We're about two months late on this one so I almost skipped it, but this song is too great to not bring you, even very late. Fantastic Negrito recorded a song for a fight scene in the Netflix animated series Arcane. It may seem like an odd choice, but considering that "When Everything Went Wrong" is scored to the scene, it fits perfectly with what we'd expect from Fantastic Negrito. He's always had a very unique take on blues, almost like blues with just the slightest hints of indie rock. It's a truly fun song with a modern take on a classic American sound. Fantastic Negrito has always been an artist making music his very own way, and even when he's scoring an animated fight scene it's still distinctly his.
You can listen to "When Everything Went Wrong" below. For more on Fantastic Negrito, check out the artist's website.
Shanda & The Howlers are a band out of time. The Las Vegas based band sound like they should have been around back in the 50's and 60's. They have a blend of R&B, blues, garage, and soul that doesn't sound like a throwback or even an homage. A song like "Miles and Miles" sounds like the real deal. It's the kind of song that sounds like it could be from an old Nuggets compilation, if it wasn't for the modern day production. (Although "Miles and Miles" does have the layer of grit and fuzz that classic garage tracks all have.) Shanda & The Howlers are perfect for those of us that spent a good chunk of their childhoods listening to their parents records from their youth along with the local oldies station.
You can listen to "Miles and Miles" below. It Ain't Easy is due out January 28 on Rum Bar Records and can be pre-ordered over at Bandcamp. For more on Shanda & The Howlers, check out the band's website.
If you haven't fully joined us on the Artsick bandwagon, the band's latest single is going to make you want to jump aboard. "Look Again" feels like so much of the music I listened to in the mid 90's. It would have been from the post grunge time period when there were tons of power pop bands but everyone refused to use any description that included the word pop. The song would be made to sound a little quirky or punk to rebel against that pop sound, but it was there, even if it took us over twenty years to admit it. That's the kind of song "Look Again" is. It's reminding me of vintage Juliana Hatfield Three or The Muffs, and that is never a bad thing. This is a great mixture of classic mid 90's indie rock crossed with modern indie pop.
You can watch the video for "Look Again" below. Fingers Crossed is due out on January 21 on Slumberland Records, and can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here. For more on Artsick, check out the band on Twitter and Instagram.
Back in the pre-digital days consumers would be screwed regularly by B-sides and rarities. I spent a lot of money on import CD singles just to get that one rarity song that wasn't on the album. And, of course, eventually it would just be released on a rarities compilation. But... I still had to have it first.
That's one thing I love about the modern music industry. A B-side or rarity can just be uploaded on the internet, quite often by the artist themselves. You can even get an artist going way out of their standard musical fare with an experimental song without having to spend $20 to hear it. Over the weekend, Bill Janovitz released "SKUNK" on Bandcamp. We all know Buffalo Tom's 90's alt-rock classics and should be familiar with Janovitz's more singer/songwriter solo work, but "SKUNK" is nothing like anything we've heard from him before. It's a just shy of two minutes funky as hell psychedelic instrumental jam song. You would swear this is from the 70's. Plus, it has a blistering guitar solo that you don't normally get to see Janovitz pull off. Would this song be worth $20 as an import CD single B-side? Maybe not. But a $1 Bandcamp download? Hell yes.
You can listen to "SKUNK" below. The song is available now for download via Bandcamp. For more on Bill Janovitz, check out his website.
Fresh on the heels of 2021's fantastic The Path of the Clouds, Marissa Nadler is set to release a new EP The Wrath of the Clouds. It's made up of three originals that were originally written for the album and two covers. The first single is one of the covers: The Alessi Brothers' "Seabird." The Alessi Brothers are an artist I'm not familiar with at all, but a tiny bit of research tells me that they're a late 70's soft rock duo. Marissa Nadler covering 70's soft rock is intriguing at the very least, especially since she's a master of dark and moody ethereal indie rock. Nadler's version of "Seabird" is a blast. It's far more pop than anything I've ever heard her release previously, but keeps that Marissa Nadler vibe enough that her long standing fans are still going to love it. After a release as dark as The Path of the Clouds, it's nice to see Nadler let loose and have fun on a song.
You can listen to Marissa Nadler's version of "Seabird" below. The Wrath of the Clouds is due out February 2 on Sacred Bones, and can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here. For more on Marissa Nadler, check out the artist's website.
Jamie McDell was born in New Zealand and as a child lived on a yacht in the Mediterranean. She signed her first record contract at sixteen. She started recording in Nashville in 2017, and relocated to Toronto from New Zealand to be closer to Nashville in 2019. Now twenty-eight, she's been kicking around as a professional musician for over a decade. Once you hear her latest single, you'll understand why she left New Zealand to be closer to Nashvile. "Poor Boy" is a laid back Americana song. It's a little more folky than country, but there is just enough of a slight twang in McDell's vocals to be a little bit country. "Poor Boy" has that more mainstream folk/pop sound, but when it's done this well mainstream isn't necessarily a bad thing. McDell has the voice and talent to go huge, and you're going to want to start paying attention to her sooner than later.
You can listen to "Poor Boy" below. Jamie McDell's upcoming self-titled album is due out February 22 via ABC Music and can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here. For more on Jamie McDell, check out the artist's website.
The more I hear Yard Act the more I enjoy them. The Leeds, UK band re-imagine Parklife-era Blur as a post punk band instead of Brit pop. So far their vocals have been much more along the lines of spoken word or ranting than actual singing. Their latest single, "Rich," has this blistering building intensity that goes in stark contrast to the cheerfulness at the beginning of the song. Very slowly the song gets angrier and drips with more and more attitude the further you get into the song. "Rich" starts off as an almost accessible song and then devolves into a much noisier and discordant one towards the end. A+.
Frontman James Smith says of the new song:
“‘Rich’ is the natural successor to ‘Payday’. That’s the end of the story right? Success! Status! Security! Except, there’s always more money to be made, and you’re deemed a failure if your life starts to head back in the direction it came from. It’s about being so lost you’re sure you know exactly where you are and how you got there. I also wrote it because I thought it would be quite funny if Yard Act made a shit ton of money after I’d written an anti-capitalist concept album. It’ll be funny if I’m singing this song on stage when I’ve made my mint.
"At worst it makes no sense, at best it comes off as pretentious, but that’s the point I'm trying to make when I write anything really. Things only really make sense if you exclude the bits that don’t back up the point you’re trying to make. I’m a hypocrite just like everyone else. I don’t have the answers and I’m just trying to do the best I can. It’ll never be good enough though. Enjoy the ride, life is short and you never know what’s round the corner.”
You can watch the video for "Rich" below. The Overload is due out on January 21 via Island Records/Zen F.C., and can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here. For more on Yard Act, check out the band's Facebook and Twitter. Upcoming tour dates are below the video.
21 Jan | Rough Trade East, London, UK 12pm 21 Jan | Rough Trade East, London, UK 6p– SOLD OUT 22 Jan | Sister Ray / 100 Club Outstore 1pm 22 Jan | Pryzm, Kingston-Upon-Thames, UK 9pm 23 Jan | Pie and Vinyl Instore, Southsea, UK 1pm 23 Jan | Resident Music Instore, Brighton, UK 6pm – SOLD OUT 24 Jan | Truck Music Store, Oxford, UK 1pm 23 Jan | Rough Trade, Bristol, UK, 6:30PM – SOLD OUT 27 Jan | Rough Trade, Nottingham, UK – SOLD OUT
1 Mar | The Cluny, Newcastle, UK – SOLD OUT 2 Mar | The Caves, Edinburgh – SOLD OUT 3 Mar | Mono, Glasgow, UK – SOLD OUT 4 Mar | Whelans, Dublin, IE
14 Mar – 20 Mar | SXSW, Austin, US
22 Mar | Union Pool, Brooklyn, US 23 Mar | Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, US 24 Mar | TV Eye, Queens, US 25 Mar | The Sinclair, Boston, US 27 Mar | The Garrison, Toronto, CA 29 Mar | Sleeping Village, Chicago, US
5 Apr | Earth, London, UK 15 Apr | The Casbah, San Diego, US 18 Apr | The Crocodile, Seattle, US 19 Apr | Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, US 21 Apr | Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, US 30 Apr | Liverpool Sound City, UK
11 May | Trinity, Bristol, UK 18 May | Rescue Rooms, Nottingham – SOLD OUT 19 May | Zanzibar, Liverpool – SOLD OUT 20 May | Irish Centre, Leeds, UK – SOLD OUT 21 May | Band on the Wall, Manchester, UK – SOLD OUT 22 May | The Foundry, Sheffield – SOLD OUT 26 May | O2 Academy, Leicester, UK 27 May | Arts Centre, Norwich – SOLD OUT 28 May | Wide Awake Festival, London
22 Jul | Truck Festival, Oxford, UK 24 Jul | Tramlines, Sheffield, UK 29 Jul | Deer Shed, Thirsk UK 30 Jul | Ynot Festival, Derbyshire, UK
5-7 Aug | Off Festival, Katowice, PL
9-13 Aug | Oya Festival, Oslo, NO
24 Nov | O2 Academy, Leeds 25 Nov | O2 Ritz, Manchester
hemlock is the musical project of Louisiana raised and Chicago based musician Carolina Chauffe. Their Bandcamp page describes their music as "lofi phone-folk," and I truly can't argue with that. "garbage truck" is probably best described as bedroom folk/pop. It's an absolutely gorgeous song led by Chauffe's dream-like vocals. It starts off as a fairly standard lo-fi folk song, but all these swirls keep coming and going as they see fit, which truly brings a unique and lush element to the song. A lot of artists can be compelling despite being so quiet, but hemlock inspire excitement without a lot of noise. That is much more rare, and truly special.
You can listen to "garbage truck" below. talk soon is due out March 11, and you can pre-order the album over at Bandcamp. For more on hemlock, check out the artist's website.
Che Noir (aka the Shea butter queen) is back with a new song off of her upcoming album. She's quickly proving to be one of the best up-and-coming MCs in hip hop. Her latest single features Ransom and 38 Spesh, and if there's any justice in the world this song is going to be gigantic. It's the kind of slower paced hip hop song that is reminiscent of late 90's Wu-Tang Clan. It has that majestic scope that RZA fell in love with on Wu-Tang Forever. It's a very cinematic song that harkens back to the best of 90's hip hop. We've said that Che Noir is going to have you diving into the entire Buffalo hip hop scene, and if you haven't before "Table for 3" is going to have you checking everyone you can out.
You can listen to "Table for 3" below. Food for Thought is due out January 21. For more on Che Noir, check out the artist's website.
