Elliott Fullam
Elliott Fullam is a New Jersey artist who conjures the magic of when loneliness meets hope with his ghostly vocal melodies and gentle guitar tracks that bring a tranquil feeling to the listener. Elliott’s songs are recorded in his bedroom at home and mastered by the world-renowned Alan Douches of West West Side Music. His teenage goal was to release his first album by the time he turned 18 and he achieved that goal with the release of his debut album “What’s Wrong” on his 18th birthday of September 2, 2022. Fullam followed up this effort in September of 2023 with his second full-length album “End of Ways.”Elliott is also an actor, playing the co-starring role as Jonathan in the films Terrifier 3 and Terrifier 2 which made a big smash at the box office as an uncut and unrated horror film. And as a dedicated music fan, Elliott has interviewed many musicians since the age of 9 including James Hetfield of Metallica, J Mascis, Ice-T, Jay Weinberg of Slipknot and many more. He always held his passion for music in high regard while finding inspiration in his favorites Elliott Smith, Duster, Mazzy Star, Broadcast, Radiohead and Nick Drake. With nothing else in his life plans aside from the pursuit of creating the best music he possibly could while sustaining his promising acting career, Elliott will continue to release music and play shows for as long as he exists on this planet in hopes that he may be a small part of the force for good in this trying world.Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | TikTok
Bad Nerves
The bastard child of a Ramones/Strokes one night stand, Bad Nerves play ferociously fast distorted pop songs and drew acclaim with their previous releases ‘Dreaming’, ‘Baby Drummer’, & ‘Can’t Be Mine’. It would appear to be in the DNA of rock music, particularly punk music, that the music itself happens by some kind of happy accident. Nothing truer could be said of the Essex five piece speed punk band. For frontman Bobby, the formation of the band itself was an unintentional happenstance that just wound up taking off in unexpected but very exciting directions. Did band life choose Bad Nerves or did Bad Nerves choose band life? It’s hard to say. On the eve of releasing their second album, the brilliantly titled Still Nervous, the boys are still reeling from their surprise success. Their self-made, self-funded debut put them in the hearts and minds of the cream of the alternative crop in 2020; from tastemakers such as Dan P Carter to Alyx Holcombe, and from peers like Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong to Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard, Bad Nerves were instantaneously heralded with the poisoned chalice of saviours of a type of punk that promises to never die. They’ve toured with Royal Blood and The Darkness, and have drawn comparisons to Supergrass, the Ramones and Jay Reatard. And despite all that, their pop rock is a unique – and very fast – whack over the head that reminds us all of the future life left in hell-raising loud and fast music. Speaking from his dad’s garage-come-studio in Colchester, frontman Bobby recounts how he and bandmate Will had always played in bands. By chance of a random text at the end of 2015 (“let’s do a band!”), Bobby relented once more unto the breach. “Seems like a terrible idea,” he recalls. “Really?! Another band?!” However with “nothing else to do”, it became the only choice. Bad Nerves began to write songs, and promised to never play live, but the songs were so much fun they were forced to reconsider. The only challenge was the pace of said songs. “Finding a drummer was a nightmare,” he laughs. But what started off as a laugh has now become a fated mission. Gone is the blasé motivation, now Bad Nerves are laser-focused on this being the best thing they’ve ever done. “It feels like this is the main thing that any of us will do in our lives,” says Bobby. “If we’re remembered for anything…” Given that rock doesn’t have as much of a look-in on the air and in the press, Bad Nerves feel a calling to try and revive rock from the rust. Their second LP, Still Nervous, is due for release Spring 2024. Did they feel pressure approaching the sophomore slump, so to speak? Not at all. The process was more or less the same; Bobby demoing the tracks in his dad’s garage, and then the band re-recording everything “properly” with their friend Mike Curtis. The only difference was in trying to ensure that they were still writing for themselves, and not just to satiate their new audience. “When I write songs thinking about what people expect I end up mimicking the first record, but not well,” says Bobby. That internal battle was new, but Bobby quickly realised you can’t write like that, and in the process of being “pissed off trying to write a Bad Nerves song”, he found some of the best tracks on the album, doing whatever he wanted.Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify
With Love
They were the greatest band in a century. Lyrics tattooed on your wrist. They were gonna stay together forever but they couldn’t keep up with the kids, and so they called it quits. Now they’re gone and you won’t get them back. At least you have this. With Love,Reilly With Love Bandcamp | Spotify | InstagramJuggs InstagramBraless Spotify | Instagram
Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore with The Guilty Ones
When Grammy winner Dave Alvin and Grammy nominee Jimmie Dale Gilmore made the album Downey To Lubbock together in 2018, they wrote the title track as a sort of mission statement. “I know someday this old highway’s gonna come to an end,” Alvin sings near the song’s conclusion. Gilmore answers: “But I know when it does you’re going to be my friend.”Six years later, they’re serving notice that the old highway hasn’t ended yet. “We’re still standing, no matter what you might hear,” they sing on “We’re Still Here,” the final track to their new album Texicali. Due out XXX on Yep Roc Records, Texicali continues to bridge the distance between the two troubadours’ respective home bases of California (Alvin) and Texas (Gilmore).The album’s geographic theme reflects Alvin’s repeated journeys to record in Central Texas with Gilmore and the Austin-based backing band that has toured with the duo for the past few years. The 11 songs on Texicali also connect the duo’s shared fondness for a broad range of American music forms. On their own, both have been prominent artists for decades. A philosophical songwriter with a captivating, almost mystical voice, Gilmore co-founded influential Lubbock group the Flatlanders in the early 1970s. Alvin first drew attention as a firebrand guitarist and budding young songwriter with Los Angeles roots-rockers the Blasters in the early 1980s.Gilmore is primarily known for left-of-center country music, while Alvin’s compass points largely toward old-school blues. But there’s a lot of ground to cover beyond those foundations, and both artists also are well-known for transcending genre limitations. So it’s not surprising that they’ve spiked Texicali with cosmic folk narratives, deep R&B grooves and even swinging reggae rhythms. “There’s such a strange variety through the whole thing,” Gilmore says. “And I love that.”They’re both quick to credit the musicians who joined them in the studio as crucial to the sound and spirit of the album. On Downey To Lubbock, they recorded primarily in Los Angeles with a crew that included ringers such as the late Don Heffington on drums and Van Dyke Parks on accordion. This time, though, Alvin’s longtime rhythm section of drummer Lisa Pankratz and bassist Brad Fordham played a larger role, along with guitarist Chris Miller and keyboardist Bukka Allen. “After the time we spent touring, Jimmie and I became members of this band,” Alvin says. “The band can play just about anything, which the album shows off.”Texicali also found Alvin and Gilmore increasingly focusing on original songs. Among them are “Trying To Be Free,” which Gilmore wrote more than 50 years ago; “Southwest Chief,” a collaboration between Alvin and the late Bill Morrissey; and “Death of the Last Stripper,” which Alvin wrote with Terry Allen and his wife Jo Harvey Allen. Dave Alvin Website | Instagram | Facebook Jimmie Dale Gilmore Website | Instagram | Facebook
Sawyer Hill
Sawyer Hill’s soaring baritone voice halts you in your tracks and will one day shake the rafters of the most iconic venues. The diamond-in-the-rough rocker hailing from Fayetteville, Arkansas is cutting through with Gen Z listeners on Instagram and TikTok where he’s amassed an audience of nearly 400k followers thanks to an unexpected sound influenced by Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. The clever lyrical hook and refreshingly contemporary take on 90s rock guitar riffs in his song “Look At The Time” (“when you say that I’m the only one, did you mean that I’m the closest one around?”) propelled it to the top of the Spotify US Viral Chart. He is currently finishing up his debut EP and hitting the road where the fervor is coming to life with Sawyer selling out 200-300 cap rooms across cities in Arkansas, Dallas, and Austin.Website | Instagram | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok
Queef Jerky
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Hot Freaks
“Cause everybody wants to get away/ But no one ever does.”Hot Freaks are back with an unusual proposition. New single LET’S START A COUNTRY floats a utopian, if misguided fantasy anyone can relate to. Taking the form of a carefree calypso, LET’S START A COUNTRY explores the disappointment of an encroaching reality on the honeymoon period of an exciting new relationship.Once nearly lost to time, Minneapolis musician’s Hot Freaks resurfaced nearly a decade after disbanding once viral hit Puppy Princess broke out on socials, summoning their reunion tour and, lo and behold, fresh jams uncovered from ancient times circa 2013 to present day. LET’S START A COUNTRY is one such unearthed artifact. A treasure from a time capsule, having gestated for about 10 years, the infectious synth pop serenade has finally “found its home” as frontman Leo Vondracek puts it.Unearthing Hot Freaks signature sound mixing sweet disco beats with tongue-in-cheek sincerity a la Of Montreal, MGMT, and dare say even ABBA. Swirling melodies and syncopated rhythms easily encapsulate any new couples craving for the creation of a place to call their own. Kicking off with a fun little “whoo!” LET’S START A COUNTRY imagines a vegetarian utopia where lovers “living in a vacuum” start a country as easy as “one two three,” yet once the song’s narrator does “a little research” it “turns out you can’t just do this type of thing/ in fact it’s kinda regulated.” Despite the harsh light of reality, Hot Freaks’ uniquely catchy qualities, percussively perfect shakers, and preciously earnest handclaps, weave a wonderfully daydreamy ode to the romantic ideal of escaping into the paradise of a person you love more than the whole wide, and unfortunately real world.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube | TikTok
Sadurn
Intimacy is manifested in every moment of “Radiator,” the debut album from Philadelphia’s Sadurn. This feeling of closeness, of being able to lend your every sense to one’s confessions of internal conflict, has carried over from the band’s origins as the solo bedroom-folk project of frontperson Genevieve DeGroot. Now emerging as a four-piece with the addition of members Jon Cox, Tabitha Ahnert, and Amelia Swain, Sadurn delivers emotive indie rock on “Radiator” that explores the struggles and eventual beauty of grappling with multiple emotional realities, particularly when it comes to relationships. The album is a fleeting, impactful glimpse at one’s whole heart, and its sweeping, special nature is evident from the moment it opens. Website | Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
Nation of Language
Four years on from the release of their unexpectedly self-assured debut album, NYC based Nation of Language have attracted a rapidly growing international audience via their danceable and impassioned take on new wave, post-punk & shoegaze genres. Following the critical acclaim of their their first LP Introduction, Presence, its 2021 follow-up A Way Forward pushed them to a wider audience—landing them their late-night TV debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and a string of sold out tours—and their 2023 record Strange Disciple has continued this momentum, landing Rough Trade’s coveted #1 album of the year spot. Now a mainstay atop lists of the best live acts of recent years, the band continue to charge synth-first into their latest chapter as a major festival draw at recent iterations of Austin City Limits Festival, Desert Daze, Pitchfork Festival, Primavera Sound, Corona Capital, Outside Lands, Bonnaroo and many others.Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube
Zack Mexico
Oh sure. Me and Zack go way back. I call ‘em Zack, but the thing about that is, well see when you get to know someone long enough you get to calling each other by just the one name. Used to be I called ‘em same as everyone else, Zack Mexico. But that was before. That was before I knew. That was back when me and Zack weren’t but about ye high… but time passed, as it often did in those days. Those days. Those days that so paradoxically grew shorter. And then of course, there were the nights too. The nights that grew longer. And I don’t mean longer like a clock. I mean longer like a train. I mean longer like a river, a rushing river- and not a babbling brook like blah blah blah, but a deafening roar like being born and the light is so white and the air is cold and what is this staring back at me so alien yet somehow so familiar? Which looks like my eyes inside my eyes inside my eyes inside my eyes? What is that sound cooing like a dove and then gone like my heart and now the colors that make me feel so afraid, flashing faster lasting less and less per blink as I grow longer? No, not longer like a clock, longer like a taffy giraffe laughing dripping down dropping slow and swirling faster spinning backwards pushing forward toward the edges. Longer like my breath is breathing paradoxes growing shorter slowing faster beating on against the morning like a drummer drumming something constant on the godforsaken sun! But now I just call ‘em same as you and everyone else: Zack Mexico… Of course, if you know know ‘em like I do, it’s just Zack Mexico. You get to know someone long enough you get to calling each other by just Zack Mexico. It’s just Zack Mexico. It’s Zack Mexico.Zack. Mexico.Zack… Mexico… …Zack… …Mexico…Bandcamp | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
