The Fat Angel Sings

The latest record from Los Angeles singer/songwriter Blue Broderick who performs as Diners is set to be one of the best, if not the absolute best, rock records of 2023. Teased by singles “The Power,” “Domino” and “Someday I’ll Go Surfing,” “Domino” is a beautiful amalgam of everything that made power-pop chart-topping and accessible in the 1960s. But the sound doesn’t stop there for Diners, as the record is a lesson on shredding with a modern imprint. Broderick is one of the best singer/songwriters working today, and her finesse and penmanship on “Domino”. From beginning to end, there are no fractures. It’s a record glossed over with an immense bubblegum foundation hiding a dream-pop skeleton that’s shining inside.

All songs written by Blue Broderick.
Produced by Mo Troper.

Musicians:
Blue Broderick – lead vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboard, percussion, vocal harmonies
Mo Troper – drums, bass, guitar, percussion, vocal harmonies
Brenden Ramirez – guitar, vocal harmonies

Bar None Records Released on: 2023-06-27

For some time now, Portland Oregon’s music community has had a thread running through it with a good number of roots-country ensembles taking inspiration from the brooding soundtracks of Ennio Morricone, the punk-y reach of the Gun Club and the spacious production work of folks like Daniel Lanois and Mitchell Froom. With all due respect to the other artists that fit that bill, no one is doing it better these days than Roselit Bone. Led by singer / songwriter Charlotte McCaslin, the band brings a rawness and dusky wonder that so many of their compatriots are missing.

The group has reached another peak with the release of “Ofrenda”. McCaslin’s songs have the pointed power of an Elmore Leonard novel with their vibrant imagery and plainspokenness. She leaves it to the band to add the texture and subtext. They bring the dusty barroom vibe necessary to evoke the wit, sorrow and bloodthirst of McCaslin’s well-drawn characters that are often in desperate situations.

After more than five years in the making, the band are thrilled to finally share with you our 4th full-length record, “Ofrenda”, out now on all streaming services and available for purchase through Get Loud Recordings or Bandcamp.

Band members past and present who contributed to these songs include Brian Crace, Ben Dahmes, Charlotte McCaslin, Faith Grossnicklaus, Joe Benassi, John England-fisher, Jordan Vale, Nate Lown, Tobias Berblinger, and Victor Franco. And we are so appreciative of the work that our newest band members Amelie Diáz and Russ London are putting in to promote the album.

From the album “Ofrenda”, out August 25th, 2023. on Get Loud Recordings.

There are plenty of stories swirling around the making of the third album by indie rock trio William The Conqueror. The inexplicable wonder of the creative process is part of it as singer / songwriter Ruarri Joseph describes the spontaneous nature of one track “The Bruises” as “It wasn’t, and all of the sudden, it was.” And there’s, of course, the pandemic that put the band on pause. Joseph watched his wife, a mental health worker, struggle as she helped folks through the early fraught period of the lockdowns. Joseph apparently was so inspired by her efforts that he became a care worker for a while. All of that clearly fed into this LP as it is blessedly free of the overly worked over, focus group-led sound of much of the indie world these days and glows with an empathic spirit even as Joseph, bassist Naomi Holmes and various guests sing of personal struggles and joys.

Their music has long filled a void in a British pop world that is too often taken over by legacy acts and snotty newcomers. They are seeding a rich ground that will hopefully sprout more thoughtful, tuneful acts of their ilk.

William The Conqueror’s fourth album finds the indie-rock trio firing on all cylinders as frontman Ruarri Joseph confronts the thin line between creativity and madness, inspired by compassion for the real life angels of the world. Produced by the band in a playground of vintage gear and mixed by Barny Barnicott (Arctic Monkeys, Sam Fender, Kasabian), the resulting album’s ten tracks marry earworm tunes with insistent, imperious, soaring rock shapes, punctuated by chorus hooks that are simultaneously nuanced and anthemic. Joseph’s compelling semi-spoken vocals and swamp-blues-Seattle-scuzz guitars are propelled by the rhythm section of Naomi Holmes (bass) and Harry Harding (drums) as “Excuse Me While I Vanish” delivers an effortlessly winning blend of melody and ensemble dynamics, the most accomplished and undeniable William The Conqueror album to date

From the album ‘Excuse Me While I Vanish’ out now

“Evicted,” the lead single from Wilco’s forthcoming album “Cousin”, is the band at their folksiest and most desperate. In typical fashion, a warm, thrumming guitar underlies his imploring twang, a summoning song for a love that, for the band, seems always just out of reach. Nels Cline’s ever-impeccable guitar sparkles in hypnotic, swaying loops as Jeff Tweedy layers familiarly over him, but synths and 12-strings carry the tune in new musical directions. “Am I ever going to see you again?” he croons, the eternal question which promises to encircle “Cousin“. Instrumental influence from producer Cate Le Bon’s glimmering, electric vault provides a modernist twist for the iconic folk stars. “Evicted” explores the strained, persistent human connections of a fractured world, the ever-intertwining relations we can’t ignore despite our best efforts

New album ‘Cousin’ out September 29th

So, how to proceed? Travis Harrington asks on the final track of “Running From the Chase”, the commanding new album from Truth Club. How do you move forward when the present moment is rife with mounting challenges — when you’re caught between the weight of the past and the uncertainty of the future? “Running From the Chase” was written in part through a time of intense personal hardship for Harrington, but it was through these struggles he and his bandmates gained a deeper appreciation of the power of their shared creative endeavor, both the cathartic release found in the dynamic squall of their music and in the friendships forged by this communal pursuit. Their album doesn’t have an easy answer to Harrington’s searching question, but under these songs’ bruising exteriors, you can hear the sound of a band looking towards one another to learn how to move forward.

Truth Club’s “Exit Cycle” features Indigo De Souza, and that’s not even the best thing about it. Rhythmically concentric, the song loops in and around itself as world-weary vocals and low-frequency guitars create a sneakily propulsive sonic landscape. The tune is ruminative and exhausted, even funereal at times. It bathes in unanswered questions and uncertain pauses, floating on sweetly haunting backing vocals which hint to set the scene for the band’s second LP, “Running From The Chase”, which is set to arrive later this fall.

Throughout “Running From the Chase” — whose title alludes to the need to balance one’s individual desires with external expectations and pressures — Harrington’s lyrics plunge into despair and frustration, confronting possibilities with a hint of hope and a strong undercurrent of dejection. The result is an album that’s sweeping and sophisticated, balancing considered introspection with a stunning, newly expanded sound.

From Truth Club’s “Running From the Chase“, out October 6th, 2023 via Double Double Whammy

A cut from Squirrel Flower’s forthcoming album “Tomorrow’s Fire”, “Alley Light” conjures flickers of Springsteen-like storytelling and Heartland-inspired melodies. “She says she wants to go far, outta town in my beat up car,” vocalist Ella Williams intones, from the POV of an unlucky guy in a near-crumbled relationship. “Will she find another man who can take her there, when my drive burns out?” It’s a huge, exciting turn for Squirrel Flower and is so well-constructed that it quickly expands the band’s own universe.

Like some of the best songs that long for healing and ache with fear of change, “Alley Light” is a song that, in Williams’ own words, is about “the man in me, or a man who I love, or a man who is a stranger to me.” That type of curiosity buoys the song into the echelons of cruise-worthy summer gems.

 ‘Tomorrow’s Fire’ is out October 13th!!! 

Slaughter Beach, Dog’s newest single has a perfect twang to it, a sort of open-road, yeehaw sadness. No wonder: Vocalist Jake Ewald nods to legendary folkster Townes Van Zandt in the tune’s first verse. It’s perfect sad-man music, resigned and calm with a razor’s edge of melancholia. It’s grounded and wishful, full of whispy soprano harmonies and whiskey-drenched guitar riffs. An old feeling pervades it, as though it’s a cover of a song from a long, long time ago.

The group’s new LP, “Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling” is out this autumn, and it promises to hold more of the alt-rock bent that Slaughter Beach, Dog has turned towards so far this summer.

the album ‘Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling’ out September 22nd on Lame-O Records.

“Morning Zoo” is the post-country masterpiece that will surely become a definitive track of 2023 when it’s all said and done. The violin that Abby Gundersen injects into the instrumental is mesmerizing and unreal, and it perfectly compliments vocalist Julia Steiner’s twangy, precise and zoomed-in vocals—as she examines her own anxieties and the weight of being in a band at a time when it’s becoming harder and harder to find successful longevity. “How long does it take to find the peace that I want?” she sings. “And how long must I wait to decide that it’s over? Well, I don’t know.” Though it juxtaposes greatly with the epic, mountainous unfurling of “Black Earth, Wi,” “Morning Zoo” glitters just as brightly, perhaps even more so.

“Morning Zoo” is taken from Ratboys’ ‘The Window’, out August 25 via Topshelf Records

It has actually been proven scientifically impossible for Slow Pulp to make a bad song thier new Exhibit A: “Broadview.” The band’s latest tune, from their forthcoming sophomore album “Yard”, features vocalist Emily Massey’s soulful lilt with quiet, purring instrumentals—whose constant thrum adds a weary, satisfied calm to the song’s full-bodied emotions. Massey describes it as a love tune after a long, dark period of hurt, that first impossible dip back into vulnerability. Steady drums and rich acoustic sound add a gravity that keeps the song’s feet on the ground, even as electric guitars and harmonicas float it into the ether. Massey’s vocals are as impressive as ever, and her charisma and power envelop the song’s lyricism in a soothing, shimmery air.

Teddy Mathews – Drums, auxiliary percussion, bass, guitar Alex Leeds – Bass, guitar, vocals Emily Massey – Vocals, guitar, bass Henry Stoehr – Guitar, piano, keyboards, bass, auxiliary percussion Willie Christianson – Harmonica, banjo Peter Briggs – Pedal steel

Written by Henry Stoehr, Emily Massey, Alex Leeds and Teddy Mathews

from the album ‘Yard’, available September 29th

Last month, MJ Lenderman released one of the song’s of the summer, “Rudolph.” Cut to a few days ago, and the Asheville singer/songwriter is giving his own accolade a run for its money with “Knockin.” The track is a perennial live show favorite that appeared on his 2021 EP of the same name but, this time around, it’s a hi-fi update of a not-so-new song, and it’s just as good as anything Lenderman has made, maybe better—depending on who you ask. “Knockin” is a blistering country-rock stunner that puts one thing at the center of attention: Lenderman’s uncanny ability to absolutely shred. With Xandy Chelmis’ pedal steel and a mountain of percussion backing him up, “Knockin” takes on a life of its own.

Lenderman’s lyricism is at an 11 here, too, as he makes a play on Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” while keeping up his trademark fusion of earnestness and poetic humor. “Loneliness is simple, not much else is,” he waxes. “Her love for me is real, she gives me what she has to give. She gave me wings and I caught blight.

MJ Lenderman – guitar, bass, drums, vocals Xandy Chelmis – pedal steel, back-up vocals Ethan Baechtold – bass, piano

“Knockin (Single Version)” by MJ Lenderman out now on ANTI- Records