Showing posts with label Josh Rouse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Josh Rouse. Show all posts

Wednesday, 5 August 2026

Sacred Buzz - Alex Amor - Josh Rouse - Jules Klee - Railcard - Futurebirds

Photo - Khaled AlShannan
Sacred Buzz - Lost Highway.

Sacred Buzz is a Berlin psych band known for their electrifying live presence and deeply immersive soundscapes. Their sonic palette bridges vintage and modern: garage‑rock grit, krautrock repetition, mesmerizing drones, and proto‑punk drive. On stage, Sacred Buzz conjures a psychedelic ritual: hypnotic drums, throbbing bass, fuzzy guitar reverberating like a lost transmission, droning organ, lo‑fi vocals and surreal lyrics that will rattle your heart out and drive your soul up to the 13th floor in a hazy dream-like vision.

Released today “Lost Highway” captures the feeling of being on the run, hunted by something you can't name, whether it lurks in the world around you or deep within your own mind. A driving krautrock rhythm is spiced with raw guitar and embellished by a brooding synthesizer. 

A fuzzy, phased-out riff between verses evokes a sense of being chased with nowhere to run, before it all culminates in a climax that sounds like a speeding car, screeching brakes, and the sudden end of the road. Inspired by dark ambience of Joy Division and fueled with mind-bending imagery of David Lynch, “Lost Highway“ channels the paranoia simmering beneath the daily grind of modern city life.


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Photo - Henry Croston
Alex Amor - Inside.

Scottish singer-songwriter Alex Amor releases new single 'Inside' - the final preview of debut album 'Heavenly Bodies' - out 21st August via New York independent label VERO Music. Amor has also been added to the bill for All Points East's Lorde headline day on 22nd August. 

The heartbeat of her upcoming debut full-length, 'Inside' is what Alex describes as "a sad-banger lullaby for loved ones gone too soon". A buoyant, guitar-led indie-pop anthem that finds her holding joy and grief in the same hand, "it takes a looking glass to the ugly, scared, and messy parts of my mind," Alex says - from reflections on a world "when friends aren't gonna overdose" to the fear that "if you get too close / I could lose you too".

Speaking more on the release of 'Inside', Alex Amor said: "It’s about coming to terms with compounded grief, generational trauma and taking a stark look at one of the coping mechanisms that defined much of my twenties: dissociation. Pulling away from connection altogether to avoid the pain of needing someone, missing someone, or losing someone. Part of love is accepting loss, making space for grief, and finding the courage to feel it all. It’s a song about connection, the choice to be vulnerable, and learning that the only way through grief is to let yourself feel it."

Originally written as a sprawling poem, 'Inside' arrived in the studio with producer Baz Kaye determined to preserve every word Alex had written. The result is a five-and-a-half-minute centrepiece that pairs some of Amor's most devastating writing to date with an irrepressibly uplifting energy, informed by the sense of optimism Kaye and co-writer Peter Brien carried back from that summer's Glastonbury Festival.

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Photo - Joshua Black Wilkins
Josh Rouse - January Sky.

Josh Rouse has signed to New West Records and will release his label debut Museums and Women on October 23. The 10-song set was produced by Brad Jones, who also produced Rouse’s critically acclaimed 2003 album 1972. Museums and Women showcases Rouse at his most hopeful and romantic, balancing casual poetry and wry humor in equal measure as he conjures up a cast full of drifters and dreamers moving through life with quiet satisfaction. 

The music is often bittersweet, with a gentle, seemingly placid surface that belies the deep well of emotion and memory and desire underneath. The result is a lush, cinematic exploration of the endless stream of passing strangers who slip in and out of our lives on a daily basis. He says, “I was drawn to these songs because they’re so observational. They’re full of characters and stories I dreamed up from little moments that sparked my imagination on the road. At the end of the day, though, it’s inevitable that I’m in there somewhere, too.”

The sessions for Museums and Women were quick and raw, with Rouse on guitar, Jones on bass, and Fred Eltringham (Sheryl Crow, The Chicks) on drums. The trio would record live in the morning, cutting multiple songs in a row before returning in the afternoon to complete overdubs while the music was still fresh and new. “At a certain point, Brad had this folder full of recordings on his desktop, and he asked me what to call it,” Rouse remembers. “I suggested Museums and Women because it was the name of a John Updike book I’d always loved, and it just felt right for the kind of stories I was telling.” Indeed, Museums and Women is a particularly fitting title for a collection that observes its subjects from a reverent distance, elevating ordinary moments of human connection (or lack thereof) into gallery-worthy masterpieces. 


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Jules Klee - He Don't Know a Thing.

Chicago singer-songwriter Jules Klee, who as opened for and/or performed with Joe Pug, Colin Gilmore, John Fullbright, and the West Texas Exiles, released the single "He Don't Know a Thing" at the end of last week. "He Don't Know a Thing" is the first single from her forthcoming album, Roses on My Table, to be released in 2027. "He Don't Know a Thing" (and the album, overall) explores a love that endured distance, addiction, and loss.

Jules Klee is an Americana singer-songwriter, with a voice that knows when to soothe and when to bruise. Her voice can quiet a dive bar—and then carry it. Her songwriting is rooted in plainspoken emotional clarity: songs told without flinching, 

“Jules Klee has a Chicago career of her own but shares a huge voice for harmony,” wrote No Depression. “She’s got pipes that rival Neko Case and Kelly Hogan,” added Time Out Chicago, “We don’t know her name.” The line lingered—less as a critique than a kind of unfinished introduction.

Her early work began quietly, through Chicago’s songwriter circles, earning a reputation for an arresting vocal presence that could shift a room without asking permission. “There’s a power and realness in her songs that’s hard to come by,” as stated by Colin Gilmore, fellow songwriter & friend whom Klee has recorded with, and joined on tour.


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Railcard - Unstable Neighbour.

Today the UK's Railcard have shared 'Unstable Neighbour' as a further taste of their forthcoming album 'Two Steps At A Time.' Railcard made their live debut in December 2025 and had by then recruited their fourth member: Allison Thomson (Trash Can Sinatras, The Love Band), whose flawless trumpet and swirly keyboard-playing complete the Railcard sound, allowing the band to fulfil the significant ambition and range of the songs, which are mostly co-written and often co-sung by Love and Button.  “Flannelette” and “Sunday Sun”, delicate and swoony, could almost be Slapp Happy at their most Bacharach. “Foxy”, mysterious and charming, has more than a hint of Kate Bush December magic. 

The raucous duet “I’m A Disaster” is The Kinks meets deadpan Shangri-Las. The title track could have been an alternative theme tune for Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads. “Runaround” is like a school choir doing The Raincoats. “Unstable Neighbour”, mesmerising and insistent: it might make you think of Stereolab; we might imagine an indiepop Hawkwind.  Peter Momtchiloff also contributes two wonderful songs on the album: the fragile and hallucinatory “Paper Thin” and the Love-meets-Undertones rush of “Hillman Minx”.

Two Steps At A Time is released on Skep Wax and Slumberland September 18th 2026. An exclusive Dinked edition of 300 copies including a 7 inch single with 2 additional tracks will be available at participating UK record stores. The band have a string of UK dates through the summer and Autumn and there will be a Bandcamp listening party for the album at 8pm (UK time) on September 16th.


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Photo - Jacq Justice
Futurebirds - Pretty Eyes.

Today, the Athens, GA-born Futurebirds released “Pretty Eyes,” a cosmic country meditation on true love from the second half of their forthcoming double album Far Out Country II that will be digitally released September 4 via Dualtone Records.  In June, Futurebirds released the full 18-song collection exclusively on vinyl, while just the first 9 songs that comprise Far Out Country I arrived on streaming services. 

About the song, Daniel “Womz” Womack explains, “‘Pretty Eyes’ is my most vulnerable song - a slow-burning surrender anthem about the less lofty side of love. It holds one of my favorite lines I’ve ever written: ‘You feel like it’s vanity anytime you cry, you’re challenging the universe.’ I blacked out writing it and when I came to it was written in my notes. It’s the feeling of being torn between self-protection and the relief of being truly seen – not just by someone you love, but by yourself. It’s a song for anyone who’s ever loved someone so much it felt like losing an argument with themselves.”

Later this month, Futurebirds will kick off the final leg of their album release tour with two hometown shows at the Georgia Theater on August 20 and 21, followed by an appearance an AmericanaFest and a run of dates supporting Trampled By Turtles. Futurebirds is Brannen Miles (bass), Carter King (vocals, guitar), Daniel Womack (vocals, guitar), Thomas Johnson (vocals, guitar), and Tom Myers (drums).


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Friday, 24 June 2022

Heavy Gus - Raven Shelley - Josh Rouse - Old Crow Medicine Show

Heavy Gus - Still To Be.

California-based indie/rock trio Heavy Gus have shared their new single “Still to Be” along with the accompanying music video. The latest track to be released from their debut album Notions (out August 5th via BMG Records), the infectious song finds beauty everywhere it looks. The band stated, “‘Still to Be’ is about the roller coaster of falling in love and staying there. It’s an apocalyptic ode to dying hand in hand presented as a summertime love song.”

“Still to Be” follows the release of the high energy single “Weird Sad Symbol,” that Under The Radar called “genuine live-wire indie rock sound.” The long-distance-love-song “Dinner For Breakfast” is also out now along with the group’s psychedelic-tinged debut track “Do We Have To Talk?”

Formed in the high desert town of Bishop, CA, Heavy Gus is led by singer, songwriter, guitarist Dorota Szuta along with multi-instrumentalist Stelth Ulvang of The Lumineers and percussionist Ryan Dobrowski of Blind Pilot. The band took shape during the pandemic when couple Uvlang and Szuta (a marine scientist who also has a background in music playing with Laura Gibson and Gill Landry) took a socially distanced road trip to Nashville — picking up Dobrowski in Colorado along the way — to record at The Creative Workshop. The resulting collection of songs blur the lines between grungy garage band fare, hazy desert surf, and dreamy, sun-soaked indie rock.

Their debut offering calls to mind everything from Meat Puppets and The Breeders to Yo La Tengo and Acetone in its artful balance of hope and fatalism, loneliness and desire, strength and vulnerability. While all three bandmates came to Heavy Gus from very different worlds, they fit together like puzzle pieces, bound by the kind of love and trust that can only grow from years of deep kinship. Notions was engineered and mixed by Parker Cason (Margo Price, All Them Witches, Coin) and mastered by Pete Lyman (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile).

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Raven Shelley - Sink In Solitude.

Raven Shelley tells us about herself and her beautiful new song - "I am a singer-songwriter based in Manchester. I write ethereal and poetic alt//indie-folk songs, inspired by a love of literature, poetry and visual mediums. I have a very broad range of influences, from Bob Dylan to Ani DiFranco, and Schiele to Nicolas Roeg.
 

I grew up in a rural part of the south of France, and educated myself in English Literature from a young age by raiding my parents’ bookshelves. Reading in English became my own private world, and I went on to study it at The University of Manchester. This is what impacted my desire to create lyrics that can also be described as poetry. 

I try to be honest in the music that I write; I hope that all the hurt, all the anger, all the love, everything that runs through me can be found somewhere in my songs. 

My first single, ‘Sink in Solitude’ will be released with The Animal Farm on the 24th June. It is heavily influenced by lines from Shakespeare and Shelley, and is about time passing by without achievement."



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Josh Rouse - She's In L.A.

Acclaimed singer/songwriter Josh Rouse shares the summer-ready new single “She’s In L.A.,” from his upcoming album Going Places, out July 29 via Yep Roc Records. Featuring a laid-back groove, the song is accompanied by a camcorder-style music video inspired by Townes Van Zandt. Rouse recently spoke with Magnet Magazine, who called the album “feel-good strumming, off-the-cuff hooks and a mildly exotic groove that should translate perfectly to the live setting.”

"In June of 1993, I dropped out of college, planning on a move to Los Angeles,” explains Rouse. “The idea was to move there and start a band with a few friends, things you do when you're in your early 20's. I went to South Dakota for a few months to save up some money while living with my family. In late July, my bandmates decided not to go to L.A. I moved to Tempe, AZ, interning in a recording studio on an impulsive whim. While it proved to be a fruitful adventure (I also bussed tables at a Scottsdale resort), I moved back to Tennessee and re-enrolled in college six months later. I often wonder what would have happened had I gone to L.A."

Going Places came together over the last two years when Josh Rouse found himself unable to tour and hunkered down with his family in Spain. Together with his Spanish band, he began workshopping new songs in a small local venue owned by a friend, resulting in ten road-ready tracks with a looser, more relaxed vibe than his previous work. Where 2018’s Love in the Modern Age saw him take a left turn to keyboard-based retro-new wave territory, Going Places is steeped in classic guitar melodies, with touches of organ and horns, layers of backing vocals and a distinctive southern twang. Rouse has shared two previous singles, including the guitar-driven “Hollow Moon” and the 1970’s-inspired “Stick Around,” which BrooklynVegan called “a song that's warm, welcoming, unpretentious, and serves as a promising taste of the new LP.”

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Old Crow Medicine Show - Used To Be A Mountain.

Two-time GRAMMY award-winning band Old Crow Medicine Show has shared the music video for “Used To Be A Mountain” off their critically acclaimed new album Paint This Town (ATO Records). A galvanizing meditation on environmental catastrophe, the video shines a light on the impact of mining in the Appalachian region.

Along with the video, the band has announced their partnership with Cumberland River Compact, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing water resources through education and cooperation. The partnership serves to bring awareness to the effects of climate change, connecting fans with ways to get involved in the local climate movement through local action. Cumberland River Compact will be present to share more information at the band’s upcoming June 25 performance at The Caverns Amphitheater in Grundy County, TN. 

"I’ve been playing Appalachian music in Appalachia since I was a kid. West Virginia, Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, and East Tennessee are the places I love to play most. When you saw a fiddle in these settings it always feels like a homecoming. But time has dealt a hard hand to the region that gave birth to country music, and 'Used To Be a Mountain' is a song that wrestles with the issues facing Appalachia today,” explains Ketch Secor. 

"I think that the Intrepid spirit of the mountaineers of the coal fields of the Southern Highlands and Appalachia are some of the hardest and most important for bearers of the American dream. I think that when you take away the natural beauty and destroy the ecology of places, you don't have a whole lot left to rebuild with. I know there's a lot of folks that are hurting right now in the communities of the coal fields. This song is there to both reflect that hurt and to ask the question, can we do something better for these folks? Can we do something better for these mountains, these hills, the flora and fauna, for anybody who wants to breathe clean air and drink clean water in Appalachia?"

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Monday, 16 May 2022

Cola - Josh Rouse

Cola - Fulton Park.

On Friday, the debut LP from Cola, Deep In View, will be released on Fire Talk Records. The new project from former Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy and US Girls/The Weather Station drummer Evan Cartwright, the band's debut has been one of the most anticipated releases of the year, earning praise from outlets like NPR, FADER and Rolling Stone who named the band an Artist You Need To Know and called their debut "one of the year’s most thrilling rock statements." Today, Cola are sharing a final single from the LP, a track called "Fulton Park."

"Ben and I had a flow writing this record where we would send each other demos every Friday," Darcy has stated. "It was a really motivating way to write, as I would spend the week working on something but then get the bonus of hearing what Ben had written when I sent him my track.  I heard Fulton Park and was immediately excited to work on vocals for it.  

It’s such an interesting instrumental.  These lush almost psychedelic guitars in the intro and chorus are paired with this really stripped down almost honky tonk verse.  It conjured in my mind this kind of old west imagery.  I suppose looking back on the lyrics now, that same kind of juxtaposition is present. Similar to Landers, it takes a look at the natural world and then the odd, magical, sometimes empty things that humans do on that landscape."


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Picture - Jim Harrington
Josh Rouse - Stick Around.

Today, acclaimed singer/songwriter Josh Rouse shares the new single “Stick Around” off his forthcoming album Going Places, which releases July 29 via Yep Roc Records. Inspired by the groovy American and English music of the 1970’s, the song is punctuated with an unexpected Memphis-style horn line.

"I wrote this one summer while doing an outdoor show in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain,” explains Rouse. “We recorded the song in a couple takes, it sounded somewhere between J.J. Cale and Fairport Convention, until I had Jim Hoke put some saxes on it and it became something else entirely. A barbecue strummer!"

Going Places came together over the last two years when Josh Rouse found himself hunkered down with his family in Spain. Inspired by a desire to perform live during a time when that was virtually impossible to do, he got together with his Spanish band to workshop the songs in a small local venue owned by a friend. The resulting collection of songs trades the polished sheen of his prior work for a looser, more relaxed vibe. Where 2018’s Love in the Modern Age saw Rouse take a left turn to keyboard-based retro-new wave territory, Going Places is steeped in waves of his classic guitar melodies, with touches of organ and horns, layers of backing vocals and a distinctive southern twang. Listen to the debut single “Hollow Moon.”

Over the last two decades, Josh Rouse has solidified his status among this generation’s most acclaimed songwriters with insightful lyrics and a warm, effortless style. His work has been celebrated by press including Associated Press, Billboard, NPR Music, Los Angeles Times, BrooklynVegan, Salon and more. Forbes called him “a masterful songwriter,” and Paste declared, "His knack for setting a simple feeling to a breezy melody shines through again and again.” Now passing 50 years old, Going Places marks the next phase of his career. Looking toward the future, the new album once again proves Rouse’s undeniable ability to evolve and push his sound forward, delivering something that is both familiar and wholly new.

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Saturday, 3 March 2018

The Noise Figures - Leitvox - Josh Rouse - Steph Fischer-Ivancsy - Guts Club

The Noise Figures - Lethargy / Telepath/Hypnotized.

Background - Two and a half years after Aphelion, the Athens-based drums-guitar duo of George Nikas (vocals, drums) and Stamos Bamparis (guitar) return more frenetic than ever with their third full-length studio work entitled Telepath. It's set to arrive on March 2nd via Inner Ear Records. Check out the first two singles and the entire album below.

Inspired by the theory of spiritualism and influenced by personal experiences, Telepath is an intoxicated concept album, with intensively sobering attention to detail in every single track, revealing a different side of the band's personality and crossing all the paths the duet from Greece has traveled so far, from heavy blues to psych garage to a fuzz vertigo.

With its swinging moods of bright to dark undertones, the album sounds sharper than ever, with more energy, intensity and tuneful sensibility, capturing the band's hundreds of live performances and touring thrust. With Alex Bolpasis' stamp on production and mixing, The Noise Figures develop the artistic freedom they have cultivated over the years, while keeping their primitive spirit of raw guitar and drum sound intact. 

From the opening of Lethargy the track with the massive tribal drumbeat and the loyal-to-fuzz Anatolian guitar riffage, The Noise Figures welcome us to the dreamy delirium they intensively describe in their lyric sheet and sink us into a ritual vortex of hypnotism.

"Telepath" was the first song we composed and recorded during the demo sessions of our third album. Without even knowing where these demos would lead us, we actually had the whole concept of it before the birth of it, just trying out a groove ideal for the gigs and trippy, psychic lyrics. As we were jamming it we came across "Hypnotized", a slow-burning ritual of hypnotism, and it became one track split in two parts." FACEBOOK.


The Noise Figures present us with two tracks 'Lethargy' and 'Telepath/Hypnotized'. The bands psych, rock and blues styles are merged into some powerful music, where the atmosphere is intense and the rhythms are intoxicating as their material marches ever onwards, at times in a near trance like state.


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Leitvox - Black Feather ft. Emma Fox.

Background - Miami based producer Leitvox is back with his new single "Black Feather", an energetic and dreamy composition featuring a danceable beat and floating vocals. "Black Feather"  switches up in between genres of synthwave, house and vocal electronic, all while being one cohesive track running through a musical realm. The single is the second release of Leitvox's upcoming EP Coded Matter.

 On vocals is Emma Fox, an incredibly talented vocalist that has teamed up with him before on tracks such as "Two Tribes", off his previous full length Floating Promises. "I really can hear my strongest influences on this composition, from NIN to Jean-Michel Jarre. Emma does an amazing work with such elegant vocals, they take the track into a very surreal world." - Leitvox

Leitvox is a Mexican producer and composer based in Miami. He works out of his own studio in Wynwood, and has been working on his and other peoples music since arriving 2013. FACEBOOK.


It was back in November 2016 that we last featured Leitvox, coincidentally on a track that also featuring Emma Cox. 'Black Feather' is another notable song where the vocals drift above a swirl of synths and steady beats, indeed the music is cleverly arranged with layers building and ebbing away, this is addictive.


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Josh Rouse - Salton Sea

Background - "Salton Sea" is the third track off Rouse's new album Love in the Modern Age, out April 13, via Yep Roc Records. Similar to his work on his album 1972 where he captured the aesthetics of a specific moment in time, Josh’s new album Love in the Modern Age takes inspiration from the sound and production of early 1980's releases by The Blue Nile, The Style Council and Prefab Sprout.

Also serving as inspiration were Roxy Music’s Avalon, Leonard Cohen's Various Positions and I'm Your Man. Non-ironic touches like sax, handclaps, reverbed guitar, backing vocals and keyboards give the moody but infectious songs a New Romantic flair.

Josh Rouse has solidified his status as one of his generation's most acclaimed songwriters in both the US and Europe, where he's lived on and off since 2004. Spending the better part of a year touring behind his critically acclaimed eleventh album, The Embers of Time, Rouse was ready for a change.

"Coming off such a heavy record, I wanted to try something different," he explains. "I wanted to explore new sounds and write with a fresh backdrop." Trading in his trusty acoustic guitar for a synthesizer, Love in the Modern Age still bears Rouse's distinct fingerprints even as it pushes his limits and forges a bold new chapter more than twenty years into his celebrated career. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


Back in January we shared 'Businessman' from Josh Rouse and now we have 'Salton Sea' also taken from his forthcoming 'Love in the Modern Age' album. It's another refined and catchy song, the vocals are classy and the music has hints of the eighties albeit with a flourish of more modern production techniques that just add so much more.

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Steph Fischer-Ivancsy - Warning Signs.

Background - Steph Fischer-Ivancsy’s unique brand of blues is a throbbing, stomping, wailing blast cut through with a voice that will bring you to your knees. After beginning her solo career in 2015 this young singer-songwriter has secured numerous residencies, toured alongside Melbourne blues legend Shaun Kirk, and brought her powerful energy to festivals and pubs throughout Victoria and New South Wales. Warning Signs is the latest single from Steph.

Warning Signs features heavy and gritty guitars, chillingly unique vocals with booming drums and a powerful blues-rock element topped off with harmonica. Warning Signs has a few messages behind it; being cautious of getting to know people but not to listen to all the lies about a person; not dwelling on the hard times and realising mistakes are okay.

“There’s a whole bunch of things in this song. It’s all about realising it’s okay to stuff up every once in a while, but we just need to keep going and to not always believe the lies people tell. Also to be cautious because we never really know someone.” - Steph Fischer-Ivancsy

Warning Signs was recorded at Kelsonic Studios Melbourne, Australia and produced, engineered and mastered by Mark Kelson.

To hear Steph play is to listen to hard times and heartache engage with the raw energy of a young woman full of fire. She backs her incredible voice with an arsenal of guitars, played with finger-slide, and the driving beat of stomp-box and tambourine. By combining the timelessness of swampy slide-guitar with a burning youthful force Steph has carved out a sound all her own. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

Upcoming Shows:
12th April – Hume Blues Club, Coburg
28th April – Jamieson Autumn Festival, Jamieson (Supporting Shaun Kirk)
12th May – Baby Black Café, Bacchus Marsh (Supporting Shaun Kirk).


Some gorgeous bluesy vocals make 'Warning Signs' attention grabbing from the beginning and the music has power and plenty of natural rock & roll vibes to it, this is potent and very catchy.

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Guts Club - Mustard Tears.

Background - RIP Records has released a brand new Guts Club track, "Mustard Tears" as part of their RIP Introduces Series. This new single is the first to be heard from Guts Club's upcoming third album, which is due out sometime this summer.

Musician and visual artist Lindsey Baker self-released her solo debut album, The Arm Wrestling Tournament, in February 2015 and it caught a lot of ears. In a review from Tiny Mix Tapes they said “Baker carries a guitar the way Robert Frost carried a hatchet: as a tool through which tension and rage can be released,” and Paste said “The Brooklyn singer and songwriter behind Guts Club sings with piercing emotional intensity.”

She’s since moved from Brooklyn to New Orleans, where she recorded her second album Shit Bug, released on Moderate Fidelity Records on July 1, 2016. Baker brought along a band for Sht Bug and has since preformed with a rotating cast of musicians and friends.

While The Arm Wrestling Tournament dealt mostly with dark, obsessive love, the themes of Sht Bug further define Baker’s ongoing narrative about coming to terms with otherness and alienation via with her own brand of cosmic gloom. A third and fully electric album is just being wrapped up with a release date sometime in the spring or summer of 2018. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.

Upcoming Shows:
March 7 New Orleans, LA at Hi-Ho Lounge
March 13 Austin, TX at Marriott South (Solo Acoustic Second Play Stage Set)
March 16 Austin, TX at Voodoo Doughnut
March 17 Austin, TX at Cheer Up Charlies (Indoor Stage) Official WolfieVibes Publicity Showcase.


There is some warm roots feeling to 'Mustard Tears', a passionate and majestic song where the musicianship gently turns out layers of melody, making a perfect backdrop for the emotional and definitive vocals.

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Friday, 19 January 2018

Fine China - Torgeir Waldemar - Haley Heynderickx - Josh Rouse - Blushing - Oh Geronimo - Freevolt

Fine China - Not Thrilled.

Background - Fine China was formed in Phoenix in 1997. Soon after, they released their rst 2 EP's and a 7" on So Cal indie label Velvet Blue Music. The band went on to tour extensively and to release 3 additional full length records on various labels until 2005. The most recent release, The Jaws of Life, received wide critical nods, and TV show placements.

In December of 2016 Jaws was re-issued on 12" vinyl with a newly recorded bonus track (to coincide with a 10 year reunion show). Fine China has always been a guitar-driven, pop band at heart, and the new track did not disappoint. It was met with lots of applause and the vinyl quickly sold out.

Now twelve years after their last album, Fine China is back home with a full length recording for Velvet Blue Music, exactly twenty years after their rst recordings for the same label ! This new batch of songs was recorded in songwriter Rob Withem's studio over the past year, and were mixed by Bob Hoag, the band's longtime producer and engineer, at Flying Blanket Recording in Mesa, AZ. The new full length, entitled Not Thrilled, is set for release on 2/23/18 and will contain 10 new new tracks, preceded by a 7" single, You Are Not The Future, out January 19th with an additional 2 bonus tracks. LABEL.


A refreshing fast flowing and refined rocker where the music and vocals both drive the melody and feeling. 'Not Thrilled' is a high quality piece that bodes very well for next months album.

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Torgeir Waldemar - Streets (Electric).

Background - Torgeir Waldemar announces new album "Jamais Vu", featuring re-worked versions of his own compositions, released March 9th on Jansen Records.

"Old songs played again" someone said, and that’s what Torgeir Waldemar is doing on Jamais Vu, where he pulls apart tracks from his previous two albums and breathes new life into them. songs. Both his self-titled 2014 debut album and the sequel, No Offending Borders, were praised by national and international press, and the songs soon started to live their own life. Especially for Torgeir Waldemar himself, who continuously played different versions of the songs live, in his rehearsal space and finally in the studio.

‘Jamais vu’ is a lesser known notion than ‘déjà vu’, and its meaning is quite simply the opposite. Where ‘déjà vu’ is a new experience that feels well-known, ‘jamais vu' means that a well-known situation or experience feels unknown or new. "Songs never stand still, at least not for me. They want to go on. After some years of playing them live, many have moved far away from where their starting point was. That’s why I often experience Jamais Vu and that’s how this release was born." says Waldemar.

On Jamais Vu you’ll hear Sylvia (Southern People), Among The Low and Summer In Toulouse from Torgeir’s latest album, No Offending Borders, in acoustic versions, and Streets and Take Me Home from his self-titled 2014 debut album in electric versions with larger arrangements. You’ve heard the songs before, but you have never heard them like this, WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


We featured Torgeir a couple of times just over a year ago and spoke favourably of his varied music on both occasions. 'Streets' is an expansive and natural rock song with something of a timeless feel to it, the emotion and passion is felt both musically and through his classic rock vocals.


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Haley Heynderickx - Untitled God Song.

Background - Haley Heynderickx’s debut album has been long awaited in her home of Portland. Since the release of the first single, “Oom Sha La La", in 2017 she has been making waves and garnering best of and most anticipated lists from Uproxx, BIRP, NBHAP, Clunk Magazine, Various Small Flames and The Bluegrass Situation while also receiving a coveted spot on NPR’s ‘Slingshot’ program. In their best tracks of 2017 OPB Music called “Oom Sha La La” “easily one of the year’s most striking songs” while Uproxx predicted that “though this may not be a name that rings a bell at the end of 2017, it’s going to be one of those ones that you’ll hear everywhere in 2018.”

Heynderickx’s second single, “Untitled God Song”, is an entrancing rumination on spirituality, focusing on the idea that perhaps there is no separation between the mundane and the cosmic, or the divine. As Heynderickx says "Growing up with a religious background, I always grappled with the idea of what God looked like. I mean this in a humorous sense. The older I get, the more convinced I am that God is just a busy mother trying to balance all the chaos around her, and I have no idea why but I do love this imagery. Maybe it's an allusion to my own mother, but please don't tell her that, she'll probably feel shy about these lyrics."

Heynderickx uses her songwriting as therapy, a sort of mandorla to bridge the gap between -- whether it be between her mixed Filipino and American roots, or the dichotomy of her soft spoken nature and her vocal power. I Need to Start a Garden is full of pure bursts of humanity, in all their beauty and all their rawness, documenting anxiety, pain and conversely healing, community and creation. I Need to Start a Garden, will be released March 2nd, 2018 via Mama Bird Recording Co.

FACEBOOK.

'Untitled God Song' opens with a simple guitar arrangement that is soon joined by Haley Heynderickx’s breathe taking vocals. The music ups a level along the way whilst her vocals continue to impress as the hooks gently dig right in.

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Josh Rouse - Businessman.

Background - Singer-songwriter Josh Rouse will release his new album Love in the Modern Age on April 13, 2018 via Yep Roc Records.

Similar to his work on his album 1972 where he captured the aesthetics of a specific moment in time, Josh’s new album Love In The Modern Age takes inspiration from the sound and production of early 1980's releases by The Blue Nile, The Style Council and Prefab Sprout. 


Also serving as inspiration were Roxy Music’s Avalon, Leonard Cohen's Various Positions and I'm Your Man. Non-ironic touches like sax, handclaps, reverbed guitar, backing vocals and keyboards give the moody but infectious songs a New Romantic flair.

Josh Rouse has solidified his status as one of his generation's most acclaimed songwriters in both the US and Europe, where he's lived on and off since 2004. Spending the better part of a year touring behind his critically acclaimed eleventh album, The Embers of Time, Rouse was ready for a change. "Coming off such a heavy record, I wanted to try something different," he explains. "I wanted to explore new sounds and write with a fresh backdrop." Trading in his trusty acoustic guitar for a synthesizer, Love in the Modern Age still bears Rouse's distinct fingerprints even as it pushes his limits and forges a bold new chapter more than twenty years into his celebrated career. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


Josh Rouse will kick off his tour in the UK in April, followed by North America in May.

UK Tour Dates:
APR 24 The Lantern, Bristol, United Kingdom
APR 25 The Garage, London, United Kingdom
APR 26 Deaf Institute, Manchester, United Kingdom
APR 27 Whelan's, Dublin, Ireland
APR 28 Leaf, Liverpool, United Kingdom
APR 29 The Mash House, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
APR 30 The Plug, Sheffield, United Kingdom


Some much welcome new material from Josh Rouse and the song 'Businessman' ahead of April's album release 'Love In The Modern Age'. Influences there may be, however if they help generate a fabulous sounding song like this, so what.


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Blushing - Hidden Places.

Background - The sophomore EP "Weak" by Austin TX based dream pop / shoegaze quartet will be released next Friday January 26th. The album will be available digitally and cassette via the band's Bandcamp page.

Blushing is comprised of two husband and wife pairs that originated in the summer of 2015 when Michelle shared a few songs with long time friend Christina that she had been writing on guitar. A friendship quickly became a musical partnership as Christina, a classically trained vocalist, picked up a bass and together they evolved those rough songs into fully formed compositions. They then enlisted the talents of their spouses, Jake on drums, Noe on lead guitar and shortly after self-released their debut EP "Tether" in January of 2017.

Energized by positive reception, a growing fan base and a grip of new songs they headed back into the studio as soon as possible. They recorded their follow-up EP “Weak” at Bad Wolf Recordings in Austin, TX. The album encompasses influences from all of the bands they collectively share a deep affection for such as Lush, Cocteau Twins, The Sundays, etc. BANDCAMP, FACEBOOK.


We featured the song 'Weak' back in November and are more than happy to share another track from the new 'Weak' EP called 'Hidden Places'. Shoegaze of sorts with just a little dream pop feeling through the enticing vocals, the song is powerful however the arrangement is subtle allowing each element to have clarity and distinction.

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Oh Geronimo - Mountains.

Background from Oh Geronimo - We just dropped another single/video from our forthcoming new album The Sled. “Mountains”.

“Mountains” is a song about wholeheartedly pursuing your passions, while straddling the fragile line between ambition and humility. Everybody wants to be successful, and sometimes we go to great lengths to achieve the success that we so desperately desire. However, it’s important to remember to keep our egos in check. We must be kind to each other and to ourselves. It’s easy to let your goals and aspirations consume you to the point where it brings you and everyone else around you down. “Mountains” is about never giving up, whilst withstanding the pressure to compromise who we are in order to be successful.

The Sled will be released in just a little over one month, and we can’t wait for you to hear it. We recorded it during the spring at Chalet – a wonderful, cottage-like studio, just outside of Uxbridge, ON. The release of this record will mark one year since half of our band put down their torches – a year that demanded patience, persistence, and resilience. The universe often taunts us to throw in the towel, but we’re fighters. We will never extinguish the fire, and The Sled solidifies that resolution. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


Second time around for Oh Geronimo this time we have 'Mountains', and once again it's an impressive indie rock song, where the vocals are a focal point for the track, until the band finally break through and impress with some superbly tight and gorgeous musicianship.


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Freevolt -  Always Feel So Good.

Background - Freevolt is a tropical rock act that fuses the genres of roots, reggae, jam, funk, americana, and pop to create a dynamic and high energy performance that is extremely engaging.  Based out of the North Shore of MA, the band takes their live show up and down the east coast of the USA.

The band is recognized for their high energy performance, dynamic changes, tight grooves, positive messages, and passionate vocals. Their seamless genre fusing style and prominent words of triumph and freedom are captivating audiences. 

The band is currently on tour and taking to the stage at night clubs, concert halls, and festivals in the USA with the majority of their showcases in MA, NH, ME, RI, VT, CT, NY, PA, MD, and SC.  

Freevolt released their third full length album, titled Open Up Your Door, in January 2018, as a follow up to their largely successful 2016 release, Once You Say . Various tracks from the new album have since been featured on radio and television worldwide. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.


If you need some upbeat feel good music that is delivered both vocally and from a band that at times are musically on fire then 'Always Feel So Good' is a taster for all of that and more. Party time!

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My Life As A Moth - Anne-Claire - Ark Identity - A Very Special Episode - Mustard Service - Mama’s Broke

My Life As A Moth - Closer To Earth. East London-based, Swedish-born artist My Life As A Moth announces The Parade of the Starlet & the...