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Talkhouse

Damaged Bug is the solo project of John Dwyer. The new album Bug On Yonkers will be out April 24 via Castle Face Records.
(Photo Credit: John Dwyer)

Damaged Bug

Music

Introducing: Damaged Bug’s “I Tried”

Jeremy Gustin is a one-of-a-kind drummer who has toured and recorded with Rubblebucket, Okkervil River, David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Delicate Steve, and Albert Hammond Jr.. He has long been in demand for his ability to bring a touch of the unorthodox to highly structured and improvised musical settings alike, so it should come as no surprise that on his own solo project, The Ah, Gustin explores the outer boundaries of his imagination to the fullest.
The Ah&#8217;s new album Mere Husk, the follow-up to 2017’s Common Bliss, sees Gustin once again crafting animal noises, water sounds, miscellaneous found audio, and his own playing into a harmonic language that straddles the line between his love of pop songcraft and his equally strong attraction to the abstract. Rather than employ gurgling fish tank bubbles and dolphin calls for their ambient properties alone, for example, Gustin bends them beyond recognition so that they mimic synths or serve the role of instrumental parts in an arrangement that falls together like a classic &#8220;song&#8221; — whether Gustin includes vocals or not.
Mere Husk expands dramatically on the vision introduced with Common Bliss. Though twirling from playful to solemn and back again, Gustin&#8217;s music is as easy to take in as watching the myriad shades of colorful marine life swimming through an aquarium.
(Photo Credit: Jesse Harris)

The Ah

Introducing: The Ah’s “Pepper Pupil”

<div>Vundabar is a great guitar band. In an age where critics argue endlessly over whether or not the guitar is dead, the Boston band could clearly care less. Trends be damned, Vundabar continue to play and be who they are. Along the way they’ve sold out 1000+ cap rooms across the country, self-released and sold thousands of their records, and built a dedicated fan base for their quirky indie pop that follows them wherever they go.</div>
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<div>In March, Vundabar will release their fourth album, Either Light, on their own Gawk Records. For the album, Vundabar (Brandon Hagen and Drew McDonald) worked with producer Patrick Hyland (producer for Mitski&#8216;s Be the Cowboy, Puberty 2, Bury Me at Makeout Creek). It makes the first time they have ever had someone produce one of their albums. Their original bass player, Zackery Abramo, re-joined the group to play on the record, and Emily Massey from Slow Pulp contributed backing vocals. Recorded at Gradwell House and Retro City Studios, Vundabar came in with the song skeletons and built out the arrangements in the studio. The difference is apparent and there are a host of new sounds on Either Light, including a sequencer, vibraphone, synth, drum machines, and more layered vocals than ever before.</div>
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<div>(Photo Credit: Pond Creative)</div>

Vundabar

Introducing: Vundabar’s “Montage Music”

Julia Bardo was born and raised in Brescia, a small city in northern Italy, where she sang and wrote lyrics for a local band between shifts working at her father’s bar. She felt uninspired by the music she was contributing to and the life she was leading, so she packed her bags for Manchester three years ago, despite knowing no one in the city, and hasn&#8217;t looked back.
Her debut EP Phase is out March 6 via Wichita Recordings.
(Photo Credit: Ashton Hugh)

Julia Bardo

Introducing: Julia Bardo’s “Please Don’t Tell Me”

Singer/songwriter KaiL Baxley‘s experiences are as diverse as the day is long–the Los Angeles-based South Carolina native and son of a couple of outlaws, who learned to dance from James Brown, has been an amateur boxer, a gunshot survivor, a football star, and a traveling troubadour. Those narratives naturally inform his art, producing songs that cut deep and entice the listener to pay close attention.
On March 6, 2020 he will release his third and most accomplished album Beneath the Bones, via AntiFragile Music. The self-produced album recorded at the late Elliott Smith’s New Monkey Studio, HAS Studios in Charleston, SC and United Studios in Los Angeles, CA is both prophetic and profound.
(Photo Credit: Monica Lightstone)

KaiL Baxley

Introducing: KaiL Baxley’s “In Lieu Of”

In the Ojibway language, the word Zoongide’ewin means “bravery, courage, the Bear Spirit.” It’s no wonder then that Daniel Monkman adopted Zoon as his musical moniker. The Hamilton-based musician has spent the better part of his 28 years channelling that strength to overcome such adversities as racism, poverty, and addiction. Music saved Monkman’s life, and now he wants to share his story. His debut album, Bleached Wavves, will be out on June 19 on Paper Bag Records.

Zoon

Introducing: Zoon’s “Vibrant Colours”

Bartees Strange was born in Ipswich, a town in Suffolk, England. His family did stints in Germany, Greenland, and a number of states across America before he hit his 12th birthday when they settled in Mustang, Oklahoma. Bartees began producing music for friends with a small project studio he built out of a Tascam 388, the family computer and a pirated copy of FL Studio. Through AOL instant messenger, Bartees connected with old friends in the UK, who brought him up to speed on a new world of sonic influence led by Bloc Party, Burial, Robyn and Skream. College, and a half-decade stint in Brooklyn connected him with the rising indie scene — particularly favorites like Bon Iver, TV on The Radio, Frank Ocean, James Blake, King Krule, Japanese Breakfast, Mt. Kimbie, Mitski, Thao Nguyen, and The National, giving him a crash course in lyrical intrigue and textural brilliance.
Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy is a summary of his influences and the first commercial release by an artist who we truly think can go on to become a cultural influencer in his own right. Bartees resides in Washington, DC — where makes music and works at a non profit fighting against climate change and poverty.
(Photo Credit: Bao Ngo)

Bartees Strange

Introducing: Bartees Strange’s “About Today”

Mo Troper is a power-pop artist from Portland, Oregon, who just released his fourth album Dilettante.

Mo Troper

Mo Troper Wants to Make Beautiful Art About Binge Eating

Heart Bones is a collaboration between Sean Tillmann (aka Har Mar Superstar) and Sabrina Ellis (A Giant Dog/Sweet Spirit). The two became fast friends while touring together in 2016. They recognized a kindred quality of over-the-top showmanship, and their new project became inevitable. Throughout 2018 the duo have been alternating visits to each other’s hometowns of Minneapolis and Austin to co-write original material. Inspired by their favorite classic duos such as Nancy Sinatra &amp; Lee Hazelwood, Serge Gainsbourg &amp; Jane Birkin, Sonny &amp; Cher, and Sam &amp; Dave, their influences have spanned everything from doo wop, classic duets, musical theater, electro dance, and melancholy pop.
(Photo Credit: Jackson Schwartz)

Heart Bones

Introducing: Heart Bones’ (Har Mar Superstar + A Giant Dog) “Open Relations”

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<div>Roger Harvey is a songwriter born and raised in rural Pennsylvania. His music calls to mind an earlier era of song-centered singers like Willie Nelson, John Prine, and Neil Young. Roger has spent much of his life traveling and playing music but has recently laid roots in Philadelphia.</div>
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Roger Harvey

Introducing: Roger Harvey’s “Raining In LA”

<div dir="auto">Nik Freitas has always been on his own wavelength. The 41-year-old songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer has had a fruitful yet underrated career in myriad sects of the entertainment industry. In the early 2000s he worked as a photographer at Thrasher Magazine; a few years later he was a touring musician in acts like Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band and Broken Bells; and for the last decade he’s been scoring TV shows, movies and commercials for a living. However, throughout all of those creative ventures, Freitas has identified as a songwriter above all else.</div>
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<div dir="auto">On 1/31/20 he’ll release his ninth album under his own name, Cavalo Morto, via Park The Van. The title means “dead horse” in Portuguese and the album’s gloomy cover art depicts a weathered pianist chugging along at his craft while horses fall from the top of the instrument. It’s a reference to the inescapable mundanity of being a professional artist, a glamorized yet often underappreciated vocation that can wear on a person’s soul if they do it long enough. Although the dead horse is sort of a metaphor for Freitas’ lifelong struggle to be heralded for his own art, there’s a healthy dose of irony in that sentiment. Cavalo Morto is an invigorating set of songs that conflate the classic pop songwriting of Dylan, Bowie, and Elliott Smith with Freitas’ own hermetic twist.</div>
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<div dir="auto">(Photo Credit: Jai Tanju)</div>

Nik Freitas

Introducing: Nik Freitas’s “Flowers”

<div class="c-message__content c-message__content--feature_sonic_inputs" data-qa="message_content">For more than two decades now Giants Chair records have lived on turntables, blasted through car speakers, rattled apartment walls, destroyed headphones, and finally become recognized as the timeless artifacts of emotional experience and endeavor that they are for so many people. Now, in perfect time, 2019 marks the return of Giants Chair with the release of the bands highly-anticipated new album on Spartan Records, Prefabylon. With all of the the band’s original core components and members still intact, listeners needn’t brace for any departure from the band’s signature post-punk DNA. Equal parts early new wave, skate punk, prog, political folk, and &#8217;70s and &#8217;80s radio rock, Giants Chair’s influences can be traced across their now ‘era-transcending’ catalogue.</div>
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