Matt Pryor & The Salton Sea - "Union Transfer"

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Photo by Michael Dubin

Matt Pryor may be best known for his work with emo heroes The Get Up Kids, but he has a much wider musical range than that. His latest single with The Salton Sea shows his more alt-rock based side' "Union Transfer" is a huge power ballad of a song, heavy with emotion and an intense musical backdrop. This is the type of song begging to be played live, with a raucous, noisy crescendo. It starts off simply enough, and is right along the lines of what you might expect for a Get Up Kids solo song to sound like. But "Union Transfer" ends up going in such a delightfully unexpected direction that it's cranked up our excitement for the full length album.

Matt Pryor says of his latest single:

“This is the most vulnerable song I’ve ever written. It marks the place and date of where I hit rock bottom."

You can listen to "Union Transfer" below. The Salton Sea is due out November 14 on Nightshoes Syndicate/Big Scary Monsters, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Matt Pryor, check out the artist on Instagram and Facebook. Upcoming tour dates are below the song and include an April 7 show at Sonia in Cambridge, MA.


01/22/26 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada

01/23/26 - Austin, TX - The 13th Floor

01/24/26 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger

01/25/26 - Houston, TX - White Oak

01/28/26 - Tampa, FL - New World Brewery

01/29/26 - West Palm Beach, FL - Respectable Street

01/30/26 - Orlando, FL - Will's Pub

01/31/26 - Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbits

02/01/26 - Charleston, SC - The Music Farm

02/03/26 - Richmond, VA - Richmond Music Hall

02/04/26 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle

02/05/26 - Asheville, NC - Eulogy

02/06/26 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl

02/07/26 - Birmingham, AL - TrimTab Brewing

02/08/26 - Nashville, TN - DRKMTTR

02/26/26 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar

02/27/26 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar

02/28/26 - Pioneertown, CA - Pappy + Harriet's

03/01/26 - Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room

03/02/26 - Los Angeles, CA - Permanent Records

03/04/26 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill

03/06/26 - Portland, OR - Show Bar

03/07/26 - Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern

03/08/26 - Spokane, WA - Big Dipper

03/10/26 - Boise, ID - Shrine Social Club Basement

03/11/26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court

03/13/26 - Denver, CO - Skylark Lounge

03/31/26 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th St Entry

04/01/26 - Milwaukee, WI - Anodyne

04/02/26 - Chicago, IL - Cobra Lounge

04/03/26 - Ferndale MI - The Loving Touch

04/04/26 - Cleveland, OH - B Side Lounge

04/07/26 - Boston, MA - Sonia

04/08/26 - Fairfield, CT - StageOne

04/09/26 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge

04/10/26 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church

04/11/26 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd

04/14/26 - Pittsburgh, PA - Brillobox

04/15/26 - Columbus, OH - Rumba Cafe

04/16/26 - Indianapolis, IN - The Hi Fi

04/17/26 - Louisville, KY - Zanzabar

04/18/26 - St. Louis, MO - The Sinkhole

04/30/26 - Bristol, UK - Rough Trade Bristol

05/01/26 - Cardiff, UK - Clwb Ifor Bach

05/02/26 - London, UK - The Lexington

05/03/26 - Nottingham - Bodega

05/05/26 - Glasgow, UK - Hug & Pint

05/06/26 - Leeds, UK - The Attic

05/07/26 - Manchester, UK - Star & Garter

05/08/26 - Cambridge, UK - Blue Moon

On Repeat...

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The Beths - "Mother, Pray for Me"

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Photo by Annabel Kean For their latest single, New Zealand's The Beths have released "Mother, Pray for Me." This is a heartbreaking ballad consisting of Elizabeth Stokes' vocals and guitar with just the slightest hint of organ. It's a deeply personal song for Stokes, made obvious with how intimately the song comes across. It truly feels almost confessional, and it's quite simply beautiful. The Beths are most known for huge little indie rock gems perfect for bopping along to, but "Mother, Pray for Me" is quite the opposite. Stokes' vocals and lyrics are right up front on this one, and I can't imagine it any other way. Elizabeth Stokes says of her latest single: “I cried the whole time writing it. It's not really about my mother, it's about me — what I hope our relationship is, what I think it is, what it maybe actually is, and what I can or can't expect out of it.   “My mother is a first gen Indonesian immigrant, and very Catholic....
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