“Rain Dance”, Geese

This way: Rain Dance

Geese are an American rock band based in Brooklyn, New York. The band is composed of Dominic DiGesu, Cameron Winter, Max Bassin, and Gus Green.

The band formed in 2016 while the members were attending Brooklyn Friends School and Little Red School House in New York City. During high school, the band practiced and recorded material in the basement of Bassin's home in Fort Greene.

As a few of the members had received acceptance letters to attend schools such as Oberlin College and the Berklee College of Music, the band had intended to break up once they graduated high school in 2020. Towards mid-2020, however, the band's self-produced demos attracted attention from several record labels, including 4AD, Fat Possum, and Sub Pop. Ultimately, the band signed with Partisan Records.

[Spotify] Rain Dance

“Borders Comfort”, Soft Kill

This way: Borders Comfort

Soft Kill is an american band originally from Portland (Oregon). Also, they are one of the bands that have called themselves on their personal facebook page as "sad rock", a new musical subgenre. Emerged from the post-punk scene, they have released five albums and several singles and EPs.

An Open Door (debut album) was one of the most prestigious releases of the last ten years of the post-punk genre, receiving excellent musical reviews. Bassist and singer of influential band in the 80s, The Chameleons, Mark Burgess took an interest in their music and he sponsored them for a tour around United States in addition to putting the voice on the song "On The Inside" of his fourth album Choke. 

[Spotify] Borders Comfort

“So Twisted Fate”, Frog

This way: So Twisted Fate

This is some whack shit, it's messed up, it's unreal-not real. Frog is an American indie rock band. The group was founded by Daniel Bateman and Thomas White in Queens, New York in 2012. In 2019, White left the band and was replaced on drums by Bateman's brother Steve. White has since rejoined the band on bass. 

They have released five studio albums through labels like Audio Antihero and their own Tapewormies imprint, which have received praise from Pitchfork, Stereogum, and The Line of Best Fit as well as airplay from various BBC stations.

[Spotify] So Twisted Fate

“Punchlines”, Happy Just to See You

This way: Punchlines

Band from Manchester, New Hampshire. 

[Spotify] Punchlines

Guilty Pleasures: “Bitter Fingers”, Elton John

This way: Bitter Fingers

Another musician from the first loves category. Elton owned the airwaves back in those early 70s days just as I stumbled into the AM radio universe. I had all the early records, and Capt Fantastic was a real work of art to my young ears.

[Spotify] Bitter Fingers

Guilty Pleasures: “Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day”, Jethro Tull

This way: Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day

There really is no excuse sometimes, no logical explanation. The temperature in the room runs high as the FM radio slinks into the sunset. And the ice melts as futures fade.

[Spotify] Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day

Guilty Pleasures: “Everything Louder than Everything Else”, Meat Loaf

This way: Everything Louder than Everything Else

Does it get any better than Meat Loaf? I don't think so. This is the odd case where the sequel is better the the original. Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is one of the best selling music artists in history. His Bat Out of Hell trilogy—Bat Out of Hell (1977), Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell (1993), and Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose (2006)—has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. The first album stayed on the charts for over nine years, as of 2016 still sold an estimated 200,000 copies annually, and is on the list of bestselling albums.

After the commercial success of Bat Out of Hell and Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, and earning a Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for the song "I'd Do Anything for Love", Meat Loaf nevertheless experienced some difficulty establishing a steady career within the United States. The key to this success was his popularity in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He received the 1994 Brit Award in the United Kingdom for bestselling album and single. He appeared in the 1997 film Spice World and he ranked 23rd for the number of weeks spent on the UK charts in 2006. He ranks 96th on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".

[Spotify] Everything Louder than Everything Else

Guilty Pleasures: “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five”, Wings

This way: Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five

When I started listen to music The Beatles were already over. But they still owned the airwaves to a certain degree. And all the post Beatle activities got a lot of attention. Paul started a new Band called Wings, but it was soon Paul McCartney and Wings. But not the Buffalo kind. Paul had a habit of recording all kinds of garbage in what I think was a fuck you to his fame. But he still had those song writtin' chops. Here is a gem from his near perferct LP Band on the Run, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five . . . 

[Spotify] Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five

Guilty Pleasures: “Elected”, Alice Cooper

This way: Elected

Alice Cooper was one of my first breakthru music loves. Alice was a real fixture in AZ, having grown up here. And his over the top everything was a real draw. Certainly at the time he stood out of the crowd. But thats also some great songwriting going on. In my study or Near Perfect LPs I came to the conclusion that Alice has 3 that would make that list. No filler. This whole LP, Billion Dollar Babies is a serious masterpiece. And don't forget to vote!

[Spotify] Elected

“Dang Me”, Roger Miller

This way: Dang Me

What is this song? Someone please help. It is so left field it's in the parking lot. And that record cover is also special. Roger Millers music is often in its own place in history. Roger Miller Sr. (January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992) was an American singer-songwriter, widely known for his honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs and his chart-topping country hits "King of the Road", "Dang Me", and "England Swings". 

After growing up in Oklahoma and serving in the U.S. Army, Miller began his musical career as a songwriter in the late 1950s, writing such hits as "Billy Bayou" and "Home" for Jim Reeves and "Invitation to the Blues" for Ray Price. He later began a recording career and reached the peak of his fame in the mid-1960s, continuing to record and tour into the 1990s, charting his final top 20 country hit "Old Friends" with Price and Willie Nelson in 1982. He also wrote and performed several of the songs for the 1973 Disney animated film Robin Hood. Later in his life, he wrote the music and lyrics for the 1985 Tony Award−winning Broadway musical Big River, in which he acted.

Miller died from lung cancer in 1992 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame three years later. His songs continued to be recorded by other singers, with covers of "Tall, Tall Trees" by Alan Jackson and "Husbands and Wives" by Brooks & Dunn; both reached the number one spot on country charts in the 1990s. This track from 1964.

[Spotify] Dang Me

“Up In Flames”, Grace Cummings

This way: Up In Flames

Great songwrittin' from the Melbourne folk singer Grace Cummings, this from 2022. 

[Spotify] Up In Flames

“Music Writers”, Ausmuteants

This way: Music Writers

From 2016. Melbourne band. Jake Robertson, Billy Gardner, Shaun Conner, Marc Dean are popping out some great punk rock these days. Jake Robertson formed Ausmuteants with Billy Gardner in 2011, after Robertson temporarily sat in as drummer for Gardner's band The Living Eyes. They were later joined by bandmates Marc Dean and Shaun Connor. The band first performed live together in 2012 and released a cassette Split Personalities that year, before releasing the album Amusements in 2013. Ausmuteants released three further albums, and received praise overseas, with Pitchfork listed them amongst their Best Underground Garage Punk Albums of 2016 list. A 2019 album The World in Handcuffs was written entirely by guitarist Shaun Connor. It was nominated for the Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) Best Independent Punk Album or EP at the 2020 AIR Awards. 

[Spotify] Music Writers

“New Beginning”, Automatic

This way: New Beginning

Automatic is a rock band from Los Angeles. Automatic’s members are Izzy Glaudini (synths, vocals), Halle Saxon (bass, vocals), and Lola Dompé (drums, vocals).

The three band members met while immersed in L.A.’s DIY music scene and started playing live in 2017, taking their name from the track "Automatic" from The Go-Go's album Beauty and the Beat. The group signed to Los Angeles label Stones Throw in June 2019. 

Dompé is the daughter of Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins. She joined her first band, art-rock outfit Blackblack, when she was 13.

Automatic announced their debut album Signal with the release of their first single "Calling It" on 3 June 2019. The band put out two more singles, a cover of Delta 5's "Mind Your Own Business" and title track "Signal", before releasing the album on 27 September 2019. Pitchfork described Signal as "an exercise in post-punk and no-wave galvanism". The band released Signal Remixes on 26 March 2021, which included reworks from artists such as Peanut Butter Wolf, Sudan Archives, Peaking Lights, Osees' John Dwyer, and Kevin Haskins.

On 8 March 2022, Automatic announced their new album Excess with their first single "New Beginning". Stereogum described "New Beginning" as "’60s pop kitsch". The group followed it up with their second single "Venus Hour" on 7 April 2022. Excess was released on 24 June 2022 on Stones Throw.

[Spotify] New Beginning

[Charming Live] New Beginning

“Thriving”, Diet Cig

This way: Thriving

Diet Cig is an American indie rock duo that formed in September 2014 in New Paltz, New York, United States. The band consists of Alex Luciano on guitar/vocals and Noah Bowman on drums. Their first studio album, Swear I'm Good At This, was released in April 2017. Their second studio album, Do You Wonder About Me, was released in May 2020. 

Luciano and Bowman met at a house show in New Paltz during the summer of 2014. Bowman's old band, Earl Boykins, was playing at the house show, where Luciano needed a cigarette lighter. She interrupted the band's set to ask Bowman for one, but he gave her a bottle of wine instead. Afterwards, Luciano got his number and told him she'd make a music video for him. The next day, Bowman tattooed a daisy on Luciano's foot and by August 2014, the pair were making music together. Bowman had been in bands since he was 13, but Luciano had never been in a band before and only knew a few chords on the guitar. They officially named their act Diet Cig in September 2014. Luciano and Bowman confirmed in an interview with Pigeons and Planes that the name has no significance.

[Spotify] Thriving

“I Want My Minutes Back”, Snapped Ankles

This way:  Want My Minutes Back

This is some good new fashioned punk rock.

Snapped Ankles are an English, London-based post-punk band, incorporating elements of performance art and art rock. They signed to The Leaf Label in 2017 and have released four albums, two EPs and numerous singles to date. The band members' identities are unknown, due to the fact that the group performs in ghillie suits, but they claim to be "forest folk...descended from the trees". 

Formed in East London in 2011, the band began performing at DIY nights creating live improvisations by chopping up 1960s films before sequencing and augmenting them with synthesisers. The band released their first single, "True Ecology (Shit Everywhere)", in December 2012, on Ears Have Eyes records. Their next release came in early 2015 with "I Want My Minutes Back", issued on white label, and reissued in 2017 as their first release on The Leaf Label. From 2015 to 2016, they performed in Daniel Oliver's participatory performance show 'Weird".

[Spotify]  I Want My Minutes Back

“Queens”, Aeon Station

This way: Queens

The bittersweet solo debut from Kevin Whelan—formerly of the Wrens—should it be electronica? No its just a rock band, some great songs here . . . . Aeon Station’s debut album Observatory, was released by Sub Pop Records on December 10, 2021. It was  previewed by the singles "Queens", "Leaves" and "Fade".

[Spotify] Queens

[So Charming Live] Queens live

“Sigalert”, Flat Worms

This way: Sigalert

Flat Worms are from Los Angeles, California. Frontman Will Ivy is flanked by drummer Justin Sullivan (Kevin Morby, The Babies) and bassist Tim Hellman, who’s played with Ty Segall and Oh Sees. 

[Spotify] Sigalert

“Saturday Night Friends”, Morphia Slow

This way: Saturday Night Friends

Morphia Slow is an artist Living in Phoenix, Arizona. Great folky pop song sound here. She refers to her genre as Fol-Murder-Pop.

[Spotify] Saturday Night Friends

“The Greyhound”, TRAAMS

This way: The Greyhound

TRAAMS are an English indie rock band, formed in 2011 in Chichester, West Sussex, England.

The band's name "TRAAMS" comes from the acronym for "Time Reference Angle of Arrival Measurement System". The trio's roots originated in mid-2011 when the bandmembers met at Goo a club night based in Bognor Regis. There, Stuart Hopkins was a DJ where he spun songs by Wire, New Order, and Le Tigre along with mainstream pop and rap. The three bandmembers bonded over their mutual tastes of music, specifically musicians such as McLusky, Pavement, Television and Kraftwerk. The influences caused the band to begin jamming together and in late 2011, to begin recording music with each other. Much of the band's earliest demo work has been described as a hybrid of Krautrock and punk rock. 

[Spotify] The Greyhound

“Friends On Ice”, Yung

This way: Friends On Ice

This quartet is from Denmark and began in 2014. 

[Spotify] Friends On Ice

“Sing Sing”, The Bones of J.R. Jones

This way: Sing Sing

The Bones of J.R. Jones is a project from American singer, guitarist, and songwriter Jonathon Linaberry (from central New York State).

A self-taught guitar and banjo player, J.R.’s fondness for old gospel hymns, bluesmen like Son House and R.L. Burnside, and artists like The Carter Family and Tom Waits, helped shape his sound, which has been described as “haunting stomp blues tempered with a touch of honey.”

Performing on stage with a kick drum, high-hat, and guitar/banjo (as well as the occasional harmonica and kazoo) J.R.’s live shows are visually impressive – a powerful and dynamic display that showcases his musical and emotional range. 

His songs speak of sorrow and hope, a longing for home, and, he says, “The more unsavory desires and wants in your life – those demons and devils that haunt you.” 

[Spotify] Sing Sing

[Charming live] Sing Sing

“Barracuda”, John Cale

This way: Barracuda

Fear is the fourth solo studio album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale, released on 1 October 1974 by Island Records.

Fear is the first of Cale's three studio albums for Island Records, all of which were released in a period of just over a year. During this time Cale was also producing records for other artists, working on albums such as Horses (1975) by Patti Smith, one of the most influential of all punk records.

 

In addition to his lead vocals on Fear, Cale also played keyboards, guitars, viola, violin and bass, and was joined by Fairport Convention's Richard Thompson, Roxy Music's Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera, and other artists who were signed to Island at the time.

"Gun" features an unusual two-man guitar solo from Manzanera and Eno, with the latter using a synthesizer to process the former's guitar playing in real-time. The promotional album for Fear released by Island Records contained an interview with Cale. He announced an adaption of the William Blake poem "Jerusalem", and cover versions of the songs "Girl from the North Country" by Bob Dylan, "Eight Miles High" by the Byrds and "I Can See for Miles" by the Who.

[Spotify] Barracuda

“The Wind Was Like a Train”, Wild Pink

This way: The Wind Was Like a Train

Wild Pink is an American indie rock band from the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City. 

Wild Pink began in 2015, releasing an EP titled 2 Songs. In May 2015, Wild Pink joined Texas Is Funny Records and released a new single, as well as announcing a second EP, Good Life, which was released on June 30, 2015. In 2016, the band announced their self-titled debut full-length album, which was released on the Tiny Engines label in February 2017. The band's second album, Yolk in the Fur, was released on July 20, 2018. The band's third album, A Billion Little Lights, was released on February 19, 2021, with Royal Mountain Records. Two months later, in April 2021, the band released the EP 6 Cover Songs, which includes covers of songs by Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, and a cover of the Jeopardy! theme tune.

[Spotify] The Wind Was Like a Train

“South Gotta Change”, Adia Victoria

This way: South Gotta Change

Adia Victoria (born July 22, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. In addition to playing and writing music, she also writes poetry. She is currently based in Nashville.

Victoria has described her music as "gothic blues". It incorporates elements of rock, blues, punk rock and country music. Critics and journalists have classified her style as blues, folk, Southern Gothic, indie rock, blues rock,[9] gothic country, gothic folk, swamp blues, garage punk, punk blues and soul music. Although Victoria is sometimes associated with Americana music, she has distanced herself from the genre, saying, "I’m not an Americana artist. I have no interest in being appropriated by that genre." However, her position seems to have softened as, in 2022, she performed at a nominations event hosted by the Americana Music Association and was nominated for their Emerging Artist of the Year award at their 21st awards ceremony. 

[Spotify] South Gotta Change