Unlikely Friends Crooked Numbers Swoon Records [2018] Who: Unlikely Friends (UF) is made up of veteran artists from the Northwest which includes D. Crane (of Seattle’s BOAT), Charles Bert (of Seattle quiet indie-pop band Math & Physics Club, Chris MacFarlane (owner of local indie-pop record store/label Jigsaw Records) on drums plus a rotating cast of … Read more
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Gumboot Soup ATO/Flightless Records [2017] Fire Note Says: Australia’s psych rock heroes make good on their promise! Album Review: Australia’s King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard made the crazy announcement back in November of 2016 that the band would release five albums in 2017. Releasing this much music in … Read more
Angel Olsen Phases Jagjaguwar [2017] Who: Indie singer/songwriter Angel Olsen began performing at a young age in St. Louis coffee shops and now after three full length albums she has progressed into one of the best female voices on the scene. Phases is a collection of B-sides, rarities, and demos from the past several years, … Read more
Curtis Harding Face Your Fear ANTI- [2017] Fire Note Says: Curtis Harding can hold a groove with the best! Album Review: With the recent passing of the “Screaming Eagle of Soul,” Charles Bradley in September, Sonny Knight in June and Sharon Jones last year, the retro soul movement has taken a serious blow. Their talents … Read more
Buffalo Killers Alive And Well In Ohio Alive Naturalsound Records [2017] Who: Alive And Well In Ohio marks the eighth album from Cincinnati’s Buffalo Killers. This album was recorded at their Howler Hills Farm analog studio and mixed and mastered by Mike Montgomery (R. Ring, Ampline). Sound: Buffalo Killers offer up a laid back muscular … Read more
Racquet Club Racquet Club Rise Records [2017] Who: Racquet Club is a new veteran indie group that features members of Knapsack, The Jealous Sound, and Samiam. Sound: If you were fans of Knapsack and The Jealous Sound, Racquet Club follows suit with their style of indie emo rock lead by vocalist/guitarist Blair Shehan. TFN Final … Read more
Liam Gallagher As You Were Warner Bros. Records [2017] Fire Note Says: As You Were shows that Liam is a long way from being down and out. Album Review: As a critic, I learned long ago to lower my expectations. When you expect greatness, that is when you get burnt. The same goes about expecting … Read more
ORB Naturality Castle Face/Flightless Records [2017] Who: ORB hail from Australia and run around with label mates King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard which are both on Flightless and Castle Face Records. Naturality is their sophomore record. Sound: The band is known for their thunderous heavy sludge riffs. Naturality continues this muscle but now finds … Read more
Shagg Shagg Quality Time/Greenway Records [2017] Shagg should be on your radar. This Cleveland band will rock the crap out of you for this entire just over 14-minute record. Their arrangements are chaotic, the music is messy and they can blow your speakers out but all of those things are what I like about this … Read more
Ty Segall Fried Shallots EP Drag City Records [2017] Fried Shallots, Ty Segall’s latest EP, was pulled together from his past recordings and all the profits from its sales were donated to the American Civil Liberties Union. This gives the EP a lack of cohesion but it is still Ty and some tracks stand out … Read more
Jack Cooper Sandgrown Trouble In My Mind [2017] Who: Sandgrown is the debut solo album from Ultimate Painting’s Jack Cooper. He also was in the band Mazes. Sound: Jack Cooper has a super smooth voice that is in the same tone of Dean Wareham (Luna) or Stuart Lee Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian). His delivery is … Read more
Oh Sees Orc Castle Face Records [2017] Fire Note Says: Orc holds no limits and sounds as free as anything the Oh Sees have released. Album Review: What’s in a name? For John Dwyer, it doesn’t seem to matter much as his OCS/The Oh Sees/Thee Oh Sees/Oh Sees project continues to morph its 20 year … Read more
The Murlocs Old Locomotive Flightless Records [2017] Who: The Murlocs hail from Australia and Old Locomotive is the band’s third LP. Sound: The Murlocs are part of the current wave of Australian psychedelia that keeps rolling in. The group has that 60’s swag of the 13th Floor Elevators and the bounce of the nice guys … Read more
BIRDS Everything All At Once Greenway Records [2017] Who: Brooklyn band BIRDS is the quartet of Duane Lauginiger (guitar, vocals), Jessica Reynoza (bass, vocals), Jess Rees (guitar), and Tim Plunkett (drums). Everything All At Once is the bands debut record. Sound: BIRDS offer a very organic free flowing fuzzed-out mix of psychedelic rock that sways … Read more
MIND MELD MIND MELD Permanent Records [2017] Who: Los Angeles, MIND MELD has been creating a buzz since 2015. The trio have several singles under their rock belt and now a self-titled full-length debut. Sound: MIND MELD plays a heavy psychedelic garage rock that has modern flare like Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall but … Read more
Ricky Hamilton Killed By Ricky Objectively Good Records & Tapes [2017] Who: Ricky Hamilton runs Quality Time Records and plays in a multitude of bands currently rocking Cleveland. Killed By Ricky is his sophomore solo effort. Sound: Ricky’s solo work continues along a similar noisy lo-fi punk mode of his bands. This effort has the … Read more
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Murder Of The Universe ATO/Flightless Records [2017] Fire Note Says: King Gizzard continue their 2017 releases with the chaptered concept album Murder Of The Universe. Album Review: Melbourne’s King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are back with a behemoth of an album titled Murder Of The Universe. It is … Read more
Kevin Morby City Music Dead Oceans [2017] Fire Note Says: Kevin Morby changes the scenery and tempo for album number four. Album Review: Kevin Morby broke out last year with his fantastic third LP, Singing Saw. The record was easily his best to date and rightfully earned the #3 spot on TFN Top 50 of … Read more
The Rubs Impossible Dream HoZac Records [2017] Who: The Rubs hail from Chicago and Impossible Dream is their sophomore album. Sound: Impossible Dream is a solid power pop album that has classic recording vibes that will remind you of Big Star while singer Joey Rubbish floats out some Elvis Costello type chops. The modern roll … Read more
Fascinating Picture This Quality Time/Jurassic Pop Records [2017] Who: Fascinating is one of our favorite Ohio “slop-pop” groups that is fronted by Quality Time Records main man Ricky Hamilton. Sound: Fascinating plays a delightfully fuzzed up lo-fi post-punk that is gritty, determined and quick. TFN Final Take: Clearly, TFN enjoys distorted catchy pop tunes. You … Read more
Dream Machine The Illusion Castle Face Records [2017] Who: Dream Machine is a new band from lo-fi master Matthew Melton (Bare Wires, Warm Soda) and his wife Doris. Sound: You get Melton’s craft of fuzzed up power pop with the late 60’s / early 70’s rock of The Doors, Deep Purple and Iron Butterfly. This … Read more
Various Artists Singles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Deluxe Edition) Sony/Legacy Recordings [2017] Fire Note Says: The soundtrack that captured a change – This is the story of grunge. Album Review: There are not many records that capture an era like the Singles Soundtrack. Grunge stormed the scene in 1991 with the explosion of Nirvana, Pearl … Read more
Ryan Adams Prisoner B-Sides PAX-AM [2017] Fire Note Says: Don’t be fooled by the “b-sides” tag on this collection. Album Review: I have recently read in several places about Ryan Adams being the modern-day Springsteen. That is still hard for me to imagine at this point in the game but considering his latest record, Prisoner, … Read more
Mac DeMarco This Old Dog Captured Tracks [2017] Fire Note Says: Mac DeMarco dives deep for one of his most engaging records to date. Album Review: Maturity is a weird thing because not only does it seem to happen overnight but you can typically identify the very “moment” it takes place. You can recognize it … Read more
Damaged Bug Bunker Funk Castle Face Records [2017] Who: Damaged Bug is the very low profile side project of the super busy John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees and Castle Face Records fame. Sound: Damaged Bug separates itself out from Dwyer’s other work by focusing more on synths and electronic noises. It has a krautrock … Read more