Oakland musician Spellling’s new album conjures mosh pits at S.F. show

San Francisco Chronicle April 8, 2025

There was no trepidation to be found during Spellling’s set at Great American, where Cabral’s body-bending theatrics and captivating command of the stage stood in stark contrast to the insecurities she sings about on her newest album.

SPELLLING – ‘Portrait Of My Heart’ review: the art pop artist turns to loud, intergalactic grunge

NME March 28, 2025

‘Portrait Of My Heart’ shows Cabral, who has spent her nearly decade-long career building her own universe, not relishing comfort but raging against its vast expanse

The edgy new heights of SPELLLING’s panoramic mysticism

The Line of Best Fit March 19, 2025

Nevertheless, she describes Portrait as “a creative resurgence” and “a way to bridge the gap” between SPELLLING the artist and Chrystia the person: more forthright, more honest, less cloaked in mystery. The price of a small identity crisis in the process is one she’s come to terms with. Through asking the big questions like “Who am I?” and “What are my relationships?”, she was able to explore romance and intimacy “in new ways” that reflect on and address the changes in herself. She describes feeling “a big sense of relief” from coming to the end, as if the portrait’s completion marked a pivotal moment, a return to self. “There’s Tia and there’s SPELLLING,” she says firmly. “This album is much more personal, it’s much more Tia.”

Ty Segall Announces New Album Possession, Shares “Fantastic Tomb”

Paste Magazine March 12, 2025

“[‘Fantastic Tomb’ is] an energy-charged anthem that would feel right at home on classic rock radio.” – Paste

“Segall sets his hard-luck narrative to the grind of a fried electric guitar riff, while a smattering of keys and blustery saxophone solo further bring his story to life.” – Paste

“[‘Fantastic Tomb’] explodes with color; every element sounds like it’s been filtered through California sunshine. If you’re looking forward to a summer road trip, this is the song for you—its freewheelin’ groove practically demands to drift from cracked-open car windows, out onto the open road.” – Paste

Ty Segall Announces New Album Possession: Hear “Fantastic Tomb”

Stereogum March 11, 2025

Last year, Ty Segall shared the album Three Bells in January and followed it with the instrumental LP Love Rudiments in August. Today, the restless rocker is returning with the announcement of a new record called Possession, slated for release in May, as well as full-band tour dates.

Ty Segall Announces Tour Dates and New Album, Shares New Song “Fantastic Tomb”: Listen

Pitchfork March 11, 2025

Ty Segall has announced a new album. Co-written with his longtime collaborator and filmmaker Matt Yoka, Possession is the prolific rocker’s follow-up to the two records he released last year: Three Bells and the instrumental LP Love Rudiments. The new one is out May 30, via Drag City, and is led by the single “Fantastic Tomb,” which you can listen to below.

SPELLLING — ‘Alibi’

Stereogum February 12, 2025

Last month, SPELLLING announced her new album Portrait Of My Heart and released the gripping title track, which was one of our favorite songs of the week. Today, she’s back with another beautiful banger titled “Alibi.”

“Alibi” was originally a piano ballad, which is hard to imagine. Much like “Portrait Of My Heart,” “Alibi” is an exuberant, triumphant explosion of sound. Listen below.

Jim James, King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard, Mac DeMarco Feature on L.A. Fire Relief Benefit LP

Rolling Stone January 29, 2025

Mac DeMarco, King Gizzard & the Wizard Lizard, Jim James and the War on Drugs are just a few of the dozens of artists featured on a new benefit album released on Tuesday to help raise funds following the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

Super Bloom: A Benefit for Los Angeles Fire Relief, is 62 tracks-long and also features songs from Guided by Voices, Jenny Lewis, Dr. Dog, Ty Segall, and Swamp Dogg, among many others. All 100 percent of the proceeds from the album — organized by nonprofit Sweet Relief Musicians Fund — will go toward wildfire relief to organizations including Mutual Aid LA, the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, and Pasadena Humane. A digital copy of the album is available to purchase on Bandcamp now for $10, though customers could also pay more as a charitable option.

The 5 Best Songs Of The Week

Stereogum January 13, 2025

02 – SPELLLING – “Portrait Of My Heart”

SPELLLING has a knack for making music that sounds like it’s from another galaxy. “Portrait Of My Heart” is Chrystia Cabral’s newest otherworldly tune — taken from her just-announced new album of the same title — and it’s as fun as it is celestial. With enchanting strings and a cathartic chorus, “Portrait Of My Heart” serves as a cinematic, urgent anthem about alienation. It’s the best possible first preview of Portrait Of My Heart. –Danielle

SPELLLING – “Portrait Of My Heart”

Stereogum January 8, 2025

For Portrait Of My Heart, Cabral assembled a band with Wyatt Overson on guitar, Patrick Shelley on drums, and Giulio Xavier Cetto on bass. It has Drew Vandenberg, Rob Bisel, and Psymun on production, and features special guests like Chaz Bear of Toro y Moi, Turnstile guitarist Pat McCrory, and Zulu’s Braxton Marcellous. “Portrait Of My Heart” is a bewitching first taste; the song is a sweet indie-pop epic, even stronger paired with the Ambar Navarro-directed music video of Cabral dancing and singing in her bedroom, opening up a portal to another world. Fall under her spell below.

Spellling Announces New Album Portrait of My Heart, Shares Video: Watch

Pitchfork January 8, 2025

Spellling has announced a new album: Portrait of My Heart is out March 28 via Sacred Bones, and it marks Chrystia Cabral’s first truly new full-length since her 2021 LP The Turning Wheel. Cabral has also shared lead single and title track “Portrait of My Heart,” along with a music video directed by Ambar Navarro.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Perform ‘Flight b741’ with Songs for Kids Band

Billboard December 6, 2024

The prolific Australian collective team up with musical ensemble of kids and young adults with disabilities and illnesses.

Genre-defying King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard brings plenty of new music to Las Vegas

Las Vegas Weekly November 4, 2024

“King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard isn’t just a band. It’s a shape-shifting beast that devours genres for breakfast and spits out sounds you didn’t even know you needed.

Psychedelic rock, thrash metal, jazz, electronica, prog, folk, synth-pop and more; nothing is sacred and everything is up for grabs for this Melbourne-based sextet. We’re talking 26 studio albums and counting, 39 live recordings, stacks of singles and enough music videos to keep you glued to your screen for days. And it’s all been done over the course of just 14 years.

The latest record, Flight b741, was released in August right in the middle of a 44-date world tour. Its sound is heavily influenced by no-frills Southern rock n’ roll bands from the late ’60s and early ’70s—pedal steel, harmonicas, bluesy twang and all”

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Announce Orchestral Tour, Share New Song “Phantom Island”: Listen

Pitchfork October 31, 2024

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard have detailed a new run of 2025 U.S. shows. Next summer, they’ll play shows with conductor and music director Sarah Hicks and city-specific orchestras. For example, a show at Columbia, Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion will feature Washington, D.C.’s National Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado Symphony will play with the band at Colorado Springs’ Ford Amphitheater. Still, in Forest Hills, New York, and Buena Vista, Colorado, they’ll fit in rock’n’roll shows. See King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard’s tour dates below.

SPELLLING announces 2025 tour

Brooklyn Vegan October 31, 2024

SPELLLING has announced her first tour since 2023. The “Portrait of My Heart” tour begins in San Francsico on April 4 and wraps up in Reno on May 19, stopping in Los Angeles, Austin, Houston, Atlanta, Washington DC, Philadelphia, NYC, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, and more. According to a press release, she has “brand new songs” to perform, and you can see all dates below.

The 100 Best Albums of the 2020s so far

Paste Magazine October 10, 2024

10. Spellling: The Turning Wheel (2021)

In the first half of a decade which saw the rise of many diaristic singer-songwriters, the indie world still struggles with whimsy or theatricality as concepts. Yet, Oakland art pop multi-instrumentalist Tia Cabral crafted one of the most ambitious, existential sleeper hits of the past five years by operating in a fantasy world of her own. Centered around her distinctive soprano cutting through lush, immaculately produced walls of harp, prog guitars, woodwinds and strings, The Turning Wheel is half paean to the natural world, half chilling depiction of isolation outside of it. From the pulsing lovesickness of “Always” to the icy synth showcase of “Queen of Wands” to the grandiose centerpiece of “Boys at School,” she carves out one mini-opera after the other, dazzling us one breath and haunting us the next. For all the critical darlings singing plaintive, poetic lines over acoustic guitars, few moments will still cut like Cabral’s delivery of “I’m meaner than you think, and I’m not afraid of how lonely it’s going to be” by the decade’s end. —Elise Soutar

Special Interest share new single “Nothing Grows Here,” touring with Show Me the Body & more

Brooklyn Vegan September 17, 2024

Special Interest will be on tour this fall, including dates with Show Me the Body and an appearance at Levitation fest in Austin. Things kick off with a NYC headline show at Le Poisson Rouge on September 21 that is in-the-round with Dollhouse and DJ Chaotic Ugly. All dates are listed below.

Ten Tour Tips from John Dwyer of OSEES

Bandcamp September 13, 2024

As far as playing live and touring goes, Dwyer’s decades of experience automatically qualify him to give advice. I almost have to tell him this directly, since he reflexively doubts his own authority—“Who the fuck am I to talk?”—and immediately checks his established act privilege: nightly hotels, a comfortable sprinter van, a merch person. Eventually he doubles back, reassuring us both that he can give advice since the comparative luxury Osees now enjoy was earned over years of touring. “I have been there, sleeping on the floor and waking up with cat litter stuck to my face,” he muses. “So I can speak.”

How King Gizzard Conquered the World — While Staying DIY

Rolling Stone September 13, 2024

On this tour, Mackenzie is giving up a bit of the creative control in order to livestream each show on YouTube — something he’d considered for years but that took time to fall into place. Documentary filmmakers Jackson Devereux and Allen Dobbins record each performance in real time, with the sound mix (helmed by longtime King Gizzard audio engineer Sam Joseph) coming straight from the live mix of the show. It’s not a traditional way to livestream — most acts would make sure to have a separate sound mix going out to the stream — but it’s one that fits in with their DIY approach. “I think a lot of people would look at this operation and be like, ‘You guys are absolutely insane,’” Mackenzie says. “That is not what you’re supposed to do. So many things could go wrong at any moment, but I think making it free allows you to have a few teething problems along the way, and figure it out in good faith.”

City Of Olympia Declares Today Bikini Kill Day

Stereogum September 9, 2024

“The city of Olympia in Washington has declared today, August 23, “Bikini Kill Day,” in honor of the foundational riot grrrl band, which famously formed in 1990 with members Kathleen Hanna, Billy Karren, Kathi Wilcox, and Tobi Vail. (The current lineup includes Hanna, Wilcox, Vail, and touring guitarist Sara Landeau.) The honor is another feather in the band’s 2024 cap; earlier this year, Hanna released her memoir Rebel Girl: My Life As A Feminist Punk, Bikini Kill made their late-night TV debut on Colbert, and the band is currently on tour”

Ty Segall – ‘Love Rudiments’ album review: instrumental experimentation from a creative genius

Far Out Magazine August 30, 2024

The multi-instrumentalist has always shown his talents, but on Love Rudiments, Segall proves he can make a compelling record without wielding the instruments (including his voice) he is typically associated with. The drums are joined by instruments like vibraphone, which gives the album a mysterious and curious quality, enticing and hypnotising listeners with every note.

Bikini Kill Are Still Rebels on Stage

Los Angeles Magazine August 28, 2024

Looking around the theater, Hanna was spot-on in terms who Bikini Kill fans are in 2024: a glorious and giddy cross-section of women, girls, men and gender non-conforming fans both young and old, who clearly resonate with the Olympia, Washington rockers’ buoyant and badass rants and anthems, over three decades and counting.

Watch OSEES’ play their new album ‘SORCS 80’ live on top of a skyscraper in LA

Brooklyn Vegan August 19, 2024

OSEES released their 28th album SORCS 80 last week. It’s unusual in their discography in that there are no guitars on the album, with two synth samples being the only sounds other than bass, drums and frontman John Dwyer’s vocals. It’s a terrific mutant punk record and today they’ve shared a video of them playing the album in full on a helipad atop a skyscraper in DTLA. Directed by Delaney Schenker, it’s pretty awesome and you can watch the whole thing below.

Listen to OSEES’ no-guitars synth-punk album ‘SORCS 80’

Brooklyn Vegan August 9, 2024

SORCS 80 hits you upside the head from the first second of opening volley “Look at the Sky,” and you are barely given a chance to get your bearings before being pummeled again. So it goes for the whole shebang that leaves you punchdrunk and giddy. This is OSEES‘ 28th full-length and following last year’s immediate, near-poppy Intercepted Message, he’s devolved the band’s sound, diving into the primordial ooze for an album of bashing caveman punk. Albeit one with NO GUITARS, and only two two synth sounds in their place.

Osees Discuss the Pared-Down Synth-Punk of SORCS 80

Flood August 9, 2024

Basically I wrote the demos at home using a synthesizer. I did it on a four-track cassette, which was really fun. Every song was just drum loops, bass, keys, and vocals. One day, me and Tom [Dolas, keyboards] sat down and picked a sound each. I picked a thin, aggressive tone and he picked a more round one with less attack. Then we took those tones and ran them into Pro Tools and into a three-octave keyboard. Then we loaded the songs I’d written into these Roland SPD-SX’s so we could play them like drums, but tonally. The idea initially was that all four of us could be on stage playing them, with Tim Hellman holding down bass guitar. There is bass on the record, but I’m not playing guitar. I originally wanted Tim to play sampler, but we ran out of time for this stupid idea we were running with. But it was interesting to write an entire record using just one sound, but affecting it with guitar amplification.

Hear New Yo Gabba GabbaLand! Songs From Kurt Vile, Ty Segall, & More

Stereogum August 9, 2024

Yo Gabba Gabba! is back. The kids television show is being revived as Yo Gabba GabbaLand!, and it comes with a soundtrack with an impressive list of names such as Kurt Vile, Ty Segall, and Thundercat.

Inside the Cult of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

Exclaim August 9, 2024

What sounds like a swift descent into madness or preface for a cult escape thinkpiece is actually pretty standard behaviour for a passionate King Gizzard fan. Why I and many others readily spend a month’s rent on dozens of concert tickets is difficult to pinpoint, and something that escapes the Melbourne rock band’s comprehension as well.

“Hell no!” exclaims singer-guitarist Stu Mackenzie when I ask if he had ever expected the Grateful Dead-esque fandom surrounding the band. Speaking by phone on the eve of the summer solstice, his wide-eyed gratitude is palpable as he pieces together the puzzle.

I understand his disbelief. Following King Gizzard to cities I have trouble placing on a map was more of a culture that absorbed me at its onset than a conscious lifestyle choice. “It was definitely not part of the game plan. I mean, I’m not sure we ever really had a solid game plan,” admits Mackenzie.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: Flight b741 review – a cheerfully rocking album about global collapse

The Guardian August 9, 2024

The rollicking feel of Flight b741 masks some of the band’s most plainly dark lyrics to date, exploring dissociation, suicidal ideation and global collapse in a casual, conversational style – it’s one of the most cheerful doomer records in recent memory. The title of eight-minute closer Daily Blues is a pun, referring to its frenzied blues workout as well as its chorus of “gettin’ fucked up daily”. On Le Risque, the band – vocals are shared across the album, and on many songs they all take a shot at singing – crave “something to thin the blood,” imagining daredevil stunts as a way to get shaken out of a stupor. “I’m feeling like a horse on ket,” on Field of Vision, is a silly image, but in this context it refers to moving through the world in a depressive haze.

Going Their Own Way — Two more acts who have followed unconventional paths to building loyal fandoms.

New York Times July 29, 2024

A catalog that refuses to be pinned down to any single genre. One album may give off Tame Impala aesthetics (the Moog-heavy “The Silver Cord” from last year), while its predecessor, “PetroDragonic Apocalypse,” is a thrash-heavy metal record akin to early Mastodon. The group has made pastoral folk pop (“Paper Mâché Dream Balloon” from 2015), and fuzzier, psychedelic garage and surf rock (“Willoughby’s Beach” from 2011). When you’re listening to “the Gizz,” the only constant is change. “Every single record is reflective of whatever phase of life we’re in, whatever made us creatively most inspired at the time,” Mackenzie said in an interview.

a/s/l: Jess Cornelius

Birthday Cake For Breakfast July 25, 2024

This Week: Off the back of releasing her new album ‘CARE​/​TAKING’ (out NOW via Tender Loving Empire Records), New Zealand-raised, Los Angeles-based artist Jess Cornelius answers a series of inane questions!