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| Photo - Scott Witt |
San Francisco duo Effie Zilch unveils “Lover Boy,” the latest single and video from their forthcoming LP Higher Calling, out July 10 via Redtone Records. The tongue-in-cheek, Motown-infused track finds the pair leaning fully into their playful side, pairing irresistible grooves with effortless swagger.
Featuring a Benny Benjamin-inspired backbeat, a prominent bass riff, and Vandellas-style background vocals, “Lover Boy” began as something of an inside joke. It quickly evolved into one of the album’s most infectious standouts. “Sometimes songs don’t have to say anything deep or important. Some of our favorite music is playful and lighthearted.” “What is serious about the track is its composition, arrangement and style. It’s a fresh take on an old, familiar sound.”
Sticky-sweet and swaggering, “Lover Boy” brings classic soul revue energy into focus through Effie Zilch’s distinctly Bay Area lens. The accompanying video leans into the song’s vintage charm - shot at historic Sacramento locations once used as filming sites for silent-era icons like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, it pays homage to California’s cinematic history. “We knew we wanted to make a silent film, but how to capture the fun and whimsy of the song eluded us until we fully leaned into the ridiculous,” the band explains. ‘Our video team, Station to Station Creative, didn’t bat an eye at our bizarre treatment. Instead, they went out and found the dapper duck costume the following day. A Flapper, Amelia Earhart, and a proper damsel dame set their eyes agaze on Mr. Gentleman Duck. Cat and mouse chases, train track mishaps, and old-timey title cards tell the silent tale of this strange love story.”
“Lover Boy” follows lead single “Easy,” a restrained and deeply felt meditation built on gospel piano and a melodic bass line. Written as a message to a daughter, the track unfolds like a Sunday sermon before slipping into a subtle current of Bay Area funk reminiscent of Sly Stone, carrying both tenderness and urgency. Together, the two singles reveal the wide emotional and sonic range of Higher Calling, a record shaped by reflection, connection, and craft, drawing equally from gospel, Bay Area funk, deconstructed blues, and classic soul through the duo’s deeply intuitive approach to songwriting.
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The new Wynona Bleach album Animal Style is officially out now everywhere via Propeller Sound Recordings (US) & Fierce Panda (UK). The Belfast band’s long-awaited sophomore album delivers towering guitars, sharp hooks, and the kind of emotional intensity that’s already making serious noise with press on both sides of the Atlantic. Wynona Bleach will be hitting the road in support of Animal Style, bringing the album’s massive guitars and high-energy live show to audiences across the UK.
Formed in 2018, Wynona Bleach quickly gained momentum on the live circuit, including performances at Reading & Leeds Festival, a headline 12-date Russian tour, and high-profile support slots with Feeder, Slow Readers Club and rock icons Alice in Chains on their sold-out Irish dates. Their debut album Moonsoake (2022), recorded in an abandoned Portuguese factory with Bill Ryder-Jones and mixed by Bradfield & Mackintosh, garnered both critical acclaim and industry attention, leading to Northern Ireland Music Prize nominations for Album of the Year and Live Act.
The creation of Animal Style was a deeply collaborative journey, tracked partly in a retro Belfast ballroom-studio and refined across sessions with Bradfield & Mackintosh in London. Following 10 showcases at SXSW 2025, New Colossus NYC, Nashville festival appearances, and a personal invite to Bob Clearmountain’s Apogee Studios in Los Angeles, Wynona Bleach secured their U.S. deal with Propeller Sound Recordings, strengthening their transatlantic profile. Animal Style marks a reinvigoration of the band’s core sonic identity: an unapologetically guitar-driven album with depth, punch and wide-ranging emotional resonance. Wynona Bleach continues to expand their reach as one of Northern Ireland’s most compelling rock exports.
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Interstella Boy, the creative project of songwriter Richard "Dil" Williams, is proud to announce the release of its new single, "Underpass". For more than a decade, Williams has been living with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a progressive and incurable lung disease that causes irreversible scarring of the lungs. Diagnosed 10 years ago, he was given a prognosis that typically sees patients survive between three and five years. Despite the ongoing decline in his lung function and the need for oxygen therapy for up to 15 hours each day, Williams continues to embrace life with determination, creativity, and optimism.
Throughout his journey, songwriting and music have provided a powerful source of therapy and personal expression. However, as the disease has increasingly affected his ability to sing, Williams has made the difficult decision to step back from lead vocal duties.
Taking the microphone for Interstella Boy's latest release is long-time collaborator Phil "Barney" Jones, who delivers the lead vocals on "Underpass". The new single marks an exciting chapter for the project while maintaining the songwriting vision and spirit that have defined Interstella Boy from the beginning. As Williams continues to live life one day at a time, "Underpass" stands as a testament to resilience, friendship, and the enduring power of music in the face of life's greatest challenges.
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Temp Wishes is the new project from Josh Chicoine (The M's, Cloudbirds, Cult Canyon), Edward Anderson (1900s, Mazes), Colby Starck (Mar Caribe, Bobby Conn), and Glenn Rischke (AM Slingers, Bora Bora, Arks).
It is lo-fi psych pop, and songs are concise with sticky melodies, harmonies, and grooves. Flash Fantasy is the first single released from their forthcoming LP. They quietly released a single entitled "Flash Fantasy" a couple weeks, however the accompanying video was released last Friday.
The band's first-ever show will be at the Hungry Brain in Chicago on Friday, June 5. The song itself has a gentle laid back feel where the mood shifts from dark to light vibes without unsettling the listener, and the arrangement could be from an early seventies folk rock band with above average gritty determination.
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