Phoenix, Arizona 4-piece Gemm are back with their latest EP, Spun Out—a 90’s alt rock throwback that immediately makes me think of bands like Hum and Far. Check out “Trying To Feel” and “Split” (below) for a taste of their nostalgic goodness.
Spun Out is out now on Protagonist Music and available via Gemm’s Bandcamp page and on vinyl from Protagonist.
Snag it. Roll down the windows of your Eagle Talon and crank it. Enjoy.
When you’re scrolling through many emails trying to get caught up but also not miss anything and you come across “CIRCLE JERKS x DESCENDENTS release split cover EP today…” you stop everything you are doing and buy it and immediately, anxiously anticipate its arrival.
The split EP is in honor of their co-headlining tour that starts on March 15 in Tempe, AZ (you can find the rest of the tour dates below). It’s just as amazing as you can imagine it to be. It has Descendents doing the Circle Jerks’ “Red Tape,” “I Want Some Skank,” and “Beverly Hills.” As well as Circle Jerks doing Descendents’ “Kabuki Girl” and “Hope.”
You can get this from the bands during the tour and online via Trust Records. It is not available in any other way. GO GET THIS NOW!
Circle Jerks + Descendents Live Dates:
March 15 – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre (SOLD OUT) March 16 – Albuquerque, NM – El Rey Theater (SOLD OUT) March 17 – El Paso, TX – Lowbrow Palace March 19 – Houston, TX – House of Blues March 20 – San Antonio, TX – Vibes Event Center March 22 – Austin, TX – Stubb’s (SOLD OUT) March 23 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues (SOLD OUT) March 24 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom (SOLD OUT) March 26 – Fayetteville, AR – JJ’s Live March 27 – New Orleans, LA – Civic Theatre March 29 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live (SOLD OUT) March 30 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution Live (SOLD OUT) March 31 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues (SOLD OUT) April 2 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade Heaven (SOLD OUT) April 3 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl (SOLD OUT) April 5 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz (SOLD OUT) April 6 – Richmond, VA – The National (SOLD OUT) April 7 – Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live (SOLD OUT) April 9 – New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place (SOLD OUT) April 11 – Philadelphia, PA – Franklin Music Hall April 12 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom (SOLD OUT) April 13 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount (SOLD OUT)
Blab School is a rad new band out of North Carolina. The band consists of Ryan Seagrist (Discount, The Kitchen), Elizabeth Killian (Teens In Trouble, Glowing Stars), Dave Cantwell (Analogue, Cold Sides, In the Year of the Pig), and Fikri Yucel (Veronique Diabolique). I found out about these guys when I read “FOR FANS OF: Bad Religion, Buzzcocks, Descendants, Drive Like Jehu, The Faction, The Fucking Champs, Gang of Four, Green Day, The Hives, Hot Snakes, Jawbox, The Jesus Lizard, Les Savy Fav, Lightning Bolt, Meatbodies, Melt-Banana, Metz, Osees, Pipe, Pissed Jeans, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Superchunk, The Thermals” on Fort Lowell’s Instagram page, teasing their debut album. I was able to get my ears on a sneak peek from my friends at Fort Lowell, and I have been hooked ever since.
We are beyond stoked to bring you the premiere of the first single, “Scrolls”, from their incredible debut, self-titled album. “Scrolls” exceeded all my expectations from the list of “for fans of” above. It is a burner from the get-go with punishing drums, chunky bass lines, and razor-sharp guitars, sounding like Pretty Girls Make Graves meets Superchunk!
Blab School comes out in June via Fort Lowell Records. This is a must have record! You can pre-order it here and pre-save “Scrolls” here. Enjoy.
Oakland band Torrey weaves the twelve tracks contained on their new self-titled album in, out, and through bits of shoegaze, indie pop, jangle pop, and rock. Creating an infectious 35 minutes of listening pleasure and a definite contender for album of the year.
Check out “Bounce”, “Hawaii” and “Slow Blues” below for a taste.
Torrey is out now on Slumberland Records. You NEED this records in your life. Enjoy.
If a shimmering, dreamy, jangly style of shoegaze is your thing, then the Barnsley, UK trio, Porcine, might be your new favorite band. They just released their third album via Safe Suburban Home and it is fantastic!
Check out album opener “Stop The World” and “Time Never Moves” (below) for a taste.
Detroit’s FEN FEN are near and dear to me. They are one of the first bands I played on my Sunday night radio show, The Virus on Radio 3hive (shameless plug). They released an incredible self-titled EP in late 2022 and are now releasing their debut long-player, National Threat, in May via Sweet Time Records.
Check out their first single, “Bub” (below); it’s an in-your-face, hardcore-punk blast that ends way too soon. I can’t wait for National Threat to drop, and I can’t recommend FEN FEN high enough. Enjoy.
San Francisco’s The Umbrellas are back with their sophomore effort “fairweather friend” and 10 more tracks of pop perfection — shimmering, jangly, edgy, power-pop perfection. These words are not hyperbole either, this album is flawless. It’s impossible to highlight a track or two, so I’ll take the easy way out and post the singles below. Please give them a listen.
“fairweather friend” is out on Friday (01/26/2024) you can get it from Slumberland Records here and here. Tough Love Records here and from the 3hive Record Lounge in Provo, UT here. Wherever you choose to purchase makes almost no difference to us, just get your hands on this record and enjoy.
Los Angeles duo Double Life are channeling all the goods from 90’s post-hardcore, including powerful, groove-heavy drums, spacey vocals, chunky bass lines, and fuzzed-out guitar. Their first single and title track, “Indifferent Stars” (below), reminds me of bands like Jawbox and Failure with a bit of “Seven”-era Sunny Day Real Estate-like ferocity.
Double Life’s self-released, 3-song debut EP, Indifferent Stars is, out on January 24. It will leave you wanting for more. Here’s to hoping for more! Enjoy.
Still Ruins’ dreamy, debut S/T EP was and is just what I needed to get me out of the funk I’ve been in caused by some brutally long days at the day job.
The Oakland trio’s use of shimmery synths to cut through their manufactured fog of fuzzed-out bass lines and vocals, creates an effective blend of post-punk and new wave That I enjoyed the hell out of. Fans of bands like Tears For Fears and Choir Boy should definitely take notice.
Still Ruins’ S/T is out today via Smoking Room. I give it 16.5 out of 20 corn dogs. Go nab it, get out the fog machine and some mood lighting and crank it up. Enjoy