New EP: Jacuzzi Boys || Glue

It has been quiet around Jacuzzi Boys in recent years. Then suddenly, the band made a surprise return earlier this year with the 5-song Dipped EP. That one didn’t connect with me, but last Friday they released a new EP that offers another opportunity to catch up with the Miamian band. What do I think of it? Well, the album art is so disgusting, you have to pay me good money for me to ever take a look at it again. The four songs though? Pretty, pretty, pretty good! One of the songs is a newly recorded oldie by the band (The Caveman), the other three songs appear to be brand new. All in all, The Glue EP offers 9 minutes of sunny garage pop that is easy on the eardrums and today that is good enough for me.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Redlines || Kick Out Tomorrow

The Redlines are a rock ‘n’ roll four-piece from north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, featuring Brian Seese (vocals, guitar), Jason Lizzi (guitar, vocals), Tony Vinski (bass, vocals) and Sandro Campagna (drums). They now follow up last year’s Kick Out Today EP with Kick Out Tomorrow, five new songs in which influences from garage rock, alt-country, heartland rock, blues and soul merge into a characterful travelogue. They kick things off in high gear (“Black wheels rolling // Tank full of gas // Pedal to the metal // Getting nowhere fast”), continue their way melodically (Drown in Gin), and then slow down in a heartfelt cover of James Brown’s It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World. Next track Take What You Can Get is the big hit here, an infectious sing-along stomper, and then they leave us behind with a Hold Steady-esque life lesson (“A good haircut // and a great pair of boots is all I need”). This is a record full of energetic fun, not innovative but quite imposing.


Kick Out Tomorrow, produced/recorded/mixed by Eddie Ashworth and mastered by Gene “The Machine” Grimaldi, is out now digitally and on CD through Swade Records, and soon also on vinyl LP (the two mentioned EPs combined) through Katzulhu Productions. Kari Rutushin’s soulful backing vocals deserve a special mention here.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Katzulhu

New album: Delicious Monsters || Freedom Plastic Realistic?

Milwaukee quartet Delicious Monsters are something else. It’s not that they are left of the dial, they are the kind of band that erect their own radio station. By sheer conviction and their level of creativity, not because their music is too weird, or too extreme. In fact, you could make a case that the individual parts of their debut album Freedom Plastic Realistic? are in fact quite conventional. The vocals are melodic, and almost twee. The guitar work is a post punkish mix of angular chords, riffs and sweet tones. The bass and drums complement and contrast nicely. On paper, nothing to get all that excited about per se. In practice? Wow. Once Delicious Monsters put it all together, they become a force to be reckoned with.

I am going to namedrop Sleater-Kinney as a frame of reference for the music of Delicious Monsters. But, that’s just a starting point to manage your expectations. You’ll probably need only a couple of songs to know whether Delicious Monsters are playing at your wavelength or at a wavelength you aspire to hang out at. If so, you may very well have found your new favorite band.

Buy Freedom Plastic Realistic? on Tape at Tetryon Tapes.




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp ||  Tetryon Tapes

New single: Pelomono || Danza De La Cobra

Surf rock can be found on all possible wavelengths. That of Spanish duo Pelomono is on the far left of the dial, where influences from krautrock and sounds from exotic instruments seep through. Although the two musicians are wearing masks on stage, we know that we’re dealing with Antonio Pelomono and Pedro de Dios (Guadalupe Plata). At the end of 2020 they released their nice debut LP Gibraltar, which they now follow up with two new instrumental songs. On side A’s title track Danza De La Cobra (translated: cobra dance) they inimitably fuse electric guitars with a melody from an ancient ritual from India used to charm snakes. B-side Alguien Me Persigue (someone is chasing me) comes from the soundtrack of a film directed by American filmmaker Hulser Haselford, heard in a scene where a monkey flees from a phantom threat. Dark and psychedelic, danceable and bewitching.

Danza De La Cobra, produced by Pike Cavalero and Mario Cobo, is out now digitally and on vinyl 7″ through Everlasting Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Blessure || Blessure

Blessure are a four-piece punk band from Bilbao (Spain) that sings in French. I have questions! Anyhow, Blessure released a self-titled EP back in January that is now being reissued by cassette labels Dirty Slap and Polze De La Mort. The four songs on the EP are reminiscent of Neighborhood Brats and Amyl & The Sniffers, but also hint upon ’80s new wave and post punk influences. It’s the third EP of the band (I think?) but only my first taste of Blessure. I definitely pressed the follow button on Bandcamp to keep up with their future releases.

Update 1/16/24: This EP is out now on 7″ at Discos Enfermos.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: JSR || The Other Women

The John Sally Ride is a New York City-based power pop project from multi-instrumentalist John Dunbar and drummer Sal Nunziato. John never liked it when the band name was abbreviated, yet he released this new LP under the JSR moniker, but now with a different meaning: The Other Women is John’s Solo Release. It’s a concept album that grew out of his curiosity: every time he met a woman whose name was associated with an iconic song, he used that as a conversation starter, and again and again he heard that such a tune was detested, especially because it’s always sung to her when she introduces herself. John saw it as a challenge to offer the victims an alternative narrative, and started to write new songs with those names in the title but with a contrasting theme. A commendable initiative that works out better than you might expect, although A Little Bit Of Rosie, Christine Sixty and Sheena Is A Prog Rocker don’t beat Whole Lotta Rosie (AC/DC), Christine Sixteen (KISS) and Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (Ramones) in terms of sing-along scores. The ten songs on this coherent entity feel familiar, thanks to both the references and the sentimental pop melodies, but the fresh insights are captured in charming portraits to cherish.



The Other Women, produced by John Dunbar & Len Monachello, is released last January – digitally via Heartpunch. All instruments and vocals by John Dunbar.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Jack Cades || Something New

Half a year ago we raved about The Jack Cades’ 45 Something New b/w Chasing You, which left us looking forward to more. The UK garage rock four-piece now adds eleven fresh tunes (including a successful cover of The Velvet Underground’s Temptation Inside Your Heart) to those two songs, which together make up their third LP, which is also titled Something New. We know the musicians – Elsa Whittaker (rhythm guitar, organ, vocals), Mike Whittaker (lead guitar, vocals), Alexandra Cools (bass), Matthew “Mole” Lambert (drums) – from bands like The Missing Souls, The Baron Four, Thee Vicars, The Evil Thingies, Groovy Uncle and The Higher State, but the sound here is less raucous than what they did there. This record is a psychedelic surf trip, with guitars delightfully jangling away. Sun-kissed fun, let the summer begin.




Something New, produced by Ed Gizzard, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Beluga Records / Dangerhouse Skylab.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Beluga || Discogs

New album: As We Go || Alan

As We Go are a five-piece punkrock band from Cologne (Germany). Their latest LP is called Alan, and As We Go went fully DIY to record it. Job well done I’d say, even though the band may not exactly reinvent punk rock on Alan. Far from it actually. Palm muting? Check. Anthemic choruses? Check. But in all that familiarity, As We Go execute will full conviction and pull ahead of the pack. Part of that is the performance of singer Björn Masseck, who sounds like a less raspy, more melodic version of Chuck Ragan. On Alan, As We Go win you over song-by-song with their heartfelt melodic punkrock. Recommended if a mix of Hot Water Music and Samiam is up your sleeve.




Alan is out now and available through White Russian Records.
Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Panic Pocket || Mad Half Hour

Childhood friends Natalie Healey (vocals, guitars) and Sophie Peacock (vocals, keyboards, piano) formed Panic Pocket in 2017, and following their 2019 debut EP Never Gonna Happen, they are now releasing their first full-length album, aptly titled Mad Half Hour. Together with Healey Becks (bass, backing vocals) and Laura Ankles (drums, guitars, backing vocals) they recorded ten melodic indie pop tunes, with cheerful sing-along lyrics that on closer inspection turn out to have a dark underlay (for example, the title track is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to a 90s icon who turned “Girl Power” into a slogan). Radical but relatable. The 30 minutes fly by, and when you hear “Don’t get me started // Cause I’ll go on forever” in the closing track, all you have to do is click on repeat.



Mad Half Hour, produced by Keith TOTP, is out now digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Skep Wax Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Good Looking Son || Confirmed Bachelor

I love Keith Harman’s band The Cowboys, one of the more original punk bands in recent years. Harman also fronts Good Looking Son, a band in which he teams up with Jerome Westerkamp (Vacation), John Clooney (Vacation, Tweens), and Andrew Jody (Barrence Whitfield & the Savages, Long Gones). Good Looking Son debuted in 2021 with a promising EP, and last Friday they released their highly anticipated debut LP Confirmed Bachelor. It’s a good one!

Confirmed Bachelor is suprisingly conventional and consistent for a Keith Harman record,  but special just the same. The LP has ten timeless outsider pop and rock originals with roots in the ’60s and ’70, and closes with an electrifying cover of the Bee Gees’ I Don’t Think It’s Funny. Some songs are instant crushes, like the powerpopesque Long Form Girlfriend and the psych pop-ish Forty Night Stand. Other songs take multiple plays to reveal their qualities or appeal. That mix between instant and delayed rewards is a testament to great songwriting.

Give Confirmed Bachelor multiple plays, fall for it and buy the LP sooner or later through Feel It Records.




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Feel It Records

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