Discover, Support, Share! That is what TFN is all about and today our Artists of the Week bring you some excellent experimental rock from Melbourne’s Dragoons, indie rock from Athens via Nana Grizol and finally the quality post-punk out of Chicago from Wallplant! DragoonsMelbourne, Australia I know when you saw the Dragoons hometown was Melbourne … Read more
Indiana’s Hoops recently announced their reunion following a brief hiatus, and revealed the details for their forthcoming and highly anticipated sophomore album which you can read below. Today the band shares a music video for the record’s lead single “Fall Back,” the first song Hoops has ever written together. The video was directed by Alex … Read more
Wax Chattels is back with a sophomore record that sounds ready to rock out. The writing process for ‘Clot’ took the best part of a year. While some songs were written on the road, the bulk of the album was workshopped throughout 2019 across bedrooms and storage containers. Demos were fine-tuned before taking them to … Read more
Pinegrove have just shared the video to “Endless,” from their new album, Marigold. “In this video we wanted to explore tenacity & endurance of spirit.” Says singer Evan Stephens Hall. “In this moment of turbulence in our country, as many of us are banding together to fight racism, to stay healthy in a pandemic, & … Read more
On September 25, 2020 Surfer Blood will release Carefree Theatre, their fifth studio album, and a return to their first label Kanine Records. Written and recorded in South Florida, its the first record the band has released since John Paul Pitts, the singer and main songwriter moved back to the state. It’s an album not … Read more
Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network have shared the video for their single, “Is The Season For New Incarnations.” On the inspiration behind the video director Arturo Baston described, “from alchemist transmutation circles to meditative sacred geometry. Mystic, occult, and spiritual graphic devices adapted and mixed all together to illustrate the relation between the forces … Read more
The street date for Guided By Voices Vampire on Titus LP reissue is July 24. Scat Records is accepting pre-orders but hurry becuase they are getting low. Although it’s not a RSD release anymore, the initial supply is still mostly promised to retailers but you can pre-order at Scat HERE. They are limiting orders to … Read more
It is a great day for TFN Artists of the Week because if you like what you hear today on July 3rd, it can be found on Bandcamp Friday. Once again they are waiving their fees and all money from sales goes to the artists! This week UK’s Sault has an unbelievable and pointed record … Read more
The Ascension, the eighth solo studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens—and the long awaited follow-up to Carrie & Lowell—is set for release September 25 on Asthmatic Kitty Records. New single, “America,” and in turn The Ascension, is an indictment of a world crumbling around us—and a roadmap out of here. Sufjan says … Read more
New Orleans’ Video Age have shared a new track from their forthcoming album, Pleasure Line, set for release on August 7th via Winspear. You can check out the energetic new song “Aerostar” and accompanying video below, directed by Zack Shorrosh,. Video Age on “Aerostar,” “This song looks at the bright side of being on the … Read more
Indiana’s Hoops released their critically-acclaimed debut album Routines in 2017, and, soon after, announced an indefinite hiatus. The trio – friends, singers, and multi-instrumentalists Drew Auscherman, Kevin Krauter and Keagan Beresford – had been making music together for almost half of their lives, but the band had begun to feel more like a burden than … Read more
The Old 97’s are returning with their twelfth album, the aptly titled Twelfth, to be released on August 21 on ATO Records. Twenty-seven years in, Old 97’s still features its original lineup – Miller, guitarist Ken Bethea, bassist Murry Hammond, and drummer Philip Peeples – and Twelfth is a testament to the band’s staying power. … Read more
London-based punk trio Dream Wife – Rakel Mjöll, Bella Podpadec and Alice Go – released their sophomore album So When You Gonna… last week via Lucky Number, earning Rough Trade’s coveted title of Album of the Month. So When You Gonna… was produced and mixed by Bjork-producer Marta Salogni, deals with topics such as miscarriage … Read more
Terry Ohms · Curse Of The Bat TFN is thrilled to premiere a new track today from Birmingham’s Terry Ohms. The group is the alter ego of Wes McDonald, who has been making records under one moniker or another for the last 20 years that includes Vulture Whale, The Ohms and currently People Years. “Curse … Read more
Today The Fire Note is participating in #BlackOutTuesday and stands in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the protests against police violence. It is always our responsibility to work on anti-racism and TFN supports the voices affected by oppression, racism and hate. We ask that you all do the same. Below is a list of … Read more
Cut Worms, moniker of Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Max Clarke, has returned with “Castle in the Clouds,” and an accompanying video. Clarke wrote “Castle in the Clouds” in April 2019 after tours supporting his 2017 EP Alien Sunset and 2018’s Hollow Ground. The songs came quick, then, too many to count. Eschewing demos for in-studio spontaneity, he finished “Castle in the Clouds” on a flight to Memphis, TN, and then recorded it the next day at Sam Phillips Studio with Matt Ross-Spang (John Prine, Jason Isbell, Margo Price). The resulting track is somewhere between a lonesome cowboy lullaby for the restless, and a doo-wop sci-fi elegy for the daydreaming teenagers of Mars. Its video, homemade by Clarke, pulls together luminous animations and mid-20th century stock footage.
“‘Castle in the Clouds’ was the first one we did,” says Clarke. “I remember being in the studio, thinking the control room looked like the bridge on a spaceship. It reminded me of the old Carl Sagan Cosmos, where he’s kind of hovering above, transporting you across the universe. I always really liked the theme song. I think that spirit found its way onto the recording.”
You can find the single HERE. As of right now there is no information on a new LP but stay tuned.
Formally Baked the now just Beans are back with a sophomore record titled All Together Now via Flightless Records on June 26th. Recorded in Wallington, Victoria (on an old apple and pear farm cool room that has been converted into a home studio) All Together Now is a 9-track offering that captures the energy of a band who have made their name through the intensity of their live performances, including festival appearances at the psych fest; Gizzfest, New Year’s Evie and Loch Hart festivals, as well as King Gizzard tour support.
“Stride” is the first single and I think you can hear the Beans inspiration by the likes of Electric Light Orchestra, Slade and Skyhooks. They have the late 60s and early 70s groove for sure!
If you ask any Guided By Voices fans, a subscription service is long overdue. If anyone has vaults of music that support a hungry fanbase it is Robert Pollard. One can only wait for what will emerge from his safe. Hell – it could be a few dozen new albums at this point! Right now … Read more
The Beths share a fervent new single/video, “I’m Not Getting Excited,” from their second album, Jump Rope Gazers, out July 10th on Carpark Records. Following the lead single, “Dying to Believe,” “I’m Not Getting Excited” is an urgent track about imposter syndrome. The track opens with driving guitar and a jockeying melody before bursting with a crashing rhythm section. The band performed the single on their “Live From House 2” live stream earlier this morning.
“People always ask ‘are you excited!?’ and it’s a fair question, because exciting things do happen to us sometimes,” says Elizabeth Stokes. “Support slots, overseas tours, music releases. Stuff we’ve dreamed about for years. So the correct answer is always ‘yes.’ But the truth is that deep down there’s a tiny Liz saying, ‘don’t get excited.’ She is certain that anything good that could happen will most likely not happen, because of a freak accident. Or because somebody finally realises that we aren’t worthy, shouts ‘phony!’ and takes everything away. I wrote ‘I’m Not Getting Excited’ last year, well before everything really did get taken away. From everyone. It feels like the song has a new context, but we don’t know what it is yet. And now we all share a blurry, uncertain future.”
The official video was filmed during the first month of lockdown in New Zealand. It’s a spooky more-is-more collage of animated night terrors. The directors Sports Team “turned our laundry into a film studio and spent our inside time mastering the art of stop-motion animation. We animated old towels, all the cardboard in the house and The Beths themselves… frame by bloody frame. There’s a lot of scary imagery in the song that we wanted to play on. There’s a madness too, in the contradiction between what the song is about and its frenetic energy. It has defined the lockdown for us—being locked indoors but furiously busy.”
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down will released their new album Temple this Friday May 15th. “Pure Cinema,” is a new single and the video was made remotely while sheltering in place, because that is my new music video love language. The video was directed by Justin Mitchell.
From Thao on the track: “Pure Cinema” is such full band song, and it has so much to do with our years of touring as a roving family constellation, that I really wanted this video to highlight and celebrate The Get Down Stay Down. However much of a fraction I have been out there over the years, our band and crew kept me as safe and sane as was possible. They have been my stabilizing force for so long. As it goes with family I don’t know if I’ve ever truly thanked them or told them. It was so sweet and also quite bittersweet to see everyone at home, projected into our home. I don’t know when we can play shows together again, I don’t know what touring will look like. I miss the band.
“Pure Cinema” is about taking stock of how adrift I’ve been, in every sense of the word. It’s very easy to feel lost and alone even as you are surrounded by people. I’ve had a very compromised relationship to touring over the years.. if you’re not right with yourself it is only going to be exaggerated as you cast yourself out into the world. I’ve floated above my life for a long time; I’ve landed now. It makes me so happy to see my bandmates settled and happy in their own homes and lives, as I am in mine. “Pure Cinema” is a cautionary tale and also an encouragement to keep faith and keep building home and family.”
Primo! just released of their second full length album, Sogni, on April 17, via Upset The Rhythm. Sogni is the follow up to 2018’s Amici and now you can check out the video and single “Machine.”
“Machine” is a propulsive jangle of a track dealing with notions of work-hierarchy struggle and the video sees the Melbourne quartet putting in some serious elbow grease down the auto-shop to convey this message.
Suzanne Walker from Primo! explains further “it’s the feeling of being like a machine inside the machine but as well the fact that sometimes great ideas, thoughts & observations come to you during the working day, in unexpected ways. Rhythmically the pacing is like that of a machine, speeding up and slowing down, at times frantically chugging, spattering vivid bursts of greasy colour before halting to a stop and slipping the key from the ignition.”
Spanning just under 30 minutes, Sogni’s twelve songs were conceived collectively in the rehearsal room and perfected in a live setting, before being recorded to an 8-track with Al Montfort across a number of home studios in Melbourne.
TFN is excited today to premiere a new track from Detroit’s Alluvial Fans. “Droves” is the second single off of their forthcoming sophomore album Earth To Astronaut, which will hit the streets officially on June 5th, 2020. The track showcases the diversity that Alluvial Fans brings to your speakers. A quiet acoustic guitar intro, reverse … Read more
Muzz, the new project of Paul Banks (Interpol), Josh Kaufman (producer/multi-instrumentalist and one third of Bonny Light Horseman), and Matt Barrick (drummer of Jonathan Fire*Eater, The Walkmen, and Fleet Foxes’ touring band), announce their self-titled, debut album, out June 5th on Matador, with this new single/video, “Red Western Sky.” The album, written, arranged and performed by all three.
Muzz was born out of longstanding friendship and collaboration. Banks and Kaufman have known each other since childhood, attending high school together in Spain before separately moving to New York. There, they independently crossed paths with Barrick while running in similar music circles. They kept in touch in the following years: Barrick drummed in Banks + Steelz and on some of Kaufman’s production sessions; Kaufman helped on Banks’ early Julian Plenti solo endeavour; various demos were collaborated on, and a studio was co-bought.
Taking shape at a simmer, the first Muzz recordings date back to 2015. A typical session incorporated demos Banks or Kaufman brought to the table with room for any member to build upon, or with a new skeleton composed during a jam in the live room. All three contributed lyrics and helped shape things vocally (a first for Banks who is usually the sole lyricist). “Josh has more training as a theory musician while Paul comes from a different perspective,” Barrick says. “You never know how Paul’s gonna approach a song, lyrically and melodically, so it’s always unusual and exciting. Everyone is open to everyone else’s ideas. I think three is a great number of people for a band. We all had a big hand in everything.”
Sonically, “the music has this weird, super removed vibe but is also personal and emotional at the same time,” Kaufman says. “If something felt natural in a simple way, we left it. I’d never heard Paul’s voice framed like that—a string section, horns, guitars—we know none of that is visionary but it felt classic and kind of classy.” In fact, the band’s name holds a meaning that serves to describe that very feeling – Kaufman used the word “muzz” to describe the music’s subtle, analog quality and texture.
In conjunction with today’s announcement, Muzz present the galloping “Red Western Sky” with a video, directed and produced by the band. It’s the first video to ever be shot at the immersive, psychedelic American Treasure Tour Museum, a location chosen after a Barrick family visit. The single follows two previously released songs—the sparse and rustic “Broken Tambourine” and “Bad Feeling,” which chimes with melodic introspection. No matter the sonic direction Muzz go, they go there as if effortlessly and with maximum emotional charge.
Muzz Tracklist: 1. Bad Feeling 2. Evergreen 3. Red Western Sky 4. Patchouli 5. Everything Like It Used To Be 6. Broken Tambourine 7. Knuckleduster 8. Chubby Checker 9. How Many Days 10. Summer Love 11. All Is Dead To Me 12. Trinidad
The Raconteurs frontman, Brendan Benson, has shared the Wartella-directed video for “Richest Man,” the newest single from his first solo LP in almost seven years, DEAR LIFE and first album for Third Man Records which is out April 24. You can pre-order the album HERE.
“This was a very different video making experience,” Benson said. “I had to pantomime the whole thing with notes from Wartella (who lives in another city), about the different scenes. I had to hold an imaginary umbrella and arrange an imaginary vase with flowers. It was all very mysterious and I had no idea if I was doing a good job or anything until it came back after being animated. Turns out I’m a pretty good mime!”
Benson finds himself in an enviable spot as he enters the third decade of a remarkably creative, consistently idiosyncratic career – an accomplished frontman, musician, songwriter, producer, band member, husband, and dad. DEAR LIFE marks this consummate polymath’s most inventive and upbeat work thus far, an 11-track song cycle about life, love, family, fatherhood, and the pure joy of making music. Produced and almost entirely performed by Benson at his own Readymade Studio in Nashville, the album sees the Michigan-born, Nashville-based artist – and co-founder, with Jack White, of The Raconteurs – reveling in a more modernist approach than ever before, fueled by a heady brew of cannabis, hip-hop, and a newly discovered interest in software drum programming.
Benson has been live-streaming a song from his Instagram every day as part of his “Boy In A Bubble” series — tune in at 4:20pm CT every day HERE.
25-year old singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers has confirmed details of her sophomore solo album, Punisher, to be released on Dead Oceans on June 19th. Today’s announcement comes with a new video – for brand new single “Kyoto” – a song she wrote following her first trip to Japan in February 2019. Bridgers will perform “Kyoto” on tonight’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! – live from her Los Angeles’ bathroom.
