Fresh off of their 2020 offering Adult Themes, El Michels Affair is back with a new full-length release. Titled Yeti Season, this newest album has everything we’ve come to expect from EMA’s patented cinematic style of instrumental soul music. The album is scheduled to release on 3/26/21 via Big Crown Records. Where Adult Themes inspired a soundtrack to an imaginary … Read more
Kiwi Jr. is sharing an official video for “Waiting in Line,” a new offering and highlight from Cooler Returns, their forthcoming album. The video was directed by Laura-Lynn Petrick and captures a day in the life of the band in their homebase of Toronto, Ontario. “We like the candid and casual approach of director Laura-Lynn’s previous videos, including Weyes … Read more
Aaron FrazerIntroducing…Dead Oceans/Easy Eye Sound [2021] One element that helped make the last record from Durand Jones and The Indications, American Love Call, a success was the quality songwriting and elegant falsetto coming from drummer Aaron Frazer. Has creativeness and voice was the perfect balance for the band but also put a large spotlight on … Read more
Tigers Jaw recently released a video for their new single “Hesitation,” off their forthcoming album, I Won’t Care How You Remember Me, due out on March 5th via Hopeless Records. Directed by Shane Moran (who came of age as guitarist/art director of the band Title Fight and more recently has produced visual works for New York-based Supreme), the … Read more
Well, 2020 has certainly sucked for so many reasons but TFN has found some silver lining in the fantastic music that was released this year. From the surprise album releases to the surge of psych rock entries plus the debut album discoveries, TFN feels our Blazing Top 50 Albums of 2020 will have something new … Read more
TFN Artists Of The Week is one of our favorite features and probably is the one which gets the most attention. In 2020, we featured 125 artists that deserved your ear. We now have reviewed our selection and picked out our Top 25 of those artists just to make sure you didn’t miss them! Honestly, … Read more
The Fire Note would not be possible without the talented writers that share their educated thoughts and true enjoyment of music with our readers. The time and commitment that goes into writing consistently is appreciated by TFN and taken for granted by everyone else! Our official year end Top 50 is coming at the end … Read more
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Dickens himself couldn’t have explained this year any better. With a global pandemic virtually shutting the music industry down artists had to rely solely on non-touring revenue; and the bulk of that for Prog bands these days is physical record and CD sales … Read more
The White Stripes Greatest HitsThird Man Records/Columbia Records [2020] Here in 2020, 13 years after the last studio release from The White Stripes, it’s funny for those of us who saw the band live in their heyday in the 00’s because apart from hearing “Seven Nation Army,” on what’s left of alternative rock radio, probably … Read more
Let us introduce you to the indie rock of Philadelphia’s Honeyjar. The group draws on a deep well of ’70s soft rock influences and combines them with modern rock and pop sensibility. It is easy to hear a Fleetwood Mac and Head And The Heart groove running throughout their debut Moonbeam which is officially out … Read more
We are wrapping up our AOW feature in 2020 with another ReverbNation’s edition! We launched another 60 day campaign back in September and were once again surprised when TFN was listed on 5 million artist pages that generated almost 293,000 additional interested fans and a bit over 1900 submissions for these 4 spots you see … Read more
Phoebe Bridgers Copycat Killers EPDead Oceans [2020] After releasing her critically acclaimed sophomore release, Punisher, back in the summer only to have it earn her 4 Grammy nods including Best New Artist, singer/songwriter Phoebe Bridgers has collaborated with orchestrator Rob Moose to re-present 4 songs from that strong indie rock collection. Moose is best known … Read more
Jason HennJazz Pigs In High SchoolCara Records [2020] Over the past 12 years, Jason Henn has been writing and recording compact and catchy lo-fi pop songs under the moniker of Honey Radar. Now without his band mates, Jazz Pigs In High School is Henn’s first solo record under his own name. Like most solo records, … Read more
The Dirty Knobs Wreckless AbandonBMG [2020] Guitarist Mike Campbell, like Little Stephen Van Zandt (E Street Band) and Nils Lofgren (Crazy Horse & E Street Band), has both the distinction and anonymity of being a rock star’s sideman, playing for the better part of 50 years in the shadow of Tom Petty. While the Heartbreakers’ … Read more
The War On Drugs LIVE DRUGSSuper High Quality Records [2020] In a year when we’ve all had to forego live concerts, it feels like a gift that The War On Drugs took a break from the creation of their follow-up to 2017’s Grammy-winning Rock Album of the Year, A Deeper Understanding, to offer up a … Read more
Sub Pop has signed the UK band TV Priest and will release Uppers, their full-length debut on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide February 5th, 2021. In celebration of this news, Sub Pop shared the official video for “Decoration,” the album’s lead single, directed by Joe Wheatley. Sub Pop became fans of TV Priest’s politically urgent, mechanical, subtly humorous (and self-deprecating) post-punk following … Read more
Ghost Funk OrchestraAn Ode To EscapismKarma Chief/Colemine Records [2020] Sometimes you come across an album that feels like it’s tailor-made for you. Maybe the songs perfectly fit what’s going on in your life at the time. Maybe they hit just the right mix of genres and styles, to the point that it feels like it … Read more
Maxïmo Park have shared a new song with “I Don’t Know What I’m Doing”, from upcoming new album “Nature Always Wins”, along with news of an extensive run of album launch shows. The run of album launch shows will kick off in February, in conjunction with some of the country’s best-loved record stores. Tickets will … Read more
The ChivesThe ChivesSuper Wimpy Punch [2020] Sometimes shit just comes together. That statement can apply to so many things like money, relationships, projects and occasionally – music. Case in point today is the Boston garage punk collective called The Chives. The group is made up of members from bands Blue Ray, Brittle Brian, Squitch, and … Read more
After a legendary 25-year career, Joan of Arc will release their final album, Tim Melina Theo Bobby, on December 4th, 2020 via Joyful Noise Recordings. Written and recorded by the band—Melina Ausikaitis, Bobby Burg, Theo Katsaounis, and Tim Kinsella—and featuring frequent collaborators Jeremy Boyle, Jenny Pulse, Nate Kinsella, and Todd Mattei, Joan of Arc’s final … Read more
Chris Stapleton Starting OverMercury Records Nashville [2020] Like many country music artists, Chris Stapleton had already co-written several hit songs for and with artists like Kenny Chesney and George Strait before launching a solo career with his very successful debut, 2015’s Traveller. While his country music bona fides have been locked down tight since day … Read more
Here is a psych record from Australia that we have had a hard time putting down. Kimono Drag Queens have an official music video for “Hunters” which was directed/produced by Claire Salter & Harry Webber. Since their formation in 2016, in between a handful of East Coast Australian tours, the band have released a string … Read more
King Gizzard & The Lizard WizardK.G.Flightless Records [2020] After releasing a handful of live releases earlier this year, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have now returned with the new studio album K.G., their sixteenth since they formed in 2010. It represents a collection of songs that saw the six members of the band home … Read more
Teenage Fanclub returns in 2021 with their new album Endless Arcade. The legendary Scottish group’s first album since 2016’s Here, is out March 5th via Merge Records. Accompanying the album announcement is Endless Arcade’s opening song “Home,” with a music video. Though the track stretches to seven minutes on the album, its coda has been … Read more
AOW is full of great music again! This week showcases the talents of Caleb Cordes and his band Sinai Vessel. Power psych rock is always welcomed and this week it is coming from Belgium’s The WRS. Finally, the excellent four-track recordings from Canada’s Christo Graham. No time like the present to pick up some new … Read more