One man project by Portland's Phil Spirito, who evidently has a lot of musician friends that helped out with this recording. Sparse, subtle arrangements are the norm for this outing. If I had a dream about this record, I would think it is either Tom Waits or Neil Young crashing an Alan Lomax recording session. Apparently there is such a thing as a tenor banjo. Who knew?
There’s a fine line between stripped down music and so stripped back that is sounds empty. On Mirrors and Smoke, Nicole Alexis lands comfortably on the right side of that line, delivering a debut EP that leans into simplicity without losing its emotional weight. Built around acoustic arrangements and minimal production, the EP feels intentionally close. It feels like these … Read more
There’s a certain kind of punk band that doesn’t overthink things. No reinvention, no genre-bending manifesto, just fast songs, big hooks, and enough attitude to carry it all. Indianapolis’ The Remote Controls lean hard into that tradition on Too Tough, a record that feels less like a statement and more like a well-earned victory lap. Built on a steady diet … Read more
For those of us who spent the mid-to-late 1980s navigating basement community halls, churches, and loveable, armpit-smelling dive bars, the name Die Kreuzen was a permanent fixture on the punk rock radar. They were the sound of the Midwest underground --too fast for the goths to do their spooky Bela Lugosi "shoo the bats away" interpretive dance, too technical for … Read more
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