Well, there’s hope for us all I suppose. In 1972 Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel made one of the greatest guitar-pop records of all time with Big Star‘s ‘#1 Record’ and for at least twenty years everybody ignored it. Timing was probably one of their issues – too late to be filed alongside The Beatles and The Byrds, too early for the ’60s revivalism of the mid ’80s headed up by the likes of R.E.M. Still, alongside probably-even-better follow-up ‘Radio City’, it eventually found its audience and now appears in a new edition for its 50th anniversary.
It takes a lot of gusto to name your debut album “#1 Record”, but when you’ve got it you’ve got it. Big Star broke through the Memphis scene they came up in and made a bona-fide masterpiece right out of the gate. It was the first power pop album to really hone in on the groundwork The Who had laid down the decade prior, and you can feel just how magnetic the songs would remain for years to come. The singular balladry of “Thirteen,” the raucous, raw energy of “In the Street,” the magic of “The Ballad of El Goodo”—Alex Chilton, Chris Bell and company were on another level. “#1 Record” would go on to influence artists like The Replacements, R.E.M. and Nick Lowe and cement its place as the primitive power pop LP. They’d come roaring back two years later with “Radio City“, building on their already masterful oeuvre.
The moment you’ve been waiting for is here – “Tomorrow’s Fire” is out now. The newest album from Squirrel Flower is an absolutely massive rock record that cements Ella Williams as one of indie rock’s finest songwriters.
One truth I can offer today is this: Squirrel Flower makes massive tunes. Between lead single “Full Time Job” and our song of the summer “Alley Light,” there’s no other way to describe Ella Williams’ artistry. Now, she’s given us access to “Intheskatepark,” a woozy, noisey heater that’ll burn through your bones. I can’t even begin to stress just how nuts the melody on this thing is, as Williams never overextends herself vocally. She arrives here with patient, angelic singing backed by thick, sludgy guitars. It’s not so much a grunge tune as it is soaring alt-rock glossed with candied delicacy. Can you believe this isn’t even the best song on Williams’ upcoming album “Tomorrow’s Fire?” It’s wild to see a masterpiece unfurl one chapter at a time.
Ella Williams’ slow burn indie folk project, Squirrel Flower is embarking on an epic new era with the announcement of “Tomorrow’s Fire” – out October 13th! With a renewed confidence as a producer,
Williams helmed “Tomorrow’s Fire” at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville alongside storied engineer Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo de Souza, Snail Mail). Williams and Farrar tracked many of the instruments, building the songs together during the first week, and then assembled a studio band that included Matt McCaughan (Bon Iver), Seth Kauffman (Angel Olsen band), MJ Lenderman, and Dave Hartley (The War on Drugs) lending their contributions. With two singles released so far – “Full Time Job”, “When a Plant Is Dying” – we are salivating to see what October holds. In the meantime, check out Squirrel Flower’s performance alongside her full band at Chicago’s Novelty Golf!
Produced by Ella herself at Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville alongside storied engineer Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Indigo de Souza, Snail Mail), The new Squirrel Flower Album Released! October 13th!
Allah-Las are ready to blow your mind! Dive into the mesmerizing soundscape of the California psych-rock band that defies conventions and undergoes symphonic metamorphosis after every release, resulting in a diverse discography that keeps listeners moving and grooving. The quartet’s upcoming album,’ Zuma 85′, is a tracklist of new sounds; drawing from an eclectic mix of obscure ’60s garage-rock, Japanese pop, and trippy kosmische, landing the band in uncharted musical territory they’ve not covered before.
As the glammy, electronic strut of the song indicates, “Zuma 85” signals the start of a new era for Allah-Las, and finds the band reinventing itself in defiance of the algorithmic categorization and robotic sterility. Recorded in the midst of the shift from the Old World to whatever branch of reality we’re on now
Allah-Las’ music rides the crashing waves of surf rock that swirl and froth with the ’60s psychedelia that will transport you to an untamed yet beautiful sun-soaked landscape, the perfect sonic getaway for a chill November night.
The album cover features a photo of an abandoned house by California photographer John Divola, it juxtaposes a visage of man-made chaos against the natural beauty of the West Coast. It served as an unspoken reference point for the album, a symbolic totem indicative of a new era. A decade and a half into our run we continue on an evolutionary path and appreciate all of the support over the years!
“Strays II” expands on Margo Price’s 2023 opus Strays with nine brand new songs, all recorded at Strays producer Jonathan Wilson’s Topanga studio during the same life-changing sessions as the rest of the album– and partially written amidst the formative, six-day psilocybin trip that Margo Price and JeremyIvey took the summer prior.
On “Strays II” Margo Price is re-joined by Strays collaborators Jonathan Wilson and Mike Campbell, along with new collaborators Buck Meek of Big Thief, and singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist NyOh.. Together they dive deeper into the sacrifices it takes to find freedom, the grit it takes to make it, and the consequences that come with all of it.
Margo Price’s take on classic sounds is at once familiar and daring, an infectious blend of Nashville country, Memphis soul, and Texas twang.
I’ve no idea how the Catatonic Suns have suddenly developed into this incredible shoegazing grunge noise beast hybrid, but they’ve blown our minds with their self-titled third album. Pitched somewhere between the blissed out shoegaze of Ride & Slowdive and the grungy melodic power of Nirvana, it’s one huge sonic monster of an album. Infact this is so good,
Catatonic Suns lead the charge of new releases this week – a soaring mix of Pacific Northwest grunge and British shoegaze. Might end up in our End Of Year Top 10’ albums !.
Pennsylvania-based trio Catatonic Suns prepare their eponymous third studio album. A fully operational studio outfit having grown from a DIY demo project, the band successfully achieve their vision of welding the psychedelic rock of classic Pacific North Western bands like Screaming Trees with the mellow shoegaze of British acts like The Verve (their earlier stuff!) or Ride.
upcoming new self-titled album out 6th October on Agitated Records
“It is hard to know how many times the mythology and mystery of Goat’s backstory can be written about, but new release “Medicine” does away with any need to dwell on the past, returning with a more introspective, slightly mellower psych-folk sound that remains recognisably them. There is a consistently restrained, warm feel across the whole work, and the band suggest that the overall theme of the album is about “the impermanence of life in different ways: sickness, relationships, love, death and how our time is finite.” At times the album’s sound has nods to classic Swedish 70s psych/prog/folk acts such as Arbete & Fritid, Charlie & Esdor and Träd,Gräs & Stenar. The “Medicine’of the title may refer to a number of salves, or the value of relationships and love: “For our families, friends, society, this could be done through the use of psychedelics, through meditation, through learning from other people, staying curious and never settling for a ‘solid’ identity.”
Goat have mellowed out a little on their new album “Medicine” which, at first listen, contains more fuzz and less banshee wail than previous outings.
“Mandatory: The Best of the Blasters” and a reissue of Phil Alvin’s wonderful solo debut “Un ‘Sung Stories.'”Liberation Hall will be releasing these titles on November 3rd. “Mandatory” is the first compilation of the Blasters’ early best to include tracks from their “Rollin’ Rock” debut album. It was a special pleasure to write notes for Phil’s record, which never got the love it deserved when it was first released.
Both records will be available on CD and digitally, and Phil’s will also be re-released on LP. They can all be pre-ordered now on Bandcamp (https://liberationhall.bandcamp.com).
The 21-song set includes the band’s best-known tracks from their first four albums, alongside deep cuts and two songs originally featured on the soundtrack to director Walter Hill’s 1984 cult film, “Streets of Fire”. From the outset of their career, with such songs as “Marie Marie” to “Border Radio,” it was clear Grammy® winner Dave Alvin would be a songwriter to be reckoned with, and brother Phil brings an unparalleled knowledge of American roots music, giving the band a rock-solid musical foundation. “Mandatory’s” track list was chosen with the full cooperation of the band and will be available on CD and digital. Renowned music journalist Chris Morris has contributed new liner notes, calling “Mandatory” “a definitive sampling of the Blasters’ recorded work from their 1980-1985 heyday.”
releases November 3, 2023
The Blasters: Phil Alvin-Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica Dave Alvin-Lead Guitar John Bazz-Bass Bill Bateman-Drums Gene Taylor-Piano Lee Allen-Tenor Saxophone Steve Berlin-Baritone Saxophone
With special guests: The Jordanaires-Background Vocals (Track 15) Stan Lynch-Percussion (Track 16) David Hidalgo-Mandolin (Track 17) Larry Taylor-Stand Up Bass (Track 17) Richard Greene-Violin (Track 17) Herman Johnson & Bobby King-Background Vocals (Track 18)
In the summer of 1981 and the letters page in Smash Hits is preoccupied by a single topic. A correspondent from Kirkintilloch who signs herself Sexy Lexy wants “more colour pictures” of The Teardrop Explodes’ frontman Julian Cope. The overall message seemed clear. There are new teen idols in town, in the summer of 1981, if you had to take a punt on who would depose Adam and the Ants in adolescent affections, the smart money would go on The Teardrop Explodes.
Of course, it didn’t work out like that at all. As Head-On, Julian Cope’s incredible 1994 autobiography, makes clear, The Teardrop Explodes spent their brief commercial zenith – which begins with the release of the Top 10 single ‘Reward’ in January 1981 and ends when the Top 30 hit ‘Passionate Friend’ starts descending the charts in October – behaving not like gimlet-eyed, ambition-fuelled pop stars, but as if they were engaged in an experiment to see whether it was possible to navigate Top Of The Pops-sized fame while subsisting on a diet largely comprised of LSD. No spoilers, but it wasn’t.
One of the six CDs in this exhaustive box set is given over to a live recording from Liverpool’s Club Zoo – a couple of highlights appear on the 7LP vinyl version – recorded a grand total of three months after Sexy Lexy et al were pledging their undying troth in print. The venue is tiny, and – by all accounts – far from sold out. Among the performances lurks an 11-minute version of ‘Sleeping Gas’, during which an audibly frazzled Julian Cope barks like a dog, threatens to attack the audience and offers musical recommendations (“Mercenaries by John Cale – have you heard it?”) before lapsing into a lengthy silence during which, it becomes apparent, he has been gurning at the crowd: “the people at the front,” he announces, “have been witnessing a face solo”.
It’s meant as no slight on the pulchritude of Julian Cope – sexy voice, macho body and all – to say that, listening to the contents of “Culture Bunker”, you wonder how the world of Smash Hits ever became a consideration in the first place. As the first disc of early singles and b-sides underlines, The Teardrop Explodes started life purveying a spindly, trebly brand of post- punk. Their monochromatic sound feels very much a product of the late 70s – the lo-fi, cheap-studio quality of the original recordings amped up by the fact that the master tapes are clearly long-gone, and the tracks are dubbed from noticeably cracklier vinyl than that used for needle-drops on “Piano“, a 1990 compilation which highlights some of the same material – although something about it echoes the 60s as well: Cope’s well-elocuted vocals have an air of Syd Barrett to them, the needling organ recalls The Seeds, the titles of ‘Sleeping Gas’ and ‘Kirby Workers Dream Fades’ evocative of the garage-punk found on the Nuggets compilation and the first stirrings of British psychedelia respectively. You could see why a major label might have signed them, but as an albums act, aimed more at NME readers than Smash Hits. But with Mercury Records’ cash on the table, the organ was replaced with synthesizers and a brass section, and they dug into their skill for concise, bright pop songs – ‘When I Dream’, ‘Reward’ – consigning their weirder side to the b-sides: the cacophonous ‘Strange House In The Snow’; the fractured ‘Christ Vs. Warhol’.
Cope’s tousled good looks and aura of wide-eyed enthusiasm (“bless my cotton socks, I’m in the news!” opens ‘Reward’) did the rest. The problems with that situation were manifold. Cope had expected cult-dom, and the artistic freedom that entailed, and largely agreed with the Smash Hits correspondent who thought the screaming girls were “naff”: he went along with it for a while – largely, one suspects, to annoy his fellow travellers from Liverpool’s quite astonishingly bitchy and competitive music scene – but pop stardom, he waspishly opined in Head-On, was OK only “if you were into being adored by flat-chested premenstrual virgins”. And then there were the drugs. It’s not recorded whether Alan Gill, briefly The Teardrop Explodes guitarist, ever expressed regret for insisting the previously clean-living Cope smoke a joint during the recording of their debut album “Kilimanjaro”, an action that appeared to turn the frontman into a maniac overnight: “From Drug Puritan To Acid King“, as one CD in the box set is titled.
The ensuing madness Head-On details is stupidly, luridly entertaining: “every day, we would wake up, take acid, then ride to the studio on our imaginary horses,” opens one typical anecdote. In fact, it’s so stupidly, luridly entertaining, that it’s hard not to feel the stories of drugged lunacy have overshadowed The Teardrop Explodes’ actual music. It’s a situation “Culture Bunker” clearly seeks to redress, although it’s hard to imagine its six hours of singles, b-sides, demos, live performances, rough mixes and outtakes appealing to anyone who who isn’t already a fan of 1980’s “Kilimanjaro” or its more expansive flop follow-up “Wilder” (1981), which stirred into the mix angular avant-funk and two brilliant, epic ballads, ‘Tiny Children’ and ‘The Great Dominions’. The live recordings in particular are frequently so rough as to repel all but the most committed, which is a shame, as they’re both packed with otherwise-unheard songs – ‘The Tunnel’, ‘Straight Rain’, ‘Beauty Comes Second’, ‘Vox Clamantis In Deserto’ – and document a band who covered a lot of musical ground in a short space of time: from the frantic post-punk of two 1979 gigs to a more measured, pop-facing London performance in 1980, to the compelling madness of the Club Zoo shows a year later, where the songs from the “Wilder” era take on a far looser, noticeably stranger tone (there’s a particularly great version of ‘Colours Fly Away’ that sounds a lot closer to the humid, agitated funk of Talking Heads than the one they released as a single).
But for those with the time and the inclination, the sound of The Teardrop Explodes’ failed attempt to wrangle two opposing impulses, continued commercial success and drug-fuelled anything-goes experimentation, is endlessly intriguing, and a constant source of what-ifs? They throw away songs as good as ‘Soft Enough For You’ on B-sides. They come up with a glacially beautiful synth ballad, then call it ‘Flipped Out On LSD’. A February 1981 demo reveals they had a perfect follow-up to ‘Passionate Friend’ lurking around, but they never finished it, for reasons unknown: Julian Cope eventually did, and had a solo hit with ‘World Shut Your Mouth’ in 1986. The aborted 1982 sessions for their third album, eventually released in 1990 as “Everybody Wants To Shag The Teardrop Explodes”, were so disastrous they ended with drummer Gary Dwyer chasing guitarist/keyboard player Dave Balfe across farmland near Rockfield Studios with a loaded shotgun – perhaps understandably, the band spilt up shortly afterwards – but the rough sketches of songs on the final disc are great: a wracked take on ‘Serious Danger’, a different version of which made it onto the 1990 release, ‘Log Cabin’ and ‘Icarus 1’, neither of which did.
In the years after their demise, Cope took to painting The Teardrop Explodes’ swift decline from their brief moment of mainstream stardom as something inevitable and inbuilt: he was, he announced, on a “white male fuck-up” trip at the time. “I used to do outlandish, extreme things because that’s what my heroes would have done – the idea was that the accumulation of all my heroes would be one hell of a god to be,” he told one journalist. By ‘heroes’, he meant damaged psychedelic renegades like Syd Barrett, Jim Morrison and The Thirteenth Floor Elevators’ Roky Erickson: figures that burned out quickly in the 60s. Perhaps he’s right: the Smash Hits early 80s were probably not the most receptive climate for an acid-fuelled, wildly unpredictable pop star, no matter how sexily-spoken or macho-bodied. If the contents of “Culture Bunker” sometimes belie the popular image of The Teardrop Explodes – barely three years separate its earliest tracks from its latest, the musical distance between them seems an impossibly large area to traverse by the kind of drugged-out disaster area Head-On suggests they were – its unaccountable dead ends and missed opportunities do suggest the kind of muddled thinking that a vast quantity of hallucinogens might induce.
“Culture Bunker” isn’t the perfect introduction to the Teardrop Explodes – the uninitiated or curious would be better off buying “Kilimanjaro” and “Wilder” – nor the last word on them: it’s clearly intended as a companion to those albums, and “Everybody Wants To Shag…,” aimed squarely at the devotees. But its lovely packaging (matching sleeves, authoritative notes by their former press officer Mick Houghton) conceals six hours of music that’s variously chaotic, exploratory, commercial, wilfully alienating and a bit of a mess, but is liberally studded with incredible songs and fantastic ideas that don’t always get off the ground. In that sense, it’s The Teardrop Explodes all over.
The 6CD & 7LP “Culture Bunker 1978-1982” sets compile all the band’s singles and B-Sides as well as 4 discs/5 LPs of unreleased studio out-takes, a wealth of unheard live recordings and several tracks taken from ‘Zoology’, the Teardrop Explodes compilation that Cope released himself in 2004.
“Culture Bunker 1978-1982″ released via Universal Music Recordings.
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. The 3-LP + 7″ Set is 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.
One of the most distinctive records of the early alternative movement and an enduring cult classic, Violent Femmes weds the geeky, child-man persona of Jonathan Richman and the tense, jittery, hyperactive feel of new wave in an unlikely context: raw, amateurish acoustic folk-rock. The music also owes something to the Modern Lovers’ minimalism, but powered by Brian Ritchie’s busy acoustic bass riffing and the urgency and wild abandon of punk rock, the Violent Femmes forged a sound all their own
Still, the main reason Violent Femmes became the preferred soundtrack for the lives of many an angst-ridden teenager is lead singer and songwriter Gordon Gano.
Naive and childish one minute, bitterly frustrated and rebellious the next, Gano’s vocals perfectly captured the contradictions of adolescence and the difficulties of making the transition to adulthood.
Clever lyrical flourishes didn’t hurt either; while “Blister In the Sun” has deservedly become a standard, “Kiss Off”‘s chant-along “count-up” section, “Add It Up”‘ escalating “Why can’t I get just one…” couplets, and “Gimme the Car” profanity-obscuring guitar bends ensured that Gano’s intensely vulnerable confessions of despair and maladjustment came off as catchy and humorous as well.
Even if the songwriting slips a bit on occasion, Gano’s personality keeps the music engaging and compelling without overindulging in his seemingly willful naiveté.
Reflecting on the album’s 40th anniversary, bassist Brian Ritchie shares: “I am frequently stopped on the street by people who tell me, ‘Your album changed my life,’ or some variant. I don’t have to ask, ‘Which album?’ because it is implied that they’re talking about the first one. The uncanny thing is that these people range from early teens to septuagenarians, and they all have the same testimony.”
Ritchie adds, “Sometimes music is more than just a pleasing sound that entertains. It takes on greater meaning. Multiple generations have found the songs to be relevant in their life situations. Some people say they had sex for the first time listening to it (which I find appalling but whatever) and someone even said, ‘I was conceived to your music.’ Wow.”
Includes the classic anthems “Blister in the Sun,” “Please Do Not Go,” “Gone Daddy Gone,” and “Add It Up.”
Now six records deep into a tenure that began in 2012, Ben McLeod (guitarist), Charles Michael Parks, Jr. (bass/vocals), Robby Staebler (drums) and Allan Van Cleave (keys) are unremittingly forward-looking. They have deep musical roots and grow a heavy, visceral sound, with sheer dexterity delivered in every song. There is a ferocious energy and rhythmic nuance to their sound — which features devastating guitar riffs in a raw blend of progressive, bluesy, neo-psychedelic rock. All Them Witches’ most recent record was recorded in Abbey Road and released in 2020.
They have relentlessly toured since inception, performing at festivals including Voodoo Music & Arts, Bonnaroo, Forecastle Festival and Pukkelpop; while also sharing tours with acts such as Mastodon, Ghost and Primus. They continue to hone their unique meld of crafted song writing and spacious grooves on the road with tour dates throughout North America, the U.K. and Europe.”
On their new album, ‘Baker ́s Dozen’, take you on their intoxicating trip in 13 songs. A trip in which everything happens. One moment you can hear solid, stoner rock-leaning riffs, blues in a brooding way, Pink Floyd-like psychedelic rock, hypnotic Krautrock and even country.
Ben McLeod (guitar), Charles Michael Parks, Jr. (bass, vocals), Robby Staebler (drums) and Allan Van Cleaves (keyboards) start with the slow blues, “Blacksnake Blues”. A brooding song with viciously biting guitar work by Ben McLeod and Ray Manzarek-like organ sounds by Allan Van Cleave.
The next song, “Fall Into Space”, is clearly heading in the psychedelic Pink Floyd direction. Then it’s time for the grimly fuzzy “Silver To Rust” in which a psychedelic Stoner sound is mixed with dreamy psychedelics. The dark “Acid Face” lives up to its title in intoxicatingly almost Amon Düül-like song. “6969 WXL The Cage” is a bizarre, wry introduction to the very dark and oppressive radio station of the same name. Designed in a very heavy thumping kind of psychedelic techno sound.
“Tiger’s Pit” is a high-fuzz song followed by the dreamy psychedelics of “Tour Death Song“.
In “Mama Is A Shining Star”, intoxicatingly beautiful ambient sounds pop up and in the dreamy closing track of the album, “Real Hippies Are Cowboys”, a steel guitar provides the psychedelic country rock atmosphere. With this album, All Them Witches proves once again that it is a very versatile, but always intoxicating band!
All Them Witches is a Psychedelic Stoner Rock band hailing from Nashville, Tennessee. With their unique blend of heavy riffs, hypnotic grooves, and mind-bending lyrics, they have established themselves as one of the most exciting and innovative bands in the genre.
All Them Witches quickly gained a dedicated following with their electrifying live performances and critically acclaimed albums. Their music takes listeners on a sonic journey through space and time, drawing inspiration from classic rock, blues, and psychedelic influences.
With each release, All Them Witches pushes the boundaries of what can be achieved within the realm of stoner rock. Their raw energy combined with intricate musicianship creates an immersive experience that captivates audiences around the world. Whether you’re a fan of heavy riffs or searching for thought-provoking lyrics, All Them Witches delivers it all with their signature style.
The Fat Angel Sings 