Archive: 2025

North Mississippi Allstars will return with Still Shakin’ on June 6, 2025 via New West Records. The 11-track album was produced by Luther & Cody Dickinson. Still Shakin’ follows their acclaimed 2022 album Set Sail. To make their twelfth album, the North Mississippi Allstars went back to the beginning—namely, their 2000 debut, Shake Hands with […]

Sparks, brothers Ron and Russell Mael, have released “Drowned In A Sea Of Tears,” the new single from their upcoming album, MAD!, out May 23rd via Transgressive Records. Having recently added more dates to their European tour they now announce a North American tour in September, kicking off in Atlanta and wrapping in Los Angeles with stops along the way including Boston, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and more. Tickets go […]

The Los Angeles quartet Fime—guitarist/vocalist Beto Brakmo (he/him), bassist/vocalist Maxine Garcia (she/her), drummer Eric Promani (he/him), and guitarist/vocalist Scott Leahy (he/him)—first formed their chemistry as the backing band for Jay Som’s Melina Duterte before collaborating with her on their debut album, 2022’s Sweeter Memory. The band looks to establish their sound even further with a […]

Shox, a Portland-based rock band, emerged from the creative partnership of longtime friends Danny Deebles and Dustin Simensen. Initially, the duo wrote and recorded music at home, embracing a lo-fi, bedroom-recording ethos. Seeking a louder, more dynamic sound, the pair added Karl Beheim, Nick Normal, and Sam Carpenter to the lineup and began writing collaboratively […]

Sleigh Bells, the duo of Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss, has been at it for over two decades. The alt-pop supergroup has established themselves as boundary pushers, unafraid to present their otherworldly views on modern pop in an unapologetically grandiose fashion. Over the course of their twenty years together, a lot has changed. Pop music […]

S.G. Goodman announces her third studio album, Planting by the Signs, due out June 20 via her very own Slough Water Records / Thirty Tigers. Her first album in three years, it is a reminder of the Kentucky born and raised singer-songwriter’s razor-sharp lyricism, singular voice and seamless blend of indie rock and subtle rural influences. […]

Rounding out our spotlight on Portishead this week, for today’s Weirdo Wednesday, we’re looking at the peculiarly unsettling video for “All Mine” off their self-titled album released way back in 1997. As alluded to in our Manic Monday column, Portishead’s music often had a subtly eerie undercurrent running through it. Still, there’s always been something […]

It is hard to believe that Black Country, New Road only crashed into the modern post-punk world four years ago. Since their 2021 debut, the prog-rock fusion experts have become worldwide sensations, touring around the globe while collecting praise from critics, industry, and fans alike. Black Country, New Road created somewhat of an underground Beatles-mania […]

When you think of psychedelic music, many tropes come to mind. These could include spacious arrangements that err on simplicity, wonky melodies that bounce around like a bullet in a Kevlar room, or hazy vocals that strain through distortion or reverb. While the psych-rock genre is as ever-evolving as other genres, one can’t help but […]

Listening to the 20-track double album from Grey DeLisle, it’s hard to imagine her ever having a problem with writer’s block. But the musician – and Emmy-nominated voice actor – actually hit a pretty severe dry spell about a decade and a half ago. In the early 2000s, DeLisle has a consistent career, turning in […]

Downtown Knoxville pulsed with energy as Big Ears Festival 2025 welcomed over 7,500 passionate music lovers for a long weekend of genre-defying performances and boundary-pushing artistry. Widely considered one of the most adventurous and thoughtfully curated festivals in the world, Big Ears once again proved that no other event offers such a kaleidoscopic journey through […]

Ashton Freeman (@souperfruit) and Bugger (a.k.a. Michael Melchiondo @bugg.e.r), the progeny of Gene and Dean Ween, respectively, made headlines last week when they announced a performance on March 28th in Lambertville, New Jersey, at Soupçon Salon, a small art gallery and event space at the back of a coffee bar/ice cream shop and below a […]

Earlier in his career, singer-songwriter-guitarist Seth Walker came across as a bluesman adorned in Americana clothing. He’s since evolved into one who lays down warm, infectious, relaxing grooves that integrate many strains of music for soothing listening. That approach is so evident on his latest Why the Worry. In short, he is one soulful cat […]

With the rainy and gloomy days of April now upon us, certain music just feels tailor-made for melancholy mornings vibing out at your local coffeehouse. And for this writer, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better soundtrack for those (mildly pretentious) settings/vibes than Portishead’s classic debut record, Dummy. A fantastic headphones album, it’s got some […]

Since reuniting in 2005, Chicago pop-punk band the Smoking Popes have been, to put it kindly, conservative with their album output.  In fact, Lovely Stuff, their latest release, marks only their fourth release in the past two decades. Like all the efforts that have preceded it, the album is crammed with near-perfect three-minute pop-punk anthems, […]

The Minneapolis-based Night Moves have announced Double Life, their fourth LP and first in six years, which is due out July 25 on Domino.  Co-produced with Jarvis Taveniere (Woods, Waxahatchee, David Berman), Double Life is at once the most candid and impressionistic Night Moves album yet, built on personal experiences but written so that you can map your own life onto these songs, too. On Double Life, Night […]

Lauren Wanamaker is a folk singer/songwriter originally from Washington State, now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Citing Sufjan Stevens, Adrianne Lenker, and Neko Case as some of her most steadfast inspirations, she seeks to transport listeners through surreal expressions of everyday experiences. A debut EP was released in 2011 under a former name, followed by several […]

Born and raised in Harlem, NY, the music and culture of the city played a significant role in influencing Mike Mitch’s love for the craft. Realizing his voice mattered, Mitch coupled that with the challenge to create music that was authentic to him yet still trendy and catchy. Understanding the influence and power of music, […]

The Slants’ final full-length album, aptly titled The Band Plays On, is a fourteen-track collection of the band’s melodic, highly-danceable synth-pop, which was released digitally and on vinyl. Unlike prior The Slants’ albums, The Band Plays On features a guest performer on each track, including a guest vocalist on almost every song. These guests are […]