Gently Tender have risen from the ashes of Palma Violets, a band that started promisingly (we saw them perform an insane set at SXSW a few years ago), but soon faded into rather generic, mundane indie rockdom.
The new band features three ex-Violets (Sam Fryer, Pete Mayhew and Will Doyle) plus Big Moon’sCelia Archer and guitarist Adam Brown. Who knows if they have taken their naming inspiration from the Incredible String Band’s 1967 track of the same name, but the two songs they have shared have a definite psychedelic edge and in the case of latest track Avez-Vous Déjà, a more contemplative, pastoral English country garden feel.
Here is the Official Music Video for ‘Lost Without You’!!! The support you’ve shown me and this song over the last month has been truly breathtaking. To every person who’s shared, liked and commented, thank you. You’re just incredible, It’s been a long time coming.
Freya Ridings has been patiently, diligently working on her music for years now, honing her skills, refining her approach.
And then it all seemed to click into place. Her single ‘Lost Without You’ really hit home with fans, and eventually found its way into an important scene on a little known TV show called Love Island.
Going viral almost overnight, everything since has been a rush – sold out shows, a packed out set in Tottenham Court Road station, and a whirlwind series of engagements.
The Lemon Twigs’ new album, Go To School, is now released on 14th September).
Go To School is a musical that tells the coming-of-age story of Shane, a pure of heart chimpanzee raised as a human boy. Conceived by brothers Brian and Michael D’Addario, the 15-track opus was written, recorded, produced and mixed by the pair at their home in Long Island. Todd Rundgren and D’Addario’s mother Susan Hall play Shane’s parents, with further contributions on the album from Jody Stephens (Big Star) and their father Ronnie D’Addario.
The band will host a Reddit AMA today on the Indieheads sub, head here from 3:30pm EST to join in. They are also confirmed to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on September 4th
‘The Fire’ from The Lemon Twigs‘ new album, ‘Go To School’, out on 24th August.
“Brilliant. A glorious mix of cheerful pop innocence, vaudevillian musical theatre and progressive-rock complexity with a touch of punk attitude thrown in for good measure.”
– The Times (5/5)
“Cherish The Lemon Twigs because they are a rare proposition in today’s conformist pop culture.” – The Independent (4/5) “Go To School is a blast, a joyous, ridiculous journey that treads a perfect line between silly, funny and heartbreaking.” – Uncut (8/10)
“A once-in-a-generation epic.” – The Line of Best Fit (9/10)
“A rich wall of sound, all intricately arranged orchestration and sublime, multi-layered harmonies, you’re left swooning to a gorgeous swoop of lush instrumentation.” – Q (4/5)
“Brian and Michael D’Addario prove themselves capable of pulling off the preposterous.” Dork (5/5)
“Bright, fast-moving with pysch-pop” – Stereogum
“Playful, addictive” – Consequence of Sound
“A sunny, psych-neighboring tune… exhibits a sort of jangly, jumpy rock, its ties to The Beatles readily discernible” – Paste
We’ve been fans of Caroline Lazar’s around these parts since her stunning debut single, “Nevermine”, arrived a year ago on My Little Empire Records. With the small matter of a degree to finish we weren’t sure when we’d next hear from the sometimes Florida, sometimes Miami, based songwriter, thankfully this week the wait was over with the surprise release of her new single Georgia.
The first taste of an upcoming EP, Georgia might just be the most mature and nuanced song Caroline has released to date. Described by Caroline as, “a nostalgic song”, the track floats by with an undeniably wistful edge, chirping insects croak in the distance, as Caroline offers vague snapshots of “cracked lips soaked in red wine” and seems to question her own minds workings as she asks, “why am I thinking of you thinking of someone else?”Musically, Georgia is pitched somewhere between the bedroom pop of Soccer Mommy and 29-era Ryan Adams, as gentle drums, echoing electric guitars and buzzing organs create a sophisticated musical backdrop. A perfectly judged next step from a songwriter so clearly on the rise.
One of the most prolific American psychedelic rock and roll bands are back at it on their 7th LP, the City Slang-released Performance. White Denim are an Austin staple and have come to represent the sound of the city over the years through James Petralli’s sleek guitars, Steve Terebecki’s bass groove and Petralli’s seemingly impossible vocal range. The album’s early singles harken back to the band’s finest material, especially “It Might Get Dark,” a bluesy jam with a flawless melody that is just a flat-out fun endeavor for the ears.
The Austin quartet have long pulled hard at the parameters of rock & roll, admitting garage punk, soul, psychedelia, prog, jazz and blues while holding onto its vital goodtime core. Their up-tempo drive has produced a body of work defined as much by stellar musicianship as off-the-chain exhilaration. Energy and adventurism have always been paramount.
Here are nine songs with clarity and renewed purpose as well as a truckload of attitude. A new studio, new collaborators, and new techniques for writing and recording influenced the elastic possibility and liberation felt throughout.
Theirs is music that aims for the whole body, while equally satisfying the mind. While it has morphed, expanded, and even burst apart, White Denim’s sincere, human drive and ability to spark true exhilaration have been unerring constants of the band’s existence. Ever progressing, never content to camp out on a plateau of their creative accomplishments, there is no other band quite like White Denim – unique in talent and legendarily potent as a live band, they are quite simply a very special band.
It’s safe to say when City Slang releases a record everyone listens, with White Denim now the newest Texan contingent filling the ranks of the German label. Following a longplayer this year from Calexico outta Tucson, WhiteDenim bring the sound of Austin to the label by delivering their ninth long player in ten years. Like the artwork of performance, the music is a colourful montage that brings together saxxy jazz, mellow tropicana and distorted garage to psych rock and pop, with melancholic vocals only adding to its unique cross section of colours. A highlight for us is the ’70s Biker rock of “It Might Get Dark” and finger snappin’, vibrato heavy “Moves On”.
Here it comes – AGAIN! Many moons ago, Infinity Cat released an EP from LA’s own Colleen Green. Referred to by Green as “Ramones-Core”, this concise collection evoked the spirit of old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll, applying a heavy layer of classic punk influence to the songwriter’s well-known pop confections. The limited edition tape sold out immediately, and after years of emails, tweets, and letters, Infinity Cat is proud to present the EP on vinyl for the first time! Featuring newly re-recorded versions of the OG cassette on side A and 4 never-before-released tracks on side B – like this one, “Let Go”! Allow yourself to be taken back to a simpler time when the Brill Building bustled and teen punks hustled; when pop music was more about craft than commercialism. Green’s penchant for parlaying inspiration into her own distinctive sound is well documented across her discography, but perhaps never as well as on this offering from Infinity Cat Records. If the Ramones are the teacher, then Colleen Green is the student and you are the classroom.
Coleen Green’s new single, “‘I Wanna Be Ignored’ is a song about disillusionment that was written as background music for the Starburns Audio podcast Harmontown.” The song comes to us ahead of Green’s first full-length release since her 2015 album I Want to Grow Up: nine-track LP Casey’s Tape / Harmontown Loops, a reimagining of her 2016 cassette EP that also features four never-before-released tracks, pressed on vinyl and set for a September. 7th release via Infinity Cat Recordings.
“I Wanna Be Ignored” is lean, mean and unmistakably Green’s The song eschews her usual power-chord crunch, opting instead for glossy keys and a bass line that simply won’t quit. Green’s sparing vocals are near-ghostly,
The song is a woozy end-of-summer jam, driven by flanged guitar lines and singer Lillie West’s hazy, submerged vocals. The song is thick with that feeling of being submerged, or perhaps teetering on the edge of being overwhelmed. “You think I’m good, well I’m soil in a sifter,” West sings. “A stone won’t fall through, it just keeps getting thicker.” The track is off their forthcoming sophomore album The Lamb, out September. 28th through Hardly Art Records.
Oh Sees (fka Thee Oh Sees) have shared the music video for their song “Anthemic Aggressor,” off their most recent album Smote Reverser, out now via Castle Face Records.
The 13-minute video, is a psychedelic romp through a solar system ripped straight from the pulpy dime-store sci-fi novels of the 1960s. It features, in no particular order, a demonic spaceman, a fleet of comic-book spaceships, and a man with his head up his own … well.
Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer, who created the puppets and directed the video, says the concept came from TV shows and movies from his childhood. “This video is an homage to Ralph Bakshi, Jim Henson and Hanna-Barbera,” he says. “It’s a conglomeration of a few things I took simple pleasure from as a kid. Also, it is about aliens vegging out on the trip speeding away from here, sort of unwinding after all the tumult.”
Official video for “Anthemic Aggressor” by Oh Sees From the album “Smote Reverser” out now on Castle Face Records
Walter Etc.’s “Gloom Cruise” came out 1 year ago today! Here are two alternate tracks from the album with AdultMom doing professional karaoke to them.
Dutch experimentalists RMFTM (fka Radar Men From The Moon) have already showcased their collaborative mastery when they teamed up with Salford’s Gnod for the Temple ov BBV project last year and having now retired the former output, the Eindhoven four-piece are back with a brand new collab LP with fellow label-mates 10,000 Russos. Portuguese trio 10,000 Russos are best known for conjuring up concrete slabs of kosmische psych-rock and now, having teamed up with RMFTM, their repetitive droning mantras have manifested into a whole new beast – the looped, motorik chants feeding perfectly off RMFTM’s throbbing free-form jams.
