Bisogna ammetterlo. Non avevamo saputo tenere molto a freno il nostro entusiasmo al primo apparire sulla scena degli americani Brigitte Calls Me Baby, accolti su queste pagine con mano generosa, prodiga di carezze. Del resto è sempre bello, soprattutto di questi tempi uggiosi e imperdonabilmente allentati, reimparare a perdere la testa per una giovane band senza passato, libera dalle catene di anniversari o ricorrenze da celebrare, annunciata da nient’altro che il rimbombo sublime del suo improvviso esplodere e venire al mondo.
Brigitte Calls Me Baby is a Chicago-based five-piece emerged in early 2023. They soon scored a breakout hit with Impressively Average that shot to the Top 10 at Triple A radio. On their debut LP The Future Is Our Way Out, which will be out tomorrow on ATO- Records, Brigitte Calls Me Baby share a body of work that spans genres and eras, merging the lavish romanticism of mid-century pop with the frenetic energy and spiky intensity of early-millennium indie-rock. Upon moving to Chicago in 2016, Leavins immersed himself in the local scene and soon linked up with the musicians who would join him in co-founding Brigitte Calls Me Baby. As the band built up their catalog, Leavins was tapped to take part in recreating a series of Elvis Presley songs for Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic Elvis, a turn of events that found him crossing paths with nine-time Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton). Partly recorded live at the legendary RCA Studio A in Nashville with Cobb, the debut album also features a selection of songs self-produced by Wes Leavins and his bandmates: guitarists Jack Fluegel and Trevor Lynch, bassist Devin Wessels, and drummer Jeremy Benshish. The album arrives as a potent evolution of Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s debut EP This House Is Made Of Corners—a fall 2023 release that earned acclaim from the likes of NPR and NME.
Tears Run Rings is comprised of Matthew Bice (vocals, guitar), Laura Watling (vocals, bass), Ed Mazzucco (guitar), and Dwayne Palasek (drums). Over the past 15 years, the band has released three albums: Always, Sometimes, Seldom, Never (Clairecords, 2008), Distance (Clairecords, 2010) and In Surges (Deep Space Recordings, 2016) and four EPs. Now they are back with album four, Everything In The End,which will be out September 6th, 2024 on Shelflife Records. In 2018, after their first live show in 10 years, the band was renewed with musical inspiration and ready for a new chapter. Everything in the End was written over the course of the next several years. While TRR did get together on several occasions for in-person songwriting sessions, the album was largely a long-distance effort, recorded in both Portland and San Francisco home studios. The idea of having a double LP drove the concept of four sides to the album, each with a distinct tone and feel. After Lost Touch, the first single from the new albu, today we have the opportunity and the honour to share with you the exclusive premiere of Helios Helada, which will be out next Friday August 2nd.
What he says: “Hello, my name is Kevin and I record as Sad Eyed Beatniks, Present Electric, and Tam Lin. I also run the label Paisley Shirt Records that has put out releases from artists like Flowertown, Hits, Tony Jay, Cindy, April Magazine, Galore, Whitney’s Playland, Mister Baby, Nights Templar, Plastic Candles, R.E. Seraphin, Portabella and more. I’ve been making music under the name Sad Eyed Beatniks since 2014; when the original intent was to make simple 4-track cassette recordings with vocals, guitars, bass, and drum machine and post to Soundcloud with screenshots of various musicians. In late 2019, I stopped recording line-in and learned to play the drums; the releases after tend to have a bigger sound. Sad Eyed Beatniks performed as a live band for the first time in 2021, with Karina Gill (Cindy, Flowertown) on guitar, Mike Ramos (Tony Jay, Flowertown) on drums, and Kati Mashikian (April Magazine, Mister Baby) on bass. While the last Sad Eyed Beatniks album, Claudia’s Ethereal Weaver focused on the themes of change and rebirth, the new album, Ten Brocades, looks at a series of vignettes from the eyes of different characters. Mike Ramos plays drums/keys and Karina Gill plays guitar/keys on a number of tracks, while Karina painted the wonderful cover of a Peking Opera singer”.
Indie Sunset in Rome 