Miki Berenyi Trio : Tripla

Lush were one of the big ones in terms of late 80s/early 90s shoegaze bands. Along with Ride, Chapterhouse, Slowdive, Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine, Lush established their hazy, dreamy, and ghostly sound through delayed guitars, ghostly vocals, and guitarist/singer Miki Berenyi’s delivery. Berenyi’s vocals were clear, but always just a bit under the mix, […]

4/16/25 Check-In : The Last Few Days

Greetings. It’s been a few days since I checked in with the outside world, so here we go. It’s been a few interesting days since we last talked. I usually do these check-ins at the beginning of the week, but I admit I’ve been slacking in my open book policy here. I guess I’ve just […]

Japanese Breakfast : For Melancholy Brunettes(& Sad Women)

Michelle Zauner has had a pretty busy decade. Releasing her debut album Psychopomp with Japanese Breakfast(which also includes Craig Hendrix, Deven Craige, and Peter Bradley) in 2016. Then a gradual climb into indie rock royalty with follow-up albums Soft Sounds From Another Planet(2017) and Jubilee(2021), Zauner and Japanese Breakfast became a band to watch and […]

L.A. Guns : Leopard Skin

There’s not too many of the classic 80s Sunset Strip rock bands left making music that sounds even remotely close to what they sounded like back in the neon decade. Have you seen any current clips of Mötley Crüe? How about Ratt? Or Dokken? Quiet Riot, anyone? Time, booze, and narcotics have not been kind […]

Fir Cone Children Returns With ‘Gearshifting’, Out 4/18; Listen To Dreamy New Single “Perfect Trade”

It is always reason to celebrate when a new Fir Cone Children album is imminent. The dreampunk/shoegaze/post-punk project from Vlimmer mastermind and Blackjack Illuminist Records founder Alexander Donat has all the bite and angst of his main gig in Darkwave Vlimmer, but there’s a palpable joy in Fir Cone Children. Even the fastest, heaviest songs […]

Renfield Sings The Blues : Roscó Flanagan’s “Renfield’s Blues”

What do you get when you combine the mythos of Nosferatu, delta blues, garage rock, and psychedelic folk? Well you get what Irish musician/songwriter Roscó Flanagan is cooking up. Roscó Flanagan love the blues. He pulls inspiration and influence from the greats like Howlin’ Wolf and Fred McDowell; as well as 60s blues/psych freak Captain […]

Sleigh Bells : Bunky Becky Birthday Boy

It seemed that 15 years ago the music industry was in a bit of an evolving state. We were leaving the 2000s and its thoughtful run of bands with “Bear” in their names and heading into the 2010s with a feeling of indifferent aloofness. Looking for new sounds, new vibes, and a need to find […]

Set Adrift On Memory Tapes 80s Bliss

I grew up in the early days of indoor malls, neon buzz, and Cannon Films. Dual cassette players, VCRs, and arcades were the technology I worshipped. If a movie didn’t have at least a part III or IV it wasn’t worth the trouble. Microwave cakes, hi-top Reeboks, and t-shirts enshrined with Alf, The A-Team, and […]

Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes : Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes

Every once in a while you come across an album that feels entirely new. There’s nothing to compare it to, as nothing that came before was built quite like it. You can label it rock, pop, jazz, etc…but the label is merely a means for cataloging in the record store, or in your own collection. […]

Dead Meadow : Voyager To Voyager

Dead Meadow have been making crusty, fuzzy psych rock for 25 years now. Their self-titled debut dropped in 2000, setting the stage for the DC psych rockers to lead future packs of stoner/fuzz rockers across the nation to a new generation of slackers wanting desperately to tune in, turn on, and drop out. Dead Meadow […]