As promised, Kevin Devine’s upcoming “Celtic EP” as Kenny O’Brien and The O’Douls features a Waterboys cover, and that cover is pretty great and it’s out today. Kenneth John O’Brien Jr. (born November 27, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles.
Kenny O’Brien & The O’Douls are an alter-ego for Kevin Devine and his friends to goofily but enthusiastically play music for you on St. Patrick’s Day, while wearing the best Irish accoutrements that New York’s $.99 stores can supply.
We are here releasing on 12″ vinyl and obviously the vinyl is green, a total of four tracks from this Celtic-inspired, rocking outfit. Two of these tracks were released for Kenny O’B and the O’D’s first run of shows during St. Patrick’s Day weekend 2019, while two of them are new for the 2020 shows which are set for March 13, 14 and 15 in Boston, Brooklyn and Philly.
“The Whole Of The Moon” · (Kevin Devine) Kenny O’Brien & the O’Douls ℗ 2020 Bad Timing Records and Devinyl Records
Witchita, Kansas musician Jordana, formerly Jordana Nye, is re-releasing her 2019 album “Classical Notions OfHappiness” via Grand Jury Music in March, with three new tracks added. One of them is low key indie rock track “Crunch,” about which she says, “‘Crunch’ is a feeling of an overbearing want for validation from someone and getting the cold shoulder from them.
The song starts out with the confidence in knowing this person could possibly notice you and ends in anger and frustration seeing that they ignored you, established by a distorted guitar solo.
New single, featuring MELVV aka Jeff Melvin , from Jordana’s Classical Notions of Happiness, re-mastered and expanded version coming March 27th via Grand Jury Music. Directed by POND.
Stephen Malkmus has shared the track “Shadowbanned” from his upcoming album “Traditional Techniques”. It’s a psych-folk jam about the the dark corners of the internet and tech industry and the video features Kim Gordon, Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Conor Oberst and more lip-synching the song while using the “Being Stephen Malkmus” Instagram filter (that you can try too).
Following lead single “Xian Man,” “Shadowbanned” bursts with flute-laced swagger and Malkmus as attuned as ever to the rhythms of the ever-evolving lingual slipstream as he sings of “Amazon wheatfields and rivers of Red Bull//drip gush drip//data driven skip//to the part where the left bros parody TED talks.” Its video, directed by Jan Lankisch, features friends and fans of Malkmus, such as Kim Gordon, Mac DeMarco, Sharon Van Etten and Jason Schwartzman, performing “Shadowbanned” as a cartoon version of Malkmus . Their footage is interwoven with clips from older videos by Malkmus and Pavement in which the singer has been blurred, pixelated, and algorithmically replaced in order to render him invisible.
“The video was inspired by reading about female singers and musicians who were photoshopped from their album covers by an Iranian music streaming site,” says Lankisch, who realized “Shadowbanned“with the help of Janosch Pugnaghi, Gesa Gadow, Lina Sieckmann and Miri Gossing. The video represents two polar opposites: the involuntary erasure of a person in visual imagery and one’s desire to perform as a persona, thereby leaving the constraints of one’s everyday identity behind. “Identity is a matter of design. People like to play with characters and pretend to be someone else.” For this reason, Lankisch and Pugnaghi developed a filter for Instagram called “Being Stephen Malkmus,” which operates via face detection. The face of the user is overlaid with a stylized version of Malkmus’ face. The “Being Stephen Malkmus”
From the new album ‘Traditional Techniques’ by Stephen Malkmus out March 6th, 2020.
Rufus Wainwright announced his new album and shared this new single, which he says “is an homage to Joni Mitchell in some ways. Rufus says “Damsel In Distress’ is an homage to Joni Mitchell in some ways,” says Wainwright, “particularly the structure. My husband and I now live in Laurel Canyon. I wasn’t that familiar with Joni’s music but Jörn became obsessed and took me on a journey into her music. We ended up hanging out with her and I get now why she’s one of the greats. So it’s part Laurel Canyon, part a song about a personal relationship that I’m trying to come to terms with, but mostly my Mitchell virginity being broken.”
My new single “Damsel In Distress”, from my upcoming new Album, titled “Unfollow The Rules”, is out now! Watch the fully hand-drawn animated music video by myself and the incredible Josh Shaffner and order the album now! There’s so much more to come – welcome to a brand new era!
Detroit ska-punk vets The Suicide Machines have been reunited since 2009 but there’s been no sign of new music… until now. Their first new album in 15 years, “Revolution Spring”, will come out March 27th via Fat Wreck Chords lead single “Awkward Always” is out now. The album was recorded at Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers bassist Marc Jacob Hudson’s Rancho Recordo studio, produced by Less Than Jake bassist/co-frontman Roger Lima, and also aided by The Code frontman Marc Code (who’s also the band’s longtime friend and now manager). As for what made the band finally make new music: “Everyone just kind of got inspired,” said vocalist Jason Navarro. “That’s all. I think we were watching all these other bands ride a wave of nostalgia and we didn’t want to be lumped into that, so we started writing a couple of songs and it went from there.”.
We named “Awkward Always” off The Suicide Machines’ first album in 15 years one of the best punk songs of the month in January,
The Suicide Machines shared a new song called ‘Anarchist Wedding’. It is the latest track to be taken off the band’s upcoming album ‘Revolution Spring,’ which will be out March 27th via Fat Wreck.
Revolution Spring is a powerful and cohesive combination of hardcore, ska and anthemic punk rock. That, says Navarro, was all fueled by “Awkward Always”, “Black Tar Halo” and “Impossible Possibilities”, the first three songs that the band wrote, all of which made the cut for the record.
“We did those three right off the bat,” says Navarro, “and we were like ‘Wow, these are better than most of the songs Suicide Machines have ever written in any form. That was the start of the spark. It was a long process after that because we were very picky about it, because we wanted to put out the record we wanted to put out and nothing else.” and now here’s the second single. “Awkward Always” was on the band’s ska-punk side, but this one’s just straight-up punk, and it rips.
Off Revolution Spring. The Suicide Machines,Fat Wreck Chords debut. Out March 27th!
Argentinian grrl group Las Kellies return with new album ‘Suck This Tangerine’ out 27th March on Fire Records and will be touring Europe in Spring 2020.
Sucking you in, Las Kellies takes us straight back to the party reminding us of what we’ve been missing with their libidinous mix of garage, punk and dub. Thrashing it out on the dancefloor, ‘Suck This Tangerine’ deals with the
difficulties of a society in never ending crisis (‘Funny Money’) to the highs and lows in relationships (‘He’s Who’, ‘Let You Go’) and there’s a guest appearance from ex-Kellie Julia Worley on ‘Close Talker’.
Recorded at home in Buenos Aires, the chemistry of the duo’s formative years remains as does their febrile new wave post-punk sound soaked in fiery dance beats and dub-pop. Their first release since 2016’s ‘Friends & Lovers’ was “impressively varied” (The Vinyl District) whilst “seamlessly melding psych/fuzz pop, post-punk attitude and dance beats” (Louder Than War).
New Zealand’s Yumi Zouma are releasing a new album, “Truth or Consequences”, on March 13th via Polyvinyl, their first for the label. On Tuesday they shared another song from the album, “Southwark,” via a self-directed video for the track. The video intercuts between the band at the beach and performing the song indoors somewhere. “Southwark” continues Yumi Zouma’s remarkable track record of creating irresistible and effortless indie-pop.
In a press release the band’s singer/songwriter Christie Simpson says the song “feels like a dedication, a mantra, a promise to myself. I wrote the chorus line about the someone in particular that I was with at the time, but it now feels like a universal truth for my relationships, a dedication that goes to every person I’ve loved and those that I’m still loving now. I can be quite dramatic in love and relationships, and I don’t always do or say the right thing when I should, but I do throw myself in completely (for better or worse). I loved that idea of repeating that dedication – ‘I am imperfectly yours’…. This track has haunted me a little every time I listen, there’s something melancholy that sits in there alongside that overall feeling of quiet elation. I suppose that speaks to the classic dichotomy of love and relationships – nothing is ever 100% good or perfect, and that’s what I am constantly trying to come to terms with.”
Guitarist/vocalist Josh Burgess had this to say about the video: “A bit of a Yumi tradition is having at least one video on a record we shot ourselves. While we’re not going to be nominated for an Oscar anytime soon, it’s always fun to grab a camera and start shooting. It felt like too good of an opportunity to pass up having us all sitting there in a photo studio mere moments after the centerfold picture of our record. From there we headed off to the beach for sunset. Christie wanted to get into the water but the threat of hypothermia proved too much! It’s also the first video/time we’ve ever revealed lyrics so overtly! The fantastic Lorenzo Fanton’s typeface was too good to pass up!”
Previously Yumi Zouma shared Truth or Consequences’ lead single, “Cool For a Second,” via a video for the track The album also includes “Right Track / Wrong Man,” a song the band shared back in December.
Yumi Zouma’s glistening new single “Southwark” is taken from the group’s new LP Truth or Consequences, coming March 13th on Polyvinyl. Watch the video, shot by the band’s own Josh Burgess,
“Southwark” is taken from Yumi Zouma’s long-awaited third album, “Truth or Consequences”,
The band self-produced the album and it was mixed by Jake Aron (Solange, Grizzly Bear, Snail Mail). While formed in New Zealand, Yumi Zouma’s members currently reside in various cities around the world: New York City (Josh Burgess – guitar, vocals), London (Charlie Ryder – guitar, bass, keys), Christchurch, New Zealand (Christie Simpson – vocals, keys), and Wellington, New Zealand (Olivia Campion – drums).
The band released a new EP, EP III, in September 2018 via Cascine. EP III was the follow-up to Yumi Zouma’s sophomore album, Willowbank, which was among our Top Albums of 2017. In May 2019 they shared another brand new song, “Bruise,” .
In the early years of this millennium, Califone were one of the most prolific forces in indie rock. Year after year, the Chicago experimentalists — led by Tim Rutili, previously of bluesy sonic explorers Red Red Meat — would return with a rewarding new collection of tunes at the intersection of folk, noise, post-rock, and whatever else burbled up from their imagination. So it’s wild to realize Califone haven’t released an album in seven years, and it’s exciting to learn they’re about to rectify that.
The group’s last new album was Stitches way back in 2013. Since then, there has been scattered output from the Califone camp: an EP called Insect Courage, a reissue of 2003’s masterful Quicksand/Cradlesnakes with the attendant unreleased bonus tracks, a droning Rutili collaboration with Craig Ross called Guitars Tuned To Air Conditioners that quite literally delivered on the title’s promise. At first glance, their latest release might be perceived as that kind of peripheral excursion: an album that doubles as the original score to a dance performance by Robyn Mineko Williams.
But Echo Mine is also a real-deal Califone album, one that will either remind you why they were so great in the first place or introduce you to a new favorite. Rutili and company continue to come up with fresh spins on their signature sound, perhaps thanks to inspiration from Mineko Williams’ graceful motion. “The movement and the music started together and grew together, like two clear entities,” Rutili explains in a statement. “At times totally intertwined and at other times bouncing off one another, sort of like reflections. But, somehow, always connected and listening.” He continues, “Robyn is an abstract painter. I’m not sure how to explain what she does, but we all felt it deeply while creating this music.”
You don’t need to see the dancing to appreciate what Califone have come up with here. On Echo Mine, they continue to conjure a sound unlike any other, Rutili’s weathered vocals creeping their way through electronic blues-folk songs that sound like a post-apocalyptic cityscape. The label’s triangulation of Low, Hiss Golden Messenger, and Yo La Tengo pretty much nails it — or, as I’ve been telling potential converts for years, imagine a more avant-garde spin on Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot sound.
More from Rutili:
Ben Massarella, Brian Deck and I worked in a way that felt like a return to home; Brian handling the engineering, electronics, drums and overall sound of the piece, Ben adding percussion, feel, essential textures and colors. I felt like my job was to hover over all of it like a moth. Find melody in everything. Leave openings for everyone to work at the top of their creativity. We made our album, Roomsound, in much the same way (almost 20 years ago). Three of us in the studio, Be humans. Play together as much as possible. A good feel beats perfection every time. Add other musicians to add other voices and other colors, to do the things we can’t do.
Echo Mine is out February 21st on Jealous Butcher Records.
Steve Earle & The Dukes have a new album coming this May. Titled “Ghosts Of West Virginia”, it’s built largely from songs Earle wrote for Coal Country, a new play by The Exonerated’s Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen running throughout March at NYC’s Public Theater. Earle performs the tunes as part of the stage production, which is currently in previews.
Whereas Earle sees his The Revolution Starts…Now album as an exercise in preaching to the choir, he conceived Ghosts Of West Virginia in the hopes of connecting with working people who don’t see the world the same way he does. In a press release, he explains, “I thought that, given the way things are now, it was maybe my responsibility to make a record that spoke to and for people who didn’t vote the way that I did.”
The album’s lead single is called “Devil Put The Coal In The Ground,”
From the album ‘Ghosts of West Virginia,’ available May 22nd, 2020
