Austin Psych Fest returns April 28 – 30, 2023.

The fine folks at Levitation have announced the return of the Austin Psych Fest (which is what the Levitation Music Festival was originally called for many years and when I started going there in 2013) April 28 – 30, 2023. The festival will be at The Far Out Lounge in Austin and take place on two stages at the venue.

Lineup announcements and tickets are coming soon. I’m sure it will be another fun time in Austin, so don’t miss it.

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[Thanks to the Reverberation Appreciation Society.]

Fenne Lily’s “Lights Light Up” is a bright look at the apprehensive world of new love.

Photo Credit: Michael Tyrone Delaney

Today, UK-born and now New York-based artist Fenne Lily announces Big Picture, her new album out April 14th on Dead Oceans, and presents its lead single/video, “Lights Light Up.” She also announces a month-plus North American co-headline tour with Christian Lee Hutson, as well as a UK and EU run, on sale this Friday, January 20th at 10am local time. A gorgeous and gripping portrait of Fenne’s last two years, Big Picture was pieced together in an effort to self-soothe and offers a brilliant catharsis. Tracked live in co-producer Brad Cook’s North Carolina studio, the album delineates the phases of love and becomes a map of comfort vs. claustrophobia. “Writing this album was my attempt at bringing some kind of order to the disaster that was 2020,” Fenne states. “By documenting the most vulnerable parts of that time, I felt like I reclaimed some kind of autonomy.” 
 
This collision of repose and harsh reality is laid bare in Big Picture’s lead single “Lights Light Up,” a prophetic and insightful account of love at its temporary best. Written partially as a conversation, it tracks the tender details of a burgeoning relationship and recognizes the transitory nature of any shared thing; the bittersweet truth that you can only walk hand in hand with someone as long as you’re going in the same direction. With delicately interwoven guitar lines, propulsive rhythm and a chorus that offers the feeling of a voicemail left by someone from your past, it feels at once deeply personal and universal (“and you said so do you ever wanna leave here / and I said well that depends on the day / and you said oh do you even wanna be here / and I said well that depends on the way”)

“I’d never really written about love in the present tense before this, but even though I was still in love and not thinking about the end, there was something else going on subconsciously that led to a song about moving on before the moving on had begun,” comments Fenne. “When it came time to record, the band and I had been playing it live for a while and it’d become something joyful and positive, but when I started recording vocals, the lyrics made me cry. By that point the song was over a year old and I thought those wounds had healed but I guess it hurt to admit I’d been letting go of something while still trying to hold on.” The song’s accompanying video, shot throughout Brooklyn, was directed by Haoyan of America

Watch Fenne Lily’s “Lights Light Up” Video

Though its creation took place amid personal and global turmoil, the ruminative yet candid Big Picture is Fenne’s most cohesive, resolute work to date, both lyrically and sonically. “This isn’t a sad album — it’s about as uplifting as my way of doing things will allow,” she says. “These songs explore worry and doubt and letting go, but those themes are framed brightly.” With confidence and quiet strength, each track provides insight into Fenne’s ever-changing view of love and, ultimately, its redefinition — love as a process, not something to be lost and found.
 
Notably, these 10 songs are Fenne’s first and only to have been written over the course of a relationship; 2018’s On Hold and 2020’s BREACH both confront the pain of retrospection, saying goodbye to a love that’s gone.  Big Picture does the exact opposite — rooted firmly in the present, it traces the narrative of two people trying their hardest not to implode, together.
 
After writing Big Picture in the solitude of her Bristol flat, Fenne consciously aimed to make the recording process her most collaborative thus far. Co-producing with Brad Cook (Waxahatchee, Kevin Morby, Snail Mail) at his Durham studio, Fenne’s core intention was to make something that sonically reflected the kind of compact space the songs were written in; something warm, honest and comforting. Alongside Fenne’s touring band, the album features Christian Lee Hutson (guitar), Katy Kirby (vocals), and was mixed by Melina Duterte of Jay Som.
 
Big Picture’s cover art, constructed on a miniature scale by the artist Thomas Doyle, shows the collapse of a home confined within a bell jar and features several inch-high models of Fenne in various places throughout. This physical representation of a self-contained disaster is a reminder that we are small in the grand scheme of things which, for Fenne, is a relief: “We only really know the one world we find ourselves in at any given time” Fenne expands. “It’s only when that world changes or collapses that we realize there are other narratives available — that we’ve known only one of many possible ways to exist.” 

Pre-order Big Picture
 
Big Picture Tracklist:
1. Map of Japan
2. Dawncolored Horse
3. Lights Light Up
4. 2+2
5. Superglued
6. Henry
7. Pick
8. In My Own Time
9. Red Deer Day
10. Half Finished
 
Fenne Lily Tour Dates:
Sat. Apr. 15 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Sun. Apr. 16 – Dublin, IE @ Workman’s Club
Tue. Apr. 18 – Glasgow, UK @ St Luke’s
Wed. Apr. 19 – Manchester, UK @ YES
Thu. Apr. 20 – London, UK @ Islington Assembly Hall
Fri. Apr. 21 – Bristol, UK @ Trinity
Sun. Apr. 23 – Brighton, UK @ Patterns
Mon. Apr. 24 – Brussels, BE @ AB Club
Tue. Apr. 25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
Thu. Apr. 27 – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher
Fri. Apr. 28 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA Ideal Bar
Sat. Apr. 29 – Berlin, DE @ Frannz
Mon. May 1 – Munich, DE @ Ampere
Tue. May 2 – Cologne, DE @ Stadtgarten
Wed. May 3 – Paris, FR @ FMR
Thu. May 11 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room *
Fri. May 12 – Felton, CA @ Felton Music Hall *
Sat. May 13 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall *
Mon. May 15 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos *
Tue. May 16 – Portland, Oregon @ Aladdin Theater *
Wed. May 17 – Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre *
Fri. May 19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court *
Sat. May 20 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater *
Mon. May 22 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck *
Tue. May 23 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line *
Wed. May 24- Milwaukee, WI @ Back Room at Colectivo Coffee *
Thu. May 25 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
Fri. May 26 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe *
Sat. May 27 – Toronto, ON @ The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern *
Tue. May 30 – Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace *
Wed. May 31 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair *
Fri. Jun. 2 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
Sat. Jun. 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
Sun. Jun. 4 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat *
Mon. Jun. 5 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall *
Tue. Jun. 6 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West *
Wed. Jun. 7 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East *
Fri. Jun. 9 – Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge *
Sat. Jun. 10 – Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips *
Sun. Jun. 11 – Austin, TX @ The Parish *
Tue. Jun. 13 – Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf *
Thu. Jun. 15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge *
Fri. Jun. 16 – West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour *
 
* = co-headline with Christian Lee Hutson

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

D-Tension tries to remember with whom he’s speaking on “The No Name Song.”

D-Tension releases the first single, “The No Name Song,” from the upcoming (April 2023) album Tales From The Pub. The album is the one thing D-Tension has yet to do: make a 100% solo album. No guests, no features, no help. D just locked himself in his home studio (his wife’s closet) and wrote, performed and produced an album of fresh new material. D plays guitar, bass, drums and drum programming, keys and sings every note on this record. When the album was done D wasn’t sure what to call it. Then mixing engineer Nick Zampiello of New Alliance East commented “these songs sound like tales from the pub”. That’s because they are. The album is about people watching and bar-life experiences.  

“The No Name Song” is about a universal dilemma: That feeling when you meet someone but can’t remember their name ten seconds after they just told you what it was. How friendships and relationships never happened because you can’t remember their name. The song is also a secret easter egg / ode to songs that mention names. 

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[Thanks to D-Tension.]

Mandy, Indiana return with a new single – “Injury Detail.”

Photo Credit: Harry Steel

Today, Manchester, UK-based band Mandy, Indiana return with new single, “Injury Detail,” via Fire Talk Records, their first new music since the release of 2021’s acclaimed ‘…’ EP. Mandy, Indiana – Valentine Caulfield (vocals/lyrics), Scott Fair (guitar/production), Simon Catling (synth) and Alex Macdougall (drums) – meld experimental noise and dance music, from drum machine snaps and pulsing bass to white noise and lo-fi scuff.  Produced by Fair and Robin Stewart of Giant Swan, “Injury Detail” is a dramatic reintroduction, opening with a grand organ before morphing into a thumping dance track fit for a warehouse rave. “‘Injury Detail’ was inspired by the idea of being trapped in a liminal space, with the guitars creating a seemingly limitless and undefined landscape. The vocals act as a guide to possible salvation, or perhaps something of a more sinister intent,” explains Caulfield. The accompanying video was directed by Thomas Harrington Rawle

Watch the Video for Mandy, Indiana’s “Injury Detail”

Formed out of the fertile Manchester independent scene, Mandy, Indiana generate a sound that is at once chaotic and precision engineered – abrasive beats and gnarled guitars sit in thickets of distortion around Caulfield’s commanding vocals sung in her native language, French. Their songs, which incorporate found samples and field recordings, are recorded in a variety of spaces, from rehearsal rooms and home studios to cavernous industrial mills and shopping malls. Mandy, Indiana’s first recordings emerged around 2019, culminating in their debut, 2021’s ‘…’ EP,  which featured a heavy-hitting remix from Daniel Avery. Its single, “Bottle Episode,” was named a Best Song of 2021 by Pitchfork, who recognized the “perverse playfulness” of Caufield’s grim lyrics, and Paste, who hailed it “an exhilarating darkness for the bold to brave.” The EP also led to Stereogum naming Mandy, Indiana a Best New Band of 2021. Since then, they’ve become a live favorite in the UK, supporting the likes of Squid, IDLES, Gilla Band, Wet Leg, and SCALPING, along with  festival appearances at Pitchfork ParisEnd of the Road, and more. The band will be making their US debut at SXSW 2023 as part of the official lineup. “Injury Detail” is a taste of more music to come from Mandy, Indiana this year. 

Listen to “Injury Detail”

Mandy, Indiana Tour Dates
Fri. Feb. 3 – Manchester, UK @ Yes
Sat. Feb. 4 – Birkenhead, UK @ Future Yard
Sun. Feb. 5 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Fri. March 10 – Sun. March 19 – Austin, TX @ SXSW

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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Lana Del Rabies unleashes “A Plague” upon us.

“There is a specific type of grief that comes from witnessing the brutality of what humans are capable of towards each other. If that grief goes unprocessed, it is doomed to also manifest as brutality,” says Phoenix-based musician and producer Sam An“There have been many moments while writing this record that I was grieving through an event that was personal or worldwide, and then another sudden, tragic event would happen. I needed to re-evaluate what I wanted to say because my world and perspective had shifted again. Trying to keep up with tragedy can make one feel helpless, and one way to feel in control is through acts of destruction. My personal impulse towards destruction nearly ended this project.”
 
Set for release March 17th, 2023, on 2XLP/CD/Digital through Gilgongo Records, ‘STREGA BEATA’ is the 3rd full-length album from Sam An’s dark electronic, genre-bridging solo project under the semi-notorious moniker Lana Del Rabies. After a brief hiatus, this record is her first full-length release since the gothic, industrial noise of 2018’s Shadow World. ‘STREGA BEATA’, which loosely translates to “Blessed Witch,” is an apocalyptic myth told through dense, textural compositions pulling from the vast corners of dark genre music. The title’s meaning is appropriate for the existential, cathartic, and otherworldly themes explored.
 
Today, along with the album’s announcement, she has shared the pounding, entrancing first track from the record, entitled A Plague
 
“A Plague was initially written before the Covid-19 Pandemic began, and refers to the angst of living through an overwhelming number of manmade atrocities, absorbed personally and peripherally by everyone all at once in today’s world” she comments. “The album STREGA BEATA is an allegory told from the evolving perspective of a mythological, cryptic creator figure, who is responsible for humanity but not in control of the world we have created. This track is an expression of the fury towards mankind’s current state of self destruction, while declaring vengeance through the same futile means of destruction.”
 
Listen to “A Plague” on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKxmyYtrbhg
Other streaming options: https://songwhip.com/lanadelrabies/a-plague
 
Written, produced, and almost entirely performed by An, she says, “I started writing the third record immediately after the promotion of Shadow World. I had recently become sober and was mending myself not just from experiences of abuse and trauma that occurred throughout my life, but processing how I had abused the people closest to me in my most out of control moments. I also at the time had a job involved in child welfare, and the violent separation and exploitation of children at the US/Mexico border was happening miles from where I grew up and affecting the community around me. Brutality often feels like it is everywhere with how we experience the world now, but for the first time, I could not numb myself from it. That awareness only extended through the world events we all have had to live through these last few years, and the personal loss that came from that. I began working through the pain of abuse, death, and grief, through an actual story in my work”
 
This is where the mythical allegory in ‘STREGA BEATA’ begins – the record is told through the evolving perspective of a cryptic and obscure “Mother” creator figure, specifically echoing the mother and crone goddess archetypes. This figure is vocalized through LDR’s eerie harmonies, spoken words, pleading howls, and frenetic screams aimed towards another archetype, the chosen one. These vocalizations sometimes hover above trip-hop low tempos and unnerving atmospheres (“Mourning,” “Hallowed is the Earth”), sink through vintage horror movie darkwave synths (“Master,” “Apocalypse Fatigue”), weave through art metal distortions and relentless drone bass tones (Mother), or blast through unconventional industrial rhythms (“Prayers of Consequence,” “A Plague”).
 
Ultimately, ‘STREGA BEATA’ is a deep exploration of the cyclical consequences of unhealed grief for us and our world. “I have used this story to process the harm that power enables. There is a fine line between empowerment and using power to cope with the feeling of losing control. I thought a lot about the power of the natural world, particularly storms, while writing this. Storms are created by opposing pressures, causing destruction. It’s interesting how some ideologies will co-opt storms in their iconographies and language, but don’t acknowledge that storms are events that cannot be controlled or contained. The way out of pain is by reconciling what you cannot control and taking ownership of what you can. It is the only way to stop cycles of destruction. Sometimes you must complete another cycle before realizing you are ready to end it for yourself and others. I feel this record is the end of a destructive cycle for me, and why I returned to myself as this project.”
 
More about Lana Del Rabies:
Lana Del Rabies is the solo dark electronic, genre-bridging solo project of Phoenix based musician, producer and multimedia artist Sam An. With origins as an experimental project that re-contextualized the more ominous aspects of modern pop music made by women (like that of Lana Del Rey), Lana Del Rabies’ music incorporates industrial, gothic noise and metal, with experimental, darkwave and ambient elements. Her work thematically embodies discordant spaces between the occult and the political, personal trauma and collective grief, and brutality and benediction. 
 
Her first two records, In The End I Am A Beast (2016) and Shadow World (2018) were released by Los Angeles based label Deathbomb Arc.

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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]

Skull Practitioners set to release first full-length album in January 2023.

Credit: John Bottomley Photography

Proving once again that “power trio” isn’t just a descriptive handle from the distant past, but a louder-than-God 21st Century reality, New York’s Skull Practitioners release their first full-length album, Negative Stars, for In the Red Records on January 20th. The album is the second release for Los Angeles-based In the Red by the trio — guitarist Jason Victor, bassist Kenneth Levine, and drummer Alex Baker, following the band’s acclaimed EP, Death Buy, issued in 2019.

Previously, Victor had established himself as the dazzling co-lead guitarist for Steve Wynn and the Miracle Three -when Wynn revived his ‘80s L.A. Paisley Underground consortium The Dream Syndicate in 2017, Victor took the guitar chair previously occupied by Karl Precoda and Paul Cutler.  Levine was playing in DBCR, a three-piece unit. “We wanted to go to a five-piece, and needed a drummer and another guitar player,” he says. “We put an ad out on Craigslist and met Jason and Alex that way. Alex was just two weeks into living in New York. We played together for a while, and then it just sort of dissolved. Jason, Alex, and I actually had more of a shared, common musical perspective, and the three of us decided, ‘Let’s stick together with just us three.’”

Skull Practitioners recorded a limited cassette-only debut, st1, which they self-released in 2014. The four-song collection, on which Baker was the lone band member to take a vocal, marked the start of a long hunt for the right voice. “We kept looking for a new singer, and that person never came,” says Victor. “None of us wanted to sing at all. After a while, we had been together as a three-piece for so long that we had our thing, and it became difficult for someone to fit into it. So we pulled a Genesis! The best thing about it is that now all three of us will sing, and that takes the pressure off just one of us.” Levine adds, “Whoever writes, sings. It’s their expression, so they should say what they have to say.”

On Negative Stars, Levine performs “Dedication” and “What Now,” and Victor sings “Exit Wounds,” “Leap,” “Intruder,” and “Ventilation.” The album’s expansive instrumental tracks are “Fire Drill” and Skull Practitioners’ longtime club highlight “Nelson D,” which first appeared on st1 in a live version. You can hear a multitude of influences coming off each other in Skull Practitioners’ music, ranging from The Gun Club to Sonic Youth to Joy Division, Black Flag, and beyond. Each player brings something uniquely his own to the mix.

“Black Flag was huge for me,” says Victor. “There is that element of improv, and of aggression, that I was attracted to in that band. With our band, there’s definitely an aggressive angle there, and absolutely an improvisational one. We’re all willing to give everyone the space for contributing ideas. This band really does function as a democracy, which is nice.” Levine adds, “All of us were into different things, and there’s some kind of overlap and we kind of influence each other, and there’s stuff that we turn each other on to.”

Everything on Negative Stars coheres so seamlessly, but like with so many others, its recording was hampered, and protracted, by the COVID-19 pandemic.“The main album session was a few years ago,” Baker says. “That was when we went into the studio for a couple of days with our friend, engineer Ted Young, and we tracked the bulk of the album there. We recorded the instrumental parts first, then started vocal tracking in January of 2021. It took us so long to decide that all the instruments were done at that point. The vocals were actually done at our practice space. We just set up the mics and did that ourselves.”

Levine adds, “The record was in mid-flight, and then the pandemic hit, so we were just sitting around for six months or a year, and we said, ‘Well, we may never finish this.’ So we wound up literally sitting in a room with masks on during most of the vocal tracking. If we’d waited to go into a real studio, it would have come out even later. Alex did all the engineering on that, and we’re very appreciative of all his engineering prowess.”

With their album finally complete and the pandemic lifting, Skull Practitioners have begun to take to the stage more regularly: they have opened shows for Lydia Lunch, Hammered Hulls, Live Skull, and In the Red label mates the Wolfmanhattan Project (Kid Congo Powers, Mick Collins, and Bob Bert). They plan to get on the road in the near future. 

Says Levine, “I think the band is represented at its best in a live setting. That’s where we’re in our element. Playing live, we’re out for blood.” Victor adds, “With the live thing, we just want to destroy, in the nicest, most friendly way — we’re nice people. Someone said about us, ‘These guys look like a bunch of accountants.’ People don’t really know what to expect before they hear us. I think they’re all a little surprised, maybe, and we like having that element of surprise — ‘We’re gonna blow your minds a little.’”

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Greg Puciato releases his first live album December 20, 2022.

Photo credit: Stephen Odom

Greg Puciato, who has released both his critically-acclaimed debut and sophomore solo albums in the short span of two years, has set a Dec. 20 release date for his inaugural live album, 11/11/22 Los Angeles.

“You don’t get many first shows,” says Puciato of his Nov. 11 outing at Los Angeles’ Don Quixote. “Having the ability to properly document one and get high quality audio and video…I didn’t wanna regret not doing that. It’s gonna be killer to look back at this 100 or even five shows from now and see how much further along the live versions of these songs are. When I hear these recordings, I instantly feel transported to that room, that night, with my bandmates onstage and friends and everyone there in attendance. A lot of love and support and passion and hard work and talent in the room. I hope it does the same for you if you were there, and resonates as strongly for people who weren’t able to attend. I can’t wait to do more of this and see everyone again and more of you in other places down the line.”

A preview of the 11-song collection arrives today with the Jim Louvau and Tony Aguilera directed video for “Deep Set (Live)” (https://youtu.be/6U3IGUQmV1o). Puciato noted: “’Deep Set’ feels good to lead with. One of my favorite memories of the tracking of Child Soldier: Creator of God were the vocals to this song…incidentally recorded at the same time of year as this show. The song was always meant to feel loose and live; the recorded vocal was a front-to-back one-take that we did in a shed in Nick Rowe’s (producer and live guitarist) backyard…so bringing it to life onstage with him, and Chris (Hornbrook) for the first time felt like a nice, symbolic full circle.”

11/11/22 Los Angeles will be available exclusively via Bandcamp, with the album streaming on Dec. 20, and vinyl pre-orders launching the same day. The collection will arrive on additional streaming services following its vinyl release in the Spring.

Joining Puciato for the live performance, and featured in this video, are the aforementioned Nick Rowe (guitar), Chris Hornbrook (drums), James Hammontree (guitar), and Jeff “Manwolf” Geiser (bass).

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Bass Drum of Death announces 2023 North American tour.

Photo: Steve Gullick

Having just completed shows in the UK, Ireland, Europe and North America playing select dates and as main support to The LemonheadsBass Drum Of Death (John and JIm BarrettIan Kirkpatrick) announce a US headline tour beginning February 8thin support of their forthcoming album, Say I Won’t, released January 27th via Fat Possum Records

The band have revealed three tracks/videos from the album so far; the Zeppelin-esque Head Change’the midtempo bruiser ‘Say Your Prayers (a collaboration with Mike Kerr of Royal Blood) and the hi-octane ‘Find It‘ (the video features live footage from the band’s sold out New York show in June of this year). Today, to accompany the tour announcement, they share a blistering live version of ‘Head Change’, to give a taste of what to expect on the road.

Say I Won’t is the first Bass Drum of Death album written, demoed, and recorded with the touring band, instead of bandleader John Barrett doing everything on his own. He found a freedom in working with collaborators that wasn’t available to him before, opening different aspects of the songwriting. It was a process of live recording, layering on different parts and overdubs, and then stripping it all back to the bones of the song, keeping the raw wild heart of the music intact. “My first two records were made entirely by me alone with my gear, my laptop, and a Snowball USB mic,” says Barrett. “They were just made quickly, cheaply, as an excuse to tour. I wanted to take my time with this record. Make something good that I was proud of in itself.”

The band recorded the new record with Patrick Carney of The Black Keys at Audio Eagle Studios in Nashville and the result is a groove-oriented, 1970’s-indebted collection of rock songs, with tempos set for cruising and scuzzy guitars galore. There’s an energy and vitality to the music that feels in line with the best of the Bass Drum songs, but with an added boost that comes from new bandmates and a new perspective.

The albumfinds a reinvigorated Barrett firing at all cylinders, backed by his best band yet. It’s Bass Drum of Death at their loosest and scuzziest and most tuneful, a true rock record in all the right ways. It’s a throwback by way of moving forward, sporting a maturity and swagger that comes from a decade of playing music on the road and surviving to tell about it. More than anything, Say I Won’t is a blast to listen to, music built for driving with your stereo cranked.

2023 dates are below – tickets can be found on the band’s website

Feb 08 New Orleans LA House of Blues Parish 

Feb 09 Houston TX House of Blues Bronze Peacock  

Feb 11 Austin TX Empire Garage & Control Room

Feb 12 Dallas TX House of Blues Cambridge Room 

Feb 14 Tucson AZ 191 Toole 

Feb 15 Phoenix AZ Rebel Lounge 
Feb 16 San Diego CA Casbah 

Feb 17 Las Vegas NV The Usual Place
Feb 18 Los Angeles CA Zebulon 

Feb 19 Santa Ana CA Constellation Room 
Feb 21 Santa Cruz CA Moe’s Alley 
Feb 22 Sacramento CA Goldfield Trading Post

Feb 24 Portland OR Mississippi Studios 

Feb 25 Seattle WA Tractor Tavern 

Feb 26 Spokane WA Lucky You 

Feb 28 Boise ID Neurolux 
Mar 03 Denver CO HQ
Mar 24 Oxford MS Proud Larry’s *

Mar 25 Birmingham AL Saturn *

Mar 26 Asheville NC The Grey Eagle *

Mar 28 Raleigh NC The Pour House *

Mar 29 Washington DC Union Stage *

Mar 30 Philadelphia PA Concourse *
Mar 31 Brooklyn NY Music Hall of Williamsburg *
Apr 01 Jersey City NJ White Eagle Hall *

Apr 03 Boston MA Brighton Music Hall *

Apr 05 Buffalo NY Buffalo Iron Works *

Apr 06 Cleveland OH Beachland Ballroom *
Apr 07 Ferndale MI Magic Bag *

Apr 08 Indianapolis IN HI-Fi *

Apr 10 Grand Rapids MI The Pyramid Scheme *

Apr 14 Chicago IL Riot Fest Presents at Cobra Lounge *

Apr 15 Chicago IL Riot Fest Presents at Cobra Lounge *

Apr 16 Louisville KY Headliners Music Hall *

* w/ Dead Tooth 

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[Thanks to Jo Murray.]

Mosswood Meltdown announces its first 2023 lineup members and early bird ticket pricing.

The epic Mosswood Meltdown is returning July 1st and July 2nd, 2023 to Oakland’s Mosswood Park. Today, the festival announces its first wave of the lineup, which features Le Tigre for their only Bay Area appearance of the year, Gravy Train!!!!The Rondelles, and Tina & the Total Babes for their exclusive, only shows of 2023, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, and more. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Mosswood Meltdown without our iconic and punkeriffic host, John Waters. The lineup thus far can be found below and early bird tickets for the festival (for a holiday special pricing) are on sale this Friday at 9am PST/noon EST.

 
MOSSWOOD MELTDOWN 2023 TEASER
Le Tigre (1st Bay Area gig in 15 years!)
Gravy Train!!!! (Only gig 2022/2023)
Tina & the Total Babes (Only gig 2022/2023)
The Rondelles (Only gig 2022/2023)
Quintron & Miss Pussycat
 
And more to be announced soon!
 
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
 
Ticket Prices (Holiday Special)
GA Weekend Pass – $99
VIP Weekend Pass – $179
(VIP comes w/ VIP seating, swag bag, ins & outs)

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Holy Water shares their first single from upcoming debut album.

Austin band Holy Water share the first single single today from their forthcoming self-titled debut album via Metal Injection. Hear and share “Waterest Him With Tears” HERE. (Direct Bandcamp)

Heavy music is experiencing a renaissance of innovation and creativity, while most of contemporary music genres have stagnated in recent years. 

Case in point: Holy Water, a powerful new step merging heavy doom guitars, stoic experimentalists like Caspar Brötzmann Massaker and Khanate mixed with early 80s proto-industrial sounds like Psychic TV and The Leather Nun, metalgaze melodies and hints of Wovenhand’s gothic folk. Yes, that’s a wide range of styles, but it shows just how deftly Holy Water, the nom-de-tune of vocalist/guitarist Jasper den Hartigh cuts its own sonic space. 

Jasper den Hartigh was previously a member of critically praised New Orleans post-punk band Heat Dust, which released a handful of recordings on The Flenser label and toured with Thou and The Body

Holy Water’s 11-song eponymous album was self-recorded in 2021, at home and at den Hartigh’s Austin rehearsal space. Help on drums came from Andrew Stevens, guitar from Neckbolt’s Ben Krause, and vocals from den Hartigh’s wife, Sarah Contey. 

“The album came after an extensive creativity exercise I did called Compost-Turn,” den Hartigh explains. “In which I put out 7 releases from friends and myself as physical bookmarks. When it came time to work on a self-titled solo project, this helped the songs appear rapidly. This album was my attempt at making a pop-record, while trusting my gut, using lessons learned over the course of my entire musical life. From being in punk bands, to playing slowcore, to ambient noise, and heavy metal. The songs all have references to Dutch fairy tales but also contain more personal writing.” 

Holy Water will be available on cassette and digital on February 3rd, 2023, LP to follow in summer. Cassette preorders via Primal Architecture, digital via Bandcamp and LP via Time Release.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]