Weakened Friends w/ J Mascis - "Hate Mail"

Photo via Facebook

Over the past couple of years, Weakened Friends have played with a bunch of 90's era Boston area bands, with opening slots for Letters to Cleo, Juliana Hatfield, and The Sheila Divine. On their latest single, their loyalty is repaid with J Mascis coming in to play guitar on "Hate Mail." Having J Mascis play on your song is a huge burst of cred for Weakened Friends, but they've definitely earned it. Hearing Mascis' trademark guitar sound reigned in a bit over Weakened Friends' more pop-filled 90's tinged alternative sound is a great mixture. Mascis uses his more laid back style of guitar playing on the song, and even though it's a relatively faster song than you'd expect with that style, it works perfectly. I had heard of this pairing earlier in the week, and couldn't get to today's release fast enough.

You can listen to "Hate Mail" below. Weakened Friends debut album will be out sometime in the fall. For more on Weakened Friends, check out their website.

David Wax Museum - "Your Mother, the Ghost"

Photo via Facebook

This month, David Wax Museum are celebrating their 10th year as a band and their 1000th show. Part of the celebration includes the release of Electric Artifacts, a ten song collection of unreleased songs that didn't make the cut on their previous albums or were never quite finished before. One of those songs, "Your Mother, the Ghost," is now available to listen to. Clocking in at just under seven minutes, "Your Mother, the Ghost," is David Wax Museum's most epic song since "Unfruitful." While much more slower paced than its predecessor, the new song brings back some of the noisier aspects and odd instrumentation of Everything is Saved. It creates this great mixture of a slower, folk power ballad and an old school indie rock song. 

You can listen to "Your Mother, the Ghost" below. David Wax Museum's new collection, Electric Artifacts, will be out September 8 and can be pre-ordered here. For more on David Wax Museum, including current tour dates, check out their website.

Kay Hanley and Greg Behrendt Have a Podcast

I already listen to far too many podcasts, and I try to do everything I can to avoid adding any more to my subscribe to list. Every now and then, one pops up that I have to start listening to despite already being about two months behind. Recently, comedian/musician Greg Behrendt and musician Kay Hanley have joined forces on a podcast dedicated to one of my favorite things, rock documentaries. Greg Behrendt started podcasting way back in 2010 with Walking the Room, is a member of The Reigning Monarchs, and is an avid music fan. Kay Hanley is the singer of Letters to Cleo, and while new to the world of podcasting has always been great in an interview or anytime she gets to talk into a microphone. The podcast is called Rock Out With Your Doc Out and is currently three episodes in. The pair have done a fairly wide variety of subjects so far. Episode #1 was Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, #2 was The Wrecking Crew about the anonymous session musicians that played on every album from the 1960's that you love, and #3 The Dicks From Texas about The Dicks, an early punk band from Austin, TX. Episode #1 is fairly rough, so if you're short on time you might want to skip that one unless you're a huge Rush fan. By #2 and #3, Hanley and Behrendt have settled down a bit and these episodes are far more entertaining.

You can get Rock Out With Your Doc Out on iTunes or your preferred podcast provider. You can find some more information on the podcast here, or their Twitter.

Jessica Lea Mayfield - "Meadow"

Photo by Ebru Yildiz

September is a ridiculously stacked release month for music, but with each song the new album from Jessica Lea Mayfield speeds up our list of "most anticipated."

The latest song is "Meadow." While her entire album Sorry Is Gone is about empowerment and taking her life back, "Meadow" feels especially along this vein. Mayfield's voice comes across particularly breezy and vulnerable in this song, even for her. As the song progresses, it becomes a little more assured and powerful. The instruments become more forceful throughout the song, too. It's a great song that harkens back to the 90's alternative singer/songwriter movement that included Liz Phair and Elliott Smith.

You can watch the great video for "Meadow" below. And, seriously, it's a great video. Unfortunately, it's about 20 years too late to be in the MTV Buzz Bin. The newest album from Jessica Lea Mayfield, Sorry Is Gone, will be out September 29 on ATO Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Mayfield, check out her Facebook and Twitter.

Alex Lahey - "Lotto in Reverse"

Photo by Giulia McGauran

While I absolutely loved Alex Lahey's last single "Every Day's the Weekend," it was despite how much of a pure pop song it was. With her latest, "Lotto in Reverse," I don't have that slight problem.

"Lotto in Reverse" is a pop song, sure. But it's a pop song the way most of my beloved mid-90's post grunge alternative music was pop music. It's incredibly catchy, and Lahey's voice is far too melodic to ever be anything but pop. However, there is just enough angst and noise in the music to keep it from being too sugary. The guitars are just crunchy enough with the slightest hint of 90's aggression to keep it interesting. Not to mention that Lahey is quickly becoming one of the best lyricists of her generation. (Must be something in the water down in Australia.) It's an absolute perfect noisy power pop song.

You can watch the lyric video for "Lotto in Reverse" below. Alex Lahey's debut album, I Love You Like a Brother, will be out on October 6 on Dead Oceans. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Lahey, check out her website. Her upcoming tour dates are below.

Tue. Oct. 26 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique Witloofbar
Fri. Oct. 27 - Rotterdam, NL @ V11
Mon. Oct. 30 - Cologne, DE @ Blue Shell
Tue. Oct. 31 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Musikclub
Wed. Nov. 1 - Berlin, DE @ Privat Club 
Wed. Nov. 3 - Munich, DE @ Kranhalle 
Sat. Nov. 4 - Stuttgart, DE @ Keller Klub 
Sun. Nov. 5 - Fribourg, DE @ Espace culturel Le Nouveau Monde 
Mon. Nov. 6 - Paris, FR @ La Mécanique Ondulatoire
Wed. Nov. 8 - London, UK @ Boston Music Room 
Tue. Nov. 9 - Bristol, UK @ The Louisiana 
Fri. Nov. 10 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club 
Sat. Nov. 11 - Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute 
Sun. Nov. 12 - Glasgow, UK @ King Tut's Wah Wah Hut 
Wed. Nov. 15 - Allston, MA @ Great Scott
Thu. Nov. 16 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Fri. Nov. 17 - Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
Sun. Nov. 19 - Washington, DC @ DC9
Wed. Nov. 22 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake Hotel - Underground
Fri. Nov. 24 - Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
Sat. Nov. 25th - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Wed. Nov. 29 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
Thu. Nov. 30 - Austin, TX @ Barracuda
Sat. Dec. 2 - Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Lounge
Sun. Dec. 3 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Tue. Dec. 5 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge
Wed. Dec. 6 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
Fri. Dec. 8 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo 
Sat.Dec. 9 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
Mon. Dec. 11 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Tue. Dec. 12 - Vancouver, BC @ The Cobalt
Wed. Dec. 13 - Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey

Lenore. - "Ether's Arms"

Photo by Kim Smith-Miller

The word "haunting" gets thrown around a lot with music. It's the kind of description I try to avoid using, but sometimes it just perfectly fits. The latest song from Lenore., "Ether's Arms," is exactly the right time. "Ether's Arms" just feels dark. While their sound is rooted in the same world of the current crop of female roots duos like First Aid Kit and The Secret Sisters, Lenore. just veer off in their own almost gothic direction. It's almost like the mainstream cousin of bands like Rasputina or Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. Plus, it's all packaged in this lush, incredibly well produced and orchestrated package you don't normally get with bands this slightly left of center.

You can listen to "Ether's Arms" below. Lenore.'s self titled debut album will be released on September 15, and can be pre-ordered here. For more on Lenore., check out their website. 

First Listen, Part Two: More New Releases from August 25

And here's the rest!

Artist: The Sweetback Sisters
Album: King of Killing Time
Quick Description:
Why You Should Listen:
Overall Thoughts: The Sweetback Sisters are probably going to be compared to The Secret Sisters a lot, even though their genres are not mixed in quite the same way. At the core, the idea is similar with an act giving great tribute to a sound of the past, and The Sweetback Sisters dutifully deliver. I have no issues with this album at all except that it feels somewhat light as opposed to truly having a lot of gravity. And there’s nothing wrong with light on a whole, which is probably why I enjoyed this the way I did. I’ll keep coming back to it, for sure.
Recommendation: A fun listen this week.

Artist: Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real
Album: Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real
Quick Description: Pure, unadulterated country rock.
Why You Should Listen: You like Jason Isbell and the like.
Overall Thoughts: Lukas Nelson was sent over by Ken, and I must say – this is a great listen. He’s definitely channeling the new classic country in a way that, truly? Works for me a lot better than the Sturgill Simpson types. This is serious, contemplative, and musically sound, and I was shocked as to how much I really enjoyed this. I find that I compare this a lot to Jason Isbell in my head, but this has a level of grit and grime to it that Isbell lost long ago. Overall, this was almost my album of the week in what is a busy one.
Recommendation: I can’t wait to spend more time with this and see where it goes.

Artist: Lily Hiatt
Album: Trinity Lane
Quick Description: John Hiatt's daughter gives some gritty country goodness.
Why You Should Listen: The pedigree is worth it even if the music wasn't, and the music is worth it.
Overall Thoughts: Daughter of John Hiatt, this album follows along the same lines as your Kathleen Edwards, Elizabeth Cook, Lydia Loveless-style country girl with some attitude thing. Of course, I love it. It’s pretty solid from beginning to end, balancing the country and her own personality with the massive shadow of her father’s legacy looming above it.
Recommendation: This is one of the better listens of the week, IMO.

Artist: Widowspeak
Album: Expect the Best
Quick Description: Off-center indie rock.
Why You Should Listen: This is a complex listen that deserve your time.
Overall Thoughts: Widowspeak toes the line between weird and wonderful on this record. Sometimes they’re a traditional indie band, sometimes they’re throwing you a curveball. The mystery on first listen really drew me in, and I’m not sure how well it will hold up on repeat, but I’m perfectly ready to find out. Definitely worth a listen if you’re into the sort of indie rock that’s been prevalent around these parts as of late.
Recommendation: Add this to your rotation.

Artist: Iron & Wine
Album: Beast Epic
Quick Description: Iron & Wine is back to basics in a sense.
Why You Should Listen: This feels classic yet still modern.
Overall Thoughts: After what felt like a few albums out in the wilderness with some experiments in their sound, Sam Beam and company have seemed to officially found their groove. This album isn’t soft and quiet like the early stuff, but isn’t assaultive like some of the later, either. It’s a pleasant, folky record, slotting right in with your Fleet Foxes types. Will we ever get the early stuff again? Probably not, but this isn’t a bad effort, either.
Recommendation: Worth the listen.

Artist: The War on Drugs
Album: A Deeper Understanding
Quick Description: Mainstream favorite is back with another album.
Why You Should Listen: You loved their Don Henley-style approach.
Overall Thoughts: The War on Drugs reminds me a lot of those 80s rock bands that danced along the lines of prog without actually diving in – your Genesis to a certain extent, your Mike and the Mechanics. The songs here on their second album are extremely good and really well-crafted, but my issue with this band? Everything feels like a chore. I appreciate what is being done here, but goodness is it an exhausting endeavor, and the progressively longer run times of many of these songs begs for an editor or a producer willing to say no. I get that this band scratches a very specific itch for their audience, and they may be one of the more genuinely talented acts out there at present, but I can’t help but continue to wonder what they would be if they would be they had some restraint.
Recommendation: Not for me, but might be for you.

Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
Album: Villians
Quick Description: Alt-rock heroes back with a strange album.
Why You Should Listen: QotSA are generally worth a listen even when it doesn't work.
Overall Thoughts: Speaking of embracing prog rock, here are Queens of the Stone age, a band with membership old enough to be people’s dads trying hard not to slip into dad rock and mostly becoming a weird prog metal hybrid. I’ve always been hot and cold on this band, and this album is no different – the album itself is fine, I guess, but I don’t understand the trajectory or who it is meant to appeal to. This new album feels stark and experimental in ways that just don’t work for me.
Recommendation: Skip this one.

Artist: Birds
Album: Everything All At Once
Quick Description: Great, energetic indie rock.
Why You Should Listen: You want something happier than a lot of the sad stuff out this week.
Overall Thoughts: Birds is a localish act doing something fun. My listen had me convinced that Miles Kurosky, formerly of Beulah, had a new band. It’s not, though, and that’s fine – what we get is a solid, poppy, psych-adjacent approach to indie rock that harkens back to the best Elephant Six stuff of a couple decades ago. This was probably the most fun listen of the week for me, and I’m hoping this band gets more attention, as this is a record that could really take off.
Recommendation: A must-listen.

Also out this week:

* My Bubba and Elsa Hakansson - Sing Swedish Songs
* Thee Oh Sees - Orc
* Dan Zanes and Friends - Lead Belly, Baby!

First Listen, Part One: New Releases for August 25

Busiest week in a while, so we're splitting this up a bit. More tomorrow!

Album of the Week:

Artist: Kitty
Album: Miami Garden Club
Quick Description: 90s-tinged electro-pop.
Why You Should Listen: This is an unexpected delight.
Overall Thoughts: I don’t know how I tripped up on Kitty however long ago, but while the rest of the musical universe is tripping over itself for their take on the new Taylor Swift song (short answer: it’s not great, but it's catchy as all get out), here’s Kitty doing some really interesting indie electro-pop with a 1990s-era sensibility that I fear is going to be completely ignored. Kitty isn’t reinventing the wheel at all here, but she is doing a good job working within the existing tropes to develop something worth your time whether you’re a fan of the genre or not. I love this album quite a bit, and I keep thinking about it long after I first heard it.
Recommendation: Absolutely worth it this week, one of the best listens of the month.

Artist: Filthy Friends
Album: Invitation
Quick Description: Indie-ish supergroup's debut.
Why You Should Listen: You like R.E.M., and/or Sleater-Kinney, and/or Young Fresh Fellows.
Overall Thoughts: A supergroup including Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney and Peter Buck of R.E.M. should honestly be better than this. The singles have been okay, and there’s definitely a hint of everyone bringing their specialty to the table, but I can’t help ending this album feeling as if it had a lot of opportunity that it didn’t grab. The parts are much greater than the whole on this one, and if you like any of the people involved you’re definitely going to come away with something positive here...
Recommendation: ...but don’t expect something amazing.

Artist: Gogol Bordello
Album: Seekers and Finders
Quick Description: Your favorite European folk punks are back.
Why You Should Listen: They've stored up more than their share of good will.
Overall Thoughts: The “gypsy punks” are back with another album. As with their recent efforts, things have become a little less angsty and energetic, and it means that what you might have loved might not ever be coming back, but that doesn’t mean they still don’t know how to put together a quality rock song. They’re a good band with a good album, and this just doesn’t reach the heights of what this band has been in the past. Take that however you may.
Recommendation: Skip this unless you're a big fan.

Artist: EMA
Album: Exile in the Outer Ring
Quick Description: Latest from the complicated, often shoegazey, indie rocker.
Why You Should Listen: EMA is always an interesting listen.
Overall Thoughts: I’ve been a fan of EMA for a while, and it feels like it’s been forever since she’s put out a new record. The good news is that this is a really deliberative affair, and it is scratching that Twin Peaks itch that’s been ever-present all summer for me – a lot of fuzzy, buzzy, droney instrumentation to go with a haunting vocal style that matches it perfectly. If I have a criticism, it’s that the album stays at a fairly even keel, and it never takes off into the stratosphere as you’d expect. But part of EMA’s charm is that she defies expectations whenever possible, so this is a good sign for this album.
Recommendation: I look forward to spending more time with this one.

Artist: Gordi
Album: Reservoir
Quick Description: Chillwave pop? Why not?
Why You Should Listen: This is getting some serious buzz.
Overall Thoughts: Hyped up chill pop music is sometimes my thing, but this ultimately did not connect for me in any meaningful way. It does take a lot for albums like this to jump to the next level, and I just don’t feel as if this one does it. There’s interesting things happening, for sure, but it’s not an album that made me sit up and take attention the way I wanted it to.
Recommendation: Worth a listen.

Artist: Blank Range
Album: Marooned With the Treasure
Quick Description: Vocally-significant folk music.
Why You Should Listen: It's probably the best release this week in this space.
Overall Thoughts: Ken sent this over and it sounds like it’s going to be the folky record of the week. With the point that I tend to say a lot of the same things about these albums, I’ll just say that Blank Range sets itself apart with some bold vocals to contrast with the instrumentation on first listen. It’s an interesting mix that leaves me wanting more while also wanting to come back and hear what I missed the first way through. Not a bad way to get an album out there…
Recommendation: A solid release this week.

Artist: A Giant Dog
Album: Toy
Quick Description: Houston-based punk with a fun sensibility.
Why You Should Listen: This album has some great songs throughout.
Overall Thoughts: I’ve been a fan of this Texas punk act for a little while now. They’re not my favorite, but they often come out with a song that just grabs me. “Photograph” is the lead single from this album, a dirty brutally honest love song, and it boosted a lot of my anticipation for this album that, unfortunately, it doesn’t totally meet. They’re a band that has found their groove, for certain, but whether said groove is something that’s grabbing me, I’m not as certain. I’m not saying you’ll hate this if you enjoy some gritty punk stuff, but I can honestly say there’s been better stuff out there for me on a whole this year in this area.
Recommendation: This is a good album, but there are other albums like it this year that might be better.

Artist: Jack Cooper
Album: Sandgrown
Quick Description: High-quality rock music.
Why You Should Listen: This album is guaranteed to surprise you.
Overall Thoughts: Jack Cooper’s album feels like a sort of Tom Pettyish-style rock effort that has a lot going for it. The lyricism is there, the melodies solid, and it has a very unassuming tone to it that I definitely enjoyed. I’m not sure what modern thing to compare it to, which is both a good and bad thing on a whole, but I do hope this finds an audience because Cooper is really doing something special here. Try the final song on the album first and then you’ll surely want to start at the top.
Recommendation: A solid listen this week.

Also out this week:

* Do Pas O - Join the Fucking Drum Circle (Guerilla Toss side project)
* Liars - TFCF
* A$AP Mob - Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy

Talib Kweli - "She's My Hero"

I would write about Talib Kweli's excellent new song, "She's My Hero," but I'm going to let his words explain the song much better than I ever could:

Good morning. Spending time engaging with fans on social media has allowed me to spread information about causes and events ignored by the mainstream media. It has also made me aware of important cultural events and connected me with brilliant people who make me a better human being. It was on social media that I first learned about the story of Bresha Meadows. On July 28th, 2016, Bresha Meadows shot and killed her reportedly abusive father. She was 14 years old at the time.
The first thing that struck me about Bresha was how much she physically reminded me of my own daughter. I had a similar experience when George Zimmerman killed 17 year old Trayvon Martin, who reminded me of my son. I instantly felt drawn to these children and I felt compelled to dive deeper into their lives. Leading up to shooting her father, Bresha’s grades were slipping in school, she had run away from home and had repeatedly told relatives and authorities that her father was beating up her mom and threatening to kill the whole family.
Back in 2011, Bresha’s mother, Brandi Meadows, stated in court papers that she had been cut, suffered broken ribs, a broken nose and black eyes, and that she is 100 percent sure she will be killed. She later reconciled with Bresha’s father, which is a common occurrence in abusive relationships. To this day, the father’s relatives insist he was not nearly as abusive as he was made out to be.
Bresha obviously had a different perspective, telling authorities that the gun she killed her father with was the very gun he used to threaten the family with. After sitting in juvenile detention for 9 months and facing at the very least a very lengthy prison sentence, Bresha accepted a plea deal that will allow her to be released to a residential treatment center for 6 months and then to her family. What struck me about this case was Bresha’s age. I express myself lyrically, so a lyric popped in my head while thinking about it -

“Do you kill yourself or kill the monster thats making you suicidal, decisions to heavy for the mind of a child.”

Regardless of how you feel about this particular case, whether you feel it’s a self defense issue, a domestic abuse issue, a mental health issue or all of the above, the take away for me is that we must do a better job of taking care of and protecting our children. Our children should never feel they have to make these kinds of decisions. I see my own children in Bresha’s young face, and I want to uplift their voices as much as I possibly can. Brandi Meadows has said of her daughter -

“She is my hero. I wasn’t strong enough to get out and help us all.”

That statement got me thinking about what a hero truly is, and made me want to write a song about Bresha. My hope is that this song inspires us as a community to more closely examine the dysfunction within our own families, so that we can create solutions before young people like Bresha feel like they must take matters into their own hands. I present She’s my Hero.

Using the hashtag #FreeBresha supporters of Bresha Meadows have rallied around her, setting up a GoFundMe page for the family.

www.gofundme.com/BreshaM

You can find the latest updates on Bresha’s situation at

freebresha.wordpress.com/actions/

You can listen to "She's My Hero" below. For more on Talib Kweli, check out his website. Also, if you happen to be a fan of both Talib Kweli and Patterson Hood, they had a great conversation on the Talkhouse podcast a little while back.

Friday (on a Monday) Freebie: Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors - ENTIRE CATALOG!!!!!

Photo via Facebook

We've been pretty big on Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors for a while now. Jeff in particular has raved about Souvenir and really raved about "Here We Go." Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors just hit that sweet spot of more mainstream roots music for us, without getting too derivative or dull. The only problem is when a band has been around for over 10 years and has over 10 albums out there (including live ones), it can be daunting to get into them. Where do you start? And who has the kind of spare cash to drop on that many releases?

If that's the case, you're in luck. Thanks to NoiseTrade, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors' entire catalog is available for free! Let me repeat that. Every single album from Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors can be downloaded for FREE on NoiseTrade! This includes Souvenir, which was just released five months ago, three live releases, and more! The only thing that appears to be missing is 2007's A Neighborly Christmas, but we won't be too picky. This offer is good only until Thursday, August 31st, so get these now!

You can download all of Drew Holcomb's releases thanks to NoiseTrade. For more on the band, check out their website here.