For their latest single, Wilmington, NC based underground hip hop collective MindsOne have teamed with MentPlus and DJ Noumenon. "The Way Back/Guiding Light" is a combination of two singles that flow together perfectly into one musical unit. This single is perfect for fans of both old school hip hop and modern underground hip hop. If you love artists like MF Doom, Gang Starr, Atmosphere, and Sage Francis, MindsOne are for you. It's hip hop without even a shred of R&B or pop music, melding the periods of late 80's hip hop and modern hip hop into one fantastic sound.
MindsOne say of their upcoming album:
"This is the album we’ve always wanted to produce, but didn’t have the inspiration, experience, or resources at the time to accomplish. Times are different now, and it’s been empowering to see it all come to life like we had imagined. That being said, we may be older and wiser, but we are still aware enough to know that we don’t know shit."
You can listen to "The Way Back/Guiding Light" below. Stages is due out February 7 on Fort Lowell Records, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on MindsOne, check out the artist on Facebook and Instagram.
For those of us that have a certain love of forgotten artists from the 1960's, Jeannie Piersol is going to be a revelation. The Bay Area artist first released "The Nest" as a single in 1969, and High Moon Records is including it in an upcoming anthology of Piersol's career. The song includes backing vocals by Minnie Riperton and drums by Earth, Wind & Fire co-founder Maurice White. The song is a perfect snapshot of San Francisco in the late 60's. It's a hybrid of soul and psychedelic rock music. If you grew up listening to oldies radio, you're going to adore "The Nest." It's this groovy little song rooted in folk while branching out into other genres. Plus, it ends with an unexpected proto-punk style guitar solo, which is always welcome here.
You can watch the video for "The Nest" below. Jeannie Piersol - The Nest is due out January 24 on High Moon Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on the anthology, check out the label's website.
Heather Maloney's upcoming album wasn't meant for release. It's a collection of songs mourning her late father, and sharing memories of him. It's set for release at the end of the month, and a new single is out now. "Labyrinth in the Weeds" feels more intimate than the previously released singles. It starts out with minimal instrumentation, and is mostly Maloney's vocals. The result is a song that is mostly positive despite how mournful it is. Just as you think the song is about to end, it transitions into a more passionate track. As touching as Maloney's previous singles have been, if "Labyrinth in the Weeds" doesn't touch something deep inside of you, you may not have a soul.
Heather Maloney says of her latest single:
“This song is an ode to one of my earliest and most favorite memories at my childhood home, which was at the edge of the Appalachians in northwest New Jersey. My dad would let the grass in the field grow until late summer. When it came time to mow, he didn’t cut it down all at once— he’d weave through on the John Deer, making a sort-of maze for us kids, and we’d follow behind.
"I remember how it felt so viscerally; the smell of the grass and the crunch under my feet, and especially the giddy feeling of losing sight of him when he rounded a new corner. After he died this actually came to mind. I had a sense that my dad, who was always making a game out of things, had just rounded another kind of new corner I couldn’t yet see past. It was a comforting thought and the inspiration for the song.”
You can listen to "Labyrinth in the Weeds" below. Exploding Star is due out on January 31 on Signature Sound Recordings, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Heather Maloney, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the song.
FEB 7 FRI The Iron Horse Northampton, MA
FEB 8 SAT The Iron Horse Northampton, MA
FEB 12 WED One Longfellow Square Portland, ME
FEB 13 THU Club Passim Cambridge, MA
FEB 14 FRI Caffè Lena Saratoga Springs, NY
FEB 26 WED City Vineyard New York, NY
FEB 27 THU Godfrey Daniels Bethlehem, PA
FEB 28 FRI City Winery Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
MAR 7 FRI Channing Murray Foundation Urbana, IL
MAR 8 SAT The Bur Oak Madison, WI
MAR 9 SUN Gibson Music Hall Appleton, WI
MAR 10 MON Bishop Hill Creative Commons Bishop Hill, IL
MAR 11 TUE Space Evanston, IL
MAR 12 WED 3300 Event Center Peoria, IL
MAR 13 THU 20 Front Street Lake Orion, MI
MAR 14 FRI The G.A.R. Hall Peninsula, OH
MAR 21 FRI The Music Hall Lounge Portsmouth, NH
MAR 22 SAT Higher Ground South Burlington, VT
MAY 2 FRIMe & TheeMarblehead, MA
JUN 5 THUReeves TheaterElkin, NC
JUN 8 SUNSunday’s at OlivettesAsheville, NC
OCT 7 TUE Rhine, Women and Song 2025 Amsterdam, Netherlands
If you've seen Tysk Tysk Task recently, you've most likely heard their song "Shrine." It's been blowing me away at their shows, and I'm thrilled we have a studio version of the song. It has all of the indie grunge sound we've come to love from the Lowell band, with the addition of their somewhat recent forays into the world of shoegaze. What sets "Shrine" apart from other Tysk Tysk Task songs is how gorgeous the song is. It's rare for a song to pack this much noise and volume while still being lovely, but they pull it off with "Shrine." The song is only three minutes long, but it's epic scope makes it feel much longer. It might be the journey it brings you on, from the anxiety inducing opening chords to the massive catharsis at the end. Tysk Tysk Task are one of those bands that keep getting exponentially better with every release.
You can listen to "Shrine" below. The single is available now via Bandcamp. For more on Tysk Tysk Task, check out the band on Instagram and Facebook.
One of Lowell's finest have released their highly anticipated cover of Johnny Cash's classic "Folsom Prison Blues." When I heard Burp. were releasing a cover of one of the most iconic songs of one of the most iconic artists, I knew what to expect. It was obviously going to be a bratty and noisy pop punk cover of the country song. I was completely wrong. Burp.'s version of "Folsom Prison Blues" is a much more straightforward version than I thought possible. It's much more rock and punk based, and noisier, of course, but pretty much anyone who discovered Cash through his American Records series of albums is going to enjoy this cover. It reminds me of a more DIY version of Social Distortion's cover of Cash's classic.
You can listen to Burp.'s version of "Folsom Prison Blues" below. For more on Burp., check out the band on Instagram and Twitter. They're playing a Lowell heavy showcase at Sonia on March 29 which also features The Ghouls, Tysk Tysk Task, and Night Visions (who I'm just assuming are from Lowell.)
If you're here, you most likely know and love the music of Dean Wareham. The man is a living legend of indie rock, and has been making music since the late 1980's, first with Galaxie 500 and currently with Dean & Britta and Luna. Now he's set to release a new solo album, which sees him working with producer Kramer for the first time since Galaxie 500's This is Our Music all the way back in 1990. The first single from that album, "You Were the Ones I Had to Betray," is going to be perfect for any existing fans of Wareham's music along with anyone looking for a jumping on point. It's a little more folk-esque than we typically hear from Wareham, but there's also enough of the trademark dream pop and slowcore sounds that Wareham helped pioneer. Plus, Wareham's music just has that little something special that makes it all him, and "You Were the Ones I Had to Betray" is no exception.
Dean Wareham says of his latest single:
“I wrote this at the last minute, thinking about how love and friendship seem to actually invite betrayal. I didn’t really anticipate where the song would end up musically; it was transformed when Gabe Noel added the cello arrangement in the studio.”
You can watch the video for "You Were the Ones I Had to Betray" below. That's the Price of Loving Me is due out March 28 on Carpark Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Dean Wareham, check out the artist on Instagram and Facebook. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
April 1 - Glasgow, UK @ The Garage
April 2 - Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
April 3 - Liverpool, UK @ Hangar 34
April 4 - Leamington, UK @ The Assembly
April 5 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
April 6 - Bristol, UK @ The Fleece
April 7 - London, UK @ 229
April 8 - Paris, FR @ Le Petit Bain
April 10 - Utrecht, NL @ DB’s
April 12 - Groningen, NL @ Aa Theater
April 13 - Hamburg, DE @ Nachtasyl Theater
April 15 - Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club
April 18 - San Sebastian, Spain @ Dabadaba
April 20 - Barcelona, Spain @ Sala Upload
April 21 - Valencia, Spain @ 16 Toneladas Rock Club
April 22 - Zaragoza, Spain @ La Lata De Bombillas
April 24 - Granada, Spain @ Caja Granada Cultural Center
Los Angeles-via-Singapore artist Linying has a new single out that revels in the space between pop and indie rock. "Blondie" leans much more heavily into the world of pop music, with just enough of an indie rock edge and uniqueness to keep the music snobs enraptured. It's an upbeat song that you're going to need to dance around to. It includes some of the most interesting and thrilling instrumental flourishes throughout that make "Blondie" undeniably great. It's kind of like if Taylor Swift jammed with boygenius after all of them obsessively listened to Neutral Milk Hotel. Even as someone who typically shies away from pop music, Linying's latest is a phenomenal song.
Linying says of her latest single:
“It’s about a beautiful, idyllic day I spent swimming in a lagoon with someone I’d just met. I felt so happy and light, but at the same time there was a part of me that kept thinking, ‘I’m not actually this light. You don’t know who I really am.’”
You can watch the video for "Blondie" below. Swim, Swim is due out April 4 on Nettwerk. For more on Linying, check out the artist on Instagram and Bandcamp.
As blown away as we were by Arny Margret's 2022 debut album, judging by the singles for its follow up, she might be set to conquer the musical world. "Day Old Thoughts" continues the Icelandic artist's move towards a more mainstream folk pop sound in the best possible way. Of all of the singles released off I Miss You, I Do, this one is somehow the least and most mainstream. The sound moves in and out of folk territory at will, and is truly a showcase for Margret's vocals. The song has some of the most gorgeous and lush guitar work, and despite not following the more traditional aspects of folk, is quite compelling in its simplicity.
Arny Margret says of her upcoming album:
“The main thing I wanted for this album was for it to be different. When I listen to the last one, I feel like it's mainly about me and the guitar. It's very stripped back. I wanted to do more - I love the banjo, the fuller sound, I love the American sound, so recording it all over there made a big difference. I’ve always worked with the same people in the same places, so I never thought I could do this–work with all these people who record with some of my favourite musicians. I really admire everyone on this. And pushing myself out of my comfort zone, that’s quite rewarding.”
You can watch the video for "Day Old Thoughts" below. I Miss You, I Do is due out March 7 on One Little Independent Records, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Arny Margret, check out the artist's website.
Cymanade are a legendary British funk group that released their first album in 1972. They're still active and are set to release a new album later this month. For their latest single, they teamed up with Jazzie B of Soul II Soul. "How We Roll" is a masterclass of 70's funk with Caribbean rhythms (members of Cymanade originated in various Caribbean nations) and hip hop. Even though the roots of "How We Roll" may be from multiple decades ago, the song never sounds dated. It takes these genres and reinvigorates them for the modern day. Cymanade are a band that we were completely unfamiliar with until we heard "How We Roll," but we'll be spending some serious time deep diving into their back catalog while we wait for Renascence to be released.
You can listen to "How We Roll" below. Renascence is due out January 31 on BMG, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Cymanade, check out the artist's website. Upcoming tour dates are below the song.
FEB 13 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza FEB 14 - Philadelphia, PA - Ardmore Music Hall FEB 15 - Washington DC - Howard Theatre FEB 18 - Chicago, IL - Metro FEB 19 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theatre FEB 21 - Denver, CO – Bluebird FEB 22 - Seattle, WA – Crocodile FEB 23 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater FEB 26 - San Francisco, CA - August Hall* FEB 28 - Los Angeles, CA - The Bellwether MAY 25 - London, UK – Cross The Tracks Festival OCT 17 - London, UK - O2 Academy Brixton
You're going to need to buckle up for this one. TDA, which stands for titsdickass, have an EP out titled Fuck. I know what you think they sound like, but I can almost guarantee you're wrong. On their single "GF from Hell," the band merges this bonkers early version of post punk with a sonic onslaught. Two of the artists mentioned in the press release are Joy Division and Sonic Youth, and I certainly can't (and won't!) argue with either of those. The song is dark and sounds like TDA are about to lose control of the noise... but they never do. And somehow, "GF from Hell" ends up being one of the most dance friendly post punk songs we've covered in ages.
You can watch the video for "GF from Hell" below. Fuck is available now on Dark Side Family Jams. For more on TDA, check out the band on Instagram.
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