If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Blake Studdard Brainwasher is an Oklahoma City based band that includes Matthew Duckworth Kirksey and Tommy McKenzie of The Flaming Lips. The band recently released a new single, "At Least It Beats an Actor," which might be the perfect side project for members of The Flaming Lips. The new single is wonderfully trippy, but in that non-hippie version, and leans heavily into the world of electronic music while keeping rock roots intact. It's a synth heavy song that's relatively laid back, and I might be imagining it, but I'm hearing some Spaghetti Western influences here. You don't typically associate psychedelic or electronic with stripped down, but "At Least It Beats an Actor" is surprisingly stripped down considering the genres involved.  Brainwasher say of their new single: "It’s freakier than a Diddy party, it's louder and wetter than a thunderstorm, more suspenseful than the Golden Gate Bridge, scarier than an El Salvadorian pris...

There are a few factors that guarantee we're going to like Beachy Head. First of all, they're a bonafide supergroup. Back in 2019, Christian Savill of Slowdive started writing and demoing some songs without any real plan. He sent these recordings to Ryan Graveface (The Casket Girls) and Steve Clarke (The Soft Calvary). Fleshing out the band is Matt Duckworth (The Flaming Lips) on drums and Rachel Goswell (Slowdive, Mojave 3, The Soft Calvary, Minor Victories) adding some vocals.  The second factor is the name. Beachy Head is a popular destination in Sussex because of its beautiful chalk cliff. It's also known as a suicide spot. Third is the music. "Destroy Us" is a swirling song that may lean more towards the pop side of dream pop or shoegaze than we'd expect. It feels like an updated throwback to the gothic side of New Wave. Of course, as with most music of this genre I find it to be beautiful and uplifting, but I'm pretty sure that's just me. Most pe...

I really don't know what to make of this week: Lagwagon - Hang : Our 90s-tastic release week begins with a new album from Lagwagon, their first in nearly a decade. My teen years had a ska phase, but I could never really embrace the punk side, and Lagwagon is firmly there. If you've been missing out, there might be a lot here for you to love, but for me, this wasn't quite it. The Twilight Sad - Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave : An album I queued up because I thought they were a different band (probably the Twilight Singers), this was actually a pretty high quality dour indie rock record. The vocals are really distinctive and the songs memorable as they sort of lodged themselves into my brain. I will definitely seek out more of their stuff, but for now, this new album deserves a listen in a somewhat thin week. Lily & Madeleine - Fumes : Lily & Madeleine are fairly prolific, with their third album they definitely expand their sound a little ...

... I don't even... I mean...  Does this mean Miley Cyrus is cool or The Flaming Lips are lame now? I guess I shouldn't complain. Maybe this will help spark a new found revival for good music. I have heard stories that Miley Cyrus actually does have good taste in music and was never really into that Disney fluff she used to do. This could lead to a bunch of teenage/college age girls running out and listening to the Flaming Lips and then discovering Butthole Surfers and Melvins.  Probably not, but an old man can dream.