Sharing the sharing.
Portland OR quartet, Lithics, bring the heat and melt faces on their new album Mating Surfaces. Their razor-sharp, tinnitus-causing, post-punk hooks you right at the needle drop of opening track “Excuse Generator” (below) and doesn’t let go for 29 minutes, leaving you exhausted – yet begging for more.
Mating Surfaces is out now via Kill Rock Stars. Enjoy.
Corey Flood’s debut EP, Wish You Hadn’t is a dark, brooding and quite addicting indie-pop meets post-punk effort. Clocking in at just under 12 minutes Wish You Hadn’t ends way too soon – there should be like 8 more songs – I want more Corey Flood! Hopefully there will be more to come.
I couldn’t choose a song to highlight because they are all so good. Please enjoy the entire EP stream below.
Wish You Hadn’t is available digitally and on cassette via Fire Talk records.
Shout out to Sam for getting the debut Durand Jones & The Indications’ record up on our Co-op Shop. Sam’s on point description: “Pure, timeless soul — rugged and raw enough to help ease the pain of losing Charles Bradley last year.” was all it took to get me to check this out.
Durand Jones & The Indications is an outstanding soul record that’s 100% percent worth your time. Although it’s only 8 tracks deep, the amount of groove packed into this bad boy is huge. Give “Groovy Babe” and “Tuck ‘N’ Roll” a spin (below) to see for yourself.
Collaborators Nadia Hulett (Phantom Posse), Carlos Hernandez (Ava Luna) and Juian Fader (Ava Luna) also known as NADINE bring the smooth on their chilled-out, indie-pop debut Oh My.
Check out my favorite track from Oh My, the early Rilo Kiley-esque “Can’t Be Helped” (below) for a sampling. Oh My is out now via Father/Daughter Records. Enjoy.
New Zealand’s Salad Boys have returned with their newest long player This is Glue. Like previous Salad Boys’ releases, This Is Glue blurs the lines between in-your-face rock and roll and laid-back jangle-pop. Give opening tracks “Blown Up” and “Hatred” (below) a spin to see what I mean.
This Is Glue is out now and available from Trouble In Mind Records. Enjoy.
Philadelphia 3-piece, Droopies, are the definition of the term power-trio. Their sophomore release Responsible People is packed with in-your-face hooks as they bounce between shoegazey punk rock and jangly psych-pop, with one common denominator: fuzz and lots of it. These guys get pretty big sound for there just being three of them.
Responsible People is out now digitally via Droopies Bandcamp page and on a limited cassette release through Funny / Not Funny Records. Give “Gone Wrong” (below) a spin, then go get your hands on a copy of this bad boy. Enjoy.
Houston, Texas trio Khruangbin (for the phonetically challenged like me, it’s pronounced KRUNG-BIN) came together from a common love of ’60s, ’70s and ’80s Thai funk and soul music (you can listen to their “Essential Thai Funk Mixtape” here). Their new album Con Todo El Mundo is a smoking hot, groove-filled slab of funk, psych and soul. Give “Maria También” a spin below for a sample – you will not be sorry. Con Todo El Mundo is out now via Dead Oceans and I can not recommend it enough. Enjoy.
Massachusetts’ Prefab Messiahs are back with Psychsploitation, a new slab of psyched-out, fuzz-pop goodness. This time only taking 2+ years from their last release, Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive – compared to the 32 years between KYSDA and their first album, Flex Your Mind.
Psychsploitaion’s 10 tracks are politically charged and crammed full of all the reverb, fuzz and jangle you can handle. Give my favorite tracks “Having a Rave Up” and the appropriate album closer “Last Day on Earth” a spin below for a taste.
Psychsploitaion is available now on CD via Lolipop Records and on Cassette through Burger Records. Enjoy.
San Francisco’s Spiritual Cramp are a refreshing throwback to the snotty rock ‘n roll and punk rock days of the 70’s and 80’s. Their debut EP Mass Hysteria is a real stomper. Check out the shimmery (dare I say Clash-like?) “Tenderloin” and the in your face “Wrecking Machine” below.
Mass Hysteria is out digitally via Spiritual Cramp’s Bandcamp page and on vinyl through Deathwish.
Brooklyn (by way of Nashville) duo Sufis are back with the third LP, After Hours, out today (Jan 12) via Burger Records. It’s a groove-filled (seriously, this sucker is groovy as hell), psych-pop romp that’s been on repeat since it landed in my inbox. I highly recommend you spend some quality time with this album.
Give standout tracks “Till I Get Home” and “All Knowing (71)” (below) a spin to sample their goodness. Enjoy.