Rock – Page 3 – 7th Level Music

Review: L’Ira Del Baccano – The Praise of Folly

You know you’re in for an interesting experience with an album when looking at the cover makes you think, “Wait…Am I high?”

L’Ira Del Baccano‘s The Praise of Folly combines prog, stoner, desert, doom, psych, and whatever the hell is going on with the chicken woman, wasp-man, and nightmarish elephant-praying mantis hybrid playing instruments on the cover.

Part one of the title track instantly reminded me of Rush if they leaned heavier into their harder material. It’s a nearly thirteen-minute journey into cosmic realms that defy any kind of description. The guitars alternately soar and roar at the right times, and the drums are like guiding spirits through a strange land. It crawls / oozes into doom metal by the end and then shifts into desert rock for part two of the title track.

The weird synths of “Stigma”, and the chugging horror film guitars, remind me of Goblin tracks from the early 1980s. About halfway through the song, it becomes a grooving, rocking psych-rock track with tight drumming and a slick bass line.

The closing track, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” hits hard and wild at first and then turns into something you might hear ahead of Galactus’ approach to your planet.

L’Ira Del Baccano have said that they didn’t tweak The Praise of Folly much. They wanted it to draw in the listener and be as much like a live performance as possible. A good amount of it is improvised, which is damn impressive when you hear it. The album is an immersive experience that leaves you feeling like the album cover looks – weird, expanded, and spacey.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Angie and NRV Promotion.]

Review: Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor – Live in Europe 2025

Recorded during an extensive European tour in which they opened for The Dandy Warhols, Live in Europe 2025 by Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor is an excellent introduction to SOYSV’s live sound if you’ve never heard it. They continue to expand and reshape their psych-rock with every record and remain one of the best psych bands you’re, for some reason, still missing.

Starting with “Sweet Girl Insanity,” the album begins with droning synths and reverbed vocals that go on for over four minutes before unleashing a barrage of fuzzy sound at you – setting the trippy, roaring, and slightly spooky tone that will creep through the whole record. Sean Morrow‘s guitar on “Die Die Die” seems broadcast from another planet. The horror movie grindhouse grit of “Suck Upon the Living” is palpable in this live version.

“See You in the Mourning” is always sad and haunting, and the live version here at first drifts like incense smoke lit in memory of the band’s friend who’s the subject of the song. It bursts open like sunlight through a cloud around the two-minute mark, with Rick Sawoscinksi‘s beats creating a hypnotic groove for the rest of the track.

“Walk of Sobriety” starts the second half of the album, and it’s a wild ride. Eric Oppitz stirs up an anxious energy with his synth tones at the start before he and his bandmates kick in with a tight groove and Morrow sings for the back of the venue. The bright sound of “Crystal Cup” brings to mind 1970s soul jams and psych-era Motown sounds. Oppitz’s bass on “Night Crawler” is slick, again reminding me of soul grooves.

The album ends with one of their classics, “Black Mind,” which is always a heavy, wild, chaotic freak-out. This one is made even wilder with the inclusion / short cover of The Stooges “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and a bit of “She’s a Pariah” in it.

I’m glad SOYSV put this out there. We’ve needed a live album from them for a while, and I hope this isn’t the last one.

Keep your mind open.

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Ed O’Brien releases title track from upcoming new solo album – “Blue Morpho.”

Ed O’Brien announces Blue Morpho, his absorbing, second solo album and first under his own name, out May 22nd via his new label home, Transgressive, and releases the title track.

O’Brien likes to quote the Kentucky poet and farmer Wendell Berry: “To know the dark, go dark.” That philosophy became both compass and catalyst for Blue Morpho – a deeply personal album produced by Paul Epworth (Paul McCartney, Adele), born from one of the most challenging periods of his life. Though he remains one of rock music’s most lauded guitarists, Blue Morpho finds O’Brien beginning anew, finally starting to figure out his approach. With its moments of hypnotic psych-folk, radiant guitars, beguiling trip-hop and luminous stillness, it reveals an artist moving beyond familiar structures and feels like a map of O’Brien navigating exciting other ways to listen, work and live. He steps into the dark, and emerges renewed, evident on the stunning and uplifting “Blue Morpho,” inspired by the healing effects of nature.

Watch the Video for “Blue Morpho”

In April 2020, after releasing his solo debut, Earth, under his initials, O’Brien almost immediately regretted waiting nearly a decade to record those songs while balancing his schedule with Radiohead. Some of its impulses had been lost in the gap, and there was only so much he could do to support it as the world confronted catastrophe. Later that year, O’Brien entered the deepest depression of his life. Encouraged by his wife to sit in the fire of his emotions, he began a daily ritual, immersing himself in the breathing and cold-exposure teachings of Wim Hof, then retreating into his small London studio, playing guitar for hours until his brain began to fray.

There were no directions or preconceptions; O’Brien was simply using his instrument to navigate 50 years of emotional trauma and turmoil that had finally rushed to the surface. Years ago, when O’Brien began writing songs, Thom Yorke had told him a secret key to the craft was being a good librarian – cataloguing ideas when they happened to find and revisit later. As O’Brien played now through his past, his spiritual connection to nature in the Welsh countryside and his beliefs in the possibility of healing, he kept a record of what he was making. Over the next four years, those moments evolved into Blue Morpho, his first album fully detached from past regrets.

A series of serendipitous encounters steadily led to Blue Morpho. After a chance connection through their children’s school, producer Epworth became a key collaborator, leading to focused sessions alongside engineer Riley MacIntyre in Wales where the album’s foundations took shape. Saxophonist and composer Shabaka Hutchings contributed flutes following discussions at Glastonbury about frequency and natural resonance. And in Estonia, O’Brien bonded with composer Tõnu Kõrvits over their admiration for the classicist Arvo Pärt; Kõrvits then arranged strings performed by the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. The album was completed between O’Brien’s studio in Wales and The Church Studios in London, a 200-year-old former sacred space whose atmosphere mirrors the record’s spiritual undercurrent. Sequencing assistance came from Flood, known for his work with U2, PJ Harvey, and Nine Inch Nails, and Ben Baptie handled mixing.

An accompanying short film, Blue Morpho: The Three Act Play, which premiered at SXSW yesterday, will be released alongside the album, with more details to follow.

Blue Morpho is available on CD, cassette, LP, indies exclusive Transfiguration Edition LP (orange vinyl) and artist store exclusive Flutter By Edition LP (cream vinyl). A limited edition blue 7″ of the “Blue Morpho” single is available as part of the LP album bundle on the artist store while stocks last.

Watch the Trailer for Blue Morpho: The Three Act Play

Pre-Order Blue Morpho

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

A Place to Bury Strangers ask “Where Are We Now” with their new, unearthed single.

New-York based band A Place To Bury Strangers release “Where Are We Now,” the third single/video from their new rarities album, Rare And Deadly, out April 3rd via Dedstrange. Following the “full-on sonic attack” (Consequence) of “Acid Rain,” on which “frontman Oliver Ackermann delivers deadpan, near-chanted lyrics about systemic cruelty,” (Consequence) “Where Are We Now” finds A Place To Bury Strangers reflecting on the past: “Where are we now // Is it too late // Should I reach out // Where we are now // caught in our lives //did our dreams fade.” Ackermann says the song is about “looking back at friends you lost touch with. Wondering where they ended up. Remembering when everything felt possible.” The accompanying video was put together by Ackermann with footage from the Library of Congress National Archives. Ackermann says he made the video because “I think we need to look at people more and see the value and wonder of life so we can be compassionate towards others.”

Stream “Where Are We Now”

Watch the “Where Are We Now” Video

Rare and Deadly cracks open a decade-long vault of raw nerve and sonic chaos from A Place To Bury Strangers. Spanning 2015–2025, this collection of demos, B-sides, abandoned experiments, and forgotten fragments reveals the band at their most unfiltered—caught between breakthrough ideas and beautiful mistakes. Pulled from Ackermann’s personal archive of late-night recordings, blown-out tapes, and half-finished sessions, here the interference is closer, the electricity more dangerous, the edges left jagged on purpose.

What makes Rare and Deadly truly unprecedented is that every format tells a different story. The CD, cassette, vinyl, and digital editions each feature their own unique tracklisting, a fractured release strategy that is almost unheard of. No single version contains the “complete” album. Instead, each format becomes its own window into the archive, revealing alternate paths, missing links, and parallel versions of the band’s inner life. It’s a deliberately unstable document: the album shifts depending on how you choose to hear it, mirroring the chaos of its creation.

Across these recordings, you can hear the evolution of Ackermann’s restless mind. Some pieces feel like prototypes for future chaos, seeds that later bloomed on studio albums. Others are dead ends—ideas too volatile, too strange, or too personal to ever fit the frame of a proper release. But together they form a secret history of the band, a parallel world of possibilities that existed just outside the spotlight. The tracks contain riffs mutated by malfunctioning pedals, songs born from gear pushed past its limits, or delicate melodies overwhelmed by walls of feedback until only their ghosts remain.

Rare and Deadly is less a compilation and more a documentary—an aural snapshot of how sound takes shape before it hardens into something finished. You hear the room, the accidents, the restless experimentation, the immediacy of a moment being captured before it disappears. It’s a reminder that A Place To Bury Strangers has always thrived in this in-between space: the tension between control and collapse, melody and noise, beauty and distortion.

Watch:

“Where Are We Now” video

“Acid Rain” video

“Everyone’s The Same” video

Rare And Deadly Tracklists Per Format

A Place To Bury Strangers Tour Dates:

Tue. April 7 – Hamburg, DE @ MS Stubnitz

Wed. April 8 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz

Thu. April 9 – Praha, CZ @ Futurum Music Bar

Fri. April 10 – Brno-město, CZ @ Kabinet múz

Sat. April 11 – Bratislava, SK @ PINK WHALE BAR

Sun. April 12 – Budapest, HU @ A38

Mon. April 13 – Belgrade, RS @ Karmakoma

Tue. April 14 – Sofia, BG @ Mixtape 5

Wed. April 15 – București, RO @ Control Club

Fri. April 17 – Thessaloniki, GR @ Eightball Club

Sat. April 18 – Athina, GR @ Gazarte

Mon. April 20 – Rome, IT @ Monk Club

Tue. April 21 – Florence, IT @ Ex Fila

Wed. April 22 – Bologna, IT @ Social Center TPO

Thu. April 23 – Milan, IT @ Santeria

Fri. April 24 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F

Sun. April 26 – Brussels, BE @ Magasin 4

Mon. April 27 – Cologne, DE @ Gebäude 9

Wed. April 29 – Utrecht, NL @ De Helling

Thu. April 30 – Deventer, NL @ Burgerweeshuis

Fri. May 1 – Eindhoven, NL @ Fuzz Club Festival 2026

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Steven at Dedstrange PR.]

American Sharks are “Not Dead Yet” thanks to their new single.

Austin trio American Sharks drop a new single today, the title track to their first new album in 6 years, Not Dead Yet. The song, “Not Dead Yet” is available to hear and share on all DSPs HERE.

The band returns to the stage this week with two special performances at SXSW in Austin. First, Hotel Vegas’ 15th Anniversary Party on March 12th, and at Sagebrush for Duel Step with Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol on Friday the 13th. American Sharks will be main support on the upcoming full U.S. tour dates with Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol beginning in April. Please see all dates below. Tickets for all shows are available HERE.

American Sharks is a three-piece band hailing from Austin, TX. Their punk-metal hybrid sound blends pop hooks with blasting-yer-face riffs resulting in something akin to if Weezer went Stoner Rock. Coupled with hook-laden singalong lyrics, American Sharks’ forthcoming 2026 album Not Dead Yet is, well, a breathtaking return.

The band is joined on the album by special guest guitar soloists: Mike Derks (GWAR), Zach Blair (Rise Against), Kyle Shutt (The Sword), David Sullivan (Red Fang), and Leo Lydon (Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol).

Since the release of their 2013 self-titled debut album, American Sharks has toured extensively supporting the likes of GWAR, Clutch, The Sword, Red Fang, Big Business, Corrosion of Conformity and many others. After touring to support their debut album on The End Records, American Sharks took time off to write and record their self-produced follow up album, 11:11 on BMG. After a 5 year break, American Sharks are back (centered around founders, vocalist/bassist Roky Moon and drummer Nick Cornetti) with 9 fast-paced, pummeling tracks.

Not Dead Yet will be available on LP, CD and download on April 17th, 2026 via Permanent Teeth.

Pre-orders are available HERE.

AMERICAN SHARKS – LIVE 2026:

04/16 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater *#

04/17 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge *

04/18 Kalispell, MT – Rocky Mountain Riff Fest

04/19 Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern *

04/20 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios *

04/22 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of The Hill *

04/23 Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon *

04/25 San Diego, CA – The Casbah *

04/26 Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s *

04/28 Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge *

05/01 Oklahoma City, OK – Resonant Head *#

05/02 Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck *#

05/03 Omaha, NE – Reverb *#

05/04 Minneapolis, MN – 7th Street Entry *#

05/06 Milwaukee, WI – Falcon Bowl *#

05/07 St. Louis, MO – Blueberry Hill Duck Room *#

05/08 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle *#

05/09 Cleveland, OH – Mahall’s *#

05/10 Toronto, ON – The Garrison *

05/12 Montreal, QC – Cabaret Foufs *

05/13 Boston, MA – Sonia *

05/15 Brooklyn, NY – TV Eye *

05/17 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s *

05/18 Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery *

05/20 Charlotte, NC – Neighborhood Theatre *

05/22 Atlanta, GA – The Earl *

05/23 Nashville, TN – The Blue Room *

* w/ Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol

# w/ Pink Fuzz

Keep your mind open.

[Why haven’t you subscribed yet? Are you dead?]

[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Grab your surfboard and sunscreen for Motherhood’s new single – “Kyle Hangs Ten.”

It’s no secret that Motherhood loves surf music – they are Canada’s Evil Beach Boys, after all. But usually by the time they release a song, the original influences have been hidden under layers of subterfuge, with our attraction to play far outweighing our ability to stay put.

“With ‘Kyle Hangs Ten,’ we were trying to write the most surfy song we could without over-complicating a genre that, at it’s core, is just swaggy country music” explains the band. “Adam had a drum beat that we jammed over, eventually falling into a Miserlou-adjacent guitar melody and filling the rest with pastiches.”

When the band were preparing to record their latest LP, Thunder Perfect Mind, the band couldn’t agree on the proper tempo for the song, until Kyle Cunjak (co-producer of the album) suggested both speeding it up AND slowing it down, creating 2 songs with the same bones.

“In the end, the slow version (the spaghetti western “Kyle Hangs at Noon”) made the record and the fast version (“Kyle Hangs Ten”) didn’t,” explains the band, “but we still love the song. Kyle promised us he’d be able to hang 10 by the time this song comes out. If not, he hangs at noon.

March 28 – Boise, ID: Treefort Music Fest // tickets
April 18 – Fredericton, NB: The Cap
May 14/15 – Paris, FR: Supersonic’s Block Party // tickets
May 16 – Strasbourg, FR: Pelpass Festival // tickets
May 18 – Skofja Loka, SI: AKC Nama
May 19 – Budapest, HU: Szimpla Kert // FREE
May 20 – Pilsen, CZ: Mistni Borci
May 21 – Hamburg, DE: Deichdiele
May 22 – Frankfurt, DE: Dreikönigskeller
May 23 – The Hague, NL: Sniester // tickets

Keep your mind open.

[Catch a wave to the subscription box.]

[Thanks to Gabriel at Clandestine Label Services.]

Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous releases first batch of their 2026 lineup.

COSMIC SONIC RENDEZVOUS hits North Brooklyn on May 23rd/24th at The Brooklyn Monarch. LIMITED early-bird weekend passes available NOW.

From the dark and menacing riffs of Pentagram and Eyehategod to the sky-gazing grooves of Dead Meadow and Al-Qasar, guitar driven explorations of the best psych and heavy rock will take over an industrial Brooklyn block for one lovely weekend in May.

It’s a Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous.

Teepee Records is thrilled to welcome:

Pentagram
Eyehategod
Legions of Doom
Dead Meadow
The Obsessed
Al-Qasar
Sacri Monti
The Atomic Bitchwax
Freedom Hawk
Satan’s Satyrs
Casket Rats
Sun Voyager
The Golden Grass
Worshipper
Carousel
Mirror Queen
Black Moon Cult
Mick’s Jaguar
Cat’s Eye
River Cult
Dead Hits
and more to be announced

Venues: The Brooklyn Monarch; The Meadows; The Woodshop
Website: cosmicsonicfest.com

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Jason at Teepee Records.]

Live: LCD Soundsystem and Automatic – Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL – March 07, 2026

This was the third performance of a four-night residency at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago for LCD Soundsystem. They’d done this a couple years ago, and like the last time I saw them here, all four nights were sold out. It was cold and windy, and all the bars and restaurants in the area were packed, so my fiancée and I waited in the sharp wind with everyone else to get a decent spot on the ballroom floor. Much to my delight, I learned from a guy behind us that Automatic was opening the show.

I hadn’t seen Automatic since I’d caught them at Levitation France a couple years ago, so I was surprised to see someone other than Lola Dompé on drums. I’ve since learned that she’s left the band, and their new boy drummer’s name is still unknown to me. Regardless, he won me over with his Kraftwerk shirt and precision drumming. Meanwhile, lead singer / synth player Izzy Glaudini and bassist / vocalist Halle Saxon were having a fun time. Saxon’s fretless bass riffs are impressive and the crowd was solidly with them by the end of their set.

LCD Soundsystem came out to a packed house, but thankfully everyone seemed to have room to dance. They started out with “Oh Baby,” which brought the crowd to an early frenzy when spotlights hit their trademark giant disco ball during the song’s big, bright moment.

“You Wanted a Hit” was a nice one. I didn’t expect to hear it, and following it with “Tribulations” was great. I’d forgotten how good “Tonite” is, as it features some of James Murphy’s best lyrics (if you ask me).

“I Can Change” always delivers, and “Other Voices” was another surprise. The whole band was clicking, hopping around on various instruments the whole time. LCDSS is a big group, and the amount of gear on stage with them is impressive (and a good chunk of it is vintage synths that are difficult to find or afford). “Losing My Edge” had a fuzzy grit to it that I loved.

The encore included “North American Scum,” which feels more appropriate than ever in 2026, and the classics, “Dance Yrself Clean,” “New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down,” and “All My Friends.” It was a solid end to a solid show all-around, and a great way for me to kick off my 2026 concert season.

My fiancée, who fell in love with them when we last saw them, said, “They feel like a family.” when they play. That’s accurate. The camaraderie between all of them on stage is splendid and almost pulls the audience up there with them.

Unseen in this photo: At least four other band members manning bass, percussion, and synths.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: VIAL – Hellhound

The cover of VIAL‘s new, raw, angry, fierce album Hellhound features an image that could be three different snarling, savage dogs ready to tear out your throats…or it could be an image of Cerberus – the three-headed dog who guards the underworld. Both are accurate reflections of the power trio, three beings who can each rip you to shreds and a three-in-one force that can stomp you into oblivion.

“Infected,” the album’s opener, even mentions dogs biting and tearing into you. “Scorpio Moon” buzzes more than rare Fuzzbox tracks and kicks trolls squarely in the teeth (“You just talk to hear yourself speak.”). “Creep Smoothie” mixes punk rage vocals with 1990s grunge-metal riffs while eviscerating dickweed dudes. “Idle Hands” is a cry for acceptance (“Why won’t you take me as I am? How can I make you understand?”) amid L7-like chugging bass.

“Sob” has the ladies of VIAL turning the “Fuck your feelings” table on their detractors (“Two thousand dollars for you if you can quit your whining…Send me your tears in a bottle. It’s really not that awful to see you cry for once. I think I’ll drink them with my lunch.”) who are now feeling the effects of stuff they voted for a couple years ago or experiencing sadness over being kicked to the curb. “Never Been Better” reminds me of some of Lunachicks‘ more radio friendly tracks. It’s a solid rock tune that seems primed for college rock radio shows this spring. The title track is under a minute, but it packs in enough power for a song three times as long.

The Be Your Own Pet-like “Undermine Me” is about discovering a relationship has gone south and it’s time to cut it loose. “Blah” has VIAL making fun of boys trying to become big things in the music scene mainly to impress girls and not to do anything meaningful. “Puke” has, oddly enough, a good groove to it. You’d think, with that title, that it would be another punk rager, but it’s more of a snarling groover that’s close to Queens of the Stone Age-like desert rock.

“Don’t watch the TV, and I don’t watch the news,” they sing on “Talktalktalk” – a song about information overload, endless opinions, and people who are “all bark, no bite” with their convictions (“You talk, talk, talk with nothing to say.”). “Boredom / Combustion” has the band tearing down Philadelphia and the entire state of Pennsylvania and comparing it to hell (“Death by boredom or combustion, I’m not sure which is worse.”).

Wrapping up with “Blood Red,” the band leave us exhausted and partially deaf, but ready to take on the world. You’re ready to go after your detractors like a three-headed beast after hearing an album like this. It’s the kind of album we need right now when friends, family, and neighbors are feeling targeted and vulnerable. We need compassionate ferocity, and VIAL inspires it.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Alex at Terrorbird Media.]

Gentilesky are “Chasing the Light” (and Andy Gill) on their new single.

Gentilesky, the powerhouse Italian-Turkish punk collective, officially announces the April 3 release of their second full-length album, Dream, via Slovenly Recordings. Accompanying the announcement is the premiere of their latest single, “Chasing The Light,” an aggressive, staccato-driven track that pays homage to the jagged post-punk influence of the late Andy Gill.

Taking their name from the Baroque master Artemisia Gentileschi, the band bridges the gap between 17th-century subversive art and modern radical expression. Just as Gentileschi’s work reclaimed the female narrative through visceral, unflattering physical realities, Gentilesky utilizes a hard-edged sound to navigate the complexities of the current sociopolitical landscape. Three years after their debut on Hozac Records, Gentilesky returns with a sharper sonic profile. The band features veterans of the European underground, boasting members from Rippers, Undisco Kidd, and Sushicorner. While their debut explored broader artistic theories, Dream leans into a more muscular, rhythmic intensity, drawing a direct line from Gentileschi’s impact to contemporary figures with a visceral collection of work such as Nan Goldin, Jennifer Precious Finch & the late Kathy Acker.

Yaprak Kırdök (vocals) says this about the new album.

Dream is a continuation of Ways of Seeing, but taking a year to plan and write the record really highlights its maturity. Recording it with Piff played a big part as well, and listening to both albums shows our growth. I love how similar yet different each one is.

Recorded and mixed by Piff/Frizzer Studio at Smoking Fridge Studio, Cagliari, and mastered by the esteemed Nene Baratto (Movie Star Junkies), Dream will be available on vinyl and all digital platforms on April 3rd. Artwork by Yaprak Kırdök and Gabriele Serrau.

Pre-orders are currently live via the Slovenly Recordings Bandcamp page. In support of the release, Gentilesky will embark on a European tour, with dates to be announced in the coming weeks.

Keep your mind open.

[I’m chasing your subscription.]

[Thanks to Matt at Shattered Platter PR.]