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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.

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LANDOWNER

LANDOWNER | Escape the Compound | 3hive.com

Massachusetts 5-piece LANDOWNER’s new album – Escape the Compound – sounds like what I imagine a Jello Biafra and Devo or Suburban Lawns collaboration would sound like. My daughter thinks that Mr. Shaw’s vocals sound like Napoleon Dynamite.

Dumb comparisons aside, Escape the Compound is a kick ass, hyperactive, post-punk album and it’s well worth your time.

You can listen to “Heat Stroke” and “Victim of a Narcissist’s Tactics” (below) for a taste. Escape the Compound is out now on born yesterday records. Enjoy.

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Sweeping Promises

Sweeping Promises | Good Living Is Coming For You | 3hive.com
Sweeping Promises | Good Living Is Coming For You | 3hive.com

Lawrence, Kansas duo Sweeping Promises took the indie world by storm with their solid debut release Hunger For A Way Out on Feel It Records back in 2020 and now 3 years later they are back with their sophomore release Good Living Is Coming For You vaporizing the dreaded “sophomore slump” curse into the ether.

GLICFY is 30 minutes of infectious post punk meets new wave/punk rock goodness. It’s a big step forward from their debut (think The Empire Strikes Back) and a definite contender for album of the year.

GLICFY is out now on Feel It Records. All hyperbole aside, you need this album and we have it for you right here. Don’t trust me? Check out my obsession “Connoisseur of Salt” (below) for a taste. Enjoy.

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Ramona Lisa

Ramona Lisa | Arcadia - Reissue| 3hive.com
Ramona Lisa | Arcadia - Reissue| 3hive.com

Ramona Lisa is the side project/alter ego of Caroline Polachek. Being influenced by the film soundtracks of horror director Dario Argento, Polachek assumed the darker persona of Ramona Lisa.

Polachek recorded most of the album on a laptop using MIDI instrumentation. She released her debut — Arcadia — as Ramona Lisa in 2014 on Terrible Records. It is being reissued today through Polachek’s Perpetual Novice.

Check out “ Izzit True What They Tell Me” below and while you’re listening you can pick up a copy of it here.

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Kicking Bird

Kicking Bird | Just To Be Here With You | 3hive.com
Kicking Bird | Just To Be Here With You | 3hive.com

We are stoked to bring you the premier of Wilmington, North Carolina quintet Kicking Bird’s latest single “Just To Be Here With You”; a 4 minute dreamy pop track, packed with infectious guitar melodies and vocal harmonies from Shaylah Paul and her husband Shaun Paul.

Kicking Bird’s debut LP Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is out in May via Fort Lowell Records. Enjoy.

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FACS

FACS | Still Life In Decay | 3hive.com
FACS | Still Life In Decay | 3hive.com

Chicago’s FACS have unleashed their behemoth 5th long player Still Life In Decay upon the world. It’s another bludgeoning of noisy, shredding guitar work, over one of the tightest and heaviest rhythm sections out there. There’s an understated elegance to this album as well (which is quite lovely) as they ease you into said bludgeoning on several tracks, BUT the weight and dominance of Still Life In Decay never falls off.

If you’ve been sleeping on these guys over the years —WAKE UP!

Still Life In Decay is out tomorrow, April 7, via Trouble In Mind Records. It really is an amazing album and has rocketed to the top of my favorites of 2023. Enjoy.

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Leggy

Leggy | Dramatica | 3hive.com
Leggy | Dramatica | 3hive.com

First off, I’m a big fan of Leggy. I have enjoyed all their releases so far. I really tried going into their brand new release, Dramatica, as unbiased as I could, trying to convince myself to not just love it because it’s Leggy. About half way through the first track “Take It Back” I was hooked.

The tempo changes, Véronique’s powerful-as-ever vocals, incredible production, songwriting and an indescribable “oomph” throughout Dramatica make this Leggy’s most complex and strongest release yet.

Check out “Take It Back”, “Drama” and “Autumn” below for a taste.

Dramatica is out now and available on Leggy’s Bandcamp page. I highly recommend it. Enjoy.

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Fishbone

Fishbone | All We Have Is Now | 3hive.com
Fishbone | All We Have Is Now | 3hive.com

Fishbone the Red Hot almighty legends of ska & alternative rock music are back with a brand new single (the first with Cris Dowd in the band since 1994) “All We Have Is Now”, which comes off the new compilation Bottle Music For Broken People on Fat Mike’s new imprint (under Fat Wreck Chords) Bottles to the Ground.

“All We Have Is Now” was recorded and produced by Fat Mike and Norwood Fisher and is a teaser for a new EP to be released later this year. It implores us to live in the moment, “to take advantage of the gift of the ever present now”. It’s a bouncy track, packed with all the keys and horns you could want from a new Fishbone song, including a classic Angelo sax solo.

Check out the video and stream of the new single below and watch for Fishbone on tour, hopefully somewhere near you, with Les Claypool’s Flying Frog Brigade starting in late March.

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Dancer

Dancer | Dancer | 3hive.com
Dancer | Dancer | 3hive.com

Dancer is a new band out of Glasgow featuring members of Nightshift, Order of the Toad, Current Affairs and Robert Sotelo. Their sound is a bit of a hybrid, mixing elements of gazy jangle-pop, post-punk and some good old punk rock. Check out “Ferret Fancier and “The Split” below for an example.

Their debut self-titled EP is a very solid effort and well worth your time; it’s available now digitally and on cassette via Gold Mold. If cassettes are your thing you’d better spring into action; they are going fast. Enjoy.