VIA PRESS RELEASE | Girlschool never did things the easy way.

In August 1981, little more than two years after the all-female south London metal band launched itself onto the UK club scene, they were firmly established among the very few New Wave of British Heavy Metal acts either capable of, or deserving to, top the first night bill the annual Reading Festival—the first female rock band ever to headline the festival and, all these years later, still the only one.

They were fabulous, as well; indeed, by the end of the festival, filing out drunk on 26 bands’ worth of music, more than a few voices reckoned that Girlschool should have headlined the entire event. No-one could better have wrapped things up late on Sunday night.

But first, the band’s hired car—a pink Caddy said to have belonged to actress Jayne Mansfield—was involved in a fender bender and arrived at the venue “broken and rattling.” Then, one of the roadies restrung lead guitarist Kelly Johnson’s guitar with two D strings; and, finally, the band’s flashing neon backdrop was sabotaged by one of the other bands on the bill.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Recordings and HighTone Records proudly announce a new deluxe reissue of Blackjack David, the esteemed 1998 album from GRAMMY®-winning Americana icon Dave Alvin. Featuring highlights such as “Abilene,” “Evening Blues,” “California Snow,” and “Blackjack David,” the album will be available on October 16 on 2-LP, CD, and digital (including hi-res) and is available for pre-order/pre-save.

This special reissue also includes two bonus tracks: “Dixie Highway Blues,” which was written for the album but originally released on 2008’s The Best of the HighTone Years, and the previously unreleased “Angel On Your Shoulder,” recorded during the same sessions, with finishing touches added recently by Alvin and his longtime producer, Greg Leisz. Alvin says of the track, “[It] got away and it shouldn’t have, so it’s great to have it be part of the canon now.” Physical formats also feature new liner notes by music journalist and No Depression co-founder, Peter Blackstock.

GRAMMY-winning singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer Dave Alvin (b. 1955) has long been counted among the pioneers of Americana music. A Southern California native, Alvin began his career in 1979 as a founding member of The Blasters, alongside his brother Phil. Their unique blend of punk, rockabilly, and classic American music soon made them a fixture in the early Los Angeles punk scene. By the middle of the decade—after stints with X and The Knitters—Alvin was eager to embark on a solo career, launching with his 1987 debut, Romeo’s Escape.

By the mid-’90s, Alvin was finding his groove in stripped-down settings—a departure from the high-voltage, electric stylings of his earlier work. 1998’s Blackjack David marked the pinnacle of this era, with primarily acoustic arrangements that let his storytelling and emotive vocals take center stage.

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Remembering Tim Bogert, born on this day in 1944. —Ed.

To soak up Vanilla Fudge’s talent as song interpreters, the best route is their eponymous ’67 debut. A further understanding of them as a singles act is best gleaned from the Rhino compilation Psychedelic Sundae. If an immersion into the multifaceted positives and negatives of these trailblazing late-‘60s hard rockers’ everyday reality is what one wants, however, then one should look into the contents of Near the Beginning.

There’s no question that Vanilla Fudge is an important band. “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” the group’s reading of a Holland-Dozier-Holland tune originally by The Supremes, is a vital evolutionary brick in the hard rock megastructure, and it stands as a one-song distillation of nearly everything good and potentially less than stellar about this hard-touring quartet.

There are two versions of the Fudge’s recording, a just shy of three-minute single edit and the take found on their debut; that one’s over twice as long, and this duality is to an extent indicative of the group’s creative problems. It’s far from that simple, though, and their somewhat brief and highly eventful initial existence provides a consistently interesting story, if one that’s only sporadically fruitful in musical terms.

Vanilla Fudge’s beginnings are in The Electric Pigeons, the soul cover unit featuring organist/lead vocalist Mark Stein and bassist Tim Bogert. They soon acquired guitarist Vince Martell and drummer Carmine Appice, and after hooking up with Shangri La’s producer, Shadow Morton, they changed their name and focused their attention on the studio.

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Songs written inside a prison cell. A producer chased down by hopping a fence, climbing a tree, and waiting outside a trailer with cash in hand. Collaborations that happened because the right people walked through the door at the right moment. There is nothing tidy about the way Not Free Money, the new album from Dale and the ZDubs, came into existence—and that is exactly what makes it worth your time.

The record itself is another matter. Produced by DENM and Surfer Girl, Not Free Money is deliberate, layered, and thoroughly modern, stretching well past the boundaries of reggae rock into pop, hip-hop, and punk. Underneath all of that production is something considerably more raw. Much of the material traces back to the three years Dale Rodman spent incarcerated, where he never stopped writing.

I’ve known Dale for about five years, and in that time, I’ve watched a tremendous amount of growth, personally and musically. The artist I first met was already driven, but the songwriter I spoke with for this interview has clearly been shaped by everything that’s happened since. He talked with The Vinyl District about writing behind bars, chasing down his producers, the record’s long list of features, and how a prison nickname became one of its most personal songs.

For people who may just be discovering Dale and the ZDubs for the first time, how would you describe who you are as a band and what you bring to the reggae-rock scene?

What makes us stand out is the amount of range we have. We’re a multi-genre band—rock-reggae-based, but we can get pretty poppy and downtempo, and we can also get heavy and hard-rocking. We focus on songwriting, and I think our lyrics stand out compared to other bands in the scene. In the reggae-rock scene, there’s a lot of predictable, linear songwriting. I think we sing about more than just smoking weed, sunshine, and girls.

You’ve been doing this for a while now. When you look back at your early days compared to where you are now, what do you think has changed the most, both musically and personally?

First, I want to say that we still feel—and know—that we’re a small band. But the sound evolves and the relationships within your band evolve. What’s changed is the caliber of the songwriting and the playing. We were pretty bad when we started. I was a mediocre-to-bad singer, and I was a pretty dismal songwriter too. But it’s been thousands of hours over 15 years, and a lot of those hours went into the craft—singing and songwriting—when I was incarcerated. There’s still a long way to go, but it comes down to putting those hours in.

Let’s get into the new album, Not Free Money. What does the title mean to you, and why did it feel like the right title for this particular record?

A lot of the songs were written in prison. “Not free money” is something we would say, kind of a colloquialism. Anytime it seemed like you were cutting a corner or beating the system, you’d say, “Not free money.” We released a record in 2024 called Off the Rip, and a handful of those were written in prison. But I had more, and I really wanted to get DENM to produce them. He’s one of my favorite producers and one of my favorite artists. I think he’s bending the boundaries of what it means to be an American reggae artist.

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Those who are diligently on the lookout for a bountiful heap of beautifully bent sounds should saunter, swagger, or sashay (your preference) right up to the latest offering from White Gourd, the wild and woozy project of Mainer Suzanne Belle Stone, she of Million Brazilians and a major thread in the weave of the Psychic Sounds Collective.

(To Walk in) Justice (Calls for) Strength is the new White Gourd album, and it’s loaded with saxophone wiggles, hearty vocal ululations, hovering soundscapes, thumps, squeals, steamy hisses, and a striking swinging back and forth between coming together and falling apart. The limited vinyl is out now through Feeding Tube Records.

Belfast, Maine, is known as the subject of a film by the late and very great documentarian Frederick Wiseman. It’s also where herbalist, teacher, and musician Suzanne Belle Stone resides. A native of Maine, she departed west for a while to live in Portland, Oregon, a storied enclave if ever one was, and where White Gourd and Million Brazilians both put down roots. But, as humans often do, Stone eventually migrated back home.

Recordings of Stone’s work as White Gourd span back to 2009, beginning with the cassette Unprotected Sax for the Karamazov Tapes label. Million Brazilians, an outfit often described as avant-jazz (but with a whole lot of sweet snaky groove-thing in their high-stepping), predates White Gourd by a few years.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Third Man Records is proud to announce the definitive anthology from groundbreaking power pop pioneers The Nerves. Released in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Los Angeles-based trio’s self-titled 1976 EP and only official release of their all-too-brief lifespan, The Nerves–Best Collection gathers 66 glorious minutes of studio, live, and demo recordings, compiled in close association with surviving members Paul Collins and Peter Case along with the late Jack Lee’s daughter Cynthia.

Unlike previous anthologies that often relied on secondary copies or rips from vinyl and CDs, Third Man located The Nerves’ original source recordings, now newly mastered or remastered by Warren Defever at Third Man Mastering in Detroit, especially for this release. As a result, The Nerves–Best Collection features the definitive versions of these tracks as they were originally intended, many of which have not been heard since the day they were recorded.

Highlights include Case’s chiming classic “When You Find Out”—later reimagined by Case with The Plimsouls and covered by such artists as Graham Coxon and Peter Bjorn and John—premiering today at all DSPs and streaming services alongside an official music video featuring rare archival footage streaming now on YouTube.

The Nerves–Best Collection arrives digitally via TMR and on CD and limited-edition 2xLP colored vinyl, both with exclusive new liner notes by Peter Case, on Friday, October 23. Pre-orders/pre-saves are available now.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | It’s a rare thing for an artist to dedicate an entire record to his wife. Love Songs for Leah dropped August 15, the anniversary of Neil and Leah’s first date, a week-long extravaganza that somehow included a wedding, a funeral, and a road trip in a Mustang convertible to Atlantic City to catch a Bob Dylan concert.

The album that followed is just as unpredictable. This is no greeting-card collection, it’s the intimate longing to know and be known fully by your partner, set to country rock, folk rock, power pop, Americana, and alt-country. The mix tape of a marriage, featuring songs of domestic bliss, sorry-the-fight-was-my-fault songs, and wooing songs. “When You Love Somebody” rides a Traveling Wilburys-worthy chorus and drops a sly nod to Stephen Stills’ “Love the One You’re With” along the way. It was a finalist for Song of the Year as voted by Lenny Kravitz, Dave Grohl,, and Steven Tyler.

There’s a high-energy arena-sized cover of The Pogues’ “Love You Til the End.” And the whole thing closes with a tender take on Andrew Gold’s “Thank You for Being a Friend,” the song Leah sang to Neil in her vows at their Central Park wedding.

“This record has breakup songs, barstool confessions, and a Golden Girls cover. I wrote it for Leah, but my hope is that anyone who’s ever been in love, or blown it, hears their story too.” Love Songs for Leah is the whole messy, magnificent story, not just the honeymoon, but the jokes, the arguments, the make-ups, and the decision, every single day, to choose each other all over again.

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Seu Jorge’s celebrated musical career transcends the borders of his home country, Brazil. Yet, oddly enough, more people might know him better from his film career.

Jorge has appeared in more than 20 films since 2002, including the critically acclaimed City of God. He is even better known for his role in the 2004 Wes Anderson film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. He also appeared as a cowboy in another Anderson film, the more recently released Asteroid City from 2023.

Along with his considerable musical contribution in 2005 to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, covering in acoustic Brazilian fashion and singing in Portuguese, songs written by David Bowie, as the character Pelé dos Santos, he has released six other studio albums since 2003, and after an eleven-year wait, has recently released what has to be considered his best and maybe even most accessible album to date.

Jorge is quite a talent, and his fans have been hoping for a new album for some time, but it’s hard to believe anyone thought he would make an album this extraordinary. Jorge has always been able to add a certain contemporary edge to his primarily Brazilian roots sound, and that is part of the secret to his success and crossover appeal.

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I recently spoke with Linda Perry, frontwoman of 4 Non Blondes and one of the most prolific songwriters and producers of the past three decades.

After “What’s Up?” became an era-defining hit in 1993, Linda stepped behind the boards and wrote and produced some of the biggest songs in pop music: Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful,” Pink’s “Get the Party Started,” Alicia Keys’ “Superwoman,” plus work with Dolly Parton, Adele, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Ariana Grande, Joan Jett, and Courtney Love. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015, and made history in 2019 as the first solo woman nominated in the Grammy’s Producer of the Year category in fifteen years.

Now, Linda is stepping back to the front. Her first solo album in over 25 years, Let It Die Here, was released May 8, 2026 via Kill Rock Stars/670 Records. The 17-track record is a raw, cinematic reckoning with grief, family, and survival, written and recorded alongside the making of her new documentary of the same name.

Linda Perry: Let It Die Here, directed by Don Hardy, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is rolling out theatrically through Mercury Studios and Evan Saxon Productions: New York was on May 8, Los Angeles today, May 13, with screenings continuing through May and June in San Francisco, Palm Springs, San Diego, Denver, and London, with many featuring live Q&As and acoustic performances from Linda.

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Across two EPs, Londoner Elanor Moss established herself as a solid tunesmith with a strong voice that allowed her to put those songs across. Her debut full-length, freshly out via Merge Records, delivers a considerable jump in quality with a vivid dive into a folk zone that’s classically Brit, and in a manner that’s utterly unaffected. Moss brings it naturally. The Knife, The Needle is out now on vinyl (clear purple wave), compact disc, and digital.

In 2022, Elanor Moss released her first EP, “Citrus,” a 5-song effort that’s still available on 10-inch vinyl. It’s a gentle, thoroughly likable affair that fits into the indie-folk scheme, but with a few production touches (e.g., low-key electronic atmospheres and accents) that place the set pretty firmly in the 21st century. Also, a few of the songs travel to the border of singer-songwriter territory, and that’s alright.

In 2023, Moss followed up “Citrus” with a 4-song effort, “Cosmic,” which is still available on 10-inch vinyl, as well. The tracks broaden her sonic palette as the indie-folk focus is maintained. Horns have a more prominent role, and drums enter the frame for the first time. “Catholic” is an outright melodic rocker that throws back (at least) to the ’90s. It would’ve blown them away at the Lilith Fair and likely grabbed some slots in mainstream radio rotation.

As Moss has intensified the emotional weight of her songs, an increase that’s partly lyrical but also (and essential to The Knife, The Needle’s success) expressed through a blossoming vocal expressiveness that’s sweet and tender but with subtle heft, she has additionally tightened the stylistic iris onto a warmly appealing and note-perfect (yet gloriously not overworked) rendering of gal-voiced Brit folk.

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NOBLESVILLE, IN | If you were anywhere near Ruoff Music Center when TLC and Salt-N-Pepa brought their co-headlining tour to Noblesville with En Vogue, you may have temporarily been transported back to the ‘90s.

The crowd really leaned into it. Bright colors, overalls, bucket hats, and enough ‘90s fashion to remind you that not everything from that decade needed to come back. En Vogue kicked things off and sounded fantastic, and then Salt-N-Pepa and TLC basically spent the rest of the night reminding us just how many songs we still know every single word to.

TLC especially brought back a funny memory for me. Years ago, my cousin and I got stuck at a complete standstill in construction traffic for over an hour. This was back when cars had CD players, and your choices were whatever CDs you brought or the radio. We were blasting TLC so loudly that the people in the car next to us rolled down their window and asked if we’d keep playing it so they could listen too. So naturally, we provided free roadside entertainment until traffic started moving again.

And that’s really what this whole night felt like, one giant shared memory. TLC and Salt-N-Pepa were a perfect co-headlining combination, En Vogue was the icing on the very ‘90s cake, and the crowd was there for all of it.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | UMe celebrates the 40th anniversary of Pretty in Pink, the beloved 1986 film from Writer/Executive Producer John Hughes with a limited-edition reissue of its iconic soundtrack, available August 28.

As essential as the film itself, the music captures the story’s emotional truth—freezing moments in time with the vivid clarity of memories that linger for decades. Film soundtracks hold a rare power to shape identity, influencing who we are, where we belong, and the social experiences that define youth. Few filmmakers understood the coming-of-age experience quite like John Hughes, and Pretty in Pink stands as one of his most enduring cultural touchstones.

Anchored by era-defining songs including The Psychedelic Furs’ Top 5 title track “Pretty in Pink,” OMD’s iconic “If You Leave,” The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want,” and Echo & The Bunnymen’s sweeping anthem “Bring on the Dancing Horses,” and INXS fan-favorite deep-cut, “Do Wot You Do,” the Pretty in Pink soundtrack became a defining voice of its time—shaping mood, identity, and belonging in ways few films ever achieve.

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