New Zealand’s Aldous Harding’s music is not for the faint of heart. Disarming in its desolate imagery and stark instrumentation, it deals with the raw materials of life: death, birth, grief and love. There are few happy endings, but the power is in how Harding enters into battle; with a dancer’s grace and a boxer’s stance. Comparisons could be made with contemporaries Marissa Nadler and … Continue reading Aldous Harding – Stop Your Tears
Picnic Lightning’s self-titled debut LP sees the light of day early next month and the first single from the Fort Worth, Tx band is the excellent American Ruin. A naggingly insistent tune of taut, barely restrained indie rock that has touchpoints from Yo La Tengo to Sonic Youth to Ty Segall. Really good stuff. Listen below. Continue reading MM Shorts 863: Picnic Lightning
As we’ve mentioned previously, we loved NOTS aural assault at the Great Escape – a fabulous brew of punk rock, garage, and krautrock, topped with a genuine screw you attitude that has been conspicuously absent from most ‘punk’ bands we’ve come across in latter times. Their new album Cosmetic is out on the 9th September, and Inherently Low, a song about depression and loss and … Continue reading More From NOTS
We’ve become very taken with this track Palmilla, the third song released off Motel Radio’s forthcoming new EP Desert Surf Films, which will be released on August 12, via Roll Call Records. It is a lovely, breezy slice of rolling Americana with a tinge of surfy, psych rock woven seamlessly throughout. It follows the equally lovely Gimme Your Love and any fans of Houndmouth or Great American Canyon … Continue reading Motel Radio – Desert Surf Films EP
Our favourite Montreal psych-rock trio Elephant Stone have announced their fourth full-length Ship Of Fools, which will see a digital release on September 16 via Elephants on Parade and a physical release on November 25 via Burger Records. The group has shared album opener Manipulator together with a lyric video for the track with the simple statement “Pokémon GO = Mind Control.” The song retains their trademark psychedelia whilst … Continue reading New Album From Elephant Stone
To Be comes from Ancient Whales’ new album Vestiges Of Tails Appear In All Of Us and is a satisfyingly crunchy slab of grungy, garage inflected indie rock. Stream it here. Order the album from Wiener Records here. Continue reading MM Shorts 862: Ancient Whales
Despite boasting a moniker than suggests some kind of hardcore thrash punk outfit, Organised Scum are altogether more subtle than that. Instead they deal in off-beat, melodic arrangements more akin to Pavement, Lambchop, or XTC. The duo’s debut double-A-side single, Insane Making Behaviour/Who’s the Prick? officially came out yesterday and is a top quality combo of stoner-folk, slacker melancholy and svelte indie-pop. Listen below or download both tracks for free here. … Continue reading Mad Mackerel Recommends… Organised Scum
Here they are, all wrapped and presented in a tidy bow for you. Ten new songs from the past week including Screaming Females, Goat, Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, of Montreal, a gorgeous new song from Alex Bleeker and an excellent cover of Gun Club’s classic Sex Beat by Katy Goodman & Greta Morgan. Good stuff indeed. Happy weekend. Screaming Females – Skeleton Jeff The Brotherhood – Punishment … Continue reading Ten Songs You Should Have Heard This Week
Woozy Australian PJ Orr’s new album out Foggy Notion hashes together acoustic folk and blues forms with a healthy doses of psychedelia, all underpinned by a cathartic story telling quality. Taking his cues from influences as disparate as Marc Bolan, Primal Scream and Ariel Pink, we suggest you could do a lot worse than check out the smoky beat of Mona Lisa below. Continue reading MM Shorts 861: PJ ORR
It has been a good while since we last shared a Nickel In The Jukebox post, but here are ten tracks making up for lost time. You decide… hit or miss? My Son Bison – Two Faces And A Vase [RIYL: Psych-pop, The Beach Boys, The Shins] The Blind Owls – All Day And Night [RIYL: 60s Pop, Little Richard , The Kinks] … Continue reading Nickel In The Jukebox (Vol. 21)
The Mad Mackerel 