"I caught a light inside a jar / Clutched onto in the dark / But it flickered out / When I tightened down..." There are a lot of doo wop punk songs out in the atmosphere, sometimes so much that they kind of get lost, cancel each other out but when I stepped into the beautiful vintage cascade of "I Caught A Light" by Francis Doom, the project of New Jersey-based musician, Jay Sakong (known primarily for being the singer/songwriter/guitarist of OWEL) it was like all the air was sucked out of the room. The drama, the powerful embrace is largely do to Sakong's killer voice and the so ..read more

  "Powerlines / Connective tissue between your house and mine / An organism of light..." The husky, powerful punk hearted / alt rock embellishments of "Powerlines", by Central Valley, California's From Flowers to Flies, from the onset, has a bending off center atmosphere that make you feel unsteady like after a Cali earthquake. Once the stomping heavy guitar chords, punchy bass, drums and surprising saxcapades flail away on introductory downbeats it's like the fight in the cage is on. There is something about the sax and the way that it is wielded here that feels 50's rebellious teen-es ..read more

  "With a little imagination / this hole is a paradise." The exotic rhythms that drip off "Samba" by San Silvan, the solo project moniker of Silvan Kuntz (singer / lyricist / guitarist of the Swiss indie band Panda Lux) land somewhere between Brazil and Morocco in terms of it's musical imports. The delightful mix of shimmying tensions feel inviting, alluring in it's unknown origins as San sings in German: "Ich vermiss die Sonne und das Licht / die Hitze, die mich frisst / mich ausspuckt auf den Asphalt / im Innern ist mir noch kalt“ ("I miss the sun and the light / the heat that e ..read more

  "Blue days hit me two ways / First in my stomach / Then their shooting thru my blue veins..." I can't imagine playing an original song with a string quartet supporting me. Simply cannot imagine it. I think it is something musicians, songwriters dream about especially rank amateurs like myself. I thought about that listening to the sadness, the pathos of "Blue Days" by East Coast electro-indie / alt pop duo Foreign Air. Not a tracked studio recording but LIVE Sessions for their latest EP, "Blue Hour Sessions".  Recorded at the same place they recorded their 2022 Full length, "Hel ..read more

"throw away the house / throw away the kids / I'm still finding out / remember..." Elevated by an edgy, evocative Official Video (that begs to be expanded to a full length film directed by Todd Haynes) the emotionally dense "Graceless", the title song from Denver, Colorado's Kissing Party gets under you skin. Not as an inflammation, mind you, but cuddles beneath your psyche in a subversive way. The song's atmosphere with it's runaway beat, the sense of hauling ass down suburban streets striving to get to something (or run away from something) might leave you breathless or hyperventilati ..read more

  "I should be miles away / instead I'm here and I'm being stuck in your crowd / see my way clear / to being stuck in your crowd..." The rolling melancholia of "Your Crowd" by Launceston, Australia based The Namesakes is easy to get into, especially when it erupts into a rattling somber dinge that you can head bang to. The angst that is captured in evocative vocals that may (or may not) be about being with someone you care deeply about but not relating to his or her friends and simply wanting to melt into the wall and disappear, is so relatable. That kind of emotional disconnect might b ..read more

  "bad at casual, good at being sweet / bad at boundaries, good at going deep..." Looking at the press photo of Nashville, Tennessee based bad bad luck and I immediately thought, these guys are rascally rabbits indeed, mischievous, full of life and laughter.  Then, upon, my first listen to their track "murder me first", from their recently released "Haunted" album, my suspicions were confirmed. Not only is "murder me first" unmitigated rascally-ness, it is saturated in a swaggery cool and badassery. From the onset, the track has a cross generational hard blues rock heaviness with p ..read more

"70's horror movie or old school video game" Stepping into the nostalgic, retro vibes of "Klaasje On The Run" by Prog Mountain and you might find yourself stepping into a 70's horror movie or old school video game. This makes perfect sense considering that the influences here are the work of John Carpenter and the video game Disco Elysium. Maybe that is why this track makes me smile. Their are distinct differences of course as I don't think Carpenter used guitars much and I absolutely love the guitar work Prog Mountain utilizes that have a psychedelic rock meets western noir tone. You ..read more

  "I know it's dark but you'll get used to it / Just admit that you're trapped / And relax and forget all the things that are happening / To you..." From the first sort of Kodachrome sonics, to the eruptions of alt rock meets power pop escapism, "America (A Love Song)" is so easy to fall in love with. A big highpoint is the vocal aesthetic courtesy of singer /songwriter / guitarist Tristan Jarvis, and the artful musicality throughout with Rob Kelley on bass, TC smith on drums, and Brad Sumner on guitar, from the potent guitar sounds and feedback, the embracing acoustic st ..read more

  "I can’t get out of my head / Cause this pain keeps me in bed / You always get ahead / You’re so lucky, it should be me instead..." The wistful beauty of "Couldn't Be Me" by L.A. based Harmless has some 90's postpunk, goth pop touchstones like if the Cure weren't so dark. That being said, the track carries it's own bittersweet back story running against the skipping beat, crystalline synths, pretty guitar strums and it's dreamy, pretty vocal countenance. Harmless, aka Los Angeles-based, Mexico City-born songwriter/producer Nacho Cano had truly dark times, almost a decade of recu ..read more