Chairlift – Amanaemonesia

Chairlift balls so hard on “Amanaemonesia" that the eighties want them back. Oh and David Lynch called, he wants his weird back.

But seriously, O.M.frickin.G. I never thought I would utter these words, but the interpretive dance on this is actually really awesome. This quirky video directed by lead singer Caroline Polachek and Tom Hines will leave an ever-widening grin on your face.

AA Loves - Hootenanny

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With a name like Hootenanny, you get just that – a foot-stomping, bear throwing, barn burning good time.

Prepare your ear drums to be utterly demolished by monstrous fuzz, grinding rock riffs, plenty of howls, and a shit-ton of attitude. What’s more impressive is that all this attitude and brimstone comes radiating from just two very talented Aussies.

Have a listen to “I Love You” and “Fire In My Belly” below.

  Hootenanny - I Love You by Aesthetes Anonymous

  Hootenanny - Fire In My Belly by Aesthetes Anonymous

Bowie

Graveyard train – Bit By A Dog

By the shaking, jumping ghost of Jehosaphat, Graveyard Train is one helluva band.

Essentially, a six man chain gang, these folks sing in a deep mournful baritone about the macabre while laboring away under the sweltering sun and the watchful eyes of an unrelenting warden.

Happy Birthday Iggy

Morrissey and his Lupins

No Morrissey post can ever be complete without some music. 

Kira Puru and the Bruise – Liar

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To say that few tracks are better than Kira Puru and the Bruise’s “Liar,” would not be entirely hyperbole.

With a murderous glint in her voice, Kira Puru paints elaborate scenes of lucid madness. Part Etta James and mostly sassy southern violence, KP and the Bruises make gorgeous sensuous slow-burning blues boilers that engulf you in a wave of fiery darkness.

Juxtaposing monster guitar riffs and the slow beat of a bass drum, “Liar” simmers gently until Kira Puru’s attitude filled vocals set the track ablaze.

 Kira Puru and the Bruise - The Liar by Aesthetes Anonymous 

Heartless Bastards – Parted Ways

Now that spring has sprung, “Parted Ways” is just the right thing to send you rushing home to begin packing for a barnstorming adventure across the Southwest.

Taken from Heartless Bastards’ fourth album Arrow, the track just screams road trip with lyrics like “And the sun went down in this little ghost town near the valley of the Rio Grand/I need a little bit of whiskey and a little bit of time to ease my troubled mind." Meanwhile lead singer Erika Wennerstrom’s salt of the earth vocals have just the right amount of gravelly longing to fit right in at a lonely bar in the desert. It all makes perfect sense when Wennerstrom explains that she wrote the song during a solo trip to a friend’s ranch in West Texas after touring for two straight years.

Check out the studio video below and be sure to grab a copy of Arrow, which was released in February on Partisan.

Reptiles – One By One

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Lock up your daughters because Reptiles just blew into town.

In their words, “Our new EP spits out the venom about being on the run from the law, psychotically in love, and murder, normal kids stuff.” Well, that pretty much sums it up.

Think Link Wray, The Cramps, and a serious psycho-rock vibe, but with a bluesy southern twist.

Listen to “One By One” below.

 

Sammy

Photo by Burt Glinn

"Being a star has made it possible for me to get insulted in places where the average Negro could never hope to go and get insulted." - Sammy Davis Jr.

AA Loves - The Growl

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I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s the water, but Australia has been pumping out amazing blues rock bands like nobody’s business. The latest in this steady procession is The Growl.

Steeped in voodoo and darky mystery, this quartet from down under does not mess around. Their simmering brand of soul-drenched blues rock conjures up images of hazy smoke-filled rooms sweltering with the heat of Southern humidity and serves as the perfect backdrop for tales filled with mystery, black magic, and murder.

Listen to “3,6,9” and “With the Sharp End of a Trowel” below.

EXITMUSIC – Passage

Blessed is the day for today, we have new EXITMUSIC!

Every bit as eerie, ghoulish, distant – and awesome – as their previous releases, “Passage” is powerfully haunting as Aleksa Palladino’s unnerving wails will linger in your mind long after the last echoes have faded. If that wasn't enough, courtesy of director Will Joines, the latest release comes with a beautifully arresting video that looks like it’s part of a big budget artistic horror movie that has something to do with mysterious rituals, the woods, and a bathtub.

Watch and be mesmerized below. Also, keep an eye out for their debut LP Passage, which is due out May 22^nd on Secretly Canadian.

U.S. Royalty Tour Photos

Have a gander at these amazing photos from U.S. Royalty. Taken while on tour, they capture the feel of Americana in all its halcyon glory – sun soaked, fading, and dreamy as all hell. 

Miles Kane – The First Of My Kind

In case you missed Miles Kane’s latest single like me, have a listen to “The First of My Kind” from his forthcoming EP, which is set to drop on April 21^st.

Not much of a departure from his Colour of The Trap LP, but that’s certainly nothing to complain about given the fact that it was such a killer album. Rife with a mod 60’s pop feel, monstrous Bond-esque trumpets, catchy guitar lines, and of course Kane’s Lennon-infected vocals, “The First Of My Kind” will definitely be on repeat for the rest of the day – and week.

Stream the studio version or watch it live from a recent gig at Olympia.

 

Black Keys – Evil

Haven’t really felt inspired by much these days, so I figured I’d kickstart this weekend with a killer Black Keys B-side.

Taken from “Set You Free,” a three track single released in Australia way back in 1993, “Evil” is an amazing little gem of a blues rock throw back – think early Stones.

Your welcome.

Debbie

La Mancha Negra - Amigos

Caution the teetering rock and roll about to spew forth from your speakers may cause pregnant women to miscarry.

Full of janglin spitfire and moonshine, La Mancha Negra does not mess around when it comes to making some mean ol’ blues rock. Mixing a bit of ghoulish punk a la the Cramps with plenty of raw southern blues, “Amigos” is the perfect soundtrack for your cannonball run through the desert as you flee from a pack of police cars in hot pursuit.

Head over to bandcamp to score your free download of their killer EP The Black Stain. 

Tom Don't Wait

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"I was born in the back seat of a Yellow Cab in a hospital loading zone and with the meter still running. I emerged needing a shave and shouted 'Times Square, and step on it!'"

Memorials – White Guts EP

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Just stumbled across the mysterious band Memorials after getting drawn into one of those dangerous YouTube wormholes that can take hours to escape.

From what I can tell, their/his/hers/its latest EP, White Guts, just dropped last week and is insanely good. Their dreamy guitar driven shoe gaze would be perfect for a David Lynch movie with its innocent 50s pop vibe and dark underlying malice that’s bubbling just below the surface. The textures are surprisingly lush given the minimal instrumentation, but whatever,  it works.

Have a listen to the EP below and if anyone knows anything about this band, please drop me a line.