget about the band. Fortunately, Skintight Electric does not disappoint and shows that Get Some was no fluke, but rather their standard of quality.

Then again, Skintight Electric is the kind of record where its release date is inconsequential. Regardless of it being released in 1977, 2020 or 2021, there will always be an audience for this kind of music when it’s executed this well.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Spaghetty Town Records || Dragstrip Riot (Europe)

New album: Jackie Venson || Love Transcends

By / / Alternative Rock, Blues & Roots, Funk & Soul / 1 Comment

“They say freedom is in the mind // Well we lose our freedom when we get too scared to fight // One step forward is another step farther behind.” After half a minute of music, with these first lines, you know this is a special release. We are talking about Love Transcends, the new full-length album by American singer / songwriter / guitarist Jackie Venson. She wrote the songs across a decade (and added a new version of the classics Down By The Riverside and Up Above My Head), recorded them in a pandemic, played in a style a century old, but completely contemporary in every way. This is soulful blues rock, where Venson’s awesome, powerful distinctive vocals take your breath away, whether she screams or whispers. As if that isn’t impressive enough, she also throws out some stunning guitar solos, and she’s joined by a great band (Marcus Clark on bass, Jon Deas on piano and organ, Rodney Hyder on drums). This is Jackie Venson’s unique sound, the sound of a great star in the making.

Love Transcends is out now digitally and on CD. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

PS  Do yourself a favor and also watch the recording of the live concert that Jackie Venson gave in Texas late last year. Enchanting.

New album: The Garrys || Get Thee To A Nunnery

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

With no prior knowledge of The Garrys, I listened to their new album, enjoyed it, and thought it would sound like this if Allah-Las and Alvvays would made music together: psychedelic surf rock that provides the perfect soundtrack for the transition from summer to autumn. When I then started to look into the band, I realized that my first impression was a bit too sunny: if you listen more closely, you’ll discover a dark underlayer that provides an ominous feeling.

The Garrys are a trio of sisters – Erica (guitar, keys, vocals), Julie (bass, vocals), and Lenore Maier (drums, vocals) – from the coldest part of the landlocked Canadian prairies, who in their own words make “doom-wop on morphine.” Like previous releases, Get Thee To A Nunnery (their fourth long player, this one produced by Dallas Good (The Sadies)), pays homage to their familial roots and the isolation and decay of rural life, but is also inspired by stories of their mother’s high school years at an all-girls Catholic boarding school and convent in a small town 60 years ago. It only makes the new record more fascinating: the nostalgic background, the warm sound coming from a cold area, the cinematic lyrics, the intriguing harmony vocals – the making of this record would be a great documentary.

“Baby you’ve been bad bad bad bad, so bad // Girl you’d better pray, before they put you away”

Stream the full album below.

Get Thee To A Nunnery is out now digitally, on CD, cassette, and vinyl LP through Grey Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp 

New album: Capgun Heroes || Last Call For Adderall

By / / Punk / 1 Comment

When you have opened shows for acts like Nerf Herder, The Lillingtons, The Copyrights, The Queers, The Smoking Popes, there is a certain level of expectation around your debut full length. Capgun Heroes (Chicago) go far beyond those expectations on Last Call For Adderall. I’m not talking about the band’s sound – there are clear hints of all before mentioned bands, particularly The Lillingtons and The Copyrights, although Teen Idols may be an even better comparable. I’m referring to how good the songs of Capgun Heroes are and how much fun this record is. Sure, we are all familiar with the ingredients, and sure, we’ve all tasted this recipe before. But Capgun Heroes is making me long for seconds and thirds. Listen to songs like Won’t Do You Wrong, That Girl, Let You Go, Waiting, and Wanna Go and you’ll be hooked.

Last Call For Adderall is a hit-packed pop punk fest that may singlehandedly postpone autumn for a couple of months. Or, at the very least will put a smile on your face and make you immune to the rain and wind and cold of the fast approaching change of seasons. Hits!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Hey Pizza! Records

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