Category Archives: New Release Section

VIA PRESS RELEASE | The Pernice Brothers return with Who Will You Believe on April 5 via New West Records. The 12-song set is their first in five years and was produced by Joe Pernice.

The album includes contributions from longtime bandmates, Bob Pernice, Peyton Pinkerton, Patrick Berkery, Laura Stein, Liam Jaeger, Michael McKenzie, and Joshua Karp, lush string and horn arrangements, the Toronto-based choral group Choir! Choir! Choir!, as well as Neko Case on the duet “I Don’t Need That Anymore.” Who Will You Believe is the band’s first new album since marking their 25th anniversary by reissuing their acclaimed 1998 debut Overcome by Happiness as a deluxe edition last year.

Joe Pernice has crafted a remarkable catalog that boldly reinterprets and recasts classic American pop. Balancing moments of solemnity with warm humor and camaraderie, Who Will You Believe may be his most moving and nuanced album yet. Today, the band shared the album’s title track across streaming platforms as well as the album highlight “December In Her Eyes,” exclusively via Bandcamp.

In a single six-month stretch in 2019 Pernice was left reeling from the deaths of two friends and a close family member. “That was such a bad stretch of time. When things settled some I was thinking about them a lot and doing my best to try and take nothing for granted.” Those tragedies inspired “The Purple Rain,” which concludes the album and ranks among his finest songs. In the chorus he sings: Remember me to her sea-bound train. Remember me to her fruited plains. Purple mountains and purple rain won’t always separate the shining seas. The wake is washing over me. “It’s an homage to some friends and family I lost, but it’s also about the dread of potentially losing intangible things that I thought would always be there,” Pernice says.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Black Grape return with the brand new album Orange Head, which will be released on DGAFF Recordings on 3rd November 2023. Today they reveal the first single “Milk.”

Black Grape could only have been made in Manchester. The swagger, fun and cryptic humour seem hewn from a city historian AJP Taylor once described as offering an archetypally different way of English urban life to London. Both Shaun Ryder and Paul Leveridge, known as Kermit, came from edgy-but-cool parts of the city. In Shaun’s case Salford, with Kermit originating from Moss Side. For those unfamiliar, “the Moss” lay in the shadow of Manchester City’s old stadium at Maine Road, and was one of the first multi-ethnic areas in Manchester.

So we have two restlessly creative men, both from the wrong side of the tracks, neither inclined to go to art school or enroll on an MFA programme, yet loaded with street smarts and musical talent, and wanting the world. Good old punk had told every scally they could have it, and a generation went for it in their own ways.

Black Grape are widely regarded as one of the most innovative and iconic bands of the last twenty five years. Black Grape have had 4 Top 10 singles and their debut album It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah shot straight to No.1 in the UK charts upon its release in 1995 and went Platinum. Follow up album Stupid Stupid Stupid went Gold in 1997.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Bush Tetras have released the title-track from their upcoming LP, They Live in My Head, out July 27th on Wharf Cat Records. It’s a jangly and jagged barn-burner, “about people living in your head rent-free and how life is not all it seems,” the band writes in a statement. “Not quite a ballad, with its wild fast choruses, kind of like falling off a cliff.”

On the heels of the album announcement and a sold out show at Brooklyn’s Union Pool, The New York Times selected the lead single “Things I Put Together” as the first track on their weekly music roundup, proclaiming them “a quintessential Lower East Side post-punk band.” Bush Tetras has been credited as the band that “bridged the gap between the Ramones and Sonic Youth” (NY Post), and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore said they are “without a doubt, one of the greatest rock-and-roll groups born and bred in New York City.” Needless to say, Bush Tetras have made an enormous impact on rock ‘n’ roll in New York City and beyond.

Their first album in 11 years, They Live in My Head was produced by Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, who is now the band’s drummer, joining them after founding member Dee Pop passed away in 2021. Also joining the band on bass is Cait “Rocky” O’Riordan of The Pogues and Elvis Costello. You can catch the new Bush Tetras lineup at their album release show on September 15th at Greenwich Village venue Le Poisson Rouge.

Bush Tetras have made punk music at the fringes for over four decades. Flashes of reggae, bursts of noise, guitars that rattle, shake and snake, born out of a gutter behind CBGBs. The band’s first iteration lasted just a few years, from 1979 through the early ‘80s. But they respawned time and time again, contorting their sound, tweaking the vision, remaining completely singular and indispensable along the way.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Margaret Glaspy has announced the August 18 release of her new album, Echo The Diamond, via ATO. Today she shares the first taste of the album via the LP’s exultant opening track “Act Natural.”

The song captures the strange thrill of infatuation, channeling wonder and wide-eyed bewilderment into her lyrics from the first verse (“Are you a paradise bird?/’Cause violet shines bright in both your eyes/That can’t be natural”). “‘Act Natural’ is about trying to play it cool when you meet someone remarkable,” shares Glaspy. “I wrote it in the afternoon in the back of a tour bus and the riff came separately when I got home. It is one of my favorite songs on the record to play live.” The video for the track, directed by Phineas Alexander, is a deep dive into Glaspy’s artistic New York City community and a showcase of her love for the guitar.

Glaspy will celebrate the release of Echo The Diamond with an in-store performance and album signing at New York City’s Rough Trade on August 18. She has also confirmed her first North American tour in support of the album. She and her band will hit the road on September 28 for a show at Washington, DC’s Union Stage. The tour concludes at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles on November 14.

Along the way she will make stops in, among other markets, Toronto, ON on October 2, Chicago on October 7 and Seattle, on November 9. Margaret will play a hometown show at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom on October 20. Ahead of the tour she will head to the UK for a run of dates supporting Half Moon Run as well as a headline show at London’s Omeara on September 20.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Cindy Wilson has always been on the forefront of music’s cutting-edge: As a founding member of The B-52’s, she was a pioneer of the New Wave sound that redefined music in the 1970s and ‘80s. Wilson is known for her distinctly melodic voice and her remarkable ability to deliver powerful emotions in her music.

Her work continues to influence alternative and mainstream cultures around the globe—and she’s still making new waves of her own: Out August 25, 2023, Realms is Wilson’s forthcoming second solo record released via Kill Rock Stars. And today, Cindy releases the dance-banger “Midnight.” Cindy explains to Spin: “Being in the B-52s has been a playful and creative endeavor. Doing the solo project with Suny Lyons has been too. I worked with Suny on a previous effort called Changes, and enjoyed working with him, so I asked him to do the next one, Realms. I feel the techno vibe mixed with other elements is modern and unexpected, which is beautiful. I got to use my strong voice emotions with the tender, and I love it. The first song ‘Midnight,’ goes through the realms of midnight. It’s an upbeat dance dream of love at a magical hour. Inviting the listener to come along. Let’s go!”

Since launching her first proper solo project in 2016, Wilson has released two EPs (“Sunrise” and “Supernatural”) and one studio album, Change, collaborating with producers and electronic musicians Suny Lyons and Ryan Monahan to cultivate a contemporary sound that cuts through today’s noise, while staying true to Wilson’s alternative and punk roots. Marrying her instantly recognizable vocals with a backdrop of dreamy, ambient, and dance-friendly music, Cindy Wilson has made a fresh name for herself that extends beyond her band’s legacy, establishing herself as a singular force in her own right.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Since its inception in 2011, Speedy Ortiz has radiated exuberance and dynamism like few other rock bands, having produced an expansive and critically revered discography, toured worldwide, and inspired next generations of bands with inventive songwriting and advocacy to better the music industry.

Songwriter, guitarist and singer Sadie Dupuis has remained busy as well, releasing solo music (and collaborating with the likes of Lizzo, The New Pornographers, Ben Lee and Backxwash) under the moniker Sad13, publishing two poetry books, and running the Carpark Records imprint and literary journal, Wax Nine (Spacemoth, Johanna Warren, Melkbelly). Today Speedy Ortiz returns after five long years with “Scabs,” the band’s first new song since 2018—and its first to feature longtime touring members Audrey Zee Whitesides (bass) and Joey Doubek (drums), who are now full time contributors alongside Dupuis and Andy Molholt (guitar)

Engineered and mixed by Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin, who co-produced with Speedy Ortiz, “Scabs” was recorded in the nearly-alien desert landscapes of Joshua Tree’s Rancho de la Luna and El Paso’s Sonic Ranch. Wryly excoriating people whose activism ends at empty words instead of material work, the song’s riffs feel lived-in and playful, pushing between knotty time changes, oddball percussion, and cheeky vocal hooks. “Scabs” reaffirms Speedy Ortiz’s desire to push themselves politically and musically, vital and surprising as ever.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | In an era of unparalleled stupidity, political dysfunction, and societal collapse—couldn’t we all really use a new Dead Milkmen album? After nearly nine long years, that wish has been granted! Philadelphia’s satirical punk legends announce their new album Quaker City Quiet Pills today (out 6/9 via The Giving Groove), alongside the release of its first official single, “Grandpa’s Not A Racist (He Just Voted For One).”

A merciless, uncomfortably catchy first single, the track mocks the mental acrobatics of defending a Trump-loving grandparent (kudos to the band’s own Joe Jack Talcum for the hilarious illustration that doubles as the the single’s artwork!).

Quaker City Quiet Pills is the band’s first new album since 2014’s Pretty Music For Pretty People—and in sticking with The Giving Groove’s charitable revenue model, the Dead Milkmen have chosen to donate the label’s proceeds of Quaker City Quiet Pills revenue to Rock to the Future, a 501(c)3 organization that equips Philadelphia youth with life skills to support current and lifelong well-being through free, student-driven music programs.

Quaker City Quiet Pills is steeped in the trademark mix of energized punk hooks, irreverent humor, and biting social commentary that has animated this group since their historic arrival on the punk scene nearly 40 years ago. All four members had a hand in the songwriting, and the results are as eclectic and twisted as ever. Running the gamut from the BDSM nightmare “Philadelphia Femdom” to the jazzy hipster sendup “The New York Guide to Art” to the fantastical “Astral Dad,” which was written after singer/keyboardist Rodney Anonymous (a.k.a. Rodney Linderman) challenged Joe to write a song about astral projection.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Everything But The Girl have today revealed their brand-new single “Run A Red Light” and its accompanying video, directed by Charlie Di Placido (Kojey Radical, Jungle) who made the band’s recent “Nothing Left To Lose” video which has been watched over 1 million times on YouTube.

“I met a lot of characters during my years in clubland,” says Ben of “Run A Red Light,” “and I wrote this song about the guy at the end of the night, who dreams his big moment is just around the corner. All the bravado and good intentions masking the vulnerability.”

“The video is like a dream of the story,” says Tracey. “We’ve found with this record that choreography can express the emotion in our music without having to be too literal. The characters, the clothes, the movement, the direction all just fit. Charlie and his team really get the feelings we’re going for. It’s been a great collaboration.”

Of the music, Ben says,”I used mixed technology in the production to lend character. The piano is a looped iPhone recording; the synth that follows the vocal is a live take on an analog EMS VCS3 which were first made in 1969. Tracey chose to sing super-close to the mic to add intimacy. Some vocals are untreated, some auto-tuned. And then at the end we let the music appear to evaporate. It all just seemed to suit the story.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds today unveiled the Robert Smith remix of “Pretty Boy.”

The Cure frontman has taken the driving urgency of the original and transported it into a gloriously spangled, spaced out new dimension, complete with scattered drums and a soaring guitar solo. Speaking of his remix, Robert Smith says, “I was surprised and delighted when Noel asked me to remix this gorgeous song, and I had a lot of fun slowing it down and spacing it out—Cure drummer Jason Cooper gave me a great vibey drum track to play along with—and the rest just phased into place under the starry sky of my distant moon…”

Released in November, the original version of “Pretty Boy” was the first single taken from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ eagerly anticipated forthcoming studio album Council Skies. As well as a raft of acclaim from fans and critics alike, “Pretty Boy” garnered major support across key radio networks including BBC Radio 2’s Record of the Week and A-list rotation, spending 15 weeks on the Radio X playlist and 18 weeks on the Absolute network. The song peaked at number 14 on the national airplay chart.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Fishbone is a band. Fishbone is a Familyhood. Fishbone is Red Hot. Today Fishbone share their new single “All We Have Is Now” and its accompanying video. The song is taken from the Bottle Music for Broken People compilation, also released today via Bottles to the Ground, Fat Mike’s new label started by Mike and NOFX.

“All We Have Is Now” was recorded and produced by Fat Mike and Fishbone’s Norwood Fisher notes: “Fishbone and NOFX go waaaay back. We’re in the mutual admiration club, great appreciation for our individual approaches to the music that we’re known for. I don’t remember exactly when Fatty 1st expressed interest in producing Fishbone but it seems like it was a long time ago. A random encounter in a parking lot in more recent history, led to the current song. Mike’s batshit crazy but highly functional, with incredible integrity and follow through. Just right for Fishbone’s batshit crazy, dysfunctional world. Yet we are functional enough to make it this far, asses! It was a long time coming and we hope you love it like we do. Enjoy if you will.”

He continues, “Sometimes a note to self finds its way to the song form. ‘All We Have Is Now’ is a prime example. Philosophically, it’s far from a new concept. Eckard Tolle, Allan Watts, Joseph Campbell and many others have contemplated and pontificated on this topic. The pursuit of self inquest, in the hopes of experiencing an extended, extraordinary sense of Being, the song, wrapped in a fully blown Fishbone party, reminds me to take advantage of the gift of the ever present now. Feel free to interpret it however it speaks to you. Ain’t nuttin’ buttah potty…”

After years of touring and rotating members, 2023 finds Fishbone back to their most solid line up which includes four of its six original members. “All We Have Is Now” marks the first release with Chris Dowd back in the band since 1994 and it’s the first song recorded with these members in 29 years.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Frankie Rose shares “Come Back,” the third single from her new LP, Love As Projection, and the most synthpop leaning track on the record.

After spending nearly two decades establishing herself across New York and Los Angeles independent music circles, Frankie Rose returns after six years with a fresh form, aesthetic, and ethos embodied in her new full-length album Love As Projection, out March 10 on Slumberland. Celebrated by countless critical and cultural outlets over the years for her expansive approach to songwriting, lush atmospherics, and transcendent vocal melodies and harmonies, Love As Projection is a reintroduction of her established style through the new lens of contemporary electronic pop.

Painstakingly written, recorded, and engineered through some of the most tumultuous times in history, this new collection of songs harnesses the power and propulsion of Frankie’s early DIY-centric punk days without losing sight of the immersive, dreamlike world-building she’s been known for in recent years. Her love of new wave hooks and post-punk drive remain omnipresent, elevated by her utilization of modern production and an improved, polished palate of state-of-the-art instrumentation.

It’s more than a rebirth, a refinement, a resurgence—it’s a culmination of influence, a newly-defined scope using the tools at her disposal, a long-form project that was heavily considered for half of a decade—resulting in the most personal and accessible collection of art-pop that Frankie has delivered yet, propelling her signature melodies and dense, ethereal harmonies into the future.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | The new New Man EP, “The New New Man,” is infectiously catchy, amusingly witty and pushing the boundaries of what you expect from a pop song. The kind of pop songs that are inspired by Harry Nilsson, XTC, or Jellyfish. The kind of pop songs with squishy keyboards, race whistles, and vocal layering abound. “The New New Man” is full of delightful surprises; unexpected but pleasing in every form.

Cody Newman, aka New Man, has always had a keen penchant for writing taut and infectious pop songs brimming with their own identity. Calling it “Power Pop” would be understandable because it’s layered with harmonies and it’s catchy as hell but it also isn’t right as these songs flourish outside the rules of that genre. “Pop” means a million different things. “Indie Rock” is near meaningless. Maybe there’s a Venn Diagram overlap with “Baroque Pop” and “The Beach Boys” and “Fun Beck-like Songs.”

We won’t go as far as to say that New Man lives outside of genre because that’s absurd. As soon as you hear it, you’ll know it. It’s familiar and comfortable but it’s never rote or predictable. “The New New Man” is absolutely brimming with fascinating arrangements, instrumentation and memorable moments. We can’t wait for you to hear them all.

The first of six singles is out today, “Hedgerow.” It’s the last song on the new EP and every two weeks we’re going to release another song until they’re all out in the world. Keep your eyes peeled for future song announcements. Oh, and one more fun fact, all of the artwork for these releases was create by Midjourney; the AI assistance that turns prompts into visuals. Get a more detailed look at each over the next few weeks!

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Ben Folds will release his new album What Matters Most on June 2 via New West Records.

The 10-song set was co-produced by Folds and Joe Pisapia (K.D. Lang, Guster) in East Nashville, TN and features guest appearances by dodie, Tall Heights, and Ruby Amanfu. What Matters Most is Folds’ first studio album since his chart-topping collaboration in 2015 with the string ensemble yMusic.

Folds says, “There’s a lifetime of craft and experience all focused into this one record. Sonically, lyrically, emotionally, I don’t think it’s an album I could have made at any other point in my career.” He adds, “More than anything, I wanted to make an album that was generous, that was useful. I want you to finish this record with something you didn’t have when you started.”

Today, Folds shares the first new music from What Matters Most with the album highlight “Winslow Gardens,” an off-kilter pop song about losing track of the passing time while isolating with a loved one.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Philip Selway releases his much-anticipated new album, Strange Dance, on February 24 via Bella Union. Having previously shared videos for the singles “Check For Signs Of Life” and “Picking Up Pieces,” Selway today shares the atmospheric title track from the album.

Commenting on the track Selway says: “’Strange Dance’ had a very long gestation as a song. In its original form, it was the first piece from the album to be written, over 20 years ago. It was also the last song to be completed on the album, with the lyric taking shape in the final recording session. The strange dance I write about refers to the contortions we all perform as we try to balance seemingly irreconcilable elements of our lives, and the relationships that help us navigate this uncertainty.”

In other news, Selway has announced a number of independent record store appearances for album signings during the week of album release. 24th February will see him visit Resident Records in Brighton for album signings and a Q&A with Bella Union label boss Simon Raymonde. The following day will include signings in Portsmouth (Pie & Vinyl), Oxford (Truck), and Kingston (Banquet Records) before he heads north on 26th February for appearances in Sheffield (Bear Tree), Bingley (Five Rise), and Crash (Leeds). Then on 27th February Selway will perform tracks from the album at London’s Rough Trade East accompanied by The Elysian Collective.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Inspiral Carpets have shared The Go! Team’s new remix of “This Is How It Feels” ahead of the release of The Complete Singles, an album compiling all of the Manchester band’s 24 singles to date. The Complete Singles will be available on double vinyl, and as a 3CD set with an exclusive remix bonus disc via Mute / BMG on 17 March 2023.

Clint Boon, talking about the remix said, “This is one of my favourite Inspirals remixes. Relatively faithful to the original but with lashings of all the magical elements we love about The Go! Team. I reckon the spirit of Joe Meek was in the studio when The Go! Team did this remix!”

The Complete Singles coincides with the start of a major UK tour. Kicking off in Northampton in March, the tour includes festivals and performances at Manchester’s Albert Hall and London’s Shepherds Bush Empire.

The Complete Singles sees all of the band’s singles remastered and available on one album for the first time. From 1988’s “Keep The Circle Around” to their latest single, 2015’s “Let You Down” featuring the unmistakable tones of John Cooper Clarke, the album will be available on double heavyweight “midnight licorice” black vinyl and as a 3CD set with an exclusive remix bonus disc that collates classic, rare and unreleased remixes from across their career alongside two new unreleased mixes, from The Go! Team and Martyn Walsh & Simon Lyon.

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