School's out for the summer, but for many of us summertime doesn't guarantee a break from the daily grind. The Southern Tiers are here to sympathize with their new single “Holiday” - the perfect anthem for your next spontaneous road trip or weekend getaway! Burnout is a real drag, and let's face it, there's not enough red-letter days on the calendar.
Sometimes you've got to take back a little control, make up your own holiday and take a break from your busy life. The Southern Tiers have self-produced this energetic, freeing jam with mixing and mastering by local legend Evan Sieling, (Luke Bower, Young Mister, Kyle Reynolds, Lance and Lea). Let it motivate you to pick a destination and head off into the sunset for some much-needed “me time.”
The Southern Tiers sound is exciting, yet also cozy and cinematic. It’s refreshing, while giving a nod to the classic influences that paved the way. Their new single “Holiday” is raw, relatable, and easy to listen and sing along to as the open road beckons your name. Listeners will find solace as this song shows solidarity with anyone who's felt over-worked and in need of a break.
"Holiday" brings to mind the likes of Noah Kahan, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors. Enjoy the dusty guitars, driving drums, triumphant choruses, and playful vocal performances from this plucky Americana duo. Give it a listen and dust off your suitcase for a long-overdue Holiday!
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| Photo - Matt Mehlan |
HIGHSIGH have just announced their debut album 'Once Bend' which is due out July 31st on Joyful Noise Recordings. Along with this news, the trio of Robert Lundberg (JOBS), John Dieterich (Deerhoof), and Matt Mehlan (Skeletons) shared the record's lead single and video, "I Love the Room I Live In." The song features vocal and lyrical contributions from Macie Stewart (Finom) as well as percussion from Max Jaffe.
"I Love the Room I Live In" originated from a bassline that Ro Lundberg recorded during a session in Woodstock with Shannon Fields back in 2012. "We were experimenting—listening to lots of Morris Day and the Time, and New Jack Swing, improvising, jamming, extrapolating out from there," Lundberg says. "This bassline popped out as we rolled, and I fell in love with it. It didn’t get used there, but I kept carrying it around in my head for years. It was one of the first scraps I offered John and Matt." Around this foundation, the track took shape with driving drums, layered chopped-up synths, and biting yet lyrical improvised guitar.
The band shared a music video shot by the trio's very own Ro Lundberg and edited by Ryan Hover. In it, time-lapse footage of a hotel room is cut up and abstracted, revealing psychedelic colors, patterns, and textures.
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T.R. Burge & The Temple released ‘Eagle Fly’ yesterday June 25th, the debut single from the Manchester and Berlin-rooted band. It marks the first release under the band name for T.R. Burge, who has been writing and recording as a solo artist for a number of years, and represents the full realisation of a project that has been taking shape, across cities and collaborators, for considerably longer than its 2024 formation date might suggest.
Recorded at Klangbild Studios in Berlin with producer Martin J. Fiedler, the track is slow-moving and atmospheric; strings-led, dreamy, and built around a slow rock pulse that gives it a cinematic, unhurried weight. It sits in similar territory to the hypnotic, wandering energy of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, an influence the band cite directly, and one that shaped the song's mood and sense of drift from the earliest stages of its writing.
The song's origins are characteristically unplanned. T.R. Burge and an old friend rented a cottage in rural Scotland and worked through a set of initial ideas away from any studio pressure or outside influence — an approach that suited the track's subject matter well. Those early sketches were then taken to Berlin, where the full band recorded with Fiedler at Klangbild, and the song expanded considerably. Aninka Rosa's violin — the element perhaps most central to what T.R. Burge & The Temple sound like — was added as the sessions developed, giving the track much of its emotional reach and the quality that makes it feel both intimate and wide open at once.
Lyrically, ‘Eagle Fly’ is a song about the difficulty of hearing your own voice. Written against a backdrop of personal grief and the particular kind of introspection that brings, it deals with the accumulated weight of other people's expectations — the opinions, cultural pressures, and received ideas that quietly shape how a person moves through the world — and the work involved in setting those aside. It arrives, ultimately, at something hopeful. The connection to both Manchester and Berlin runs through it: two cities that have each, in different ways, demanded something honest from the band.
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| Photo - Lucy Craig |
FLOK are a Manchester based four-piece, blending alternative rock with punchy, emotional songwriting. Shaped by the city’s venues and deep musical history, their sound feels rooted in Manchester whilst moving with a modern energy. The band have built a steady momentum in their hometown, growing from the basement of their local pub to the main rooms of a number of the city’s most iconic venues.
Their live presence is defined by high-energy performances, playing to expanding audiences across England, with summer touring dates secured in Sheffield, London, Medway, Glasgow and more. FLOK have recorded two original tracks with Sugar House Studios, including their debut single “Running Out”, which has received support from John Kennedy on Radio X second track; “Stop Turning” follows now and a debut EP expected in September.
With their first release, and live activity widening, FLOK are establishing a reputation as one of the North-West’s most exciting new bands within the grassroots promoter circle, and are now determined to bring their unique sound to venues nationwide!
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After many years away from music, Mark Heffernan pulled out his old suits and revisited the fragments his previous band had left behind. What began as an attempt to finally complete unfinished songs soon evolved into something much larger and synthy-er.
Mark first began his musical journey at the Guitar Institute in London between 1999 and 2000, an experience that ultimately taught him he wanted to create from instinct and emotion rather than rigid methodology. Fast forward to the summer of 2020: sitting on his balcony with sheets of sandpaper, Mark attempted to teach himself the art of carving cameos from amethyst. After weeks of purple dust, sore hands, and mounting frustration, he surrendered to another creative instinct and returned to the studio. Pocket Lint was born.
Since then, Pocket Lint has create his own sound and atmosphere, with a penchant for storytelling. Drawing influence from Bowie, Roxy Music, Soft Cell, Human League, Japan, Magazine, and Sakamoto, while channelling the poetic romanticism of Shelley and Coleridge, Heffernan creates music that feels both timeless and deeply rooted in his present. His releases have already earned recognition including Bandcamp’s New & Notable honour for the album Gallery, while the single “Cyanometer” received praise from Moonbuilding Zine.
Now, Pocket Lint presents his most immersive and ambitious work to date: Wunderkammer. Inspired by the German concept meaning “cabinet of curiosities,” Wunderkammer transforms the album into a sonic museum, a collection of strange, beautiful, and emotionally charged exhibits waiting to be discovered. Museums, galleries, forgotten artefacts, literature, and historical fragments all informed the creative process, with each song representing its own carefully curated object inside the collection. “A Wunderkammer has no such pretensions” Heffernan explains. “All it hopes to do is present objects that the owner thinks are beautiful or interesting. By doing so, they create a multi-faceted mirror. This is my Wunderkammer.”
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Today Samuel S.C. releases the latest track in its single series, "I Need A Moment." Produced by the masterful J. Robbins, the track barrels through two minutes of classic indie featuring uncluttered verses and soaring choruses, complete with the band's trademark boy/girl harmonies - before ascending into a breathtaking prologue led by vocalist Vanessa Downing. It’s a powerful conclusion to a dynamic year of music—and a thrilling teaser for the band's upcoming 2027 full-length album.
Samuel S.C. (FKA Samuel) continues to bridge the gap between '90s indie-rock and timeless punk. Originally a cornerstone of drummer Eric Astor’s legendary Art Monk Construction label, the band reformed in 2021 with their DIY spirit firmly intact. Five years, one LP, one 7”, one split 10” and a 2nd LP in the works, S.C. isn't just maintaining momentum—they’re accelerating.
The group's 2026 trajectory is defined by a prolific streak that finds the band continuing to evolve and explore sounds that refuse to fall neatly into any sub-genre. Releasing one single per month since January, this month SSC shares their final installment of the series, “I Need a Moment”. Equal parts soaring indie rock and contemplative post-punk, "INAM" arrives on the heels of a dynamic set - the casual shimmer of "Mind Flies" (May), the straight-ahead melodic crunch of “Celestial” (April), the simmering and moody “Get Red” (March), the unbridled howl of "Push the Needle" (February), and the wistful, nostalgic "Another Good Lie" (January). These single releases follow a landmark year featuring a 10" split release with Florida’s Pohgoh and standout performances at Fest (Gainesville) and the inaugural Several States Festival in Chicago.
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