Category Archives: Americana

Deer Tick Return

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Deer Tick Return

One of our favourite bands, Deer Tick will return with a new album Negativity in September this year. Preceding it by a month will be this single and first taste from the album, the brilliant The Rock.

It is another in their ever-growing collection of guitar-heavy, heart-on-sleeve Americana gems, but this time includes blasts of brass and piercing strings that spit dirt all over the song’s underbelly. Undoubtedly The Rock enters new, darker territory for the Providence quintet and we’re with them every step of the way.

Listen here.

Introducing >>> Whale Belly

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Introducing >>> Whale Belly

Brooklyn based folk quintet Whale Belly will release their second album I Was Once A Bird this autumn.

The first focus track Bubbles In My Blood proudly bears the imprint of traditional folk music but steadfastly refuses to conform to expectations – the song boasts a big band sound, but it’s soft and gentle, and the violin adds a classical element that contrasts sweetly with the naggingly insistent high-pitched guitar riffs. The result is something with time-honoured undertones, but also with an original and imaginative contemporary feel.

Recommended. Download it here.

Videos of the Day: T. Hardy Morris || Fist City || Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros || Radkey

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Videos of the Day

Videos to start the week from the acoustic Americana of the places in peril initiative of T. Hardy Morris to the weird party freaks of Fist City’s Boring Kids, and the visual gymnastics of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros film for Better Days. Lastly we have the speed and fury of Radkey perfectly captured in this performance of Cat & Mouse.

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Introducing >>> Argy Rakis

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Introducing >>> Argy Rakis

Singer-songwriter Argy Rakis has a rasping, deep vocal that sits comfortably atop the percussive chug of his track Let It Go. Then, about three and a bit minutes in, the guitars cut loose, and the Dirty Band of Mexicans duel their way to an impressive coda as Rakis intones “but I’m living like an animal“.

Let It Go is the first single to be taken from his debut album Songs From The End Of Time. It might mine the classic vein of travelling troubadour inspiration – bars, beds and boxcars – but thankfully it heralds a welcome new voice into the crowded genre – we’re looking forward to hearing more.

Download it here.

MM Shorts 392: Over Nights

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MM Shorts 392: Over Nights

Over Nights are a new band hailing from Brooklyn, NY.

They have just released a single Broken Cabins from their upcoming debut; The Broken EP, which we’ll wager is as sweetly melodic slice of banjo led, backporch Americana as you’ll hear this weekend.

Put us to the test – have a listen. Get it on a pay-what-you-want deal at their Bandcamp page here.

New Album From This Frontier Needs Heroes

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New Album From This Frontier Needs Heroes

We have been long standing admirers of the sibling duo Brad and Jessica Lauretti who have released a couple of albums and toured pretty relentlessly as This Frontier Needs Heroes.

They have a new album due in late August, Hooky benefits from the clever use of additional band members to bring an added dimension to their already sweetly rich harmonies. The taster track is the intriguingly named George Clooney, which is a simply gorgeous piece of contemporary Americana that we have pretty much on repeat…

“I woke up so sad and hungover
Another wasted night on the Sunset Strip“

Download it here. Ring the release date on your calendar, August 27th.

Thursday Means Eight Of The Best

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Thursday Means Eight of the Best!

Here are eight of the very best tracks to reach out to us from our inbox and the internet over the past few days.

First up we have a new track from the forthcoming album Soft Will from Smith Westerns, which distills the spirit of Big Star into a delicately reverential tribute to classic 70s radio rock. We have the superbly maudlin, gloom-pop of Franklin the Flirt by Porches and possibly even trumping that we have Coma Cinema’s third single from forthcoming album Posthumous Release. The spare, haunting Virgin Veins talks of quiet suffering, loneliness, ugliness and confusion, “The heart is a monument / to a childhood of abuse.“

Next comes the energetic, scrappy indie rock of Potty Mouth and their new single The Spins. We have the enervated, laconic acoustics of Modern Hut and the excellent track History that makes Bill Callahan look like a childrens’ entertainer. Sixth is La Luz’s jangly, surf-tinged harmonies and sweet garage pop of new single Brainwash.

The sub 90 seconds of Bad Boys by White Fang is a triumph of catchy, deliberately dumb rock’n'roll and a cracking track to boot. Finally via the excellent Yankee Calling blog we have a repost of their fine recommendation for Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and their new 7″ release Look It Here that sounds as joyous a slab of classic 60s soul as you’re likely to hear.

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New Album From The Epstein

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New From The Epstein

Ahead of the release of their new Murmurations album, Oxford’s premier Americana aficionados The Epstein are releasing Calling Out Your Name as an exclusive single via Bandcamp.

It also comes with a remix version by Oli Steadman of Stornoway, and all for a pay-what-you-want deal. There’s a video too – featuring some novel use of gaffer tape…

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MM Shorts 388: Jack Wilson

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MM Shorts 387: Jack Wilson

Jack Wilson is a singer-songwriter who is a new discovery for us. However, the two tracks he has released from his latest album, Spare Key (out June 18), are both gems – masterpieces of restrained emotion where spare, but powerful vocals weave between gentle strings and harmonies. A real treat of authentic folk storytelling.

You can pre-order the album here.


[Click through for free download]