Reviews – Page 3 – 7th Level Music

Review: The Shits – Diet of Worms

Looking at that album cover, you might think at first glance that you were in for a folk record, or maybe a “goth country” album, but then you notice the title is Diet of Worms (possibly after the assembly in which Martin Luther was told to recant his writings and views or be labeled as a heretic – spoiler alert from the 16th century: He didn’t.) and the band’s name is The Shits and now you’re even more intrigued.

Then the opening dissonance of the first track, “In a Hell,” arrives and you’re locked in because you want to hear where this is going. The snarling vocals arrive while drums, bass, and guitars circle around you like angry hounds and you’re thinking, “Okay, let’s do this.” This goes on for over seven minutes and ratchets up the power for the whole album. You look at the album cover again and begin to think something bad has happened (or is still happening) in that house / barn…and, by the way, is the whole area on fire?

The Shits seem to believe the whole world is on fire, judging by the rumbling rage in every track. The guitars on “Tarrare” almost sound like the repetitive ramblings of a madman. “Then You’re Dead” sounds like a Stooges B-side covered in ashes and played on a turntable with a vulture perched next to it and using its beak for the needle. The bass line and drums hits on it are relentless.

Speaking of bass, the bass notes on “Change My Ways” are thick as tar. I think the song is about being pressured to change from every angle of society in this modern world: Eat this, do this workout, sleep in this position, take this supplement, listen to these podcasts, read this book, invest your money with me! It never ends unless you change another thing – the desire to change at all. Could The Shits be hiding a Zen lesson in the distortion and shouts?

There could be another one hidden in “Joyless Satisfaction.” The title alone could allude to the emptiness that often accompanies materialism and attachment. We buy and buy and buy and so often have remorse afterwards. The thrill of the purchase is soon replaced by the dread of having yet another thing to move, dust, or take up space. The same goes for doom-scrolling, influencer idolizing, and so many other things that take up our mind-space. The track’s guitar riffs are all jagged and rusty and likely to harm you if you’re not careful.

The title track is a gritty, nervous, writhing thing with an abrupt ending that catches you off-guard. “Thank You for Being a Friend” has a groove that, believe it or not, reminds me of Thin Lizzy. It’s not a cover of the Golden Girls theme song (which would be amazing), but I think is about both true and false friends, and how sometimes it’s difficult to figure out which is which. The album ends with the menacing “Three O’Clock in the Morning.” It feels like the sensation of stumbling home after a drunken brawl in a Waffle House parking lot, or the dread of waking up for another early shift, or coming back from one that ran late, or the lonely dread that sometimes creeps in when you wake up for no apparent reason. It yells and spits at you, creeps around you, pulls at you, and generally unnerves you.

The whole album does. That’s what it’s supposed to do, and why The Shits made it. It’s as unsettling as the album cover or being handed a bowl of worms to eat. It’s meant to shake you up and shake you out of the trap you don’t even know is around you.

One final note: You can’t be a band called “The Shits” and not be a solid, damn good band. It just wouldn’t work. You’d be written off as a joke band.

The Shits are no joke.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dan at Discipline PR.]

Live: Gary Numan and Tremours – Vogue Theatre – Indianapolis, Indiana – March 29, 2026

The seemingly ageless electro icon Gary Numan summed up his show at Indianapolis’ Vogue Theatre well when, during a pause in his set, he said, “I didn’t know what to expect, but this is fucking amazing.”

This was the fourth time I’ve seen Numan and his band, and they always bring it. Each set feels better than the last, and this one was loud, powerful, and a performance.

First up were Tremours, a good shoegaze duo from Los Angeles. They put on a solid thirty-minute set of reverb-thick guitar and echoing vocals from Lauren Andino and hypnotic drumming from Glenn Fryatt. My friends with me at the show were reminded of Belly, Lush, The Sundays, and Ladytron during their set that was both dreamy and drone-y.

Numan and crew came out at 8pm sharp and opened with two bangers out of the gate – “Halo” and “Metal.” Right away, the whole band was clicking and the crowd, which ranged in ages from twenties to seventies and band shirts ranging from Nitzer Ebb to All Them Witches, was cheering. Many hadn’t seen Numan before then, and I think he hadn’t played in Indianapolis in quite a while, so everyone was hyped.

L-R: Harris, Chris Payne, Numan, Slade, Jimmy Lucido

Guitarist Steve Harris was in great form, creating weird riffs and baffling people with his strange antics that seem to be a reflection of how all the sounds are affecting his brain. Teaming him with Tim Slade on bass is genius because the weird energy they bring creates a strange dance that works well with the roar of sound they create.

Following his classic “Down in the Park” with “M.E.” was a great addition to the set. I’d never heard him play it live before then, so I was over the moon. After that, Numan and his lads took a moment for him to tell us why his new album wasn’t finished or released for the tour — mainly due to his wife, Gemma, undergoing multiple serious health scares. As a result, his songwriting has been seriously delayed. He heard some new music playing from the bedroom of his daughter, Raven, and had planned on stealing part of it for a new track. He asked who it was, and she said, “It’s me.” The next thing we knew, Raven Numan joined her dad and his band on stage to perform her song “Nothing’s What It Seems.”

After rousing applause for her, Dad Numan unleashed two more heavy-hitters: “Ghost Nation” and “Love Hurt Bleed” (which always kills live). He played, “Cars,” of course, and I love how he puts a different spin on it with each tour. My friend, Bill, said, “It’s like I never heard that song before.”

He ended the main set with “Are Friends Electric?”, which has rapidly become my favorite song to hear during his shows. It just hits you. The encore included “The Gift” and “My Name Is Ruin.”

You couldn’t help noticing how often Numan and his band were smiling and laughing. At one point during the show, Numan thanked the crowd and said, “I didn’t know what to expect (playing at a small venue in Indianapolis on a Sunday night), but this is fucking amazing.”

Yes, Mr. Numan it was.

Keep your mind open.

Thanks to the chap who scored this and let me photograph it.

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[Thanks to Dave for the press pass!]

Review: Stuck – Optimizer

Chicago’s Stuck approached their new album, Optimizer, with the sense that they and the world at large are in the passenger seat of an out of control car. Things are spinning out of control, racing toward disaster, and we’re all trying to optimize our social media profiles, bodies, hobbies, food, and minds.

“It’s hard to know what you want, and to know it is worse,” says lead singer / guitarist Greg Obis at the beginning of Optimizer‘s opening track, “Totally Vexed.” He’s unsure what to do about not only his life, but things in general, just like the rest of us (“Take a look around. Everybody’s down.” / “You don’t know what you want.”). The song bristles with post-punk nervousness and Tim Green‘s pulse-slightly pounding-in-your-temples beats. “Instakill” is a song about fitness influencers and the weird world of fitness culture. It sound like some of Devo‘s earlier, punkier tracks with its strange, popping synths, David Algrim‘s robot bass lines, the slightly tortured guitar riffs, and the lyrics poking fun at people striving to be like everyone else.

“Sicko” is about subjecting ourselves to the relentless grind of not only work, but also maintaining social media profiles and projecting fictionalized best versions of ourselves. Algrim’s bass hits hard on “Deadlift,” another track about body image and our troubling relationships with it. “Less Is More” roars with punk fury. “Fire, Man” smirks at the emptiness of a lot of rock music nowadays.

“Net Negative” brings early Wavves tracks to mind with its catchy guitar hooks and snarled vocals like “I think that it’s funny connection’s tearing us apart.” “It Isn’t” is a stark look at how we’re being deceived every day, either by people, algorithms, or media (social and otherwise). “Punchline” has Stuck (and the rest of us) looking for some kind of, any kind of meaning to all of this chaos around us. It’s the track that reminds me most of Gang of Four (“You know something I don’t. A universal truth. I’m not in on the joke.”) through its solid bass and straight-to-the-gut lyrics.

The album closes with “GG.” No, it’s not a reference to G.G. Allin. “On a pitch black road, don’t know where it goes,” Obis sings on it. We’re back to the out-of-control car metaphor and how Obis feels like he’s holding on for dear life as he grieves over how a loved one has changed and seems intent on plunging them both to their doom.

Or maybe Stuck feel like most of the country has changed and is content to drive us all off a cliff rather than admit they’re afraid, or wrong, or rather afraid of being wrong. We’re all tempted and told to optimize our lives, produce more, consume more, and ignore the billionaire boots grinding us all.

Optimizer fades out with the same distortion that fades in the record. It’s a loop, spinning and spinning until we decide to take action and give it a rest — just like the traps we’re falling into every day. Stuck have held up the mirror. We have to accept what we see in it. Acceptance can lead to action, and that is optimizing.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Various artists – When There Is No Sun

Here’s a cool idea: Get a bunch of electronic music producers and DJs in the same room with some cool guest vocalists and tell them to put their spins on the music of Sun Ra. What do you get? This cool compilation called When There Is No Sun.

Starting with Underground Resistance‘s funky, bumpy take on “When Angels Speak,” the addition of vocals by poet / musician / filmmaker Saul Williams drops you into the groove right away. “When angels speak, they speak of cosmic waves of sound,” Williams says, and you know he’s right. SHE Spells Doom joins up with the Sun Ra Arkestra for a remix of “Somebody Else’s Idea.” The muted, looped horn section provides an interesting groove that seems to cast a long look around the room and invite people into another party at the back.

House music heavyweight Chez Damier teams up with Ben Vedren and poet Anthony Joseph on the “H2H Kora mix” of “The Three Dimensions of Air.” The looping hand percussion beats, bouncing synth notes, and distant trumpet sounds create a hypnotic effect when they combine with Joseph’s vocals. Calibre creates a drum and bass (his specialty) remix of “Chopin.”

Ricardo Villalobos “Earlier Than Late” remix (version 2) of “I Have Forgotten” is a mesmerizing track with odd sounds that resemble something you’d hear in a haunted house movie score if the house had a rave happening in the cemetery next door. Tunde Adebimpe joins Damier and Vedren on the H2H remix of “The Endless Realm.” It’s instantly danceable, as well as enlightening. It’s a house music Zen lesson on the joy of non-attachment.

Underground Resistance and Williams return for their soulful take on “The Outer Darkness.” The first version of Villalobo’s “Earlier Than Late” remix of “I Have Forgotten” bubbles and pops like some kind of sentient ooze. Baris K and poet Abiodun Oyewole‘s riff on “Somebody Else’s Idea” is a house / trip hop / psych-dance track that has a sweet beat throughout the whole thing.

A Guy Called Gerald and poet Mahogany L. Browne‘s version of “Message to Black Youth” is simple and profound, as is Calibre’s ambient remix of “Chopin.” The album ends with the return of SHE Spells Doom’s remix of “Portrait of the Living Sky. It’s a cool house track, with emphasis on the “cool” part. It gives off this feeling of partying outside the dance club with all the cooler people who got rejected at the door.

This is a slick compilation that you can play at your house party, your chill room, or in your car late nights. You’ll want to hear it everywhere.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Carbon Decoy – Crush the Sun

I’m intrigued with Carbon Decoy‘s name. It’s a play on “carbon decay,” the process used for carbon dating, and the skull on the cover of their new album, Crush the Sun, indicates a version of decay, but they chose “decoy.” Their name seems to indicate being a stand-in for the decayed, or for the dead perhaps.

I mean, the heavy doom riffs they play certainly help back this theory. “The Trip” opens the album with a gas pedal-stomper that makes you want to hit the open road, pick up a weird, sexy hitchhiker, fight a band of cultists, and discover a doctor’s bag full of loot at the end of the road. Earl Mudd‘s guitars on “Castle East” sometimes sound like they’re straining to hold back undead hordes attacking said castle, and the agonized wails from drummer / vocalist Casey Rowe amplifying the image.

Jared Jordan‘s bass is spread thick across “Icarus,” and Rowe’s drums reflect the surely panicked, euphoric, and then panicked again heartbeat of the doomed man who flew too close to the sun. The swagger and groove of “Forest of Lies” is outstanding. It’s a swampy, sludgy one amidst the doom, and I’m all for it. “Sirens” goes back into mythological lands (and waters, in this case) as Rowe bemoans that he’s being beckoned by physical and metaphorical monsters. Speaking of monsters, the trio hammers away on “The Wraith,” in which they apparently try to banish such a spirit with the power of crushing riffs and pounding beats. The album ends with “Ghost Town,” this time with Jordan on vocals and the sounds of wind blowing through a spaghetti western that takes place near a haunted coal mine that probably houses some sort of horrible creature of the souls of a hundred trapped miners.

For most of its runtime, Crush the Sun feels heavy enough to do just that. Carbon Decoy’s created one of the best doom albums of the year so far.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Ksu at Discipline PR.]

Review: The Fake Friends – Let’s Not Overthink This

The Fake Friends‘ new album, Let’s Not Overthink This, starts off with the cry of “No truce!” on “Ministry of Peace.” They’re coming to shake things up, kick down walls, and slap you out of it.

Matthew Savage sings / shouts through the opening track, calling out everyone addicted to constant stimulation (“You got your hand glued to a screen hoping that’ll give you meaning.”) as Felix Crawford-Legault and Luca Santilli‘s guitars roar all over the place. “Sucker Born Every Minute” echoes Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs-style rock with it’s hooky chorus, Bradley Cooper-Graham‘s bright, almost go-go synths, and Savage’s “shout them with us!” lyrics about people who can’t get out of their own damn way.

“The Way She Goes” seems to be about co-dependency, and the frantic, angular guitar chords reflect the fractured patterns in such a relationship (“You want it, I need it. I got it, you want it.”). “Control” follows this theme (“Don’t look so defeated. You only said what you mean. Too tired to keep fighting, it’s tearing us at the seams.”).

“Five Star Review” is a quirky, funny, possibly fictional tale of the history / takedown of the band told by friends and crew. “Living the Dream” is a rousing track, with great call-and-response vocals and heavy drumming from Michael Tomizzi. “Backstreet’s Back Pt. II” has this nervous tension to it that gets under your skin.

“HyperConnection” has Savage looking for something, anything, in common with a potential lover but “Your favorite books are way too long.” and “I’ll never get what you said to me. I can’t speak in astrology. What the fuck is a Capricorn?” Answer: “It’s a horse. It’s a horse!” On “If It Happens,” Savage admits that he’s doing the hard work to repair a relationship even though he knows it’s fruitless (“You know it won’t matter how much I do. It’s all in my head.”).

“Dance on My Grave” has perhaps Michael Kamps‘ funkiest bass groove on the entire record. It carries the whole song and will get you dancing, on graves or atop other things (tables, bars, desks, crosswalks, car hoods, etc.). The album ends with the simple, brutally funny “Good Friends,” in which the whole band sings about “friends” who are so miserable it’s exhausting (“I forget just how happy I can be when you’re not around.”). You have to wonder if the intended recipient of the song got the message.

The album’s title refers to not only the band’s creative process but also hides a Zen lesson. Alan Watts said, “A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts.” We often get stuck in our own heads, and The Fake Friends are here to snap us out of it by whacking us with the Zen stick that is this record.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Chad at No Rules PR!]

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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Review: Mativetsky Amiri Pagé – Metamorphose

Take a tabla player (Shawn Mativetsky), a santur player (Amir Amiri), and a harpist (Sarah Pagé), put them in a studio, have them encourage each other with experimentation and love of traditional Sufi, Persian, Indian, and classical music, and what do you get? Metamorphose – one of the loveliest albums of the year.

Opening track “Yavaran” is the only one with lyrics and those are from the Sufi devotional prayer of Yavaran Masem (“My friends, I am drunk.”). Amiri and Pagé’s vocals blend perfectly with the intoxicating sounds all three produce.

The title track hums and pulses like a happy cat stretching in a sunbeam upon waking, or someone who has just had an enlightening experience. Amiri’s santur is beautiful on the track.

“Quarter Tone Suite” is eleven-and-a-half minutes of trance-inducing bliss. Pagé’s harp leads the way, ushering us from our tent in the desert and into an oasis that you don’t remember seeing when you set up the tent the previous night. “Maktrismos” blends Amiri’s santur and Pagé’s harp so well together that you often can’t tell which is which.

Remember that desert oasis from earlier? You’re back in it (or did you ever leave?) on the final track, “Pathos,” which encourages you to let go of what’s troubling you, have a seat, a cup of tea, and just let things happen for almost thirteen minutes.

Again, this is one of the lushest, loveliest records you’ll hear this year. Let it change you.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Nick at Riparian Media.]

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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