Christopher Anthony

Christopher Anthony, a passionate supporter of new music, managed a record store and produced alternative video shows in the '90s. Transitioning into the 2000s, he became a prolific music blogger, chronicling the scene with a positive view. His mission: to discover the latest indie releases and share them with you!

Face To Face: Hold Fast (Acoustic Sessions) [Album Review]

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Face To Face Hold Fast (Acoustic Sessions) Fat Wreck Chords [2018] Who: Southern California-based Face to Face have been pumping out catchy punk pop rock for 27 years. Sound: Face to Face have always had a straight forward 90’s punk pop sound that is always filled with hooks surrounded by their grit. Hold Fast is … Read more

Lucero: Among The Ghosts [Album Review]

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Lucero Among The Ghosts Liberty & Lament Records [2018] Who: Memphis quintet Lucero is celebrating 20 years together as Among The Ghosts is their ninth studio album. Sound: Lucero puts forth the working man’s rock/alt country sound that sounds great in a dark bar or on a big stage. TFN Final Take: You can always … Read more

Video Premiere: Xuan – “We Were Just Talking”

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Xuan (pronounced “Swan”) Nguyen is a singer/songwriter from Dallas, Texas. She grew up in the burbs of Big D but being the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants helped influence an exploring life move to Viet Nam where she hosted a TV show. She then traveled around Southeast Asia and Australia before making another move – this time to Ireland!

She started writing songs in Ireland but it was after she moved back home and connected with Salim Nourallah (producer Old 97s, The Damnwells, Rhett Miller) at an open mic that got things rolling. He invited her to record at his studio which turned out to be her debut, Have Some Fun.

Have Some Fun is not out till November 16th via Palo Santo Records but TFN is giving you a premiere look (and listen) with her new video for album track “We Were Just Talking.” The video follows Xuan in the development of a new relationship and shows how it is not always easy. I don’t want to ruin it but it does have a happy ending!

Beyond the fun video, Xuan’s infectious indie pop voice makes this upbeat song stick in your head with her Jay Som meets Juliana Hatfield type of delivery. Everything about this video and track will have you wanting to hear more so make sure you check out Xuan’s social media and pick up the record on November 16th!

Xuan Website
Xuan Facebook
Palo Santo Records

Album Review Flashback – Motel Beds: Dumb Gold (2012)

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Sometimes it is fun to go back and check out a past review. Today’s flashback review features the Motel Beds 2012 release Dumb Gold which landed at #13 on our Blazing Top 50 that year. The record is a Dayton, Ohio “must have” for any indie rock collection and this week the album finally received … Read more

Lung: Butcher [Video]

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Lung is a propulsive electric cello and drum duo from Cincinnati, OH. Classically trained cellist and vocalist Kate Wakefield has a voice that works seamlessly with the beats of drummer Daisy Caplan (ex-Foxy Shazam) and you may remember TFN review of their debut HERE.

The band’s sophomore album, All the King’s Horses is due out on SofaBurn Records on September 7, 2018 (CD) and October 26, 2018 (Vinyl). You can pre-order a copy HERE. You can check Lung out on tour at the dates below.

7/31 Bremerton, WA The Charleston
8/1 Bellingham, WA The Shakedown
8/2 Olympia, WA Home Throne Studio
8/3 Tacoma, WA The Safe House
8/4 Seattle, WA Kame House
8/6 Moscow, ID The Bayou
8/7 Spokane, WA The Pin
8/8 Missoula, MT Roxy Theater
8/9 Bozeman, MT Taco Monte
8/10 Billings, MT Julia Louis Drey-fest
8/11 Great Falls, MT The Back Alley Pub
8/12 Calgary, AB Ironwood Stage & Grill
8/14 Edmonton, AB Bohemia
8/15 Saskatoon, SK Witch Mansion
8/16 Regina, SK T+A Vinyl and Fashion
8/17 Minot, ND Why Not Fest
8/18 Pierre, SD The Exchange Coffee Shop
8/19 Rapid City, SD The Cave
8/20 Vermillion, SD R-Pizza
8/21 Sioux Falls, SD Cat Island
8/22 Grand Rapids, ND Ojata Records
8/23 Fargo, ND The Aquarium
8/24 Duluth, MN Blush
8/25 Minneapolis, MN Dead Media 6 PM
8/25 Minneapolis, MN 331 10PM

The Friday Fire Track: Fascinating – “Communist Power”

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Gutter pop from Cleveland, Ohio, returns with Fascinating’s new track “Communist Power.” Today’s Friday Fire Track does not mess around with its fuzzed-up guitar assault. Play it loud and raise a fist as you join Fascinating’s crusade against the current times. “Communist Power” is the first of 12 new songs from an upcoming album of … Read more

Tony Molina: Kill The Lights [Album Review]

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Tony Molina Kill The Lights Slumberland Records [2018] Fire Note Says: Concise perfection. Album Review: Tony Molina does not mess around with tracks. His ripping guitar mix of fuzz that was his 2013 record, Dissed And Dismissed, ran 12 songs in just over 11 minutes. His Confront The Truth EP (2016) contained 8 songs in … Read more

Ty Segall & White Fence: Joy [Album Review]

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Ty Segall & White Fence Joy Drag City Records [2018] Fire Note Says: Joy shows a mature growth and spotlights that Ty Segall and White Fence are two artists which are still on the creating edge of indie rock. Album Review: Much has happened since 2012 and the last time Ty Segall and White Fence … Read more

Robert Pollard: Waved Out (Blue Vinyl | Limited)

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GBV fans will rejoice as another reissue of Pollard’s catalog has been launched. The remastered reissue of Robert Pollard’s second solo album Waved Out from 1998 is now available for order. This reissue includes the above promotional press photo from the era. The album will be on blue vinyl and is limited. You can order … Read more

Track Premiere: The 1984 Draft – “Jan Kawolski”

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Dayton, Ohio based indie quartet The 1984 Draft are set to release their new album, Makes Good Choices, via Poptek Records in August. Today, The Fire Note is premiering the song “Jan Kawolski,” which is the opening track off the record and it will give you a solid introduction to the band in its concise … Read more

Moby – “The Sorrow Tree (The EastWest Sessions)” [Video]

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Moby has released Everything Was Beautiful, And Nothing Hurt (The EastWest Sessions), a live re-recording of tracks from his critically praised studio album by the same name which was released earlier this year.

In conjunction with the album release, Moby has also shared a new video for “The Sorrow Tree” which features the live version of the Everything Was Beautiful… track. The video was directed by Rob Bralver, the same director who helmed videos for “This Wild Darkness,” “Mere Anarchy” and “Like A Motherless Child.”

The Jack Cades: Music For Children [Album Review]

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The Jack Cades Music For Children Dirty Water Records [2018] Who: Warwickshire, England’s The Jack Cades were born in late 2017 when Mike (Lead Guitar, Vocals) and Elsa (Rhythm Guitar, Vocals) decided to record some of their songs at Mole’s (Drums) State Records Studios in Folkestone, Kent. They invited John Gibbs (The Masonics, The Wildebeests) … Read more

The Friday Fire Track: Active Bird Community – “Unwind With Me”

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Brooklyn, NY’s Active Bird Community instantly will get you excited to bring out the rock. The band have a new album coming out on September 14th via Barsuk Records and today’s Friday Fire Track is the perfect introduction.

“Unwind With Me” starts off innocent enough with the slow burning guitar strum and the band’s woo hoo harmony vocals. Singer Tom D’Agustino then calmly sings “and now you’re really over there, and I am thousand pounds of scared – I’ll fuck this up.” That is when the band’s muscular guitar comes out and injects this song a solid backbone that is unforgettable. Enjoy your Friday!

Active Bird Community Website
Active Bird Community Facebook
Barsuk Records

Paul Orwell – “Speak Of The Devil” [Video]

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UK’s rock n roll revivalist Paul Orwell has returned and this video is the reason you should be excited. It has attitude, leather and chains. Enough said! “Speak Of The Devil” is the new single off Orwell’s upcoming full length SMUT that is due for release later this year.

Currently you can find the single available on 7″ at the link provided HERE.

The Friday Fire Track: Oh Sees – “Overthrown”

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The always changing John Dwyer and his Oh Sees consistently give TFN something to look forward to! The Friday Fire Track today does just that as it features the new super hard prog-metal single, “Overthrown,” from Oh Sees. The song is from the upcoming full length Smote Reverser which is due out in August via … Read more

Connections: Foreign Affairs [Album Review]

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Connections Foreign Affairs Trouble In Mind Records [2018] Who: Foreign Affairs is the fifth album, and first for Trouble In Mind, from the Columbus Ohio band Connections that features former members of 84 Nash (Rockathon Records). Sound: Lo-fi indie pop that mixes the sound of early Guided By Voices with the raw rock of The … Read more

Motel Beds: Dumb Gold (Black Vinyl | 300 Copies) [Benefit for Ian Kaplan]

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Drummer Ian Kaplan is a staple to the Dayton, Ohio music scene and he has a resume that includes Motel Beds, Lab Partners, Goodbye/Crusher, Lioness, Company Man, Feathered Serpent, Human Reunion, Jayne Sachs Band and many more! Anyone who meets him will instantly think “great guy!” Ian recently had the misfortune of needing a liver … Read more

Premiere Friday Fire Track: No Name Hotel – “Parable”

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Tristan marks the second EP release by No Name Hotel, the moniker of singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Farahd Abdullah Wallizada. A first-generation American born of Afghani parents, Wallizada spent his early life in Jacksonville, Florida, having little access to pop culture. That changed in his early teens, when he began pirating songs off of library … Read more

Archie And The Bunkers: Songs From The Lodge [Album Review]

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Archie And The Bunkers Songs From The Lodge Dirty Water Records [2018] Who: Archie and The Bunkers are the Cleveland-based duo of Emmett and Cullen O’Connor, brothers who have been playing music together for as long as they can remember. Songs From The Lodge is the groups sophomore album. Sound: Described as “Hi-Fi organ punk,” … Read more

Amen Dunes: Freedom [Album Review]

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Amen Dunes Freedom Sacred Bones Records [2018] Who: Freedom is Amen Dunes (aka the project of New York-based Damon McMahon) fifth album, and the follow-up to 2014’s Love. Sound: Amen Dunes brings a high level of sophistication to its psychedelic indie and at time folkish tracks. Freedom has a War On Drugs, Kevin Morby, and … Read more