“Desperate times make for desperate songs,” Furman said of “Calm Down” in a press release. “I wrote this in the summer of 2018, a terrible time. It’s the sound of me struggling to admit that I’m not OK with the current state of human civilization, in which bad men crush us into submission. Once you admit how bad it feels to live in a broken society, you can start to resist it, and imagine a better one.”
Ty Segall and his Freedom Band have announced a series of residencies in a few U.S. cities and across Europe. The concerts will feature Segall, alongside Mikal Cronin, Charles Moothart, Emmett Kelly, and Ben Boye, performing select albums from Segall’s discography, including 2010’s Melted, 2011’s Goodbye Bread, 2014’s Manipulator, and 2016’s Emotional Mugger in full on select nights.
On his 2018 tour de force, Freedom’s Goblin, Ty Segall provided us with a double-album highlight reel of every aesthetic the restless garage rocker has explored in his first decade as a solo artist, from light-speed hardcore to idyllic psychedelic-folk balladry to 12-minute fretboard-snapping jams. But in an interview conducted on the eve of the album’s release, Segall suggested the album represented the closing of a chapter. “I feel like I’ve barely even tapped anything,” he said, before revealing a desire to experiment with electronic production and make a hip-hop album. It remains to be seen whether Ty actually follows through on the transformation into MC Lil T. But if Segall is indeed laying his rocker id to rest for a while, Deforming Lobes is the blaze of glory in which it’s going out.
Melbourne psych-rock band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have shared a new song called “Boogieman Sam.” It’s the latest offering from their forthcoming record Fishing for Fishies.
Mikal Cronin is back with a new song—the rocker’s first solo track in four years. Check out “Undertow” below. The new track features contributions from William Tyler (guitar) and Shannon Lay (vocals), among others.
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard have announced a new album. Fishing for Fishies is out April 26 via Flightless. It’s the first full-length from the Australian band since they released five albums in 2017.
Mac DeMarco has announced a new album, Here Comes the Cowboy. It’s out May 10 and will mark the debut release on Mac’s Record Label. Mac has also shared the single “Nobody.”
There’s a song on SPELLLING’s debut, 2017’s Pantheon of Me, where the vocalist and musician Tia Cabral moans over a high-pitched, murderous guitar refrain, one that sounds like tiny gremlins fiending for blood: “I’m not going back to him.” She repeats herself, slightly changing the plea, as layers of ghostly vocals spill over each other. “I’m not going back to the grave.” Again, more desperate than before, she wails, “I’m not going back to the grave.”
The Bay Area artist talks about dressing up like magical characters, obsessing over creepy carnivals, and embracing her uniqueness in this Rising interview.
Feminist punk pioneers Bikini Kill will reunite for three shows this spring in New York and L.A. Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail, and Kathi Wilcox will be joined by guitarist Erica Dawn Lyle for the shows, replacing guitarist Billy Karren. These will be Bikini Kill’s first full shows since the band broke up in 1997. (In late 2017, Hanna, Vail, and Wilcox played one song together at the Kitchen in New York City, during an event celebrating the release of the 33 1/3 book about the Raincoats by Pitchfork Contributing Editor Jenn Pelly.)
Mac DeMarco has confirmed that he will release a new album in 2019. “This will be the debut release on Mac’s Record Label (more details still to come),” reads a press release. The singer-songwriter has also announced a slew of new tour dates for the new year, which kick off after his appearances at this year’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival in April.
Bedstock is an online “music festival” initiative by MyMusicRx, a program from the Children’s Cancer Association. The annual event features artists performing from their beds as a show of unity for children that have to spend their holidays in hospital beds. This year, artists including Jeff Tweedy, Ty Segall, Ben Gibbard, “Weird Al” Yankovic, TV on the Radio, Japanese Breakfast, Tune-Yards, Whitney, the Black Lips, Mary Lattimore, and many others participated in the event.
Ty Segall has announced his sixth new album of 2018. He’s in a band called the C.I.A. with his wife Denee Segall and the Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly. Their debut self-titled album is out in December via In the Red.
Evan Minsker of Pitchfork shares a list of his favorite recent garage and punk releases.
On their second album, this quartet featuring Ty Segall and Ex-Cult’s Chris Shaw produce and pull at their militaristic punk with psychedelic tricks and brief detours.
Ty Segall has announced a new covers album called Fudge Sandwich. The LP is out October 26 via In the Red.
Mac DeMarco has announced he is launching his own record label. It is called Mac’s Record Label. “My friend Jen who plays drums in The Courtneys gave me the name,” he said in a press release. DeMarco has thus far released music via longtime label Captured Tracks. The new label will be distributed through Universal Music Group’s Caroline.
GØGGS announce new album ‘Pre Strike Sweep’, to be released on 09/28/2018 via In The Red
In a new volume of Bloomsbury’s 33 ⅓ series, Berkeley-based singer-songwriter Ezra Furman dissects Lou Reed’s second solo album with a thoroughness and fervor that could only come from someone who has loved him for years.
“The ever-prolific Oh Sees are back with a new album this summer. It’s titled Smote Reverser, and it arrives August 17 via Castle Face.”
Oh Sees’ John Dwyer was the latest guest on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast. The conversation covers Dwyer’s prolific career and his influences.
Ty Segall has shared a new single. It’s called “My Lady’s on Fire,” and you can hear it below. The new track follows his recent songs “Alta” and “Meaning.”
Ty Segall is the latest to cover the theme song for Adult Swim’s animated series “Squidbillies.” Segall has joined the list of artists who have taken on the theme song, including Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, Sharon Van Etten, Father John Misty, Bob Mould, and more.
On the album’s opening, title track, Dwyer sounds every bit as at ease as he did over the wild Richter-scale energy of his recent records.
Mac DeMarco has shared a new virtual reality music video for his song “This Old Dog,” the title track from his most recent album.
“…if Segall’s self-titled full-length from earlier this year was new material disguised as a sampler of what he’s been up to for the last half-decade, Fried Shallots is old material disguised as a sampler of what he could be up to in the future.”
It veers into stylistic netherworlds (prog-jazz contortions, bluesy harmonica blowouts, synth-funk breakdowns) like secret bonus coin zones en route toward explosive, boss-match-style climaxes that serve as resets for the album’s recurring melodic motifs.
“Moms will be moms, but there’s something deeper to her understanding of Mac’s ambling tracks, and the sadness that’s often muddled beneath all that smeared reverb.”
Thee Oh Sees have announced a tour. They’ll hit the road later this month at Norman Music Festival in Oklahoma and tour Europe through the summer, before wrapping up with a series of North American dates in September.
“…King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard just dropped their LP Flying Microtonal Banana in February, but the band is already gearing up for their next project. Their forthcoming album Murder of the Universe is out June 23 via ATO…”
