Look At My Records!

Johnny Leitera of Tuff Sunshine joined Tom for the 77th episode of Look At My Records! The Brooklyn based Tuff Sunshine are set to release the follow up to their excellent 2015 record, Fire In The Hero Building later this year, and Look At My Records! is pumped to prior the first track from the record, “We Seal Every Deal With A Kiss.” Tune in to hear this awesome brand new track, plus two tracks from Johnny’s “Untreated” project, which is a collection of stripped down, powerful acoustic songs. We wrapped up the show with a slew of great records from XTC, Billy Bragg, and The Pretenders!

You can purchase Fire In the Hero Building on vinyl via Brooklyn Arts Press. A cassette version is also available via the recently relaunched Shorewave Records. Johnny’s “Untreated” project, as well as all other Tuff Sunshine releases, are available for download via Bandcamp.

Johnny is headed to the United Kingdom at the end of March, so if you’re gonna be on the other side of the pond, catch him performing solo on the following dates:

March 21st: London, Biddle Brothers
March 26th: Birmingham, Rock & Roll Brewhouse
March 28th: Manchester, White Lion
April 1st: Leeds, Oporto
April 6th: Edinburgh, Wee Red Bar
April 8th: Bristol, Mr. Wolf’s
April 10th: Bristol, Golden Lion
CARDIFF TBD

Episode 76 features an in depth conversation with New York City music producer and engineer, Charles Newman. Tune in to hear all about Charles’ long history in music, which includes working with Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, playing in various bands, and starting The Deli Magazine, which remains an important music publication in New York City. Charles also discussed his role as music supervisor on the independent film, All These Small Moments, which involved working with the composer of the film’s score, Dan Lipton and the film’s creator/director, Melissa Miller Costanzo. Charles hand-selected the tracks on the soundtrack, which is an indie pop rock retro-americana mashup, with a dash of 80’s and shoegaze thrown in for good measure. The episode features some of the standout tracks from the soundtrack, including songs by Kris Gruen, Slowrunner, Echo Courts, Aloud, and Tom Shaner.

You can purchase the soundtrack to All These Small Moments via Amazon. The soundtrack is also available to stream on Spotify.

Episode 75 of Look At My Records! features a chat with fellow XTC fanatic, Mark Fisher! Mark is the founder of the original XTC fanzine “Limelight” and has authored two books on the band, “The XTC Bumper Book Of Fun,” and the forthcoming “What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book.” Tune in to hear all about Mark’s background covering the band, his foray into publishing two books, and details about “What Do You Can That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book,” which is scheduled for release on March 5th! We even swapped some of our favorite songs, and threw in Fassine’s wonderful cover of “That Wave” for good measure! Tune in to hear which songs we picked and much more!

You can purchase “What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discover Book” via Mark’s website, Limelight! While you’re there, you can also purchase Mark’s first book, “The XTC Bumper Book Of Fun,” which is an anthology of the Limelight zine and also features interviews with Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Terry Chambers, and Dave Gregory!

Episode 74 features the awesome Tula Vera! The Montclair-based four-piece is about a year removed from their debut self-titled record, which features some real rippers! Tune in to hear some of those rippers, including “Sunspot,” “Signs,” and “With God On Her Side.” Plus, here all about their recent tour and their plans for 2019! As always, the band made some great record picks.

You can purchase Tula Vera’s self-titled debut album via Bandcamp.

Catch Tula Vera at their next gig on February 8th at BoonTunes with Skylar Pocket, Junkanoo, and Shred Flintstone.

March 30th at The Music Ward in Philly with Full Bush, Bernie & The Wolf, and Dweller.

On Episode 73 of Look At My Records!, Tom chatted with Montclair, New Jersey math-rockers The Planet You! This work horse group has been consistently releasing music over the last three years, including two remarkable full-length albums, I Too (Me Also) in 2017 and their self-titled 2018 sophomore release. Tune in to hear all about the band’s complex math rock inclinations, their progressive rock influences, and their plans for 2019.

You can purchase The Planet You’s self-titled second record via Bandcamp.

Catch them live at the following gigs:

Saturday, January 18th in Highstown, NJ with Splundr, Deeply Woven, Ishmael, and Winter Ring

Friday, January 25th in New Brunswick, NJ for The Winter Wonder Jawn at The Evil Lair.