Category: Reviews

Review: DITZ – Never Exhale

Have you ever been in a tense situation where you have to remind yourself to breathe? When panic makes you hold your breath for so long that your body locks into place? When the tension is wound up like a jack-in-the-box just short of popping open?

Apparently, that’s what DITZ were experiencing when making their sharp sophomore album Never Exhale. The opening notes of “V70” instantly drop that tension on you, like some kind of rumbling alarm warning you to get back before you get hurt, because the razor-sharp guitar and snarling bass-driven “Taxi Man” might knock you off your feet. It’s an homage to the working class and how often the people you barely notice are holding the world together. “Space / Smile” is almost a manic rant about hatred and division hidden behind friendly faces.

“This house has no place in your future…Wake up and see what you built will never last!” yells lead singer Cal Francis on “Senor Siniestro” – a wild exploration of what’s real (almost nothing) and what’s impermanent (everything). I love Sam Evans‘ beats on “Four,” which start simple and grow into post-punk precision. Anton Mocock and Jack Looker‘s guitars on “God on a Speed Dial” sound like the hulls of ships being torn open by sea mines while Francis wonders how to be heard by something or someone beyond this world.

They take on the weird inevitable nature (Or is it threat?) of aging on “Smells Like Something Died in Here.” The guitars sigh as if they’re settling down for a long rest that might not end. “18 Wheeler” is the sound of madness bubbling under the surface that cracks through the ice now and then. It almost sounds like each band member is playing their own solo and barely paying attention to the others at times, and it still works well.

Caleb Remnant‘s bass leads “The Body As a Structure” – a song about finding comfort in your own skin while the world shakes around you. The album ends with the left-turn slow-down of “Britney” – which is also the longest song on the album at nearly seven-and-a-half minutes. Evans’ hi-hat at first sounds like it’s wrapped in cotton, and the guitar chords merge with dark synths to create something unsettling as Francis chants “We build and we build and we build.” again and again in the song’s second half, pulling us into a head-spinning nightmare.

You don’t get many breaths with this album. It grabs you and holds you in place, sometimes with fascination and other times with paranoia. DITZ wants you to take a breath, but not to relax.

Keep your mind open.

[Keep on drivin’ over to the subscription box.]

Review: Frankie and The Witch Fingers – Live at KEXP

In case you weren’t aware, Seattle’s KEXP is one of the best radio stations out there for music lovers. Part of the reason is that they present so many great live performances from so many artists in different genres. They also host, and broadcast, full live concerts. Some of them are even released for us to consume afterwards, like the newest Live at KEXP record from psychedelic rippers Frankie and The Witch Fingers.

FATW go back to their (near) beginning by opening with the title track from their Brain Telephone album. Nikki Pickle‘s bass is a snarling beast, and it’s easy to lose track of whose guitar sounds like it’s already falling apart – Dylan Sizemore‘s or Josh Menashe‘s. Just when you think the whole song and set is going to be wild noise, they drop into their funk grooves that they do so well. “Futurephobic” starts and stops on a dime, leaving you a bit bewildered by the end.

“Syster System” struts around the stage like an unearthed Thin Lizzy track stretching its muscles and staking a claim on rock and roll. “Cops & Robbers” is almost a psychobilly track with the wild lyrics about bank robbery and Nick Aguilar‘s punk drumming, and then it dissolves / oozes into the slime-punky “Sidewalk.” “Weird Dog” snaps back and forth between garage rock funk and crunchy punk kerplunk that your neck might snap.

Jon Modaff is a welcome addition to the FATWF lineup on synths, and his work on “i-Candy” almost brings the band into spooky rock / haunted house terror music. In other words, more cool stuff the band pulls off with ease. The longest cut, “Empire,” has become a fan favorite of their live shows as it lets each band member shine at different times and always belts you hard in the chest.

The concert, and album, ends with “Bonehead” – a raucous rocker made for pogo-dancing and kicking down doors and, well, boneheads…and good grief, Menashe’s solo is manic. The whole song, and (again) the album, practically has you sweating just from hearing it. It, like seeing them in the flesh, will leave you invigorated.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Acid Rooster – Hall of Mirrors

You might think Acid Rooster‘s Hall of Mirrors album was an EP by looking at the track listing, as it’s only four songs, but the shortest one is nearly six minutes in length.

Those four songs are are excellent cosmic rock tracks perfect for either tripping out inside the album’s namesake at your local county fair or surfing around the universe as a herald of Galactus. “Automat” (the five-minute-fifty-second song) has Joe Satriani-like riffs from Sebastian Väth and enough psychedelic synths from Maximilian Leicht to melt your mind and then reform it into something capable of clairvoyance. “Chandelier Arp” first sounds like the pulse and happy sighs of an android receiving a massage in zero gravity. Then, Steffen Schmidt comes in on drums and the android starts some form of astral projection or perhaps a digital upload to some giant connected mind. Leicht’s saxophone work on this put you in orbit about an emerging white sun.

“Confidence of Ignorance” brings in Middle Eastern desert rock flavor, which is fine by me. The sound takes on a heavier tone and reminds you of scantily clad, scimitar-wielding maidens emerging from the desert to either cut you down, cast spells on you, or both. “When Clouds Part” beautifully ends Side B with a gentle float back down to Earth, nicely landing us on a warm, green cliff overlooking the ocean.

Did I mention it’s an instrumental album? It’s a trip-tastic bit of space rock that you’ll want for times you need to float away for a bit.

Keep your mind open.

[Float over to the subscription box!]

Review: Anika – Abyss

Anika is fed up and, frankly, bored with the world right now. It can be a soulless place sometimes…and a soulless time in some places. It can feel like everything is teetering on the edge of the album’s title, Abyss. Recorded in just ten days with a live band, Anika pulls no punches and channels her confusion, frustration, and distrust into a powerful record.

“I’m tired of all this game-playing,” she sings on the opening track, “Hearsay” – a wicked track about media manipulation, romantic manipulation (“You’re telling me tales to get your own way.”), and the vicious divides a rumor mill can cause. The title track roars with Lawrence Goodwin‘s metal-cutting guitars and then Tomas Nochteff drops sexy, heavy bass on you. “Honey” is a tale of Anika walking away from a lover who has become too much like her. Is it a coincidence, then, that the next track is the Velvet Underground-like “Walk Away,” in which Anika admits, “The truth is that I’d rather be alone, than with you.” Don’t feel bad, though. Anika doesn’t have much feeling for anyone in this glossy fake world. It’s not just you. It’s everyone. She doesn’t even trust herself or believe that she wants to spend lonely nights in her house, or if she wants the world to burn up or not.

“Into the Fire” is another hypnotizing track that Anika does so well as she longs for someone to take her off this planet we’re destroying and to somewhere quiet for a change. On “Oxygen,” Anika lets us know that she’s interested in trying something new, in exploring dark places, in finding breath amid the choking clouds of noise and limitations being put on our methods of expression and even our own bodies. “Out of the Shadows” is a rocker, with Anika putting divisive politicians in their place using fierce words (“Full of opinions, full of hot air. Am I supposed to fall before you?”) and fiercer riffs.

“It’s a one-way ticket, and I’m not on it,” she sings on “One-Way Ticket” — a song about the growth of fascism (“This city didn’t learn the lessons from its past, making deals with the snakes and the sharks.”). She tries to warn us about the growth of idiocracy and screen addiction on “Last Song” with lyrics like, “The robots are ruling, the logic is drooling, dripping out your open mouth.” By the time we get to the last track, “Buttercups,” Anika is “thinking of the simpler days” and wishing she (and we) could escape from the unrelenting pressures of this age of constant stimulation. Wouldn’t it be nicer to just lounge in a field of flowers for a while?

Abyss is a powerful record with multiple layers, each one getting darker as you go deeper into it. Anika is mad right now, righteously mad, and she’s trying to pull us out of the darkness, even if only for a little while.

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll breathe easier if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Blackwater Holylight – If You Only Knew EP

Blackwater Holylight excel at writing, singing, and playing haunting songs that take doom rock into spectral places. Now, with their new EP If You Only Knew, the band take their doom rock into the shoegaze realm and the results are excellent.

Sarah McKenna‘s rainfall-like electric piano opens the EP on “Wandering Lost.” It matches the sorrowful guitar from Mikayla Mayhew as lead singer / bassist Sunny Faris reminds us that we all suffer at some point, and we can sometimes find solace in that. The song kicks into grand metal riffs in the second half, with drummer Eliese Dorsay putting down beats that Nordic metal bands would love.

“Torn Reckless” is a gorgeous shoegaze track that caught me by surprise. Faris sings about standing on the precipice of a relationship and not sure if plunging off it or backing away is the right decision. Mayhew’s guitar sounds like its being pumped through a dozen half-blown amplifiers.

“Fate Is Forward” is pure 1990s (good) alt-rock with its bursting guitars and quiet-loud-quiet verses and chorus. It’s almost a forgotten Failure track, and it’s impossible to choose who shines the most on it, but why should you bother? Just let it wash over you like a rolling thunderstorm.

Finally, I did not have “Blackwater Holylight covers Radiohead.” on my 2025 bingo card, but they’ve done it with a beautiful version of “All I Need.” They keep the buzzing synths and add more guitar fuzz. Faris’ version of Thom Yorke‘s vocals make the song open its heart a bit more and, yes, make it sexier.

This is one of Blackwater Holylight’s best records, and a great sign of good things to come as they continue to explore and expand their sound.

Keep your mind open.

[If you only knew how much I’d like you to subscribe.]

[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media!]

Rewind Review: The Jesus and Mary Chain – Stoned & Dethroned (2009 reissue)

Coming off the 1993 Lollapalooza tour (back when it a tour and still had good lineups), The Jesus and Mary Chain went into the studio in 1994 to record what was originally supposed to be an acoustic record for their fifth album, but making Stoned & Dethroned took longer than they’d expected and was also the first time since Psychocandy that they used a full band in the sessions instead of brothers Jim and William Reid doing everything.

“Dirty Water” (a sort of lament mixed with a sort of challenge) has those acoustic guitars, but the electric guitars and bass, and Ben Lurie‘s harmonica and Steve Monti‘s shuffling drums almost push it into psychedelic country territory. “Bullet Lovers” continues this love affair with the dusty west (I mean, look at that main cover image…).

Mazzy Star‘s Hope Sandoval joins Jim Reid on vocals for “Sometimes Always,” which has Reid begging for Sandoval to let him back into her life after he’s left her yet again. “Come On” is a lovable track with a cool groove and simple, yet completely relatable lyrics about trying to convince a lover that things will eventually turn around and be all right. The electro-acoustic guitar on “Between Us” is a nice touch, once again bridging the gap between western psych and shoegaze.

“Hole” is a dark one, with Jim Reid wishing he had some motivation (“All I want is a dream. Give me something to dream.). Monti’s simple drum beat is perfect for the track, while the guitars grumble like Oscar the Grouch deep inside his trash can. “Never Saw It Coming” might be a song about the end of the world, with William Reid telling us there will be no need of money, clothing, or even running when it comes. The bass groove on this by Lurie is top notch.

“She” is an interesting track (with nice guitar work throughout it) as Jim Reid tries to figure out a woman who “spends her time out of space and out of line, planning some unholy crime that comes to nothing.” Meanwhile, his brother wishes he and a woman could make it work on “Wish I Could.” “Save Me” and “Till It Shines” go heavy on the acoustic guitar chords, with “Till It Shines” again delivering a (mostly) hopeful message (“Junk the junk, love the love.”).

Shane McGowan from The Pogues takes over lead vocals on the sad (Notice the initials of the album’s title?) “God Help Me,” which is a straight-up prayer of someone at the end of their rope. Jim Reid tries to talk a lady friend out of going back to her old addict habits on “Girlfriend” (“We done our time and we had some fun. I want to get things done.”). He expands this to wonder what’s going on not only with her, but people in general on “Everybody” (“Everybody I know is falling apart.”) – a song which I’m willing to bet Radiohead has on a couple playlists. On “You’ve Been a Friend,” Jim Reid is missing someone who’s left him – possibly because of his actions.

William Reid, at least, feels a bit better on “These Days,” in which he claims, “I feel immune to the sadness and gloom.” On the closing track, “Feeling Lucky,” he’s finally found “someone who knows me, and she still wants to hold me.” The Brian Jonestown Massacre probably play this on repeat while on tour.

This album doesn’t have a lot of the loud, fuzzy riffs you might expect from TJAMC, but it does have the introspective lyrics, the good guitar work, and the interesting mix of American southwest vibrations.

Keep your mind open.

[I sometimes always want you to subscribe.]

Review: Cie – Adventures II

Cie‘s newest EP, Adventures II, contains four rock solid tracks of booming, bumping deep house that you’ll want to throw on at your next party or anytime you need to feel like a bad-azz mofo.

The opening, swirling, pulsing, grooving bass of “Reichenstein” grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go for the next six minutes and fifteen seconds. “Der Turm” (“The Tower”) has cool tribal beats that put a neat spin on this house track. It’s a well-crafted blend of house, jungle, and a bit of synthwave. Nicely done, Mr. Cie.

Side B of the album contains two versions of “Stenzelberg” — the original and a remix by Mar io. The original’s funky bass groove is enough to sell you on the entire EP, and the rest of it is a flat-out house banger (Do I sound ancient using that term?). The remix is almost a minute longer and swaps out the house funk for more jungle flavor and darkness along the edges.

This is one of the best house music EPs I’ve heard so far this year. Go snag it.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Pull Proxy Media!]

Review: Pascal Hetzel – ASLM Remixes

Pascal Hetzel‘s 2022 album, ASLM, gets an update three years down the road and becomes ASLM Remixes – featuring a lot of sharp talent and enough beats to power your next workout or dark afterparty.

Starting with JakoJako‘s remix of “RBBRMN” (“Rubberman?”), the album drops snappy electric percussion and throbbing sub-bass that gets into the back of your brain. GAEL‘s remix of “TWST” (“Twist?”) pulses like the heart of a final girl in a slasher film.

Up next is Kaiser‘s remix of “SLT” (“Salt?” “Slit?”), which you’ll want for your next HIIT workout because the bass on this makes you feel like you could either dance all night long or kickbox a dozen opponents. It’s followed by another remix of the same track, but this one by Projekt Gestalten. Their version adds an underlying sense of menace, almost like you’re dancing in a club with hornet nests hanging from the ceiling that might drop at any moment if the beats get too heavy.

The record ends with Luis Flores‘ remix of “PPPR” (“Pepper,” right?) throws you into some sort of futuristic, slightly dystopian sci-fi movie battle sequence with its buzzsaw synths, mechanical beats, and orbiting war machine bass. Good stuff, really.

Add this whole thing to your workout playlist.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Pull Proxy Media!]

Review: Babe Rainbow – Slipper imp and shakaerator

Recorded in an abandoned warehouse on a banana farm, and named after a towable tractor plough made by the Bunyip company (“…a revolutionary ripper of great strength.”), Babe Rainbow‘s new album, slipper imp and shakaerator, is a trippy affair that blends psych-rock with surf vibes.

The album starts with a question: “What is ashwagandha?” Elliot O’Reilly‘s bass groove hooks you right away as you “swim around like yin and yang” and “plunge into oblivion” with them. “Long Live the Wilderness” encourages us (with great yacht rock guitar riffs from Jack Crowther) to take it easy and get outside now and then. Or maybe it’s “Now and Zen,” as the next track adds in some vocal echoes and warps the instruments to produce a neat effect.

“Sunday” dips into astrological themes and spacey, jangly guitar chords backed by Miles Myjavec‘s zero gravity-drifting drums. The instrumental “Apollonia” is a lovely transition to “Like Cleopatra” – a fun love song about taking your girl to outer space and treating her like a queen.

“When the milk flows” (featuring King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard‘s Stu Mackenzie – who mixed the album) is a bouncy track designed to get you to shake off your troubles. Mackenzie returns on “Mt dub” – which seems to be a song about surfing in Australia (which Babe Rainbow do often, as well as in other parts of the world) and learning that “You’re more loved than you know.”

“Aquarium cowgirl” has a fun beat and sounds ready for radio play as the band sings about how amazing it is to be alive, despite what many others would tell you. It’s interesting that there’s no apostrophe in the title of “Rainbows end.” It’s a sentence, and song (featuring Camille Jansen on guest spoken word vocals), about impermanence with dreamy synths to help you relax with the idea that all things pass. The album ends with “re-ju-ven-ate,” in which Angus Dowling asks the bold question, “What are you paying for?…Abundance, abundance for everyone.”

This is a fun record, possibly the most fun one I’ve heard so far in 2025. Have a good time with it.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: j.o.y.s. – self-titled

Ramon Narvaez is also known as j.o.y.s., which stands for “Jump Out of Your Skin.” It’s an acronym for stepping out of your comfort zone and trying on something new. For Narvaez, that meant teaming up with has pedal steel-playing pal Justin Gaynor to finally put the musical improvisations they’d been creating into a self-titled album of intriguing ambience.

“dastardly” opens the album with simple synth chords and guitar drone notes that swirl like a vortex opening in space and time. The bending of time was a central theme while Narvaez and and Gaynor were creating the album, and they nailed the feel of it right away. “yucca valley” is perfect for desert meditations, as it seems to stretch beyond your senses and center you in stillness.

“river / road” curls along for over eight minutes, with Gaynor’s pedal steel helping your brain drift like a leaf on the water and your hand sway up and down outside the car window as you drive at a leisurely pace. Speaking of water, “blue water prison” is something you won’t mind being in, as it washes over you and then drains away tension.

The guitars on “lee & leo” are reminiscent of lonely border towns or nearly empty roadside diners on a side highway. “heights” almost fades out before sliding back in to bring you back to Earth. The long title track is a back-and-forth conversation between Narvaez and Gaynor’s guitars while quiet synths moderate them. By the time we get to “96 (jumping cholla),” we’re either falling into or awakening from a dream.

It’s a lovely record, and a nice meditative journey if you’re looking for one.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Ryan at Clandestine Label Services.]