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| Photo - Nicole Cecile Holland |
Penny & The Pits have just shared "Headcrusher" along with a video, whilst the new LP Liquid Compactor is due June 27. You might be familiar with Penelope Stevens from their role as bass and keys shredder and sometime vocalist in Canadian avant-rock trio Motherhood (whose 5th LP Thunder Perfect Mind came out recently and was described as "wildly entertaining" on Bandcamp Daily and "a welcome, alien presence in today’s musical landscape" on Post-Trash).
We are told that “Headcrusher is about trying to blame yourself for someone else's bad behaviour. But then it's also about refusing to do that anymore and just sending them out to die at sea." Fans of Motherhood, Amyl & the Sniffers, and other jagged and sometimes mathy rock with blown out guitars will find a lot to love.
Liquid Compactor, the debut statement from Penny & The Pits, is the result of Stevens putting their voice front and center for the first time. It’s a gritty, adventurous punk-rock album that processes feminist joy, rage and revenge. Across the album’s ten tracks, Stevens tears through a series of personal and collective traumas with a pulpy sense of exuberance. “I spent a lot of time making challenging work that would test both myself and the listener,” they reflect. “Now, I’m trying to make music that feels good; music that connects the heart to the body.”
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Gleaming with handmade DIY synth chimes, syncopated drum machine drills, loping Hooky-like basslines, and the otherworldly resonance of the Persian santoor - an instrument now synonymous with the Electric Litany sound; “Diamonds” is an understated gem from the London four-piece. As complexly faceted as it is sparklingly polished, it finds the band distilling the primordial post-punk thrills of early Cure or New Order, via the modern pop productions of the here-and-now to create something both familiar and enigmatic, nostalgic and contemporary, all at once.
With singer Alexandros Miaris’s haunting refrain, of “it’s not too late…” rippling across its multilayered plateaus, his reflective vocal offers a glimmer of reassurance in a track that grapples with this age of uncertainty.
Reciprocating the archival touchstones at the heart of “Diamonds” the track is accompanied by a retro-shaded official video. Taking an unconventional approach, by using vintage BBC 1970s tube valve cameras (bought on eBay for £10), the video shot by cinematographer Ruth Woodside is both fragile and timeless in its aesthetic. Produced by Electric Litany alongside longtime collaborator George Botis, “Diamonds” was recorded at the revered studio Fish Factory, a former fish-packing warehouse in Neasden, London.
Having already road-tested “Diamonds” in the spectacular setting of the Mayan Warrior stage at Burning Man 2025 (as part of Alexandros Miaris’s collaboration with renowned electronic artist Echonomist), the track was met with an electrifying reception on the festival’s main stage and signals the way towards one of the band’s most ambitious and forward-thinking releases yet…
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Nashville-based singer/songwriter Lydia Luce shares her new single "Wisteria," a dreamy celebration of hope and the space to change. Produced by Jordan Lehning (Joy Oladokun, Caitlin Rose, Kacey Musgraves) and co-written with songwriting duo Jake Finch and Collin Pastore (Lucy Dacus), the track gently wraps around Luce's vocals before building into a swell of strings as she declares "Everything seems possible / Anything is possible." The accompanying music video finds Luce exploring the English countryside after the song was recorded at Real World Studios.
Lydia Luce on the new single: "Quite often I’m at home and I hear my partner laughing or singing to himself upstairs. It makes me so happy. I sometimes can’t believe we are where we are. Our relationship began with substance abuse and codependency and we have found our way to a safe and loving marriage with the help of therapy and the willingness to grow. This song is about hope and believing that change can happen. I feel that way with our relationship and with my chronic pain/injuries. It’s so beautiful it makes me want to cry. We will continue to face challenges and there will be weeks of physical pain but I know we can get to the other side with time. For now it feels so good to sit on my couch with my dog and listen to Ryan sing to himself upstairs."
She continues, "The music video for 'Wisteria' was filmed in the English countryside with Katie Sylvester. We had just finished recording at Real World Studios in Box and we stayed a few days extra to film in the area. We wandered through fields of cows and sheep and filmed at the beautiful Iford Manor gardens."
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| Photo - Jody Stevens |
Old Crow Medicine Show frontman Ketch Secor shares his new single “Catch Me If You Can,” the next offering from his debut solo album Story The Crow Told Me, out July 11 on Equal Housing Records via Firebird Music. Featuring Old Crow alums Critter Fuqua and Willie Watson on backing vocals, the song grapples with the life of a hard-touring musician and arrives with a music video co-starring singer-songwriter Gowa Gibbs.
About the new song, Secor says: “Twenty-seven years ago when I started Old Crow I couldn’t have imagined how people I loved could ever turn into people I once loved. But so are the highs and lows of life on the road in a band. The conditions are right for a few things to thrive and a few more to falter, and ultimately fail. Friendships, allegiances, marriages, these are often the casualties of a life like the one I chose and yet I can’t go back and make it any different, nor would I.”
He continues, “Ever since I was young, people have inevitably made a pun with my name. From Catcher In The Rye to Heinz vs. Huntz, I tell ya life ain’t easy for a boy named Ketcham. One phrase I always heard was ‘Catch Me if You Can.’ Well, last spring when I was going through this catharsis of playing back the hands of time in the proverbial rearview mirror, I sat down with Jody Stevens and wrote this song in a short bittersweet burst. I wanted to explore the feeling of sacrifice that it takes to love someone like me. Someone who probably is going to miss your birthday party because I’m going to be playing a show in Newfoundland, Newark, New Orleans, or Newport News. I hope it was worth it.”
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| Photo - Anna Koblish |
Indie/rock darlings The Happy Fits announced their new album Lovesick will release on September 19th. Their first full-length album in over three years, Lovesick arrives in the wake of an emotional maelstrom in which the band’s world turned upside down in every way imaginable. Rather than let it break their stride, though, the acclaimed quartet leaned into the turmoil, transforming all the heartbreak and uncertainty they experienced into their most exhilarating, adventurous, and cathartic record yet. The band also shared their new single “Cruel Power” along with an official video featuring world-renowned dancer and choreographer Lucy Vallely. A gritty, chip-on-the-shoulder rocker, “Cruel Power” embodies the push and pull of a toxic breakup, inviting heartbreak, if only for the rush.
“This track lives in the messiest corners of attraction,” stated frontman Calvin Langman. “It’s about knowingly putting yourself in a situation that’s bad for your heart, and doing it anyway. The lines between friend and lover blur, and suddenly you’re watering someone else’s plants and wondering how you got here. There’s humor in it, self-deprecation, and a little lustful chaos. I wanted it to feel like a late-night spiral in song form. It captures that ridiculous, electric moment when you know you’re being played—but part of you kinda loves the drama.”
Of the video, Langman continued, “I love one-take music videos. I love how it breaks down the convention of band and crew and it forces everyone to assume the role of performer. Every movement is carefully planned and the entire set has to move like one giant hive mind. This video was a huge group effort.”
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