New album: MaveriX || Cowpunk!

By / / Country & Folk, Punk / Leave a Comment

It was only a year ago that MaveriX was founded, when Niccolò Cagnoni (guitar, vocals), Matteo Bonini (bass) and Alberto Dragoni (drums) came together to write tunes that combined country music and punk rock, their greatest musical passions. The members of the Italian power trio made their mark with bands like Madddog and The Hickeys, but this is a different story, a story that unfolds on their debut LP Cowpunk!, and that title actually says it all. We get nine short, fiery sing-along tracks where classic Californian punk rock is mixed with country-western riffs, which sound as if Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong started wearing a cowboy hat. Or as they say themselves: “Dust off your boots and practice your line dance moves without forgetting how to mosh.” Standout tracks include the tribute to American actor Josh Brolin (‘Living in a movie // Like in a Josh Brolin scene // Stronger than american steel // Not caring about tomorrow // Or what else it’s gonna bring // As long as we open one more beer’), and the atmospheric Spaghetti Hymn with cinematic whistling and catchy harmony vocals (“Wooo-woo-hoo”).

Cowpunk! is out now – streaming only at the moment – via Rocketman Records.

New single: The Roxbury || I Believe In Rock And Roll

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

I Believe In Rock And Roll, that’s a title that immediately catches our attention. It’s been almost forty years since Twisted Sister sang these words, so it was time for a fresh generation of devotees. Enter The Roxbury, a new garage rock band from Amsterdam (the Netherlands), who make noise from the old engine room of a ferry that lays to rest in an otherwise quiet harbor. Their sound has little to do with heavy metal though, expect hipshaking alternative rock. The two tracks here, I Believe In Rock And Roll b/w You Come So Close, Don’t Come Too Close are very promising.

I Believe In Rock And Roll will be officially released on November 16, but you can already listen to it now. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Shaw’s Trailer Park || Shaw’s Trailer Park

By / / Country & Folk, Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Shaw’s Trailer Park is an alt.country/Paisley Underground-inspired band from Brighton (UK), named after the trailer park that songwriter/singer/guitarist Tim Sanpher grew up on. Together with Mark Wilson (bass), Andy Fraser (drums), Simon Smith (guitar) and Donna Butler (backing vocals, percussion, sax), he’s responsible for the eight diverse songs on their self-titled debut album (they attempted to release it in 2022, but this is the improved, official version). You’ll hear a mix of garage punk, psych and roots rock in which grooving rhythm foundations provide the landscape for mean guitar dueling, with the occasional saxophone jumping in between. Tough and dangerous, but irresistible at the same time.

Shaw’s Trailer Park’s self-titled album is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Swamp Song/Republic Of Music.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Juno || Rough Trade

New album: Part Time Signals || Another Day In Paradise

By / / Indie Pop / Leave a Comment

True story: when I was driving through South Wales last summer and saw ‘Part Time Signals’ signs at roundabouts’ traffic lights, I thought this would be a pretty good band name. A quick search showed that a band like that already existed and even made appealing music, so I clicked the ‘Follow’ button, and now I know that the Cardiff-based four-piece have released their full-length debut album Another Day In Paradise. We’re talking about a new project formed by songwriter Jacob Church (vocals, guitar), together with Sam Barnes (bass), Gavin Jenkins (drums) and Michael Blanchfield (keys). Expect ten folky indie pop songs with psych influences, recorded on one hot day in August 2022, which may explain their laidback groove. It’s an ethereal dreamscape as atmospheric as a sunset behind Penarth’s Victorian era pier while eating ice cream, evoking a profound sense of melancholy that’s both captivating and introspective. And remember: anyone who is curious can discover beautiful music everywhere.



Another Day In Paradise, mixed by Sam Barnes and mastered by Eddie Al-Shakarchi, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Bubblewrap Collective.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Bubblewrap

New album: Skinny Lister || Shanty Punk

By / / Country & Folk, Punk / Leave a Comment

Party time! British folk-punk band Skinny Lister return with their sixth studio LP, called Shanty Punk. We should see it as a concept album, and the concept is Skinny Lister: “It’s a pure distillation of what makes Skinny Lister tick, and perhaps a collection of songs that leans further into our folky routes than we’ve ventured in some years. It felt to us like it was time to touch base and celebrate the essence of the band, while at the same time giving it a fresh and dynamic feel.” You get eleven highly entertaining Pogues-y tunes that will make you thirsty, from a no-nonsense celebration of the virtues of hanging out down the pub with mates and loved ones (Company Of The Bar) to the story about that time frontman Daniel Heptinstall got in above his head in an arm-wrestling competition in Dresden (Arm Wrestling In Dresden). Sing along, jump along, drink along, laugh along.

Shanty Punk is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Xtra Mile Recordings.

Add to wantlist: Discogs || Skinny Lister

New album: The Grogans || Find Me A Cloud

By / / Garage Rock, Psych / Leave a Comment

Last Friday, Melbourne garage rock trio The Grogans released their fourth full-length album called Find Me A Cloud, and on that day we would also see them play as the opening act at the Left of the Dial festival in Rotterdam. Life happened when we wanted to put that plan into action (heavy rain = heavy traffic jam), so unfortunately we missed it. A shame, because the eleven new songs are very worthwhile. Quin Grunden, Jordan Lewis and Angus Vasic play groovy rock ‘n’ roll with a big sound, peppered with psychedelic rock and surf punk influences (and a touch of country), roughened by sun and sweat. There are no fillers here, but the tracks at the end of the album stand out for me: Stay High and Day Dreamed unite regret and hope with catchy harmony vocals and approving head nods. Hopefully we’ll get a second chance to experience this live soon.



Find Me A Cloud, recorded by Jasper Jolley, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Cousin Will Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Bug Club || Rare Birds: Hour of Song

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

Two years ago, South Wales trio The Bug Club debuted with their 4-track 7″ EP Launching Moondream One, quickly followed by the 9-track mini-album Pure Particles, the 14-track full-length Green Dream in F#, and the live LP One Foot in Bethlehem with 14 new one-off tunes under the moniker of Mr Anyway’s Holey Spirits, with in between singles such as Intelectuals and Picture This!, in which one long track turned out to be made up of several short songs. That’s a lot of idiosyncratic firsts, and a lot of infectious output, especially considering that the band is touring almost continuously. Sam Willmett (guitar, vocals), Tilly Harris (bass, vocals) and Dan Matthew (drums) now show that things can get even crazier, both in size and content: here’s their 47-track double LP Rare Birds: Hour of Song. Expect a kind of concept album with short and straightforward ramshackle songs in their signature style and sound, with the usual humorous and clever lyrics, but more versatile (folk and psych influences make their appearance). Energetic songs like Marriage, Can Ya Change A Thing Like This? and We Can’t All Play Saxaphones are future classics and undoubtedly live favorites, but the beautiful and folky In My Hour Of Song also shows a more sensitive side. Most remarkable, however, are the theatrical spoken word skits (‘burds wurds’). It makes the new album as a whole an alienating listening experience, but it can only be appreciated that The Bug Club is increasingly following their own unique path.




Rare Birds: Hour of Song, produced by Tom Arthur Rees, is out now digitally and on vinyl 2LP through Bingo Records and We Are Busy Bodies.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

Festival report || Left of the Dial 2023

By / / Alternative Rock, Country & Folk, Garage Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop, Power Pop, Psych, Punk / 2 Comments

The international showcase festival Left of the Dial is an annual celebration that offers a diverse snapshot of cutting-edge alternative artists. This weekend about 115 acts performed for 40 minutes at the sold out tastemaker event, most of them twice, at 15 pretty cool locations (17 stages) in the center of Rotterdam (Netherlands), including three churches, a salsa club and a lightship. You’ll understand that it was a challenging puzzle to choose what to see where and when, but it once again led to a great experience. It is telling that other attendees (and bloggers/media) followed a completely different program and also had a good time, which is one of the strengths of this very successful festival (another is that you regularly encounter artists on the way from one place to another or during concerts). Anyway, for the Add To Wantlist crew these were the 15 highlights (in order of appearance, some music embedded to give you an idea of what we heard), with some nice unplanned encounters:

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Festival report || Left of the Dial 2023Read More »

New EP: Outtacontroller || Just A Scratch

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

Hands up! The catchiest boys of the garage powerpop universe are back with a new EP. It is understatedly titled Just a Scratch, which we should not take too literally. We all know the hooks of Outtacontroller cut much, much deeper. In fact, they will have you bleeding within 40 seconds of Hanging Over You, one of the four highlight of this four-song EP. Another song is called Less Is More, an art that these Canadians have mastered long ago. Damn, how I love this band.

Just A Scratch is out now digitally, 7″ vinyl expected soon at Spanish label Jarama 45RPM Recs.



Add to Wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Teenage Halloween || Till You Return

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

Teenage Halloween’s self-titled debut sneaked into my 2020 year-end list, and I’d probably place it much higher if I redid my list today. Few current bands rival the sheer exhilaration and vibrancy of Teenage Halloween’s melodic punk rock. Anthemic, communal, and raw energy are just some of the key words to describe the sound Teenage Halloween. I was really curious how the follow-up Till You Return would compare to the debut, given how the rough edges are such a major part of what I like about this band. No need to worry in this case. Where bands usually become more polished, calculated and showoff-ish with their second LP, Teenage Halloween’s new tracks may display increased skill, but they also exude the aggressivity and spontaneity of a band of hungry young pups. A pivotal factor in this is singer Luk Henderiks, who takes the ‘sing it like you mean it’ ethos to unprecedented heights.

Teenage Halloween play like there is something on the line. Touching upon themes like isolation, gender, and mental health, Teenage Halloween offer a place of solace and inspiration, their words slogans to rile behind. Till the End definitely beats my expectations. It’s out today at Don Giovanni Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

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