Soft Science have just released their new dreampop single "Kerosene" off their upcoming new album 'Lines' on Shelflife (US) / Spinout Nuggets (UK) / Fastcut (Japan).
Soft Science began working on their recently completed album Lines in 2019, forging the record in their home studios together and at times in isolation from each other during the height of the pandemic, swapping tracks and making adjustments from a distance for what felt like an eternity. Reuniting in person to finalize the mix created a palpable excitement, an energy that can be felt throughout the record. Lines addresses living and loving within the complexities and challenges of everyday life in our fast-paced digital world.
Formed in 2009 by longtime collaborators Katie Haley (Holiday Flyer, California Oranges) and brothers Ross and Matt Levine (Welt, The Tank, California Oranges), the group was later joined by partners Tony and Becky Cale (English Singles, Arts & Leisure), and Hans Munz. With alluring vocals, two 12-string guitars, bass, drums, and synthesizers, the ensemble layers copious melodies, celestial harmonies, and propulsive rhythms with lush electronic soundscapes to create "a sound built to outlast trends" (Chicago Tribune). "It's not often you hear dream pop that's so devastatingly dynamic and driving" (The Big Takeover).
The first single from Sloppy Heads' Sometimes Just One Second was a real ripper, pleasing from the first howl. The new one's got a stoned and sun-kissed psychedelia that makes it feel like the perfect high summer jam. I've been playing it on repeat and the pleasure gets deeper with each spin of the blissful and patiently dynamic 6-minute track.
The band says that "'Try Again' is a meditation on escaping the somnambulance of day-to-day life, of floating away on a breeze and viewing the world from a remove, at peace." Do yourself the pleasure.
I hear Sloppy Heads as situating somewhere in a brilliant constellation of spirited rock music adventurer stars like Half Japanese and The Vaselines and The Fugs. The record features contributions from James McNew of Yo La Tengo across all tracks. This music is imbued with a sense of pure adventure and joy that is all at once familiar and totally refreshing. It's music made to be loved.
The Connells - Running Mary (Live Acoustic Version).
Craft Recordings is celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Connells’ breakthrough album, Ring, with its first widely available vinyl reissue and a bonus-filled CD. Today the group has also shared a previously unheard live acoustic version of “Running Mary” which is featured along with other recently discovered versions of tracks from Ring on this bonus-filled release.
"For me the songwriting process can be somewhat accidental..." writes guitarist and songwriter Mike Connell. "And often times, it's only long after the fact that I realize that I really like a song. That was the case with 'Running Mary.' It's become one of my favorite songs to perform live."
Long heralded as one of North Carolina’s most successful indie rock bands, The Connells carved out a niche for themselves in the early ‘90s alt-rock scene with their special brand of introspective jangle pop. The band was formed in Raleigh in the early to mid-80s by brothers Mike Connell (vocals, guitar) and David Connell (bass), and soon expanded to include Doug McMillan (vocals), Peele Wimberley (percussion), and George Huntley (guitar, vocals). They played their first show ever in September of 1984, and in 1986, the band released their debut LP, Darker Days, followed by the Mitch Easter-produced Boylan Heights (1987). They continued to build momentum, entering the Billboard 200 with 1989’s Fun & Games and 1990’s One Simple Word, and scoring a string of college radio hits like “Something to Say,” “Stone Cold Yesterday,” and “Get a Gun.”
Hipbone Slim and the Kneetremblers - Tremblin' (Album).
Over the last 20 years Hipbone Slim and the Kneetremblers have established themselves as a foremost force in the worlds of rock n roll, garage, beat, surf and all in between. They have recorded 13 highly acclaimed albums and a whole load of 45s on labels such as Voodoo Rhythm, Beast, FOLC, and Dirty Water. Not to mention various other related side-lines and pseudonym releases!
The Kneetremblers are fronted by Hipbone Slim aka Sir Bald on guitar, vocals and song-writing duties. He is ably assisted by Bash Brand on hitting things. Bruce’s musical CV is extensive and includes Thee Milkshakes, Headcoats, Holly Golightly, Masonics, Wreckless Eric and two albums with Link Wray.
On this release Baldie and Bruce are joined by Gez Gerrard or Cheeseman or Sleepy Matt Radford on slapping things. You’ll also hear Spencer 'The Colonel' Evoy (frontman of MFC Chicken) on saxophone and Slim Cyder on piano on several tracks. Many of these particular tunes were originally released on vinyl under the semi alter ego ‘Hipbone Slim and the Crowntoppers'. Thanks also to various other pals from Sir Bald Diddley and his Ripcurls and/or The Nine Ton Peanut Smugglers (Kid Wig, Johnny and Barry Temptations) for all your efforts in trying to make these recordings a little more listenable!
This splendid nay resplendent double CD package brings together no less than 40 tracks by the ultra-prolific, greatly under-rated, hardest working band in rock n roll show business.
Cardiff Psych Rock phenomena 'No Thee No Ess' are poised to release their 2nd single from anticipated new 'Dimmer Switch' Album out via Surk Recordings this September.
'Dimmer Switch'' is the 2nd single to emerge from the new LP and will be released on Friday 27th August, and 'Dimmer Switch' Album will be released on Friday 17th September 2021.
No Thee No Ess is a collaboration between Paul Battenbough (The Cosmic Array, King of Despair) and Andy Fung (Derrero, Cymbient). The two musical and visual artists first met whilst working in the kitchen of a Cardiff arts centre and bonded through a shared love of The Beach Boys, Neil Young, and West Coast psychedelia.
The partnership creates spontaneously, conceiving songs and ideas in the studio and then recording straight away to preserve their freshness and immediacy. The eighth No Thee No Ess album, 'Dimmer switch' was recorded with musician/producer Frank Naughton at his legendary Cardiff studio, ‘Ty Drwg.’
Naughton contributes additional instrumentation, bringing new lysergic colours to songs like “kaleidoscopic” and "Chorus.” The result is among no thee no ess’ most adventurous works to date, rich with experimental energy while retaining their characteristic blissed out vision. Dimmer switch will be released by Surk Recordings on vinyl, CD, streaming, and digital download in August 2021.
Hailing from Liverpool, hugely gifted singer/songwriter Paul Holden is back with his new single ‘Help Me Anytime You Want’.
Coming from strong roots previously fronting band ‘The Talkabouts’, and having performed with The Pretenders, China Crisis, and The Bluetones, Paul’s solo career took off amidst covering ‘Imagine’ at Liverpool’s M&S Arena to 10,000 people as part of ‘The Number One Project’ for charity.
Paul exceeds his reputation in the new single with a contemporary synth based sound, whilst sitting perfectly alongside his hauntingly beautiful melodies, and dulcet tones.
The mystique surrounding Paul’s musical journey has always been prevalent, due to the fact that he suffers from a rare muscle condition called ‘Nemaline Myopathy’ that has resulted in him being in a wheelchair.
Un-phased, Paul Holden has returned with this spellbinding single, also ahead of his new EP ‘Say It To The Sun’ which is out on Thursday 19th August.
Buffalo Nichols, Fat Possum’s first solo blues signing in nearly 20 years, has announced the release of his self-titled debut album, due on 15th October. The Austin, TX-based guitarist, songwriter and vocalist has also shared lead single 'Lost & Lonesome, a tender, aching ballad. “‘Lost & Lonesome’ was inspired by years of traveling alone, wandering city streets looking for a place to call home maybe for a night, maybe forever,” explains Carl “Buffalo” Nichols.
“It takes you back to those moments in life when you must leave home either physically or figuratively — going somewhere unfamiliar and on your own. The soundtrack to a wandering soul. An ode to loneliness. When you see a wandering soul, all you can do is wonder how they got there. This song gives a glimpse into the mind of that traveler looking for a friend and a place to call home.”
Since his earliest infatuations with guitar, Buffalo Nichols has asked himself the same question: How can I bring the blues of the past into the future? After cutting his teeth between a Baptist church and bars in Milwaukee, it was a globetrotting trip through West Africa and Europe during a creative down period that began to reveal the answer.
“Part of my intent, making myself more comfortable with this release, is putting more Black stories into the genres of folk and blues,” Nichols explains. “Listening to this record, I want more Black people to hear themselves in this music that is truly theirs.” That desire is embodied in his self-titled debut album, composed largely of demos and studio sessions recorded between Wisconsin and Texas.
Venice Beach rock quartet, Little Galaxies is back with the music video for their reflective single "Waking Sea." Directed by Sara Alessandrini, the video showcases the track's hopeful message set to a summer beach backdrop.
“This is a song about finding peace in the wreckage. It was inspired by a car accident and my awakening in the years to follow as I healed from injuries and learned to accept my fate by surrendering to the pain to heal and transcend from it,” explains lead singer Jeanna Fournier.
Little Galaxies was founded by Fournier and Amir Eshraghi, who recruited Andreas Sandnes on bass and Lucas Crouch on drums. The ensemble experiments with their own unique sonic dreamscape, drawing influences from psychedelic rock, dream pop, and folk.
Raleigh-based band The Connells shared “Steadman’s Wake,” the title track of their upcoming album, due September 24 via Black Park/Missing Piece Records. The song is currently streaming on Stereogum which writes, “the track will surely appeal to fans of the Connells’ fellow Southern jangle-rockers R.E.M., and you might hear some Drive By Truckers in the sauce when they launch into the chorus..." In addition to releasing their first album in 20 years, the band has planned a run of fall US tour dates; tickets are available now.
"I generally find writing lyrics to be the most challenging aspect of songwriting and with ‘Steadman's Wake’ that certainly proved to be the case.” says Mike Connell, “ I set out with the modest ambition of tackling the opioid crisis, the futility of war, and the events in Charlottesville, VA a couple of years ago, all in the context of a four minute pop song (being facetious, obviously). The other guys in the band really liked it, and felt that of all the tunes we were working on it best expressed where we ‘are’ individually and as a band."
Despite the two decades since their last recording, The Connells never quit performing, and Mike Connell never stopped writing songs. Steadman’s Wake features eight new songs and 3 re-recorded versions of previously-released demos which originally appeared on 2001’s Old-School Dropouts CD. This is also the band’s first album to feature two new members, guitarist Mike Ayers and drummer Rob Ladd (who have been in the lineup since 2002 and 2012, respectively), and the band’s first record with Mike Connell taking a prominent role as vocalist.
