New album: The Cigarette Bums || Trashtown

By / / Garage Rock / Leave a Comment

Californian garage punk outfit The Cigarette Bums are heading towards their fifteenth anniversary, but show no signs of slowing down. On their new full-length Trash Town you’ll hear eighteen tracks (including some skits) that live up to the album title in terms of sound, contents en cover art. The current lineup – Ciggy Bop aka Steven Carrera (guitar, vocals), Massimo (guitar, vocals), Rudy Melgar (bass), Chandler Sterling (keys, synths) and L’Austin Ash (drums, percussion, vocals) – play dirty and loud ramshackle rock ‘n’ roll, which should appeal to fans of bands like FIDLAR, Together Pangea and Jacuzzi Boys. This record is energetic, fast and surprisingly catchy – jumping along is allowed.



Trash Town, produced by Ciggy Bop and Lionel WillIams, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Half Deaf Clatch || Back To Basics

By / / Blues & Roots / Leave a Comment

Earlier this year we raved about the Feels Like Home LP by British blues singer/songwriter/guitarist Andrew McLatchie who makes music under the moniker of Half Deaf Clatch, and he’s already back with this Back To Basics EP. We get four original acoustic songs that are carried by compelling guitar playing and personal lyrics by heartfelt gritty vocals, but the instruments* used – “recorded through vacuum tube mic pre-amps for added warmth, saturation and dirt” – show how much love and care is put into it. Authentic craftsmanship, how beautiful.


Back To Basics, written, performed, recorded, mixed & mastered by A D McLatchie, is out now digitally and on homemade CD through Speak Up Recordings. *Featuring a vintage ‘Raven’ acoustic guitar, a battered ‘Rust Bucket’ resonator guitar, acoustic bass, nylon Strung open back banjo, 22 inch frame drum, small African hand drums, assorted shakers, tambourines, forest sticks, a Kalimba played with a stick, a wok being hit with a hammer, and the organ is from a Roland JV 10-10 outboard module with a controller keyboard, routed through an Orange ‘Crush’ acoustic amp, then mic’d up and recorded live.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: Big Boss Man || Do The Backstroke / Mother’s Earth

By / / Funk & Soul / Leave a Comment

British live sensation Big Boss Man has been in business for twenty-five years now, with four studio albums, six 7” singles and spots on countless compilations to their name. Even if the name doesn’t mean anything to you, you’ve probably heard their instrumentals in a movie, television/radio show or commercial before. Nasser Bouzida (Hammond organ), Trevor Harding (guitar), Badger Burgess (bass) and Desmond Rogers (drums) play a hybrid of 60s rhythm & blues, Latin, soul, bongo-fuzz, funk, mod-jazz and garage rock. Their new single Do The Backstroke swings and rocks at the same time, a battle between Hammond and bongo for the dance floor, with heavy groove action and hooks waiting to be sampled by hip-hop artists. B-side Mother’s Earth has a different tension and is more suitable for a chase movie, but is just as powerful proof of what these guys have to offer.

Do The Backstroke b/w Mother’s Earth is out digitally and on 7″ vinyl through Spinout Nuggets.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Spinout Shop

New album: King Khan || The Invaders – Original Film Score

By / / Funk & Soul, Garage Rock, Psych / 1 Comment

Music enhances moving images and vice versa, but it’s not self-evident that they also convince without each other’s context. Soundtrack wizards like David Holmes (Ocean’s Eleven / Twelve / Thirteen, Analyze That, …) and recently Lionel Limiñana & David Menke (The Ballad Of Linda L., The Devil Inside Me, Thatcher’s Not Dead.) have proven that this is certainly possible, and King Khan now joins them with an impressive production. ‎We know (and appreciate) the prolific Canadian musician/producer as an indomitable maverick in the garage rock scene, so frankly I was a little surprised to see him in a more obliging role: he’s responsible for the original score to the Mass Appeal x Thirteen Ten Florida Street documentary The Invaders (watch the trailer here), which recounts the rise and fall of a militant black power group in the late 1960s. It works out very well. King Khan composed and performed* eighteen soulful garage psych tunes, largely more subdued than we are used to from him, but each with memorable hooks or a mesmerizing melody – from haunting string pieces and propulsive instrumental grooves to full throttle rock songs. Standout tracks include protest song America Goddamn, the hip-swinging A Tree Not A Leaf Am I, and the intense Children Of The World which is most classic Khan, but there are many more good ideas here. Cool, funky and urgent.




“The Invaders film is not just a documentary it’s a hard core lesson to all activists to put in the work and find out what every community needs, addressing these individual needs and simply caring for the wounds that rot when ignored.” – King Khan

The Invaders – Original Film Score is out now digitally and on limited multicolored interstellar splatter vinyl 2-LP (45 rpm) through Ernest Jenning Record Co. / Khannibalism. Note: a handful of these tracks have previously appeared on limited and now out of print 7”s during the filmmaking process, often in alternate versions, but this mark’s the first time all of are available in one place. *With King Khan on vocals, guitar, piano, bass, organ, bongos, synth. Also featuring Saba Lou, Amabelle Anjum Khan, Reka Cziser, Big Fred Roller, Jeans Redemann, Nene Baratto, Max Weissenfeldt, Mirko Wenzel, Omri Gondor, Till Timm, Adan Jodorowsky, Kim Tibbs, Larry Mullins, Ernest C. Withers, Miron Zownir, Cody Simpson, Johnny Grew, Trishes Jackson, Ben Ra, Pamelia Stickney, El Congo Allen, Simon Wojan, Gillian Rivers, Simon Nussbruch and Ian Svenonius.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || Ernest Jenning

New album: The Kimberley Steaks || Big Noise

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

The Kimberley Steaks have been around for over 15 years, but I must admit that I am fairly new to the band. It’s a shame really, because The Kimberley Steaks are a mighty fine pop punk band. They raise questions you never knew you had, like what the heck are Kimberley Steaks? Did Jawbreaker share some of their DNA while touring Scotland? And, how would Billie Joe Armstrong sound if he was born and raised in Glasgow? Well, the band’s excellent new LP Big Noise definitely answers one of these questions. What sticks out most though, is that this record is a blast front-to-back. Big Noise is a high five to ’90s pop punk and melodic punk rock as well as a welcoming hand to a new generation.




LP should be available sooner of later through Brassneck (UK) and Bloated Kat Records (USA).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Josh Gray || Walk Alone

By / / Blues & Roots, Country & Folk / 1 Comment

“All these radio stations // They won’t play my songs // They’ll be back one day // When I’m old and gray // To try and right their wrongs.” The chorus of the opening track of Walk Alone grabbed me and I knew right away that Josh Gray‘s music could hold me for the full 40 minutes. We’re talking about the third album from the San Francisco-born/Nashville-based singer-songwriter, featuring ten diverse powerful songs with relatable stories of hope, hardship and perseverance. Musically it’s a quality mixture of country, blues, rock, folk and bluegrass, with poetic self-aware lyrics by irresistible dark vocals in the lead role. From the closing tune: “Finally found // The solid ground // My feet were missing all along // The perfect site // On a moonlit night // To sit and write these silly songs.” Silly songs for the win – when we finally have a radio show, we’ll play them immediately.




Walk Alone, recorded to tape in The Bomb Shelter and featuring skillful Nashville musicians, is out now digitally and on CD through Continental Record Services.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Josh Gray

New EP: Gizmo || Buddy System

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

Gizmo are a four-piece indie outfit from Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island) that crashed into my bands-to-watchlist like a comet with their debut EP. On the four-song Buddy System EP, the band utilizes a winning combo of slacker vibes, crunchy power pop guitars, and ’90s alt pop sensibility all reeled in with razor sharp hooks. Fans of Fountains of Wayne, LVL UP, and 2nd Grade should take note.

Warning: some of the choruses are sticky like gum. Prisoner Functionary ah-ah. Prisoner Functionary ah-ah!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: William the Conqueror || Excuse Me While I Vanish

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

For their fourth full-length album Excuse Me While I Vanish, Cornish alternative rock trio William The Conqueror found inspiration in new insights gained during the pandemic, leading to ten beautiful songs about compassion for the real-life angels of the world. William The Conqueror is no longer a selfish undertaking: “It’s the end of the line, and no wonder I never knew // Got that gold bayonet handed down by a saint to you // Well forgive me for thinking it was mine to take from you // Blind, now I see” (from opening track The Puppet and the Puppeteer). Ruarri Joseph (vocals, guitars), Naomi Holmes (bass) and Harry Harding (drums) rise above themselves on this record – the poetic and imagery lyrics are fab and the accurately structured music is spellbinding – if Robbie Robertson had been influenced by The War On Drugs and The National he would have sounded something like this. You get 45 minutes of mesmeric indie rock interspersed with folk and blues influences, which once again shows that selflessness pays off: “You can save your praise // For somebody else” (from Somebody Else).


Excuse Me While I Vanish, produced by the band in a playground of vintage gear and mixed by Barny Barnicott, is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP through Chrysalis.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs || William the Conqueror

New EP: Half Catholic || Art In Heaven

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

Half Catholic won half the battle by using the tag “power pop adjacent,” and describing themselves as a “friendly neighborhood guitar pop group from Northern Illinois.” Naming their new EP Art In Heaven and hiring Joe Tallman to create the amazing artwork did not hurt either – it made our favorite cover art of 2023 easily. To be fair, the five songs on Art In Heaven are pretty good as well. Heavenly guitar pop indeed. Amen. CD out now at Mostly Annoyed Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Black Bats || Stay Dead

By / / Garage Rock, Psych / Leave a Comment

Just in time for sweltering late summer nights, Melbourne, Australia-based garage psych band Black Bats have released their new (third) album Stay Dead. The cover art reveals that they can now also tolerate some sunlight, which is reflected in the sound of the fresh work. David Houston (guitar, vocals, organ), Kelly Watson (guitar), Neil Smith (bass) and Keith Ratnan (drums), with the help of Jesse Bolte (sax) and Shelby De Fazio (vocals), deliver twelve fuzzy songs that are equally surfy and ritzy as bluesy and hazy, floating between a pleasant fever and a dark daydream. For fans of The Growlers, Los Palms, Dead Ghosts.



Stay Dead, mixed by Josh Whitehead & mastered by Joe Carra, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Cactus Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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