San Francisco’s Tony Jay, the solo  project of lo-fi and Fog Pop legend Michael Ramos, former drummer of April Magazine and current member of Flowertown and Sad Eyed Beatniks, a year on from Perfect Worlds, his first record fro Slumberland, gives us two new songs, ahead of the release of Knife Is But A Dream, his new album, which will be out August 16th, 2024 on Paisley Shirt Records, Slumberland Records, and Galaxy Train. Composed and recorded entirely within the confines of his home, the album whispers of quiet companionship as he shepherds a beloved feline through a time of delicate health. This collection delves deeper into the realms of ambient noise and collage, territories previously hinted at in his earlier works. The songs, themselves, retain a skeletal elegance, a stark contrast to the swirling chaos that surrounds them. The final product evokes the image of a charcoal sketch, rendered with swift strokes and unwavering confidence, a fleeting moment of beauty captured for all time.

Phantom Handshakes is a lo-fi, dream pop collaboration between Federica Tassano and Matt Sklar, based in Brooklyn, NY. Their firs output was a mini album in 2020, Be Estranged, recorded at home during April and May of 2020 (mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering in Chicago). The debut full-length, No More Summer Songs, was out in 2021on Z Tapes and the sophomore A Passport to Remain, was out in 2022. Good Intentions, their most recent song, represents the first single from their upcoming LP, Sirens At Golden Hour, which will be out on August 21st. Today we have the opportunity and honour to share with you an exclusive premiere of the second single, Dusk Enchanted, which will be out everywhere on July 16th.

With his 2021 self-titled debut, Andy Pastalaniec’s Chime School became one of the defining acts of the seemingly never-ending, prolific and multifaceted Bay Area pop scene. His sophomore LP, The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel, is set for release on August 23 on Slumberland Records. Recorded by Pastalaniec himself, in his home studio on the foggy southern edge of San Francisco, Paisley Hotel sets a moodier tone; slowed and patiently unfolding in moments that highlight an evolution in songcraft, production and arrangement–while still bouncing along with the jangling drive Chime School fans have come to adore.
As its title implies, 30-plus years of UK indie pop’s deeper cuts are voraciously mined and refined on the 11-song release that fans of East Village, later Teenage Fanclub, and maybe even Northern Picture Library’s Alaska will devour. “The Girl Who Runs The Beat Hotel was certainly a main influence for the album title, along with The Boy With the Paisley Shirt (TVPs), The Boy With the Arab Strap (B&S), the Boy With Perpetual Nervousness (Feelies), Paisley Underground generally, and my friends in Bay Area DIY, Paisley Shirt records. So many things; a real mish-mash. Kind of like Chime School in general, it seemed fitting“.