In the latest case for East Coast country music, Chico States shares “A Dozen Beers”, the first single from their upcoming album I Saw A Galloping Horse Cover No Ground out October 23rd via Anything Bagel Records. With two albums already tucked in his pockets, songwriter Joseph Barresi continues his hunt for new uses of language, mopping up his daily affirmations and one liners off the dirty floor and draining out what’s left into a pail. Accompanied by Hannah Barrett (vocals), Alex Silver (bass), Garrett Linck (drums) and Ben Rodgers (pedal steel), “A Dozen Beers” spills over the edge with boozy hooks, dry wit, and a whole lot of toe-tappin’, to the point where he should have brought a second pail.
“A Dozen Beers” revels in a sweaty bit of twang, a cowboy’s holy prayer, one to be saved for when the liquor is flowing and spirits are high. “Me & you, we’re just blundering on through, a dozen beers ahead of most of the rest of the world,” Barresi drawls out amongst rusty guitar licks, both keen to weigh the empathetic with the obscure from the day-to-day’s friendly stakeholders. Stumbling to the motion of the pedal steel and swaying to the nifty hooks, “A Dozen Beers” becomes a celebration of the little things we remember. “Rip off some dumb country star / just the harmonies, straight from the heart / as I’m walking out the door”, is just as anthemic as any ol arena-mantra, yet gets us closer to who really ripped off who. This track embraces the bare bones, finding grace in the comradery, its loose melodies linger into the nightlife, a collective harmony you sing to the moon hoping it joins in for one last tune before you close out the tab.
You can listen to “A Dozen Beers” premiering here!
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by New Orleans-based artist Adam Richard.
With a handful of albums buried in the soil; to grow, to bloom, to die and to cycle over time, these stories stroll with a caution, careful not to step on the crumbling cracks of the sidewalk that have eroded over time. Not out of any superstition of breaking a back, but of the precedence it sets for an empathetic heart. Adam’s voice is haunting, yet undoubtedly sincere, bringing a perseverance to these corroded love songs and tall tales of remorse and pity that he performs so well. But even in these weighted moments, where Adam’s acoustic guitar begins to rust over and his stories have searched for their peace, the sonic shadows that once covered these tracks begin to chip away like old paint, as feelings of loss and longing become intertwined by faith and love; a comfort in the damage as we finally get to see what’s been underneath this whole time.
About the playlist, Adam shares;
Hugging big and ugly. Light-birds over the trees, flying through my window. Music beyond elusive language, sounds that feel true. This playlist is full of songs that feel delicate at the heart of things to me. Grateful to ugly hug, music is people.
Carry Ripple is the Memphis-based project of artist, video creator and music producer, Carter Earheart-Brown, who has been releasing music under the project for a few years now. Today, carry ripple returns with, “Ailanthus Altissima”, the first single off of his upcoming record carry ripple 2, the sequel that has been in the making since the debut carry ripple was released back in 2024. Now accompanied by Kaleb Collins (The Louisville Orchestra), Sofie Pedersen (candynavia) and Heaven Schmit (Grumpy), Earheart-Brown continues to experiment with songwriting and new sonic flavors as “Ailanthus Altissima” becomes a song reeling through obsession and ecological and personal disparages.
With a dribble of acoustic guitar, “Ailanthus Altissima” seeps into the soil, steady and patient as a harmony of strings begin to nourish the dense roots that will soon make up some heavy ground. Referring to Ailanthus Altissima, or commonly known as the tree of heaven, a native plant in China that has become an invasive species here in North America, Earheart-Brown laments in its ecological havoc, singing “you’re more like a tree of hell”. The track waivers between natural whimsy and eager chaos as warming runs of woodwinds sprout underneath Earheart-Brown’s vocals that begin to grow erratically amongst the track’s flourishing melodies. At the same time, these natural elements begin to be overrun by alien-like effects and electronic fixations, wrapping around his words as Earheart-Brown sings, “Now every time I see a tree, I’m bound to think of you,” where these intrusive plants begin to be a disruption in not just space, but in thought as well.
Listen to “Ailanthus Altissima” here:
About the song, Earheart-Brown shares;
“The song idea started when I learned some people call it the tree of hell because of how annoying they are! It is an invasive plant that is often a host for the spotted lanternfly! While some of the lyrics are metaphorical, it really is about the actual plant.
I wrote it last summer when Kaleb and I were practicing for two acoustic shows opening for villagerrr and Tombstone Poetry. Tracked my vocals and the guitar with my friend Spence Bailey. Heaven, Kaleb, and Sofie recorded their parts remotely. We reamped some of the clarinets through guitar pedals for a glitchy sound. I attempted to write most of these songs without drums, so I wanted the sound to lean into that.”
You can listen to “Ailanthus Altissima” anywhere you find your music.
Written by Shea Roney | Featured Photo Courtesy of carry ripple
Today, Dear Life Records and Pretty Purgatory share Songs of Hope for Gaza, a collection of songs by 33 artists written in solidarity with Palestine. The comp consists of artists such as Little Mazarn, Thanya Iyer, Tashi Dorji, Ava Mirzadegan, Lady Queen Paradise, Ther, Adeline Hotel, and many more. In his essay titled “Notes on Craft: Writing in the Hour of Genocide”, Fargo Tbakhi says, “creative work readies us for material work, by offering a space to try out strategies, think through contradictions, remind us of our own agency.” That agency becomes the benchmark of our community, to be able to gather in shared space, utilize our tools, to connect, to listen, to lift voices, to create and to call for collective action.
You can pre-order the full album on bandcamp now for any amount you can give. The full compilation will be released on October 28th. All proceeds from this compilation will go to ANERA to support humanitarian aid and emergency relief in Gaza and beyond.
In a mission statement by the compilation’s curator, Liza Victoria, she says;
“Songs of Hope For Gaza is a compilation organized as an effort to join together as a music community to write music in solidarity for Palestine. Each musician was given a call to action to write a protest song of their own interpretation, in solidarity with Palestine. The cover painting & title is a nod to Bottles of Hope For Gaza, where in Egypt, bottles containing rice, flour, and beans were thrown into sea in hopes that they would reach the shores of Gaza. In organizing this project, I hope to offer encouragement to anyone in the music community, to speak up in song and to utilize our collective power. I believe it is vital to our own hearts, and our lives as artists, to empathize and show empathy to this cause.”
The track list of Songs of Hope for Gaza is a collection of 33 original songs written in solidarity with Palestine. The collection was mastered by Hamilton Belk.
Katie-Krysta
In The Olive Tree- Thanya Iyer
In Palestine- Christy Armstrong
Worse Than Bombs- Matt Bachmann
Sunbirds- Will Stratton
Carolina Wren- Ava Mirzadegan ft. Jason Calhoun
It Is Within You Where The Falcon Sang/ May All The Ancient Olive Trees Return Tashi Dorji
Epitaph- שאַנדע (Shande)
Nana’s Story- Guy Capecelatro III
This Very Hour- Little Mazarn
Sunbird- Stephen Kerr
The Economics Of Despair Pt. 1- Ther
The Economics Of Despair Pt.2- Lady Queen Paradise
Twila Ping- Blood Things
Sand Castles- Lisa/Liza
Precious Memory- Liam Grant
Bound To Live-Adeline Hotel
Enduring Silence – Peter McLaughlin
How Do We, Country – Ava Brennan
Nothing Fire in the Sky part II- Dee Dee and the Weeds
Two Parts-Tremolo Fields
BREAD- Young Moon
Setting Ourselves on Fire- Sam Pawlowski
All On The Lake- Amelia Riggs
Humanity- Good Good Blood
A Balm For Those Hearts Burnt and Burning Still- Mellifer
Ice Fall- Florida Ghost
The Birds Never Ask if They Deserve to Exist – Slow Hymn
Live Triptych for Gaza- Haven’s Den
Weird Dream- Glass Machine
Sending Heart- Josh Burkette
Arena- Jacob Augustine
War Cry– Asher Platts
Listen to Songs of Hope for Gaza now premiering here!
There are also statements from the artists that are featured in this collection about their own interpretations of a protest song and what it means to be in solidarity.
“This song is actually bits and pieces of conversations had about the flood in Central Texas a few weeks ago in which many children perished. One of my friends offered a prayer to the grieving parents, that children’s spirits fly to the afterworld faster than most. This conversation has been deeply intertwined with many conversations here about climate change and the need to grieve the natural world we once knew in order to adapt and live into the future. When asked if I would write a song in solidarity with Palestine, these conversations glowed bright in my mind as we here in Texas grieve the catastrophic loss of life from the flood. We are all connected in our joys and sorrows, the marrow of our days. May we walk together towards peace. This very hour.”
– Lindsey Verrill of Little Mazarn
“and the lens is a gun
hope like the sun
resistance in the make up
of water and love
water and love”
– Lyrics from “Blood Things”, Twila Ping
“This song is about the lengths that people/news media/the US and other countries countries will go to avoid witnessing genocide. But also, the ways I too unsee Palestinian death; how reading about starvation is now part of my morning routine, but my days go largely unchanged. I appreciate being a part of this compilation and other actions in solidarity with Palestinians as a way to feel less alone in my witnessing and hopefully bring some mobilization, no matter how small, towards change/relief/ending genocide and occupation.”
– Matt Bachmann
“Anas Al-Sharif was assassinated by Israel. In his last will, he said, “If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles.” We can decide to always be this clear about what we stand for.”
– Lady Queen Paradise
“songs, like history, often rhyme. when we bring struggle home and in our hearts, we create echoes of dreams that predate us, we carry them best when we do it together“
– Ther
“When care and safety is an innate human right of all people, it is such a moral imperative to speak up when that is actively being taken away and deprived of through the use of violence, starvation and murder. At this stage, the accounts of injustices enacted by Israel onto the Palestinian people are near innumerable. All people deserve safety, and all children deserve a childhood. Hearing the suffering cries of a baby which cannot be soothed due to severe burns and shrapnel wounds should be enough to mobilize anyone to act and to use their voice. This sound alone I know I will carry for the rest of my life. This is not a war, this is a genocide, and it must end.”
– Christy Armstrong
“The song is a repeated mantra peeking out from the corners of a meditative but jagged soundscape—to kill the body, but not the idea, which is bound to live. I took the words from an old labor poster that sits beside my desk and contains the quote: “it is true, indeed, that they can execute the body, but they cannot execute the idea which is bound to live.” No violence, no war, no terror inflicted by the oppressor upon the oppressed can ever truly destroy the bonds of solidarity or extinguish the flame of liberation.”
– Adeline Hotel
Victoria continues about the comp, sharing, “it was a privilege to work with each of these artists and hear their perspectives and heart show through. I am so grateful for the dedication and time they each put into this. Free Palestine. Thanks to Dear Life Records, Frank Meadows, Peter McLaughlin, Chel Painting, Hamilton Belk, Pretty Purgatory, Ava Mirzadegan, & to all the musicians involved.”
You can preorder Songs of Hope for Gaza via Dear Life Records and Pretty Purgatory now with all proceeds going to ANERA.
Modern Nun, who describe themselves as ‘queering their religious upbringing’, have developed a type of spirituality brought out by refinement and shared experience as they navigate their place in music, community and identity. But as they have continued to grow, now composed of Edie Mckenna (guitar, vocals), Haley Webster (drums), Lee Simmons (guitar) and Sam Peifer (bass), Modern Nun hold an edge to progression, a searing bit of hindsight and a little caution to the wind, as the group cuts through with both ambition and empathy. Today Modern Nun is sharing their new single “Lunch”, the second track released ahead of their upcoming EP It All out November 7th.
The band comes in as a rock n roll force, playing with a noticeable punch as “Lunch” soon breaks for immediacy amongst heavy instrumentation and gritty textures. The song feels heavier than previous Modern Nun tracks, not one solely in debt to any malice, but rather laying out an array of options for the picking as McKenna’s voice soars with deep intention. Combing through the give and takes of a soured relationship with a thinning bristled broom, McKenna sings, “I’m fantastic and you’re just alright/ I keep my sunglasses on at night”, searing with self-worth as the track collects up anything less than what is expected. These feelings are messy and sometimes unforgiving, but “Lunch” leans into it, like glue on the tips of your fingers, becoming an obsession as you peel off piece after piece. And as the guitars grumble and the drums crash with such intensity, there is some relief that comes from shedding something that was lucky enough to be a part of you for just a second.
Listen to “Lunch” here;
It All is set to be released November 7th. You can listen to Modern Nun’s other single “Unkind” as well as all their previous releases anywhere you find your music.
Sonically, the most authentic of the underground bands are the ones that are recording themselves, gigging around, and making an effort to create an all-around good music community. Bullseye, a New York City-based outfit are doing just that. Bullseye are among some of the most exciting bands that seem to just be flowing out of The Big Apple. They are a newer band who are highlighting NYC’s current underground scene through their commitment to making genuine music, fronting the wave of New York-youth-bands that are keeping DIY alive. With the release of their self-titled first EP, the band has cemented themselves as one of the most promising, having recorded and produced the whole EP on their own. Certainly “on the target,” so to speak, with their embodiment of DIY.
I recently interviewed Jake Barczak, the band’s frontman, on the band’s influences, recording process, and upcoming shows, in hopes of putting their music onto the radar of fans of Pavement, The Spatualas, Guv’ner, and perhaps even early Mirah.
The Roundabout is our newest column put together by Ruby O’Brien, brining a focus to youth bands across the country.
First, I’d like to start out by asking you to introduce yourselves and what you each play. Tell me how the band came to be!
OK, well, I’m Humberto and I play the drums. I’m Clara and I play bass. I’m Oliver and I play guitar. I’m Jake and I too play a guitar and I sing. I just typed all those responses myself but they all say hello. The band formulated around my (Jake’s) songwriting attempts about 5 years ago during Covid… I made some demos that I sat on for a while, and then eventually formed a band around. It really came together when I reconnected with Oliver who I knew a couple years ago, and Clara who I played in a band with in Minneapolis when I was 12, and met a number of Texan newcomers to NYC, Humberto, Leighton, Tyler, and the like. All crazy talented people.”
What are you guys individually inspired by, movies, art, music, etc, and how does that relate to what you collectively sound like? Do you think that your individuality creates a cohesive sound or do you ever find that songwriting can be a little more chaotic? I think this Tour Tape you guys put together last March certainly has one unified sound: I’m definitely picking up Pavement or Butterglory sounds through most of the EP, but then there are one-off songs like “Shine A Light On” with the Casio drum machine that sound a lot like Helevetia or something like that.
I think we all bring different backgrounds to the band (hah bet you didn’t see THAT coming). I’m like hardcore into melody and song I feel… Oliver has the ability to take that and make it slightly or even significantly more evil (still sounds like sunshine maybe right) and Clara has her own stripe of indie rock she’s bringing on the bass. Humberto, too, brings a certain type of Rock n Roll background, and I think like an eye/ear for detail that comes from his jazz-level drumming capability and schooling in the ways of design. He’s our wabi-sabi guy, maybe. I think we have a lot in common, but also pretty heterogeneous tastes… which, if you play enough with a scrambled mix of influences, eventually something textured and shiny and awesome is gonna come out. Not sure that’s happened, but I feel like that’s what we might be capable of doing on a good day.
The EPs you guys have out so far tend to be a mix of lo-fi and hi-fi. Do you guys track everything yourselves? I’m curious what your recording process is like.
I tracked like 60% of the songs that are out on the internet already with my phone. People talk about this a lot, but the compression that a phone speaker/system does can be kind of juicy. Other tracks I’ve done with friends and band members. Jasper Leach recorded the second two tracks on the Bullseye EP with a computer + interface and played bass. Oliver recorded “Shine A Light On” in a similar way. The recording process is patchwork and kinda case-by-case.
When you sit down to write a song, who is generally coming to the band with the ideas? Or is the songwriting process a jam with lyrics that come later?
So far it’s me… but the door is open…… I hear Jason Shapiro is doing commissions for songs so…… maybe he will write the next release.
What was the most exciting show you guys have played so far and why?
We had a good time playing Bazooka Fest, put on by pal of the band Jake Whitener.” Jake plays in another awesome NYC band called the Sunshine Convention. “We played outside during a hot sunny day. Friends, Good Flying Birds (amongst many amazing other bands) were on that bill, we’ve been happy to share a stage with them… like 3 times? They rock a lot.
Where do you guys hope to take the band in the future? Do you want to be DIY, or something even bigger?
I just want to keep writing and putting out music that I like and following it and supporting those around me doing the same thing. SO whatever that looks like.
NYC locals can check out Bullseye at Bread & Roses DIY indie music fest at the end of September, which will be happening 9/26-9/28. If you aren’t based in NYC, have no fear. Bullseye is certainly on the come up and will be in your city in no time.
You can listen to Bullseye’s two EPs anywhere you find your music as well as snag a tape of their Feb ’25 Tour now!
Written by Ruby O’Brien | Featured Photo Courtesy of Bullseye
Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week we have a collection of songs put together by Ottawa-based artist and cartoonist Hannah Judge of the project fanclubwallet.
With beaming soundscapes and gritty guitars that scratch like doodles, spilling over the pages and blending with anything they touch, fanclubwallet brings a big heart and a bit of rowdiness into full color with their steadily growing catalog of indie pop songs. Hannah’s songwriting revels in its natural cadence, like banter tossed back and forth with a friend, where the stories she tells are full of trust and encouragement to join in. But what fanclubwallet does so well is build up a space of their own, a secret hideout made to be a perfect fit. One where each bit of wall is prime real estate for the most epic personalization. One where it’s okay to store your chewed bubblegum under the furniture because who’s going to say no? One where it’s okay to leave your headphones tangled and your stereo on blast, as long as the tunes are right for this very moment.
About the playlist, Hannah shared;
This is a list of my favourite weird little songs, things that play in the back of my head, songs that might soundtrack a midnight snack on the kitchen floor. Just a little weird but amazing!
fanclubwallet has also shared their brand-new single “Know You Anymore”, the third taste test from their upcoming record Living While Dying. Listen here!
fanclubwallet is set to release their next record Living While Dying October 24th via Lauren Records. You can preorder the record now as well as on vinyl, CD and cassette.
Written by Shea Roney | Photo Courtesy of fanclubwallet
Singer-songwriter Caleb Jefson, best known as Marble Teeth, has always made music that sounds like it could fall apart at any second – that’s exactly why it matters. there was a huge crowd of people gathered in the street reads small, uneven, and at times uncomfortable. Yet, it’s one of the clearest statements from a project that has built a world on imperfection.
Five songs, acoustic at their core – this EP extends the small central Illinois artist’s commitment to small-scale intimacy while pulling harder on collage and interruption. Memory fragments, incidental noise, disjunction; it’s a continuation of the lofi folk lineage that runs through Phil Elverum’s The Glow Pt. 2 and the early Alex G. cassettes – but also belongs to the current ecosystem of Bandcamp folk that refuses polish as a matter of principle.
“Celebration Story” plants its feet in a space that feels domestic and immediate: guitar and voice in close proximity, neither heightened nor diminished. The voice reads in a tone reminiscent of Shel Silverstein, folk stripped to its infrastructure. Following into “Power Bill Blues”, the EP’s stakes are made clear: everyday life not as metaphor but as material. Like Daniel Johnston or Jeffrey Lewis, it insists that the banal is narratively significant.
The center of the record – “Sudden Remembrance, Unfinished Business” – stretches the form outwards. The intrusion of collage, half-baked thoughts, disruptions of fidelity, places Marble Teeth closer to the restless experimentation of Told Slant or Lomelda than to any cleanly defined folk category. “When the Water Broke the Dam” serves as an interruption to the streamlined melodic twang that follows through the record, dropping octaves into a sharp, decisive burst that may or may not land with the listener – yet packs that punch necessary at the core.
Closer “Big Glass… The Lousy Lifetime of a Lowly Cog (icantseemyfaceinthemirror)” sprawls without release. It circles the anxieties with no exit strategy, pulling the listener into its own sense of exhaustion. It fully embodies the EP’s refusal of resolution, staying raw, unadorned, uncomfortable.
This is music less designed for playlists and more designed for personal archives – the kind of record that gets passed from hand to hand on blogs and reviews sites, accruing weight through repetition rather than reach. Marble Teeth isn’t making folk to scale up; they’re refining its scale down to the point of friction.
You can listen to there was a huge crowd of people gathered in the street anywhere you find your music and you can purchase the album now on bandcamp.
It would be difficult for me to write about a Nara’s Room remix EP without referencing the feature I wrote on Nara Avakian earlier this year. We spoke about three months following the release of Glassy star; the 2024 record offering up a foundation for a more comprehensive conversation on the project’s ethos and ever-expanding nature. When discussing their songwriting, they enthused about their bandmates ability to contort or enhance music they wrote from a personal and sometimes even guarded place.
“They evolve the meaning and turn something that is very private and singular into something much more nuanced”, Nara told me in January – a quote I think back on each time I listen to Glassy was the sky.
Last month, Nara’s Room shared Glassy was the sky – a remix EP of Glassy star and the latest feat to stem from the project’s emphasis on the potential for art to evolve. It consists of seven tracks and features contributions from Sister., fantasy of a broken heart, Hausholding, good.will, Brendan Jones, and Shallowater.
“Sister., fantasy of a broken heart, Shallowater, and Hausholding are some of my favorite bands currently”, Nara explains, “good.will, aka Will Fisher, our Ambient Duty player, and Brendan , our drummer contributed as well to the EP which was special because I loved hearing their own interpretations of the songs outside of their roles in arranging them. Will wasn’t a part of the project when we recorded ‘Glassy star,’ so it was special to have him on too.”
Glassy was the sky houses two versions of “Glassy star”, the original record’s emotional closing track. On Glassy star, it takes a coarser form than the tracks that precede it, stripping down the fuzz and sonic eccentricities to end on a moment of uninhibited vulnerability. In doing so, “Glassy star” perfectly captures the moment between naivety and what comes next, as Nara sings “Nineteen’s a funny time to be, the world’s only just started.” These layered and complex feelings pour onto both renditions on Glassy was the sky, though both projects manage to do so in a way that feels authentic to their own sound.
“Sister. and Shallowater’s wildly different interpretations of ‘Glassy star’ only expanded the universe of the song and it was special to hear the way the raw emotions in the original were interpreted by them”, Nara says of both “Glassy star” versions.
Glassy was the sky also contains a version of “Teeth” by Hausholding that Nara deems “so freaky, in the best way”, an exhilarating fantasy of a broken heart rendition of ‘Grape juice’, and a version of ‘Holden’ by Brendan Jones that honors the tracks original ballad form. It ends with “Like ivory – duo version” ft. good.will, a track that Nara describes as an “epilogue of sorts”, adding, “hearing his rendition almost gave me closure.”
the ugly hug 