Liner Notes (November 6th, 2021)

Jason Tate Nov 6, 2021

This week looks at new music out this week (Webbed Wing, Stand Atlantic, Brian Fallon) and music I listened to through the rest of the week (New Found Glory, Descendents). There are also some thoughts on entertainment I’ve been enjoying and/or suffering through. As always, there’s a playlist of ten songs I liked, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.

Adam Grundy Nov 4, 2021

Recently I was able to catch up with the band Right On, Kid for an interview about their new album, Life is a Movie, as well as a music video (that feels like a movie) for the song “Stay Close.” In this feature, I asked thew band about how their touring regimen has been going, the band’s core influences, as well as what the rest of the year looks like for the band. Be sure to check out their new music video for “Stay Close” linked in this article.

Adam Grundy Nov 3, 2021

Today I’m thrilled to share the worldwide premiere of “Burn Me” by Divided Heaven. The band is comprised of Jeff Berman, and the band’s upcoming album Oblivion is slated for an early 2022 release date via A-F Records. Berman shared this about the great new single, “‘Burn Me’ is a punch thrown at the self-aggrandizing internet trolls. ‘Burn Me’ aims to counter the all-too-prevalent cultural pessimism and cynicism with the most raw and vicious song Divided Heaven has ever released. It’s not always easy to put your art on public display and to open yourself up to criticism and bullying (I’ve had my fair share, and then some). ‘Burn Me’ is a tribute to the artists that push the boundaries of their genre, dive into the androgynous, dabble in the dirty, all in the face of vitriolic social commentary. Produced by the great Charlie Stavish and a great way to kick-off this Oblivion-era of Divided Heaven!” If you enjoy this track as much as I did, consider pre-ordering Oblivion here, and international fans can pre-order here.

Adam Grundy Nov 1, 2021

A couple of weeks back, I thought of a cool idea to start a small “series” of interviews taking a look at a few indie record labels and some of the unique facets of what makes them important in our scene. First up is Michael Gilligan from Fake Chapter Records, whose label is celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year. To celebrate, the label has put together a compilation of 25 bands from the 25 years of the label. The compilation releases on November 11th, but you can secure your copy here.

Jason Tate Oct 30, 2021

It’s almost Halloween, and I think one of my cats currently has on a bat costume and is starring in an Instagram video. This week I write about new music I checked out (Florrie, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, The War on Drugs, Ed Sheeran) and old music I revisited (Underoath, Anberlin), and then some thoughts on all the Halloween movies we’ve been watching this week. As always, there’s a playlist of songs I enjoyed, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.

Adam Grundy Oct 29, 2021

The Scottish alternative rock band called Dancing On Tables have returned with their latest single called “Riviera.” In this high-energy performance video, the band showcase their musical chops that led to them gaining the coveted support slot on a recent Catfish and the Bottlemen touring stint. The song comes from their Play Play Play EP, and if you enjoy what you hear as much as I did, you can check out the brand new album here.

Adam Grundy Oct 26, 2021

A couple of weeks ago, I was able to schedule a Zoom interview with the extremely busy, Dan Ozzi. In this interview, we discussed his unique writing process for his new book called Sellout, some unique stories of his time working in the music industry, advice he would give to other writers, as well as his process for preparing for an interview. Be sure to check out Sellout, which is available for purchase here.

Adam Grundy Oct 26, 2021

Today I’m thrilled to premiere the single for “Oreo” by Pass Away. This Brooklyn, New York band formed in 2013 in what began as a side project from members of I Am The Avalanche and Crime In Stereo, Pass Away has become a powerful songwriting force in the scene. The band shared this quote about the new single, “This song is named after Oreo, a black cat that I woke up with sleeping on the top of my head on a very early Lower East Side morning. I was in a strange place, laying next to a stranger who a few years later ended up being my wife. I didn’t think I was worth a shit or worthy of any kind of love or partnership at that point in my life. This song is about knowing when to pump the brakes, chill out on the self abuse and let the good stuff happen.” With great hooks and impressive songwriting, Pass Away are truly onto something great here. The track comes from their new album, Thirty Nine, and pre-orders are now up.

Adam Grundy Oct 25, 2021

Recently I was able to catch up with the band Keep It A Secret before they released their latest single, “Middle With My Thumbs Up.” In this Zoom interview, I asked each of the band members about their core influences, their dream show on what bands they think they would be best to open for, as well as some of the back story on how they became the band they are today. The band has been steadily releasing new material, and is considering an EP at some point soon.

Jason Tate Oct 23, 2021

This week’s newsletter has thoughts on the latest Apple event and thoughts on internet drama, and the serenity of realizing you don’t need to have an opinion about everything. Then I go over stuff I revisited this week (Cartel, Finch, The Format) as well as share thoughts on new music out this week (ETID, Super American) and other albums I listened to (No Rome, Mom Jeans). And then I gush about how good the new Dune movie is. As always, there’s a playlist of ten songs, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.

Drew Beringer Oct 21, 2021

It’s been five long years but the new gods of Buffalo are set to return with their most complete and powerful album yet. Radical – Every Time I Die’s ninth full-length – features 16 of the band’s most personal, vulnerable, and heaviest songs yet with a couple of new wrinkles and twists thrown in for good measure. Vocalist Keith Buckley has been to hell and back and has lived to tell it, as the veteran frontman took time out of his busy schedule to cut it up with me about sitting on the record during a pandemic, his newfound writing style, and Malignant.

Adam Grundy Oct 21, 2021

Today, I’m pleased to share the new music video premiere of “Sleeves” by NOLA pop-punk band Neutral Snap. The song comes from the band’s new album, out this Friday, called Tell Me How I Feel. The band shared this quote about the great-sounding single, “The “Sleeves” music video follows a guy who is totally fed up with the world and everyone around him. We based this idea off of our own feelings of how we went stir crazy during lock down. “Sleeves” is about becoming self-aware with the fact that you are not going to please everyone. People suck, the world is on fire (literally), but this song is super fun and it highlights the fact that we are human and we make mistakes, but that doesn’t make us any better or worse than anyone else.” With so much going on in the world, Neutral Snap may have just delivered the song to help us cope with everything.

Jason Tate Oct 16, 2021

This week’s newsletter looks at the new music I checked out this week (Kacy Hill, Coldplay, Knocked Loose, This Wild Life, Blackstarkids), as well as some old favorites I returned to or decided to give another shot (ManDancing, Turnover, Bad Luck., Citizen). And then there are some quick hits on a few first impressions (Snail Mail, Jim Lindberg, American Teeth) and a reevaluation of Taking Back Sunday after all these years. We’re jam-packed this week, and I still find some time to touch on some other media as well. As always, there’s a playlist of ten songs I enjoyed this week, and this week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.

Adam Grundy Oct 12, 2021

Recently I was able to connect with Michael Kamerman of the pop rock band Smallpools before he and his bandmates embarked on a comprehensive U.S. headlining tour. In this interview, I asked Michael about the songwriting process evolution with his band, the material found in Smallpools sophomore record Life in a Simulation, as well as what’s he’s most looking forward to with getting back on the road. Life in a Simulation will be released this Friday on all of your favorite streaming services.

Jason Tate Oct 9, 2021

I try not to be too heavy-handed when it comes to pitching our upgrade membership program. I try and keep the big sell to once a year, and as we walk into October, it’s that time again.

As I wrote about last year, things are bizarre in the online space. Ad revenue has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. The place for a small independent, primarily text-based music website and community is extremely not in the mainstream of where the internet is these days. But, tens of thousands of people still come and read our homepage daily, and thousands of people hang out and talk in our forums as well. And, like so many of you, I still have a passion for music that bursts from my seams.

So, if you’d like to see us continue to do what we do, please consider becoming a supporting member of the website. Doing so gives you awesome perks like a dark theme for the website and removes all of the advertisements. I built the website to be extremely fast to load, and without ads, it’s almost unbelievable how speedy it feels. I know many of you use an ad-blocker, and I could be far more hostile to those that have them installed to incentivize either uninstalling them or becoming a member, but I don’t. But if you do use an ad-blocker, please consider just signing up for our smallest package. For pennies a day, you can get a better experience on the website and can be absolved of any ad-blocking guilt because without the ads and the supporting members, we simply could not exist.

There are three packages, all of them have the same perks, and you can choose what tier fits with you. The truth is, I’m bad at selling myself but built the kind of system I wish more online businesses had. I think we have a great core product, and we have an easy way to remove all ads and help keep us online. That’s really the entire pitch.

As always, thank you for reading. In a world dominated by YouTube or hot-take chasing SubStack personalities, it’s often hard to know where we fit into the landscape. But every week, I see how many people still check out our little corner of the internet. And every week, someone tells me they’ve discovered a new band they love because we wrote about them. And every week, I laugh at a joke posted somewhere in our community. So, I remain happy we’re still online, and if you feel the same, please consider becoming a member.

Thank you.

Liner Notes (November 6th, 2021)

Interview: Right On, Kid

Divided Heaven – “Burn Me” (Video Premiere)

Interview: Michael Gilligan of Fake Chapter Records

Liner Notes (October 30th, 2021)

Dancing On Tables – “Riviera” (Video Premiere)

Interview: Dan Ozzi

Pass Away – “Oreo” (Song Premiere)

Interview: Keep It A Secret

Liner Notes (October 23rd, 2021)

Interview: Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die

Neutral Snap – “Sleeves” (Video Premiere)

Liner Notes (October 16th, 2021)

Interview: Michael Kamerman of Smallpools