Ghost Funk OrchestraA Trip To The MoonColemine/Karma Chief Records [2024] Album Overview: A Trip To The Moon is the fourth full-length album from Ghost Funk Orchestra, the brainchild of producer and multi-instrumentalist Seth Applebaum. An immersive and playful song-cycle inspired by moon missions past and present, fact and fiction, the album adds new elements … Read more
Hot GarbagePrecious DreamMothland/EXAG’ Records [2024] Album Overview: Precious Dream is the sophomore album from Toronto’s Hot Garbage, a band I first encountered when they opened for TFN favorites Frankie and the Witch Fingers in 2022. Their set was impressive, and I grabbed their debut, 2021’s Ride, on the strength of their performance. Precious Dream … Read more
At The Fire Note, our writers are the heart and soul of what we do. We want to give a big shout-out to these amazing folks (past and present) who pour their knowledge and love for music into every piece they write. The time and effort they put in consistently doesn’t go unnoticed by us … Read more
Guided By VoicesNowhere To Go But UpGBV Inc. [2023] Sixteen. That’s how many albums the current lineup of Guided By Voices has managed to release since they formed in 2016. The band (as a concept) just celebrated its 40th anniversary a few months ago, with a pair of shows in Dayton that drew fans from … Read more
Circus DevilsSqueeze The NeedleGBV Inc. [2023] The “comeback album” is a risky proposition. More often than not, once a band has gone on hiatus or broken up it’s hard to recapture the original chemistry. Expectations run high, usually too high for the final result to meet. There are some pretty good comeback albums, but the … Read more
Population IIÉlectrons libres du québecBonsound [2023] It’s no secret that heavy psych is one of our favorite genres here at TFN, and there are plenty of bands that fit that description releasing killer albums. From US-based acts like Osees and Ty Segall to bands from other parts of the world like France’s Slift and Australia’s … Read more
Mondo DragThrough The HourglassRidingEasy Records [2023] Over the last several years RidingEasy records has gained a reputation for great reissues of obscure hard rock, heavy psych, and proto-metal albums, especially their fantastic Brown Acid compilations (co-released with fellow Los Angeles label Permanent Records). But RidingEasy also has a solid roster of modern bands, most of … Read more
Kendra MorrisI Am What I’m Waiting ForColemine/Karma Chief Records [2023] When Kendra Morris released Nine Lives at the beginning of 2022, it was the culmination of more than ten years of creative partnership with producer and songwriter Jeremy Page. The psych-soul opus, Morris’s first for Colemine imprint Karma Chief Records, was one of the best … Read more
Pale JayBewildermentColemine/Karma Chief Records [2023] Who is Pale Jay? The artist, one of Karma Chief Records’ latest signings, is something of an enigma, although we do know a few things about him: he’s trained as a jazz vocalist and pianist, calls southern California home, and always wears a red ski mask and white bucket hat … Read more
Guided By VoicesWelshpool FrilliesGBV Inc. [2023] Figuring out how to rate a new Guided By Voices album is hard. Do I compare it against the most recent albums or their entire discography? How will I feel about it after the next four come out? Will the hardcore fans think I’m being too harsh? Will the … Read more
The IronsidesChanging LightColemine Records [2023] There’s something of a soul and funk renaissance happening these days, and one of the labels at the forefront of the movement is Loveland, Ohio’s Colemine Records. They’ve released albums by some of the most exciting acts of the last ten years, counting names like Durand Jones and the Indications, … Read more
SquidO MonolithWarp Records [2023] Squid’s debut album Bright Green Field (2021) instantly set them apart from many the other UK-based acts that garnered attention in indie rock circles at the time. While they’re often compared to bands like black midi or Black Country, New Road for their spoken word-style vocals, Bright Green Field highlights Squid’s … Read more
SparksThe Girl Is Crying In Her LatteIsland Records [2023] Sparks’ twenty-first century resurgence is one of the greatest comeback stories in popular music. After several brushes with stardom in the 1970s and early 80s, the Mael brothers were burnt out and nearly forgotten by the early 90s. Perpetually ahead of their time, the band began … Read more
Andrew GabbardCedar City SweetheartColemine/Karma Chief Records [2023] He’s finally gone and done it: Andrew Gabbard made a country album. For those who jumped on board with 2021’s Homemade, this might be a slight surprise. That album was full of hazy folk-rock and psych-pop gems that may have had some twang here or there, but were mostly … Read more
EyelidsA Colossal Waste Of LightJealous Butcher Records [2023] As they finish out their first decade as a band, Portland, Oregon’s Eyelids have covered a lot of ground. From the half-studio, half-live hybrid of 2018’s Maybe More, 2019’s EP with John Cameron Mitchell (Turning Time Around), and 2020’s collaboration with Tim Buckley lyricist Larry Beckett (The … Read more
OkonskiMagnoliaColemine Records [2023] Magnolia, the debut album from jazz trio Okonski, uses a simple formula: piano, bass, and drums. But simplicity can be deceptive, and Magnolia manages to cover a lot of musical and emotional ground over its seven tracks. Bandleader Steve Okonski’s piano work is the primary focus conjures a range of moods and styles, but … Read more
The 1984 DraftBest Friends ForeverPoptek/Sell The Heart/Engineer Records [2023] The Dayton music scene has no shortage of great bands, from heavy hitters like The Breeders and Guided by Voices to rising stars and personal favorites like M. Ross Perkins, The Gabbard Brothers, Heather Redman, and Speaking Suns. The 1984 Draft is another band you can … Read more
Guided By VoicesLa La LandGBV Inc. [2023] After releasing two excellent albums last year (Crystal Nuns Cathedral and Tremblers and Goggles By Rank), Guided By Voices are getting 2023 started early with La La Land, their 37th album (depending on how you count). If you’ve been keeping up with the band the last few years … Read more
Heather Redman & The ReputationHeather Redman & The ReputationMagnaphone Records [2022] It’s safe to say that soul music has been experiencing a major revival the last few years. The rise of independent labels like Loveland, Ohio’s Colemine Records or Brooklyn’s Daptone Records has produced an abundance of new top-shelf acts, from Sharon Jones and the … Read more
Various Artists (Kribo Records)Sounds Of Lecak Vol. 1Guruguru Brain [2022] Even with the internet connecting us with people all over the world, it’s often easy to look past music scenes in other countries. Whether it’s because of a (perceived) language barrier, genre pigeonholing (“world” music), or just the sheer amount of music there is to … Read more
Ghost Funk OrchestraA New Kind Of LoveColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] When Ghost Funk Orchestra’s debut LP for Karma Chief, Song For Paul, made its way onto turntables back in 2019, it felt like it was created in some alternate version of the early 1970s. Helmed by sonic mastermind Seth Applebaum, the band’s jazz-funk rhythms, psychedelic … Read more
King Gizzard & The Lizard WizardChangesKGLW [2022] Changes wraps up King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s trilogy of new albums released in October 2022, and it’s the hardest to categorize of the three. While Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava (IDPLML) and Laminated Denim felt very similar in their jammy, psych-prog explorations, Changesbreaks the mold by bringing in both the … Read more
King Gizzard & The Lizard WizardLaminated DenimKGLW [2022] Laminated Denim is the second album King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard has released this month, and we’ll cut to the chase: if you liked the previous album (Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava), you’ll like Laminated Denim too. The album is billed as a sequel of sorts to Made … Read more
King Gizzard & The Lizard WizardIce, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms And LavaKGLW [2022] This is not the only King Gizzard review you’ll read on TFN in October. The Australian psych-prog song factory has announced three new albums coming out in quick succession this month, and Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava is just the … Read more
Ghost Funk OrchestraNight Walker/Death WaltzColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] Before they became firm Fire Note favorites with their first two full-length albums (2019’s Song For Paul and 2020’s Ode to Escapism), and before they became a real-life 10-piece outfit blowing audiences out of the water with their live performances, Ghost Funk Orchestra wasn’t really a band. … Read more