Renowed blues addict SEASICK STEVE (born Steven Gene Leach 75 years ago in Oakland, California) will release his 14th LP, baptized The Last Season Of America on September 18.
Press info: “In 2024, Steve and his wife Elisabeth took a road trip across America where
he witnessed the poverty and divisiveness in the context of the upcoming election.
They were in a New Orleans club where a house band leader welcomed two Belgian musicians on stage by saying “welcome to the last season of America”.
It led to a deeply personal, heartfelt reflection on the state of
his home nation with a new protest record in the truest sense.”
So far, the man shared 3 tasters, withBAD THINGS
as the one I can’t stop listening and cheering to.
Here’s a semi-live version (studio verion + some enthousiastic fans in the room). Steve raps like the best on this irristible hip-hop stomper that wipes the floor
with that American idiot in the White House.
Cincinnati‘s rock bigshots THE AFGHAN WHIGS fronted by generalGreg Dulli, celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band. They’ll share the milestone with their fans on the road (1st leg already done) and with a new album, their 10th.
It’s named SOFT CONTROL, and it’ll hit the streets on August 21th. Pre-order info here.
Press info: “The new album is testament to the old David Bowie quote, where he describes aging as “an extraordinary process where you become the person you always
should have been.”
By now, the volatile years of band leader Greg Dulli’s youth have been substituted with a wry and self-aware satori. The edge and sensitive temperament remain but the unchecked infernos of ego and rage no longer threaten personal immolation. And Dulli’s vocals are simultaneously the strongest and most delicate that they’ve ever been.
The album captures The Afghan Whigs’ unique ability to conflagrate stab you in your
nose bone guitars and cubist refractions of soul and R&B. There is a reconciliation of loud volume and somber reflections, living life with joy and purpose while keeping one eye on the clock and remaining aware of the absurdity. ”
Greg Dulli: “I’ve worked hard on my inner peace. I was an angry young man, and it fueled
my art, ambition and my drive. I wouldn’t change anything because I can’t. But as I got into photography and other art forms, I realized that I’m not in competition with anyone, including myself. Now, I know what I’m doing and there’s a quiet confidence that comes with being able
to back it up.”
Ahead of the LP’s launch, the Whigs offered us 3 singles (thus far).
– HOUSE OF I –
As Dulli described the track
‘an uptempo banger’.
– DUVATEEN –
Dulli: “When I finished “Duvateen it felt like my life passing before my eyes.
The references to the teacher chasing me down the hall reminded me of my childhood. Digging a hole was an obvious allusion to a grave. I’m at a precipice in life where I can look behind and clearly see the forest of my youth, but I can also see the path to the other side. And it’s going to inform what I do for the rest of my days.”
RADIOHEAD followed their electro experimental album Kid A
a year later with the equally synth exploring full-length, their 5th,
named AMNESIAC on 4 June 2001, today 25 years ago.
As with Kid A, Amnesiac incorporates influences from electronic
music, 20th-century classical music, jazz and krautrock.
The LP debuted at #1 in the UK and #2 in the US.
By October, it had sold, over 900,000 copies,
worldwide.
Rolling Stone: “Between arena tours and Number One albums, Radiohead want to get away from it all. Not a week in Goa or a summer in Provence but a more complete escape: oblivion. The songs on Amnesiac contemplate suicide, divorce, paranoia and mysterious disappearances, and the music follows them into the ether.”
Turn Up The Volume: Many thought that Thom Yorke and co would commit commercial suicide with this album and its twin brother Kid A (released a year before). I have no idea how many copies it sold. What I do know is that 25 years after it troubled many Radiohead fans, Amnesiac still sounds nothing less than amazing.
Who: Hefty Belgian noise-rock outfit, formed in 2020 in Liege, Belgium.
They produce an explosive mix of punk energy, raging guitar riffs and
infectious melodies, fully formed and bristling with a wiry tension.
TUTV: If your hungry ears go bonkers on muscular noiz rock they will
definitely (not maybe) gonna tremble and shake when this freak show
hits them with fiery force.
Empty Head produce riff-roasting racket with a merciless tsunami of titanic tunes,
brutally melodic at its core, that challenge the flexibility of the Richter scale when
all sledgehammers’ Herculean choruses kick in.
All their banging belters are revved up by chainsaw riffs and explosive drum/bass fuel, while the maniacal vocalist – 4 lungs and iron pipes – brings tons of kickass gusto and sinewy ardency to the table. These motherrockers are going places. They groove and
move like hell, without looking back, and so should you. Don’t forget to fasten your seatbelt.
Smahing debut.
Hey, It It Anita, Ronker, and Sons, watch your backs. Empty Head are coming fast, real fast, like a comet out of control. First Belgium, and then, as cokehead Tony Montana sneers in Scarface, “the world, chico, and everything in it“. Comprendido, all you punked-up music junkies out there? You better you bet.
Vitalizing tunes that work faster than a stream of caffeine
4 June 2026
Band: EVIL ISLAND Who: A new American trash team featuring members of post-hardcore hooligans The Blood Brothers – Johnny Whitney, Cody Votolato, and Mark Gajadhar – and OFF!.
Johnny Whitney: “Evil Island was born out of the firestorm of creative energy that
Cody, Mark and I felt when The Blood Brothers reunion tour ended in 2024. My brain
was on fire, I was gripped with a kind of mania. I had so many ideas rattling around
in my skull that if I didn’t make something new with my friends, the psychic damage
probably would’ve manifested as some exotic form of cancer.
Band: WEEZER Who: The indestructible nerd
rockers from Los Angeles.
New track: WE MIGHT AS WELL BE STRANGERS
The lead single from their new, forthcoming 20th full-length,
another self-titled one (their 4th actually), decorated with
symbols, think Led Zeppelin‘s 4th LP.
The song features indie team Wednesday on co-vocals.
TUTV: Hurray! Weezer drops, finally, another
titanic tune, as they used to deliver a million
times before.
Band: BELLE & SEBASTIAN Who: The Scottish dream pop vets, fronted by singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch. They’re in the middle of their extensive
30th anniversary tour.
For the first time in 28 years, Scotland’s national football team is gearing
up for a World Cup run. The tournament, from June 11th to July 19th, will
be held for the first time across 3 nations. United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The song is, of course, an encouragement footie tune for
their country. Yes, the kid in the photo is Stuart Murdoch.
TUTV: Vintage B&S pop bliss, the Scottish team can
dance too before, halfway, and after the game.
Band: SWIM DEEP Who: English indie pop
stars from Birmingham.
Track: YOU, ME AND MARY
New song from their upcoming 5th LP,
baptized Hum. Out June 19th.
Austin Williams (vocalist/songwriter): “It’s about my incredible wife and daughter.
During a family holiday, my wife suffered a miscarriage, which was deeply traumatic
for us in many ways.”
“It made us reflect on whether ‘you, me, and Mary’ was the family we had been blessed with, and we found a great deal of comfort and gratitude in that. Just a week ago, we welcomed our second child into the world, so with the song coming out now, it feels like a real full-circle moment.
TUTV: Deep-felt family emotions wrapped in a majestic synth-pop melody, with
velvety vocals accentuating the romantic radiation of this bittersweet symphony.
Metal titans METALLICA released their
6th album LOAD on 4 June 1996, today 30 years ago.
The recording sessions were very productive, resulting in almost 30 songs being
recorded. While a double album was considered, the band decided to split the material into two albums; half appeared on Load, and the other half was released as Reload
the following year.
Metallica strayed away from their thrash metal roots in favor of a hard rock sound.
The group became influenced by non-metal artists during the writing process, resulting
in an array of musical styles such as Southern rock, blues rock, country rock, alternative rock,
and grunge.
Bam Magazine – 1996
They also changed their looks, which included short hair,
leather jackets, and make-up. Many fans disliked it.
Load received mixed reviews.
Q Magazine (British music monthly) said: “These boys set up their tents in
the darkest place of all, in the naked horror of their own heads. Metallica are
still awesome. What is new is streamlined attack, the focus and, yes, the tunes.”
The New York Times wrote: “For the first time, Metallica sounds as if
it’s looking over its shoulder, wondering where it fits in the era of grunge.”
Mixed reviews didn’t stop the album from becoming a global topper.
#1 in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and all over Europe.
