The Record Company pour on the classic blues, Suzanna Santo has it bad, The Weber Brothers come to play, EG Vines gives you the royal treatment — but really, every one of the submissions in your Weekend Roundup would love to be the king (or queen) or your playlist. Who will you choose?
17 | The Record Company | Spoonful
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Record Company debuted their new covers EP Side Project last week. In celebration, the band offer their cover of the Willie Dixon classic Spoonful, made famous by both Howlin’ Wolf and Cream. The EP finds the band reimagining and reconstructing some of their favorite tracks, including Cypress Hill’s I Wanna Get High, INXS’s Devil Inside and Big Mama Thornton’s Ball and Chain. “We wanted to put a new twist on Willie Dixon’s shadowy blues classic,” the band explain. “Bring our love of the deep lyrics and lonely melody and collide it with some dark, eerie, pulsating Plastikman-style rhythms to explore some new boundaries we’ve never tried before. It may be our favorite of the Side Project series and a good way to close the set.”
18 | Suzanne Santo | Bad Beast
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Yard Sale, the sophomore solo album from Austin’s Suzanne Santo, is the musical equivalent of a homeowner purging old possessions to make much-needed room. Due Aug. 27, the album marks the moment where Santo makes peace with her past and embraces a better, bolder present. A tireless creator, Santo has built her sound in the grey area between Americana, Southern-gothic soul, and forward-thinking rock ’n’ roll. With Yard Sale, Santo boldly moves forward, staking her claim once again as an Americana innovator. It’s an album inspired by the past, written by an artist who’s only interested in the here-and-now. And for Santo, the here-and-now sounds pretty good. The album’s first single Bad Beast is available everywhere.”
19 | The Weber Brothers | Toys in the Junkyard
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “At an age when most boys are still dreaming of rock stardom, The Weber Brothers were too busy sharpening their sound to care. Four sets a night, four nights a week, the brothers honed their hard-earned sound in Maryland dive bars they were often too young to frequent. Twenty years and 12 self-released albums later, the Webers have spread their wings, and a reputation as the “Baddest Band in the Land” now precedes them. Choose Your Own Adventure is The Weber Brothers’ 13th full-length release. Ryan, Sam and Tim have been making music together for 30 years, and Choose Your Own Adventure fires on all cylinders and leaps from the speakers, offering the listener an exciting and compelling hour-long thrill ride.”
20 | EG Vines | The Royal Diplomat
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Nashville up-and-comer EG Vines has been on quite the ride over the last few years. After quitting his corporate rat race job to pursue music and releasing his debut Family Business in 2019, Vines finally had a moment to reach for those creative corners of his mind previously undiscovered. His upcoming album Through the Mirror is a testament to the positive effect this has had. Due Aug. 27, it’s part indie-rock nirvana — the state of being more so than the band — and part reaction to an uber-politicized world. “It’s that social dilemma,” says Vines. “People get in their hall of mirrors and maybe they’re not looking at reality.” The Royal Diplomat is his new single. “The Royal Diplomat was one of those that I kind of blacked out whilst writing it. I remember coming up with that guitar riff in the turnaround and belting out ‘Never spoken’, but that’s about it.”
21 | Bufalo & Brother Dege | Country Come To Paris
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Blending country music with modern-day deep house is not an easy task, but Bufalo is mastering it with skill. Country Come To Paris is the French producer’s second single and once again combines a western vibe through bluegrass banjos, vocals and lyrics with a solid deep house production. Definitely not an everyday sound, but surely something you’ll remember. Bufalo has created a really strong and singular universe inspired by the Western culture. He defines his art as Futuristic Western Music.”
22 | Turner Cody & The Soldiers Of Love | Lonely Days In Hollywood
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Turner Cody is a kaleidoscopic songwriter. His poetry has always come first — whether spun into the raw, sparse bedroom-style tapes of his early lo-fi, anti-folk days in New York, or the more groove-based French indie-minimalist sound of his new recordings with backing band The Soldiers Of Love. Coming June 4, his album Friends In High Places is as much a country-folk record as it is an ode to French indie-pop chanson, by way of Serge Gainsbourg. It’s this pull — a friendly tension between seemingly disparate musical traditions across borders — that makes Friends In High Places so alluring, refreshingly modern, and even a touch surprising. It’s continental country at its finest, with Cody’s masterful and cinematic songwriting as the backbone.”
23 | Bent Roads Tavern | Let’s Go To Newfoundland
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Western Canadian indie-folk collective Bent Roads Tavern have released Let’s Go To Newfoundland as the first track from their forthcoming album Clear Nights. Brite Lites. “Our goal is simply to celebrate Canada: the land, the culture and the musicians who have inspired us,” says singer-guitarist Collen Middleton. “It was the first song that I brought to the band. I was a big fan of Great Big Sea, Newfoundland’s native sons, so this was sort of a shoutout to that corner of my musical tastes. When I was growing up, my dad always talked about going on a family holiday to Newfoundland, which we never did. The dream of that trip never died in me and eventually turned into a song. I still hope to make it there one day.”
24 | Emily Kinney | When The Midnight Fireworks Start
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Actress/singer-songwriter Emily Kinney presents the video for When The Midnight Fireworks Start, from her recent album The Supporting Character. When The Midnight Fireworks Start is a moon ceremony, a sort of letting go of the past and focusing on where Kinney sees her music going in the future. Filmed during the last full moon, the clip also serves as a little prayer to the universe to help Kinney find the best path for her and the music. “That song really explores the fact that I know that I work and develop slowly,” she continues. “I tend to chip away at things bit by bit, but I still have a feeling that I’m on the right path and something special is going to happen with my creative endeavours in the future.”
25 | Left Vessel | Your Winter
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Oregon sound artist Nick Byron Campbell, who records and performs under the moniker Left Vessel, has released Your Winter, the new single from his forthcoming debut LP One (and Driftless), out June 25. “My grandmother was going through a period of decline late in her life, while I was going through transformations that were pointing me in a new, positive direction. We really bonded during this time as we were both going through breakups, while both living in Los Angeles (my grandmother moved there late in life to be with her college sweetheart),” Campbell says. “This song helped me emotionally work through the idea of two people bonding while heading in such incredibly different directions: one towards life’s end, the other towards a whole new era of life ahead.”
26 | Felix Saunders | Sinking Fast
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Felix Saunders is a singer-songwriter from the Western Isles. He plays the kind of music that is usually heard in smoky back rooms as the sun comes up. Where people spill their most vulnerable secrets and try to wash them away with each drink they take. He also fronts dirty blues rock band The Howling Lords. Sinking Fast is the second single from his debut solo EP I Guess This Is Progress. “Where I grew up there are two main industries; fishing and tourism, and Sinking Fast represents this schism of class. This song touches on class, mental health and survival at a basic level, these two industries show you a very concerning side to society at large.”
27 | The Gertrudes | Parham
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The Gertrudes are back to share a new single, Parham, with a giving purpose. All proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Mental Health Association. Parham, a quaint hamlet located an hour north of Kingston (where The Gertrudes reside), inspired the song of the same name and will commemorate the devastation endured by the community on June 7, 2020. What started as a quiet day like any other changed when authorities responded to gunshots and fire resulting in the loss of two buildings, including the historic St. James Anglican Church, reducing it to rubble.”
28 | Tray Wellington | Pond Mountain Breakaway
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “There are few things more exciting than witnessing a talented young artist take a new leap in their career. With Pond Mountain Breakaway, 21-year-old Tray Wellington — already an award-winning banjoist — is doing just that, offering a distinctive instrumental voice backed by a stellar group of musicians already known for the cross-genre fluency that is quickly becoming his trademark. Says Wellington, “I actually wrote the main riff to this song while playing electric guitar — but then, while playing banjo the same day, I tried it out with more of a bluegrass feel, and thought, ‘Wow, it would be cool to write a fast, upbeat instrumental around it.’ ”
29 | The Maine | Lips
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Alt-rock vets The Maine have released Lips, the third single from their upcoming eighth studio LP, XOXO: From Love And Anxiety In Real Time, due out on July 9. Lips is another example of The Maine’s ability to merge modern pop and rock in a song that is inventive and instantly memorable. Catchy, fun and engaging, the video for Lips touches on nostalgic imagery, with a performance framed inside of a ‘90s TV. The Maine are known for their high-energy live performances, and the video captures that as each of the band members delivers on that well earned reputation. The chorus of the song is the hook that brings it home as lead singer John O’Callahan screams: “It’s on your lips when you lie! You can’t keep talkin’ like this, lips do more than just kiss!”
30 | Jax Diaries | When I Turn I See The Future
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Telling a thematic narrative, alt-rock band Jax Diaries released their captivating video When I Turn I See The Future. Following multiple acclaimed videos and the band’s debut album, this cinematic visual methodically depicts what is left when two sides battle but neither win. “Existing between the past and future, we never seem to live in the present. When two opposing sides clash, the battle begins and then ends. There is noise, there is exertion, but no one wins. All that’s left is the silence, absolute zero.”
