The Fat Angel Sings

After following this red-hot Los Angeles garage band since their 2014 debut LP “Street  Venom” hit me in the face to see the band live Death Vally Girls explode on stage, Are they that special I hear you ask. Absolutely. This crazed quartet combines the raw power of The Stooges‘, The Cramps‘ rockabilly lunacy, and Black Sabbath‘s metallic insanity and they inject their sonic havoc with a cool, dark sense of humour. Death Valley Girls’ ongoing mission is to use their scorching blend of garage punk, communal music, fiery riffage, and desert psychedelia as a vehicle for reconfiguring our perception and tapping into the beauty of the human experience. On their latest single, “It’s All Really Kind of Amazing,” Death Valley Girls continue their mystical quest for transcending the mire of our modern reality with divine rock n’ roll mantras, goosebump-inducing hooks, and Bonnie Bloomgarden’s impassioned vocal performances. While the band built their reputation on sweat-drenched, electrically charged anthems, “It’s All Really Kind of Amazing” delves into their more recent penchant for Larry Schemel’s chiming guitar chords, Bloomgarden’s nimble electric piano lines, big choral hooks, and intoxicating layers of instrumentation. Further bolstered by Rikki Styxx on drums, Emily Retsas on bass, and the gang vocals of Little Ghost, Pickle, and Kelsey Whatever NBD,

As expected the band’s ringleader Bonnie Bloomgarden led the rollicking troops last night. Intoxicating opener Abre Camino from new stirring album “Darkness Rains” set the heated tone of a stormy set instantly, with blazing bangers Death Valley Boogie, Disco, Electric High and the already classic stormer “Disaster (Is What Were’ After)” being the tumultuous highlights of a thunderous live show…

In between, ambiguous groove Gettin Hard, infectious poppy chant Pink Radiation
and organ injected swagger Wear Black showed their versatile songwriting caliber while Bonnie was wandering all over the place and hugged cracking bass player Pickle a couple
of times. She’s the charismatic eyecatcher of a hell-raising foursome that spoiled us all 

L.A. Witch’s eponymous debut album tapped into the allure of warm nights on the West Coast while hinting at the loneliness and lawlessness of living on the periphery of a country founded on a dark past. The three-piece composed of Sade Sanchez, Irita Pai, and Ellie English culled sounds from the outlaws of warmer climes, whether it was 13th Floor Elevators’ lysergic rock n’ roll or the cool hand fatalism by The Doors on songs like “The End”. It’s an album transmitting subdued revelry while also smirking at the inevitable consequences of the night.

There is no better season for these kinds of songs than the autumn, when the promises of summer have abated and the nights of reckoning grow longer. L.A. Witch seized the moment by revisiting some of their early tracks and reshaping them into “Octubre”, a five-song EP that delves deeper into their darker side. “Because these are old songs—we don’t play them live anymore but still wanted them to be heard—this was the perfect opportunity to get experimental with sounds and textures,” Sanchez says of the EP. Despite this new studio adventurism, the songs on “Octubre” stay true to L.A. Witch’s vintage starkness.

Originally released November 2nd, 2018

Greetings to The Hold Steady family,

There’s a lot of people who put in immeasurable effort behind the scenes to make the gears of The Hold Steady machine run well. If you’ve gone to any THS show since 2017, there has been one constant at each and every show weekend: our tour manager Dave Burton.

A few months ago Dave suffered a stroke while working with another artist at a music festival in Louisville. While the long-term prognosis for Dave’s recovery is encouraging, the short-term challenges are immense. To be a dedicated tour manager at the level Dave performs the job is a crazy, wild, supremely detailed action. All of the behind the scenes crew members who you might not see or notice at any show you attend work long hours, mostly driven by their love of music and the adventures the road life can bring. But the flip side of that is that many touring professionals do not have access to health care coverage.

In addition to our physical and emotional support, Burton is going to need access to financial resources far beyond the means of a tour manager. A number of different fundraising avenues will be coming over the next few months to assist Dave in returning to a normal life as quickly as possible. Until those avenues have been solidified and in place, The Hold Steady will be donating all proceeds from Bandcamp purchases towards Dave’s recovery resources. There will be other events in the coming months where THS will continue to donate earnings to Dave. We are also asking you to be an active participant to assist someone who’s done a massive part to help this community be able to thrive over the years.

Recorded live at Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, Georgia on June 4th, 2022.

First time in Atlanta in quite a while and it went so well we actually moved the show to a bigger venue. The remodeled Variety Playhouse is a fantastic venue and the crowd was top notch. We hit the stage and opened with Hornets, which always seems to set the tone. Later on we did DJs into Stay Positive (wth MPJ) and eventually Killer Parties wrapped the last show of a run that took us from Australia to Nashville to Atlanta. Amazing night. 

released November 4th, 2022

The Hold Steady are: Bobby Drake, Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Franz Nicolay, Galen Polivka, Steve Selvidge

If naming is a form of claiming, of being claimed, how is one tethered to both the physical landscape that surrounds us, as well as our own internal emotional landscape—at times calm, at times turbulent, and ever changing? H.C. McEntire’s new album “Every Acre” grapples with those themes—themes that encompass grief, loss, and links to land and loved ones. And naming—claiming land, claiming self, being claimed by ancestry and heritage—permeates the hauntingly beautiful landscape that is this poignant collection of songs.

H.C. McEntire’s new album “Every Acre” is out in January, and the latest single is mid-tempo country/folk track “New View.” “Inspired by a late-night meditation under an October full moon, the lyrics for ‘New View’ were written from a place of possibility and promise – the feeling of falling in love, affirming its realness and rawness, committing to the openness and bravery required for it to fully emerge, being willing to let it lead,” H.C. says. “It is about leaning into the notion that what you seek is seeking you and making room for its manifestation. Musically, ‘New View’ is the most collaborative composition on “Every Acre”, an album that rejoices in creative partnership – Luke, Casey, Daniel, Missy, and myself. In many ways, it is a song that wrote itself, while the tape was rolling – five bodies in a room together, each willing to offer an unfiltered view from where they were standing.”

Performed by:
H.C. McEntire: vocals, electric guitar, field recordings
Luke Norton: electric and acoustic guitar, piano, Wurlitzer, pump organ
Casey Toll: upright and electric bass
Daniel Faust: drums, percussion
Missy Thangs: keys, Farfisa, Hammond, synthesizer
Amy Ray: backing vocals on “Turpentine” (appears courtesy of Daemon Records)
S.G. Goodman: backing vocals on “Shadows” (appears courtesy of Verve Records)

This album was written and recorded on traditional territory of the Eno, Lumbee, Occaneechi, Shakori, Saponi, Tuscarora, Catawba, Sissipahaw, Tutelo, Adshusheer, and Cheraw peoples.

We are so happy to finally share a newly recorded full-band version of “Ahimsa”, out now on Transgressive Records.

“Ahimsa” always felt like a simple song that could be interpreted in any number of styles, and as it’s made its way into our live shows over the years, I began to feel like it deserved an update. The original version appeared on my 2017 solo album “Impermanence” with a patient tempo, spare instrumentation and hypnotic circular delays. It was intended as a meditation on the Buddhist notion of “non-harming”, which is perhaps a better translation of the title than “non-violence”. 

Stemming from my wish for a tranquil day amidst turbulent health issues, my focus was on confronting my own ephemerality as inspiration toward greater compassion for those around me.

But in the years since its original release, I think the song has taken on a meaning closer to the immediacy of the chorus of “no violence”, and become a kind of hymn in opposition to the rampant turmoil and seemingly inescapable vitriol of the moment.

“Ahimsa” is an attempt to create a peaceful space within a violent world.

The scope is wider now, though the message remains the same: mortality is one of the few qualities we all share in common, and through recognizing this we may discover compassion for one another. This new version was recorded shortly before departing for our US tour this past Spring, and fittingly, it features the same players from those shows. Michael and I are joined by Paul Collins on a laidback bassline and Jared Van Fleet on an elegant piano, while Mike ‘Slo Mo’ Brenner provides the heavenly pedal steel.

In October Neil Young revealed plans to release the beloved 1972 album “Harvest” as a 50th Anniversary Edition Box Set on December 2nd via Reprise Records. Now the artist has followed up with news that the never-before-seen docu-film Neil Young: “Harvest Time” will be shown for one-day only in theatres on December 1st, with special encores slated for December. 4th. 

Neil Young: “Harvest Time” provides viewers with an inside look at the esteemed Canadian musician’s career between January and September 1971, with performance and rehearsal footage from the Harvest Barn sessions at his Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California. 

Coupled with footage from The Ranch is a video from Young’s iconic concert with the London Symphony Orchestra and immaculately preserved memories from the Nashville studio where cherished numbers such as “Old Man,” “A Man Needs A Maid,” “Alabama” and more were tracked by the 20 something-year-old artist. 

The feature is a fan piece that has never been seen, and will begin with a personal introduction delivered on screen by Young. The video will also present views with rehearsal and performance content while weaving in aspects of storytelling to tell the take behind the favoured album.

For more information and showtimes, visit neilyoungharvesttime.com. Pre-order the 50th-Anniversary Edition of “Harvest” now.

Johanna and Klara Söderberg were still teenagers when they showed up fifteen years ago with their beautiful version of “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” by Fleet Foxes. Not much later, the world lay at the feet of the Swedish sisters. Johanna and Klara Söderberg both have a great voice, but when the two combine their voices, something special or even magical happens.

Columbia Records release the fifth studio album by the Swedish folk sibling duo. Released four years after their previous album “Ruins”, “Palomino” is an 11 song album and features the singles ‘Angel’ and ‘Out of My Head’. Discussing their new album in a statement, the duo said: “this is the first record we’ve recorded in Sweden since we made our debut album “The Big Black and The Blue” 12 years ago. We worked with Swedish producer Daniel Bengtson at his lovely studio Studio Rymden in Stockholm. It was such a fun experience. We really let the recording take time, we didn’t want to rush it. It’s probably our most pop sounding record yet.” 

‘Palomino’ features the single ‘Angel’ which was released in June 2022 and new track ‘Out Of My Head’. It’s a reliably pretty and engaging collection that marks the Swedish folk duo’s first record since 2018’s ‘Ruins’, though they’ve released Don Henley and Leonard Cohen covers in the intervening time.

Sorry do things differently. Never ones to be tied down, these indie shapeshifters take in hip-hop, R’n’B and even electronic elements.

The band’s 2020 debut album “925” was a peek into the neon-lit corners of their London home, on which core members and guitarists Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen – alongside bassist Campbell Baum, drummer Lincoln Barrett and synth player Marco Pini – explore desire in the big city and punctuate it with everything from 1990s alt rock to bracing post-punk.

At the heart of Sorry is the dynamic between Louis and Asha, two songwriters who bring out the best in each other. Across “Anywhere But Here”, they adopt multiple guises, going from protagonists to antagonists, as the songs swing from one voice to the other.

“Because we’ve known each other for so long, it is a really hard thing to make music on that level with someone,” says Louis “We’ve been honing and practising that without really knowing for so many years. Also, I just respect Asha a lot. I think she’s an amazing musician and hopefully she’d say the same thing about me.”

New album “Anywhere But Here” is a brutally guttural break-up record. Its songs swelter like love-lorn bruises, packed with lonely moments that feel like walking home in the darkest of nights. But it’s not just emotionally intense, it also marks the band’s heaviest use of guitar to date.

“On this album, the guitars are more central to the songs because we recorded live with the band. That’s the basis of the album and everything around it is a bit more hidden this time”.

In the earliest iteration of Sorry, while in high school, Louis and Asha self-produced music in their bedrooms, which soon turned into a collection of eclectic demos that demonstrated an early willingness to evolve.

“We always want to be progressing and changing our sound, not just for the listener but also when we’re writing new songs,” says Louis. “We like to feel that we’re progressing. The idea of us doing the same album four times is boring to us. We try and keep it interesting.”
The duo’s progression as guitar players can be heard throughout “Anywhere But Here”. Expansive numbers such as “Tell Me” showcase their ability to switch gears at a moment’s notice – subtle, forlorn notes morph into bolder, more expressive chord progressions before the track bows out with a hail of discordant noise, the two lead guitars clashing against each other.

“We really wanted that song to explode at the end,” says Louis. “That guitar part is super. It locks in with the drums and we wanted it to keep you on the edge. That song could have become a super-crazy rock song but we wanted it to still be interesting.”

To Sorry, it was important to find the right balance between trying new, louder ways of expressing themselves with the guitar without going into full-on rock territory. What ties the tracks on “Anywhere But Here” together is the way they match emotional intensity with the perfect tone.

The album feels concise with its projection of woefully lost romance, however no two tracks are similar. One of the main outliers is “Willow Tree“, a track that has a sense of playfulness throughout.

“We wanted that song to kind of sound like The Kinks and to be just super-simple and have this repeating motif that plays throughout. We tried to not do too much because we have a tendency to over-produce songs a bit, so we wanted to test ourselves and make it really simple.”

Another artist who spins simple melodies into gold is Sorry’s Domino labelmate Alex G. Sorry have taken inspiration from his writing and mixed it with their own. “The most admirable thing I’d say is just how much he writes, the consistency is crazy,” says Louis. “He is an amazing lyric writer and his melodies are super-potent and interesting.”

Keeping things simple has been incredibly effective in order for Sorry to feel like they’ve pushed themselves forward on their new album. Asha and Louis have always maintained a DIY approach to music, even after switching from the bedroom to the studio.

There are times where it feels as though the city itself is a background character in Sorry’s songs. “There’s so Many People That Want to be Loved” sees Asha describe the lonely people of London as if they were landmarks themselves, standing on street corners or waiting for trains in a kind of heartbroken harmony. London has been the setting to every key moment of the band’s personal and romantic lives, and that bleeds into their lyrics. On “Key to the City”, Asha describes feeling lost despite having lived in London all her life, such is the impact of someone no longer being around.

“It’s where me and Ash have grown up all our lives, all of our loved ones are from London and all of our friendships and relationships happen in London, so it feels like a backdrop to all that.”

It’s hardly surprising, then, that given the musical history of a city so steeped in the folklore of punk, grime, rock and countless other genres, Sorry have picked up a few tricks. They’re well on their way to becoming one of the UK’s most eclectic bands.

Brighton sextet Opus Kink release debut EP  “‘Til The Stream Runs Dry” via Nice Swan Records (Sports Team, Pip Blom, Fur, English Teacher). Partnering up with the cult indie label for their first extended release, the enigmatic collective – comprised of Angus Rogers, Sam Abbo, Fin Abbo, Jed Morgans, Jazz Pope and Jack Banjo Courtney – lend a blend a dizzying array of influences in their ever-evolving enigmatic style, producing an experimental patchwork of explosive material that’s consistently earned widespread plaudits since bursting onto the scene.

With EP lead singles ‘I Love You, Baby’, ‘The Unrepentant Soldier’ and ‘Dog Stay Down’ attracting praise from all corners of the press landscape (NME, DIY, So Young, Dork, Clash, Gigwise), not to mention countless BBC 6 Music (Steve Lamacq, Lauran Laverne) spins, the six-piece are clearly primed for a busy summer. Having already ticked off live dates alongside label-mates Malady and Mandrake Handshake, in addition to a sold-out headliner at London’s legendary 100 Club last month, the band have a slew of festival appearances lined up in the months to come, as well as shows with Feet and Bull.

Detailing their EP, Opus Kink stated: “You may begin by dipping one stained and rancid toe, but you know that once those waters have been tasted there’s only one way to go – into the stream, away down the valley like flotsam and windfall. Here lie six songs of bad love, ill winds, possession, stagnation and earthly delights”.

“Horn-fuelled filth-funk, where punk and jazz combine in grimy circumstances” (Thomas Smith, NME Magazine)

“Barnstorming, infectious” (Steve Lamacq, BBC 6 Music)

“One of the most enjoyable genre fusions I’ve ever seen” (Nels Hylton, BBC Radio 1)

“Always at the peril of derailing but somehow still in control – the adrenaline rush that comes from both situations is addictive” (Jamie Muir, DORK)

“A showdown to end all perception of genre… wearing their influences on their sleeves then ripping them to shreds” (Al Mills, So Young Magazine)

“A raucous, intense blast of guitar pop” (Robin Murray, Clash Magazine)

“Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 2” sees the Nashville-based musician step further from the pedal steel and towards centre stage. Released on the evergreen Full Time Hobby label, this new collection of tracks is a kaleidoscopic collection of folk, jazz, and pop, cut though with immaculately-rendered songwriting.  

Romford to Nashville is hardly the most well-trodden of paths, but for Spencer Cullum it was a way of getting to the essential heart of pedal steel, what was then and remains to this day his musical raison d’être. Growing up in the large East London town brought him early exposure to classic pub rock by way of his father such as Dr. Feelgood and Thin Lizzy, and farther-flung music by way of his mother, such as Talking Heads and Lou Reed. However, it was learning pedal steel from legendary English player B. J. Cole that set him on the path he still walks today. After touring with Nashville-based groups and hearing tales of “seasoned Nashville steel players”, the young musician upped sticks and found a “nice little crowd of weirdos” in his chosen city.  

Cullum has always maintained a somewhat silent presence – even now saying “I still want to hide behind my pedal steel in fear” – but 2020 saw him release his debut solo effort, “Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection“. Despite his project with Jeremy Fetzer, Steelism, showing off more of his talents, never before had he felt the limelight so firmly on him.  

Although …Coin Collection’s modus operandi was “a very quintessential English folk record, but with really good Nashville players”, Cullum says of ..“Coin Collection 2” that “I wanted to be different. I wanted to try and pull away from wearing my influences on my sleeve… I was trying to pick out ideas that were new to me. You can never escape your musical influences but I wanted them to be more hidden sub-consciously than upfront.” Though you can pick out the odd similarity to other things here and there – The Beach Boys’ Friends LP, perhaps, or The Incredible String Band, or Joni Mitchell – the thing is decidedly Cullum’s own. What’s also reassuring is that there hasn’t been some giant sonic leap from …Coin Collection, rather that the beautifully sun-kissed, English country garden, bees-buzzing-round-lager atmosphere has remained, but complicated, weirded, deepened.  

Much in the same way that the album doesn’t wear its influences (Amon Duul II, Skip Spence, Ennio Morricone, Chu Kosaka, Michael Chapman) lightly but rather is steeped in them and toys with them, Cullum brought in a host of guests to turn…“Coin Collection 2”  loose from being a purely solo effort. Yuma Abe provides fractured, low-register chorus vocals that accentuate the ever-so-slightly mournful air to ‘Kingdom Weather’, released today as a single, while Dana Gavanski provides beautiful harmony lines in ‘What A Waste Of An Echo’. Despite the number of collaborators and players (also including Rich Ruth, Erin Rae, and Caitlin Rose) things never seem too crowded or brimming with too many ideas. Instead Cullum marshalls each moving party expertly.  

Indeed, due to Cullum’s languid Romford burr (pitched somewhere between Robert Wyatt and Ray Davies), it only becomes clear when listening closely that some of the lyrics deal with weighty themes like dementia and violence. Cullum says that “I sat for a long time with the songs and wanted to find my own identity”, and …“Coin Collection 2” suggests you do the same. 

In the same way that Cullum provides the pedal steel undertow of many huge artists’ music – Kesha, Lambchop, and more recently Angel Olsen – the genius in …“Coin Collection 2” is in its subtlety, in what it murmurs rather than shouts.