The King in all his glory, before the fall.
British / North American post-punk outfit Tantrum Zentrum present their new single ‘Don’t Be A Fascist’, along with a new video that offers both clever animation, lyrics and flashes of despots, such as Mussolini, Nigel Farage and Vladimir Putin.
Well-timed and thematic given the crazy state of affairs in the world at the moment, this is the most unlikely love story ever – a song about falling head over heels… with a fascist!
With one foot in Toronto and the other in NYC8, indie rock power trio *ON is back with the new single ‘Make Me’, a song of frustration and wanting to recapture that euphoria. This is a cry for what once was… and then resolution and a peaceful acceptance of what is.
Released via Toronto-based imprint Indiestructable Records, this single sees the trio carry on the legacy of the band from which they were formed – 90’s Sire Records band Acid Test.
Mae Simpson has been shaking up the Minneapolis music scene ever since her band formed in 2017, performing on larger and larger stages to a growing base of loyal fans across the Midwest. Led by her powerful vocals, the seven-piece band brings audiences to their feet with driving horns and a drum and percussion duo
Guitarmy of One presents his latest adventurous offering ‘Soylent Seafoam Green’, the third single from his forthcoming crowdfunded album The Wave Files’. With the title and mood inspired by the 1970s cult sci-fi movie Soylent Green, this song mixes dark ominous guitar riffing with surf guitar swells and foreboding reverb drenched melodies.
Blending everything from punk to grunge to rock to doomy metal, Psycho Death Punk’s return with a new single “I Guess”
Trans-Atlantic alternative neo-folk collective Lusitanian Ghosts presents their new single ‘Got Enough’. This is the third single from the chordophone collective, which is more of a world-music tinged mantra relative to their usual rock n roll alt-folk fare.
Groove Atlantic-O the new album from Stephen Jacques was engineered by Steve Albini (Nirvana, PJ Harvey, The Pixies) and Jason Narducy played Bass, Acoustic & Electric Guitars (Bob Mould, Superchunk, Robert Pollard, The Pretenders.) It’s compilation of love songs which salute the Atlantic or at least “look” to it for love and romance energy. “Dreams on Fire,” “Slept on a Ridge,” and “Queen Bee Gone” are just a smattering of the subjects Stephen takes on with gentle yet humorous care.
Alternative-electronic artist Slighter presents his new album This Futile Engine, released via Brutal Resonance Records and Confusion Inc and to pave the way has dropped a second single from it, “Pulling Me Under.”
New Jersey art-rock collective Elk City announces that they will release their seventh album Undertow on September 22. Ahead of that, they present the voluminous consciousness-building lead track “Strong (You’re Not Alone)” , a swirling neo-psychedelic folk song baked in cult obsessiveness.
As Atlanta indie pop duo I Am a Rocketship move closer to the release of their new La Cruella album, they present the second single from this 10-track collection. “Gravity” is a breezy pop number that offers a more bare-bones sound than the band’s usual sample-driven and atmospheric-heavy style.
San Francisco-based artist E.G. Phillips presents the single ‘It Ain’t Good to Be in Love With You’, a jazzy affair that showcases the Tom Waits meets Nick Cave-esque facets of his confessional songwriting. This is the first taste of Phillips’ forthcoming ‘Outlaw The Dead’ EP, which was mixed by Chris McGrew and Billboard-charting producer Jaimeson Durr (Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Hope Sandoval).
Elisa Mammoliti is a singer with a soprano voice specializing in Musical Theatre, Pop, Jazz and Operetta. She speaks English, Italian and French.
Alternative rock / post-punk duo Para Lia once again please our earbuds with their new single ‘Yellow Rose’, along with its new video. Reflecting reverence of life, this melodic dreamy rock composition is the second taste of their album In Clash With The Zeitgeist, which is slated for release on August 25 via the Berlin label About Us Records.
Colorado-based artist Alien Gothic present their debut single ‘In The Night’, a song that stretches cosmic goth music into a whole new realm, combining all the elements the duo has been striving to integrate into the project in the four years since their inception.
New Jersey-based collective CR and The Nones presents ‘The Long Game’, the first single from The Ghosts Are Coming Home, the band’s second album and the first to be released via the Magic Door Record Label.
Oregon-based Colorado-raised artist Berkley presents “Pueblo Nights”, the first single from his debut full-length album Pueblo, forthcoming via Big Secret Records. Making sense of what remains of youth in adulthood – opportunity, regret, and empathy – is where Berkley stakes his claim among current Portland songwriters.
British indie pop artist Mike Gale presents his new single ‘Summer Be Gone’, the first offering from his forthcoming album Thanks for Always Waving (out September 8). Not your typical summer anthem, but a great offering of world / folk-inspired indie pop. The accompanying video was filmed in Suzhou, China by Matt Wallwork and features the artist Kimvi.
Hannah Connolly is a singer-songwriter originally from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, now living in Los Angeles, California. Her debut album From Where You Are was released in 2020, soon to be followed by her forthcoming second record, Shadowboxing.
Minneapolis singer/songwriter Brynn Andre released her debut in 2010 chronicling the twenty-something dance between liberation and loneliness.
Her upcoming release goes deeper. Like a sequel, Honeymoon faces a woman’s next chapter, whispering: what happens after the honeymoon? The songs find Brynn married to the summer fling of her twenties, singing daunting questions like does my story matter and can unsung dreams come true?
Aaron “Heatbox” Heaton (aka The One Man Entertainment System), personifies a true renaissance musical pioneer in his prime. With an already impressive decade plus career spanning multiple lanes of otherworldly creative mastery, he has now writen and produced a seminal work of musical comedy humble titled Hilarious & Epically Legendary.
A lot of minimalistic lo-fi bedroom pop has emerged since 2020, for better or for worse, but Open Dream is a massive and challenging exploration of an artist pushing his own boundaries as well as a clear love letter to the possibilities of music.
Frantic Hearts is a statement from a band not just pushing their musical boundaries, but the boundaries of rock music itself, without ever once becoming too theoretical or needlessly experimental. It’s a truly exciting album that continues to surprise regardless of how many times you listen.
Mae Simpson has been shaking up the Minneapolis music scene ever since her band formed in 2017, performing on larger and larger stages to a growing base of loyal fans across the Midwest. Led by her powerful vocals, the seven-piece band brings audiences to their feet with driving horns and a drum and percussion duo.
Led by acclaimed songwriter Michael Ferrier, Minneapolis folk rockers Fathom Lane return with their first album since 2017. In the Driftless is a poetic and nuanced blend of country, folk, pop, and rock with lyrics exploring themes of loss, isolation, addiction, discovery, and ultimately: redemption. Ferrier’s songs transport listeners across a variety of musical settings ranging from the open spaces of the Midwestern prairies, to the dark solitude of a hidden bedroom.
After first releasing five singles, Mary Strand releases her debut album, Golden Girl.
The long-awaited second album, Sweet Fatality from Minneapolis stalwarts, The Customers is finally out!
A true artist and songwriter world-renowned for his prolific, heartfelt alt-rock love songs, Stephen Jacques*has released ten albums to date, with his eleventh on the way. His *Steve Albini produced music forms a body of work was culled from a lifetime of experiences, including those as an engineer, a Hollywood actor, a custom builder, and a TV host. “Slept on a Ridge” is his new single.
Jeshua Marshall is the combination of all of his past influences to some degree or another, and following on from his lockdown released album, Shoot The Moon, his new single, “Water” infuses all of the muscle and melody, folk and fun, grace and groove into a gorgeous slice of upbeat soul-pop.
Merit Maker is a music project that draws from a very wide range of punk rock sounds and subgenres. The music itself is influenced by various punk and similar genre bands. Crank up the stereo and blast these tunes.
Mesmerizing Irish folk music, dressed up for today.
With Torn still on board and the addition of keyboardist/electronics guru J. Peter Schwalm, with whom composer Thelen has worked on his Fractal Guitar projects and last year’s duo album _Transneptunian Planets*, Sonar takes on another of Thelen’s side hustles: composing for classical ensembles.
Indie rock artist Fred Abong presents ‘My Way’, the second singe from his forthcoming Fear Pageant album, slated for release in late summer via Seattle-based label Disc Drive. Earlier, Abong released the record’s lead track ‘Father’.
Modern London synthpop icon Rodney Cromwell (a.k.a. Adam Cresswell of 90s indie folk band Saloon and 2000s electronic duo Arthur & Martha) and Solemn Arcade have teamed up to present “Memory Box Solemn Arcade Revision”.
On hEARoes, the threesome eschews firepower (for the most part) for chamber music, as if they’re trying to make up new works for small classical ensembles.
Indie rock outfit Beau Jennings & The Tigers present their new single ‘People in This Town’, out June 9 via Oklahoma-based record label Black Mesa Records. What starts as a scrappy ten seconds of scuffling and static emerges as a summer anthem from this Oklahoma band.
Texas roots-rocker Marina Rocks releases a new EP, _Texcentric-, a short, sharp and shockingly good collection of songs that take in established standards to the state of the world around her, and from chilled Americana to full-on rock swagger.
Regardless of what your favorite 70s band is, there is something in While We Were Making Plans for everyone, but The Splatter Pattern emerges with a fully formed, compelling artistic voice that is all their own.
Trans-Atlantic alternative neo-folk collective Lusitanian Ghosts present ‘Shameless’, a song about love, regret and reconciliation, which previews the band’s forthcoming Lusitanian Ghosts III album (out in autumn via European Phonographic). This is the second taste of their full-length album, following up the first life-affirming single ‘The Long Train’.
Recreate is not blindly optimistic, but it is an infectious burst of compassion from a voice that is so needed in this moment.
Always You is a wonderful addition to the artist’s repertoire, and a testament to the continued importance of jazz pop.
Atlanta-based atmospheric alt-pop duo I Am a Rocketship present their new single ‘Do You Feel Good’, a powerful introduction to their forthcoming album La Cruella, a collection of ten tracks about uncertainty, fear and dreams.
A mover and shaker in the fifties, jazz label Contemporary Records lured saxophone great Sonny Rollins from his home base in New York to Los Angeles to record with West Coast musicians.
King Analog remains compelling and exciting over the entire album, an often difficult feat for instrumentalists, and the artist emerges as a dynamically challenging force to be reckoned with right out of the gates.
The Blue Highways are a British rock band based in London. Formed in 2018 by brothers Jack, Callum and Theo, the band is known for its modern Indie/American Roots-inspired rock sound coupled with Callum’s narrative storytelling. Acclaimed as one of the most exciting upcoming acts in the U.K. music scene, The Blue Highways have recently released their new album Out on the Line to critical acclaim.
Brooklyn lounge-chill artist Roman Angelos and electronic producer Scott Solter (St. Vincent, Maps & Atlases, Spoon, Superchunk, The Mountain Goats). have released their collaborative record Supermarkets, Underwater via London label Happy Robots Records.
Four years after the last Swans album, Gira and crew finally return with The Beggar, another album of grim tidings and aspirational gloom.
The generous hat tips the group gives to their predecessors will win over staunch traditionalists, but First Penetration will undoubtedly appeal to almost every fan of the genre.
