We’ve got a great host and a killer record, all set to go. All we need now is you! Here’s how to join the fun.
Good Afternoon!
Today we’re talking The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat, and well, how you can talk about the band with other like minded people.
Note: As some of you know, I’m one of the editors for an online music publication called The Riff. Each month we host an album discussion (via Zoom), and this month’s is coming up on Sunday.To be clear, all credit goes to Terry Barr who facilitates the meeting, and Scott Fountain this month’s host. These two are doing the heavy lifting.
As you’ll see below, these are low-key affairs; all are welcome! If you want to share some thoughts, that’s awesome. Wanna just sit back & listen? That’s cool, too.
Either way, it’d be better with you there.
KA—
It’s that time again; it’s time for our monthly album discussion!
One of The Riff’s core tenets is sharing music. That obviously involves writing about it, but also talking about it together. We do that monthly here.
This Sunday May 4th is that day.
Below is my boilerplate explanation of these discussions and the value you’ll get from joining us. Under that are both the record being discussed and the meeting log-in details.
Don’t know the record? Doesn’t matter.
Not comfortable speaking in public? Me either. And you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Heck, you don’t even have to turn your camera on. It’s a safe space, but you control what you share.
Ultimately, you’re part of the community; we want you to be a part of this, too.
So check out the “rules” below, and then plan to dial in.
What is this?
For new readers (hi everyone!), The Riff hosts an online discussion every month.
Here’s how it works:
A writer (more on that in a second) picks a record to discuss and writes a brief piece about their choice and the meeting details.
At the meeting, they discuss why they picked it, offer a bit of a backstory/context, and whatever else they’d like to share.
Everyone else on the call can share their own “hot take,” related story, or anything else you think is relevant.
At the end of the meeting, next month’s writer volunteers (or is chosen), and the process repeats itself.
NOTE FOR INTROVERTS: If you’d prefer to sit in and listen, that is 110% okay. Keep your video off…stay muted…it’s up to you. It’s a safe place; you can participate as much/as little as you’d like.
This month’s host:
This month’s host is a star contributor to The Riff and a friend of On Repeat Records. Scott Fountainis afantastic writer, and his expertise spans many genres. You can also find him here on Substack, where he recently planted his flag. If you’re unfamiliar with his work, I highly recommend it!
Cool! So, what are we talking about?
Scott has chosen The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat.
I’m not sure if critics called it proto-punk in the 1990s, but during that time, I could identify that sense of evolution between late 1950s rock and late 1970s punk. Likewise, recognizing how different forms of rock share a common lineage with rhythm and blues, jazz, and country was always (and still is) fun to consider.
While songs from White Light / White Heat may not be as upbeat and have as much drive as other proto-punk songs from the 1960s, Lou Reed’s lyrics, amongst an orchestrated sea of noise and distortion, set a bar for topical songwriting involving sex, drugs, and violence.
Musical adventure, exploring new sounds, and sharing great music with great people make these discussions a joy.
Join us and see for yourself.
Listen:
(Click the record to listen on your platform of choice)
April 2025: Sam & I bring a few of our favorite side projects to the table
Good morning!
Today Sam Colt and I are each sharing a few of our favorite side projects.
Welcome to the fourth edition of our (not so) new series! For those of you who may have missed previous editions, here’s a bit of context:
In this monthly series, Sam Colt and I will each share our picks for artists and/or titles that haven’t received their due. You’ll recognize Sam’s name from our On Repeat and Friends Best of Series, and also our Top 100 of all-time serieslast fall. These posts will adopt the latter’s format; I will make my case for my three picks and my reaction to Sam’s. Sam’s page will do the reverse.
In the inaugural post, we noted that successive editions would narrow things down slightly. Maybe a specific genre…maybe a specific era…maybe a specific…well, who knows!
This month, we’re each making a case for a few musical side projects.
In the late 80s, R.E.M. were on their way up & Warren Zevon was searching for clear air. The band (sans Michael Stipe) was Zevon’s backing band on 1987’s Sentimental Hygiene, and finished the sessions early. So they did the most logical thing possible- and a side project spurred its own side project: The Hindu Love Gods.
That’s not totally accurate—Zevon and REM had played together before, but now they had a record of mainly covers in the can…where it sat for the next few years. It saw the light of day only after Zevon’s manager used it to sweeten the deal while shopping him around for a new contract.
No one in the R.E.M. camp knew it was coming and were a bit blindsided by it all, but fences were mended, and in short order the record ran its course. From my observer’s perch, the record leaves a couple of lasting legacies. First, it gave the world a fun cover of Prince’s “Raspberry Beret.” Second, for many people my age (Gen X), this was an on-ramp to Zevon’s work outside of “Werewolves of London.”
Sam’s pick and my take: Chaz Bundick Meets The Mattson 2 – Star Stuff
I had no idea who this was or the parent bands. I’d heard of (Bundick’s stage name) Toro Y Moi, but would be hard pressed to name a single song. The Mattson 2? Absolute blank. Cueing up Star Stuff, my first impression is that it feels like the soundtrack to a good trip. The kind where you just sort of sit there and watch the walls shapeshift. It sounds like an updated version of a blacklight poster. The second track, “A Search,” feels like more of a soulful strut, albeit it one you might do while chasing your spirit animal across the Mojave, with the gentle oohs and ahhs helping fill in the blanks.
One of the things I love about side projects is when you can almost taste how unfinished they are; when it sounds like people met up simply for the sake of doing so, bouncing ideas off of one another, and seeing where the session takes ’em. No GPS giving step-by-step directions; everything’s analog. No maps, just a compass. Everything’s improv. To my ear, Star Stuff embodies that.
Electronic-S/T
About 35 years ago, there was a brief—and weird—period in the cultural zeitgeist where we collectively decided we loved us a live-action/animation hybrid. “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” was a surprise hit, and in its wake came a few, um, less popular movies. Some are best forgotten, some were formulaic, and some, like “A Cool World,” were unlike anything else out at the time. And if you were one of the 35 people in the US who happened to have seen it, you’ll likely know what I’m talking about. You were among the few lucky people to have heard Electronic’s “Disappointed” over the theater speakers.
There is a long tradition of songs from soundtracks outshining the films that they’ve appeared in. Far more people have heard Dan Hartman’s “I Can Dream About You” than remember it’s from the movie “Streets of Fire.”
“When the Night Comes” was a huge hit for Joe Cocker and has had an infinitely longer shelf life than the movie it featured in. Bonus points if you can recall the title.1
This brings us back to A Cool World. The movie might’ve been utterly forgettable (sorry!), but the soundtrack felt purpose-built for a kid like me.
In the late 80s, New Order frontman Bernard Sumner was restless. He had fallen in love with genres like Italo-disco and Acid House, and wanted to pivot the band in that direction. Internal creative conflicts were already threatening to rend the band asunder (those would all come in due time), and Sumner decided that maybe channeling all of this into a solo record might be the move…until he learned that he hated working alone…
Meanwhile, The Smiths’ Johnny Marr was in the middle of his own battles. His band was done, and by many accounts, he wasn’t trailing too far behind. He’d been biding his time as an axe man for hire but was looking for a creative outlet. He leaped when word reached him that Sumner was interested in testing the waters.
Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant heard about the budding project through a Factory Records employee and decided he also wanted in.
The three quickly lined up some studio time and walked out with a newly minted single, “Getting Away With It,” which promptly became something of a hit. Of course, this meant the band had to create a full-length record.
They test drove early versions of a batch of tracks at an infamous live set. That ultimately led to their self-titled debut, two other LPs, and a compilation…and while the debut record is fantastic, “Disappointed” didn’t appear on it (or any of the band’s other original release versions). For a long time, you had to hunt for either the single or a copy of Songs from the Cool World to find it.
The side projects arising from New Order are legion, but all these years later, only Electronic had me riding my bike straight from the theater to Tower Records to try and find one of their LPs.
Sam’s pick and my take: Them Crooked Vultures – S/T
One of Sam’s superpowers is picking a band or record that makes me realize that, despite knowing the name, I’ve never heard a single song by them. The streak continues this month with Them Crooked Vultures. Like Electronic above, this is a side project and supergroup, this time featuring Josh Homme, John Paul Jones, and Dave Grohl. It took about three minutes for me to realize I’d been missing out.
Once in a while, I like a good scuzzy groove and a family-sized serving of riffs, and this record has both for days. Maybe more importantly, it doesn’t sound like anyone’s “home” band. The closest it comes is to Homme’s Queens of the Stone Age, and even that’s a short leap. It truly feels like a detour or side quest.
The Breeders- Pod
In the late 80s and early 90s, it felt like everyone was in at least a couple of bands. The lines between rosters blurred, and it all became a musical version of 6 Degrees of Separation. In many cases, you needed a scorecard to keep track at home. This was certainly the case for smaller bands and/or scenes, so it only made sense to happen at the (relatively) larger next tier.
In 1988, Throwing Muses’ Tanya Donnelly and Pixies’ Kim Deal shared a tour bill, but they also shared ideas in their downtime. Initially, they toyed with making a dance record, but ultimately thought better of it. Due to legal issues, they couldn’t share credit as principal songwriters. Deal took the credit for Pod, thinking that Donnelly would do so for whatever came next. In this case, what came next was a split,2 and Donnelly using those demos for yet another side project, Belly.
Most people are at least marginally familiar with Last Splash’s “Cannonball.” A few people will recognize “Divine Hammer.” But if pressed, I’m not sure many people could recognize “When I Was a Painter,” “Hellbound,” or “Iris.”
Pod is a messier record than the ones that came after it, and therein lies the appeal. Subsequent records have the edges sanded down somewhat, if not all the way. Pod walked so Last Splash could run.
On release, Pod was never going to escape the shadow of Pixies or even Throwing Muses, but it gave both women an outlet to do something different, to take things in a direction their main gigs wouldn’t allow. And really, isn’t that the point of a side project anyway? The Breeders—and Belly—both eventually found their rightful place in the spotlight.
Sam’s pick and my take: The Smile – Cutouts
I have to hand it to Sam; he’s gonna get me to like Radiohead or die trying, even if it means taking an angle like this. If you’ve been here a while, you know my love for the band is lacking. It’s also fair to say Sam is a massive fan. Sounds like the plot of a bad buddy cop film, but after managing to artfully dodge this record during 2024’s AOTY season, really it just means me now sitting down and intentionally trying to see what the fuss is. Short version: It’s not bad, which in this context equates to “pleasantly surprised.” “Zero Sum” even had me moving my chair a little bit. Still not my bag, but I now totally get why so many people loved this record.
That’s a wrap! What are your thoughts on these records? Do you own any of them? Share your thoughts in the comments! Rants, raves, and spicy takes are all welcome. And if you have any ideas on future themes, please share those as well! Don’t forget to check out Sam’s thoughts over at This Is a Newsletter!
Good morning! Need an antidote for the algorithms? Looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people? You’re in the right spot.
As always, thank you to those who have recently upgraded your subscriptions. Your direct support fuels this community and makes a positive impact. Shares and reposts all help as well! Thank you!
When you’re ready, joining them is easy. Just click here:
For those of you who are new, we kick off every week by sharing what we’ve been playing.
The playlist below is some of what I’ve had in heavy rotation. This week, we’ve got new sounds from Young Gun Silver Fox, Fishbone(!), and more. Also a couple of old faves to balance out the mix.
Now it’s your turn.
What caught your ear this week? Any new releases or shows you’re looking forward to?
The flood of great records continues! Today taking a quick look at the latest from Rhymies, Dick Valentine, Avery Friedman, Mythical Motors and more!
Longtime readers may recall that I reviewed 100 new (to me) records last year. Because I’m a glutton for punishment love music, I’m doing it again this year. This is the latest in the series.
Good morning! Today we’re taking a look at the latest from Rhymies, Dick Valentine, Avery Friedman, and Mythical Motors and several more!
Every year, I celebrate all the great music we’ve been gifted while worrying that next year will see the other shoe drop. I first did that in December 2020 and have been proven wrong every month since. Not only are there a ton of releases steadily coming out, but it also transcends genre or any other artificial guardrail we try and put up—
In other words, a ton of good stuff is coming out, and there’s something for everyone. It’s almost overwhelming— but in all the best ways. Below is another batch that caught my attention recently.
A lot of recent releases landed on my radar all at once, and I want to shine a light on them before too much more time passes. Not quite an 88 lines about 44 records kind of deal, but close. More of a clearing the decks, if you will.
Let’s get into it!
Rhymies- I Dream Watching (EP) There is a trend on social media where Gen Z kids cue up Bronksi Beat’s “Small Town Boy” and film as their parents reflexively start dancing to it. It’s a lovely song, but it’d be better if they used Rhymies “I Dream Watching” instead.
Rhymies is the latest side project from Bay Area musician Lauren Matsui. That name might not ring a bell, but her other bands, Seablite, and Neutrals, have both been featured here and are On Repeat favorites.
With that as context, this EP is a world away from both. Seablite draws easy comparisons to Lush, and Neutrals are a great bit of indie pop and/or post-punk, depending on your mood. I Dream Watching is 100% a synth-pop record. Matsui’s vocals pair perfectly with the keyboards, making for an intoxicating mix.
If Seablite took you back to early 90s shoegaze, this will take you back to the era of 80s dance parties, just like we (or your parents) used to dance the night away to.
Grab your cloves and hit the club here
Avery Friedman- New Thing The Rosy Overdrive blog recently reviewed this LP and prefaced it with noting, “I get records that match this description emailed to me every day, so you can rest assured that I wouldn’t be writing about this one if it wasn’t a clear standout from that pack.”
I’ll take that one step further; I am convinced someone, somewhere, decided that any promo email had to include either “pedal steel” or “indie folk” in the description. It feels like a bit of PR Mad Libs or refrigerator magnet poetry gone wrong. I can’t speak for Rosy’s inbox, but in mine, those two phrases are as ubiquitous as UPCs are on the records they’re trying to move.
For better or worse, to my ear, “Folk” means acoustic, maybe a mandolin, and a general lack of oomph. Slapping ” indie” on the front of it just tells me it was made after 1995. I’m mindful that those words telegraph a lack of objectivity.
“New Thing is a conduit for emotions too frenetic to hold on your own. This record is a collection of the first songs I’ve ever written, after many years of orbiting the music world but denying myself my own musicianship. Many of these tracks were born of anxiety—from my turning to a guitar to externalize (and organize) a sense of chaos that otherwise felt trapped inside me. We recorded the bulk of it with a live band as a means to maintain the raw energy at the center of the record. What results is a time capsule for a year of intense personal expansion in my life—and the layers of warmth, wonder, sensitivity, and sharpness that come with growing.” – Avery Friedman
That said, I gave this one a spin, and while it’s not my place to tell an artist or PR firm what genre to go with, folk would not’ve been my first pick here. There’s far too much energy and emotion on New Thing for that. It’s electric (literally and figuratively).
Earlier this week, we featured the title track on our Playlist. Songs that make the cut are ones that are in heavy rotation. With New Thing, I had about 4 to pick from before ultimately going with the title track.
Besides the title track, “Photo Booth” is synth-tinged with blurry guitars and a solid rhythm section that keeps everything moving. With its washed-out fuzz and soft vocals, “Somewhere to Go” feels fluorescent. It’s a slow burn that will keep you wanting it to kick into gear. “Biking Standing” might be the closest (again, IMO) the record comes to folk, and even then, I’d say that it feels more like a lovely bit of lilting bedroom pop than anything.
On the title track, Friedman tells us, “It’s a little bit of a new thing / It’s a little hard to predict / And I can’t quite describe it / But it’s like a magnet flipped.” Honestly, I can’t think of a better way to sum up this record than that. This album fades in and out; sometimes, it feels like the light of midday. Other times, like a fever dream or fuzzy memories, struggling to make it out of the back of one’s mind.
Hard to describe, hard to predict, and it definitely feels fresh. New Thing was something I didn’t see coming. But it’s not PR spin when I tell you that’ll be a contender for a spot on my AOTY list.
Folk? Not folk? Click here to listen and decide.
Mythical Motors- Travelogues and Movie Stills I’ve often joked that we need to check in on Robert Pollard if we go more than six months without a Guided by Voices record. The reality is that someday, he will slow down. Luckily, Matt Addison is already releasing records at almost the same rate.
Like GBV, Addison’s specialty is lo-fi quick hits. This record is pared down from its predecessor but still squeezes in 15 songs in less than 30 minutes, the longest clocking in at 3 minutes even. With those numbers, it would be easy to assume he was flooding the zone, hoping something would stick. That would be wrong. Travelogues and Movie Stills is packed with the gorgeous jangle and bright hooks we’ve come to expect from him.
In other words, it’s just what we need right now.
Fourteen months ago, I described Upside Down World as what lo-fi power pop looks like. It’s the same story here. In a world as wild as 2025 is shaping up to be, it’s nice to know some things haven’t changed.
Listen to the record and grab your copy here.
Dick Valentine- The Final Musician Valentine might be better known as the frontman of Electric Six, but he’s also released a huge catalog of solo records (books, too, for that matter). His latest, The Final Musician, is a little more stripped down than some of Electric Six’s work, but no less manic.
The title track kicks things off, and we’re immediately met full-on with his distinctive voice. The song itself feels like something from Jack Black and/or Tenacious D. Not my fave on the record, but it sets the mood early that this is gonna be a Dick Valentine record.
That’s followed by a heapin’ helpin’ of garage rock in “Asian Freckles.” It’s all gas and no brakes, followed up with a much more (relatively) sedate “Bombs for Baby.” We even get a bit of folk (sorry!) in “Leave the Rest of It to Me.” And is that a fiddle I hear in the back? Just a few tracks in, and the blender’s already full of genres.
Again, this is a hallmark of any Valentine’s record.
“Duchess in a Tree” is a bit of stripped-down funk, as if they purposely left the amps turned down. It’s understated but rides high on a slinky groove. It’s also this writer’s favorite track on the album.
Ask four people to describe Electric Six, you’ll get at least five opinions. It’s a sound that’s so versatile (and so good at genre-hopping) that it defies easy categorization. Valentine’s solo work is no different. He’s still the Dance Commander and still giving out the orders for fun.
He’s spent years making music his own way, maybe to the detriment of his bank account. With The Final Musician, maybe that’ll change. If not, I can’t see him changing a thing. Indeed, I hope he doesn’t.
Valentine was also recently on the Center Stage Podcast, and you can catch that here.
Grab your copy via Madison-based Shortwave Records
Also awesome: Hairpin- Modern Day Living (EP): This EP has Blast furnace riffs and heavy beats for days. The band describes the tracks here as “post-hardcore through a power pop lens.” I just describe it as good. RIYL: High Vis, Pegboy, driving guitars, running red lights. (Buckle up and get in here)
Palamara- Tomorrow Is a Friend: Soothing, introspective sounds from an artist once described as “Lambchop or the Magnetic Fields with a country twang.” An excellent release that’s equal parts Americana and country. Will remind you of the singer-songwriter records in your grandparents’ cabinet (100% said as high praise). Pairs perfectly with spring morning sun, big mugs of coffee, mountain views, or any one of the Great Lakes. (Slow down to the speed of life here.)
Marshy- Light Business (EP): 4-song EP from NYC’s Marshy. Light Business is a fantastic mix of emo, power pop, and just a touch of shoegaze. Four songs weren’t enough. Hoping we’ll see an LP in the not-too-distant future. RIYL: Momma, Wednesday, crunchy guitars. (Grab a copy here)
Wayside- Dusk to Dawn: Full throttle rock from the Twin Cities. After a long layoff, the band is back and in their best form yet. This isn’t a heritage act, but they are 100% standing on the shoulders of many of the bands that came out of the 612 before them. Either way, the whole thing rips. Bar trivia: Richard Stuverud of The Fastbacks, Three Fish, Tres Mtns, RNDM, War Babies, and Pearl Jam (briefly)….is sitting in on drums on one of the songs. (See what’s happening in the flyover states here.)
West Coast Music Club- Need You Beside Me (EP): Another release of West UK’s West Coast Music Club. The title track reminds me of Chameleons, and it just goes up from there. If you only have room for one track on your playlist, make it “Summer Loving.” It’ll already be stuck in your head anyway. (Pick up your copy of Need You Beside Me here)
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on these records! Did I get it right, or am I way off the mark?
Good morning! Need an antidote for the algorithms? Looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people? You’re in the right spot.
As always, thank you to those who have recently upgraded your subscriptions. Your direct support fuels this community and makes a positive impact. Shares and reposts all help as well! Thank you!
When you’re ready, joining them is easy. Just click here:
To use the form, you’ll have to sign in to Google, like with the voting. If you won’t/can’t, let me know at kentmbeeson@hey.com and like the Beatles we’ll work it out.
Until the nomination period ends, you can go back and edit it at any time. So feel free to load up your faves now, listen to some new stuff (like what we got below) and then update it if you find something that really floats your boat.
Try to hit return after entering each album into the form — it makes for a nice clean list to export later. Thanks!
Are you concerned about what qualifies? Don’t be. Just nominate it. Nominate anything, I don’t care. Nominate Taylor Swift’s 1989 if you want. If it doesn’t end up making the cut on nomination votes, it didn’t matter anyway. It’ll all come out in the wash.
Nomination period is two weeks — April 7 2025 to April 21 2025.
Want to see what’s already in the mix? Click here to see all 744 submissions (as of this writing). On a side note, 1989 was a seminal year for me music-wise, and I will likely be writing about more of these in some form over the coming weeks/months.
Once you’re done nominating, check out Kent’s newsletter, and if you’re on Bluesky, give him a follow—this is also a great way to see what everyone is picking once the bracket opens up.
For what it’s worth, here are a few of my picks:
Top 5 (okay, 6) S-Tier type stuff.
If you’ve been here long, none of these will surprise you.
The former dBs frontman stops by to talk about his new solo record, working with other artists, and shares a few of his favorite crate digging finds.
Good morning!
We’re in for a treat today; Peter Holsapple stops by to chat about his new solo record, working with bands like The Paranoid Style, and the most he’ll pay for a used record.
Peter Holsapple’s resume reads like a list of your favorite bands. He’s played with R.E.M., The Continental Drifters, and more recently, with On Repeat Records favorites, The Paranoid Style.
But he might be best known for being a member of the critically acclaimed power pop band The dBs, along with Chris Stamey, Gene Holder, and Will Rigby. If you’ve been here long, you know I am a huge fan of the band. Their 1984 record Like This is an all-timer, and grabbed a spot on my recent top 100 list.
He’s also performed as a solo artist, building a considerable volume of work, starting with 1997’s Out of the Way and follow-up Game Day. Now he’s back with The Face of ’68, an album full of the hooks and lyrics Holsapple fans have come to love over the years.
The press release cheekily mentions that you probably already know him, but if you don’t, it’s time to change that. Even if you don’t recognize the name, you have undoubtedly heard bands he’s influenced over the years. The dBs and Continental Drifters are a lot of your favorite band’s favorite bands.
To be clear, while there is plenty of what you love (strong hooks, a love song or two), The Face of ’68 doesn’t simply cover old ground. It sounds & feels fresh, indexing less on power pop and more on muscular guitar. If you weren’t already familiar, now is absolutely the time to change that.
The first words we hear on the record are Holspapple asking,
I wake up in the morning With the sun in my eyes And every day is a total surprise Isn’t that right? Isn’t that great?
It is. And any day we’re gifted a record like this is even better.
In our wide-ranging chat, we discuss the new record, his time playing with The Paranoid Style, what was playing in his house growing up, and running into “that guy” at the record store.
Our conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and flow.
Congrats on the new record! The press release mentions that The Face of 68 is different. Can you expand on that a little more?
Thank you! Well, I think it’s different for me, or what people may expect from me. It’s got more of a rock guitar basis, for lack of better terms, than anything I have put out before. Lots of riffs and minor chords. If you think of “Bad Reputation” from The dB’s first album Stands for deciBels as a rock guitar song (which I do) The Face of 68 rocks like that. There’s, like, one strictly power pop-ish tune, but it’s the anomaly.
Artists often cite you and the bands you’ve played in (The dB’s, Continental Drifters, etc.) as inspiration. Who were you influenced by when you first started? What was playing in your house growing up?
I’m always a little surprised to hear that because I never thought any of those bands had a significant amount of reach; but from our tour last year, I see that our songs definitely made a lasting impression on more people than I’d imagined, very grateful to know that.
My mom and my big brother listened to radio and records in the house, so I was exposed to pop music as a little kid. My first single was a Bert Kaempfert single “Afrikaan Beat” that I’d heard on a kids’ TV program when we lived in Old Greenwich, so I was around four then. Radio in Winston-Salem was WTOB mostly, our Good Guy station with personality jocks like Dick Bennick (Dr. Paul Bearer) and the Flying Dutchman (Pete Berry), both of whom also produced 45s for local bands. We got Beatles, James Brown, Buck Owens, Napoleon XIV, Sir Douglas Quintet, and we loved it all.
How about today?
Hmm. Well, in the car I listened to the newest Maggie Rose album since The dB’s played before her at 30A Songwriters’ Festival, and we met her and her band, and she and they were just lovely people. And the record’s stunning, the arrangements are strong and the sound is huge. That’s today. (Oh, and a couple things on YouTube, like a Peggy Lee track and a Tornados follow up to “Telstar”.)
You played on The Paranoid Style’s excellent The Interrogator. How did you all first connect? What led to you being in the studio with them?
It absolutely is excellent! Thanks!
A few years ago, out of the blue, I was contacted by Elizabeth Nelson and Tim Bracy, who wanted me to play piano on a track of theirs in a Durham studio. Will Rigby had played with them, and I knew their guitarist Bruce Bennett from the A-Bones in New York. So I jumped in and had a great time and made friends for life.
Last year, they called me to reprise my role at the same studio which is six minutes away from my house. So I said sure, went down to Overdub Lane and sat down at their beautiful grand piano and cut a track. Elizabeth and Tim reported that the band’s lead guitar player had the flu and was not going to be able to make the date, so they asked me if I’d jump in on guitar. It was something of a trek out of my comfort zone of sturdy rhythm guitar, but I tried to think on my feet for each song on The Interrogator that called for filigree guitar, and everyone was very satisfied with what I provided.
Returning to The Face of 68: “Larger than Life” is the first single. What inspired you to choose that one to kick things off?
“Larger Than Life” was the song, when the demo was done and I was listening down to it, that made me think I should have a look at the songs that I had written since Game Day was released in 2017. And when I did, I saw that I had more than a handful of good tunes, and that a great number of them had a harder edge to their sound. “Larger Than Life” I wrote to commemorate the death and transfiguration of my friend and bandmate Carlo Nuccio who died in 2022. When Carlo died, he left a hole in the universe that was incredibly large for everyone who ever knew him or played with him. A groove like his absolutely went into that universe and shattered into dust that gets in everything from here on out. So I had to write a song to process my loss and the world’s dusty gain.
Many people reading this will relate to “That Kind of Guy.” We all know–or have rubbed shoulders with—”that guy” while crate digging. Was it inspired by an actual event (or events), or is it more of a composite?
I worked in record stores for most of my retail double-life. I knew music, what better job? My bosses were always sympathetic to my music career. My customers ran the gamut. Some were royal pains, some became friends that are in my life to this day. Several stores I can think of in New York were more prone to people like TKoG, the ones full of collectors’ items, so I was around them from time to time. I’m not a very particular collector myself, I just don’t want to pay more than $10 for any used record.
Double-clicking on that, you name-check a ton of artists on the track. What might be under your arm if we ran into you at the record store?
Like I say, I love the dollar bins, so I’m happy to find stuff that’s in okay shape there. I don’t usually shop with anything in mind; Record Store Day is an event my family used to participate in when the kids were little, but even then, we wouldn’t be at the doors of the shop at the crack of dawn for anything in particular. We’d all just walk out with bags of cheap CDs and beat up records! (I say that I don’t shop for anything in particular, but there have been times that I’ve tried to will something like an obscure Dennis Linde album to appear, and then it turns up in a bin, and I think that’s notable.)
Best recent $5 find was a pristine copy of Media Blitz by Quacky Duck & his Barnyard Friends on Warner Brothers. Danny and Dae Bennett, Tony’s sons, were in the band, as was David Mansfield, assorted string player to the stars, Rolling Thunder Tour as well–he has been playing with Ringo’s country shows lately! I saw Quacky Duck when I was a freshman in Chapel Hill, and David was brilliant even then.
“One For The Book” is a personal favorite of mine on the record. I’m curious how it came to be. Is there a backstory?
It’s a true story that happened a few years ago. A promoter had worked with a band on a big show that was part benefit, then he basically went haywire and left the show with all the cash receipts and credit card money and disappeared. Hence the great idea that became a disaster. That’s the only song on the record that I play acoustic guitar on, by the way.
What does 2025 look like for you? A solo tour? More dates with the dBs? Working with the Paranoid Style? All of the above?
The dB’s played their final dates of the tour promoting Stands for deciBels and Repercussion last weekend at 30A Songwriters Festival in Florida. It was a very good run for the band; we played some really good shows, and I would say that people who came to see us left absolutely satisfied. Songs they wanted to hear got heard, and we had Wes Lachot along on keyboards who made a point to reproduce the keyboard/horn sounds live. But we’re done for the foreseeable future.
I know there are a couple of dates in Dallas with the Paranoid Style in the spring, but the details are best researched at the band’s website or social media outlets. I wish that band would play more.
Speaking of bands I wish played more, I hope there’s at least one Continental Drifters show this year!
Regarding any grand promotional plan for The Face of 68, my plan is to try to do a few rock guitar shows with rhythm sections and volume when the album comes out, but to mostly head out on the back of a burro with my acoustic guitar slung over my back and play solo stuff, ‘rhythm guitar and vocals’ as it were. For the past week or so, I’ve been trying to play songs from The Face of 68 on acoustic guitar. Most of them seem to work fine in that context, some don’t. It’s okay, I have other songs to play too. I mean, this ismy third solo album. I just have to figure out an effective set that covers the songs people want to hear as well as the songs I want people to hear. Talk about treading a line!And reading a room!
Thank you for your time! I’ll wrap this up with the question I ask everyone: What are your five Desert island Discs?
They differ at any given time (plus I’m taking all my records to that desert island). So today’s are:
▪ The Flame (Blondie Chaplin/Ricky Fataar on Brother Records – 1970)
▪ Maggie Rose – No One Gets Out Alive
▪ Esso Trinidad Steel Band
▪ Hi Rhythm – On the Loose
▪ The Move – Split Ends
The Face of ‘68 will be available everywhere this Friday, April 18th
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“A good roadside attraction would get the car traveler excited miles before they arrived. Back then, billboards were cheap and plentiful, and car travelers would start to see seductive come-ons to SEE LIVING MERMAIDS!, COME FACE TO FACE WITH A REAL SASQUATCH, or BEHOLD JAYNE MANSFIELD’S ACTUAL DEATH CAR miles before the actual site. At odds with the often cinematic, flashy billboards, the attractions themselves were mostly humble hand-built structures located in the middle of nowhere.”
Kevin Sent 
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