‘Love & Poison’ will be available on vinyl for the first time for Record Store Day 2021 on the 12th June. Pressed on 2 x 180g heavyweight clear vinyl!
This is the soundtrack to the band’s first concert video recorded at Brixton Academy on 16th May 1993, only a month after the release of their debut album “Suede” Issued on vinyl for the first time, the concert setlist includes stunning versions of nine album tracks, including the singles “Animal Nitrate, Metal Mickey, The Drowners, To The Birds”, and many others.
Haven’t seen it yet? The full remastered concert is available on YouTube
Songs played during the Love & Poison gig included ‘Animal Nitrate’ and set-closer ‘So Young’. Brett Anderson and co. also performed four B-sides on the night.” – NME
The Record Store Day 2021 edition of Love & Poison is a 2LP set on Demon Records, pressed on 180 gram clear vinyl.
Available from a participating indie record shop near you. Record Store Day 2021
With the rerelease of the album “Grapefruit Moon,” Southside Johnny adapts the songs of Tom Waits, released through Pacific Records“Grapefruit Moon: The Songs of Tom Waits Remastered”. The album brilliantly adapts the songs of Tom Waits to a big-band sound. It’s an incredibly ambitious effort that hits the note again and again, and it marries the talents of two remarkable artists. In a way their approach to music has always shared a special kinship. Through this album the connection Waits and Southside share sparkles, soars and shuns convention. That makes the music stay with you, really take root, and never let go.
The guys at the record company came to me and said that they wanted to release it. I had no plans to release anything yet. They thought that it was one of those records that should have gotten more recognition. It was different from what I usually do, and it’s hard these days to get anybody to pay attention. The people at the label had this idea and I’m glad they are doing it. I’ve always been very proud of the record and was frankly astonished that it came out as well as it did. It seemed so “adult”! (laughs) So I’m very grateful for them putting it out again, and I hope that it gets more of a hearing. It’s got a lot of great stuff on it. Richie Rosenberg (LaBamba) did some great arrangements. And of course Tom’s songs are just terrific. It was a labour of love, and it cost as much as most labours of love do.
I had an idea of doing an album of his songs, but I wanted to do it with a big band. Once I knew that LaBamba could arrange things like that and I had enough cash on hand, I thought it was time to do it. “New Coat of Paint,” and that’s a big-band song. I don’t know. I just heard it that way.
Back in the 1970s, we would buy just about every record that came out. We would try anything that looked intriguing. I bought Tom Waits first album, and I guess (former New York City rock radio station) WNEW may have played a cut or two. And honestly his music is right up my alley. It’s bluesy, it’s fun and really touching. So I bought the first album and was so intrigued by the guy. Then when The Heart of Saturday Night (1974) came out, I just thought it was a masterpiece. There were no dead cuts on it. It just knocked me out. Then we started doing “The Heart of Saturday Night” and “New Coat of Paint” live. We did a couple more because we just loved the songs.
The members of Pet Fox are driven as much by restless creativity and mutual admiration as they are the pursuit to write a perfect pop song. The Boston based trio comprised of Theo Hartlett (vocals, guitar), Morgan Luzzi (bass), and Jesse Weiss (drums) have all spent years playing in bands that include Ovlov, Palehound, and Grass Is Green among others, but Pet Fox is an outlet all their own. The band write songs together, drawing upon influences that range from The Beatles to Pinback, but their sound is still rooted in scrappy hooks and a DIY mentality that saw the band self-release two full length records in the span of a year, amid a busy schedule of shows (both as Pet Fox and with their other respective projects).
The band’s latest release, More Than Anything, is a three song EP and the band’s first for Exploding In Sound Records (Sour Widows, Floatie, Pile), a label they’ve all called home since its earliest days. Due out May 7th, the record is undeniably smooth, impeccably tight, and built on unique structures. Through an easy going energy, the band mix tangled rhythms, bursts of fuzz, and soaring distortion together while retaining a pop sensibility.
The songs on More Than Anything came together quickly, with the band setting out to write and record them in quick succession. Their compacted timeframe meant the lyrics too were delivered without overthinking, creating an opportunity to “gauge exactly how I was feeling when the instrumentals first came together” says Hartlett. Like their previous releases, the band engineered the EP together in their practice space (something that Weiss has become rather adept at) and they capture their live sound with a great sonic clarity. The rhythmic backbone of the band is always in focus, even as guitar solos burst over the mix. This is, after all, a band where drummers are the majority. PetFox give space to every element of their sound, with a pinpoint precision that makes every moment count.
More Than Anything is about forward momentum at its core, a reminder to avoid dwelling on the past or future, and to live in the moment. Pet Fox delve into themes of insecurity and anxiety with the notion that everything will pass and we can’t change the things that are out of our control. Hartlett offers his own sense of awareness, one that feels the things we all feel, but recognizes that life moves on, regardless if we know what we want from it or where it may lead.
Theo Hartlett – vocals/guitar Morgan Luzzi – bass Jesse Weiss – drums
“Imagine Why” by Pet Fox from their EP ‘More Than Anything’ released May 7th, 2021 on Exploding in Sound Records.
Izzy True is also slowly learning to be gentle. Formed in upstate NY in 2015, Izzy True is a rock band of yearning currently based in Chicago, IL. The project has gone through many line-ups over the years, always led by Izzy Reidy (guitar, vocals). These days, Reidy is joined by their friends Sam Goldstein (drums), and Curtis Oren (bass, sax, flute).
I always think about that episode of It’s Always Sunnywhere Charlie reveals that he’s never had a pear before. It’s a plot point that reinforces the ferality of his character, but I feel like the way the gang (as well as the audience) reacts to this information also illustrates the way people react when you tell them, say, you’ve never listened to OK Computer all the way through before—viewing it as some sort of sociopathic trait rather than an opportunity to encourage someone to enjoy something new relatively late in their lives. It’s this sense of ecstasy that’s captured in Izzy True’s “New Fruit,” whether the subject matter of the song is actually fruit or any other life experience (you know, like wielding a cool new sword for the first time, possibly to dice up some of those new fruits). I’m fully onboard for the wholesome grunge revival. the pacing of Izzy True’s song writing process has slowed down since their prior Don Giovanni releases — Sadbad (2018) and Nope (2016). Arranging with Curtis and Sam, Reidy says they’ve grown as musicians together, and their songs were given space to grow,
Recorded in Rock Island, IL at Rozz-Tox, a well-loved bar and music venue in the humble Midwest. Recorded and mixed by Ian Harris on reel-to-reel, Izzy True’s tunes returned to tape after Sadbad, which was digitally produced. The record utilizes the talents of Chicago music friends Jess Shoman (Tenci) on backup vocals and Andrew Clinkman (Spirits Having Fun) on lead guitar on “Four Good Ponies”. Recorded in the months before the pandemic, January and February 2020, which can feel obvious (“I don’t wanna hang out for a thousand years”) and subtle. The authentic limitations of reel-to-reel tape recordings give this project the aura of a time when live music was possible.
In Our Beautiful Baby World, Izzy True creates ups and downs of instrumental chaos and intimate vocals, often asking vulnerable questions (“are you mad at me?”) to feel like we are in close proximity. Leading into big guitars, crashing drums, and gnarly bari-saxophone, this mixture of sounds imitates shifts in interpersonal lives, deep breaths, ticking time. There’s a closing of a bedroom door and flopping down on the bed, the world zinging in your heart, or galloping away on a horse as a grand exit from an emotional experience.
More bands should tell you exactly what you’re getting into with their song titles when it goes against the norm—like when Phoebe Bridgers goes synthpop I think it would be helpful if her first single was called, like, “Upbeat Phoebe” to let her fans know what’s up. That said, I guess I don’t need to tell you that one of the two new singles from LVL UP offshoot The Glow takes a fairly heavy turn, though instead of stoner rock or metalcore it’s a fairly Glow-like “heavy”: seven minutes of noodling, distortive guitar that almost feels collaboratively improv-y at points even outside of the wailing guitar’s feral wandering. Hoping for a full Heavy Glow EP
The former solo project of Mike Caridi LVL UP is going full-band: The Glow’s two new tracks, “Love Only” b/w “Heavy Glow,” find Caridi joined by his former LVL UP bandmate Greg Rutkin, as well as veteran performers Kate Meizer (Hellrazor, Potty Mouth) and Nicola Leel (Doe).
“‘Love Only’ and ‘Heavy Glow’ are the first two songs written by The Glow, sorta,” says Caridi. “I’ve been releasing music under The Glow moniker since 2016 or so, but until now I’d considered it a solo outlet. The Glow live band came together around the 2019 record Am I, and somehow I got lucky enough to play with a bunch of musicians who I’ve known and admired for years; Greg Rutkin, Kate Meizner, Nicola Leel and Madeline Babuka Black.
To be surrounded by so much talent and not be open to collaboration would have been a major misstep on my part, there’s so much joy in collaboration that I missed a lot while trying to do things on my own. ‘Love Only’ is about reflection and growth; I feel extremely lucky to be playing music with my friends, and with these two songs, The Glow feels like it’s just beginning to bloom.”
Love Only / Heavy Glow out now on Double Double WhammyRecords.
Re-released as a double-LP with 15 new tracks, Alejandro Rose-Garcia’s debut celebrates 10 years of existence. In honour of the tenth anniversary of “Roll The Bones”, Shakey Graves presents Roll The Bones X. Available everywhere for the first time, this very special reissue includes the original album paired with 15 Odds & Ends, of never before heard songs, demos, and deep cuts. Before Roll the Bones, Rose-Garcia’s musical project consisted of two hefty folders full of lyrics, drawings, and even a zine about a mouse journeying to the moon to rescue his love.
Many moons ago in the city of Austin, Texas a lightning bolt ricocheted off of a garbage can and hit a deer before finally zapping the mayor…In his temporary insanity he declared Feb 9th Shakey Graves Day. From the smouldering fur and randomness came a glimmer of noisy hope amidst the boredom that has continued for 10 years. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of my first album’s release on Bandcamp. To celebrate, I am thrilled to announce the release of a double disc special edition of “Roll The Bones…Roll The Bones X!” This special deluxe edition includes previously unreleased music and an exclusive booklet detailing some of the history and secrets behind its creation.
Alejandro Rose-Garcia has been making music under the moniker Shakey Graves for over 10 years now. The Texas musician has released five albums—most of which are self-released—and three lives recordings. Roll the Bones is a gentle, scrappy debut steeped in heartache and exploration of the self in a new city, reminiscent of folk-rock legends Tyrannosaurus Rex and Donovan. The album was initially plopped on Bandcamp when the site was in its humble beginnings without any information about Rose-Garcia. “In a lot of ways it was a breakup record,” he says looking back. “My first serious relationship had fallen apart and I was wanting to break up with my life—run away, be transient, and figure out who I was in the world. I can hear myself blaming the girl and trying to support myself, like maybe it’s OK to be dirty and crazy and have blinders on. Then, at the end, everything’s zooming back in and I’m saying ‘I guess I just got hurt and I’m in a bit of pain and, you know, it’s going to be OK.’”
1. “Unlucky Skin”
This album was slowly collected as opposed to chronologically produced. I was freshly 20 and had started experimenting with 4-track cassette recordings and writing the songs as they appeared, and this was one of the first tunes that really stood out to me. It had its only sort of melancholy and playfulness. I recorded the banjo and vocals separately. It took years to figure out how to play the rhythm and sing the tune at the same time.
2. “Built to Roam”
I was living in Los Angeles chasing my tail trying to be an actor when this song came along. The guitar I’m playing is a haunted 1932 Gibson L7 which had magically fallen into my possession. This guitar led me into my early experimentations in open tuning and is playing all the parts, including the rhythm sounds.
3. “Roll the Bones”
I wrote this melody around the same time I wrote “Built to Roam,” but couldn’t figure the lyrics out. It finally came together two years later when I was staying in my friend’s apartment in Brooklyn. I recorded all of it using a Zoom H4n portable recorder, which was an insane task.
4. “I’m on Fire”
I never set out to record a Bruce cover, let alone his most covered tune. I had initially recorded the bass line on its own and then started singing “I’m on Fire” over it sort of as a joke. Shockingly, it all fit together and was so effortless and surprising that I just went ahead and kept it.
5. “Georgia Moon”
My best friend and I scrawled this tune out on a road trip to NYC. Originally envisioned as a tongue-in-cheek country tune about shitty corn liquor, once put to music it took on a serious tone and became a tribute to our journey.
6. Business Lunch”
Found a Casio keyboard in the garbage and made a beat out of it, the rest unfolded into a song about the dirty side of life and its eternal allure.
7. “City in a Bottle (Live @ 2023)”
On my first legendary trip to New York City I met a sex worker on the train named Quick Monique the Freak. She was an older woman and was very concerned about my boots being dirty. She offered to clean them for me and I passed on the offer, but have always thought back on that fork in the road.
8. “Proper Fence”
Built as a tribute to a lot of the old Alan Lomax recordings I was listening to at the time. A classic song about missing the love boat.
9. “The Seal Hunter”
Originally called “For a Good Time Fuck My Wife” about a despicable person. When recording it I was recording over cassette tapes I found in my house, this was a tape by some sort of spiritual sex therapist that one of my parents had—once I heard some of the tape I knew I wanted to sample his voice.
10. “To Cure What Ails”
I had a little studio apartment in Culver City, the majority of the music off this record was recorded in that spot. I would sit at a tiny table and stare out the window every morning and make songs. There was a wind chime outside of the window and a palm tree in the distance. You are certain to hear the wind chime on any track written in that studio but this is the only one that features the palm tree.
Recently, acclaimed alt-rock group Sleater-Kinney has been gearing up to release their 10th album “Path Of Wellness” due out this Friday, June 11th, on Mom + Pop Records. after sharing singles “High In The Grass” and “Worry With You,” they delivered “Method,” a buzzy rock track in which vocalist Carrie Brownstein, putting on her familiar punk affectations, pleads for gentleness in hard times, repeatedly singing, “Won’t you be a little nicer to me / Could you try a little kindness, maybe?”
The band will appear on their Charles Hewitt-hosted “weekly news and entertainment program” Path Of Wellness tomorrow, June 10th, with a livestream available to watch on Twitch’s Amazon Music channel. Sleater-Kinney will talk about the recording process for Path of Wellness and share background info on the new songs, and the program will feature interviews with both Brownstein and Corin Tucker’s fathers.
Check out the Lance Bangs-directed lyric video for “Method” ‘Sleater-Kinney’s New Album ‘Path Of Wellness’ Out June 11th!
Producer and writer Sarah Tudzin has announced her next Illuminati Hotties album: Let Me Do One More” is out October 1 via Snack Shack Tracks in partnership with Hopeless Records. Today, Tudzin has shared the new song “Pool Hopping,” which arrives with a summery music video.
“It’s a Pool Hopping Summer,” Tudzin exclaimed in a press release. “I’m so stoked to have grilled up a splashy new song & music video to soundtrack your wettest & wildest parties to date. This track is for when it’s hot, you’re crushing on someone new, and your adventure senses are tingling. Come on in, the water’s fine!!!”
Let Me Do One More includes previously released single “MMMOOOAAAAYAYA” .” Tudzin said, “I love these songs and they’re a part of me and I’m proud of them.”
The new album, which follows last year’s “This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiing For” has liner notes from poet Hanif Abdurraqib. “Sarah Tudzin is one of my favourite types of writers: A writer who takes their craft seriously, but refuses to take themselves seriously,” he stated.
The summery “Pool Hopping” is Sarah Tudzin’s latest offering from “Let Me Do One More”
San Francisco rockers Pardoner might make music that sounds like Wire or The Replacements, but spiritually the band’s beer-soaked cynicism is in line with the wonderful chutzpah of a corny arena rock act like Thin Lizzy. Where the albums released before “Came Down Different” toed the line between DIY favorites Toner and Ovlov, the band’s third effort finds them coming into their own as the most captivatingly goofy guitar act since Viagra Boys. Snarky and self aware, depressed but electrifying, Came Down Different’s heady song writing contains multitudes.
Coming to life in the wake of guitarist/vocalist Max Freeland’s relocation to Canada, Came Down Differentwas recorded in just two days. Enlisting the help of Jack Shirley, a producer who’s worked with artists like Deafheaven, Joyce Manor, and Jeff Rosenstock, these songs feel frenetic but never rushed. Came Down Different doesn’t play like the work of a band cutting corners to maximize their time in the studio, but instead captures the energy of a wonderfully sloppy live set. Where Pardoner’s first two records evoked Sister-era Sonic Youth, these cockier, sweatier tracks dwell in the same vein as more straightforward groups like New York Dolls and The Modern Lovers. It’s not hard to imagine songs like “I Wanna Get High to the Music” and “Totally Evil Powers” being laid to tape at four in the morning after a full day of putting down as much material as possible. The tracks’ wired arrangements sound like the work of musicians railing shitty coffee to stay attentive as a late night turns into an early morning.
The components of Pardoner’s songs are simple, but Came Down Differentfinds the band embracing a formula that feels absolutely massive. Scuzzy rhythm guitars ride atop pounding drum grooves. Meanwhile, spastic lead parts fill up the background, embracing sounds that are simultaneously vile and extremely satisfying. “If you need me / I’m watching TV in the oven with a gun to the back of my head / Fuck,” Freeland hoarsely bellows on the single “Bunny’s Taxi” over broken-sounding noodling that threatens to blow out the high end of your speakers. If Pardoner weren’t so convincing at playing the part of a shaggy post-punk band, these songs could pass as a parody of a CBGB staple like Richard Hell or Television.
A Bay Area sleeper favourite who chose to cut their teeth in a small scene rather than tour extensively, Pardoner have always kept a low profile. Because of this, it can be surprising that Came Down Differentoozes both talent and personality. “Malkmus, Springsteen, McCartney, Mackaye / Getting all my wisdom / From a dumb old guy / I hope the apple falls far,” Freeland sings on closer “Fuck You!” For a band who’ve chosen to relegate themselves to Oakland warehouses and Mission District dives, the venom that courses through Came Down Differentcould be potent enough to stop the entire punk scene in its tracks if the band wanted it to.
The past few years have been full of reasons to fall apart, and San Francisco Bay Area rockers Pardoner very nearly went that way. Max Freeland (vocals, guitar), Trey Flanigan (vocals, guitar) and River van den Berghe (drums) bonded over Yo La Tengo and Polvo in the San Francisco State University dorms, and formed Pardoner, and released a pair of warm and fuzzy guitar-rock records. But when Freeland relocated to Vancouver, it appeared the band was also on its way out. Fortunately for us, Pardoner wobbled, but didn’t fall, adding an old friend in Colin Burris (bass), and reuniting in San Francisco to record “Came Down Different”, their third album and Bar/None Records debut, in a two-day spree with veteran hardcore producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Jeff Rosenstock).
Opener “Donna Said” melds rock of the noise and jangle varieties while documenting the draining demands of the music-industry rat race (“When you got feelings and guitar / You wanna trade it for cash”), while “Spike” moves a mile a minute to reflect its anti-exploitative sentiments (“Step up on some grapes / They want wine / They want twice the results / In half of the time”).
These are songs about being cash-strapped, anonymous and squeezed dry by society, but somehow having the last laugh all the same. “I’ve been destroyed by life / and I feel fucking good,” Freeland sings on “Broadway,” and you believe him on both counts. Throughout Came Down Different, Pardoner deliver barbed guitar rock that’s apocalyptic, yet nonchalant, like lighting a joint with a burning world.
Los Angeles’ band The Velvet Starlings are 2021’s answer to psychedelic, gritty garage rock that sparked elation in the 1960s. The band was founded by guitarist and organist Christian Gisborne at the age of 15. Now three years later, Velvet Starlings are a four-piece—featuring brothers Foster and Hudson Polling along with Ashton Minnich—that’s prepping to release their debut album “Technicolour Shakedown”. The first single off their upcoming full-length—which was written, produced, engineered and mixed by Gisborne—is the unrelenting rocker titled “Back of the Train.”
“Back of the Train” recalls ’60s garage rock forebear like their LA ancestors The Standells and The Seeds, along with their blues predecessors that relented about the passing of time and life’s heavy toils. The track is anchored by Gisborne’s howling vocals—a timbre in the same kin as Roky Erickson’s eerie croon.
Gisborne tells us the inspiration behind the new single: “The song is about struggling as a musician while taking nothing for granted. ‘Back of the Train’ centres around a sneaky low note ’60s guitar riff and drums so over-compressed it would make The Sonics cringe. I think it’s awful in the best way possible.” He further describes it as the story of “paying dues and making sacrifices, while making sure to enjoy the ride along the way.”
“Technicolour Shakedown”is out August 27th via Sound x 3 Records/AWAL/The Orchard.
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The Fat Angel Sings 