Band: THE SIZZOS Who: Collaborative musical project, formed and fronted by singer-songwriter George Zaninovich. Based in Eugene, OR the project features a host of talented
guests whose individual styles offer a distinctive sound.
“While there is a full album coming out in early 2025, I wanted to get this out there as a form of catharsis. At first listen, the song sounds like a typical tale of unfaithfulness or and disloyalty, but it’s more about the complicated feelings around a relationship coming to its natural ending. There’s anger and curiosity, otherizing and intense self-reflection. Either way, there is sadness and pain to manage.”
Orchestral synth symphony
that floats forth and back.
Band: JOAN OF ARKANSAS Who: Noisy five-piece power popish band from Phoenix, Arizona,
known for their sweat-drenched live shows and endless genre bending.
“We are at heart, a super Phoenix-repping band and no one writes songs about the valley.
It just doesn’t happen. This song is inspired by the mass exodus that happened in 2000s and 2010s with pretty much every arty teenager here. They spread all over the country looking for greener pastures but always came back because home is home even if it’s flawed.”
“It’s about a wild, psychedelic journey through space and time. The imagery of a “space machine” that “screams like a wolverine” and “rocks your rib cage like a raw beast” sets
the tone for an intense, high-energy experience. The song emphasizes a sense of liberation
and escape from reality.”
Magnetizing psychedelia
at its mind-boggling best.
Angels weaves dreamy melodies with introspective themes,
reflecting on human fragility and the fleeting nature of life.
“Our approach to music is about embracing contrasts. With Angels, we wanted to explore the tension between melancholy and vitality, creating something that feels both timeless and alive.”
Band: VANARIN Who: Anglo-Italian psych-pop outfit formed in 2016. Their style
of music is best described as a combination of psych-pop and rock.
Track: WHAT WE SAID
Title track from their brand-new album. Stream ithere.
“It reflects like a mantra on what might have happened between two lovers
whose paths were however destined to part, obsessively wondering why
the partner said those very words.”
“The song tells the story of budding love. As in many romantic relationships, infatuation is overshadowed by fear of being hurt and uncertainty. However, there is something genuine, human, and beautiful in these feelings.”
Heavy-hearted and tender.
Starry-eyed, affecting voice.
Band: JOAN ARKANSAS Who: A power pop band that didn’t forget about the “power” part based out of scenic downtown Phoenix AZ. They formed out of sheer boredom during the pandemic in 2021. Their songs cover the gamut of topics but are often driven deep into what it’s like to be piece of a desert trash blowing through gentrified downtown Phoenix landscapes, just tryin’ to survive.
About the song (take a deep breath): ” It started as a writing exercise on that weird pervasive feeling that most of us have in this era: “What if I’m not the star of the show, but an extra in someone else’s movie?” Once you start diving down that rabbit hole of thought, more questions get brought up: Where the hell is the script?, What happened to all those characters who once felt so important but now you can’t quite remember? It gets pretty Camus pretty damn quick. That leads to the next question: What if you are actually in a horror movie that just hasn’t introduced the monster yet? If you are, then we all know what happens to 95 percent of the featured cast in those kind of flicks. Not everyone gets to be Neve Campbell, and we have the sneaking suspicion that we are a band full of Rose McGowan.”
TUTV: JOA’s new mindfucker moves like a nasty snake on too much acid trying to
be the serpent star in a horror movie. Sick guitars, flipped-out bass/drum thwacks,
and the biting Kayla Long vocals combine for a Sturm und Drang groove that creeps
under your skin just like that ferocious snake sneaks. JOA is the finalist pick of the day. Hands down. Don’t miss this tempestuous and bloodcurdling hellraiser.
A stream of rattling rippers, jagged jams, and magnific musings
All 20 on Spotify.
. TRACK BY TRACK
Band: GILLA BAND Who: Raw Irish post-punk projectile New album: Most Normal,
their third, out on out 7th October.
Dara Kiely (frontman man): “The lyrics are from a stream of consciousness rant, weird imagery and all that. The track is about attraction – fancying someone and not knowing what to say exactly. It’s an indirect love song, knowing you like someone but can’t quite articulate it.”
It follows the character of Billy as he loses his job, his house, his wife and kids, and ultimately maybe his life. After pursuing everything at all costs, we follow Lehman brother’s banker Billy as he chronologically loses everything throughout the worst day of his life, after the bank collapses and everything just keeps going wrong.
Be ready to jump up and down, left and right. This not-so-happy song sounds terrifically happy. A riveting pop tune that could come straight from a Yungblud album. If this devil-may-care earworm doesn’t make you go gaga I don’t know what will.
Turned-on guitars and Oberti‘s quick-fire vocals – on the cracking
chorus he goes as fast as a rapper – inflame this straightforward
standout. From bankrobber to bankrocker.
Fantastico!
THE BANKROBBER: Twitter – Instagram
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(photo by Sandra Ebert)
Band: MODERN WOMAN Who: London-based act that began as the songwriting project of Sophie Harris.
The band’s music, still based around Harris’ songwriting, explores a diverse range
of sounds drawing from their melting pot of influences.
Following their splendid 2021 debut EP Dogs Fight In My Dream these up-and-coming gunslingers score again with their new sassy bass/drums motorized and guitar-spiced stunner, extra energized with Sophie Harris‘s clear-cut vocals and a schizo finish. They should get the same attention as Liverpool‘s sensation The Mysterines. NOW!
MODERN WOMAN: Facebook
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Band: THE KILLERS (Los Angeles) Active: Since 2001 / 7 studio albums
Brando Flowers (frontman): With ‘boy’, I want to reach out and tell
myself, and my sons, to not overthink it. And to look for the ‘white arrows’
in their lives. For me now, white arrows are my wife, children, my songs
and the stage.”
The tunesmiths experts do what do best, writing
lyrical anthems for huge stadiums.
Boy, oh boy.
THE KILLERS: Facebook – Instagram
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This slow-mo reflection on personal turmoil is driven by an ongoing bass-riff that got under my skin and kept on rotating in my head after just one spin. And when Rettig adds psychedelic guitar pizazz and flashy fingertip touches, the bone-chilling progression gets even more poignant. Her shadowy vocality seduces once again. To hypnotise, magnetise and mesmesize are familiar Where We Sleep characteristics I never get tired of.
With The Speed this Belgian darkwave duo invites you once more to get off your
lazy couch, to dress black and head to the nightclub where they are waiting
to make your booty shake to their ghostly bass synth riffs. Nirvana guaranteed.
Jodie: “How It Is, the recurring tale of getting messy with your mates to escape from the standard 9 to 5 working life. This track celebrates the poor life choices made after deciding to go for a drink with your friends/colleagues and the chaos and amusement experienced along the way. “
It’s only Langford‘s third single.
This new one is a brisk clap-along groover with an instantaneous swaying
impact on your hips. Could be the ideal remedy when trying to get out of bed after
a 48-hour weekend revelry and shake your hangover off. Sheeny synths, hip-hopper Marx‘s jaunty contribution, and the zestful chorus, it all comes together seamlessly.
Band: TUHAF (Copenhagen, Denmark) Who: The fusion of different types of musicians and all kinds of genres
– Anatolian folk, indie rock, free jazz, Danish traditional songs and US
roots rock – wondrously merges into the sound of TUHAF. The band is
fronted by Turkish-born singer Berrin Bas.
New single: HAFLA
From their debut album ‘Mere Guld’,
out this Friday.
Berrin: “‘Hafla’ is about celebrating oneself. It is dedicated to Bicop (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and everybody
can join the party.”
Hafla is a sensual groove with an exotic Eastern vibe. Its ongoing vibe
gets you, slowly but surely, into an elevating trance, while Berrin Bas‘s
vocals add a mesmerizing touch that works as a magnet.
Everybody is invited to Tuhaf‘s politically progressive party to celebrate
diversity with them. Music has the power to unite people. We all should
use that power to get together and respect each other as humans without
any kind of discrimination. Tolerance of diversity is the one and only key
to live together, side by side.
The marvelous black & white video will help
you to get in the right mood to dance…
Jordan Speare: I wrote “Hey Stacey” for a friend of mine named Stacey, who also just
so happens to be one of the best people I’ve ever met. I remember when we first met, she
had mentioned how she hated whenever she’d meet new people, they would always make
a reference to that Fountains Of Wayne song “Stacy’s Mom” – she would joke: “it’s not funny
and my name isn’t even spelled that way!” I thought that was hilarious, so I wrote this song especially for her, with her name spelled correctly, of course.
Jingle jangle pop at its exciting best. Hey Stacey is a steamy swinger with all
cylinders rollin’ all the way. It’s sticky as first-class glue and you can sing
the chorus to your lover.
Check the vibe.
. BURN THE LOUVRE: Facebook
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Band: THE ZINVANDELS Who: 4 uproarious rockers from Wales
New single: BLACKHOLES
Their sixth one. A statement of intent
ahead of their debut LP release.
Oh my, oh my. Expect riff schizophrenia bucking up this flipped-out
corker for its whole 4 minutes. Blackholes is a rollicking post-punk
juggernaut that scurries full tilt without looking back.
Add a steamed-up drums/bass tandem and poignant vocals and you
know this head-over-heels thunderstorm will attack your speakers
mercilessly.
These Welshmen are a burning engine.
THE ZINVANDELS: Facebook – Instagram
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Band: STICK TO YOUR GUNS Who: The famous Californian hardcore tormentors Active: Since 2003 / 7 studio LPs (new one incl.)
The slowest and moodiest piece on the LP. But as intense
and fanatical as their hard-screeching-core missiles.
STICK TO YOUR GUNS: Facebook – Instagram
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Photo Credit: August Wolfe
Band: REIGN MAKER Who: Australian prog rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 2020.
Reign Maker is the collaborative project of passionate, activists who weave
politically charged, social commentary throughout their songs to raise
awareness and give voice to a wide range of current issues faced
in the world today.
The band take a stance here against racial discrimination and
police brutality needlessly taking the lives of innocent people.
This mighty-powered and impassioned ballad blows your mind in sound and vision.
Its metallic sonority and its titanic fervency send shivers down your spine. Astonishing.
And the monumental heart-and-soul cutting vocals are just flabbergasting, making me think of the haunting voice of Tarja Turunen from Finnish metalheads Nightwish. Midway, when the decibels go sky-high, the delirium increases to a jaw-dropping level.
Get the picture? Yes, this is a towering stonker
with an aroused impact. Touchdown.
Don’t be a stranger, press play
and get overwhelmed.
Right here, right now.
. GATHERING OF STRANGERS: Facebook – Instagram
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Band: ERASE ME Who: Sludge pop band from Phoenix, Arizona. Their songs cover the gamut of topics but are often driven deep into what it’s like to be piece a of desert trash blowing through gentrified downtown phoenix landscapes, just tryin’ to survive.
Expect a hugely catchy guitar booster with a head-spinning cadence, an electrical rush, and elated vocals As short as a Ramones song. For some reason, my ears tell me that this could be Pavement if they would write a pop tune as silver-toned as this one. Sounds like kick-ass fun, right? You betcha
Listen/watch.
JOAN OF ARKANSAS: Facebook
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(credit: Bianca Petris)
Band: THE CASE Who: Firm 4-piece from Romania who started their journey in 2012, always
refining their rock & grunge sound. On their creative process, the band reckons
they “tried to create a space where originality prevails, to detach themselves from
the current musical cliches while glorifying their lord and savior David Bowie.”
“‘Fever’ is about the passage of time, about the failed attempts to correlate the quality of
a relationship with its duration and intensity. The song is about happiness, sadness, breakup, and forgiveness. It would be love if we were to associate our new single with just one word.”
This is a mind-magnetic and slow-burning sonic torch. Sounds both riveting and piercing as American alt-rockers The Afghan Whigs did/do so impressively for years. The Case develop a similar sensation of vivacity.
A cast-iron winner.
THE CASE: Facebook – Instagram
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Band: THE TRUSTED (Southend-on-Sea, UK) Who: Formed in 2016, making music with strong melodies and catchy hooks. Being inspired by the new age Brit-rock bands like The 1975 and Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Trusted have made their own unique sound by the fusion of post-punk and punk energy with a little hint of modern rock.
“A song about being abandoned by the good guys.”
It was composed during lockdown. The band couldn’t write together
face to face. The creative collaboration went through computers.
Smooth synths, and gently weeping guitar lines take you immediately
on a dreamy head-in-the-clouds trip that moves slowly, heading to an
epic climax. Stylishly composed, greatly arranged.
A bittersweet symphony.
A romantic beauty.
.
THE TRUSTED: Facebook
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Band: JOAN ARKANSAS Who: Sludge pop band from Phoenix, Arizona. Their songs cover the gamut of topics but are often driven deep into what it’s like to be piece a of desert trash blowing through gentrified downtown phoenix landscapes, just tryin’ to survive.
“”Erase Me” is a perfect lil capsule of some of our favorite things to do/talk about in our
songs. Musically It’s manic, it’s intentionally distorted and buzzy and fuzzy as hell, the
drummer sounds like he’s on 18 cups of coffee but isn’t coordinated enough to play a convincing punk beat. Gang vocals and a 50-dollar fuzz pedal that is dialed to melting.
Lyrically, It’s about that sneaky suspicion that you will never outgrow your awkward phase,
that you are the ugly duckling that never turned into a swan. Just an Ugly Ass Duck. We are older, we remember when self-doubt was cool.”
Turn Up The Volume: Ridiculous catchy with a head-spinning cadence,
an electrical rush, and elated vocals as short as a Ramones song. For some
reason, I think this could be Pavement if they would write a pop tune as
silver-toned as this one. Sounds like kick-ass fun, right? You betcha
The video clip is pretty kooky too, showing shots from a very old
musical/dance movie (I guess) and, yes; the birth of a punk baby
chicken somewhere in there.
Roll the tape…
Wait, folks, here is more havoc.
Check/buy their new EP !DISTORTIONISTA!
here on Bandcamp…
