Joseph AirportVector 23Joseph Airport Records [2022] On November 24th, 1971, during a Northwest Orient Airlines flight from Portland to Seattle, a man going by the name Dan Cooper handed one of the flight attendants a note. When she started to walk away without reading it, Cooper leaned toward her and said, “Miss, you’d better look … Read more
Guided By VoicesTremblers And Goggles By RankGBV Inc. [2022] Depending on how you add them up, Tremblers And Goggles By Rank is Guided By Voices’ thirty-sixth album. For the current lineup, featuring Doug Gillard and Bobby Bare Jr. on guitars, Kevin March on drums, Mark Shue on bass, and Travis Harrison handling production duties, this … Read more
Mitch Mitchell’s Terrifying ExperienceAppalachian TontineThrill Kill City Music [2022] Somewhere in a Dayton, Ohio neighborhood, squalls of guitar feedback escape into the night air. Cans of cheap beer and ash trays are scattered around the makeshift home studio, where riffs seemingly transported through time from somewhere between 1967 and 1975 keep pushing the levels on … Read more
King Gizzard & The Lizard WizardOmnium GatherumKGLW [2022] Over the last decade, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have followed their muse wherever it happens to take them. From their early garage punk records and psychedelic trips to their latter-day excursions in prog rock, thrash metal, microtonal experiments, and electronica, the band is never afraid … Read more
M Ross PerkinsE Pluribus M RossColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] Colemine Records is best known for their soul and funk acts like Durand Jones & The Indications, Monophonics, and Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, but lately they’ve been putting out a lot of great records on their Karma Chief imprint. Whether it’s the psychedelic soul sounds of … Read more
Kendra MorrisNine LivesColemine/Karma Chief Records [2022] Kendra Morris has been releasing music for over a decade, putting out several albums, EPs, and singles since 2011 while collaborating with the likes of Czarface and Chico Mann along the way. She joined the ever-expanding roster of Colemine Records imprint Karma Chief in 2021 with her excellent single … Read more
Delvon Lamarr Organ TrioCold As WeissColemine Records [2022] Ever since their debut album Close But No Cigar dropped in 2018, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio has been one of the most consistent bands on the Colemine Records roster, pumping out instrumental jazz-funk that recalls the greats from the 60s and early 70s. The deceptively simple setup—which … Read more
Black Country, New RoadAnts From Up ThereNinja Tune [2022] When Black Country, New Road released their debut (last year’s For The First Time), they were lumped together with a slew of new UK bands who mixed post-punk arrangements, prog-rock structures, and half-spoken/half-sung vocals—bands like black midi, Squid, Shame, Dry Cleaning, and Sorry (among many others). … Read more
Andrew GabbardHomemadeKarma Chief/Colemine Records [2021] If you’ve paid any attention to the Dayton/Cincinnati music scene over the last two decades, you’ve probably encountered the music of Andrew Gabbard at some point. He’s played garage rock in Thee Shams, explored cosmic American psych with Buffalo Killers, and released several solo projects under various guises throughout the … Read more
Grave Flowers Bongo Band Strength Of SpringCastle Face Records [2021] When Grave Flowers Bongo Band’s debut album Flower Pot came out on L.A.’s Permanent Records in 2018, it was something of an anomaly. It was different from the usual garage and psych records Permanent puts out (like Frankie and the Witch Fingers, among others), and … 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
Randy Holden Population IIRidingEasy Records [2020] Randy Holden’s Population II has had a long, tortuous road to its most recent reissue, the ins and outs of which could probably support a full-length article if not a book. After stints in various garage rock bands including Los Angeles psych rock act The Other Half, Holden briefly … Read more
BananagunThe True Story Of BananagunFull Time Hobby [2020] When you name your band “Bananagun,” you’re setting up certain expectations for the listener. At the very least, they’re going to anticipate some eclectic music, possibly with a tropical vibe, and an oddball sense of humor. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, the band mostly delivers on those promises … Read more
ICEThe Ice AgeRidingEasy Records [2020] In 2015 Riding Easy Records released the first volume in their Brown Acid series (compiled by Riding Easy’s Daniel Hall and Permanent Records owner Lance Baressi), which collects rare and unreleased tracks from the “underground comedown,” roughly defined as “after the first wave of psychedelia and before the emergence of … Read more
Subways On The Sun Capsize Spartan Records [2018] Fire Note Says: Subways On The Sun build on the strengths of their debut album, producing a sophomore effort that’s anything but a slump. Album Review: A second album is a tricky proposition for a lot of bands. Change direction too much, and you might lose part … Read more
The New Old-Fashioned Smalltown, Midwest, USA Magnaphone Records [2018] Fire Note Says: The New Old-Fashioned continue to crank out gritty, anthemic heartland rock on their excellent third record Album Review: The name of The New Old-Fashioned’s third studio album, Smalltown, Midwest, USA, is an appropriate gesture toward the band’s roots, both literally and musically. Hailing … Read more
Snail Mail Lush Matador Records [2018] Fire Note Says: Snail Mail’s impressive debut matches strong songwriting chops with impeccably layered arrangements Album Review: As a quick glance at any news channel or app will attest, we’re living in interesting, complicated times here in the middle of 2018. So it’s refreshing when an artist comes along … Read more
Laura Veirs The Lookout Raven Marching Band Records [2018] Fire Note Says: Laura Veirs is indie folk’s best-kept secret, and she delivers one of her most rewarding records with The Lookout Album Review: Laura Veirs music effortlessly evokes the cool, misty forests of her Pacific Northwest home-base of Portland, Oregon. Her music has always been … Read more
Iron & Wine Beast Epic Sub Pop Records [2017] Fire Note Says: Sam Beam takes Iron & Wine back to basics on LP number six. Album Review: Ever since the first Iron & Wine album, 2002’s The Creek Drank The Cradle, the band has consistently added new dimensions to their basic sound. From the dense, … Read more
David Payne Cheaper Than Therapy EP Self-Released [2017] Fire Note Says: New Old Fashioned frontman David Payne goes back to basics with this strong 6-song EP. Album Review: Sometimes when inspiration hits and the songs start pouring out of you, the urge to get them out into the world becomes too much to bear. That’s … Read more
Triptides Afterglow Requiem Pour Un Twister [2017] Fire Note Says: Triptides’ 12-string jangle drifts pleasantly along, occasionally punching through the psychedelic haze. Album Review: Jangle-pop is a hard sub-genre to make one’s mark in. Originating with The Byrds’ landmark rock ‘n’ roll reimagining of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” in 1965, the genre has always … Read more
Temples Volcano Fat Possum Records [2017] Fire Note Says: New sounds erupt on Temples’ second album. Album Review: Temples seemingly came out of nowhere in early 2014 with their debut album Sun Structures. Packed with fully-formed neo-psychedelic pop and cavernous space rock, Sun Structures set the bar high and garnered the band some well-deserved attention … Read more
Circus Devils Laughs Best (The Kids Eat It Up): Best Of Circus Devils Happy Jack Rock Records [2017] Fire Note Says: Circus Devils are sent off in fine fashion with this career-spanning double-LP compilation Album Review: Circus Devils has never been for the casual Robert Pollard fan. The “band,” comprising Pollard and brothers Todd and … Read more
M Ross Perkins M Ross Perkins SofaBurn Records [2016] Fire Note Says: M Ross Perkins’ debut LP shows that sometimes all you need to make a great record is yourself, Album Review: It’s been quite a year for Dayton native M Ross Perkins: he had a track premiered by the High Times website, an album … Read more
The Explorer’s Club Together Goldstar Recordings [2016] Album Review: The Explorer’s Club are the 2010s equivalent of The Wondermints—Beach Boys worshippers that have done their homework, crafting tunes that may not quite reach the heights of their idols, but get pretty damn close. If their first album (Freedom Wind) was a tribute to the mid-60s … Read more