Punch Card delivers android funk of the highest order. The Stoke-on-Trent trio raises the ghosts of Hearpen Singles Pere Ubu and robot-funky Devo. The main flavor though is the earliest version of the Talking Heads (think “Psycho Killer”). Formal Sppeedwear moves with the herky-jerky, stutter-stepping assurance of the very earliest Talking Heads, before the incorporation of Afro-beat, all thumps and yelps and manic rants. They raise rickety architectures of post-punk syncopation, the bass plunking forward and doubling back, as fizz bombs of trebly guitar go off, synth stabs rattle and wobbly rants unfold. The music shakes like jello and bangs like junkyard metal.
…This is the band’s first album, following a hotly tipped EP from 2024. It’s a disciplined…
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Best-known for the giddy throwaway pop of ‘Wake Up Boo’, Merseyside outfit The Boo Radleys influences spread much further, as even a cursory listen to their sprawling 1993 masterpiece, Giant Steps, will attest.
Older, wiser, and without original songwriter-in-chief Martin Carr, the Boos have been back tearing up stages for the last few years, with original members Simon ‘Sice’ Rowbottom (vocals, guitar), Tim Brown (bass) and Rob Cieka (drums) rolling back the years, alongside a couple of touring members to bring the average age down.
In Spite of Everything finds the band doing what they do best, crossing genres without a by-your-leave as they embrace searing guitars (‘Affected/Rejected’)…
As Madelyn Byrd’s Through Damp Canyons opens, the camera is still. It’s a hot, dark night on the Sonoran Desert where they came of age – so dark that the arid landscape immediately disappears into the backdrop as thousands of insect wings buzz like uninterrupted static. Then, a motorcycle revs into the foreground, and the camera begins to move with it. Over the course of Night Rider’s next 50 minutes, Byrd’s amorphous soundscapes transmogrify in unpredictable and cinematic ways.
Byrd’s production has evolved since Transcorporeal Portal, and the title of second track Of Nature, Of Bodies, Of Dreams acts as a kind of thesis statement for their psychedelic minimalism. In the edges and cracks between key and vivid details – spoken word, more traditional…
One of the central queercore pioneers of the 1990s, Portland, Oregon’s Team Dresch released just two albums, 1995’s fiery Personal Best and 1996’s more crisply produced but no less visceral Captain My Captain, before dispersing into solo and side projects. The group never fully deactivated, however, releasing the odd single and appearing in various iterations at festivals and anniversary celebrations over the years, including participating in the reissue of their entire catalog (including a non-album singles compilation) by Jealous Butcher Records in 2019. Something that set the band apart somewhat from their contemporaries on the scene, and perhaps helped foster continued interest, is an embrace of rock, grunge, and metal influences in addition to the more typical…
After landing a record deal on the strength of early EPs, ’90s alt-rock and 2000s indie beneficiaries Slow Pulp delivered a well-received full-length debut, Moveys (2020), before expanding their sound on the follow-up, Yard (2023). Both albums were produced by the band’s guitarist, Henry Stoehr, and featured lyrics primarily by singer/guitarist Emily Massey. Their third album, Melodie, finds the Chicago/Madison group continuing to grow in other ways, including having Stoehr taking a larger role in songwriting and sharing production duties for the first time with Massey and an outside producer, Elliot Kozel (Rosalia, MØ, Indigo De Souza). The album opens with a pair of drum-less, brooding reflections steeped in ennui, “Yellow and Green”…
Dragonflies spread their dark sonic wings on their 2026 debut album. A collaboration between singer/guitarist Dhani Harrison and producer Nigel Godrich, Dragonflies showcases the duo’s love of spacy, electronic-tinged psychedelic rock. It’s a sound they’ve both explored in various ways on their own, including on Harrison’s own solo albums and Godrich’s acclaimed work with Radiohead, Beck, and others. It was while working on his 2023 album Innerstanding that Harrison reached out to Godrich for some advice and the two struck up a friendship. Working at the producer’s Brixton studio they developed a process where Harrison would supply vocals and guitars and Godrich would rework the tracks, utilizing electronics, tape loops, and his deep soundboard acumen.
Every return contains a betrayal. The place may remain where it was, yet the person approaching has been revised by distance, while memory has moved the streets. On Ritornare, Enzo Favata treats return as imaginative recovery that transforms whatever it retrieves. Music carries landscape within experience, with literature serving as a compass across waters whose histories mingle beneath imposed names. The title points backward, though the album keeps opening forward. Home survives as an activity of attention and belonging that has quietly learned a foreign language in one’s absence.
Favata has long listened for submerged connections. Born in Alghero, Sardinia, in 1956, the saxophonist and clarinetist developed a musical language shaped by his native island…
Following the release of her fifth studio album, Italian Ice, which featured members of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and the Dap-Kings, among others, Nicole Atkins put out a live-tracked acoustic version of the album called Memphis Ice, then unintentionally entered into her longest gap between albums yet. Admitting that she struggled with some self-doubt as time went on, she eventually called on Wilco’s Pat Sansone to help her resurrect the lush, retro-minded Baroque pop that she’d become best known for.
Arriving six years after Italian Ice, Drama does exactly that. John Paul Keith (guitar) and Danny Banks (drums) from her touring band, along with guests like Dr. Dog’s Eric Slick (drums) and the Texas Gentlemen’s Dan Creamer (piano,…
With her 2023 album Love as Projection, Frankie Rose pushed the electronic elements that had been hanging out quietly in the background of her songs all the way into the spotlight. Rose’s music already had a dense and evolving history by then, with time spent laying the foundation for a certain era of indie rock with her work in Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, and her own reverb-heavy guitar pop in the late aughts and 2010s, and solo work that grew increasingly more synthetic with each new album. Hila continues the complete dive into electronic pop that manifested on Love as Projection, but takes Rose’s digital sound to places that are darker and more abstract. The gorgeous “Can’t Be Wrong” layers synth melodies over a steady pulse, with thick, strutting bass and Rose’s…
Innovative guitar duo Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero began working together in Mexico City in the 1990s, first in the heavy metal band Tierra Ácida, then as a beach bar-playing duo in Ixtapa, then as a busking duo in Dublin, Ireland, Western Europe, Australia, and Japan. They are citizens of the world. OurHome was recorded and produced by the duo in Japan at Tokyo’s NK Studio with mixing assistance from Dave Sardy. The country, its culture, and its people are beloved by the duo. The album marks RyG’s return to a primarily acoustic sound, though electric guitars appear. The 11-track set also includes their first-ever vocal song and guest instrumentalists including jazz pianist Hiromi, guitarists Yukihiro Atsumi and Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth), and cellist Hiyori Okuda.
When it comes to venting about heartache, doubt, and mid-twenties angst, it’s hard to beat midwest emo and the heavier side of alt-rock. For her fourth album, Beabadoobee’s Bea Kristi needed that heft and firepower to navigate her quarter-life crisis, so she recruited some of the best possible collaborators: Hayley Williams of Paramore, Deftones’ Chino Moreno, Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, Pinegrove’s Evan Stephens Hall, and Title Fight’s Shane Moran – in other words, her heroes when she was a teenager writing songs in her bedroom. From its scrapbook-collage artwork to its crushing riffs and choppy rhythms, Pylon is as authentic and cathartic in its own way as any of their music.
With its jerky riffs, huge drums, and shout-along choruses, “Sun Has Set” delivers…
Music fans worldwide know Roger Joseph Manning Jr. as co-founder or member of the bands Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook, TV Eyes, Beatnik Beatch, and The Lickerish Quartet, in addition to being a member of Beck’s band and an in-demand session player. Over the years, he’s contributed to albums by Beck, Morrissey, Lana Del Rey, Blink 182, Johnny Cash, and Adele, among many others.
Omnivore Recordings is thrilled to continue their long association with Manning in releasing his new split EP/live EP which together form the album Hopium. Side one features five new songs, some of which have been in the works for over 15 years. Across the ensuing years, Manning worked with musician friends…
Radical Frame marks Actress‘ return to Ninja Tune after several releases on other labels, including a reactivation of the producer’s own Werkdiscs imprint for a live collaboration with electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani.
Beginning the album with two fragmentary pieces consisting of muffled, cut-up voices, it’s clear that the artist remains enigmatic as ever. “Live by You” features a guest verse by U.K. rapper CASISDEAD, whose bitter, unapologetic rhymes are initially presented starkly over sparse, eerie synth notes. After a few bars, the track erupts with overloaded grime bass and scattered handclaps, while the emcee’s voice is distorted and glitched-out beyond recognition. The song ends short of the two-minute mark, malfunctioning and burning…
…the expanded version features covers of tracks from the album by PUP, Wild Pink, Ducks Ltd., Bad Bad Hats, and Free Range. Ratboys also threw in a cover of their own, a version of Texas punk band the Marked Men’s “Fix My Brain” recorded for SiriusXM earlier this year.
Ratboys didn’t explode onto the scene, nor did they propel to stardom on the back of their debut. That’s a good thing, mind you: having never been through the ringer of hype machines and overnight success, the Chicago band have instead allowed their twinkling, countrified take on jangly indie rock to steadily brew for a decade-plus without any major spectacle.
Ratboys’ fifth LP Singin’ to an Empty Chair arrives with little fanfare — just the way they…
Fans will be happy to know that Lizzy McAlpine’s fourth album, Angel, is filled with sounds reminiscent of her decade-long career; however, this time, there’s a coating of something evolved. Instead of brutal, gut-wrenching heartbreak, this fifteen-track record explores acceptance and closure, and instead of self-reflection that tears you apart, there’s self-discovery that evokes freedom — the musicality may sound similar at times, but this addition to her discography is McAlpine’s most devoted yet.
The folk-heavy album swoons listeners with the opener and first released single, ‘The light in the painting’, a declaration of love in the form of peaceful poetry and soothing melody. The song reminds listeners of a previous opening…
Seasick Steve returns with The Last Season of America. In 2024, Steve and his wife Elisabeth took a road trip across America where he witnessed the poverty and divisiveness in the context of the upcoming election. They were in a New Orleans club where a house band leader welcomed two Belgian musicians on stage by saying “welcome to the last season of America.” This became the theme for the rest of their road trip and led to him writing the title track to the new album. A deeply personal, heartfelt reflection on the state of his home nation, The Last Season of America is a protest record in the truest sense.
The new single off The Last Season of America is its title track, a searing indictment of the current administration.
The 20th anniversary of Bob Seger‘s acclaimed 2006 album Face the Promise is being celebrated with a vinyl release. Newly remastered by longtime Seger mastering engineer Robert Vosgien, the Expanded Edition features four bonus tracks—“Time,” “Little Jane,” “Red Eye to Memphis,” and “Let Me Try”
Originally released on September 12, 2006, Face The Promise marked Seger’s 16th studio album and came over a decade after his previous effort, It’s A Mystery. The album includes the hit singles “Wait for Me” and “Wreck This Heart.”
Another highlight is “The Answer’s In The Question,” Seger’s duet with Patty Loveless, who he helped induct into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2023.
The CD features the full concert remixed and remastered from the original multi-track master tapes and restored to its original running order and released for the very first time.
Includes live versions of the hit singles ‘New Song’, ‘What Is Love?’, ‘Hide And Seek’, ‘Pearl In The Shell’ and ‘Like To Get To Know You Well’ plus Howard’s previously unreleased version of the Xmas favourite ‘Ding Dong Merrily On High’, sung to the backbeat of his hit single ‘New Song’.
This ‘restored’ live in concert performance by Howard Jones is being released on DVD for the first time.
Also includes a version of the track ‘Human’s Lib’ featuring Howard’s full spoken introduction entitled ‘The Story Of Ruth, David and Dennis’.