Sharing the sharing.
Chicago’s The Safes play sugar-sweet garage pop tunes that are a sure cure for any sour mood. Their new album, Tasty Waves, is 22 minutes of warm, summery-pop bliss – a perfect remedy for the cold, winter-like weather we’ve been having in my neck of the woods.
Tasty Waves is available now on vinyl and digital from Hidden Volume Records. I highly recommend it.
Fronds is the solo project of former Mallard drummer Dylan Tidyman-Jones, Cold Across My Skin is his second release as Fronds.
Cold Across My Skin was recorded at Dylan’s home back in 2015. It’s shimmering, stripped-down arrangements shine throughout the album and blend well with Tidyman-Jones’ smooth, almost hushed vocals.
Give the album standout “Phantoms” a spin below. You can pick this up on vinyl from Gold Robot Records or digitally from Fronds’ Bandcamp page, and I highly recommend that you do – it’s steadily climbing up the list of my favorite releases of the year. Enjoy.
Michael Nau’s latest solo LP, Some Twist, is a chilled-out, reverbed, groove-psych effort with Nau’s vocals as the key ingredient that ties this magic all together. Give “Oh, You Wanna Bet?” (below) a spin, it’s all you need to get hooked. Oh, and if you’re a tad slow like me, Michael Nau is from Page France and Cotton Jones/Cotton Jones Basket Ride. I love the Cotton Jones albums!
Nova Scotia’s Booji Boys play a grimy brand of punk rock that’s right up my alley. Their solid, self-titled, LP is 12 tracks in under 20 minutes of snotty, distorted punk rock goodness. Give “Dear Donny” and “Bad Boy Blues” (below) a spin, you’ll be glad that you did. You can download this bad boy from their Bandcamp page, or snag it on wax from Drunken Sailor Records. Enjoy.
24-year-old New Zealander Amelia Murray writes, produces, and sings as Fazerdaze. Her debut full-length Morningside is an impressive collection of spunky, sun-drenched jams and soaring dream pop. Her songs are tight and her vocals outta sight, with lyrics that get right at it (“I’m trying not to try so hard for you”). Soak it in and make your summer more summer-y.
[Morningside is available on beefy vinyl via the legendary Flying Nun Records. Buy your copy in the 3hive Co-op Shop while supplies last.]
I wasn’t a fully committed goth in high school but I listened to my fair share of goth music, and sometimes dabbled awkwardly in goth fashion. The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle – nowadays known for his storytelling skills, as a lo-fi turned hi-fi musician and awarded novelist – spent his teen years as a “goth kid”, though I reckon we shared a similar awkwardness. So when Darnielle directs an entire album’s worth of songwriting to the genre/culture, it’s because he has enough material to work with.
Whether the Sisters of Mercy-esque strains of “Rain in Soho” or their tribute to the SoM frontman himself, “Andrew Elritch Is Moving Back to Leeds”, Darnielle and company deliver each track with a clear knowledge of and empathy for its subject matter. On “Stench of the Unburied” Darnielle sings, as someone who suffered his way through SoCal summers in all black: “Outside it’s 92 degrees/And KROQ plays Siouxsie and the Banshees”. In typical Mountain Goats fashion, it’s followed by a narrator’s wink and nod: “Ice chest full of Corona and Pineapple Crush/It’ll take 20 years for the toxins to flush.” It’s this tension that makes Darnielle’s songwriting so authentic, endearing, and surprising.
Goths avoids the trappings of a concept album. Musically it wanders, however coherently, from ominous minor key anthems to loungey new wave to flute-driven baroque pop to an entire bonus record of ambient mixes “for the all-night goths who need to reply to the dawn with total darkness.” The thread remains, but Darnielle trusts his listener to figure it out in their own way.
To me, Goths is about the sometimes tragic, sometimes humorous struggle of adolescent identity (which continues to plague some adults). The search for identity often chased by self-doubt and self-consciousness gets summed up in the album’s best line, the chorus to “The Grey King and the Silver Flame Attunement”: “I’m pretty hardcore, but I’m not that hardcore.”
Even without explanation, Goths is a great album. “We Do It Different on the West Coast” – while relevant here – would fit on any Mountain Goats record, with it’s perfectly Californian brand of self-deprecating coastal pride. It’s followed by “Unicorn Tolerance” which is just plain adorable. Do yourself a favor and listen to Goths, regardless of how much black eyeliner, white foundation, red lipstick, and hair spray you have on your person.
[Buy the deluxe edition of Goths on “vampire red” vinyl with the aforementioned bonus LP of ambient mixes in the 3hive Co-op Shop, while supplies last.]
My introduction to Timber Timbre was back in 2011 whilst perusing the goods at, the now extinct, Slowtrain Records, and their latest release (at the time), Creep On Creepin’ On was playing in the store. Timber Timbre’s wonky, psychedelic groove mixed with Taylor Kirk’s smokey vocals hooked me instantly, and I’ve been a fan ever since. Their recently released, Sincerely, Future Pollution, still checks all those boxes that hooked me 6 years ago. Timber Timbre keeps getting better and better. It’s time to let their psychedelic groove hook you too. Enjoy.
[Buy Sincerely, Future Pollution on shiny black vinyl in the 3hive Co-op Shop – while supplies last.]
Germany’s Death Canyons smack you right in the teeth with their reverb filled, psychedelic, surf punk on their second release Death Canyons II. You can bounce around to their standout track “Dorian Gray Syndrome” (below), then head over to La Pochette Surprise Records and snag yourself a copy on cassette or grab a digital copy from Death Canyons’ Bandcamp page. Enjoy.
Woods’ latest album Love Is Love was written and recorded in the first few months following the election. It’s not necessarily a protest album as much as it’s a “…meditation on love, and on what life means now”. Love is Love is a 32-minute chilled-out, psychedelic, folk-rock effort. It is the perfect antidote for any bad feelings caused by the current mess we are in. Check out the awesome trumpet and flute play in standout track “Bleeding Blue” below.
[Feel the love and snag this on black vinyl – the way it’s meant to be listened to – from the 3hive Co-op Shop. While supplies last.]
Just when I thought Doug Tuttle couldn’t outdo his incredible 2016 solo album, It Calls On Me, the former MMOSS frontman takes that thought and stomps it into oblivion with the release of his new LP Peace Potato. Not only does Mr. Tuttle’s songwriting keep getting stronger with every release, the way he constructs his songs gets stronger as well. The 15 tracks on Peace Potato weave in and out of each other or abruptly stop before taking off again with such precision it’s easy for the listener to get carried away into the lush landscapes of Mr. Tuttle’s “downer pop melodies”.
Give the George Harrison-esque “Can It be” and the way to short “It’s Alright With Me, Ma” a spin below. You won’t be sorry – I promise.
[Buy a copy of Peace Potato on limited edition clear vinyl in the 3hive Co-op Shop. While supplies last.]