This month’s second part of The Ledge new release is dominated by two of my favorite regular elements – female-led rock and roll and Rum Bar Records.  

There are two lengthy sets of high octane bands led by female vocals, along with the show-opening debut of Tamar Berk’s new single, “Stay Close By”, which was released today! The full album comes out on September 5, and Tamar noted in the email that accompanied her tunes, “‘ocd’ is my fifth studio album in five years, and somehow it feels like the most personal and intense one yet. I’ve always written from a place of deep reflection, but this album digs into the spirals—my anxiety, obsessions, fears, memories, dreams—all of it. It’s raw, loud, messy, sometimes funny, sometimes devastating. Just like my mind.”

There’s also two sets devoted to the plethora of fabulous tunes recently put out on Rum Bar Records, highighted by two of my favorite records of the year by The Dogmatics and The Peppermint Kicks. “Nowheresville” is as strong as anything The Dogmatics have put out in their almost 45 year existence, while The Peppermint Kicks certainly load up the sugar in their pop-rock masterpiece, “Pop Rocks In My Chewing Gum”.

But that’s not all, obviously, as there are two hours of some of the best new music to come out in recent weeks. Check it out and let me know what stood out for you!

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

It’s a new month so obviously it’s time for another two part new release series. Like usual, tonight’s part one is full of “friends of the show” that includes artists on Big Stir Records, along with tracks submitted by the likes of The New Brutarians, Jim Basnight, and many others. There’s also a sneak peak at the upcoming Superchunk album, and a handful of tunes from yet another recently announced live Husker Du album! 

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

The folder was almost full so I decided the time was right for a covers show. The key words are “almost full”, though. As late as this morning I was a few songs short of a full show. But I had faith.

First off, I discovered the reissue of a 2012 covers EP by Black Furies called Get Down With It that included a cover of “Teenage Kicks”. Wait, what? It seems like every time I do a covers show I find yet another version of that tune. Then came the release of the explosive new album by The Dogmatics, Nowheresville, destined to be one of my favorite albums of the year. That album’s final tune is “Bail Me Out” by Boston legends DMZ. Add a few other new finds and the show was ready!

While the vast majority of tracks are either brand new or come from reissues, I do have a lengthy Redd Kross-related set in the middle of the show. Having just finished the great new autobiography Now You’re One Of Us: The Incredible Story of Redd Kross, it was just natural to showcase some of the many covers they recorded over the years. Besides two tracks from their all-covers Teen Babes From Mosanto, I aired rare remakes of PJ Harvey and Teenage Fanclub tunes. As a bonus, there’s also a couple of tracks from their Tater Totz tribute band.

What’s your favorite track from this broadcast? 

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

I generally label the first part of the monthly new release series the “friends of the show” broadcast. Looking at tonight’s folder of tunes, though, the sequel actually has more artists of that sort than part one had.

As always, there’s  lengthy set recapping a ton of wonderful Rum Bar Records release. Let’s face it, thanks to their generosity and the sherr number of great records they put out every month they fit the “best friend” category. But a large portion of the show includes a number of other submitted tracks by the likes of Shortwaves, Joe Normal, mp clarke, The Rockerati, and The chrisVandalay Project. And a thumbs up to the always prolific Friends of Cesar Romero for putting out not one but three new releases this past month!

There’s also some great tracks from veteran artists this month. The Black Watch just released their 25th album. 25! And this one’s a double! The Reds, Pinks and Purples contnue their jangle pop snark with The Past Is a Garden I Never Fed. There’s a four album set by Hallelujah The Hills, and the returns of The Untamed Youth and Dropkick Murphys.

What is your fave new release?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

It may be our nation’s birthday, but that’s not stopping The Ledge from their usual routine of every first Friday of the month. Yes, once again we have a two part new release series, and this week’s first episode is primarily “friends of the show”. Artists that regularly send us tracks (Numb Surprise), along with labels that alway keep us in the loop (Big Stir Records), along with a ton of artists who so nicely provided us with singles or full-length releases.

But we also had to break our usual format with this news from the Numero Group – “The rumors are true. On January 30, 1985, Hüsker Dü recorded a peak high performance to 24 track tape at Minneapolis’s First Avenue club in front of their hometown massive. This performance was supposed to come out as a live album later that year, but the band’s rapid upward trajectory caused priorities to shift. The tapes were shelved – thought to be possibly lost in the same 2011 house fire that consumed a precious portion of the Hüsker Dü archive. Nearly 40 years later, these tapes have been rescued from the abyss, and we’ve tasked the team at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio on the transferring and Beau Sorensen at Tiny Telephone for the mixdowns.” 

Yes, all five of the preview tracks are included, as are a couple of highlights from the recent covers compilation from The Feelies.

For more info, including setlists, head to htttp://scotthudson.blogspot.com

As it is the last Friday of the second quarter of the year, it’s time to once again take a look back at the highlights of the last three months. Like usual, there’s a wonderful mix of all kinds of great music, from veteran bands (The Minus 5, The Waterboys, Swans) to brand new bands (Psychic Pigs, The Burgers). There’s free bandcamp faves (Friends of Cesar Romero, Vista Blue), our usual mix of Rum Bar Records bands, and multi-disc concept albums (David Lowery, The Waterboys). There’s some good old fashioned rock ‘n roll, garage rock, punk, and even some indescribible multi-genre bands that I like to call “garage-prog”. 

What new albums have you been jamming?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

Full disclosure here, and it’s sort of controversial. I’ve never been a Beach Boys fan. It’s just never really worked for me. As a kid, it just seemed to be a parent’s version of what rock and roll is supposed to be. The fact they had a song called “Be True To Your School” was enough evidence for me to not buy that Endless Summer collection that came out around the same time as I was discovering The Ramones and Sex Pistols.

That’s not to say that I don’t have respect for the band, especially Brian Wilson, who passed away on June 11. The fact that so many of my favorite bands revered Wilson (including the Ramones) gave me some new insight. In fact, I always have said that I love the bands influenced by The Beach Boys more than the actual band.

Plus, I have developed an appreciation for Pet Sunds, although I’m still not prepared to call it the greatest album ever. But I pulled it out after hearing the news of Brian’s death, and I also played the version of Smile that came out in 2011. That may be my favorite album by them, but is it because of the legends behind the creation?

So tonight’s show consists primarily of Beach Boys covers. Yes, the first track is not a cover. It’s Pavid Vermin’s wonderful (and truthful) track “The Beach Boys Never Surfed”. And, yes, I do include Redd Kross’s cover of Charles Manson’s “Cease to Exist”, which was recorded by the band (with rewritten lyrics) as “Never Learn Not To Love”. Not to mention that the Melvins’ NSFW rewrite of “I Get Around” is probably mroe parody than tribute. It’s still a fun version, though!

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

Believe it or not, there are rules when it comes to what you hear on The Ledge. One of my main rules is that when the new release show is split into two separate shows there is a cutoff date for the material. That deadline is showtime of the first episode. Any material that is sent my way after that is set aside for the next month’s series.

But there’s no real rules in rock and roll, as proven when I got an email from Rum Bar head honcho Malibu Lou just a fwe hours before this broadcast. Attached to the correspondance was the upcoming new single by The Dogmatics! Hold the presses, kids, as this is a track that has to be fast-tracked. And what a backstory.

The new song, “You’ve Got What I Want”, is the opening blast from a new full-length coming out on July 18. But it’s 96 seconds of fury that dates back to the band’s earliest rehearsals. Leader Jerry Lehane had attended a show by 80s Boston legends The Outlets, and rushed to the infamous Thayer Street rehearsal loft to write this ferocious rocker. Why they waited almost 45 years to record this classic makes no sense to me, but better late than ever!

Of course, there’s plenty of other Rum Bar new releases aired this week, along with new material from Rum Bar associates Beebe Gallini and Brad Marino. There’s a wonderful new single by The New Barbarians, and I’m always happy when fellow Real Punk Radio DJ Greg Lonesome has a new Intrusive Thoughts track. 

There’s plenty of other highlights this week, and as always I want to know what your favorites are. What records are you looking at adding to your collection?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

The first half of the monthly new release series is always dominated by “friends of the show”, and this month it’s no different. Tonight’s episode features are good friends Numb Surprise, the latest Rob Moss split 7″ cover collaboration (this time with Arthur Alexander), the return of Swansea Sound, and many others. Take note of the wonderful comeback tune by Handsome Dick Manitoba, as it features our pals Torpedohead as his band!. 

The concluding half hour or so of tonight’s broadcast features double shots of some great new albums. Alien Nosejob, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, and Wyldlife are represnted with their new records, and we have a sneak peak at what should be a future favorite album from Superchunk!

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com

Tonight’s show features the debut of a new theme. It’s a format that I’ve long considered trying out, and this week seemed like the perfect opportunity. Quite often, new albums that I’ve come across have included songs with a famous person in the title. Most are tributes to said person, but there are also plenty of these types of tunes that just utilize a name for a song that has nothing to do with that character.

So here we have over two hours of these types of songs. They’re priarily new or recently released, but there are four segments devoted to individual artists. First off, we have The Replacements, along with a variety of songs devoted to members of the band. Then at the end we have lengthy sections full of songs about Joe Strummer and Joey Ramone.

I can see this format being utilized every few months. Just like the cover songs episodes, I’ll set up a folder that I’ll toss whatever songs I come across that would work for such a show. What do you think? Is this a worthy idea?

For more info, including setlists, head to http://scotthudson.blogspot.com