There is a restless energy blooming in the independent circuit and Designer has tapped into a vein of raw power that feels absolutely vital for 2026. Their track Ugly In The Streets arrived like a lightning bolt when I first heard it and it reminded me why we still need guitar music to be messy […]
Designer Reclaims the Grit of the Streets With a Ferocious New Anthem Read More »
Jeff Hodges’ I Believe enters the world with a press release full of signifiers. This is an Americana-country ballad with all of the typical modern saints in mind spanning Zach Bryan, Chris Stapleton and Leon Bridges, arriving complete with respectable streaming numbers, a burgeoning live performance series dubbed the N4KED MAN Sessions, and a biography
There’s only so many times you can mention that you really miss the ’90s before people begin to ask if you’ve considered buying a flannel shirt and playing Singles in a loop. Grunge nostalgia is an entire industry now. Half the bands who do it sound like they’re painstakingly replicating a museum exhibit titled ‘Kurt
There are two types of independent artists who record at home: The sort that spends 80% of their energy trying to convince you they’re actually living a millionaire’s lifestyle on the sly. And then there’s the sort that takes their existing lives-family struggles, career anxieties, rising pressure and doubts about the future and says, “That
Hope and Need Provides the Truest Picture Yet of Who Gibbz Is Beneath the Mythology Read More »
There is a specific kind of arrogance that only thrives in the neon-baked sprawl of Sunset Boulevard. MAWK3 taps into that vein of pure narcissism with their latest single Everybody Wants To Be You which feels like a mid-afternoon gin and tonic spilled on a leather jacket. It works as a high-octane celebration of vanity
MAWK3 Resurrects the High-Gloss Glamour of the Sunset Strip Read More »
There are, broadly, two types of rap storytelling songs. The first ones you tell you about growing up broke, getting rich, losing your friends, finding your way, or discovering that celebrity isn’t nearly as rewarding as you thought it would be. They exist because people like to listen to other people. The second type are
Fear is funny. Not “ha ha” funny though, rather the kind where your mind gets so used to being anxious, or in constant mode of being ready for anything, the fear itelf becomes the norm, or rather, comfort. Kind of like the really irritating person who just doesn’t want to leave your place, although they
About seven million rock tunes about broken relationships-that’s not a dig. Humanity has been trying to hurt the ones we love for a good several thousand years and rock just brought it to scale. In truth, the real challenge isn’t finding fresh angles to sound off to about the pain, but making an audience care
Kings County Brings Murkiness Into Unexpectedly Positive Relief on “What Now” Read More »
The sun-scorched asphalt of Southern California has a way of baking certain voices into its cracks until they become part of the geography and hearing Jack Grisham and the Life Undone rip through Pieces of the Sun feels like watching a wildfire reclaim a manicured suburb. Grisham has spent the better part of four decades
California Punk Royalty Reinvents the Wheel With High-Octane Alt-Rock Grit Read More »
I want to make every second last,” sings The Reckless on their latest offering “Take My Time,” and while the sentiment might sound like a standard pop platitude on paper, the delivery carries the weight of a manifesto. It arrives as a deliberate middle finger to the frantic pace of the 2020s and it finds
