If you’ve been on social media lately you may have noticed there’s been an upsurge in nostalgia for the years between roughly 2008 and 2012, this brief glowing pocket of time where indie culture still felt handmade and full of possibility. Before social media was embedded into our phones and taken over by ads and algorithms, when we were all just taking 100 photos on a digital camera on a night out, watching HBO’s Girls and wearing American Apparel disco pants. The Tiktok teens are calling it the “Millennial Optimism Years”. For me, who turned 18 the year Obama was elected, went to fashion school and moved to Portland in…
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Big Smile, Big Heartbreak: My Valentine’s love letter to a band who broke up and broke my heart.
It’s Valentine’s week, and in between eating an entire box of Little Debbie Valentines cakes and crafting cute things with toddlers, I’m grieving a band who gave me one perfect album and then promptly ghosted me. So here’s my love letter to Greer, Big Smile, and my pattern of loving powerpop one-album wonders. Greer released Big Smile last year and it is undoubtedly one of the best albums of the decade for me. But then, just as quickly as they came back into my life, they were gone. No messy sophomore slump. No gradual decline. Just one immaculate full-length and a breakup post on Instagram. Let’s rewind. It’s July 2020.…
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Acapulco Lips | Now
Seattle’s Acapulco Lips have always been a band you could count on for sun-baked fuzz, jangly hooks, and that sweet spot where garage grit meets 60s girl group charm. But Now — their latest full-length via Killroom Records — feels like they’ve taken that cocktail, added an extra shot of swagger, and served it with a little more bite. Produced by Killroom co-founders Ben Jenkins and Troy Nelson and mastered by Pacific Northwest punk legend Kurt Bloch, the record oozes analog warmth and a lived-in confidence that only comes from over a decade of doing this thing for real. From the opening swirl of “Welcome to the Other Side,” you’re…
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Singles Round Up: The Outset, Shadow Show, Girl Tones, The Snares
The Outset- “But I Learned”/”Baker’s Husband” The newest offering from So-Cal’s The Outset features 2 tracks sounding straight out of the mid 60s. “But I Learned” is more straightforward rock n roll- think Yardbirds, Stones, early Who. The production style is perfect for this sound as well. “Baker’s Husband” leans more psych, a more 67/68-ish vibe. I love the jangle guitar, the rawness of the sound, and the more catchy, powerpop type psych going on here. A vintage sound done really well and with loads of style. https://theoutset.bandcamp.com/album/but-i-learned-bakers-husband Shadow Show: “Baba Yaga” w/ “Spy Balloon” Detroit trio Shadow Show continue to make some of the most interesting and complex psych…
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Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans | Ates
Hailing from Bergamo, Italy, Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans is a project born from an idea by Thomas Mascheroni (also guitar/voice of stoner trio Humulus), after a long series of jams inside a former barn above the hills of Lake Iseo. Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans play a psychedelic rock heavily contaminated by 70s influences, condensed into a cauldron of neo-psychedelia and West-Coast-style surfing sounds, transmitting an overwhelming energy live. After releasing two singles (‘Valley of the Sun’ and ‘Violet Hills’), the Talismans released their first album – the entirely self-produced entitled Rituals (2023). In March of this year, the band released Ates, their second full-length record. Ates is a…
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“Life Is A Merry Go Round”- Live in Portland with The Zombies
Iconic British psychedelic pop legends The Zombies are back to celebrate their long-awaited Induction into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with a new album in the works and their 2022 “Life Is A Merry-Go-Round” Tour. This tour feels like a well-deserved victory lap after some major wins for this hard working veteran band, who are truly in a class of their own. The band being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is certainly a significant event in the history of the Zombies, and one that was a long time in the making. After receiving their 4th nomination in 5 years, the support for The Zombies’…
