Posted on

The Cowboys

The Cowboys | Sultan of Squat | 3hive.com
The Cowboys | Sultan of Squat | 3hive.com

Let’s just get my biases out of the way. I am a huge fan of Feel It Records. I listen to everything they put out and buy about 95% of their releases. When I got the promo email for the new LP from The Cowboys and saw the album cover for Sultan of Squat, I knew immediately that I was going to love this album. I wasn’t wrong.

From go, on first single and album opener, “The Sultan of Squat” (below), I was hooked. It’s a bouncy garage-pop track with a kind of “doo-wop-like” chorus that’s just candy to the ears. Their second single, “She’s Not Your Baby Anymore” (also below), sounds like it was recorded during The Byrds’ sessions for Sweetheart Of The Rodeo.

Sultan of Squat is just killer from start to finish. It sounds like they were listening to lots of and being influenced by the likes of Buddy Holly, Elvis Costello, The Kinks, and The Byrds going into the recording of it. I am completely twitter-pated by it. Please listen to the tracks below; they will put a smile on your face, and we all need more reasons for smiles to be on our faces.

Sultan of Squat is available on 08/25 from Feel It Records as well as our own 3hive Record Lounge. Enjoy.

Posted on

Uncle Bengine and the Restraining Orders

Uncle Bengine | Write Home | 3hive.com
Uncle Bengine | Write Home | 3hive.com

Harrisonburg VA’s Uncle Bengine and the Restraining Orders have been recording their new album Write Home in basements, bedrooms and warehouses for the past 7 years and what they’ve created is 10 fantastic tracks of twangy, garage-country goodness. Check out “Bleeding Out” and “Night Bangin’” below for a taste.

Write Home is out now via Funny / Not Funny Records and is available on vinyl or digitally from Uncle Bengine’s Bandcamp page or from Funny / Not Funny. Enjoy.

Posted on

Josaleigh Pollett

Josaleigh Pollett | No Woman Is The Sea | 3hive.com
Josaleigh Pollett | No Woman Is The Sea | 3hive.com

Josaleigh Pollett’s incredible new album, No Woman Is The Sea, is a powerful twelve songs about heartbreak and loss but delivered in a way that the listener can’t help but feel good about the future (even in the COVID-19 world we are all living in now).

Pollett’s vocals, guitar work, songwriting skills and band (they kill it!) are stronger than ever which can be heard on standout “Miles of Aisles” below.

No Woman Is The Sea is available digitally via her Bandcamp page and will be available on vinyl via Lavender Vinyl soon. We will also have this on our 3hive Record Lounge shelves as soon as it’s released. I highly recommend this album. It climbs up my favorites of the year each time I listen to it. Enjoy.

Posted on

Sam’s Faves of 2018

It’s time for my annual blog post…

Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2018:

Khruangbin Con Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans)
Durand Jones & the Indications self-titled (Dead Oceans)
Bodega Endless Scroll (What’s Your Rupture?)
Jean Grae & Quelle Chris Everything’s Fine (Mello Music Group)
Janelle Monae Dirty Computer (Bad Boy)
Altin Gun On (Bongo Joe)
Smokescreens Used to Yesterday (Slumberland)
Idles Joy As an Act of Resistance (Partisan)
Low Double Negative (Sub Pop)
Cut Chemist Die Cut (A Stable Sound)

I encourage you to enjoy these on vinyl (link will go here as soon as I get off my butt and update the online store).

And because 2018 offered so much more music than can fit neatly in a Top 10 list, here are my 23 favorite songs of the past year…

Posted on

Josaleigh Pollett

Josaleigh Pollett | Strangers | 3hive.com

Josaleigh Pollett | Strangers | 3hive.com

There are several albums from 2017 that have been on my list to get on the site for quite some time. Towards the top of that list is Ogden, Utah’s Josaleigh Pollett. Her latest, Strangers, is a top-notch country/folk album that showcases Pollett’s excellent songwriting, killer guitar picking and powerful vocals. Her backing band is pretty damn awesome too. Check out “Ghost” below for a taste.

Strangers is available now on vinyl or digital via Josaleigh Pollett’s Bandcamp page.

Posted on

Favorite Releases of 2017 (Sam’s List)

Better late than never – my auditory loves of 2017, in rough order…

Thundercat Drunk (Brainfeeder)
Intoxicating, weird, vulnerable, and soooooo damn funky. My Album of the Year if I had to pick one.

Slowdive Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
The comeback album of our collective dreams.

Trementina 810 (Burger)
If this hadn’t been The Year of Slowdive’s Triumphant Return, I’d like to think this gorgeous offering of dreamy shoegaze from Chile’s Trementina would’ve been the talk of the town.

The xx I See You (Young Turks)
Now that producer Jamie Smith, aka Jamie xx, is getting his due as the driving force behind The xx juggernaut, I might be able to stop raving about him. But why stop now?

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Soul of a Woman (Daptone)
What a force. What a voice. What a loss.

Big Thief Capacity (Saddle Creek)
This album has quietly slipped on to a bunch of Best of 2017 lists because it is just that: a quiet album of incredible strength.

Grandaddy Last Place (30th Century Records)
“Even still the rockers are…”

Mountain Goats Goths (Merge)
A wonderfully engaging concept/tribute album – whether you are, were, or have ever loved a goth.

Boris Dear (Sargent House)
Rumored to be a farewell letter to their fans, it’s a welcome return to the nuanced take on sludge/drone/doom metal that first lured me in almost 20 years ago.

Fazerdaze Morningside (Flying Nun)
Nearly perfect bedroom pop.

Moses Sumney Aromanticism (Jagjaguwar)
All the feels.

Molly Burch Please Be Mine (Captured Tracks)
A sparse, timeless album that allows nothing to interfere with the purity of Molly’s hypnotic voice.

Doug Tuttle Peace Potato (Trouble in Mind)
Hypnotic psych pop with enough ragged edges to keep you awake.

Homeboy Sandman Veins (Stones Throw)
Based on record sales in the “>3hive Co-op Shop, not everyone agrees – but I think he’s one of the best, most versatile MCs around.

Waxahatchee Out in the Storm (Merge)
Katie Crutchfield finds her sound and voice amidst the rubble of a failed relationship.

Honorable mentions: Iron & Wine Beast Epic [buy vinyl], Protomartyr Relatives in Descent, LCD Soundsystem american dream [buy vinyl], Destroyer ken [buy vinyl], Open Mike Eagle Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, The Courtneys II [buy vinyl], King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Murder of the Universe [buy vinyl], Jonwayne Rap Album Two, Priests Nothing Feels Natural, Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Hitchcock [buy vinyl]

Posted on

Favorite Releases of 2017 (Todd’s List)

Here are my favorite albums/EPs from 2017, in no particular order…

Monster Rally Flowering Jungle (Gold Robot)

Spotting Spotting EP (self-released/Aarght)

The Rebel Set 4 Song EP (Hidden Volume)

Ty Segall Ty Segall (Drag City)

Molly Burch Please Be Mine (Captured Tracks)

Doug Tuttle Peace Potato (Trouble In Mind)

David Bowie No Plan EP (Columbia)

FRONDS Cold Across My Skin (Gold Robot)

Jake Xerxes Fussell What In The Natural World (Paradise of Bachelors)

Lilith Apology Plant (Disposable America)

Tall Friend Safely Nobody’s (Exploding In Sound)

Oh Sees Orc (Castle Face)

Bedouine Bedouine (Spacebomb)

UV-TV Glass (Deranged)

Destroyer ken (Merge)

Mountain States Whispers (Coaster)

Kevin Morby City Music (Dead Oceans)

Otoboke Beaver Love Is Short! (Damnably)

Century Palm Meet You (Deranged)

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Soul of a Woman (Daptone)
RIP

Slowdive Slowdive (Dead Oceans)

Open Mike Eagle Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (Mello Music)

Milo Who Told You To Think??!!?!?!?! (self-released)

Michael Nau Some Twist (Suicide Squeeze)

Thundercat Drunk (Brainfeeder)

Jack Cooper Sandgrown (Trouble In Mind)

Waxahatchee Out In The Storm (Merge)

OCS Memory of A Cut Off Head (Castle Face)

Once And Future Band Once And Future Band (Castle Face)

The Safes Tasty Waves (Hidden Volume)

Posted on

Robyn Hitchcock

Robyn Hitchcock | 3hive.com

Robyn Hitchcock | 3hive.com

I first fell for Robyn Hitchcock in the summer of 1985 when a WNUR deejay played an hour of his songs. I couldn’t put my finger on it – he was trippier than the Beatles, catchier than Syd Barrett, more poetic than Nick Lowe. All I knew is that even after an hour I wanted to hear more.

Fast forward to 2017… Hitchcock has moved native England to Nashville, but he packed his usual bag of tricks – the wry wit, familiar sneer, and psychedelic charm – all of which meld very well with partner Emma Swift’s backing vocals, the touches of pedal steel, and moments of nostalgia. It’s a fantastic album and exactly how I hoped this chapter of Hitchcock’s wandering career would begin.

[Buy Robyn Hitchcock’s self-titled album in the 3hive Co-op Shop while supplies last.]

Posted on

Jake Xerxes Fussell

Jake Xerxes Fussell | What In The Natural World | 3hive

Jake Xerxes Fussell | What In The Natural World | 3hive

Singer and guitarist Jake Xerxes Fussell’s new album, What In The Natural World, is an enthralling effort of somewhat dark, somewhat humorous folk songs that parallel themselves quite accurately with the nation’s current quandary. Give one of my favorite songs of the year (so far) “Have You Ever Seen Peaches Growing On A Sweet Potato Vine?” (below) a spin.

What In The Natural World is a solid album from start to finish. I highly suggest adding this to your collection – which we can help you with – just jump on over to our Co-op shop and get yourself a copy, at a dang good price too!