Mary TimonyUntame The TigerMerge Records [2024] Album Overview: Untame the Tiger is Mary Timony’s fifth solo album, marking her return to solo work after a 15-year hiatus. It explores themes of loss, self-discovery, and resilience, drawing from Timony’s personal experiences, including the dissolution of a long-term relationship and the deaths of her parents. The album … Read more
Singer-songwriter and guitar hero Mary Timony has announced her new album, Untame the Tiger, lead single/video “Dominoes,” and an extensive 2024 North American headline tour (dates below). Untame the Tiger marks Timony’s fifth solo album, her first in 15 years. It’s a startling document of an artist fully coming into her own power during the fourth decade of her career, … Read more
The Mountain GoatsJenny From ThebesMerge Records [2023] The Mountain Goats’ singer/songwriter John Darnielle must wake up from his dreams every day with a story line and a song lyric or two. A published novelist who released his latest, Devil House last year, the artist and his band have released a new full-length album every year … Read more
Teenage FanclubNothing Lasts ForeverMerge Records [2023] One has to wonder if anyone thought about the possibility that they might be wearing the band name Teenage Fanclub still, over thirty years later, while the principle members were getting close to 60? Whether they were expecting to be a flash in the pan, or were in it … Read more
Will Butler + Sister SquaresWill Butler + Sister SquaresMerge Records [2023] There should be little surprise that after spending 18 years playing in Arcade Fire, Will Butler carries some of that band’s sound and temperament with him into his debut with Sister Squares, or that his voice at times recalls that of his brother Win. … Read more
Teenage Fanclub are excited to announce their new album Nothing Lasts Forever out September 22 via Merge Records in the U.S. and on their own label PeMa in the UK/Europe. The first sound you hear is a sustained feedback note that hangs in the air with the grace of a dragonfly before an acoustic riff … Read more
The New PornographersContinue As A GuestMerge Records [2023] For over two decades, The New Pornographers have been a reliable indie rock staple with a line-up that has varied from studio recordings to live shows on occasion. Formed in Vancouver by A.C. Newman, with Neko Case, a solo artist in her own right, and a crew … Read more
Neutral Milk HotelThe Collected Works Of Neutral Milk HotelMerge Records [2023] Neutral Milk Hotel made two modest lo-fi releases in the mid to late 90’s that over time proved far more influential as the band’s cult status grew in spite of singer/songwriter Jeff Mangum’s reclusive radio silence. Loosely described as psychedelic folk and indie rock, … Read more
LambchopThe BibleMerge Records [2022] Over the decades, Kurt Wagner and his various collaborators have more than lived up to their early claim to the title “Nashville’s most f@%#ed up country band,” and that alone may explain how Lambchop’s artful, yet difficult music can leave one wanting, even searching for meaning and understanding and still filled … Read more
Archers Of LoafReason In DeclineMerge Records [2022] I know that I was not alone in my excitement when I heard that the original four members of Archers Of Loaf reunited and made a new album, Reason In Decline. It has been 24 years since this band released White Trash Heroes (1998), so I think the … Read more
Tall DwarfsUnravelled: 1981 – 2002 (Box Set)Merge Records [2022] Curiously, I’ve come across a number of American bands who might have 3 albums in their catalog even though they’re playing to small crowds here at home, yet their bio suggests that they’re “big in New Zealand.” Well, Tall Dwarfs are actually a New Zealand band … Read more
Archers of Loaf have released an animated video for their roaring new single “Screaming Undercover.” The song is the latest from their first new full-length studio album in 24 years, Reason in Decline, out October 21st via Merge Records. “‘Screaming Undercover’ is definitely the heart of the new record,” says Eric Bachmann. “It came out … Read more
The Mountain GoatsBleed OutMerge Records [2022] Singer/songwriter John Darnielle and The Mountain Goats have been on a solid run for a while now, and here on their 21st studio outing they’re out for revenge. Well, to be more accurate, just as the band has released concept albums focused around themes like professional wrestling (Beat the … Read more
Titus Andronicus have announced the long-awaited release of their seventh studio album, The Will to Live, out via Merge Records on Friday, September 30. Produced by Titus Andronicus singer-songwriter Patrick Stickles and award-winning Canadian producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen, The Whole Nine Yards) at the latter’s hotel2tango recording studio in Montreal, The Will … Read more
Archers of Loaf have announced the October 21 release of their first new full-length studio album in 24 years, Reason in Decline, via Merge. Today they share the first single from the record, the thunderous, tension-filled “In the Surface Noise.” The band’s Eric Bachman notes “we didn’t intend for this song to be political and … Read more
SuperchunkWild LonelinessMerge Records [2022] Wild Loneliness opens with a simple acoustic strum as Mac McCaughan’s familiar voice starts Superchunk’s newest musical journey that reflects pandemic times. It is an album that battles all the isolation of the last few years and highlights things to be thankful for. Now 30 years into a career, Superchunk deliver … Read more
Carson McHone explains her new single “Spoil on the Vine” and its music video: “Lyric theatre presents exactly that, a play on words. The Foil takes many forms on the subconscious stage, and in this otherworldly landscape, illuminates the true reason and being within.” It’s the fourth self-directed music video from Carson McHone’s new album … Read more
Canadian band Destroyer announced their 13th studio album, with lead single “Tintoretto, It’s For You” and its David Galloway-directed video out now. The album, titled LABYRINTHITIS, is due out March 25 via Merge Records and serves as the follow-up to the band’s 2020 release, Have We Met. You can pre-order the album HERE.
Mac McCaughanThe Sound Of YourselfMerge Records [2021] One of the perks of owning a record company would have to be that you get to make an album every now and then for your own pleasure, following your own muse without too much concern about marketing trends and commercial viability. Mac McCaughan, of the band Superchunk … Read more
Hiss Golden Messenger Quietly Blowing ItMerge Records [2021] On the current single from his new album, “Sanctuary,” singer/songwriter MC Taylor, a.k.a. Hiss Golden Messenger, gets that the world is a mess right now. “Feeling bad, feeling blue,” he sings, acknowledging that “I know it feels like hell now/‘Til we get to the otherside,” he wants … Read more
The Mountain Goats Dark In HereMerge Records [2021] It’s hard off the top of my head to imagine a more prolific and talented songwriter currently working today than John Darnielle, the creative talent at the heart of The Mountain Goats. (Bill Mallonee is the only other contender that comes to mind.) But of course, quantity … Read more
Lambchop ShowtunesMerge Records [2021] Lambchop is a loosely defined collaborative focused by the artistic vision and voice of Kurt Wagner, who has defined this latest project as “Showtunes for people who don’t like showtunes.” While we tend to think of showtunes as up-tempo, focused by catchy melodies that move along the narrative toward some happy … Read more
Reigning Sound A Little More Time With Reigning SoundMerge Records [2021] Reigning Sound’s singer/songwriter Greg Cartwright has returned to Memphis to record a collection of power-pop tracks that get back to basics. After working in the studio with Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach for 5 tracks on 2011’s EP, “Abdication… For Your Love,” and the R&B … Read more
TORRES (moniker of Mackenzie Scott) new album, Thirstier, is out July 30th on Merge Records. “Don’t Go Puttin Wishes in My Head” is the first single. TORRES has also announced tour dates which you can find below. Thirstier, the follow-up to 2020’s Silver Tongue, is Scott’s most exuberant and daring record to date, showcasing her … 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