Top8 - 02/17/25 - WTSQ 88.1 FM

February 16, 2025 - 09:07 PM

Welcome back to Top8. There's lots of crazy new music happening right now, and I didn't even have room for it all. Maybe next time will suck and everything will just even out. We'll see. I have no idea what you should send to wtsq.org/contact

L.A. Witch - 777

Out of every extant band that hasn't released an album for a while, L.A. Witch is probably the one I was missing the most. The new one is called DOGGOD and it should be out in early April. The lead single is the excellent "777". L.A. Witch plays fuzzed out reverby garage rock that will make you feel like you're about to be in a knife fight. There is just a bit of swaggery rockabilly by way of The Gun Club creeping in around the edges with this band. No modern band has been more influential on the current garage scene than L.A. Witch and I can't wait for this whole album.

Nearly Mine - All My Convictions

Nearly Mine plays the kind of shoegazey hardcore / emo that you could possibly get your teeth kicked in listening to. And I say that with love. If I have to lose teeth, this would be a good way to do it. This band takes me all the way back to bands like Embrace. The intensity here doesn't feel like a pose or a weird affectation. This band is full-throated and from the heart, and the new single "All My Convictions" shows it. Also, they are just from over in Ashland, so you might actually get to see them from time to time. I suggest you do.

Peter Murphy - Swoon

If you listen to WTSQ, I am going to assume you know who Peter Murphy is. If you don't check out the Bauhaus discography. He's an all time great artist whose influence on modern music is incalculable. That said, his solo albums have been a more mixed affair to me. While there are some moments of pure genius like 1990's "Cuts You Up", or 1995's "I'll Fall With Your Knife", he's never flown as high in his post-Bauhaus years. At 67, you'd be forgiven for letting the guy off the hook at this point. He's still out there though, and the first two singles off his forthcoming album "Silver Shade" suggest that he's still got some life in him. The first one is "Let The Flowers Bloom" with the great Boy George (and you should listen to that too). "Swoon" features Trent Reznor and has quite a lot of NIN energy. These are both the best things I have heard from Murphy in decades.

Valerie June - Joy, Joy!

Valerie June has enormous range. Sometimes you get these gorgeous ethereal songs with sparkling banjo. Sometimes you get some brilliant folk. Sometimes you get a proper rock song like "Joy Joy". I would put it somewhere between Alabama Shakes and Shovels and Rope. This is my favorite thing from this amazing lady in ages. Maybe ever.

Bnny - Love Trap

The distortion on "Love Trap" sounds like the amp is just plain broken. This is a slow burn track with big grungy pay off at the end. I am always here for something like this. I've been into Bnny for a little bit now. They are hot on the heels of an excellent 2024 album called "One Million Love Songs." They have a lot of sonic diversity. Some songs are more like Soccer Mommy, some are like King Woman. This is a band to keep an eye on.

Destroyer - Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World

Destroyer is a pretty solid part of the 2000s indie rock thing. They combine synthy grooves with a little irony here and there. A lot of bands did this and I am not sure that Destroyer are the best of them, but I do know that "Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World" is a gleefully weird and really excellent song. This is like Robyn Hitchcock in the band Squid.

Des Demonas - Miles Davis Headwound Blues

I do listen to a lot of garagey music where there's an organ and someone beating the shit out of a tamborine. Well, here's another. There's a sort of insane shouty quality here. Like the vocalist isn't really singing lyrics so much as sort of randomly yelling lines.

Esther Rose - New Bad

Esther Rose is one of these brilliant people you've never heard of that ends up blowing up on GemsonVHS or WesternAF with retro-sounding charm. Sometimes when those people get a little attention and show back up with a band and a bigger sound, it all goes to hell. Well, not this time. For one thing, she's not tied down to a retro style. Songs like 2023's "Spider" show she is comfortable using the colors of that palette to create something completely modern and original. "New Bad" is even better than "Spider". This one gets loud and noisy in places before relaxing back into an ambling waltz through the bar to get one last drink. A little Lucinda Williams with a little Snail Mail. This is easily one of my favorites of the year so far.