The Fat Angel Sings

I always design albums to be listened to straight through. It’s a huge relief to finally have “Fondness”,  available everywhere now for you to do that very thing. One of the by products of having a child is that you really get to see how much potential growth there is in a single year of life. My daughter has gone from slug to shift leader in what feels like no time, and it has put a lot of things in perspective.
Looking back, that is what “Fondness, Etc“. is about. They say that memory is like a game of telephone: each time you think back, you don’t remember the event itself you actually just remember the last time you remembered that event. A copy of a copy.

Long celebrated as one of America’s most inventive DIY singer-songwriters, Shakey Graves (born Alejandro Rose-Garcia) has built a singular career on experimentation and emotional honesty.

“Fondness, etc”. feels like a window into his most personal world yet – and a full creative reset – placing emphasis on lo-fi sound and analog warmth, packed with soft vocals, haunted guitars, experimental textures, and tender imperfections.

A long parade of small, important days and little moments fading and turning into sound bites.  All the sharp details will inevitably fade, making each one more precious than the last.  An artificial collage arranged by your phone.
Yet, one of the magical things about music is that, in some ways, it works as a proxy hippocampus, a save point in time. Hearing a song can flood you with so many different sensory emotions and memories, and repeat listens can bring you back to where you first heard it, what it made you think of then, and what its relevance is to you now.

Making the music adds another insane layer to it.These songs, for me, will always bring me back to this tenuous and sweet moment in life: watching my friends and family age. Looking at my hands for obvious signs of wear and tear. Recording in the mornings. Solving little stupid problems and dropping the ball on big life stuff. Being tired but happy. Futilely pouring boiling water on the ants in my yard to keep them away from my fat baby’s ankles.

All that will has been mashed up and put into your hands for you to create new memories with.
And somewhere down the line, when we hear this music, we will all meet up at different places in our minds, in the future, and wonder where all the time went.
Proud of where we have been, with no way back.
Only up, out, and forward.

Shakey Graves’ songs explore trying to do better and holding onto fleeting beauty in a chaotic world. The title is a twist on “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” delivered with classic Shakey self- effacing charm – capturing moments of life, love, and fatherhood with striking vulnerability and sonic exploration. An album built purely for joy, reminding us that the quietest moments often hold the most profound beauty.

 The Reytons  ‘A Right One’ to those from out of town) bring us their eagerly awaited debut album ‘Kids Off The Estate’.

Produced by David Watts at Chairworks Studios, deep in the heart of Yorkshire, this album is bursting with working man grit and tales from the local boozer.
The album opens with ‘Mind The Gap’, a raucous introduction to the 14 track pound-for-pound excursion. After making stops at ‘Slice Of Lime’, ‘Low Life’ and ‘Broke Boys Cartel’, the journey progresses through the ‘Trials & Tribulations’ of the everyday man.

Expect infectious riffs and refreshingly honest melodies that will travel round your mind for years to come.

Very clearly heavily influenced by the aforementioned Artic Monkeys, they bring a fresh new take on the early AM formula. I cannot recommend this album highly enough.

Off the back of a huge year, The Reytons return with their fourth album “A Love Letter To A Broken Town”, building on a rise that has seen them become arguably the U.K.’s most exciting and unstoppable independent band.

Releasing entirely on their own terms, with no label backing, the Rotherham four-piece have continued to defy expectations, storming the charts with “What’s Rock And Roll?” reaching No. 1 and “Ballad Of A Bystander” climbing to No. 2, cementing their place at the very top of the U.K. music scene.

From their breakthrough debut “Kids Off The Estate” in 2021 to selling out 20,000 tickets in Rotherham’s Clifton Park, iconic nights at Wembley Arena and making history as the first independent band to headline Tramlines Festival, their journey has been nothing short of remarkable, driven by word of mouth and a connection with fans that few can rival.

Rooted in the grit and honesty of everyday life, The Reytons continue to channel the spirit of their origins into everything they do. “A Love Letter To A Broken Town” stays true to their roots while pushing their sound forward, capturing both the raw energy of their early days and the confidence of a band at their peak.”

Taken from ‘A Love Letter To A Broken Town’ –

Formed in the Seattle/Tacoma, WA area in 2020 over a shared admiration of ’90s psych, classic shoegaze, and the underdogs of alt-country, TV Star is a band that feels both new and lived-in at the same time. Band members Ashlyn Nagel (vocals, keys), Bryan Coats (Guitar), Che Hise-Gattone (Guitar), Mark Palm (Bass), and Tucker Devault (Drums) bring their own instincts, idiosyncrasies, and musical histories to their music, resulting in a quilt of jangly-psych, garage grit, and soft-focus depth. In an era when so much music dissolves into algorithmic sameness, TV Star sounds defiantly human.

Every once in a while, you hear a band that feels both new and lived-in at the same time, and it stops you in your tracks. TV Star is that kind of band. Over the last few years, the Seattle–Tacoma, WA five-piece has been quietly gathering force—EP by EP, show by show—until “Music For Heads”, their long-awaited debut album, arrives and makes it plain: they’ve grown into something rare. A quilt of jangly-psych, garage grit, and soft-focus depth; these songs glow from the inside with a commanding originality. In an era when so much music dissolves into algorithmic sameness, TV Star sounds defiantly human.

Across the LPs ten tracks, the band sharpens the instincts they’ve been honing – folding together timeless pop sensibilities, psych-leaning jangle in the lineage of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, punk-economy rhythm sections, and vocals that drift with Mojave 3–level warmth, to create something distinctly their own. With “Music For Heads”, they’re not just tapping into music of the past, they’re pushing a new wave of it forward.

Forming in 2020 over a shared admiration of ’90s psych, classic shoegaze and alt-country underdogs, their inception occurred when someone pulled the Butthole Surfers’ 1996 Electriclarryland tape off the wall and pointed to the track “TV Star.” What followed was less a band forging than a small ecosystem taking shape. Ashlyn Nagel (Vocals, Keys), Bryan Coats (Guitar), Che Hise-Gattone (Guitar), Mark Palm (Bass), and Tucker Devault (Drums) brought their own instincts, idiosyncrasies, and musical histories into the room until the songs began to sound like all of them, at once.

Recorded in a constellation of cozy Northwest spaces – The Unknown in Anacortes, plus a handful of Seattle hideaways – “Music For Heads” sits at the intersection of jangly guitar music, psych-pop haze, and lived-in indie rock without leaning fully into any one lane. 

From the album, ‘Music For Heads’ out April 24, 2026 on Father/Daughter Records

TV Star is:
Ashlyn Nagel – Vocals, Keys
Bryan Coats – Guitar, Percussion, Harmonies
Che Hise-Gattone – Guitars
Mark Palm – Bass, Guitar
Tucker Devault – Drums, Percussion

Going by the alias of Searows, Alec Duckart the 23-year-old from Portland, Oregon, broke through last year with his groundbreaking debut ‘Guard Dog’ – an album that encapsulated his moving take on folk and indie.

Now, curled up on the sofa of his London Airbnb, a few hours before he takes to the stage as Abrams’ European support act, Duckart talks about the emotionally vulnerable themes on his new EP ‘End Of The World’ (released last November ). He also shares his his thoughts on being the first artist signed to Matt Maltese’s new label, Last Recordings On Earth – another accolade which has yet to quite sink in.

“I still have so much that I want to work on,” he says, sounding equal parts humble and determined. “I’m not at the stage where I’m releasing my first stuff into the world, but at the same time, it still feels like each thing I release is the first. I feel so new to everything still; I don’t yet feel like I am really seasoned in any of it.”

Still, as he delves into the deeply personal but fundamentally relatable inspiration behind his lyrics, it becomes obvious why his music is resonating with so many.

Searows, whose real name is Alec Duckart, is a 24-year-old singer/songwriter from Portland, Oregon. He describes his sound as “stereotypically Pacific Northwest,” and I must agree; there is a peaceful quality to his music that takes me back to the gorgeous forests of Washington State. Additionally, he cites Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver among his biggest inspirations, two artists whose sounds are heavily influenced by the Great Lakes region. 

Duckart’s music feels like it’s made for a Chicago winter, those days that start with the warmth of the sun on your face and end with a snowstorm. Searows’ unique blend of hope and melancholy reminds me exactly of those days. “I Can and I Will” is my favorite song from his 2023 EP “End Of The World“, and it’s the perfect example of this feeling.

Given the right moment, that song can break me into a million pieces. However, once he sings, “There are hands to be held and drinks to be spilled/And I can and I will,” I’m always left with a newly found sense of warmth. 

I’ve seen Searows’ music described as resembling early-career Phoebe Bridgers. While I agree that their voices are eerily similar, I think Duckart’s music has a certain tone of maturity that Bridgers’ early music lacked—and I’m saying this as a huge Phoebe Bridgers fan. As much as I’d like his music to replace what I’m missing in this Phoebe Bridgers/Boygenius hiatus year, Searows has managed to carve a unique space for himself in the indie-folk scene. For an artist who writes ‘sad music,’ his discography, remarkably, lacks angst. His music has a unique undertone of acceptance within the melancholy, which is refreshing to find in a genre that tends towards pure sadness without enough complexity.

released January 23rd, 2026

After their debut release, “Communion”, Suitor’s efforts went into sculpting a different sound with their newly expanded line up. A pared down selection of songs they wrote during this period would ultimately become “Saw You Out with the Weeds“. In the spring of 2024, the songs were recorded live in Lawrence, Kansas by Caufield Schnug and Lira Mondal of Sweeping Promises.

Suitor’s wide range of influences and exploratory ethos are on full display in this concise yet diverse set of tracks. The record is a push and pull between elements of noise pop, post-punk, and indie rock, balanced by densely worded vocal melodies and strong, captivating hooks. Embracing a larger wall-of-sound approach for the mix, “Saw You Out with the Weeds” is filled with sharp, layered guitars and driving rhythms that course through all of its shimmering textures.

“Factory” is featured on Suitor – Saw You Out with the Weeds. Available 20th on LP/digital from Feel It Records.

The five members of Suitor, one of the city’s best and most exciting bands since their formation in 2020. Guitarist Chris Corsi suggests that the horn signals the start of a warmup round for the serious pinballers in the house.

Suitor are Northeast Ohio heads through and through. Shepard grew up in Akron and Hudson and met her bandmates when they were attending college in Kent. Her mother and uncle played in Akron new wave bands (Unit 5 and the Bizarros, respectively), and her father owns Akron’s Time Traveler Records, a local staple for more than 45 years that’s still chugging along despite some health scares. Shepard met Corsi while working at a coffee shop in Kent, where they’d gab about early aughts indie rock bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Chris Corsi, his brother and bassist John Corsi, and guitarist Stephen Ovak all went to Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School, where they’d run into each other at football games and yap about hair metal. Drummer Ryan Matricardi hails from Lakewood, and Shepard distinctly recalls their first meeting in Kent when Matricardi swapped her PBR for a Lady Bligh and Coke and simply quipped, “Turn up!”

“Saw You Out With The Weeds” is definitely gnarlier than its predecessor. Matricardi’s cymbals crackle and itch, and Shepard’s gauzy vocals bob above and below the mix with spooky mystique. Their dual guitars zigzag with delightfully fractured tones and thrash with newfound bluster. Meanwhile, John’s tactile, low-toned bass throbs and slinks, grounding the whole affair. Their driving, distorted eeriness recalls the Chameleons and more recently, Robber Robber. Their guitars have an Omni-like twistiness. And Shepard’s dynamic vocals allow them to shapeshift from floaty drone pop and talky punk to wailing, melancholic post-punk and noise-rock.

Written in snatches of time in hometown Bristol, recorded in London’s 5dB Studios and produced by Sean Oakley (Georgia, Scaler, Sorry), who flew in from L.A. especially for the project, “Hoping As A Coping Mechanism” is the strongest display of Mould’s talents yet. In their own words, it’s “more focussed, paced and thought-out.”

Over 13 tracks that explore the horrors of the outside world and the internal minefield of the brain, Mould’s debut also hits with the thrills of a brilliant live band who’ve distilled that energy to tape. “This has always been the dream, playing with your mates and making good songs and getting to tour and make records,” says Kane Eagle. “But the realities of trying to start a band now, when you’re 30 and also have other goals at the same time are hard. We’d be doing it regardless, but you have to learn a lot.”

This duality runs throughout the record, where tracks like lead single ‘Float’ speak of “strolling through hellscapes” of social media yet surround their frustrations with the sort of barbed, visceral musicality that sounds like if Interpol had grown up in gloomy, rain-soaked Britain. “You’re endlessly doom scrolling, past a funny video of a sausage, and then there’s Farage and then there’s an ad for something,” Joe says of the track. “That mindnumbing flashy distraction turns you into idiots.

Mould is a chunky punk power trio from Bristol, making succinct hits for the short attention spanned. The band members have played together in various forms for over 10+ years in numerous bands within Bristol’s DIY worlds.

Finally, the trio decided to take full advantage of their accrued closeness and tightness as humans and musicians, plunging that into a fresh, new beast. In 2023, “Birdsong” was self-released, marking the birth of Mould. This was followed by a couple of UK tours – first with Portuguese screamers Hetta, then another with Brighton’s Regal Cheer, and finally New York’s Lip Critic.

Drawing inspiration from bands like Fugazi, Pile, and Weezer, Mould, with the help of producer Jon McMullen (Wet Leg, Michael Kiwanuka), has created an exhilarating, unhinged musical joyride.

After a brief disappearance into solo records and restless touring, Wolter siblings Jack and Lily resurface with 3: a record drenched in salt and sun, with the tide pulling at its edges. Written on a monthlong surf trip to Lagos, Portugal, these are songs with sandy feet and sunburnt shoulders, hooks that glow and harmonies that ache. Beauty built carefully, like a perfect sandcastle on a summer holiday, only to be flattened in an instant by your auntie’s passing cruelty. There’s sweetness here, but it comes with teeth.

The British sibling duo Penelope Isles (Lily and Jack Wolter) are releasing a new album,” 3,” on September 25th via Bella Union. The new album follows 2021’s “Which Way to Happy“and 2019’s “Until the Tide Creeps In“. Not only has it been five years since Penelope Isles’ last album, it’s also been three years since their last live show. In that time, the duo have been busy with solo projects—Jack with Cubzoa and Lily with My Precious Bunny (who released “A Moment in My Eyes” in May; . Jack has also toured with CMAT on guitar.

This week they shared its second single, “I Loved You, Robert Pattinson,” which is inspired by Lily’s love of The Odyssey actor back when he was in the Twilight films. 

“Penny Isles is such a big part of our personalities,” says Jack in a press release. “So it was about time we got back to it.”

The album features Joe Taylor on drums and was recorded live in the studio, at Black Bay Studio on the Isle of Lewis off Scotland’s northwest coast. 

Wild Pink (the band led by John Ross) are releasing a new album, Still Coming Down, on August 21st via Fire Talk. Now they have shared its third single, “500 Is The New 250,” Wes Sterrs directed the video. Previously Wild Pink shared the album’s first single, “Round of Applause At the End of the World,” Then they followed it up with its second single, album opener “Box Store,” .

“Still Coming Down” follows 2024’s “Dulling the Horns”. It was recorded across one week in Asheville, NC at the Drop of Sun studios, working with producer and engineer Alex Farrar (Bnny, Wednesday, Samia). Vocal takes were done more quickly than on previous Wild Pink albums.

“There was not a ton of overthinking,” Ross says in a press release.

The album also features longtime Wild Pink member Dan Keegan on drums, along with guests Meg Duffy (aka Hand Habits) and MJ Lenderman and his The Wind bandmates Landon George and Xandy Chelmis.

Wild Pink’s 2022 album, “ILYSM”, was inspired by Ross’ cancer diagnosis. Since then he’s beat cancer and become a father for the first time.

“Strangely, I feel like I’ve found my voice on this record,” he says.

“Still Coming Down” Due Out August 21 on Fire Talk

Their sixth studio album Dinosaur Jr. have recorded in the 20 years since their triumphal rebirth. Created in short, intense bursts over the course of a year at Amherst’s Bisquiteen Studio, “There Near” was recorded almost entirely by Dino’s core trio — king of the thunder tubs, Murph, human tornado Lou Barlow on bass/vocals and the inimitable J Mascis on guitar/vocals — with a bit of piano and organ work by local master musician, Ken Mauri. And the album roars from start to finish.

Trying to define the essence of Dino’s sound is never easy. It’s an instantly recognizable blend of loose vocals, sharp guitars and an animalistic rhythm section, but these parts combine into a whole far more magical and exciting than its components.

J’Mascis guitar tone throughout “There Near” is even more animalistic than usual, perhaps owing partly to the fact he’s playing through a recently acquired 70’s Mesa Boogie MK 1 amp. “I bought the same amp that Chris Dixon had when we made our first album,” J says. “Chris recorded us at his house with his amp. It has a real interesting sound I haven’t gotten for a while. And it’s something I was trying to get back to on this album.Asked about the philosophical opacity of his lyrical approach, J says. “I’m not always sure what a song is ‘about’ when I’m writing it. I guess the meaning will present itself at some point. I’ll use whatever words work. And a lot of it will be influenced by whatever esoteric mumbo jumbo I’m reading at the time. I try not to think too hard about any of it.

Someone suggested this album sounds more upbeat, but I guess that’s to do with my delivery, because lyrics like ‘No Friends’ might make you think otherwise. But I usually write in the third person. It’s all just make believe.”

While it’s true “There Near” does present a slightly softer lyrical edge on some of J’s songs, even a relatively gorgeous ballad like “Put It Down” eventually explodes in a shower of fiery guitar distentions. It’s just what happens. Meanwhile the two tunes provided by Lou — “Blowin’ Up” and “No One’s Ready” — may have less frenzied musical settings, but their lyrics sound like pointed and timely attacks on our current regime. As is so often the case, Lou’s melodic constructions have a friendly mien, but his lyrics cut like knives.

“There Near” continues Dinosaur Jr.’s string of classic albums. The new songs are sure to sound amazing with their monstrous riffs blaring from live stages amidst their historical brethren. Can’t wait to catch them live, but in the meantime “There Near” will be a constant companion.

Dinosaur Jr. shared its first single, “Several Got Away,” “There Near” is due out August 28th via Jagjaguwar.

“I bought the same amp that Chris Dixon had when we made our first album,” Mascis says in a press release. “Chris recorded us at his house with his amp. It has a real interesting sound I haven’t gotten for a while. And it’s something I was trying to get back to on this album. The Stones started using Mesa Boogies in the ‘70s after they heard Santana playing through them. Then The Clash copied The Stones, etc. As the years went on into the MK 2 and so on, the Boogie got more metal sounding. But the MK 1 has a souped-up Fender sound. You always hear how Rick Rubin always makes bands he’s producing sit down and listen to their first album and say let’s get back to that sound. So I just gave myself his advice.”

Of the album’s lyrics, he says: “I’m not always sure what a song is ‘about’ when I’m writing it. I guess the meaning will present itself at some point. I’ll use whatever words work. And a lot of it will be influenced by whatever esoteric mumbo jumbo I’m reading at the time. I try not to think too hard about any of it. I think it’s a drag that Spotify shows all the lyrics to a song. What’s the fun of that?”

Guy Kozak directed the “Several Got Away” video and had this to say about it: “I wanted to do something a little tongue-in-cheek with a kind of ‘backyard movie’ feel that could fit in nicely with the existing canon of dinosaur jr. music videos. The first bit of inspiration came from a great Henry Darger painting of kids being terrorized by two giant floating hands of fire. Then I got thinking about the rapture and it came together from there. The guys were really game for it all and I was honored that they let me chase them around a big field with my camera like a psycho. We were on a tight schedule with the turnaround so I had to learn a lot of VFX stuff over the course of a weekend, but I like the way the effects all turned out.”

Of the album’s lyrics, he says: “I’m not always sure what a song is ‘about’ when I’m writing it. I guess the meaning will present itself at some point. I’ll use whatever words work. And a lot of it will be influenced by whatever esoteric mumbo jumbo I’m reading at the time. I try not to think too hard about any of it.

“There Near” Due Out August 28th via Jagjaguwar

Dinosaur Jr. is J Mascis (guitar, vocals), Lou Barlow (bass, vocals), and Murph (drums). They recorded the album Amherst’s Bisquiteen Studio.