Kings Of Leon just want to have fun, Arab Strap are totally fine with that, Pokey LaFarge would like to rhumba with you, Orville Peck stages a star-studded stampede, Shannon And The Clams moon you, Sebastian Bach is a man-child (like that’s a surprise) … and the rest of next week’s best. Hear them now and believe me later:
Arab Strap
I’m Totally Fine With It 👍 Don’t Give A Fuck Anymore 👍
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Almost 28 years after their debut, Arab Strap have never sounded more essential, and this new record is a fierce testament to their laser focus on wider horizons. Written and performed exclusively by Malcolm Middleton and Aidan Moffat, and finessed with longtime collaborator Paul Savage, the album furthers the band’s transformation from swooning, slow-core romantics to raging, alt-pop chroniclers. I’m Totally Fine With It 👍 Don’t Give A Fuck Anymore 👍 might sound like the title of an album by a band giving up (it’s just a text from the band’s live drummer that Moffat thought was funny), but in reality it’s an album that stands to clearly define a new creative period for Arab Strap. With the band having recently wrapped up a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of their 1998 album Philophobia, this new album feels charged by a desire to move forward and explore new terrain. “The tour’s been fun, but I’ll be glad it’s over so we can move on,” laughs Middleton, while Moffat echoes him; “The Philophobia gigs have been a way of saying goodbye to the old us,” he says. “It was a very gentle, quiet tour, so I expect this year we’ll just be playing banger after banger — I think we’ve earned the right to make some noise now.”
Sebastian Bach
Child Within The Man
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “An album more than 10 years in the making.” That’s how singer, songwriter, author, Broadway star, and actor Sebastian Bach describes his new album Child Within The Man. “I have been putting out records since the year 1989,” Bach says. “Thank YOU for 35 years of Bach N’ Roll…all leading up to Child Within The Man! If you like the records I have put out in the past, I can guarantee that you will enjoy the new album. This is the kind of rock ’n’ roll that keeps you young ! Can’t wait for you all to crank up Child Within The Man — a magical elixir to the fountain of Youth! Gone Wild! Forever! It’s all one big song! Turn it up!”
Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown
Electrified
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “For those watching meters, there’s always a dip in voltage around 6 o’clock. When workaday folks get home and start turning on their televisions and firing up their microwaves, the hum of electricity goes crackling down the power lines, lighting up the windows of house after house, street after street, mile after mile. But when the moon has been high for hours and, slowly but surely, the nearby world starts to fall asleep — that’s when workanight folks, like Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, come alive. As the voltage begins to spike, current flows like a high tide flooding through the transformers and wires that stack well into the thousands at TBSD’s musical headquarters, The Lily Pad in Nashville, Tennessee. In a fast-moving, increasingly digital world, vintage tube gear is considered obsolete by the majority, but for those still living on the fringes of time, there’s a quality of magic when pieces of gear from a different age power up — the dim glow of vacuum tubes purposefully burning and generating heat in the close quarters of a control room.”
Dehd
Poetry
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Upon arrival during the fraught summer of 2020, Flower of Devotion felt like Dehd’s necessary prescription for us all. That was, of course, a moment of unprecedented anxiety and uncertainty, when just contemplating the future could seem overly optimistic. But Dehd captured and shared the precarious balance between real life and real hope, a feat mirrored by instant pop melodies and infectious punk energy. The Chicago trio had the audacity to look ahead when many of us didn’t, to imagine improvement through mere existence. It was an album we needed. Through Dehd’s career, Jason Balla has been building his chops as a producer, so this was a chance to indulge and explore. Eric McGrady, meanwhile, considered how much more he could deliver as a drummer, adding layers to the thump of his past. And Emily, who admits that the process of making records has always been emotionally draining, focused on harnessing her indomitable energy, funneling her power into these songs without being overpowered by them. Dehd gave themselves runway to make mistakes and the space to make a statement. Blue Skies is their poignant, redemptive, and deeply fun testament to trusting and pushing yourself.”
Kings Of Leon
Can We Please Have Fun
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Can We Please Have Fun, as its title suggests, is a document of one of this era’s great rock ’n’ roll bands cutting loose, trying new things, and, yes, having some fun. Recorded at Dark Horse studio in Nashville and produced with new collaborator Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles, Florence + the Machine) the album sees a new side of Kings of Leon. On the new album, the band harkens back to their gritty origins while simultaneously finding new gears. It’s the sound of a band unified in vision and purpose, freed from any expectations, and the album the band says they’ve always wanted to make. “It was the most enjoyable record I’ve ever been a part of,” Caleb says. “It’s like we allowed ourselves to be musically vulnerable,” Nathan adds. “I love it when a rock band is not embarrassed to admit that every song doesn’t have to be on 11.”
Pokey LaFarge
Rhumba Country
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “After crisscrossing the nation for the last half-decade looking for a home, Pokey LaFarge found himself in Mid-Coast Maine. Upon arriving, the Illinois-born singer/songwriter/actor pursued a major life change, working 12-hour days on a local farm — a turn of events that catalyzed an extraordinary burst of creativity and redefined his sense of purpose as an artist. Rhumba Country was initially shaped from material that emerged while LaFarge was deep in work on the farm. “I’d be pushing a plow or scattering seeds, and the songs would just come to me,” he recalls. “It was tremendously inspirational and made me realize that apart from singing, farming is perhaps the oldest human art form.” While farming, LaFarge began dreaming up a kaleidoscopic sound informed by his love of music from far-ranging eras and corners of the globe, including mambo, tropicália, rocksteady, and mid-century American rock-and-roll. “The songs that naturally come to me are upbeat and make you wanna dance or at least bop your head — they’re all very colorful,” says LaFarge. “I used to think of my music in dark blue, but now I see it in technicolor.”
Orville Peck
Stampede Vol. 1
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Orville Peck’s Stampede project features songs with Elton John, Noah Cyrus, Midland, Allison Russell, Nathaniel Rateliff and Bu Cuaron, in addition to the previously released Willie Nelson collaboration, Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other. Stampede is Peck’s first release since dropping his acclaimed sophomore album, Bronco, in 2022. A wholly original storyteller, the masked star’s music has always pushed boundaries and defied expectations. In 2019, Peck’s self-produced debut album Pony won rave reviews. By the time he released his second album, Peck had already carved out a niche for himself in country music, and well beyond, as evidenced by his upcoming Man About Town cover.”
Les Savy Fav
Oui, LSF
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Les Savy Fav return with their upcoming LP OUI, LSF. “Everything is so computer generated now, nothing seems sincere”, remarks Jimbo Matison. “I wanted raw materials and simple ideas to do the talking. We also wanted to have a good time while making this, so why not get back to first grader basics? Can we make a video with cardboard, crayons, and a phone? Hell yeah, we can. Did we buy a $4.99 bubble machine at the dollar store? Yeah, it lasted for about 30 minutes which was just enough time to shoot what was needed. That thing pumped mad bubbles while it worked,” he continues. “Can you see cat hair on the closeups? Absolutely. We are a little embarrassed by that, but hey, Skipper is a rad cat and we love him. The finale may look familiar as Fruity Pebbles were used as the colour scheme. It’s a vibrant coloured cardboard explosion. Does this video look ‘out of the box’? No. Is it boring? No. Mission accomplished.”
Shannon & The Clams
The Moon Is In The Wrong Place
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Shannon & The Clams are set to release their most personal — and game-changing — album to date. Entitled The Moon Is In The Wrong Place, the record — which was produced by longtime collaborator Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys — is unlike anything Shannon & The Clams have released before, in both its emotional scope and its production, which takes the band’s sound from black and white to cascading technicolor. In August 2022, singer and frontwoman Shannon Shaw’s world was turned inside out: with mere weeks to go until their wedding, the singer’s fiancé, Joe Haener, died in a horrific car accident. It was a devastating loss that hit Shannon & The Clams — who were all incredibly close with Haener — with cataclysmic force. From the shock and trauma of that tragedy comes The Moon Is In The Wrong Place, a powerful exploration of loss, time, love, and resilience that stands as the beloved garage band’s most ambitious, emotionally searing recording to date. The Moon Is In The Wrong Place shows the group ascending to new creative highs, while still weaving in the classic garage-rock and girl-group sounds that have long been a hallmark of their work.”
Speed Dealer Moms
Birth Control Pill
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Speed Dealer Moms, the live electronics outlet comprising cross-genre iconoclasts John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares), is over a decade into its idiosyncratic run. Birth Control Pill is only their third release. The boundless potential of the chaotic and elegant project snaps into focus. If there are virtuosos programming synthesizers and drum machines, then they were in the room when these two tracks were recorded; as though Johann Sebastian Bach himself took an elevator up to the 67th floor of Burger King and threw a bowl of Ramen at the window. Speed Dealer Moms drive their own, crooked road built on friendship and a telepathic musical connection — the collaboration and encouragement of Funk ushered Frusciante into the dense world of hardcore machine funk.”
