"Boxing The Compass"

Haircut 100 have always been one of my all-time favorite bands. The only tricky thing with having them as a favorite for all these years is there's only one album, 1982's Pelican West, which is a flawless platter of beachside new wave that effortlessly veers into pop, jazz, and funk. There is a second album Paint by Paint and there's nothing wrong with what's on it, the problem with that album is what's not on it. And that's Nick Heyward. Heyward left the band after the debut and embarked on a rather brilliant solo career, releasing classic albums like North Of A Miracle, Postcards From Home, and From Monday To Sunday. Getting back to the platinum selling Pelican West, for a debut album it was a scorcher. It anded three songs in the top ten on the UK singles chart and both the single Love Plus One and the album itself went top 40 here in the states. "Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet," Rousseau once quipped, and one listen to Haircut 100's new album Boxing The Compass proves him very correct, indeed. Filled with harmonic smarts, endless hooks, slinky sax grooves, jazzy lines and pure percussive wonder, Boxing The Compass is the ultimate pop rush of the year. Haircut 100 sound rejuvenated, revived and undeniably battle-ready. This is a shimmering platter of melodic majesty that's timeless and essential.

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"Battle For The Yellow"

The Six-Foot-Six John Tesh cuts an imposing figure, but consider the numbers of his CV. He's got six Emmys, four Gold Albums, one Associated Press Award, two Grammy nominations, close to fifty albums to his name, including Live At Red Rocks, Music In The Key Of Love, Monterey Nights and Sports, close to ten million albums sold and his live shows have raised 7 million for PBS. Those are some numbers. The New York-raised Tesh showed up on the pop culture radar alongside Mary Hart when they hosted Entertainment Tonight, but Tesh knew he was destined to do other things. Like a lot of other things. In fact, Tesh has done so many things, in fact, if I listed them all we'd be here for a while, so let me give you a quick primer: He's worked as a sportscaster, covering everything from the Olympics to Wimbledon to the Tour de France, he's a radio host, a composer, a musician, an actor, a news anchor and an author. Tesh's new album The Cycling Remixes is an exhilarating blend of inspirational rhythms and motivating instrumentation that's tailor made for athletes who are looking for music to inspire them to get up that hill or across that pool. A dexterous keyboardist, Tesh plays with muscle and heart, his compositions soaring into the stratosphere with authenticity and belief.

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"Remembering The Trashcan Sinatras' John Douglas"

We've devastated to hear the news of the passing of the Trashcan Sinatras' John Douglas. We're so grateful that we had a chance to sit down with him last year for a chat. The Scottish-born singer/songwriter/guitarist was a lovely guy and this conversation is a generous glimpse into his creative process. Our thoughts are with his friends, his family and his bandmates.

"We Were Made For These Times"

It's been 40 years since the Grammy-Award winning band the Klezmatics formed in the East Villag. In the same way the Pogues fused Irish folk with punk rock, the New York klezmer outfit have grafted centuries-old Yiddish music with iterations of contemporary music including jazz, gospel, punk, classical, Latin, and Balkan styles. With nearly twenty albums under their musical belts, including Rhythm and Jews, Jews With Horns, Letters to Afar and their wonderful new one, We Were Made For These Times, the Klezmatics remain one of the most spellbindingly singular bands on the planet. Over the course of their career they've collaborated with Arlo Guthrie, Allen Ginsberg and Itzhak Perlman, played shows in over twenty different countries, performed on PBS' Great Performances, recorded a live CD at New York City's Town Hall and snared a Critics Award as well as a New York Jewish Music Award. Their music has appeared everywhere from Sex and the City to Late Night With David Letterman and their new album continues to add to their winning legacy. A stirring, inspiring and soulful offering that, in the band's words is, "rooted in protest, hope, and resilience, We Were Made For These Times pairs Black gospel, Latin American, and avant-jazz voices with Yiddish folk and the results are joyful, life-affirming and brimming with optimism. The L.A. born vocalist, accordionist, pianist, guitarist Lorin Sklamberg is a lovely guy and this is a great chat.

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"Parallel Universe"

When I was working in college radio it seemed like Hypnolovewheel was putting out a record every year. And it felt that way because they pretty much were. Although they'd put out two records in the eighties, in the '90s the Long Island outfit released a trilogy of albums in an indie rock whirlwind: there was 1991's Space Mountain, 1992's Angel Food and 1993's Altered States. An EP followed and--well, that was pretty much it. More on that in a second. Over the course of their seven-year career, Hypnolovewheel toured with Kitchens of Distinction and King Missle, opened for fIREHOSE, the Jesus Lizard and the Fleshtones, got played on 120 Minutes and got rave reviews from The New York Times and were featured in Spider-Man comics.

The band's compositions were loaded with clever lyrics, sneaky rhythms and hooks galore and each song jangled away with grinding, catchy beauty. Falling somewhere between R.E.M. and Lotion, Hypnolovewheel are one of those bands that may have been overlooked simply because college radio was a crowded and competitive field, but their new compilation Parallel Universe is a perfect sampler of what you might have missed, were you one of the folks who missed these guys the first time around. Drummer Peter Walsh passed away in 2021, but the remaining members are active in the reissue campaign of their back catalog and there's a lot of music to hear.

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"On 2 U"

It's hard to imagine a band working today that captures the grit and the glamor of Los Angeles better than Starcrawler. Formed in 2015 by teenage classmates, the young band tore out of the gates with an aggressive blend of crunchy punk and deliciously sleazy hard rock. Led by singer Arrow De Wilde, Starcrawler are one of those rare out of the box bands that knew who they were early on--which is really just a way of saying they sounded like they were born ready to be rock stars. The band's three long players--Starcrawler, Devour You and She Said--form a winning triptych of driving and doomy rock and roll that's powered by DeWilde's winning vocal bite. The band, which is made up of DeWilde, Cash and his brother Bill, and rounded out by Seth Carolina and Tim Franco, play tight sludgy riffs, whiplash drum fills and prowling baselines that stalk through each number with muscle and nerve. One of the most charismatic, dynamic and adrenalized live acts on the planet, Starcrawler have done a lot in the last decade; they've played South By Southwest, Later With Jools Holland, toured all over the U.S., Europe and Australia, played shows with Garbage and Nick Cave and have just released their new single "On 2 U." As for guitarist Henri Cash, the Southern California native is a busy guy--known for playing a three-string guitar, Cash's riffs are inventive and intuitive and beneath their aggression is an undeniable discipline and craft. Cash has collaborated with the band Plague Vendor and along with Sophia Skye he formed the duo Cash & Skye, who put out a seven-inch on Jack White's Third Man Records. He's a busy guy, so we're grateful he took the time to sit down with us.

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"Real Life Evolution"

With close to ten brilliant albums under her belt, including Real Life, To Survive and The Classic, it's hard to think of a more critically-acclaimed artist in recent memory than singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joan As Police Woman. After studying music as a violinist at the College of Fine Arts at Boston University with her lifelong friend Mary Timony of Helium, the Maine-born Joan Wasser Wasser played in punk bands, joined the Dambuilders, formed Black Beetle and played with Those Bastard Souls and Antony and the Johnsons. I'm cutting corners here, but over the course of her winning career, Wasser has become one of the most in-demand musicians on the planet. She's played, recorded and toured with the likes of Iggy Pop, Damon Albarn, Rufus Wainwright, Elton John, Tony Allen, Lou Reed, Sheryl Crow, Lloyd Cole, Joseph Arthur, Scissor Sisters, Tanya Donelly, David Sylvan and John Cale, just to name a few. Joan As Policewoman's new album finds Wasser revisiting her Real Life album on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary. Reimagined with soul, grace and musical precision, Real Life Evolution not only demonstrates the elasticity of the original compositions, it also demonstrates how art can be reimagined and reinterpreted by the artist themselves. Featuring guest like Iggy Pop and Krystle Warren, Real Life Evolution simmers with reggae grooves, jazzy shuffles, and spare, indie rock ache and it's not only the perfect companion to the original, it stands proudly by itself.

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"Beach Bongo Bloodbath"

Bob Bert's Beach Bongo Bloodbath might be the most alliterative album title of the year, but it also happens to also be one of the year's very best. Before we get to Beach Bongo Bloodbath, let me give you a little Bob Bert Backstory. The alliteration with Bob is seemingly unavoidable. Influenced by the Beatles, the Stones, Andy Warhol and the band's that packed CBGB's, the New Jersey-born Bob Bert started drumming as a kid, but put it down for a while and became a fine art silkscreen printer who, speaking of Mr. Warhol, had a job printing paintings and print editions for the legendary artist. Bert moved from New York City to Hoboken in '81 and perhaps it was the close proximity of the club Maxwell's or the characters that played there that Bert picked up the sticks again and found himself playing drums for Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, and the Chrome Cranks. Bob's autobiography I'm Just The Drummer tells his story far better than I can, but good luck finding it--it's out of print, so you're stuck with me for the time being to fill in the gaps. Over the course of his career, Bert has recorded and toured with Bewitched, Action Swingers, Chrome Cranks, Knoxville Girls, Five Dollar Priest, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus and Jon Spencer & the HITmakers and in the early 90s he and Linda Wolfe started the awesome fanzine BB gun. Which brings just to Beach Bongo Bloodbath. A joyful sprint of a record that clocks in at under a half hour and has no guitars or bass, Beach Bongo Bloodbath is smoldering collection of covers and originals that's filled with swagger, groove and delicious percussive stomp. From his take on tracks by everyone from the Modern Lovers to Mountain to his electrifying originals, Beach Bongo Bloodbath is impossibly cool--and so is Bob Bert.

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"Notes To Self"

For the past 11 years, the Ohio-born Jon Lampley was on your television four nights a week as part of the house band on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert. A versatile brass player who is accomplished on the trumpet and sousaphone, Lampley is also a singer-songwriter, a composer and now a bandleader himself who effortlessly presides over his own cocktail of soul, R&B, gospel and roots music. Of course playing every night on Colbert was a great way to get the reps in, but Lampley is no stranger to the stage, playing in arenas and ampithetters with everyone from O.A.R. and Lake Street Dive. Influenced by Louis Armstrong, Sam Cooke and D'Angelo, Lampley's sophomore album Notes To Self is a powerful, rousing and inspiring album that's filled with personal reflection, unflinching introspection and a deeply centered optimism. Filled with swagger and grace, Notes To Self is at once personal and universal and it's quite easily one of the most comforting and reviving albums you're likely to hear. And Lampley couldn't be a nicer guy--he's warm, he's gregarious and talking to him feels like talking to someone you've always known.

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"Highway To Heavenly"

The Oxford indie-pop outfit Heavenly formed out of the ashes of another Oxford outfit, the beloved indiepop band Talulah Gosh. With the addition of singer/keyboardist Cathy Rogers, by the time the band's second album Le Jardin De Heavenly hit shelves, their low-fi jangle became augmented by lush and spellbinding harmonies. Throughout the '90s put out a handful of winning albums including Heavenly vs. Satan and The Decline And Fall of Heavenly but they called it a day in 1996 after the death of their drummer Matthew Fletcher. The core unit of Heavenly resumed under the moniker Marine Research and they put out one lone marvelous album and that was that for a while. Did the members of Heavenly stay busy in the interim? That would be a resounding yes but let's also add accomplished. These are the broadstrokes, but you'll get the idea: Singer Amelia Fletcher, who, by the way, has been in The Wedding Present and the Pooh Sticks and guested on tracks by the Candyskins and the 6ths,

is a Professor of Competition Policy at the University of East Anglia and in addition to being a Non-Executive Director on the boards of the Financial Conduct Authority, Fletcher was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire and Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to the economy. As for bassist Rob Pursey, who, by the way, is married to Fletcher, he's a screenwriter and he ran the Touchpaper TV production company. He now co-runs the awesome indie label Skep Wax with Fletcher. An educational neuroscientist, Cathy Rogers was the presenter of the British reality competition series Scrapheap Challenge (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapheap_Challenge) and Junkyard Wars, and she has worked as a producer for the BBC, ran an olive farm in Italy and worked as Creative Director for RDF Media. Meanwhile, guitarist Peter Monchiloff played in the Would Be Goods, Scarlet's Well (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlet%27s_Well), Les Clochards, and Hot Hooves and he was Commissioning Editor for Philosophy at Oxford University Press and is currently Associate Publication Consultant at Lex Academic. As for drummer Ian Button, the former member of The Thrashing Doves has been a university lecturer in music production, he worked with everyone from Robert Forster to Dot Allison, was a member of Death In Vegas and is an in-demand mixer and masterer. Again, this is an abbreviated list, but you can see the members of Heavenly have been busy. But somehow, between all that busy-ness and other bands like Tender Trap and Swansea Sound, Heavenly are back. Not sounding diminished by time, the band's first long player in 30 years Highway to Heavenly is a spry collection of janglepop that's effortlessly melodic and unreasonably catchy. It's lovely work that ranks among the years best. And this is a great chat with three members, then five members, then two members. And we pulled it off without any dropping of the baton--this is a great chat with the charming, gregarious and lovely personnel of Heavenly.

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