NYC based band Sorry Mom has just liberated the punk-rock single “Shaving My Legs” in preparation for the release of their debut album babyface on May 12th. Following the album release, Sorry Mom will be hitting the road for a short northeast run that concludes with a set at Boston Calling Music Festival.
Sorry Mom is an NYC-based femme punk band whose music chronicles queer experiences and suburban despair through a nostalgic punk sound. Their music boasts the lyrical playfulness of Green Day and blink-182, but sonically has a more hardcore edge.
What began as a group of college friends playing music together quickly evolved into something bigger upon the release of Sorry Mom’s debut EP “Juno Goes to the Big House” in April 2021. As of July 2022, the band has garnered 10M+ streams across platforms and 50k+ followers across socials. In Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, Sorry Mom embarked on tours of the Northeast, playing 30 unique venues across the region.
The first single “Hiccup” shows the side of Sorry Mom that is incredibly hardcore punk. By using their artform to their advantage, they show how unique they are with powerful lyrics and punk melodies. Overall, “Hiccup” makes you want to jump straight into a mosh pit.
The second single “Shaving My Legs,” released on April 14th, provides a fast-paced intro to the overall album. While tackling feelings of being trapped, promising again and again to start making changes tomorrow, the band shows us that tomorrow never comes.
Sorry Mom is also going on tour for the release of babyface, stopping in Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus Bar. For more information and to purchase tickets, click the link here.
To listen to “Shaving My Legs,” click the link here.
Upstate NY’s The Parlor have just announced their newest LP You Are Love And I Am You, a psychedelic dream-pop record about ecstatic realizations associated with what some call the mystical experience, unitive consciousness, or loving presence.
In celebration to the release on May 19th, they will also be hosting an album release show May 20th at Indian Ladder Cidery & Brewery’s Upper Biergarten.
You Are Love And I Am You is like a dream-pop relief compared to their more recent release in 2018 titled Kiku which chronicled the experience of grief and loss. It is meant to be listened to as an album, front to back. There were many that influenced the making of this album, such as The Mamas and the Papas, Tame Impala, Broadcast, Warpaint, Mazzy Star, George Harrison, Velvet Underground, Khruangbin, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Len, Cults, and Fleetwood Mac.
As a neo-psychedelic dream-pop project made by husband and wife Eric Krans and Jen O’Connor, The Parlor was named after a room in the 19th century farmhouse where they live, farm, and create. The multi-instrumentalist, producer-composers express some of the most powerful aspects of the human experience. Immersive sound scaping and aural synesthetic composition is the vessel through which they share their existence.
The song that has been released as a tease for the album, “Underneath the Universe,” is an absolute hit. It is very reminiscent of Tame Impala, with pretty indie visuals in the video to accommodate the dreamy-like melodies in the song itself.
The band stated, “Things got gloomy for us while touring on the Kiku record. Playing songs about trauma on a nightly basis, and the grueling nature of touring just sort of wore us down. (Jenn Pelly wrote an incredible piece for Pitchfork that relays a lot of what we experienced). Together these experiences ushered us deeper down a dark tapering claustrophobic tunnel with only a pinhole exit. We squeezed through somehow, thanks to meditative practice and sharing our deepest vulnerabilities with each other.”
During the pandemic, additional darkness ensued, but there was only one way out and it was through. We found a deepened sense of presence that felt sacred. By accepting the seemingly unacceptable we were paradoxically filled with awe and wonder. Living was imbued again with light, love and gratitude. That’s the experience this album captures. Us finding ourselves again. The heart of this album is the enigmatic realization that we are and always have been the universe experiencing itself. We exist as manifestations of the universe just as everything else. And when we allow ourselves to be whole and unique, we express the universe in hi-fidelity authenticity. Something about holding that in imagination produces a sense of reverence and a desire to sing and share.
“We got into Carl Jung, archetypal symbolism, alchemy, medieval Christian mysticism, Taoism, Sufism and found hundreds of esoteric philosophical characters that seem to be sharing similar mystical experiences of their own. This album is for them. Our new long dead friends. And everyone we ever met or wished upon. You shaped us. And to anyone out there who has had, or who hopes to have, a mystical experience in their lives that orients them toward abiding presence, awe and wonder, and gratitude for all existence. We celebrate you as us. Everything and nothing is one shining-forth ineffable non-dual eminence. Like dust in the light // Both the dark and bright.”
To pre-order You Are Love And I Am You, click the link here.
Long Island’s The Sleeping has just announced the upcoming release of I Feel Like I’m Becoming A Ghost, out July 28th. After coming down from the high of two sold out reunion shows in Brooklyn and on Long Island, the post-punk outfit band has announced their first new album in nearly 13 years featuring their original lineup that hasn’t written together in over 16 years.
“Now that this is the original lineup, it feels like a massive evolution,” says vocalist Douglas Robinson. “I would describe this new record as a band that stayed true to who they are while completely reshaping the approach to their sound. This record feels way more focused from every angle, but it’s us at its core. We were never a band who copied our influences. Everything that we put out is influenced by our love for music as a whole, and not just particular bands or artists.”
On I Feel Like I’m Becoming A Ghost, The Sleeping dials in their eccentric and erratic blend of ambient indie rock, post-punk, and melodic hardcore. The abum overall shines a light on mental instability. It was written, recorded, and produced at Applehead Recording in Woodstock, NY with the infamous production duo Mike Birnbaum and Chris Bittner (Coheed and Cambria, Bad Brains, Weerd Science, Team Sleep) with insight from the band.
The Sleeping formed in 2003 in Long Island, founded by Cameron Keym, Sal Mignano, and Joe Zizzo. After auditioning twenty-two potential vocalists, they came across Douglas Robinson, former singer/guitarist of the band Stillwelle.
Their live performances are known for their emotive, high-energy and tight-knit sound. They’ve toured with infamous bands like Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, Bayside and ALEXISONFIRE. Their music has been featured in video games including Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, Madden NFL 07, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage.
I Feel Like I’m Becoming A Ghost is due out on July 28th and is now available for preorder on here. Along with this, there will be items and limited-edition bundles available as well.
Jamestown, NY’s Natalie Merchant debuted her new single “Tower of Babel” recently, alongside a soul-infecting indie video to paired alongside. The single anticipates Merchant’s forthcoming album Keep Your Courage, set for an April 14th release. Merchant stated, “For the most part, this is an album about the human heart.”
“Tower of Babel” is soul-inflecting, featuring horn arrangements by trombone player Steve Davis, and follows the first single and video, “Come On, Aphrodite.”
As much as I had wanted to not let events in the world intrude, I couldn’t disregard the prevailing atmosphere of fear and confusion that we have been living in as a result of the pandemic, climate crisis, economic instability, insane politics, violent insurrection and the shocking fallout from the conservative-stacked reactionary Supreme Court.
Natalie Merchant
Keep Your Courage is the Natalie’s ninth solo studio album, and the latest new material since 2014’s self-titled record. In the words of Uncut, “‘Keep Your Courage,’ almost a decade in the making, finds Merchant as witty and welcoming as always, turning her gaze to what helps us endure life’s ups and downs.”
The eclectic album features contributions from Celtic folk group Lúnasa, Syrian virtuoso clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and jazz trombonist Steve Davis. There are lush orchestrations by seven composers throughout, including: Gabriel Kahane, Stephen Barber, Colin Jacobsen and Megan Gould. The new record is comprised of nine original songs by Merchant as well as an interpretation of “Hunting the Wren” by Ian Lynch of the Irish band Lankum.
In celebration of the new music, Merchant will embark upon an extensive tour this spring, going into the fall of 2023.
NATALIE MERCHANT TOUR—U.S.
April 14—Poughkeepsie, NY—Bardavon, 1869 Opera House‡
April 15—Poughkeepsie, NY—Bardavon, 1869 Opera House‡
April 18—Pittsburgh, PA—Byham Theater
April 19—Charlottesville, VA—The Paramount Theater‡
April 21—Philadelphia, PA—Kimmel Cultural Campus
April 22—Hershey, PA—The Hershey Theatre
April 24—Greenville, SC—Peace Center Concert Hall
April 26—Clearwater, FL—Ruth Eckerd Hall
April 27—Fort Lauderdale, FL—with The South Florida Symphony Orchestra
Au-Rene Theater – Broward Center for the Performing Arts†
April 28—St. Augustine, FL—The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre
April 30—Atlanta, GA—with The Atlanta Symphony at Atlanta Symphony Hall†‡
May 9—Portland, ME—Merrill Auditorium
May 10—Boston, MA—Emerson Colonial Theatre‡
May 11—Boston, MA—Emerson Colonial Theatre
May 13—Cleveland, OH—Keybank State Theatre
May 14—Cincinnati, OH—Taft Theatre
May 16—Carmel, IN—The Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts
May 17—Ann Arbor, MI—Michigan Theater
May 19—Chicago, IL—Chicago Theatre
May 20—Milwaukee, WI—The Pabst Theater
June 2–3—New York, NY—Lincoln Center for thePerforming Arts—Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center†
June 25—Newark, NJ—New Jersey Performing Arts Center†
June 28—Providence, RI—Veterans Memorial Auditorium†
June 30—Washington, DC—John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts†
July 1—Washington, DC—John F. Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts†
July 8—Chautauqua, NY—Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater†
September 20—Spokane, WA—Martin Woldson Theatre at The Fox
September 22—Seattle, WA— Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery
September 23—Portland, OR—Keller Auditorium
September 26—San Francisco, CA—The Masonic
September 27—Saratoga, CA—The Mountain Winery*
September 29—San Diego, CA—Humphrey’s‡
September 30—Los Angeles, CA—Walt Disney Concert Hall
NATALIE MERCHANT TOUR—EUROPE
November 2—London, UK—London Palladium
November 3—London, UK—London Palladium
November 5—Glasgow, UK—Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
November 6—Manchester, UK—O2 Apollo Manchester
November 8—Dublin, IE—Olympia
November 11—Bath, UK—The Forum
November 13—Amsterdam, NL—Carré Theatre
November 14—Brussels, BE—Cirque Royal
*On-sale timing TBA
†With symphony orchestra
‡Sold Out
To listen and watch “Tower Of Babel,” click the link here.
Brooklyn-based melodic punks Warn The Duke are back with a new album titled All That’s Solid, out on Friday, March 17th. The band will celebrate that night with a show at Brooklyn’s Our Wicked Lady.
The new LP All That’s Solid is a window into the ebbs and flows of recovery. Songwriter and lead singer Dan McCool (former River City Rebels) leads us through cycles of despair, renewal, and self-forgiveness that emerge after trauma and loss.
This is Warn The Duke’s first album in eight years, being written on the heels of lockdowns, divorce, and addiction. By layering harmonies and the combo of male/female vocals, the band emphasizes the record’s bittersweet atmosphere.
There are some far-ranging influences bringing the listeners through All That’s Solid. For instance, the warmth of Mike Ness’s vocals, the wry defiance of Against Me!, the dense, dark guitar tone of Nothing. Also, the earworms and hooks of The Replacements, early 2000s math rock-inspired lead guitar lines, and the hard-hitting punk grit of Hot Water Music.
“These guys play that brand of punk rock and post-hardcore that bands like Hot Water Music perfected.”
-Nerdist
Joining McCool on the album are drummer Derek Davis (former Big D and The Kids Table/The Toasters), bassist/vocalist Chris Marciniak, lead guitarist Chris Ferreria, and guitarist/vocalist Dori Cameron.
The album features the songs “Sometimes,” “The Middle” and the single “Anniversaries” (the latter of which is now streaming). Watch the music video for “Anniversaries” below and pre-save the album on Spotify. “All That’s Solid” arrives on 12” LP vinyl and digital on Friday, March 17th. The band will celebrate that night with a show at Brooklyn’s Our Wicked Lady.
All songs on All That’s Solid were written, performed, and produced by Dan McCool and Warn The Duke. Furthermore, some were recorded and mixed by Jeff Berner at Studio G (Brooklyn). Additional record recording and co-production was done by Chris Duggan at Blue Banshee Studio (Brewster, MA), and mastered by Jon Markson.
Brooklyn’s Jake Pinto announces the release of his upcoming album Sad Songs for Happy People, on March 31st. The album was set for release right when the pandemic hit, and then further delayed when Jake’s talents were sought out by Miami psych-funksters Magic City Hippies and Brooklyn’s afrobeat Antibalas, leading to months of global touring.
Pinto’s eclectic musical story has shaped a charmingly honest solo debut rich in instinctive melodicism and cultured arrangements. Being a jazz musician since his early teens, Jake attended NYU for jazz piano and was soon booking gigs and festivals worldwide, including the Blue Note in New York City and Milan.
While still in college, Jake Pinto found himself already playing alongside genre luminaries like François Mouton, Ralph Lalama, and the late Lew Soloff. He went on to play prestigious engagements, including the Montreal and Rochester International jazz festivals.
Getting back to writing on piano, Jake found fresh excitement and energy. He began working with a diverse variety of artists at Silverman’s Future Sounds studio in Brooklyn, and on off days, he would bring in his own band and record what would become Sad Songs for Happy People, much of it tracked live on vintage, analog equipment.
“The Beatles are still my favorite band, but I was also obsessed with D’Angelo for so long,” Pinto says. “And I love the crooners like Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra; the directness of how they sing and tell stories. It’s a hard thing to do, to tell show-tune stories in a way that doesn’t feel corny.”
The result of this album is 11 ultra-accomplished tracks of eclectic, Americana, and blues-flecked indie rock delivered straight from the source. These are songs emotional and quality rather than adherence to genre or style.
“There’s something beautiful about taking a sad song and putting it to a bright beat and bright instrumental,” Jake continued. “Just an interesting combination of melancholy, nostalgia, love, and happiness.”
To pre-save Sad Songs for Happy People, click the link here.
For more music by Jack Pinto, click the link here.
Hudson Valley’s brother and sister harmonic duo Plane Station has just released their newest single “Keep Me Grounded,” on February 24th. The two are currently preparing to release two more singles over the following months and completing their third album, Art or Content, in the spring.
Plane Station consists of Nick and Brianna Chiapparino, a sibling singer songwriter duo based in Peekskill. Their sound, honed through years of live performance, is built on harmony, memorable melodies and a collaborative approach to songwriting.
Their single “Keep Me Grounded” is a powerful piece that will send shivers down your spine. No mater your headspace, Nick and Brianna’s angelic melodies will pierce through your heart. The song is beautifully written, the harmony that Plane Station has is incredible. The two are unbelievably talented artists with their sound and lyrics, they deserve more spotlight.
Nick and Brianna both grew up in the Hudson Valley and began singing together in High School. The duo has fronted many bands spanning a wide variety of genres, keeping their unique connection front and center with Plane Station.
Their music is often driven either by Nick’s acoustic guitar or Brianna’s piano work. Their sound together weaves seamlessly through the intimate and the grandiose, whispered lines over a finger picked guitar often give way to soaring harmonies over swelling instrumentation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJM6KdpxiWY
Their first album, The Other Side, finds the duo exploring themes of love, change and loss in a stripped down, predominantly acoustic setting. On 7th Street, Plane Station’s second full length LP, Nick and Brianna stretch their folk sound, taking full of advantage of a vaster sonic landscape while staying true to their singer/songwriter roots.
Their third and upcoming album, Art or Content, is coming together for release in the spring of 2023. For more information on Plane Station, visit their website by clicking the link here.
The late Gord Downie & Canadian producer Bob Rock have just released their latest single “The Moment Is A Wild Place.” The epic rock duo has also just announced their upcoming album Lustre Parfait, the ninth album to bear Downie’s name outside of The Tragically Hip, and the first to bear Rock’s.
The single is a long-fabled collaboration between Gord Downie, late front man of legendary Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, and GRAMMY® Award-winning producer/musician Bob Rock. Their partnership began in 2006 when Rock produced The Tragically Hip’s acclaimed 10th studio album, World Container, followed in 2009 by the chart-topping We Are The Same.
Robert Jens Rock, record producer, engineer, guitarist, and songwriter has produced and engineer top-selling albums by such timeless artists as Metallica, Bon Jovi, The Tragically Hip, The Cult, Mötley Crüe, Aerosmith, Cher, Loverboy, Bryan Adams, Simple Plan, Michael Bublé and many others. He is known for his robust, radio-friendly production touch and the intuition to play to an artist’s character and strengths, Rock is perhaps best known for his long-standing role as producer for Metallica.
“I’ve always been a fan of long pieces of music,” says Bob Rock. “Setting a mood and going someplace, just taking you somewhere. The music was based on that journey, this rising tide of chords, crescendos in the chorus. Somehow, I stumbled on this magic chord, a simple minor to a major progression, and it moved me. And Gord reacted to it. It’s absolute perfection in terms of songwriting and in terms of what he did. It’s special because of what he talks about. The lyric was written before he was diagnosed with the sickness that he had. They say you gotta live in the moment. It causes you to look back, and I get choked up every time I hear it, still. I think most people will be moved by it. It’s one of his finest moments.”
More than a decade in the making, Lustre Parfait sees Downie’s peerless lyricism and incendiary heart given newfangled energy by his longtime friend and collaborator, famed producer/musician Bob Rock.
Gord Downie is the late lead singer and songwriter of The Tragically Hip, who, over more than 30 years and across fourteen studio albums, built an enduring legacy as perhaps the essential Canadian rock band. With seven solo albums to his name, Downie’s own music refutes definition, renowned for its adventurous poetry, collaboration, elastic composition, and singular vocal wail.
Unfortunately, Downie passed away on October 17th, 2017. Since his passing, The New York Times stated that Downie has “no parallel in the United States. Imagine Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Michael Stipe combined into one sensitive, oblique, poet-philosopher, and you’re getting close.”
“First and foremost Gord was my friend,” continues Rock, “and having the opportunity to work with him on these songs was one of the biggest highlights of my professional life. I am grateful that I got to witness his genius in such close proximity.”
To listen to “The Moment Is A Wild Place,” click the link here.
To preorder the upcoming album Lustre Parfait, click the link here.
Singer-songwriter Robin Eaton just released his newest single inspired by late 70s New York, “Drugs R 4 Kids.” This song is the first single for Eaton’s upcoming album, Memories of A Misspent Youth, due for release on May 1st.
As he reflects on his past foibles with “Drugs R 4 Kids”, Robin Eaton re-centers himself. The song manages to capture the playful, sardonic humor of darker Americana while retaining the glamour of retro rock.
Back in the 70s, Robin Eaton was performing with local favorites The Leisure Units in New York. The memories of their shared loft and their parties have stuck with him throughout the years. Eaton recalls these volatile drugs fueled these times.
When discussing the inspiration and back story behind “Drugs R 4 Kids”, Eaton writes: “All of the fights and the parties, it was all just regular Leisure Units stuff. Back in 1979, I had recently returned to NYC after making a songwriter album for Warner Brothers in Paris. When I came back to New York and joined the Leisure Units, there was lots of cocaine and heroin floating around the city. It was fun but didn’t bode well for the success of our project. Everybody was on edge all the time. Clive Davis was the first of many to pass on signing our band. Unfortunately, all the members of the Leisure Units have since passed, with me being the sole survivor of the group.”
As a prolific songwriter and producer, Robin Eaton is reintroducing himself as a performing artist. In the past, he was also in the original Broadway production of Hair. Aside from his personal music, Robin Eaton is also a respected composer.
Listen to “Drugs R 4 Kids” by clicking the link here.
For more information on Robin Eaton, click the link here for his website.
