Sebadoh - "sunshine"

I've been obsessed with Sebadoh since college, and I'm always thrilled whenever I can hear anything new from them. "sunshine" is the latest from their upcoming album. It's a Lou Barlow written and sung track, and what is most surprising is how normal it is. As far as Sebadoh goes, "sunshine" is as mainstream as they get. It's still a Sebadoh song, just a straightforward midtempo Lou Barlow love song, and a great one.

You can watch the video for "sunshine" below. Act Surprised, the new album from Sebadoh, will be out May 24 on Dangerbird Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Sebadoh, be sure to check out their website.

Front Biz - "Little Mutants"

Photo by Kiki Vassilakis

A lot of psychedelic rock is very, very serious. Upstate NY's Front Biz is not. Check out this from their band bio: 

Front Biz, LLC, is a shell company for an intergalactic real estate firm, primarily focused on laundering money through an Earth-based rock band. Don’t worry; they’re the good guys in this story. With analog syncopations and guitar riffs algorithmically programmed to stream alongside the Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Chicano Batman, Kenny Rogers, and other psychedelic avatars, the quartet fights fearlessly against the Russian bot-driven influx of sad bands in the simulation.

Their new single, "Little Mutants," is an absolute blast. It's a mixture of psychedelic rock, garage rock, soul, and who knows what else sprinkled in. It's a dance party just waiting to happen, and while the song is ridiculously fun, Front Biz are fantastic musicians. Keep on eye out on these guys.

You can listen to "Little Mutants" below. Lunch Money, the debut album from Front Biz, will be out June 14 on Five Kill Records. You can pre-order a copy on Bandcamp. For more on Front Biz, check them out on Facebook.

Faye Webster - "Right Side of My Neck"

Photo by Eat Humans

As with all of the singles from her forthcoming album, the latest from Faye Webster is quite difficult to describe. Musically, "Right Side of My Neck" is very country/Americana based. There's quite a bit of steel guitar that solidifies that. But then there's Webster's voice. She just doesn't just even the slightest bit of twang or anything that resembles country. If anything, she sings in a gorgeous soft R&B style. While combining R&B and hip hop with country seems to be the goofy viral trend of the minute, Webster does it just slightly in an honest, non-gimmicky way. "Right Side of My Neck" might be a perfect song.

You can listen to "Right Side of My Neck" below. Atlanta Millionaires Club, the new album from Faye Webster, will be out May 24 on Secretly Canadian. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Faye Webster, check out her website. Current tour dates are below the song.

Fri. May 3 – Mobile, AL @ Soul Kitchen (w/ Lord Huron)
Fri. May 24 – Manchester, UK @ Dot to Dot Festival
Sat. May 25 – Bristol, UK @ Dot to Dot Festival
Sun. May 26 – Nottingham, UK @ Dot to Dot Festival
Tue. May 28 – London, UK @ Bermondsey Social Club
Wed. May 29 – London, UK @ Bermondsey Social Club
Fri. May 31 – Hilvarenbeek, NL @ Best Kept Secret Festival
Mon. Jun 03 – Paris, FR @ La Boule Noire
Sun. June 16 – Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
Tue. June 18 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Wed. June 19 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
Fri. June 21 – Toronto, ON @ The Drake
Sat. June 22 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
Sun. June 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Mon. June 24 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
Wed. June 26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
Thu. June 27 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Fri. June 28 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight
Sat. June 29 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl

Anna Wiebe - "Fortune"

Photo via Facebook

The latest single from Ontario's Anna Wiebe is both familiar and yet completely original sounding. "Fortune" starts off sounding like a pretty standard folk rock sound, but quickly starts veering off in its own direction. It has a slow, deliberate pace, almost quirky, but not quite. From there it starts teasing some more intensity and noise waiting to break out of the plodding beat and pace of the song. It bounces between folk rock and teasing a more noisy, heavier sound. It does all this, and the song just grooves throughout. This back and forth is just fantastic.

You can listen to "Fortune" below. It's from Anna Wiebe's upcoming second album which is due in July. For more on Anna Wiebe, check out her Facebook and Twitter. 

Ruby Boots w/ Indianola - "Might Be Losing My Mind"

We loved Ruby Boots's 2018 album Don't Talk About It. Her blend of slickly produced Americana that still had a dirty and groovy feel to it hit us in just the right spot. She now has a new single out with Indianola! "Might Be Losing My Mind" goes away from her Americana/country roots and has more of an 80's sound to it. This isn't a synth-heavy 80's sound, but more of a top 40 80's sound. (You'll get it when you listen, trust me...) Plus, Indianola joining her for vocals gives it a bit of a Shovels & Rope go pop feel, which we can't argue with.

You can listen to "Might Be Losing My Mind" below. The song is available as a single now via Bloodshot Records. You can get a copy here. For more on Ruby Boots, check out her website.

Kitty Kat Fan Club - "Dreamy Little You"

Kitty Kat Fan Club doesn't describe themselves as a band, but as a collective. The collective features Brianda Goyos León (Just Friends), Mike Huguenor (Hard Girls, Classics of Love and Jeff Rosenstock’s band), Mike Park (Asian Man Records, Skankin’ Pickle, Ogikubo Station etc.), Jon McMaster (Stickup Kid) and others. Mike Park missed playing music with people in the same town he lives in (he hadn't done that in over twenty years), and Kitty Kat Fan Club was born.

When I saw that Kitty Kat Fan Club was the new project of Mike Park of Skankin' Pickle and Asian Man Records, I knew exactly what it would sound like. It would obviously be ska, or at the very least pop punk. "Dreamy Little You" couldn't be further than that. It's a glorious pop rock song, stopping just short of twee, but just barely. It's a fun song that reminds me of 60's Phil Spector produced gems meeting mid-90's post grunge power pop. 

You can watch the video for "Dreamy Little You" below. Dreamy Little You will be out May 31 on Asian Man Records. You can pre-order a copy here. 5% off all sales will go to cat and dog rescue charities. For more on Kitty Kat Fan Club, check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

Stef Chura - "They'll Never"

Photo by Chloe Sells

For the second single off Stef Chura's upcoming album, we were curious if it would follow "Method Mad" into the world of abrasive grunge flavored rock. "They'll Never" does... kinda.

"They'll Never" is nowhere near as noisy and abrasive as "Method Man" was, but it's much more 90's inspired rock than anything off her previous album, Messes. "They'll Never" feels like The Pretenders meets Liz Phair but with the amps turned way up, and just a little hint of Americana thrown in. Chura says of the song:

I wrote this song while living in a building in Ypsilanti, MI that was not up to code. No one cared about it. The kitchen was moldy, the carpets were dirty and the house was generally unfinished. This place existed in an odd realm. "Sideways from grace the angles lost" This means that at a certain angle and in the right light you can see what is amiss. No one really cared for it, and yet people would go on living in it and subsequently it would be a home. No one cared enough to take care of it and no one cared enough to notice it and destroy it or hold the people who lived there accountable for keeping it up to code. 
 
It's also about looking into the future, that when life hands you less and circumstances aren't what you thought they were. "They sold you love, this chalk's just dust." Wanting something you can't have. Having expectations that don't go the way you think they should. How what you bought isn't in the box and you have to start over. There is only a memory of what is left represented by a shell of what was there. A conversation on how you can never really own anything. And life goes on even if your house is moldy and you don't speak the same language as the drunk old man you live with who steals your potted plants and plants them in the yard for you. He says "You're welcome." 

You can watch the video for "They'll Never" below. Midnight, the new album from Stef Chura, will be out June 7 on Saddle Creek. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Stef Chura, be sure to check out her website. Current tour dates are below the video.

 

Fri. July 5 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle

Sat. July 6 - Detroit, MI @ Deluxx Fluxx
Sun. July 7 - Toronto, ON @ The Drake
Mon. July 8 - Montreal, QC @ Casa del Popolo
Tue. July 9 - Boston, MA @ Great Scott
Fri. July 12 - Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
Sat. July 13 - Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
Mon. July 15 - Washington, DC @ Comet Ping Pong
Tue. July 16 - Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
Wed. July 17 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
Fri. July 19 - New Orleans, LA @ Gasa Gasa
Sat. July 20 - Houston, TX @ The Satellite
Sun. July 21 - Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
Mon. July 22 - Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
Thu. July 25 - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar
Fri. July 26 - San Diego, CA @ Sodabar
Sat. July 27 - Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theatre
Sun. July 28 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord
Tue. July 30 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Wed. July 31 - Seattle, WA @ Barboza
Thu. Aug. 1 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
Fri. Aug. 2 - Spokane, WA @ Lucky You Lounge
Sat. Aug. 3 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux
Mon. Aug. 5 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Tue. Aug. 6 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
Wed. Aug. 7 - Omaha, NE @ Reverb
Fri. Aug. 9 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Sat. Aug. 10 - Milwaukee, WI @ Backroom at Colectivo

Unknown Instructors - Unwilling to Explain

This album came out in February and somehow I missed it until this past weekend. I had never heard of Unknown Instructors, either, which is surprising given that the band features J Mascis on guitar, Mike Watt on bass, and fellow Minutemen drummer George Hurley. Vocals are handled by poet Dan McGuire

Unwilling to Explain is a fairly weird album, which is to be expected given that it's a project involving Mascis and Watt. It sounds kind of like The Minutemen dabbling in classic rock, but with Jim Carroll style spoken word and J Mascis cranking out guitar solos. Like I said... pretty weird. What's the weirdest is that it has a fairly standard rock base, but with these weird offshoots going in their own direction. 

You can listen to "Hand in Hand" below. Unwilling to Explain is available now via ORG Music. You can get your copy via Bandcamp. The album also features guest spots from Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction) and Joe Baiza (Saccharine Trust).

First Listen: New Releases for 26 April

Another fairly busy release week.

Artist: SOAK
Album: Grim Town
Quick Description: New album from a talented singer-songwriter.
Why You Should Listen: SOAK's debut was a highlight in 2015.
Overall Thoughts: SOAK had one of those sneaky great debuts a number of years ago, and then I hadn’t heard anything for ages. Suddenly? New album, and it is somehow an improvement over an already great sound. Enhanvced production values, somewhat more complicated songs, this ends up being a high-quality listen and a favorite of the week. SOAK bubbled under for much of 2015-2016, and maybe this will be the one to propel her to proper heights.
Recommendation: A must-listen this week.

Artist: Starflyer 59
Album: Young in My Head
Quick Description: Solid alt-rock from a longstanding act.
Why You Should Listen: Starflyer 59 has enough longevity to make it worth a listen.
Overall Thoughts: For all intents and purposes, I shouldn’t dig this as much as I dig this. Yes, Starflyer 59 have carved a nice little indie/alt niche for themselves over the years, but this album isn’t reinventing anything, doesn’t exactly match up with what’s new and hip, but it’s still really compelling. Maybe it’s exactly what I need right now, but every song just ends up being better than the one before it and I’m really on board.
Recommendation: Don’t ignore this one.

Artist: Yucca King
Album: Popcorn, but also House Fire
Quick Description: Odd, crazed rock music.
Why You Should Listen: Easily the most interesting release of the week.
Overall Thoughts: Why is this compelling? Part of it is that it’s so off-the-wall that I can’t help but be charmed, but there’s so much going on with this album that it’s difficult not to see it as something special. Reminiscent of a lot of the sort of danceable, left-field indie rock that was a thing in the early 2000s, this will be great for those looking for something different this week.
Recommendation: Give this a shot.

Artist: Billie Marten
Album: Feeding Seahorses By Hand
Quick Description: Solid, buzzworthy folk music.
Why You Should Listen: Billie Marten is all over the place lately and this could be a breakout hit.
Overall Thoughts: A lot of people were very excited for Billie Marten’s debut, and while we did miss it around these parts, listening back in preparation for this new record showed a lot of promise. This folk-leaning sophomore effort shows a lot of progress and a more cohesive sound throughout, and one that makes me understand what all the buzz is about. In seeking something like this in the genre, it’s clearly one of the better efforts in recent memory, and I look forward to spending more time with it.
Recommendation: Find some time for this.

Artist: Marissa Nadler and Stephen Brodsky
Album: Droneflower
Quick Description: Masterful dark folk from a blog favorite and a well-known guitarist.
Why You Should Listen: This is what a collaborative mix should sound like.
Overall Thoughts: The issue with writing about Marissa Nadler in any substantive way is that it’s difficult not to say the same thing over and over again. She’s a master of her craft, consistently putting out compelling and provocative music, and there’s an added weight and darkness to this that persists throughout - how much of that can be attributed to Brodsky, who I am not familiar with on an individual level, I'm not sure. I really liked this album, but I’ve liked everything Marissa Nadler has done.
Recommendation: If you’re a fan? You’ll love this, too.

Artist: Lamb
Album: The Secret of Letting Go
Quick Description: Stark, modern trip-hop.
Why You Should Listen: Lamb are well-known in their genre even if I missed the boat.
Overall Thoughts: I’ve been drawn a lot to stark, electronic-tinged music as of late, and Lamb really did a great job scratching that itch this week. A little mysterious, this is a trip-hoppy act that I’ve either completely missed out on for the last 20+ years or completely forgot about. Regardless, the result here is an album that feels modern even in a genre that has passed by a bit ion the popular consciousness, and I’m hoping to find the opportunity to spend some time in their back catalog in the coming weeks.
Recommendation: Worth your time.

Artist: The Cranberries
Album: In the End
Quick Description: The final album from the Irish greats.
Why You Should Listen: This is the last time you'll hear new music from Dolores O'Riordan
Overall Thoughts: It figures that the final release from this band following the death of lead singer Dolores O’Riordan would quite possibly be their most essential and worthwhile in decades. The songwriting is tight, the vocals great, and it feels like a solid mix of the classic and the modern with a favorite band. While it’s a shame that she’s gone, this is as fitting a tribute as any as a final act.
Recommendation: A good listen.

Of note:

* Home Body - Spiritus (Really enjoyed this chillwave-ish pop-esque effort. Lots to love here.)
* Marina - LOVE + FEAR (Marina sans the Diamonds.)
* Cosmonauts - Star 69
* Craig Finn - I Need a New War
* King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Fishing for Fishies
* ScHoolboy Q - CrasH Talk
* Josefin Ohrn and The Liberation - Sacred Dreams
* J.J. Cale - Stay Around

7 Song Albums:

* Keru Not Ever - The Wind of ? (Mysterious, ethereal electronic soundscapes. Wonderful listen!)
* Rodrigo y Gabriela - Mettavolution (This is some gorgeous instrumental acoustic music. A true highlight.)

EPs:

* Lenny Bull - Sharp Teeth (Someone grew up listening to a lot of The Pretenders…)
* Emily Vaughn - Bitch Bops
* Bedouine - Echo Park
* Sunn 0))) - Life Metal
* Buzzy Lee and Tommy Mandel - Close Encounters of Their Own Kind
* Ransom Pier - Feels Like Home to Me

Also out:

* Paws - Your Church on My Bonfire (Unfortunate disappointment this week.
* The Get Ahead - Deepest Light
* Catfish and the Bottlemen - The Balance
* The Mountain Goats - In League With Dragons
* Bill Janovitz - Covers of the Weeks Volume 3
* Claude Fontaine - Claude Fontaine
* Helms Alee - Noctilua
* Cokie the Clown - You're Welcome

Luke Windlow-King - "Going to New Orleans"

Luke Winslow-King spent ten years living and playing music in New Orleans. In 2017 he moved back to his home state of Michigan and hadn't been back to New Orleans for two years. Last Friday he made it back to play the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. To celebrate his return, Winslow-King has released a new single, "Going to New Orleans."

"Going to New Orleans" is a mellow and funky celebration. It's a party while still remaining heartfelt. It's the rare slice of Americana you're going to be forced to move to while sitting at your desk waiting for your second or third cup of coffee to kick in.

You can listen to "Going to New Orleans" below. The single is available now via Bloodshot Records. You can get a copy here. For more on Luke Winslow-King, check out his website.