Month: June 2025

Cass McCombs calls for “Peace” on his new single from his new album due August 15, 2025.

Photo Credit – Silvia Grav

Cass McCombs announces his new album, Interior Live Oak, out August 15th via Domino, and releases a new single/video, “Peace.” Interior Live Oak is Cass’s most personal album to date, and, more than any previous record, shows Cass’ vast range as a lyricist and musician. It draws from everything Cass has created over two decades of experimentation to cut through with a direct and clarifying light. Throughout, his attitude is hopeful, which may sound odd for someone who often sings about the more extreme aspects of modern life. Interior Live Oak, however, is the resolve of someone who has lived those extremes. 

In creating Interior Live Oak, McCombs was inspired by the return to Domino and the revisitation of his early material in last year’s reissue campaign and the archival release, Seed Cake on Leap Year. This led him to work with some of his earliest collaborators in the Bay Area, including Jason Quever (Papercuts) and Chris Cohen, among others. Additional recording in New York City brought contributions from other perennial collaborators, including Matt Sweeney and Mike Bones, whose guitar work has always been a favorable complement to Cass’ own distinctive style. Interior Live Oak simultaneously expands upon his vision and is a return to a more economical form.
 
Following Interior Live Oak’s “Priestess,” released earlier this year alongside a Tiny Desk Concert, today’s single, “Peace,” is a straightforward rocker with serpentine riffs. “Peace is what we say when we say goodbye,” Cass sings, bidding a melancholy farewell. 

Watch the Video for “Peace”

In a time of temporal anxieties, Cass’ music seeks an alternate route to break through the noise and discover a moment of presence— of beauty. As NPR Music puts it, his songs “are slow, languid and beautiful, which feels like the right counterbalance to our fast-paced times.” 

Coinciding with the release of Interior Live Oak, Cass will tour Europe with a mix of headline, festival, and support dates with Father John Misty. He’ll then return to the US for two headline dates in California and a show with MJ Lenderman. All dates are below, and tickets for the UK and California headline shows will be available on Wednesday, June 18th here. 

Pre-order Interior Live Oak

Watch the Lyrics Video for “Priestess”

Watch Cass McCombs’ Tiny Desk Concert

Cass McCombs Tour Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Wed. Aug. 13 – Porto, PT @ Paredes de Coura ^
Sat. Aug. 17 – Crickhowell, UK @ Green Man Festival ^
Tue. Aug. 19 – Bristol, UK @Lantern Hall ^
Wed. Aug. 20 – London, UK @Bush Hall ^
Thu. Aug. 21 – Manchester, UK @ YES ^
Sat. Aug. 23 – Galway, IE @ Leisureland * % 
Sun. Aug. 24 – Dublin, IE @ Wider Than Pictures Festival * % 
Mon. Aug. 25 – Belfast, IE @ Ulster Hall * % 
Tue. Aug. 26 – Cork, IE @ City Hall * % 
Thu. Aug. 28 – Glasgow, SCT @ Barrowland * % 
Fri. Aug. 29 – Glasgow, SCT @ Barrowland * % 
Wed. Sept. 10 – San Diego, CA @The Casbah ^
Thu. Sept. 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Expo Hall & ^
Fri. Sept. 12 – Riverside, CA @Farmhouse ^

* with Father John Misty
& with MJ Lenderman, Nap Eyes
% Solo
^ Full Band Performance

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Durand Jones and The Indications – Flowers

For their newest album, Flowers, Durand Jones and The Indications went back to the days of recording to simple equipment while they were all college students at Indiana University, only this time it was just the three of them (Aaron Frazer – drums and vocals, Durand Jones – vocals, and Blake Rhein – guitar) recording in their guitarist’s Chicago studio crafted after multiple successful albums and world tours. The result is an album that lets them get their flowers, as the kids say, and enjoy and build upon their successes both as a band and with their own solo projects.

The lush, brief, titular intro track lets you know this is going to be a lovely time, and sure enough, the beats and bass (courtesy of Michael Montgomery) prove this on “Paradise” — in which Frazer sings about how he must be mad to keep pursuing an unresponsive lover, but he can’t help it. Jones has convinced his lover, at least, because “Lover’s Paradise” has them doing everything from traveling to Paris to catching a matinee.

Frazer and Jones both claim “I Need the Answer” to strife, war, and divisions on the next track. “Why’s it so hard to find the humanity when every man is more than just what you see?” Frazer asks, and Jones as “What will we leave for futures to see who we are?” We all want these answers. We need them. “Flower Moon” is so groovy that it practically warms up the bed for you.

We’re back to some heartbreak on “Really Wanna Be with You,” in which Jones sings about wishing he could be with someone who might’ve been the one, but the ship has sailed. “Been So Long” is about going back to your old stomping grounds and getting the scoop on everyone still there. “Everything” is about how a lover’s attention is all one needs. It’ll be on all of your bedroom mixes this year.

On “Rust and Steel,” Jones compares a crumbling relationship to a car that’s slowly breaking down, and then Frazer claims “A fancy car won’t get you far when you’re on your own” at the beginning of “If Not For Love,” which features a sharp saxophone solo from Mae Sun. The final track, “Without You,” is a plea for a lover to return after Jones realizes, too late, that he’s lost her thanks to his bad behavior.

Flowers is another solid album from DJI. They’ve yet to miss. Give them and this album all the flowers.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Just Mustard release new single, “Pollyanna,” and new tour dates.

Photo credit – Kate Lawlor

Ireland’s Just Mustard return with a new single/video, “POLLYANNA,” via Partisan, and announce an intimate New York show on Tuesday, September 9th at National Sawdust. Following the release of their “thrillingly untraditional” (NME) 2022 breakout, Heart Under, “POLLYANNA” is a luminous and lurching first tease of their highly anticipated third album due later this year. Anchored by the group’s signature sonic disorientation but newly embracing directness and melody, “POLLYANNA” sets the tone for a new era of Just Mustard, one that finds beauty in contradiction, pairing the raw power of noise-rock with a conflicted optimism that’s as disarming as it is cathartic. With warped guitars, submerged beats, and front woman Katie Ball’s dreamlike vocals pushed higher in the mix than ever before, it captures the band at a turning point: reaching for euphoria while wrestling with its emotional cost.

Ball, who directed the video herself, comments: “We shot the video using different CCTV and VHS cameras around our hometown Dundalk trying to have as much fun as possible, the kind of fun that makes you feel sick almost instantly, which suits the themes of the song.”

Watch the Video for “POLLYANNA”

Just Mustard is Katie Ball, David Noonan, Mete Kalyon, Rob Clarke, and Shane Maguire. Heart Under earned Just Mustard widespread acclaim, with the band racking up rave reviews from NME, The Telegraph, Pitchfork, DIY, The Independent, and plenty more. Their music has been championed by BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, KEXP, as well as The Cure, Depeche Mode and Fontaines D.C., all of whom they’ve supported on tour.

Following a string of festival dates, including Seisiún Festival in Boston, the band will return to New York City and then head to the UK/EU for select underplays in London, Paris and Berlin. A full list of dates is below.

Just Mustard Tour Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Sat. Aug. 16 – Brecon Beacons, UK @ Green Man Festival
Sat. Aug. 30 – Stradbally, IE @ Electric Picnic
Sat. Sept. 6 – Sun. Sept. 7 – Boston, MA @ Seisiún Festival
Tue. Sept. 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ National Sawdust
Fri. Sept. 19 – Hamburg, DE @ Reeperbahn Festival
Mon. Sept. 22 – Berlin, DE @ Privatclub
Wed. Sept. 24 – Paris, FR @ Point Empemere
Thu. Sept. 25 – London, UK @ Hoxton Hall

Keep your mind open.

[Why not subscribe while you’re here?]

[Thanks to Jaycee and Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR!]

WSND DJ set list: Manic Monday – June 23, 2025

Thanks to all who listened to my latest all-1980s show, “Manic Monday,” on WSND. Here’s the set list:

  1. Missing Persons – Words (1982) (requested)
  2. A Flock of Seagulls – Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You) (1983) (requested)
  3. Falco – Rock Me Amadeus (12″ Salieri version) (1985)
  4. Duran Duran – Union of the Snake (1983)
  5. Elton John – Paris (1986) (requested)
  6. The Go-Gos – Fading Fast (1981)
  7. Belinda Carlisle – Mad About You (1986)
  8. Men without Hats – Safety Dance (1982) (requested)
  9. Toto – I’ll Be Over You (1986) (requested)
  10. Electric Light Orchestra – All Over the World (1980)
  11. The Human League – The Things that Dreams Are Made Of (1981)
  12. Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’ (1981)
  13. Phil Collins – Against All Odds (1984)
  14. Claudio Simonetti – Demon (1985)
  15. The Gap Band – Big Fun (1986)
  16. Rick James – Give It to Me Baby (12″ version) (1981)
  17. Patti Labelle – New Attitude (1984)
  18. Animotion – Obsession (extended version) (1984)
  19. New Edition – Lost in Love (1984)
  20. Shannon – Do You Wanna Get Away (1985)
  21. Don Henley – All She Wants to Do Is Dance (1984)
  22. Bruce Springsteen – I’m on Fire (live) (1985)
  23. Boy Meets Girl – Oh Boy (1985)
  24. Atlantic Starr – Freak-a-Ristic (1985)
  25. Luther Vandross – ‘Til My Baby Comes Home (1985)
  26. Alison Moyet – Invisible (1984)
  27. Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Relax (12″ mix) (1984)
  28. Blue Öyster Cult – Shadow Warrior (1985) (requested)
  29. George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Who Do You Love? (live) (1980) (requested)
  30. The Rolling Stones – Emotional Rescue (1980)
  31. Rod Stewart – Love Touch (1986)
  32. Jesus and Mary Chain – Taste of Cindy (1985)
  33. The Psychedelic Furs – Wedding Song (1980)
  34. Alastair Riddell – Zero (1982)
  35. The Cure – Catch (1987)
  36. Fleetwood Mac – Hold Me (1982)

Manic Monday returns July 07th!

Keep your mind open.

Rewind Review: Pixel Grip – Arena (2021)

Just as we were starting to come out of the pandemic, Chicago’s Pixel Grip emerged from the weird state we were all in and gave us Arena – a wild record of dark wave, cold wave, techno, industrial grind, noise rock, and music designed to get us back into the groove of partying and screwing.

I mean, the album opens with throbbing bass and a song called “ALPHAPUSSY.” It’s a hot industrial track that grabs you by the throat (and crotch) and doesn’t let go for over three minutes. It picks up where Lords of Acid‘s “Pussy” left off. “Club Mania” thumps and bumps to keep the dance floor jumping. “Snap your neck, just to watch me walk up in the place,” says singer Rita Lukea – taking command of the club and your eardrums. “Take a break like a Kit-Kat candy bar,” she advises. You should probably take her up on it.

“Ruby” slides into sultry and spooky sounds, setting up perhaps a sexy liaison or a deadly encounter – your choice. The rolling synths (courtesy of Jonathan Freund and Tyler Ommen) of “Pursuit” sound great, and “Play Noble” is a neat switch for the band – briefly dabbling with electro-pop that mixes with dark synths in a cool combination as Lukea suggests, “Let’s stay up ’til the morning. This is your moment.” I hope you’re hydrated, not only for that invitation, but also for the following track, “Demon Chaser” (with guest vocals from MONĀE), which is nothing short of a hot, pulsing make-out track.

Just go ahead and put “Dancing on Your Grave” on both your Halloween and bedroom playlists. You’ll thank me and Pixel Grip later. The growling sound of it is like a panther circling you in the parking lot of a strip club while a murder of crows watches from the roof.

“Alibi” is brighter than most of the album’s tracks, and is a nice change because it shows off Lukea’s voice and how she can easily switch to lovely electro pop vocal stylings with seemingly no effort. They almost go full-synthwave on the closing track, “Double Vision,” which is another good showcase for Lukea’s voice and gives Freund and Ommen a great chance to show their love of Giorgio Moroder.

This whole record is dynamite. Get into this arena as soon as you can. You’ll like it there.

Keep your mind open.

[I’m still pursuing your subscription. Why not subscribe today?]

WSND DJ set list: Manic Monday – June 16, 2025

Thanks to everyone who listened and chimed in with requests for my latest all-80s music Manic Monday show on WSND. Here’s the set list:

  1. David Bowie – Blue Jean (1984)
  2. The Smithereens – Beauty and Sadness (1983)
  3. Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time (1984)
  4. Kajagoogoo – Too Shy (Midnight mix) (1982)
  5. Hall & Oates – Out of Touch (1984) (requested)
  6. The Cars – Drive (1984) (requested)
  7. Bruce Springsteen – I’m on Fire (1984)
  8. Toto – Rosanna (1982)
  9. Michael Jackson – Human Nature (1982)
  10. Chicago – Waiting for You to Decide (1982)
  11. The Tubes – Talk to Ya Later (1981)
  12. Madonna – Crazy for You (1985)
  13. Christine McVie – Got a Hold on Me (1984) (requested)
  14. Stevie Nicks – Bella Donna (1981)
  15. Animotion – Obsession (1984)
  16. Bauhaus – Telegram Sam (1980)
  17. Duran Duran – New Moon on Monday (extended version) (1983)
  18. Christopher Cross – A Chance for Heaven (1984)
  19. Shannon – Give Me Tonight (1984)
  20. Laid Back – White Horse (1983)
  21. Red Rider – Young Thing, Wild Dreams (1984)
  22. Queen – I Want to Break Free (1984)
  23. Timmy Thomas – Gotta Give a Little Love (1984)
  24. Kim Carnes – I Pretend (1983)
  25. Tracy Ullman – They Don’t Know About Us (1983)
  26. Cameo – She’s Strange (1984)
  27. Culture Club – Miss Me Blind (1983)
  28. Queen – A Kind of Magic (live) (1986) (requested)
  29. René & Angela – I’ll Be Good (12″ mix) (1985)
  30. Echo & The Bunnymen (1984) (requested)
  31. Xmal Deutschland – Großsstadindianer (1981)
  32. Little Toni Marsh – Video Burnout (1983)
  33. The D.O.C. – It’s Funky Enough (1989)
  34. The Smiths – There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (1986)
  35. Killing Joke – Eighties (1984)
  36. The Alarm – The Stand (1981)
  37. Circle Jerks – Operation (1980)
  38. Red Alert – In Britain (1982)
  39. Oingo Boingo (1987)
  40. Missing Persons – Words (1982) (requested)

I’m back on June 23rd for another three hours of 1980s music. Don’t miss it!

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

Rewind Review: Mdou Moctar – Funeral for Justice (2024)

Mdou Moctar‘s most recent album, Funeral for Justice, was recorded after two years of touring with his band, hearing music from all over the world, and seeing injustices across the world. This all lit a fire under the band, resulting in a record that’s a mixture of Tuareg rock, psychedelia, and punk rage.

The opening title track wastes no time, bringing in Thin Lizzy-heavy riffs and then snappy, sizzling drums. “Imouhar” crushes on all levels. Moctar’s guitar burns hotter than the fires on the album’s cover, and his three-piece band is so locked in that even the Incredible Hulk couldn’t shake them loose. “Takoba” is excellent Tuareg desert-psych with percussion made for long walks across hot dunes.

Speaking of hot things, the opening guitar on “Sousoume Tamacheq” is like a flare going off to signal danger ahead. “Imajighen” pumps the brakes a bit, but still keeps you rolling at a smooth pace as a warm breeze moves over you. The vocals on “Tchinta,” particularly on the chorus, seem like praise, but might be cries of injustice (considering the theme of the album). Moctar’s closing solo on it is stunning.

“Oh France” has some of the wildest drumming on the record. It sounds like it’s being played by two people in a giant cavern with a secret temple in it. The album ends with the mind-altering “Modern Slaves,” a song about how slavery, somehow, still exists in this world and how many of us willingly become slaves to multiple masters.

Funeral for Justice feels like Moctar’s fiercest album to date. Use with caution. It might set your house on fire.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

WSND DJ set list: Deep Dive of Waylon Jennings

Thanks to everyone who tuned in for my Deep Dive of Waylon Jennings on WSND. Here’s the set list:

  1. Waylon Jennings – The Dukes of Hazzard theme (Good Ol’ Boys)
  2. Bob Wills & His Texas Cowboys – Ida Red (live)
  3. Floyd Tillman – I Love You So Much It Hurts
  4. Ernest Tubb – Thanks a Lot
  5. Hank Williams – Lost Highway
  6. Carl Smith – If Teardrops Were Pennies
  7. Dean Martin – Ain’t That a Kick in the Head
  8. Elvis Presley – Can’t Help Falling in Love with You
  9. Carl Smith – Hey Joe
  10. Waylon Jennings, Buddy Holly, & King Curtis – Jole Blon (live)
  11. Buddy Holly – You’re the One
  12. Waylon Jennings – The Stage (Stars in Heaven)
  13. Waylon Jennings – Take Me Home (live) (requested)
  14. Waylon Jennings – Another Blue Day
  15. Don Bowman – The World’s Worst Guitar Picker
  16. Herb Alpert – Spanish Flea
  17. Waylon Jennings – Love Denied
  18. Waylon Jennings – Just to Satisfy You
  19. Patsy Montana – Cowboy’s Sweetheart
  20. Bobby Bare – Detroit City
  21. Chet Atkins and Dolly Parton – Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?
  22. Waylon Jennings – That’s the Chance I’ll Have to Take
  23. Waylon Jennings – Anita, You’re Dreaming
  24. Gordon Lightfoot – For Lovin’ Me
  25. Waylon Jennings – Norwegian Wood
  26. Waylon Jennings – Only Daddy That Will Walk the Line (live)
  27. Waylon Jennings and The Kimberlys – MacArthur Park
  28. Johnny Cash – Big River (live)
  29. Waylon Jennings – Ladies Love Outlaws
  30. Waylon Jennings – Gone to Denver
  31. Waylon Jennings – You Ask Me To
  32. Waylon Jennings – This Time (live)
  33. Waylon Jennings – Bob Wills Is Still the King (live)
  34. Waylon Jennings – Can’t You See
  35. Jessi Colter – I’m Looking for Blue Eyes
  36. Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson – Luckenbach, Texas (live)
  37. Waylon Jennings – Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out of Hand?
  38. Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson – Don’t Cuss the Fiddle
  39. Waylon Jennings – Working without a Net
  40. Waylon Jennings – Wrong
  41. Waylon Jennings and The Sesame Street Cast – There Ain’t No Road Too Long
  42. Waylon Jennings – Cowboy Movies
  43. Waylon Jennings – Wastin’ Time
  44. The Old Dogs – Rough on the Livin’
  45. Waylon Jennings – Waymores Blues / Shine (live)
  46. Waylon Jennings – Trouble Man (live)

Come back on June 22nd for a Deep Dive of Sly Stone!

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

Pearly Drops release “Ratgirl” from their upcoming third album.

Credit: Maria Kulina & Juuso Malin

Pearly Drops found their footing in an eclectic corner of the Finnish underground, going on to become rising stars in the global indie-electronic circuit. The forward-thinking duo of Sandra Tervonen and Juuso Malin has worked with artists including Nourished By Time and Vitesse X, in addition to receiving a Teosto Prize. Today, Pearly Drops announce their upcoming full-length The Voices Are Coming Back, which is out August 29, 2025 on Music Website. The album was conceived in Los Angeles through 2023-2024, draws inspiration from time spent during their travels in the “land of opportunity” and serves as a work of autofiction, a surreal, emotionally charged descent through an imagined Los Angeles, filtered through dream logic and internal chaos. Pearly Drops has also shared the single “Ratgirl,” which fully conveys the album’s shape-shifting surrealism. Lyrics about crawling through the walls as a rat tap into Lynchian mysticism, while grappling with themes of the Hollywood fantasy and surreal disillusionment. Supported by a propulsive, electro clash instrumental, “Ratgirl” embodies the sun-soaked weirdness at the heard of The Voices Are Coming Back.

On the track, Pearly Drops share: “‘Ratgirl,’ like the previous single ‘Mermaid,’ drifts further down Talmadge Street, now submerged in a feverish and uncanny night. With a full-on fantasy imagery and certain abruptness — ‘Ratgirl’ is like the weirdest scene in a David Lynch movie. Within this hallucination, becoming a rat crawling through the walls of a luxury Airbnb in Silver Lake feels less like a metaphor and more like a calling. 

“In the realm of the real world, ‘Ratgirl’ may be our first work that leans more towards Dance music, fragmentarily attempting to recall the New Rave and Electroclash of the early millennium. As always, Pearly Drops’ Indie Disco most likely feels more tailor-made for the record bag of an imaginary DJ. Think of a foggy, empty and dirty club with a strobe light tearing through the dark—kind of eerie, kind of intense. That’s the feeling we wanted to bring into the music video.“

Keep your mind open.

[Drop your e-mail address into the subscription box.]

[Thanks to Andi at Terrorbird Media.]

Review: Paddang – Lost in Lizardland

Imagine you’re in a bleak future where you’re unsure of the loyalties of those around you, as they might be allied with beings intent on your surrender and supplication. Wait…are we already in this place?

Toulouse, France’s Paddang certainly thinks so, as their new album, Lost in Lizardland, is a cautionary tale of sinister forces out to enslave and / or destroy us. The three-man band of Thomas Boquel (guitar and vocals), Rémi Fournier (drums and vocals), and Guirec Petton (bass, synths, and vocals) unleash a wild mix of cosmic rock, psychedelia, and punk chaos to warn us of not just things to come, but also things happening in real time.

“The End of Hanoumane” (an altering of “The End of Humanity?”) is an interesting start, because the “end song” is a setup for an epic journey ahead of us. “Pressure” reminds you of Osees grooves mixed with King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard trippy tracks. Heck, “Draconite” even mentions an “altered beast” as the world of our story begins to unravel and reptilian beasts emerge. The slight Middle Eastern touches on Boquel’s guitar are sharp.

“Predator” has the beasts chasing after all of us…or maybe not. “Are they monsters, or are they true? Are they like me, are they like you? Shall we resist or surrender? Brothers, I wish we never become predator(s).” “Lizardland” is about waking up in a world that sort of looks like yours, but you feel something isn’t quite right or know everything is wrong. The breakdown for the outro is great.

“Moros Journey” is the tale of the album’s heroine, Moros, as she tries to navigate the crazy Lizardland world, avoid beasts, and figure just what the hell is happening…and if the golden city she saw in a dream is a real safe haven or a fantasy. It’s a fun, fast track that stomps the gas pedal for the rest of the album. “The Astral Flood” is the album’s heaviest psychedelic track, with lyrics about floating into another plane of existence and the album ends with “Agartha” – a song about finding “energies I can’t ignore, something hidden at the core” (of humanity? Of ourselves? Of the universe? It’s probably all three.). It has plenty of fuzz and fast beats, but there’s a fun pop-rock groove to it you can’t deny.

It’s a wild record, and, I suspect, one that needs to be heard live whenever possible. Get lost in this. You’ll come out of it a bit different.

Gardez l’esprit ouvert.

[Don’t forget to subscribe!]

[Merci à Angie à NRV!]