The Fat Angel Sings

The last time the Rolling Stones released a proper studio album, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were still a year or two away from retirement age, celebrated expanded reissues of “Exile on Main St”. and “Sticky Fingers” weren’t even being discussed and, most significantly, original drummer Charlie Watts was still alive. “A Bigger Bang” arrived in 2005 with a revitalized band linking their gloried past to a new future, and the Stones built on its momentum with several tours, repackaging of their classic records and enough nostalgia to remind everybody that they used to be the greatest band around.

Their 2016 album “Blue & Lonesome” managed a glance back even further, all the way to their original dues-paying club days, with a set of blues covers first made famous by their earliest heroes. It’s the best they sounded on record in decades. “Hackney Diamonds”, Will be only their second album of original material this century, finds the Rolling Stones at a curious stage in their long career: with both nothing and, for the first time in decades, something to prove.

And they step up for the occasion, delivering their most committed set of songs and performances in years. Starting strong with the first single release “Angry” – a blender whirl of classic Stones signposts – and continuing through to the LP-closing acoustic “Rolling Stone Blues,” “Hackney Diamonds” is the rare occurrence of a veteran band embracing its legacy with new determination. The Rolling Stones aren’t doing anything new here, but there’s a surprising amount of vitality to almost everything they do.

Producer Andrew Watt – who has worked with Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop and Eddie Vedder in recent years – never gets in the way of the songs, while still infusing tracks with nods to the band’s storied past. There’s Sticky Fingers-like sax in “Get Close,” a snarling, punk-inspired “Some Girls“-era vocal from Mick Jagger in “Bite My Head Off” and “Dreamy Skies,” a “Beggars Banquet” throwback featuring Keith Richards on acoustic slide. 

“Hackney Diamonds” sounds like a half-century’s worth of classic Stones music distilled into 50 exhilarating minutes.

The album comes with a bigger guest list than usual: Elton John, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and original Stones bassist Bill Wyman show up in some capacity throughout. The late Charlie Watts appears on a couple of tracks that were started before his 2021 death. Steve Jordan, the Stones’ touring drummer and Richards‘ long time solo sideman, ably fills in for the rest.

But it’s the songs that will immediately grab you. Even the ballads are uniformly solid: “Depending on You” and “Driving Me Too Hard” absorb country influences; “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” builds over seven and a half minutes, recalling a “Let It Bleed” castoff with Lady Gaga channelling a Merry Clayton. Maybe it’s the renewal of their fighting spirit, or perhaps they realize that because it took nearly two decades to get here, this could be their last album. Whatever the reason, Hackney Diamonds finds the Rolling Stones sublimely reclaiming a crown as the greatest Rock n Roll Band in the world ever.

Driving the album forward & new processes, “It’s completely different. We used to live in the same flat. I didn’t play much guitar; Keith did. Sometimes he would give me ideas for lyrics and I sang all the top lines. Because we lived together we would come up with all this stuff, then carry around a reel-to-reel tape recorder when we were on tour.”

“These days, I know I can sit down at the piano in my house and come up with something. Might be “Sweet Sounds of Heaven“. Might stand there with a distorted guitar and come up with “Bite My Head Off”. It is magic, in a way, because you sit down with nothing and ten minutes later you have something.”

The album has a legendary cast of featured artists including Elton, Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga & Stevie Wonder “I was sitting there singing when I saw a woman sitting at my feet and went, ‘Oh, it’s Lady Gaga’. Turns out she was recording next door. I gave her some headphones, she did a few oohs and aahs, and I said, ‘Why don’t you sing the words?’”

“I was kind of surprised Paul wanted to play on “Bite My Head Off” actually. I wrote so many punk songs for the Stones and I could never get away with them, but Paul is a very open-minded person — musically speaking.”

New sounds & working with producer Andrew Watt “Andy’s a pop producer who loves rock’n’roll. I’m not trying to make the Rolling Stones not sound like the Rolling Stones — that would be really stupid, especially after not putting out an album for so long — but the temptation a lot of producers have is to remake their favourite Stones album. I had to say to Andy, ‘We’re not making “Sticky Fingers” Mark II here. A few references are OK. Loads of references are not OK.’”

“Tangk” is the righteous and vibrant fifth album from madcap truth-seekers, IDLES. Pronounced “tank” with a whiff of the “g” – an onomatopoeic reference to the lashing way the band imagined their guitars sounding that has since grown into a sigil for living in love – the record is the band’s most ambitious and striking work yet. Where IDLES were once set on taking the world’s piss, squaring off with strong jaws against the perennially entitled, and exercising personal trauma in real time, they have arrived in this new act to offer the fruits of such perseverance: love, joy, and indeed gratitude for the mere opportunity of existence.

A radical sense of defiant empowerment radiates from “Tangk”, co-produced by Nigel Godrich, Kenny Beats, and IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen. Despite his reputation as an incendiary post-punk sparkplug, frontman Joe Talbot sings almost all the feelings inside these 10 songs with hard-earned soul, offering each lusty vow or solidarity plea as a bona fide pop song—that is, a thing for everyone to pass around and share, communal anthems intended for overcoming our grievance.

“Tangk” is a love album—open to anyone who requires something to shout out loud in order to fend off any encroaching sense of the void, now or forever. 

“Tangk” will be released on 16th February 2024 via Partisan Records.

It’s been a long time coming but I’m over the moon to announce that my new album ‘Big Sigh’ will be out on the 12th of January. It’s been a labour of love and I can’t wait to share it with you all, but in the meantime… wrap your ears around another track from the record – Hanging, and get your diaries out for the spring Uk/EU tour.  “Big Sigh” is the “hardest record” Marika has ever made. As the title suggest, it is a relief of sorts – of sadness, of stress and lust, but mostly relief.

“Big Sigh” brings together the best of Marika’s previous works as an indie musician and adds a new layer of epic sounds and full-bodied production. “Big Sigh” is the “hardest record” Marika has ever made. As the title suggest, it is a relief of sorts – of sadness, of stress and lust, but mostly relief.

Co-produced with Sam Petts Davies (Frank Ocean, Radiohead, Red Hot Chilli Peppers) & Charlie Andrew (Alt J, Wolf Alice, London Grammar). Lyrically there’s always romance alongside grief, with elements of vulnerability and feeling trapped. 

Limited Indies Exclusive Green Vinyl+Limited Edition Print,
Released: 12/01/2024

Maple Glider is Naarm/Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Tori Zietsch.

 A superb return for Tori Zietsch, bringing the woozy off-kilter Americana sound we loved from her 2021 debut and broadening the horizons into a widescreen, majestic display. It’s both hugely cinematic and unfalteringly relatable, a triumph of every sort. Lovely,

On her sophomore album “I Get Into Trouble”, Tori takes her songwriting to another level while she delves into her Christian childhood, exploring topics such as her relationship to her body, consent and shame, as well as the death of relationships, both romantic and familial. Heartbreaking at times, the songs ultimately paint a hopeful picture, shining a light on new life, new love, and the desire to find peace and connection with these experiences. 

Ultimately, “I Get Into Trouble” is the sound of alchemized pain. In each song, Zietsch transmutes tribulation and confusion into clarity and deep insight. She combines the infectious folk-pop hooks of her debut with a sense of scape and scope.

“I Get Into Trouble” follows Maple Glider’s acclaimed 2021 debut “To Enjoy is the Only Thing”, a deeply personal project which earned her a performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk, as well as praise from Pitchfork (hypnotic), Paper (sublime), Stereogum (some voices in indie just hit home) and Rolling Stone (“one of the most accomplished debut albums in recent years.”).

From mid-2021, the recording process for “I Get Into Trouble” stretched out for over a year, with studio access limited by Melbourne’s strict lockdown schedule. The new freedoms of 2022 brought a mixed bag of awkwardness, excitement, anxiety, deadlines, celebrations and exhaustion. Zietsch found solace in nature, and in the friendship of her touring band.
Many of the songs on the new album were initially rejected as too angry, or too difficult to process.

But it’s also hopeful – there is new life, new love, and the desire to re-connect and find peace with it all. The majority of songs are performed on acoustic guitar – the exceptions being the slinky ‘Two Years’ and lockdown lullaby ‘Scream’. 

The first single ‘Don’t Kiss Me’ was released in May ‘23. Written as a counterattack on unwanted sexual attention and the objectifying gaze, it had already become an emotional peak of the live show. In Maple Glider’s typical wry fashion, the accompanying video offset the lyrics’ heaviness as a lo-fi comedy-horror, featuring a laser-eyed porcelain witch doll.
Whether it’s acerbic recriminations or devastatingly loving entreaties, Zietsch’s lyricism gets into the nooks and crannies of relationships.

The back-to-back pairing of ‘You At The Top Of The Driveway’ into ‘You’re Gonna Be A Daddy’ holds so much tenderness – the story continuing from the heart-breaking ‘Mama It’s Christmas’ from the first LP. ‘Driveway’ holds snapshots of childhood memories, à la Woolf or Proust, and ‘Daddy’ compares the now-contrasting lives, forging paths taking them further and further away from their former intimacy. The video for “Daddy” is gratuitously full of colourful costumes and a fabulous giant unicorn affectionately nicknamed “Stubz”.

The album title “I Get Into Trouble” is taken from the bible story “Dinah Gets Into Trouble”, where a young woman is victim blamed for being sexually assaulted. ‘Dinah’, the most sonically pop tune we’ve heard from Maple Glider, outlines the double standards within Zietsch’s own experience growing up in Christianity; and the accusations levelled at “non-believers” whilst the church itself was not a safe space (see the colourfully kitsch video featuring a pink dildo as preacher’s microphone here). 

Says Zietsch “I want to channel the frustration and anger I’ve felt about all of these things over the past 15 years outside of religion in a playful, fun, and cheeky way. It feels like the only way to digest it at this point.” 

Using the same team as her debut, “I Get Into Trouble” was recorded with multi-instrumentalist, mixer and producer Tom Iansek (Big Scary, #1 Dads, Lisa Mitchell, The Paper Kites), and drummer Jim Rindfleish (Mildlife). All tracking was done at BellBird studio in Collingwood.

On December 8th we’ll be releasing the live album “Faces From The Masquerade”, capturing performances from our 2022 tour. These tracks capture some of our best-ever shows, and we’re excited for you to experience them, either for the first time or as a return audience!.

In March of 2022, Car Seat Headrest brought their “explosive” live show to Brooklyn Steel in New York in support of their 2020 LP ‘Making a Door Less Open.’ Across three back to back nights, the band played revved up versions of tracks spanning their extensive back catalogue. On December 8th, CSH will release a collection of recordings from those performances which includes fan favourites “Beach Life-In-Death,” “Crows”, “Something Soon,” and “Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales.”

Taken from ‘Faces from the Masquerade’ the new live album by Car Seat Headrest, released on December 8th, 2023 by Matador Records.

A double album’s worth of live performances that finds Car Seat Headrest at their most playful, exuberant and precision honed. The title alludes to the by now familiar, custom-made gas mask worn by frontman Will Toledo at shows, complete with an expressive LED display for eyes. In addition to the group’s four core members – Toledo, guitarist/backing vocalist Ethan Ives, bassist Seth Dalby and drummer Andrew Katz – they were joined on the tour by keyboard player Ben Roth. 

2LP set
Released: 08/12/2023

The Violent Femmes debut dropped a day after “Murmur” by R.E.M, and what a week for young hipsters with stereos. “Blister in the Sun,” “Add it Up, “Prove My Love” and “Gone Daddy Gone” are immortal folk-punk anthems, utterly irresistible. Violent Femmes may have been the third-best album of 1983, after “Murmur” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller“, although the annual Pazz & Jop poll put it at 26.

The new 3LP+7″ Expanded 40th anniversary edition of Violent Femmes’ self-titled debut featuring the remastered album, plus B-sides, live sessions, and rare demos. Housed in a lift-top box with die-cut darkened window detail revealing the box contents, the set includes three 180-gram LPs plus a replica 7″ single, along with a book featuring new liner notes by journalist David Fricke and interviews with the band. Includes the classic anthems.

Teeming with teenage angst, punk sensibilities, and Violent Femmes’ own special brand of jittery folk-rock, the trio’s self-titled 1981 debut Violent Femmes became a cult favourite. Featuring the anthems “Blister in the Sun,” “Please Do Not Go,” “Gone Daddy Gone,” and “Add It Up.” This expanded 40th anniversary edition features a trove of rare demos, live tracks, and more.

Released: 01/12/2023

Larissa Sapko had set two goals for herself in the summer of 2013: find a job, and start a band. Once she got a job, the band wasn’t far behind. She asked her friend Kian Sorouri if he would like to play guitar (he did), and he in turn asked Jim Dobrowolski if he would like to play drums (he learned how, and he did). What It Is came out in December 2013, and Loose Tooth enjoyed a year of playing local shows and weekenders in the Northeast.

After hearing that Jimmy was moving to Costa Rica, Christian Bach and Kyle Laganella stepped forward and volunteered their shredding skills to keep Loose Tooth moving up and onward. After reworking their first EP What It Is and writing some new songs in the process, the band’s debut record “Easy Easy East” was ready to rip.

After touring on “Easy Easy East” throughout 2015, the band came together to start writing their follow up record “Big Day”. The songs on “Big Day” developed a more cohesive feeling as the four became more comfortable playing together. “Big Day” is out on Father/Daughter Records and Lame-O Records.

Bob Dylan took his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour to Murat Theatre in Indianapolis for night one of two in The Hoosier State. During the initial stand, Dylan and his band treated the audience to a first-time cover of John Mellencamp’s original, “Longest Days.” The song initially appeared on the “Jack and Diane” singer’s 2008 release, “Life, Death, Love and Freedom”. The choice cover was a geographical homage to the writer, Mellencamp, who was born in Indiana. Bob Dylan, who turned 82 in May, has been defying expectations for so long that, at this point, when he does something conventional, it’s actually unconventional.

In fitting fashion for this tour, Dylan relied heavily on delivering material from his latest project, his 2020 set for which the run is named, but not before dipping back into the archive and starting the evening on “Watching the River Flow” and “Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine.” Next, he turned to recent material, adding “I Contain Multitudes” and “False Prophet.” Next, the musical bard added fan favourite “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” which rolled into “Black Rider” and “My Own Version of You.” 

Taking the eighth slot on Monday night’s setlist was “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” which preluded “Crossing the Rubicon” and “To Be Alone With You.” “Key West (Philosopher Pirate)” unfolded before “Gotta Serve Somebody” and “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You.” Dylan segued into a trio of covers next, including Johnny Mercer’s “The Old Black Magic,” which arrived prior to the debut Mellencamp moment. Audio of the first-time take on “Longest Days” was uploaded to YouTube.

As has been a trend on the road, Dylan nodded toward long-forgotten days touring alongside the Grateful Dead, reprising their original tour anthem: “Truckin’.” Monday night’s frame continued with “Mother of Muses” paired with band introductions and a return to music on “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” and “Every Grain of Sand,” which saw the troubadour pick up the harmonica and add some breathy blows into the instrument–which marked the end of the concert, sans encore. 

The following night, Tuesday, October 17th Dylan returned to the hollowed concert location, picking up night two in the same vein as the night prior. During the show, Dylan once again added “That Old Black Magic” paired with the Mellencamp cover. Rather than proceed with the Dead’s “Truckin’,” Dylan swamped in another tune that’s been making its rounds on the road: Chuck Berry’s “Nadine (Is That You?).” 

October 16th, 2023 

Set List: Watching the River Flow, Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine, I Contain Multitudes, False Prophet, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Black Rider, My Own Version of You, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Crossing the Rubicon, To Be Alone With You, Key West (Philosopher Pirate), Gotta Serve Somebody, I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You, That Old Black Magic (Johnny Mercer), Longest Days (John Mellencamp)#, Truckin’ (Grateful Dead), Mother of Muses, Goodbye Jimmy Reed, Every Grain of Sand+

The 8th studio album by The Dollyrots who are, without a doubt, pop-punk’s most adorable family unit. Made up of wife-and-husband team Kelly Ogden (bass, vocals) and Luis Cabezas (guitar), and their ever-rotating cadre of temporary drummers, The Dollyrots release their seventh studio LP “Night Owls” on Wicked Cool Records. The latest record from The Dollyrots finds the band dishing out their usual chunky power chords with killer pop hooks, but with a touch more maturity than their previous albums. That sounds strange considering that big, silly songs are a staple of any Dollyrots album, but, on “Night Owls”, even a goofy song like “Hot Mom With the Skinny Pants On” demonstrates something deeper, namely a yearning for new friendships as an adult, which many people find to be elusive.

I really liked the new album. I think it feels like your most mature album, in a way. Which is weird, because I feel like silly fun is a big part of any Dollyrots album. But even the silly stuff just feels like it’s coming from a deeper place. 

Wicked Cool Records is a Garage Rock label founded by Steve Van Zandt in 2005. It originated from Van Zandt’s weekly syndicated radio show, Little Steven’s Underground Garage. Recognizing that some of the best Rock and Roll was not receiving the support it deserved, Wicked Cool Records emerged. With an incredible roster of bands including The Chesterfield Kings, The Len Price 3, The Woggles, and more,

Performed by The Dollyrots (Kelly Ogden and Luis Cabezas)
Background Vocals: River Ogden Cabezas, Daisy Moon Cabezas, John Fields
Keys, Programming, Percussion & additional Bass: John Fields & Luis Cabezas
Drums on Track 6: Justin McGrath

released October 13th, 2023

Psyched Radio San Francisco‘s PSYCHED! FEST kicks off on October 25th and runs thru October 31st at venues all across San Francisco!
See Death Valley Girls, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, SEXTILE, Agar Agar, Chokecherry, Las Pijamas, so many more.