Beginning of April we told you about Australia’s Jackson Reid Briggs in TFN Artists of the Week feature. Previously only available as an import, their new album Waiting In A Corner has landed stateside at Green Noise Records via Drunken Sailor Records! The record is exclusively available from Green Noise on purple vinyl and is … Read more
SquidBright Green FieldWarp Records [2021] It is always fun to see certain musical movements take over an area of the world. TFN has been getting very accustomed to looking to Australia for fresh psychedelic rock and now with Squid, London is the “it” place to be for mind bending genre jumping post-punk. First black midi … Read more
Sleater-Kinney return with a new single and video entitled “Worry With You.” It marks their first new music since 2019. The accompanying visual, which was shot in Portland, OR was directed by Alberta Poon and stars Fabi Reyna and Megan Watson. The song also heralds the arrival of the group’s tenth full-length studio record, Path … Read more
Weezer Van WeezerCrush Music/Atlantic Records [2021] Back in 2018, when Weezer shared a co-headline tour with The Pixies, everything about the former’s end of set theatrics suggested the band’s need for an album like Van Weezer. As suggested in The Fire Note concert review at the time, when the set design switched from the “garage … Read more
Japanese Breakfast, the musical project of multi-hyphenate Michelle Zauner, has shared a self-directed video for “Posing In Bondage,” the latest single from her upcoming album Jubilee which is due out June 4th via Dead Oceans. “‘Posing in Bondage’ is a ballad about loneliness and longing, a song about two people who want so badly to … Read more
The TubsLondon, England The Tubs were formed in 2019 by Owen Williams and George Nicholls, formerly of Welsh band Joanna Gruesome. The two hunkered down in rural North Wales to expand on the fuzzy, hook-laden sounds they propagated in their former outfit, this time incorporating elements of post-punk, traditional British folk, and guitar jangle seasoned … Read more
Finn’s Motel Fireworks Or LightningVictory Over Gravity [2021] One of the pleasures of advanced age is being around long enough to experience the development of a musician or artist over the course of their creative life. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s when I was writing about music out and about in St. Louis … Read more
Cub Scout Bowling Pins returns with a new track, “Magic Taxi”, off their debut LP Clang Clang Ho which will hit playlists on July 2nd via Rockathon Records. This track follows their excellent Headphone Approved EP, Heaven Beats Iowa that was released in January of this year! According to the ears that have heard it, … Read more
TFN is excited to premiere this new video from Columbus, Ohio’s DANA! The featured song, “Blueteeth,” showcases the band’s style of experimental indie rock that is full of nervous energy that builds as the track progresses and then hits you with feverish bursts. You can hear DANA’s influences in this track for sure which includes … Read more
Teenage Fanclub Endless ArcadeMerge Records [2021] In 1991, when Scottish band Teenage Fanclub first broke in No. America with their third album, Bandwagonesque, their sound was brimming with electric guitars turned up so they were humming on the edge of feeding back, brisk pop song rhythms with Beatlesque hooks and harmonies, and two strong singles … Read more
Formed in L.A.’s South Bay in 1978, DESCENDENTS began as a power trio featuring bassist Tony Lombardo, drummer Bill Stevenson, and guitarist Frank Navetta (d. 2008). The band re- cruited vocalist Milo Aukerman in 1980 and began establishing themselves as major players in the Southern California Punk movement. Over the years, the band has sustained … Read more
Bay-area based band Fake Fruit, comprised of Hannah D’Amato (vocals, guitar), Alex Post (guitar), and Miles MacDiarmid (drums), released their debut, self-titled album earlier this year on Rocks In Your Head Records. Fake Fruit is detailed by D’Amato’s range of vocal affectations; acidic and confrontational, withdrawn and unamused, sweet and sorrowful. The arrangements bounce and … Read more
Guided By VoicesEarth Man BluesGBV Inc. [2021] The 33rd Guided By Voices album, Earth Man Blues, is one of the most in sync records that members Pollard, Gillard, Bare Jr., Shue and March have released together. For those not as familiar with the band, you might question how this could be since so many groups … Read more
In 2019 Christian Savill found himself alone and with a year off from playing guitar for his grown-up band Slowdive. He started writing and demoing songs with no particular plan. From 2001 he had recorded with longtime friend and collaborator Sean Hewson as Monster Movie releasing several albums on Graveface Records. These new ideas felt … Read more
Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, the mysterious steel pan outfit hailing from Hamburg, Germany have amassed a cult following around the globe. With a slew of classic 7”s and two critically acclaimed full length albums, they set a high bar for themselves, one they clearly intend on pushing even higher with this new offering. On … Read more
Boston’s Pet Fox are set to release More Than Anything on May 7th, a new EP and the band’s first together with Exploding In Sound Records. The band, comprised of Theo Hartlett (Ovlov), Morgan Luzzi (Ovlov), and Jesse Weiss (ex-Palehound, Grass Is Green), have self released two full length records and quickly became a go-to … Read more
Manchester Orchestra The Million Masks of GodLoma Vista Recordings [2021] The sixth album from Atlanta alt/rock quartet Manchester Orchestra feels like the culmination of their 15 years as recording artists, bringing together their early guitar rock inclinations with the orchestrated compositional depth that came later. 2017’s A Black Mile to the Surface embraced a cinematic, … Read more
Today at AOW, Chicago’s Neal Francis brings a funky groove your way, Kneeling In Piss showcase why they are a hidden gem in Columbus, Ohio and the indie Australian group Skegss make their US debut with a record that covers all areas of rock that should stick in your head. Neal FrancisChicago, Illinois If you … Read more
black midi present a new single/video, “Slow,” from their forthcoming album, Cavalcade, out May 28th on Rough Trade. In conjunction, they announce a fall North American tour, plus a new KEXP interview and performance. A full circle moment for black midi, their first KEXP performance (live from Iceland Airwaves in 2019) is how many first … Read more
Squirrel Flower, the moniker of Ella Williams, has a new single, “I’ll Go Running,” from her forthcoming album, Planet (i), out June 25th on Polyvinyl Records. In conjunction, she’s pleased to announce she’ll support Soccer Mommy on a fall North American tour later this year. Dates of the tour are below. You can pre-order the … Read more
CastVigesimusProgressive Promotions Records [2021] Sometimes a band just nails it right off the rip. Fully-formed debut albums are a rarity to be sure. So what to make of a band that records their masterpiece after 43 years and nineteen albums? Yes, Vigesimus is Latin for “twentieth” and after toiling in the relative silence of the … Read more
Spread JoySpread JoyFeel It Records [2021] Chicago’s Spread Joy are an intensely tight post punk band that gives everything they got on their 14 minute debut in exciting and short packages. The needling guitar and pacing stop short drums keep every song from Spread Joy in a perfect sequence and create a seamless experience from … Read more
Proper Nouns Feel FreePhone Booth Records [2021] Feel Free is the debut Baltimore’s Proper Nouns, a power pop three-piece led by singer/songwriter and guitarist Spencer Compton. Joined by Jon Birkholz on bass and Joe Martin on drums, Proper Nouns delivers the kind of fast, punchy, punk-influenced, 80’s alt/pop associated with artists like Elvis Costello, Squeeze, … Read more
Cheekface is an indie rock trio from Los Angeles consisting of guitarist/singing person Greg Katz, bassist/other singing person Amanda Tannen and drummer Mark “Echo” Edwards. It’s a band obviously influenced by the great American talk-singers like Lou Reed, Jonathan Richman and Stephen Malkmus, British post-punk bands like Wire and The Fall, and proto-indie bands like … Read more
Results of Adults are based in Birmingham, Alabama, and consist of Tym Cornell on vocals, guitar, piano, and an endless assemblage of noise-making devices; his creative partner and wife, Merry Bee Cornell, on bass; and Mark Beasley on drums and percussion. Formed in 2006, they have spent the last decade and a half concocting their … Read more