The Fat Angel Sings

Jack White Electrifies With New Songs ‘Derecho Demonico’ & ‘G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs’ on ‘SNL’: The Detroit rocker returned as musical guest alongside host Jack Black on April 4th.

After making a cameo in a star-studded monologue alongside host Jack Black, the 50-year-old Detroit rocker took the stage to deliver two just-released, electrifying tracks: For his first performance, White appeared on a blue-lit stage stacked with wooden crates and a white statue featuring a glass skeleton head, performing “Derecho Demonico” with a backing band. Later in the show, he returned wearing a jacket emblazoned with a NASA logo — likely a nod to the recently launched, moon-bound Artemis II mission — to deliver the feral “G.O.D. and the Broken Ribs.

“Well, it’s the beginning of the world now/ And there’s nobody left… Let’s start again… Let’s do it all over again,” the artist sings on the track.

During the opening monologue, White joined in for a surprise performance of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” The segment also featured host Black alongside several returning members of the show’s Five-Timers Club, including Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, Candice Bergen and Melissa McCarthy.

Saturday’s episode marked Black’s fifth time hosting, while White served as the musical guest for the the sixth time, including his SNL debut with the White Stripes in 2002.

Musical guest Jack White performs “G.O.D. And The Broken Ribs” on Saturday Night Live.

Both tracks have been produced by White with backing from his longtime live band, Patrick Keeler (drums), Dominic Davis (bass) and Bobby Emmet (keys).

The songs are released ahead of his sixth appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend – with host, Jack Black.

Both are available now via Third Man Records at all DSPs and streaming services. A limited-edition Tri-Color and Black 7” vinyl will go on sale on April 4th at thirdmanrecords.com and Third Man shops in Nashville, Detroit and London.

The Lemon Twigs’ two previous Captured Tracks albums, “A Dream Is All We Know” (2024) and “Everything Harmony” (2023), certainly indicated something of a ground zero in their then five album career. “It was the beginning of making records that we would listen to ourselves,” says Michael D’Addario, the younger Twig brother, now aged 26. By the time of “A Dream Is All We Know” and the future Michael classic, “My Golden Years”, The Lemon Twigs’ new era had truly begun. And now comes the third Lemon Twigs album for Captured Tracks, “Look For Your Mind!“, which, underneath its poppy exterior, contains an undercurrent of paranoia and suspicion.

Opening with title track, “Look For Your Mind”, a jangly Michael number, the listener is introduced to the guitar-driven harmony sound that is the cantering theme of the album. Much of what was achieved on “A Dream Is All We Know” is here, just more laser focused.

It’s classic Twigs, indebted to the golden age of guitar pop, but in no way slavish.

New to this album is the inclusion of live Twigs Reza Matin (drums) and Danny Ayala (bass), as well as Eva Chambers of Tchotchke, to the rhythm section. With the brothers previously having handled everything in the studio themselves, this shows a new-found sense of freedom. 

“Gather Round” is one of “Look For Your Mind!’s” bigger productions. A Brian song with joyous orchestrations, it feels like a turn of the century campaign song. The writer is looking for an uncorrupted leader, but resolves that collective action is the only way forward. Musically, it’s ornate and delightfully 1967, but the mood and sentiment is distinctly 2026. “Every time we try to write something that’s completely straightforward, we can’t help adding an element which comes out of left field.” explains Brian.

Brian’s “Fire And Gold” starts off with a ringing power pop riff before turning everything inside out. It’s also the first song on the album to feature the powerhouse drummer, Reza Matin, whom the brothers favourably compare to Big Star’s Jody Stephens, The Raspberries’ Jim Bonfanti, and The Move’s Bev Bevan.

Closing side one on the vinyl record is Michael’s beautiful ballad, “Mean To Me”, with vocals The Beach Boys would be happy to have committed to wax 60 years ago, care of Michael, Brian and Danny.

The closer of the second side, “Your True Enemy”, completely throws a spanner in the works. “We at first approached the song as a simple rock arrangement, but it didn’t fit the moodiness of the lyric,” states Brian. “So that’s when we started to get more experimental.”

The Lemon Twigs have shared a new track, “2 or 3”, the latest taster for Michael and Brian D’Addario’s recently announced new album, “Look For Your Mind!, due May 8th on Captured Tracks.

Brian says “we played for the first time in Buenos Aires last year and I woke up the next morning having dreamt the chorus. It’s a rare thing for me and even rarer that I end up remembering the words. I had to interpret what ‘She’s lived 2 or 3 as many lives as me’ meant. It made me think of a guy who wasn’t cultured or worldly enough for his girlfriend and had to pretend to be interested in fine art and history.”

The Lemon Twigs sixth studio album may at first seem like a direct continuation of the previous two, but it is also a lot more, with nods to the earlier records, a new found collective spirit, and most importantly great songwriting.

Largely self-produced, with assistance from bassist Adam Langellotti, keyboard player Matthew Jugenheimer, drummer Kyle Spence, guitarist Jesse Trbovrich and longtime Violators producer Rob Schnapf.

Says Vile, “Chance to bleed” is some new kinda higher energy rager. Recorded with my band of bros the Violators in Athens, GA… and then on down the road to Memphis, TN where we got town legend Greg Cartwright to rip with us (KV lead gtr on the left and Greg lead on the right!) I finished this jam out in L.A. with Rob Schnapf at the mixing board and by then it was flyin, baby. The video is a hoot: I invited my Memphis friends back out for that and there’re a ton of other legendary guests so keep your eyes peeled. (Yo, Schoolly D!) Love, KV

Listen to Kurt Vile’s new single, “Chance To Bleed”

It’s taken from his upcoming album, “Philadelphia’s been good to me”  released May 29 via Verve Records.

Angine de Poitrine are inescapable right now. They’re a Canadian duo who have been catapulted to viral success after a KEXP session recorded at the 48th edition of the Trans Musicales festival in Rennes, France.

Everyone was struck by their visual aesthetic and the sonic carnival on show – two clearly talented musicians wearing oversized papier-mâché masks and polka-dotted costumes, jamming to dissonant rock.

One has long noodly hair, a Pinocchio nose,plays a double-necked guitar, and looks like they’ve been struck from above by an inverted white pyramid. The other appears to be the bastard lovechild of a dalmatian and the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

What we know for sure is that Angine de Poitrine are from Quebec and formed in 2019 as a joke. They use the pseudonyms Klek de Poitrine (the knight on drums) and Khn de Poitrine (the guitar and bass prodigy). Their first album, ‘Vol.1’ was released in 2024; their self-released ‘Vol.II’ just dropped at the beginning of April. They label themselves as “space-time voyagers” who form a “mantra-rock, Dadaist, Pythagorean-Cubist orchestra”.

Now, there’s a niche. Incidentally, ‘Angine de Poitrine’ literally translates to ‘angina of the chest’, and if you are experiencing some really painful chest pain caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle, treat it with the seriousness it deserves. Rest up and seek professional help. Your doctor should prescribe you some nitroglycerin for the symptoms.

Their songs are largely instrumental compositions, a form of math rock which boasts layered loops, strange time signatures, funky grooves, some Middle Eastern influences, and enough verve to make King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard devotees stand to attention like roused meerkats.

More than that, it’s fun. If you needed a Rock God seal of approval, it came courtesy of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, who has been won over by the off-kilter charms of Angine de Poitrine, describing them as “completely bonkers”.

Grohl was full of praise for Angine, whipping out his smartphone at one point to share a video of the duo.

Angine de Poitrine performing live at ESMA in Rennes, France, during Trans Musicales 2025. Recorded December 04, 2025.

Songs: Sarniezz 00:32 Mata Zyklek 06:10 Fabienk 13:09 Sherpa 20:33 Khn de Poitrine – Microtonal Guitars Klek de Poitrine – Drums

Can rock’n’roll change the world? Jon Spencer says Yes. Mr. Blues Explosion is still lighting the torches and ringing the bells, singing and preaching from the rooftops, live on the world stage, on the airwaves, via satellite, and right here, right now, on a brand new record: “Songs Of Personal Loss And Protest”.

“I’m in a time of spiritual reckoning,” Jon confides. “These past few years, there has been a lot of emotional conflict and personal loss — the passing of time takes its toll. Losing friends, losing family, and all of this set against a world gone topsy turvy, where it feels like we are losing basic freedoms… I’m trying to balance a lot of things, but the answer is always rock ‘n’ roll.”

Across twelve brand new songs, Jon tears his heart out singing songs torn from the front page and beyond: futuristic power blues and garage-punk explosionisms about the nausea and paranoia delivered by a reality show president, and the power and resilience it takes to rebel. It is all deeply personal — the fight to create and live and push back against the dark forces — but he never loses sight that we’re all in this together.

“Rock’n’roll is America’s true gift to the world — the sound of revolution! It came out of the sky, a screaming, chrome-plated flying saucer, like an outer space monster, landed here on Earth so the freaks could have their say. It is the hip-shaking sound of rebellion. The blues is my bible, rock’n’roll is our battle cry!”

“Songs Of Personal Loss And Protest” was recorded with Jon’s super-powered touring band, and if you’ve been lucky enough to see them in the past few years — they’ve been playing non-stop, destroying audiences from Akron to Osaka, from San Jose to Santiago – then you know that Jon is still fronting the world’s greatest rock’n’roll live show: rama-la soul-shaking set for stun, sweat-soaked, and ultimately, beautifully, uplifting.

Picking up where 2024’s mini–LP Sick Of Being Sick left off, Jon tears it up with Spider Bowman on drums and Kendall Wind on bass (also famously the rhythm section of Woodstock’s punk powerhouse, The Bobby Lees). They deliver hyper-driven soul and powerhouse groove, beats hard as diamonds and slick as ice, fuzz bass in your face, and an avalanche of uncontrollable urges, pushing Jon’s latest outbursts — hollering, drooling, sexified crooning, and vociferously lamenting these difficult times — to new levels of rock’n’roll expressionism. 

For over forty years, Jon Spencer has been an innovative force in the independent music scene. An acclaimed live performer, he has amassed a dizzying, disruptive discography as the leader of Pussy Galore, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Heavy Trash, and Jon Spencer & the HITmakers, as well as with Boss Hog, The Honeymoon Killers, Gibson Brothers, and Taxidermy Girls.

“Knock ‘Em Out” is off “Songs Of Personal Loss And Protest.” set for release June 12th on vinyl, CD (with bonus tracks), via Shove Records, Bronze Rat Records in the EU/UK,

The Beach Boys have announced a series of releases to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their landmark album “Pet Sounds“, due in May.

The sets include the vinyl debut of tracks previously available on 1997’s Pet Sounds Sessions box set; two vinyl releases aimed at audiophiles and a single-disc zoetrope vinyl pressing.

Pet Sounds – 60th anniversary releases:

• Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights (2CD or 2LP) – 25 alternate takes, a cappellas, and tracking sessions previously released on “The Pet Sounds Sessions“. The 2LP set is available on either black or white/green splatter vinyl. All formats include new liner notes by Howie Edelson and a detailed sessionography
• Vinylphyle Edition (2LP) – Disc one features “Pet Sounds” in mono, cut from the original 1966 assembled master reel. Disc two features Mark Linett’s 1996 stereo mix, overseen by Brian Wilson. Gatefold tip-on jacket and four-panel insert including Howie Edelson’s liner notes. Initial pressing of 3,000 copies, pressed at RTI on 180g black vinyl
• Definitive Sound Series edition (LP) – Pressed at RTI on Neotech VR900 D2 180g vinyl, cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering from “rarely used” circa-1972 original analogue tapes. Limited to 6,000 individually numbered copies. Each copy includes a certificate of authenticity documenting the mastering, plating, and pressing process
• Zoetrope vinyl (LP) – Original album, unconfirmed whether it’s in mono or stereo. Textured sleeve.

Though completists will feel duty-bound to collect the new editions, anybody who already has either The Pet Sounds Sessions or the 40th/50th anniversary editions will probably feel underwhelmed by the announcement. While the vaults are presumably empty, the decision to duplicate a track on both discs of the sessions set (the a cappella ‘I’m Waiting For The Day’) is baffling. Meanwhile, considering the Giles Martin Dolby Atmos Mix is out there, many might have felt its inclusion on a Blu-ray was an open goal. There will also be a digital release of the full 90-track Pet Sounds Sessions box set.

The Pet Sounds anniversary editions will be released on 15th May via Capitol/UMe.

“I figure no one is educated musically ‘til they’ve heard “Pet Sounds”,” Paul McCartney once said of The Beach Boys’ classic, released nearly 60 years ago on May 16th, 1966. George Martin concurred: “Without “Pet Sounds”, Sgt. Pepper wouldn’t have happened.” Brian Wilson poured his musical heart into the album’s thirteen tracks; in less than thirty-five minutes, the composer-arranger-singer-producer and his bandmates Mike Love, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston delivered an entire spectrum of emotions in a song cycle of striking beauty and sensitivity. 

“Pet Sounds” may initially have been conceived by Wilson as an answer to The Beatles’ Rubber Soul, but it functions as an elegy to lost innocence (“Caroline, No”), a hope for the promise of brighter days ahead (“Wouldn’t It Be Nice”), and an expression of one young man’s innermost soul laid bare (“I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times,” “That’s Not Me,” “You Still Believe in Me”) in such a way that it was universal. Not to mention that it just might have the greatest pop love song ever written (“God Only Knows”) which begins with a shocking lyrical conceit: “I may not always love you…” Wilson and lyricist Tony Asher captured the zeitgeist on “Pet Sounds“, and every few years has brought another reissue of the album which initially was ahead of its time. 

Naturally, Pet Sounds’ 60th isn’t going unnoticed by the team at Capitol Records and UMe.  On Friday, May 15th, 2026 – nearly 60 years to the day the album first reached stores in 1966 – the labels will celebrate Pet Sounds with a variety of new titles.  The original album will see two new reissues:

• A new 2LP entry to UMe’s Vinylphyle series is pressed at RTI on 180-gram black vinyl and cut from original mono (1966) and stereo (1996) tapes by Joe Nino-Hernes at Sterling Sound. The two LPs are housed in protective poly sleeves within a tip-on jacket; a four-panel insert contains Howie Edelson’s new liner notes.
• A new 1LP mono edition in Interscope-Capitol’s Definitive Sound Series (DSS) using the One Step process. This version is pressed at RTI on Neotech VR900 D2 180-gram vinyl, with AAA [All Analog Mastering] cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering from rarely used circa-1972 analog tapes from the notable Brother Records pressing. This version is limited to 6,000 individually numbered copies, and each copy includes a certificate of authenticity documenting the mastering, plating, and pressing process.
• A “Zoetrope” vinyl edition of the original 1966 mono album.

In addition, Capitol/UMe will revisit the landmark 1997 box set The Pet Sounds Sessions in new “highlights” editions, available on both 2 CDs and 2 LPs.  The original 4CD box set included the new, first-time stereo mix of the album; the original mono mix; session material; Stack-o-Vocals a cappella mixes; and alternate versions of the album’s songs.  The new “highlights” version samples 25 tracks from the original box (all new to vinyl) and adds Howie Edelson’s new liner notes.  (Note that the vocals-only track of “I’m Waiting for the Day” is included on both CDs and LPs.)  The vinyl version is pressed on white and green splatter LP.  Note that all of the material on this new collection is reprised from the original box set, which will arrive in full on digital platforms on May 15th.

All of these formats are due May 15th.

Everything But The Girl have announced expanded CD editions of two of their key albums – their 1984 debut “Eden” and the million-selling “Amplified Heart” (1994) – for release this April.

Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt met while studying at the University of Hull in 1981. Thorn had already formed the DIY post-punk group Marine Girls and recorded their beloved debut album “Beach Party“. Meanwhile, experimental singer-songwriter Watt’s debut single – ‘Cant’, produced by Kevin Coyne – was released that year on Cherry Red. The pair started a side project, Everything But The Girl, and released their first EP, ‘Night And Day’ (led by a cover of the Cole Porter standard) in 1982.

After a couple of years pursuing their respective solo projects, Thorn and Watt came together again in 1984 for their debut full-length, “Eden“, a timeless set of plaintive bossa nova (No 28 single ‘Each And Every One’), shimmering indie-pop (‘Another Bridge’), wee-small-hours jazz (‘Crabwalk’) and more.

Fast-forward a decade and the pair’s seventh album, “Amplified Heart“, documented the aftermath of Watt’s near-death experience with the rare autoimmune disease Churg-Strauss syndrome.

The album’s frank and raw explorations of love and relationships were set to a stripped-back, folk-rock sound (Danny Thompson was on bass; Richard Thompson guested on lead guitar on ‘25th December’), flecked with subtle electronic flourishes. On release, “Amplified Heart” struggled to make an impact and EBTG looked set to be dropped by their label. But when the album’s second single, ‘Missing’ was remixed by house producer Todd Terry, it became a worldwide hit (No 3 in the UK, No 2 in the US), giving “Amplified Heart” a new lease of life and the band belated mainstream success.

For these new reissues, “Eden” and “Amplified Heart” have not been remastered they use the same Miles Showell mastering from the previous reissues. In terms of bonus tracks, the contents are similar to the increasingly pricey reissues from the early 2010s Edsel campaign, with slight differences.

The new-look, single CD “Eden” includes all of the B-sides and home demos from its 2012 reissue but omits the four BBC session tracks and adds their 1983 version of The Jam’s ‘English Rose’, originally recorded for the NME’s Racket Packet cassette.

Meanwhile, “Amplified Heart” is a 2CD set which, again, includes the B-sides and demos from its previous expanded reissue. It also includes two live tracks which appeared on that 2013 set – ‘Walking To You’ and ‘25th December’, both recorded at a 1994 Toronto gig – but appears to feature a further three previously unreleased live tracks. And while the 2013 set added four remixes of ‘Missing’, the new set only includes two but adds a ‘Rollercoaster’ remix.

Both reissues will come in six-panel digisleeve packaging and will include a 20-page booklet and are released on 3rd April 2026 via Chrysalis.

Jethro Tull’s “Under Wraps: The Unwrapped Edition” brings together the band’s 1984 album and Ian Anderson’s 1983 debut solo album, “Walk Into Light”. they will release Under Wraps: The Unwrapped Edition on May 15 through Chrysalis Records. The new six-disc set .

The 5CD and Blu-Ray set has been overseen by Ian Anderson and includes both original albums, which have been extensively remixed twice by The Pineapple Thief’s Bruce Soord in 2026 Drums and Original Drums remixes. The discs also include associated recordings from that period, while the fifth CD is a live recording from a BBC Radio 1 concert at The Hammersmith Odeon in 1984 and the Blu-Ray contains stereo and DOLBY ATMOS mixes, along with promo videos from the era. The set comes complete with a 100-page book offering an extensive article on the making of the records.

Both albums saw Anderson embracoing cutting edge (for the time) technology, with increased use of synthesisers and drum machines, a musical move that had begun with 1980’s “A” and 1982’s “The Broadsword And The Beast“, a move that didn’t always sit well with Tull’s fanbase.

“We wanted to do something completely different with “Under Wraps,” Anderson explains. “It was about exploring the technology of the time and seeing how far we could push our sound into new territories. It was an experiment, and not everyone was ready for that kind of change from Jethro Tull.”

“Under Wraps” threw Tull fans a curveball on release with its embrace of the electronic sounds of the day and synthetic production. It was also the first Tull album since “This Was” that wasn’t mostly written by Anderson alone, with keyboardist Peter-John Vettese credited on seven of the songs. But for fans who’d heard Anderson’s first solo album, “Walk Into Light (which featured five Vettese co-writes), the synth textures of “Under Wraps” felt like a natural progression. Meanwhile, Ian Anderson’s lyrics reflected his fascination with Cold war spy novels, rooting the songs firmly in the early ’80s.

Jethro Tull’s latest tour of the UK starts later this month sees the band touring throughout April and May.

In a note to fans, Bono says that this second surprise EP is not going to delay the arrival of the band’s album.

“We are in the studio, still working towards a noisy, messy, ‘unreasonably colourful’ album to play LIVE… which is where U2 lives. We still look to vivid rock n roll as an act of resistance against all this awfulness on our small screens. These are for sure ‘wilderness years’ for so many of us looking at the mayhem out there in the world.”

‘It’s a time that has our band digging deeper into our lives to find a wellspring of songs to try meet the moment… With “Easter Lily” we ended up asking very personal questions like: Are our own relationships up to these challenging times? How hard do you fight for friendship? Can our faith survive the mangling of meaning that those algorithms love to reward? Is all religion rubbish and still ripping us apart…? Or are there answers to find in its crevices? Are there ceremonies, rituals, dances that we might be missing in our lives? From the rite of Spring to Easter and its promise of rebirth and renewal… Patti Smith’s album Easter gave me so much hope when it was released in 1978. I wasn’t yet 18. The title is a nod to her.

‘We will attempt hoopla and fanfare at a later date to remind the rest of the world we exist but in the meantime… this is between you and us.’

While the ‘Days of Ash’ EP was a response to chaotic times in the outside world, the ‘Easter Lily’ EP is a more reflective set of songs emerging from a more personal, private place that some may retreat to in such times – exploring themes of friendship, loss, hope, and ultimately, renewal.

‘Song for Hal’ is a COVID-19 lockdown lament, with The Edge on lead vocals, written for the band’s friend, the music-maker, Hal Willner, who would have turned 70 on Easter Monday and passed away almost 6 years ago to the day. ‘In a Life’ is a song celebrating friendship. ‘Scars’ is a song of encouragement and acceptance; scars and all, with a twist. ‘Resurrection Song’ is about pilgrimage, a road trip into the unknown with a lover or friend. ‘Easter Parade’ is a devotional song, a celebration of new life, rebirth and resurrection. ‘COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?)’ is a lullaby for parents of children caught up in war, featuring a soundscape by Brian Eno.

The ‘Easter Lily’ EP is accompanied by another special digital e-zine edition of ‘Propaganda’. 

Titled ‘U2 – Propaganda – Easter Lily’, this edition features contributions from all four band members including sleeve notes from The Edge; Adam Clayton on art and the journey of recovery; a conversation between Bono and Franciscan friar Richard Rohr; and in-the-studio photographs shot by Larry Mullen Jr. 

The e-zine also features song lyrics along with an interview with the band’s producer, Jacknife Lee and a piece on Hal Willner by his friend Gavin Friday.

Forty years ago, in February 1986, the first issue of ‘Propaganda’ dropped through the letterboxes of U2 fans around the world. Aspiring to match other fan magazines at that time, ‘Propaganda’ was born out of the punk-era D.I.Y. zine culture that embraced attitude, ideas and dialogue.

The tracklisting for ‘U2 – Easter Lily’ EP is:
1. Song for Hal
2. In a Life
3. Scars
4. Resurrection Song
5. Easter Parade
6. COEXIST (I Will Bless The Lord At All Times?)