Noble Jonson has released his new single titled ‘Angry All The Time’ from his upcoming album ‘A Modern Man In Search Of His Soul’. Uniquely derived guitar riffs above a soulful groove and meaningful poetry mix and mash to form an endearing track about one of the most profound relationships one can experience.
Stereotypes in stereo flourish with lessons learned and learned love. Society has a habit of taking groupthink as gospel and laying the law as loveless and uncaring in such a way that we become defined by the results. Noble takes this message to heart and rebuttals with rhythm and argues with an atmosphere only pure music can create. The best way to the heart is through the ears via the mind.
About Noble Jonson & ‘Angry All The Time’
‘Angry All The Time’ is Noble Jonson’s brand new single about men’s relationships with their fathers, through the lens of his relationship with his father and the stereotypical image of men as the strong silent types. This has long been the case in society, from childhood, which is ultimately meant to toughen you up to the cold harsh realities of the world. Noble was musically channelling Jimi Hendrix and Bobby Womack which you can hear in the mix.
The song was recorded at Analogue Catalogue Studios, Rathriland County Down in Ireland, playing together with his band in a room on analog equipment to tape. Carl Small produced it, Noble on vocals, Thomas Downey on guitar, Henrique Franco on drums, Thomas Alford on bass, John Wilson on organ Tony Cowan on Trumpet, and Josh Baker on sax.
Avant-pop syndicate J’CUUZI molts into an entirely new beast with their new single “How 2 Get Everything You’ve Always Wanted 4 Free (Forever)”, an anti-anthem for late-stage capitalism that turns the group’s feral energy and their growling, depraved sense of humor all the way up.
Backed by an array of fuzzy bass and a glitching off-kilter beat, J’CUUZI spells out the trick to happiness gratis through propeller-like vocal distortion and demonic sub octaves, groaning “D-E-B-T”: their secret to success. Sardonic and seductive, industrial and enigmatic; J’CUUZI boldly claims the track contains the solution to all of your problems… and they may be right.
About J’CUUZI
Describing J’CUUZI as a band is at the very least inaccurate, or worse: incorrect. While they do deliver sweaty, electrifying live performances of high octane songs that modulate between serrated post punk guitar and pulsing electro beats, there is at almost every turn some distortion of expectation, some curve, that the word “band” lacks the range to capture.
The members, of which there are an ambiguous number, wear handmade couture, with bulbous anime-esque proportions and insectile features sewn into drag silhouettes. Their stage looks like a cheap studio apartment: a spinning blue egg chair and a single guitar amp on either side of a bedazzled ironing board. Their performances imbued with explosively manic energy and amateur acrobatics, often spill out and on top of the crowd. Even the songs themselves pivot between perspectives on a dime, like two tracks of a similar tempo stitched together by a particularly opportunistic DJ.
Whether you call them a band, a performance art troupe, or a drag family; J’CUUZI has set a pace of expansion and experimentation that proves their’s is an act worth watching.
Lorraine-Dietrich has released their new single titled ‘Do Or Die’. While the track feels all those classic rock sounds, the classic prog element is joyfully back as much as it is needed. Hints of everything from Black Sabbath to Gene Loves Jezebel topped with everything that is the alternative to alternative with a grooved classic jam band feel. This is where modern music needs to be headed. That trippy trip into the guts and glory of everything classic rock was and modern music should be: adventurous.
While taking the guitar back to its deserved hero status, Lorraine-Dietrich experiment with the experimental and retrieve sonic bliss.
About ‘Do Or Die’
‘Do or Die’ is the newest single from Kansas City’s progressive rock trio Lorraine-Dietrich. A modern declaration of ‘Carpe Diem’, the track is a call to action to rise to whatever occasion you find yourself in right now, with no hesitation. The track declares, ‘been working like a dog, don’t fight the fog’ and ‘don’t want to hear your prayers cause nobody cares’, as an indicator that this trio means business and goes hard just because they can.
About Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich is a progressive rock band from Kansas City. The band was formed by guitarist/vocalist Peter Grebenyuk in 2018. Their debut album “Devotion” was released on October 29th, 2021 with bassist Nathan Reid. The second album ‘Swim For Shore’ was released on May 10th, 2024 with Logan Fancolly on bass, Alex Brezik, and Joseph Cooper on drums. The current lineup consists of Peter, bassist Logan Fancolly, and drummer Brayden Parker.
The Imperfected, out of Phoenix, AZ, is the brainchild of producer/bassist Chris Catero. Chris is a music vet who’s played with such rock icons as legendary guitarist Marty Friedman and Wild Mick Brown of Dokken fame, as well as having a diverse history in the music biz. The Imperfected is an ongoing no-holds-barred musical project of his, at times engaging various collaborators. This time singer Matt Harris is featured in his new song and video, “Need You Here Tonight”.
Chris has known Matt from playing out locally and took note of videos he’d post online of him singing cover tunes in his home studio. Having a “Perry Farrell meets Scott Weiland” quality to his voice, Chris thought Matt would be a perfect fit to sing his new single.
Chris says, “Musically the song came about in the same, organic way almost all my songs come about – I stumbled across the main riff and just kept going. Often times tunes originate from a sort of stream-of-conscious jam, one part leads to another as I go. Once I got Matt onboard, he also contributed some cool ideas to melodies and lyrics.” He continued, “Writing songs is actually my day job as I create tunes for sync, music made specifically for libraries who license music to tv/movies/video games that’s “synced” to visual media. So, I started The Imperfected as a vehicle for me to get back to my roots and do songs that are me as an artist.”
While Chris grew up on 70s and 80s rock music, he was also exposed to a lot of varied music from his musical parents. All that influences his writing today. In describing, “Need You Here Tonight”, Chris says, “It’s like Alice in Chains meets Big Country maybe? A weird combo I know, but it’s kind of how I see it in vibe at least. I really like that it has some serious light and shade juxtaposing in a not overly predictable way.”
The Imperfected ‘machine’ is constantly working on an exciting project coming in late spring/early summer. “I’ll be releasing a soundtrack single I wrote for my good friend Alan Niven’s upcoming book release, “Sound N’ Fury”. It’s a great collection of rock n roll stories, and the song is the same title as Alan writing the lyrics.” Chris continues, “Alan has a tremendous history in rock where he’s most known as the manager of Guns N’ Roses and producer, manager, and songwriter in Great White in their perspective heydays. The song’s lyrics touch on stories in the book.”
Chris also has a fun in-your-face Motorhead-inspired single coming out over the next few months featuring a guest solo by a friend who is a nephew of classic-era guitarist Fast Eddie Clark.
Picture one of our greatest living singer-songwriters in a kitchen. He is on holiday, he’s just had a swim. His wife is out on the beach, and he finds himself faced with a bowl of irresistible strawberries. They’re meant to be shared, of course, but their taste is “out of the ordinary”, so he just can’t help himself. Minutes later all of the delicious fruit is gone, but there’s the germ of a song as the phrase “Someone ate all the strawberries” has just popped into Robert Forster’s mind, sounding “so weird, but normal”. Thankfully, he has taken his guitar with him.
As the story goes, his wife Karin Bäumler not only forgave her husband, but she actually joined him on a duet of what was to become the title song to his ninth solo album. “What can ordinary be?” is its wistful question, befitting the life’s work of Robert Forster who has perfected the art of being outré least ostentatiously, from his time in the Go-Betweens to his solo career, now spanning almost three decades, interrupted only by the old band’s reformation in 2000 which ended with his songwriting partner Grant McLennan’s untimely death in 2006.
And yet, as a straight-up personal song, “Strawberries” is a bit of a red herring in the context of this new album that, unusually for Forster, deals almost exclusively in observational character studies or, as the author would have it, “story songs”.
The Scuttlers are a four-piece, progressive art rock band operating out of the colorful Bristol indie scene. They have a unique and unpredictable stage performance that borders on performance art. The music itself is partly improvised so no two shows are the same. Eccentric lead singer, Myer, has a background in solo acoustic folk while this project is the polar opposite. Contrasting their encapsulating live performance, their lyrics and music have darker tones of anxiety and paranoia.
They take their inspiration from the CBGB scene of the 1970s the Windmill scene of the 2020s and folk music from as early as they can remember. The Scuttlers take inspiration from genres such as art-rock, post-Brexit punk, new-wave, jazz, and math-rock.
Jane Doe has today released their new video for the track titled ‘Atlas’. Co-directed by Janna King and Ava Taulere, the video captures that quasi-Bossanova meets gritty rock and soul fused with absolute originality.
The guitars are a sheer demon that carries the vocals to their conclusion. This is a stomp-styled track with the weight of anything that rock is mixed with everything indie music should be. The guitar solo is a straight-up money shot that begs the question ‘Why don’t more songs have a guitar solo?’.
At the end of the day, the song, Jane Doe captivates and originates in every possible way using all possible means. And, that is what a great band should always do.
“We wanted to highlight the salty lyrics by giving the music video an absurdist comedy twist. Everyone knows that person who plays the victim and acts like they’re Atlas with the world on their shoulders, so this is our take on that theme. Instead of the world, it’s a cupcake or an enormous beachball. We’re also all about honoring those in the music and rock world who came before us. The suits let us dress the part but with a Jane Doe flare.” Izzy, Jane Doe
About Jane Doe
Jane Doe is not your average band – not by a long shot. With an authentic sound woven from the milieu of rock and roll, the West Coast-based Jane Doe is fronted by a defiant, opinionated but incredibly smart and compassionate woman, singing, screaming, and messaging an entire generation to whom she’s connected. Jane Doe’s National (US/CDN) campaign launched along with their debut album “Identified”, in January 2019 and was mastered by none other than the legendary Howie Weinberg. With tunes like the brutally honest ‘Final Line’, epic throwbacks, and homage tracks like ‘This is a Rock Song’, as well as the empowering ‘Scab’ and haunting ‘Scar Territory’, Jane Doe’s music has become part of a new multi-generational soundtrack.
Their sophomore album Found marks a new musical chapter for the band. Single “Dig a Grave” is a face-melting grunge rock anthem celebrating the dirty moodiness of the era. The song is shared alongside a cinematic music video. Helmed by an experience-meets-innovation father-daughter duo, the visual is heavily inspired by Stanley Kubrick with its vibrant visuals, dark thematic undertones, and sardonic bite.
Then there is “Atlas”, which features rolling drums, dynamic power chords, and deeply intense evocative vocals that fuse together for a vortex of magnetic ferocity. Frontwoman Izzy Kay adds that the song is “inspired by the music that came before us, laced with sarcastic lyrics, and ever-dedicated to carry the torch of rock n’ roll.”
Above all else, Jane Doe is the generation that doesn’t fit a specific mold. Jane Doe is a square peg in a round hole. Jane Doe is the wave of people who identify with the past but shape the future.
Lower Life Forms has today released their new video for the track titled ‘Circling The Drain’ from their upcoming album ‘A Journey Through the Anthropocene’, dropping this spring.
Lyrically diverse and musically inclusive, this is a track that infuses freestyle with a neo-classic backbeat and passionate poetry. I have to mention about how much I love the title. The meaning behind it. The way it’s used in the song. That double entendre vibe with passive anarchy and positive social reaction.
However, being drenched in stellar music is the best way to convey the message and frame said title. A consistent burn without letting up. Do not waste your time hearing this on earbuds because this is perfect for a stereo. The vibe will get wasted. And vibe creates vision.
About Lower Life Forms
As two-thirds of the hip hop production squad, Team Demo, DJ Dialtone, and Mister Wise have an impressive discography behind records for hip hop luminaries such as 50 Cent and Sean Price, but their musical career began in the early 1990s in Burke, Virginia as a duo known as the Lower Life Forms.
While still in high school, the Life Forms were spotted by Ahmed and Otis (dancers for the legendary group, 3rd Bass,) who signed them to a management deal. After prospects with two major labels dissolved, Wise founded Depth Charge Recordings, a label and recording studio operation centered around his extended family of artists, producers, and DJs, known collectively as Team Demolition.
In 1997, the Lower Life Forms completed their debut album, “The Whole Universe is Ours,” and released their first 12-inch single, “Open Invitation.” After a small local cassette circulation, Wise opted to table the commercial release of the album to direct company resources towards the production of Team Demolition’s debut album. Wise and Dialtone would spend the next 25 years amassing scores of artistic, production, and technical credits before re-emerging as the Lower Life Forms in late 2021 with the remastered pressing of “The Whole Universe is Ours” album on Belgian label, Back 2 Da Source Records.
After the release of Team Demo’s “It’s a Demo,” album in late 2023, Wise and Dialtone began exploring the idea of creating another Lower Life Forms album. Inspired by the renewed interest in the group’s early work, the duo embarked on a project that begins set in the early 90s and with each subsequent track, progresses towards the present day. Special attention was paid to adhering to the duo’s original jazz fusion-inspired sound. The completed result, “A Journey Through the Anthropocene,” will be released in the Spring of 2025.
Tomás Doncker & The True Groove All-Stars - Hard Is Hard
Tomás Doncker & The True Groove All-Stars have today released their new single titled ‘Hard Is Hard’ via True Groove Records. Like a band on the run with funk in the trunk and a guitar case full of fuck offs, fuck it, and fuck yeahs, The True Groove All-Stars set out to do what they do best: conquer the scene one track at a time.
Lucid percussive rhythm lays a guttural groove in the pocket while Tomás preaches the pronouns and lets you know the worst thing for a true winner is a rearview mirror. Think of this as a soundtrack for expansive thought. Just enough to conspire and more than enough to inspire. Conjuring feelings that will feed your next action, which hopefully is positive action. Let that next hit from life hit you right in the feels and push you forward instead of pull you back. This is what the best music does for all of us.
“We are living in a pivotal time in history…Things are tough for everyone, everywhere. Someone once asked me: “What’s the difference between being ‘The Champ’, and being a contender?” I had no idea…The answer was: “The Champion has the strength of character to get up off the canvas one more time.” It’s probably the most difficult thing to do. Hard is Hard. Stay strong, keep gettin’ up. One. More. Time!” Tomás Doncker
Check out our other features with Tomás Doncker & The True Groove All-Stars HERE.
About ‘Hard Is Hard’
Hot on the heels of February’s single release, I’m really pleased to be dropping over ‘Hard Is Hard’, the upcoming new single from NYC-based alternative-R&B producer, singer, and songwriter Tomás Doncker, set for release on March 7th, 2025 via his label True Groove Records.
Tomás Doncker has long been a prime mover in the New York music, arts, and culture scenes. From the early 1980s, as a member of groundbreaking No Wave and Punk Funk bands The Contortions and Defunkt, international touring, recording and songwriting collaborations with luminaries such as Bootsy Collins, Meshell Ndegeocello, Ivan Neville, The Specials and Patti Smith, to helming his band, The True Groove All-Stars which include members of The Specials, Tomás has established himself as a cross-genre innovator without peer.
‘Hard Is Hard’ follows February’s ‘Wha-Gwaan!’ which featured guest drums and vocals from Fun Lovin’ Criminals / UB40’s Frank Benbini, and was celebrated by Wonderland Magazine, Jammerzine, Fame Magazine, and RTE.
Produced with James Dellatacoma (Bill Laswell, Herbie Hancock) and mastered by Michael Fossenkemper (Paul Weller, LL Cool J, Miles Davis), ‘Hard Is Hard’ fuses epic funk grooves with soulful vocals providing a powerful reminder to keep on keeping on; times are tough, but so are you.
About Tomás Doncker & The True Groove All-Stars
For over a decade, Doncker’s expansive creative endeavors have found a home with his label/production hub, True Groove Records. Projects have included work with Ravid Kahalani, P-Funk alumni Michael ‘Kidd Funkadelic’ Hampton and Amp Fiddler, Hip-Hop pioneer Keith Shocklee (Public Enemy/Bomb Squad), and iconic bassist/producer Bill Laswell.
His ongoing musical collaborations with New York Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Yusef Komunyakaa yielded the critically acclaimed albums Big Apple Blues, The Mercy Suite, and The Black Magnolia Project. Most recently, Doncker and Komunyakaa joined forces with visual artist Floyd Tunson to create ‘ENDANGERED’ in June of 2022, an immersive multimedia experience that addresses the historical conundrum that black men in America are endangered. Inspired by Tunson’s Afro-Futuristic and politically charged artwork, and powered by lyrics from Komunyakaa, Doncker composed a sonic journey to freedom, a modern-day Revolution of the Mind, that has been hailed as “a socio-politically charged audio-visual soundtrack of 21st Century dissent, discomfort, and reclamation.”
Sometimes, breaking free isn’t just an act; it’s a declaration. Shannon Smith’s latest single, “Break Free,”, releasing March 7th, isn’t just another folk-country ballad—it’s a battle cry wrapped in acoustic strings and raw, unapologetic honesty.
Originally written about a friend’s broken engagement, “Break Free” evolved into something far more personal for Smith. “It started as their story, but it quickly became mine,” he shares. “The song transformed into a reflection on breaking free from my own troubles, my own vices, and destructive behaviors. It’s about the courage to face yourself, not just someone else.”
With every strum of his guitar and soul-baring lyric, Smith invites listeners into this personal reckoning, weaving a tapestry of struggle, realization, and the fierce will to reclaim one’s light.
Musically, “Break Free” leans into its folk roots while flirting with the edges of classic pop and Americana. The arrangement is deceptively simple yet emotionally rich, featuring warm acoustic guitar, stirring piano, steady bass lines, and the haunting cry of pedal steel—all anchored by Smith’s voice, equal parts grit and grace. It’s not just a song; it’s a reflection on his life and one that many will find eerily familiar.
Set to feature on his debut album, Out of the Shadows, dropping in May 2025, “Break Free” marks a pivotal moment in Smith’s evolution as an artist. The album is a deeply personal reflection on his life story—his love, downfalls, mistakes, and shame. Much of it is intertwined with his relationship with Helen Townsend. Out of the Shadows isn’t just about stepping into the spotlight with his music; it’s about moving out of the darkness of lies, doubts, and make-believe, into the light of truth, openness, and authenticity.
About Shannon Smith
A Fremantle native with a voice that feels like an old friend and lyrics that hit like a truth you’ve been avoiding, Shannon Smith blends folk, Americana, and soul into something uniquely his own. His collaborations with Grammy-nominated artists have solidified his reputation as a storyteller with a heart that beats through every note.
Man Lee has today released their new video titled ‘Night Driving’ from their upcoming debut album ‘Hefty Winpy’ dropping tomorrow. Making a name for themselves already at this new step in their young career, Man Lee complete the trifecta of singles before the release to let all of us know something new is arriving.
A lucid combination of ambition with modern indie vibes, the song is accompanied by a hand-drawn video made by the band’s own Sam Reichman. Simple yet effective, visual and sonic senses merge and highlight the best hook and features of the music. Musically, the song is a memorable crescendo that never lets up yet lets you in. Taking an almost jam-band point of view, the song takes that indie fly-by-wire sound and merges it with solid songwriting and an improvisational flair.
‘Hefty Wimpy’ drops tomorrow (links below).
About ‘Hefty Wimpy’
Tomorrow (March 6, 2025), Brooklyn-based art-rock duo MAN LEE (Sam Reichman & Tim Lee) will release their debut album Hefty Wimpy, produced by Arthur Moon (Lora-Faye Åshuvud). First previewed through a trio of singles, “Celery,” “Best One,” and “Wind,” as a final peek into the LP, today, the duo shared “Night Driving.” Woven into a winding dreamlike composition, the track ruminates on biting your tongue, not listening to yourself, and trying to power through an interaction, and the bitterness this creates—even when it’s all just in your head. Playful, sauntering guitar strums pass through riveting psych-rock passages, like fleeting moments flashing in and out of luminous streetlights in the dark.
Accompanying the track is a video entirely hand-drawn by Reichman herself, who explains, “It’s funny the way we form memories. That’s what I got to play with here, re-creating a sequence of moments from the POV of a kid dozing off in the back seat of the family car: a trip to the bank, through the pneumatic tube to reach the lollipop at the end, then dozing off into a more dream state.”
Hefty Wimpy is a nine-song collection exploring misaligned expectations of the self and others, wrapped in a blend of psychedelic, art rock, and pop influences that feels both expansive and neatly familiar, perfectly Throughout the record, MAN LEE processes the things in life that feel most dissonant to them: faith in self vs. faith in religion, commitment in life with a deadline, and finding meaning at work under capitalism. “Much of the album stems from the feeling of being resigned to our fates, though not disappointed. Just acknowledging what it is, where expectations have been met or not—right or wrong—and moving on,” the band explains.
Self-described as an indie-rock band for the weary masses, MAN LEE is based in Brooklyn, formed by way of I-95. Songwriters and namesake of the band Sam Reichman and Tim Lee began writing together while living between Richmond, D.C, and Baltimore before finding their collaborators back in New York. Reichman’s vocals range from tight bedroom pop to wailing vibrato depending on the required level of interplay with Lee’s ever-fuzzy guitar expressions. Their lyrics conjure the openness of Cibo Matto and the blunt charm of CAKE.
Jammerzine has an exclusive interview with Julian Shah-Tayler (a.k.a. The Singularity) on his new album, ‘Honne/Tatemae’, officially dropping tomorrow via Impossible Things Records.
‘Honne/Tatemae’ is beyond a concept. It is a snapshot of life itself. a set of feelings and conveyances set to music that we all find relatable yet most of us rarely speak about. That secret place that screams aloud in the silence around our hearts. As described below, the album is named for the Japanese duality of ‘honne‘ (本音) referring to one’s true feelings and outward behaviors, and ‘tatemae’ (建前) referring to the behavior and opinions one displays in public. The person we are vs the person we want you to think we are. That guttural sense of self behind the representative we created.
A sometimes gentle ride with emotional peaks and valleys, ‘Honne/Tatemae’ is a future classic set to wild extravaganzas and vivid reflections through the mind, heart, and soul of a true artist who’s lived, learned, and loved through it all. Pain can be the best muse, in hindsight, as much as serenity can make the most crippling malaise. But, what I can tell you, it can make some great music. For both the 本音 and the 建前 in all of us.
And, in this interview, we talk with Julian about ‘Honne/Tatemae’; the meaning, muses, music, and majesty of it all. As always with artists such as Julian, this is more of a conversation with old friends about the good music that is ‘Honne/Tatemae’ and much, much more.
Watch the interview above.
Check out our other features with Julian Shah-Tayler HERE.
About ‘Honne/Tatemae’
Julian’s last (2023 Grammy eligible/#4 New-Wave) album “Elysium” charted the trajectory of the “Perfect True Love of One’s Life”, and the foibles of maintaining that beautiful state. Unfortunately (to the sound of a sad trombone) the new one, “Honne/Tatemae” depicts the demise of that relationship and the soul-searching in the wake of its crash and burn. Named for the Japanese duality of “HONNE” referring to one’s true feelings and outward behaviors and “TATEMAE” referring to the behavior and opinions one displays in public, the album explores the reasons and reflections around what it means to feel true, and the distinctions between lust, love, yearning and the very public displays of these emotions that an artist must suffer under.
From the optimism of “ForEva” to the bleak and universal desolation of (Mike Garson (Bowie), David J (Bauhaus), Carmine Rojas (Bowie) assisted) “Lights Out” the album lyrics jump across the line from deeply oblique to wildly earnest declarations of both Love and Despair, perhaps most schizophrenically on the Hit Single “Fall Apart” written in a period of great sadness. (originally meant for Elysium, but entirely inappropriate for inclusion at the time) The album once again features a couple of songs co-produced with Robert Margouleff (Stevie Wonder/Devo)
Julian is also working with Danny Saber (Bowie/Rolling Stones) on some remixes and the magnificent Darwin Meiners (Night Crickets) handles mixing duties on several songs. The Japanese duality “Honne/Tatemae” is indicative of the fundamental duality of life. “Honne” is the person we really are, our true feelings and desires. “Tatemae” is the behaviors and opinions we display in public.
“Elysium” was my deep dive into the optimism of Love, and this one is my cynical debrief after that relation”ship” sunk.
Here, I explore much darker and angrier territory than I ever have before. It is the self-therapy album, the catharsis before the storm. I need to believe in Love. I need to hold hope. I need to exorcise the snakes.
This is that album.
About Julian Shah-Tayler
Born in Leeds, England, and educated at Hogwarts(truly!) all the way to a philosophy degree at York University, Julian moved to London as a singer-songwriter with classical training on piano and self taught on guitar.
After abortive record deals with Alan McGee he joined hip-electro clash outfit “Whitey” as co-writer/guitarist recording many of the songs in his nascent home studio. After a complete communication breakdown, Julian moved to Los Angeles to pursue his own project and had further success with licenses in TV and film in the USA.
The band reveals, “‘Sound the Alarm’ may be seen through the eyes of a survivor in a post-apocalyptic landscape, but it’s really about the dangers that surround our soul daily. The thief who comes to kill, steal, and destroy…and our rally calls to stay vigilant while alerting those around us to do the same. We wrote it with our friend Kellen McGregor (Memphis May Fire) and we think our listeners are going to love it.”
Skeleton Psalms was created in-house: produced by guitarist Josiah Prince at his studio The Ranch, written by Kevin Young, Andrew Stanton (guitar), and Josiah Prince, with drums from Joey West and additional backing vocal support from touring bassist Marco Pera. For additional support on instrumentation, Mark “Traa” Daniels (P.O.D.) played bass. The band called on mix engineer Nick Rad (Skillet), mastering engineer Sam Moses (Tenth Avenue North), and the drum recording skills of Lester Estelle (Pillar, Kelly Clarkson) to round out the creative team. The album has spawned three #1 singles (“Executioner,” “Promise to Live” and “Bad Words”) and was a 2023 Dove Award nominee.
The veteran Christian rock band was originally formed by high school friends in Maryville, Tennessee in 1992. Just a teenager at the time, founder and frontman Kevin Young was inspired to follow in the footsteps of bands who shaped his own belief — acts like Petra, Stryper, and Whitecross, Christian bands who were scandalizing listeners of the time even as secular acts like Pantera, Skid Row, and Def Leppard easily ruled the mainstream airwaves.
“The Christian music scene was completely different back then,” Young recalls. “Most of what was played on the radio seemed tame in comparison to the influences of my childhood, particularly punk and hard rock. I wanted to write and sing music that sounded like my culture but that also carried a message and reflected my values.”
The result was Disciple, a name chosen initially as a simple placeholder to represent the band’s core mission to be followers of Jesus Christ in all things. That commitment drove them through early independent records and across the South, playing concerts as a three-piece band. By 1997, their dedication had landed them their first record deal. By 2001, they were releasing their third album and navigating the harrowing challenges of road life as their following grew.
Looking back on the band’s history, Young reflects, “It’s the call and the cost of being a disciple of Jesus: sometimes you’re going to have a lot, and sometimes you’re going to have a little. That doesn’t matter; we’re on a mission. I feel like that has been our life as a band.”
Currently, the band is a collective of musicians who have held the ferocious hard rock sound steady for over 10 years: Young on vocals, Josiah Prince on guitar, Andrew Stanton on guitar, and Joey West on drums. The growth of their tightly knit musical cohesion is evident on their most recent album, Skeleton Psalms. From scorching riffs to thunderous drum fills to alternately melodic and searing vocals, Disciple is a band intimately familiar with their toolkit while unafraid to push their limits.
Every one of the longstanding members shares a sense of urgent calling that allows them to weather the storms of a changeable music landscape. In Disciple’s eyes, their mission of evangelism and hope eclipse any accolades that the band could earn. But their chronic drivenness prompted by adherence to the Gospel has consistently turned heads — and impacted lives.
In 2020, the band launched a second musical project as an outlet for their impulse to worship, a band titled Honor & Glory. That band would ultimately secure their first career Grammy nomination for “Firm Foundation (He Won’t).”
But beyond those quantifiable milestones, Disciple’s music has made its deepest mark through resonance with listeners struggling with anxiety, depression, addiction, suicidality, and self-harm. Their songs’ message of unconditional love meeting each of us at our most broken has inspired countless stories of lives saved and changed. Most recently, that has been evident through “Promise to Live,” which topped Christian rock radio charts for a staggering 16 weeks in a row.
“We all are in this world together, and are all in recovery together, from the trauma of this world and this life,” Young offers earnestly. “We’re not fighting alone. We’re fighting together. We make this promise to God and to each other: to not give up fighting. To not lose hope. To live for the most precious gift we have, which is life.”
That promise continues to galvanize the band well past the three-decade mark. Even with such storied staying power to their name, Disciple’s Kevin Young is quick to clarify the call that still lies before them.
“I don’t want to celebrate anything about what I’ve done in this life. I want to lay my life down in exchange for a better one that God has for me,” he states.
With over 200k Spotify listeners, 250k followers across platforms, and 44 million and counting lifetime YouTube views, Disciple continues to show their relevance and profound impact on the heavy metal world. Stay tuned as Disciple releases content throughout 2025 alongside upcoming tour dates.
Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos have today released their new single titled ‘Pieces’, as well as the B-Side ‘The Veil’. Starting like a lucid dream, the song feels like an almost nostalgic and atmospheric veil permeating through mind and soul with a suave style and beautifully dark feeling. Sonically book-ended with its audio doppelganger, ‘Pieces’ feels whole to those who feel the vibe and artistic resonance.
A mix of glory daze darkwave and current alternative pop stylings, the muse is malignant, and the atmosphere is felt throughout with a beautiful take on originality and an orchestrally felt walk through the night. This is music with a purpose, and that purpose is inspiration.
About ‘Pieces’
Two years after their latest studio album, Fractals, Costa Rican goth trio Ariel Maniki, and the Black Halos return with the brand-new single, ‘Pieces’. Bandleader Ariel Maniki says:
“’Pieces’ is a cry for help in a moment of need. Need for a home, for a place of warmth and safety. For connection. For a different perspective to see the world we live in. And all of that is what music represents to me. We could say that the lyrics are dedicated to music itself.”
Since the release of Fractals (2023), the band members have been kept busy with other projects, including Proyecto Escapulario, The Waning Moon, and Red Apple Cvlt. After a short break, Ariel Maniki, Janice Black, and Eva Red reconvened to start writing new Black Halos material, expecting things to naturally fall back into place – but they didn’t, as Maniki explains:
“Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and nothing would occur to me that would fit our band. Musically, my head was elsewhere. It was clear that we had to do something different and be very intentional. Hence, we decided to rent a cabin in the mountains outside of San José, where we put together a little recording station and locked ourselves away for a weekend….”
“Before grabbing any instruments, we sat down and discussed what our new song should sound like. It should sound like us. But what does that mean? Maybe some gothic rock elements like atmospheric guitars and deep vocals. Maybe a new-wave style drum machine that invites you to dance, to an overall feeling of longing and nostalgia. The discussion went on for a while.” “Alcohol and other assets might have helped a bit, but once we agreed on the ingredients, the music just manifested itself effortlessly. We connected on a very deep level, and in no time, we had something solid that we all liked… I wrote the lyrics overnight.”
During their weekend cabin retreat, the band also documented their creative process, which forms the basis of a forthcoming promo clip. Meanwhile, the single’s brooding B-side, ‘The Veil’, was also recorded.
“On the side, we also did another song to be the antithesis of our single. We intentionally went quite the opposite way with what could be called the B-side for ‘Pieces’. But that is a different story.”
‘Pieces’ by Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos is out on March 5th, 2025, as a download from Bandcamp, and streaming from Spotify and all the usual digital music platforms. The video for ‘Pieces’ will be unveiled on 28 March, before the band celebrate the new release with a rare live show in their hometown of San José, Costa Rica, at Teatro Nico Baker on April 5th.
Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson have today released their new video and track titled ‘Marching Jaybird’ from their forthcoming album of North Carolina fiddle and banjo music ‘What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow’ on April 18th via Nonesuch Records.
This is one of those tracks that make you feel welcome. At home with new friends, if you will. Even though it’s an instrumental, there is a clear message of Americana meets independent music and, even more, independent thought. A subtle feeling of serenity surrounded by pure musicianship and freethinkers, Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson bring their friendly ways about them and make you a part of their lives, and you theirs.
About ‘Marching Jaybird’
As part of their long-awaited reunion on this album, “Marching Jaybird” finds the duo revisiting a recording by influential guitarist and singer Etta Baker, one of their musical heroes and a key inspiration for making this new album.
The instrumental track, with Giddens and Robinson both on banjo, was recorded at Baker’s Morganton, NC home. The two longtime friends and collaborators experienced an extraordinary moment at Baker’s home while recording when her son, Edgar Baker, offhandedly mentioned that his mother had recorded “Carolina Breakdown” in her yard and that a Carolina wren ended up on the recording. Robinson and Giddens were delighted to hear him tell this story, as that very recording had been their inspiration to record What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow in the way they did — preserving its place in music. The duo recorded Baker’s version of “Marching Jaybird” in the living room, as shown in the video, with Baker’s son listening.
“This was a magical moment for Justin and me,” Giddens says. “Walking into Etta Baker’s house, which is frozen in time, looking just like it did when she was alive, very much reminded us of women in our families; sitting in her living room and recording this piece we learned from her playing, was pretty profound.”
Today Giddens also announced a number of new dates on her Rhiannon Giddens & The Old-Time Revue tour–featuring Robinson and four other string musicians, including multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell. On June 18 they will headline the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, joined by special guests Our Native Daughters– in their first performance since 2022–as well as Steve Martin, Ed Helms, and more. Additional shows in July have been added to the itinerary as well; see below for the full list.
Giddens also shared more details about Biscuits & Banjos, revealing the remaining artist performances and panel lineup, her first festival, which takes place April 25-27 in downtown Durham, NC. Curated by Giddens, Biscuits & Banjos highlights the deep roots and enduring legacy of Black music, art, and culture while fostering community and storytelling. The sold-out festival will feature a much-anticipated Carolina Chocolate Drops reunion, their first performance together in more than a decade. The newly unveiled additions include Amythyst Kiah, Angela Wellman, Bittersweet Brass Band, Buffalo Nichols, Charly Lowry, Dasan Ahanu, Gabrielle and Danielle Davenport, Hannah Mayree, Joseph Johnson, Dr. Lalenja Harrington, Michael Twitty, Niwel Tsumbu, Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, Shana Tucker, Shorlette Ammons, Sùle Greg Wilson, Toni Tipton-Martin, Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom, Yasmin Williams, and more.
The panels include:
Black Voices in Country Music: A Conversation with Rhiannon Giddens, Rissi Palmer, and Alice Randall
Let the Church Say Amen!: Ritual, Storytelling, and the Oral Tradition with Dasan Ahanu and Dr. Lalenja Harrington
Intentional Community: Celebrating Black Voices in Festivals and Live Events with Holly G, Brandi Waller-Pace, Rissi Palmer, and Dr. Dena Ross Jennings
The Art of the Biscuit A Conversation with Michael Twitty and Toni Tipton-Martin, supported by Biscuitville
Biscuits & Banjos is a non-profit, community-responsive festival. Funding for Biscuits & Banjos is made possible in part by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the National Endowment for the Arts, North Carolina Humanities, the Danielle Rose Paikin Foundation, the Harper House Music Foundation, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, Warner Music Group & Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund (a sponsored project of Moore Impact), Duke Arts, Duke Community Affairs, 21c Museum Hotel, Biscuitville, the City of Durham, Durham County, Discover Durham, North Carolina Arts Council, Durham Arts Council, American Tobacco Campus, Blue Ridge Music Center, Sugarlands Distilling Company, Bull City Burger and Brewery, Proximity Brewing Company, and other generous individual donors, sponsors, civic, and community partners. On the state’s partnership, Secretary Reid Wilson said, “The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is excited to help sponsor Rhiannon Giddens’ new Biscuits & Banjos festival in 2025. The festival will allow North Carolinians to immerse themselves in our state’s vibrant music and arts, rich history, and diverse culture. Music provides common ground for all of us, and we’re proud to be a part of this innovative event.”
Produced by Giddens and Joseph “joebass” DeJarnette, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow finds Giddens and Robinson playing eighteen of their favorite North Carolina tunes: a mix of instrumentals and tunes with words. Many were learned from their late mentor, the legendary North Carolina Piedmont musician Joe Thompson, one of the last musicians of his era and his community to carry on the southern Black string band tradition. Giddens and Robinson also recorded outdoors at Thompson’s Mebane, NC home, as well as the former plantation Mill Prong. They were accompanied by the sounds of nature, including two different broods of cicadas, which had not emerged simultaneously since 1803, creating a true once-in-a-lifetime soundscape.
“With the assaults on reality going on in the world today, we wanted to offer another kind of record, like walking back onto a gravel or dirt road while a stampede goes the other way,” Giddens says. “With the cicada choir, this record could’ve only happened at a certain time in the last 120 years. We doubled down on place, time, realness, and old-fashioned front porch music. It’s a reminder that another way exists, with music made for your community’s enjoyment and for dancing–not solely for commercial purposes.”
‘What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow’ tracklist
Skylephant is an innovative musical artist known for blending genres such as indie pop, electronic, and alternative rock. As unlikely as it sounds, following the release of his first album ‘Songs for the Fragile Collective’ this 60-year-old artist quickly gained recognition for his unique soundscapes and emotionally resonant lyrics.
With a lifetime of musical experiences, Skylephant’s influences are deep and broad, spanning classic rock, folk, and indie, to modern electronic beats. His work’s eclectic background is evident, which often features intricate arrangements and a rich tapestry of sounds.
Skylephant’s debut album, “Songs for the Fragile Collective,” released in 2019, was a critical success, earning praise for its inventive production and heartfelt storytelling. The lead single, I Am The Ghost, became an underground favorite on college radio, showcasing Skylephant’s ability to create music that is both introspective and universally relatable.
In addition to his studio work, Skylephant is now preparing for some dynamic live performances that combine visual art with music, creating an immersive experience for audiences. This multidisciplinary, multi-genre approach should solidify Skylephant’s reputation as a forward-thinking artist pushing the boundaries of contemporary music.
Despite his growing fame, Skylephant remains committed to artistic integrity. He frequently collaborates with other artists and experiments with new sounds. With each release, he continues to captivate listeners and critics alike, solidifying his place in the modern musical landscape.
Check out our other features with Skylephant HERE.
About ‘The Phoenix Lights’
This is the second single taken from the forthcoming album ‘PLANET’. This single takes it’s title from the high-profile UFO sighting, which took place in Phoenix Arizona 28 years ago. The lyrics explore the topic of potential alien visitations and just how much our governments around the world actually know. It also explores the views of the ancient astronaut theorists, pondering what influence the events, that they believe may have taken place, could have had on ancient civilisations’ beliefs around the gods.
Kat King has released her new single titled ‘I Might Like It’. Leaving that first impression as a permanent opinion, ‘I Might Like It’ is a subtle kick to the feels with a gorgeous soundscape that fills the ears and leaves the listener with a heightened feeling and fresh outlook.
Kat clearly has her own sound and style. The impressive part is how she embraces it and improves it from one song to the next. This is a brilliant song, both in songwriting and execution. It’s one of those tracks that make you go back to certain parts, just to hear them again, leaving that micro-tear in your eye each time as well.
Sure, everyone has been exactly where ‘I Might Like It’ has been. My Facebook feed is full of that sh*t. But now there’s a soundtrack for it. A brilliant one at that. It’s done in such a way that it’s both a waking slap to the face and a subtle nudge in the right direction. Only the best music can make you learn while you fall in love with it.
About ‘I Might Like It’
Imagine Kate Bush meets the indie rock sounds of the 2000s, with lush instrumentals building toward a chorus that begs for a crowd to sing along. After four years of songwriting as a unit and teaming up with a fresh producer, Kat King has officially leveled up. With razor-sharp lyrics, haunting vocals, and moments that’ll leave you reeling, “I Might Like It” is an anthem for anyone who’s ever blurred the lines between love and fixation. It’s messy, it’s addictive, and you might like it too.
“I Might Like It started from a voice memo that Derek (our guitarist) sent me. I fell in love with the nostalgic progression and droney guitar line, so I started crafting the verse lyrics over it on a plane home after reconnecting with one of my closest friends. We’d spent an evening calling ourselves out for how we’d both functioned in past relationships, blurring the line between love and addiction to the pain of someone who strings you along. We’ve both found our way out of that cycle, thankfully, but I think many people have found themselves there. I wrote the chorus to be an anthem for that sentiment. At first listen, it might sound like another heartbreak song, but I’m shaking my past self like ‘Hey dummy, stop putting yourself through this cycle. The blame can’t all be put on the person stringing you along.’ I hope listeners pick up on that twist and that it incites them to reflect on this all-too-common notion.”
Kat King has a string of mini-tours on their radar this spring, joining as support for up-and-coming acts like Strawberry Launch, The Ivy, and Lyncs. The group will continue releasing a steady stream of singles throughout the spring and summer as they work on finalizing their debut album.
About Kat King
Kat King is an electrifying 5-piece indie-pop rock group who recently released their second EP, Domestic Bliss. They’ve shared stages with acclaimed acts like The Beths, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, and the War & Treaty. With multiple singles on local stations’ regular rotation and infectious live energy, their momentum is consistent. Lead singer Kat King’s career started in small-town Kansas. As a solo singer-songwriter act, she co-produced one 13-song album and three EPs, the first one released at the young age of 14. Now based in Kansas City, the group is currently working on their debut album.
Morgan Visconti is a multi-faceted artist full of raw creative energy. Through his latest solo album, Twilight City, he has created a veritable long-form ambient-electro symphony… A space where meditative moments dissolve into pulses of electricity and stirring rhythm. If Bluetech, Eurythmics, Vangelis, Prince, and Satie all collided into a neon-drenched daydream, this album might be the result.
Twilight City is a time capsule of riveting loops and melodic sequences. Morgan Visconti’s latest release was actually composed in 1991 and rediscovered some decades later.
As the opening track unfolds, it becomes apparent that the album was ahead of its time. Despite it being recorded on a modest four-track cassette and borrowed a year, Twilight City causes the following words to arise: Ethereal, new-age, ambient, fresh. Contemplative tape-loops, fiery solos, and theatrical drums culminate into what is best called: An Odyssey.
A Track-by-Track Journey Through ‘Twilight City’
‘Scarred Land’ – A slow-burning pulse, deep basslines, and strings that hover like a spectral presence.
‘Don’t Look Back Al’ – Funk-infused with a Boom-Chick 80s vibe, sharp horn hits, and alluring wa-pedal-esque synths.
‘Mysteria’ – Upright-bass-type synth textures, and an orchestral stack of electronic layers.
‘River Walk’ – Chimey, video-game-like, with swirling melodic motion like snow flurries…
‘Log Drum’ – Percussive and syncopated, ritualistic.
‘Techno Ballad’ – Overture-like, harpsichord-ish bright synths, and a sense of ascent. An oom-pah rhythm meets oboe-like synths, carrying a lyrical quality.
‘Gymnopédie’ – A reimagining of Satie’s piano piece, led by its haunting bassline.
‘Magnetism’ – Running eighth notes, a chorus of synths, a piano-like melody dissolving into echoes.
‘Blue Skies’ – Epic yet melancholy, spacious
‘Twilight City’ – Thumping bass, cascading piano echoes, and a hypnotic melody rising from the mist.
‘The Altar’ – Swells of ominous synth, descending into darker territory…
‘Grace’ – A breathy, spacious interlude continuing The Altar’s haunting aura.
‘Red Light’s – Funk-infused, step-like, embodying the feeling of tension/waiting.
‘Floydism’ – A plaintive guitar, orchestral strings, and an ethereal warmth.
‘Highway’ – A return to deep beats and an EDM pulse.
‘Grace Two’ – Cinematic, nostalgic, and harmonically rich.
‘Discovery’ – A luminous rise of layered synth waves, accented offbeats.
‘The Decision’ – A blend of sparkling chimes, racing 16th notes, and 80s bass.
‘Towers of Glass’ – A crystalline synth leads to a climactic resolution.
Q&A
In Twilight City there are pensive moments followed by amped-up waves of exuberance.
Throughout this winding 19-track album, we step into a nostalgic soundscape…one with a breath of newness and complexity. This electric-lit neon landscape captures a plethora of moments of existence, from the melancholic to the ethereal.
“This was composed on an Akai drum machine that I’d borrowed from work – I was skint at the time and didn’t really own any of my own gear for another year or so. I had loaded it up with some industrial-type drums that I’d made by banging on bits of metal and I tried to emulate the big kick drum I heard on Prince’s records. It ended up becoming weirdly dub + trance with the overdubs played live on my Juno 106 and delay pedal and I think I was channeling early Eurythmics somehow through a Tangerine Dream filter. It’s the most technologically advanced track on the album and it captures for me the excitement of finding myself independent and a little apprehensive in New York City at age 19.” Morgan Visconti
Is this a concept album, or do the varying themes naturally connect?
It’s really an anthology of recordings made around 1991-1992 with very minimal equipment. I had a day job at a recording studio where I eventually mixed these tracks. Still, they were written and recorded on a 4 track cassette, a sequencer and a Juno 106 on evenings and weekends in my little apartment. The concept came just last year when I realized they all had this shimmering, low-fi nostalgia and it took me back to that developmental time in my life, gazing out of my window onto a bustling 3rd avenue in NYC.
I noticed track 6 is a direct homage to Satie: How does this piano piece inspire you?
I’ve loved Satie and Debussy my whole life. Their composition styles align with a lot of the more electronic music: emotional, atmospheric, bold and simple gestures. Gymnopédie No. 3 struck me as a less obvious choice than the easy breezy No 1. I love the tension and dance between the chords and melody and the repetitive rhythm of it lent itself to the bare electronic stuff that I was writing at the time.
What did your process for reinventing “Gynnopedie” look like?
I spend some time programming the chords from the sheet music on a Roland MC500 midi sequencer – a leftover from my Dad’s studio. I wanted them to be precise and I’m not that great at classical piano playing. The sounds were all made on my Juno 106. For the ‘oboe’ and ‘flute’ I got into tweaking the filter and noise as close as I could and played them live so they had a little more expression. Lastly I overdubbed a drone bass and strings. It really came alive when I was able to book a day at the studio and mix through a nice console with Lexicon reverbs and delays. I loved the limitation of recording 4 track cassette but then being able to let it breathe through some nice circuitry.
As I was listening to the timbre of the instruments you chose, I could almost hear a multitude of orchestral timbres: Was this intentional?
Yes it was, to the extent that I could squeeze orchestral sounds out of a Juno! I always loved how two of my favorite composers Wendy Carlos and Vangelis are able to go beyond simply recreating orchestral sounds by going directly to the ‘feeling’ that those instruments evoke, for example: the choirs and woodwinds on A Clockwork Orange and the french horns in the Bladerunner soundtrack. Those types of sounds can often live in an uncanny valley and sound awkward and cheap but instead they sound alien and give me goosebumps.
By the time we get to track #19, it feels like we have reached a conclusion. Does Twilight City tell a complete story?
Like a lot of music I write, the sounds and melodies come first and I let the story emerge, often leading to lyrics. When I sequence an album I definitely think of it like a book or a film with an arc. In this case the story starts with Scarred Land full of tension and impending doom, perhaps how I felt during the week I moved to NYC! The last track Glass Towers feels spiritual and romantic and in a way it’s like finally embracing the city and feeling centered in it.
How do you think the backdrop of NYC, and your youth flavored this album? If Twilight City was a place or color, what would it look like?
As imposing as NYC was to me at first, if you look up and gaze at the lights it takes you outside of yourself. I was very homesick at the time but had just gotten my first serious job. NYC was nauseatingly loud but equally fun. I suppose Twilight City can be a magenta hued skyline of glass and metal as the sun goes down. You don’t see the dirt, only the reflection of the sky and it can feel futuristic in a utopian (but sometimes dystopian) fashion.
Finally, how did you come to embrace so many different genres?
Between having musical parents and two legendary music teachers in school I was exposed to a lot growing up. I appreciated classical and prog rock as much as electronic and mainstream pop. I’ve never had much of an artist manifesto and I tend to sort of try anything and see if it works, or rather if I can make it fit within what I’m doing.
Wylderness have today released their new single titled ‘Is It Summer’ from their upcoming EP ‘Safe Mode’ dropping soon. A monster sound from a humble band is my first reaction. There is a lot going on within the notes and atmosphere created by the instrumentation.
‘Is It Summer’ starts with a gentle yet effective chord progression amid a guitar riff that sets the initial tone and takes you for a smooth ride for introverted reflection. This is a perfect example of a band that is in tune with itself via songwriting and being comfortable in the recording process. The song simply is, yet is more than it shows. The history that brought this song forth is deep, both in influence and execution. A slow and consistent climb to the crescendo of an emotion and the climax of a thought. This is the emotion of good music slowly revealing itself.
About ‘Is It Summer’
This started as a riff with loads of delay played on an old Vox amp we found where we were practicing. We then jammed about and it developed into a song in two parts.
It has a cinematic quality in the first half with hints of Interpol. It reflects the wild west nature of the 90s tech boom. Then it erupts in the second half and outro (“Stand up count everything / If you want to / If you want to”).
About Wylderness
Woozy sun-drenched pop wrapped in a wall of stabbing fuzzy guitars and mesmerizing shoegaze, echoing the sounds of Ride, DIIV, Sonic Youth, and Yo La Tengo.
Wylderness’ eponymous debut album, released in 2018, was championed by Steve Lamacq (BBC 6 Music), Huw Stephens (BBC Radio 1) and was part of Radio 1’s Best of BBC Music Introducing. It garnered critical acclaim from Clash, DIY, and Drowned in Sound, with the song On a Dais being featured on the US version of the TV show Shameless. Wylderness has played shows for Huw Stephens, Sonic Cathedral, Swn Festival, and support with Acid Mothers Temple.
The Cardiff band’s second album, Big Plans for a Blue World (2022), was recorded with an expanded lineup and featured added layers of vintage synths and clarinet. It placed no.28 in Far Out Magazine’s Best Albums of 2022 and charted in the North American College & Community Radio Chart.
2025 will see the release of their much anticipated new Safe Mode EP recorded with producers Andrew Sanders and longtime collaborator Rory Attwell.
Wylderness are Ian (guitars/vox), Jim (bass/guitars), Ben (drums/percussion), Dan (guitars/vox), and Harri (clarinet/keys).
Hard To Explain dives headfirst into the fire with their latest hard-hitting anthem, S!CK—a seething blend of hard rock and nu-metal fury that spits venom at betrayal. Packed with raw emotion, crushing riffs, and a gut-punching vocal performance, this track isn’t just a song—it’s a full-blown reckoning.
From the moment the first line drops, S!CK drags listeners into the wreckage of a toxic relationship, where regret gives way to rage and reflection turns to retaliation. The lyrics cut deep, painting a picture of deception and disillusionment: “It’s not the fact you’re gone that hurts the most, it’s that I believed we could achieve anything.” The bitter realization hits hard, amplified by pounding drums and blistering guitar work that captures the chaos of betrayal.
But S!CK doesn’t just wallow—it fights back. The venomous chorus (“Oh god, you make me sick”) is an unfiltered eruption of fury, propelled by a relentless rhythm section and guttural vocals that ooze with contempt. The song builds towards an explosive climax, where personal vengeance takes center stage, flipping the script on the one who caused the pain: “You can’t imagine the chain reaction when I’m still standing and you’re the bitch!”
Hard To Explain channels the raw energy of classic nu-metal with a modern edge, fusing crushing breakdowns with spitfire aggression. Fans of bands like Slipknot, Korn, and Mudvayne will find themselves right at home in the chaos. If you’ve ever been stabbed in the back and wanted to scream your lungs out, S!CK is your anthem.
Listen at your own risk—this track doesn’t just hit hard, it leaves a scar.
About Hard To Explain
Hard to Explain is a metal band from Northern Ireland, emerging from the challenges of the recent pandemic. This powerhouse 4-piece delivers heavy riffs, intense energy, and melodic depth, promising unforgettable shows filled with electrifying performances and unmatched vibes. With a sound that blends raw aggression with soaring melodies, they’re set to make a lasting impact on the metal scene. Expect nothing less than relentless energy and anthems that resonate long after the show ends.
Chameleon Lime Whoopiepie (CLWP), a J-pop genre-defying act fronted by lead singer Chi-, have released their latest single, ‘I Know’ feat. Japan-raised American rappe MadeinTYO ahead of their highly anticipated second studio album, ‘Whoop It Up’ set for release on April 25th. The band have also announced an exclusive Brighton show at The Great Escape Festival on 15th May, 2025.
The collaboration began when r MadeinTYO reached out to the band via social media, sparking an effortless creative exchange. “He messaged us on Instagram, and the song came together in no time—it’s incredible that we finally get to share it with the world!” says Chi-. Built upon a beat crafted by MadeinTYO, the track evolved into a refined, down-tempo groove, offering a fresh dimension to CLWP’s sonic identity.
“Working with him brought a completely new energy to our music, reminding us how exciting collaborations can be,” Chi- adds.
Accompanying the release, a visually compelling visualizer for “I Know” is now live on the band’s official YouTube channel. Created by acclaimed 3DCG artist Sajanu, the piece blends surreal elements with an offbeat yet striking aesthetic, mirroring the song’s unique interplay between emotion and playfulness. With an ever-expanding global fanbase and a track record of boundary-pushing collaborations, CLWP continues to cement their reputation as one of the most innovative acts in today’s music landscape. As Whoop It Up approaches, the band’s evolution remains one to watch closely.
About Chameleon Lime Whoopiepie
Chameleon Lime Whoopiepie (CLWP) is a solo unit founded by Chi-, known for her bright orange hair. The band also includes two other members, Whoopies No.1 and Whoopies No.2. Together, they not only write and perform music together but are also involved in various other creative endeavors. Their debut single,“Dear Idiot,” was released in December 2019. In 2021, they were selected as oneof the featured artists for Spotifyʼs RADAR: Early Noise 2021. The following year, they performed atone of Japan’s biggest festivals, Summer Sonic 2022, in Tokyo and Osaka.
In 2023, their first-ever appearance at SXSW was praised by VIBE as one of the “10 Best Performances We Saw At SXSW 2023” among over 1,000 participating artists. In 2024, their SXSW performances were highlighted by British media outlet CLASH as one of the “SXSW 2024:The Best 15 Acts.” With growing recognition and continuous collaboration requests from musicians and producers across various genres and countries, CLWP is pushing creative boundaries as a next-generation artist.
About MadeinTYO
Los Angeles-based rapper MadeinTYO grew up in a military family, frequently relocating before spending his high school years in Tokyo. Influenced by his older brother, artist 24hrs, and inspired by diverse cultural experiences, he uploaded his first track to SoundCloud at 22, marking the beginning of his career. His breakthrough came in 2016 with the mixtapes “You Are Forgiven” and “Thank You, Mr. Tokyo,” solidifying his presence in the new wave of hip-hop. His debut single,“Uber Everywhere,” became a viral hit, reaching the Top 10 on radio charts and earning RIAA double platinum certification, with over 1 billion streams to date.
His momentum led to features in Complex, The FADER, and Noisey, and in 2017, he was named to XXL’s Freshman Class. Collaborations followed with industry giants 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, and Big Sean, along with brand partnerships including Sprite, Adidas, Reebok, and Ciroc. In 2018, he released his debut album, “Sincerely, Tokyo,” featuring the hit single “Ned Flanders” (feat. A$AP Ferg),” which has accumulated over 138 million Spotify streams as of January 2025.
Widely regarded as one of the most original and successful rock bands in Eastern Europe, Romania’s Dirty Shirt is celebrating 30 years of creating and performing music with the release of their first single of 2025 “FOMO” accompanied by a music video along with announcing 2025 EU tout dates (listed below).
“FOMO” is the first single from Dirty Shirt’s upcoming seventh album (titled to be revealed at a later date) to follow “Get Your Dose Now!” (2022). Musically, it is a journey through different moments and places, blending various genres: from 80s disco to Balkan music, all built on a metal foundation. It’s a catchy song, with a chorus that sticks in your mind, radiating big positive energy. Lyrically, the song addresses one of the issues of modern society—the fear of missing out (FOMO). This phenomenon has become widespread with the rise of social media, where people constantly compare themselves to others and feel pressured to be part of every trend or experience.
About Dirty Shirt
Over their 30 years, Dirty Shirt has embarked on several successful international tours, both as supporting artists and headliners, amassing over 700 shows in 17 countries. The band’s signature style blends modern rock/metal heaviness with the vibrant energy of East-European traditional music, drawing from influences including world music, industrial electro, hardcore, and funk to create a dynamic sound that resonates with audiences globally. With catchy and danceable songs, Dirty Shirt’s music appeals to a broader audience beyond just metal fans. Their albums have received widespread acclaim, featured in well-respected magazines such as Metal Hammer (DE, HU), Rock Hard (DE, FR, IT, SLK), Metalsucks (USA), Angry Metal Guy (USA), Hard Rock Mag (FR), Terrorizer (UK), Metalized (DK), and more.
In recent years, the band has enjoyed international recognition through their participation in several major European festivals such as Electric Castle (Ro), Hellfest Open Air (Fr), Pol’And’Rock (Pl), Dong Open Air (De), Maximum Rock Festival (Ro), Wacken Open Air (De) among many more!
Recommended for anyone looking for something interesting and lively, Dirty Shirt is for fans of Skindred, Bloodywood, Alestorm and The Hu.
Jammerzine has an exclusive interview with Steve Smith from the iconic band The Vapors as well as a first listen of their new album titled ‘Wasp In A Jar’.
To have a chat with one of the musicians in this band is something I can take to my grave. Think bucket list meets dream. And, to find out that they’re just normal guys that hasn’t let any of this go to their heads makes it cathartic on top of that. What I mean is that they are the epitome of what true independent artists are: independent.
And, with the release of their latest album, ‘Wasp In A Jar’, their continuing and seamless flair to remain both relevant and fresh in their music shows the talent behind the craft.
In this interview, we talk with Steve about the longevity of The Vapors, both in music and the music industry, as well as the evolution of the band and the lives of those in it, plus much more.
‘Wasp In A Jar’
With ‘Wasp In A Jar’, the new album from The Vapors, that core sound of a band that helped shape rock and pop music from the early eighties onward, retains that said core sound while expanding the music with fresh songwriting and anthemic hooks. This is clearly a group of lads that enjoy what they’re doing. To be in the music business as long as they have and to have gotten as big as they are while retaining their own sound, free of influence and full of originality shows in each track with feeling of geniuses and the core sound of indie music.
While each track has an overall feel, its what sets them apart that keeps the overall story beyond interest. Think of this as a book. Each chapter is different yet pushes the story along. That, to me, makes this what I call a ‘roadtrip’ album. Just find track 1 and hit play and let the experience define the road.
About ‘Wasp In A Jar’
The exuberant fun that the band had in the studio translates well to the finished album. The follow-up to 2020’s Together, the new album follows its three predecessors in conveying an individual feeling of its own, both lyrically and musically. “We just felt that the title Wasp In A Jar captured the feel of the album – that sort of bottled up angst,” says guitarist Danny Fenton. “There are some slower, more heartfelt moments on the album, but on the whole, it’s a fairly punk record. It wasn’t something we sat down and planned, but the band came from punk in the late ‘70s, so we just kind of leaned into that in the studio.”
Built around classic punk riffage with a chorus that opens up and toys with expectation, opening track “Hit The Ground Running” retains the breakneck rhythms that fans know and love from their previous releases. With nary a moment to catch a breath, The Vapors follow it up with “The Human Race” which Danny describes as a kind of “ballad of The Vapors.” “Carry On,” a statement about the current climate (“When the government needs to know / That’s when the government needs to go”), weaves around shimmering arpeggiated chords and Dave Fenton’s haunting vocal lines (“Carry on / As if nothing happened / Carry on / Like we did before”) before evolving into an epic and soaring outro that begs for an audience singalong.
“That’s like asking a parent who’s their favorite child,” replies Danny when asked his favorite songs on the album. “They all have significance to us in their own different ways. ‘The Human Race’ is about the band, ‘Look Away Now’ is about Dave dealing with his Parkinson’s Disease and ‘Miss You Girl’ is about children wanting to move out of the family home. That’s not to say that they are the three I’m most proud of… we are proud of them all.”
Dave’s lyrics are as observational, poetic and open to interpretation as ever. If New Clear Days (1980) mixed commentary about the mundanities of late ‘70s/early ‘80s life combined with the paranoia stirred up by the state of the world as it was back then, Magnets (1981) brought a more personalized study and Together (2020) – a joyful celebration of the eventual reunion, then Wasp In A Jar is a combination of all three… all of which are glued together here by current personal and global commentaries, all performed by a band full of ability, confidence and positivity and very clearly enjoying themselves, 45 years on from their recorded debut.
About The Vapors
Best known for their major worldwide 1980 hit “Turning Japanese,” The Vapors originally split in 1981 after two short years producing six singles, two albums, three major US tours, an Australian tour, and countless shows in the UK. After a 35-year hiatus, the band reformed for a series of four shows in Ireland and England in 2016 which were so well received that they continue to tour extensively, with over 160 gigs played since, with a comeback album, Together, in 2020 and several download singles released along the way.
With 2025 kicking off the next chapter for The Vapors, the band are looking at a full plate of activity. “2025 is shaping up into a very busy year for us,” says Danny. “We have the album out on February 28th accompanied by a tour of UK grassroots venues in March. Then we have some UK shows with Big Country in April and May and then we are returning to the US for the Lost ’80s tour with A Flock of Seagulls, Big Country, Josie Cotton, Icicle Works, Belouis Some and many others.”
“At this rate, we will be releasing our fifth album at some point next year,” laughs Steve. “My hopes for 2025 is that everyone loves the album and we can continue performing our music all over the world. Really excited to get this new album out and see what it can do. We originally got back together for just four gigs, so to have written, recorded and released two albums is a real bonus.”
The Vapors is Dave Fenton (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Steve Smith (bass), Michael Bowes (drums), Danny Fenton (guitar). Wasp In A Jar will be released on February 28, 2025 via Vapors Own Records and was recorded and produced by Michael Giblin (The Split Squad) at Mechanicsburg, PA and mastered by Greg Reierson at Rare Form Mastering.
Krooked Tongue has today released their new single titled ‘Let ‘Em Loose’. Krooked Tongue has long been a ‘go to’ band for everyone here at Jammerzine. We’ve literally been covering them since the beginning. That suave mix of fuck off, fuck yeah, and fuck it, shows that smooth rough around the edges feel and rock meets rhythm with a dash of gritty melody for all to get into and everyone to stomp to.
This is a signature sound in the making. The start of a career. The end of the malaise. Whatever you want to call it. I think Krooked Tongue is a band for the new era. That moment when you start, stop, then repeat parts of the song just to keep the goosebumps alive.
Check out our other features with Krooked Tongue HERE.
About ‘Let ‘Em Loose’
The new single follows 2024’s ‘Nothing Ever Grows’ and ‘Ember Mile’, taken from a longer body of material, with further details to be announced in the coming months. Their previous singles saw support from Apple editorial’s ‘Breaking Hard Rock’, New Noise Magazine, CLOUT, Total Rock, Primordial Radio and Boogaloo Radio, and ‘Nothing Ever Grows’ was used throughout the Bivol vs Beterbiev boxing fight on DAZN Sports.
Recorded and produced with long-time producer Josh Gallop at Stage 2 Studios in Bath, the track fuses immediate, fuzz-fueled riffs, driving rhythms and Rainsford’s woozy baritone vocals using playful phrasing, scathing sarcasm and sharp humour to cast a penetrating lens on the damaging toll technology is taking on real life relationships.
Describing the single, vocalist and lyricist Oli Rainsford states, “’Let ‘Em Loose’ is a song that parallels the technological age we find ourselves in today. We’re all so addicted to screen time that we forget how important it is for us to spend time with each other, really with each other. No distractions; Harking back to that old cliche of ‘living in the moment’.
“’Let Em’ Loose’ is a song that reminds us to be a little more present in a world where it seems like being tethered to a plug socket is the norm. It’s a reminder to look up. There’s a whole universe in front of us. Whilst you’re scrolling reels or finding yourself down YouTube rabbit holes all night, you’re missing your kids growing up, you’re missing out on your Grandad’s most compelling stories and you’re eating away at the dwindling hourglass of time. It’s harder now more than ever NOT to be sucked into the world of social media, but in the words of Eddie Abbew … ‘Wake the fuck up’.
“We had a sick time recording this one with Josh at Stage 2 Studios. We made sure to get the tones and sonic palette dialled in to make those chorus and lead parts as beefed up as possible. Getting diction on the vocal down for ‘Let Em’ Loose’ felt particularly important because it is very lyric heavy, so we wanted to make sure the message was conveyed clearly. The lyrics in the chorus draw inspiration from the Black Mirror episode ‘Metalhead’. I think the way in which technology is represented as these robotic minions hunting people in rural settings is quite a relevant visualisation of the message in ‘Let ‘Em Loose’. Especially now with a sudden push for AI to do everything that’s made us human. Maybe there’s a place for that somewhere, but it shouldn’t be used where it can fragment society more than it already is now. We need to regain our sense of importance. ‘Let ‘Em Loose’ is your warning.”
About Krooked Tongue
Krooked Tongue burst onto the scene with the release of their critically acclaimed debut EP ‘No Vacancy Hotel’ in February of 2022, recorded with Josh Gallop (Phoxjaw, Mother Vulture) at Stage 2 Studios. The EP has since amassed over 200,000 streams and saw support from publications such as Ones To Watch, HardBeat Magazine and Distorted Sound.
Their second studio EP ‘Deathproof’, released May 2023, saw the start of the band’s evolution, there was a refreshed maturity to their songwriting and an evident progression in their sound. ‘Deathproof’ has been streamed over 320,000 times to date and was celebrated by Louder Than War Radio, Ones To Watch, Sirius XM, BBC Introducing and many others.
August 2024 saw their biggest support tour to date, supporting Kid Brunswick on his final ‘Dead Forever’ tour across the UK. They’ve also recently shared the stage with False Heads, Virgin Marys, Phoxjaw, Moriaty, Pulled Apart By Horses, The Soap Girls and Mother Vulture and have played slots at festivals such as Icebreaker, Dot to Dot, The Godney Gathering, Estonia’s Tallinn Music Week and Burn It Down.
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