Guy Capecelatro III is a prolific singer-songwriter who has played in a slew of bands (Unbunny, South China, Toast, Northern, The Buckets, Laurel Brauns, Foxlove, Size of Guam, Ghostly Neighbor, Pale Wallace, The Landladys, Mara Flynn, The Estate Collective) and is a frequent collaborator (Brown Bird, Tan Vampires, Craig Werth, Pearl and the Beard, Anna Vogelzang, Dan Blakeslee). Drawing more inspiration from the literary world than musical, his songs give an intricate glimpse into many worlds.
Sometimes, you don’t want fancy. A black coffee, a domestic beer, a slice of pepperoni pizza—sometimes, these basic staples are all you want and need to be happy. Same goes for rock and roll music; sometimes you just want the basic guitar/bass/drums to make you happy. New Jersey power trio Cathedral Ceilings understands that need, for they specialize in your standard, no-frills rock music. It’s clear that they’ve had Pleased To Meet Me and Grave Dancers Union and On The Mouth in their cassette decks for ages.
Dromedary Records is proud to present you with La La La…Whatever!, the band’s second album, due September 6th, courtesy of Ralphie, Nicky, and Tommy. It’s an album that presents a dozen hot, guitar driven rock numbers in quick succession, with the same intensity as their growing word-of-mouth live shows will attest.
But don’t mistake the band’s simplicity of style for lack of depth. Consider their first single, ‘My CEO,” which is a love song. “But not in the typical romantic partner sense,” says Ralphie. “This is a love song about money, and how it can cloud a person’s identity, trajectory, and moral standing. It’s about how people turn a blind eye to the evil wrongdoings of their bosses or the companies they work for, in order to pay rent, or pay back their student loans. I almost feel bad for these people who tackle the moral dilemma of working for Raytheon, Halliburton, or the Trump org. Almost. The three of us play on this song with a kill or be killed mindset. Rip them off, before they rip us off. The main riff was ripped off from Cheap Trick. Which they ripped off from The Move. Lie. Cheat. Steal. Smile. Repeat.”
Then there’s “Bill Berry,” a name that pays homage to the R.E.M. drummer, but more accurately serves as a tribute to that once-ubiquitous musical distribution system, the mixtape. “This song is kinda a period piece as people don’t make mixtapes anymore. But when I was younger, mixtapes were a massive part of the culture. It was a way to connect with people, and get turned on by a song you may have never heard before. (no internet, yo) This song is kinda a microcosm of a typical mixtape I would make. It’s upbeat with a great walking bass from Tommy. It’s got a couple of nice melodies with a soaring chorus. Bill Berry, being the drummer for REM, were a fixture on a lot of my mixtapes. I still have a milk crate in my basement full of tapes I made or traded in high school.”
And if you love those songs—and we’re sure you will—there are ten more equally fine, fiery rockers to be had. We’ll leave it up to you to choose which one will go on your mixtapes.
Like any good working band, Cathedral Ceilings plans to hit the road after the release of La La La…Whatever! You can also catch them as part of the upcoming DromFest ’24 taking place August 31st-September 2nd in Catskill, New York. See you there!
-Joseph Haynes Kyle
Cathedral Ceilings were formed in the late 2010s by singer/guitarist Ralph Malanga (Stuyvesant), drummer Nick D’Amore (Overlake, Worldsucks), and bassist Tom Diello (Bad Karma). After countless jams and beers, they entered the studio with NJ punk legend Chris Pierce to record their first single, Thanks for the Guitar, Mommy (2020), quickly followed up by another single, I’m A Band! (2021)
The band soon entered the studio with producer/engineer Tom Beaujour (Nada Surf, Aeon Station) to record their debut LP, Summer of Misguided Dynamite (2022). Met with critical praise and strong noncommercial radio support, the band embarked on two tours, building a reputation for energetic, powerful live shows and opening for such artists as Aeon Station, Tsunami, Screaming Females and Das Damen.
Their second LP, La La La…Whatever is set for fall, 2024 release, and will be accompanied by a host of live dates throughout the Midwest and Northeast.
Not to be confused with the Oklahoma black metal band that apparently doesn’t have Google, Cell were a New York-based rock band that formed in 1990 and released two full-length LPs and several singles and EPs on the DGC subsidiary of Geffen Records, along with a single on the Ecstatic Peace label. Cell was both a beneficiary and a victim of the major label feeding frenzy of the late 1980s and early 1990s, touring with the likes of Pavement and Sonic Youth before coming to an abrupt end in 1995. Though their debut LP sold more than 70,000 copies, in 1990s music industry logic, that was not sufficient to justify the support of their label, and their excellent music has not received the post-90s support that many of their far inferior labelmates have. Though we do not pretend that Cell will ever release any more new music, we are over the moon to have gotten to be the label to release “Free People,” a new recording of a song written in the early 1990s and only performed a few times live. The band members recorded the single in 2024 to promote two summer reunion shows – the only shows the band intends to play.
Revolutionary NYC rock quartet Das Damen have returned with a deluxe reissue of their landmark 1986 debut EP, 1986: It Keeps Me Wild. Newly remastered and augmented with an array of previously unreleased demos, reimagined tracks, and a brand-new issue of Das Damen drummer Lyle Hysen’s legendary fanzine, Damaged Goods (featuring a comprehensive timeline, show flyers, oral history, testimonials from Thurston Moore, Tom Scharpling, and more), DAS DAMEN will be released digitally on Friday, September 8. It will be released on vinyl in October. Pre-saves and pre-orders are available now.
In addition to two never-before-heard demos, DAS DAMEN is highlighted by reworked versions of cuts culled from the EP’s original 1986 recording sessions featuring new contributions from such friends and fans as Dez Cadena (Black Flag), Thalia Zedek (Come), Gary Lee Connor (Screaming Trees), John Robinson (The Fluid), and A Girl Called Eddy. A video for the song, “Trick Question,” directed by Dave Rygalski is streaming now on YouTube.
(Photo: Naomi Petersen, courtesy of Chis Petersen Images/Punk Life Naomi)
Dauber is a rock and roll band. Like any good rock and roll band, Dauber is rough around the edges, but bursting with vibrant, uninhibited energy. Formed in Hudson, NY by former Screaming Females bassist Mike Abbate alongside Quinn Murphy and Jenna Fairey, this poppy trio combines loud distortion, raw spirit, and infectious melodies in a way that feels primal yet carefully constructed. Dauber is like a crude painter, daubing blobs of paint on canvas in a messy yet deliberate burst of creation. Their debut album, Falling Down, doesn’t shy away from its rawness. It’s a celebration of imperfection. Recorded in collaboration with the ever-adventurous John Hoffman (Vacation, BEEF, The Mimes), the album’s production captures the grit and energy of a new band finding their sound. From the ear-splitting opening chords of the title track “Falling Down” to the lamenting last chorus of the final track “Memory Lane,” Dauber delivers a strong debut album full of exuberant hooks, crunchy guitars, pounding drums, and a healthy dose of chaos for all the rock and roll freaks of the world. Rock and roll, Dauber-style.
Since 2004, Dew Claw has been the music project for which Stephen Hunking has released his meditations on life, love, parenting, personal themes, and other abstract musings. Stephen has created 4 full-length releases plus various singles and EPs under the Dew Claw umbrella over the last 20 years, while also being a member of the NY combo, XL Kings during the ‘10s and their 2 full-length and 1 single releases. Also, during that time, Stephen was a creative force behind the intercontinental band Grand Union, a collaborative venture with Frode Strømstad (I Was A King), which vetted 3 single releases. Stephen initially honed his musical skills and songwriting chops as a member of the group Hypnolovewheel (1987-1994), with 2 albums independently released and another 3 albums on Alias Records, along with assorted singles and compilation appearances.
Chris Xefos is best known as a member of King Missile during their 1989-1994 era. This indie-to-major label period for KM brought about the college-rock smash “Jesus Was Way Cool” and alt-rock hit “Detachable Penis”. Post-KM, Chris settled into San Francisco as a producer, engineer, and musician, working on solo albums for former Camper Van Beethoven members: Victor Krummenacher, Jonathan Segel and Greg Lisher amongst other projects. Chris was also a performing member of guitar instrumental groups Flotation Device and Rattletrap, the latter featuring Bruce Anderson of art-punk legends MX-80 Sound. In 2019, Bruce drafted Chris into MX-80 Sound and Chris played an expanded role as both band and recording engineering team member for their 2024 (and swan song) release, Better Than Life on Byron Coley’s Feeding Tube Records.
Stephen and Chris have been good friends since high school, discovering and playing music together over this entire time. During their NY/NJ fertile alt-rock period, the King Missile-Hypnolovewheel mafia was STRONG. The 2 bands shared a member for a time and Chris lent a hand with production duties on the first Hypno/Alias release.
Cut to 2021: Stephen and his wife escape from NY/NJ to re-start their lives as newly minted flower farmers in Camas, WA, just outside Portland, OR. With Chris and Stephen now in the same time zone, their collaborations were also reborn. Chris assisted with mixing and mastering for the 2022 Dew Claw release, Horripilation. Their combined effort on that project cemented their full-throttled musical partnership. The pair decided to join forces as Dew Claw 2.0, and commence work on new, fully collaborative material.
For their 2024 release, Dew Claw culled two simple, but still raucous, pieces into a 7” single, “Mouse Trap” b/w “Fantastic Voyage”. The 7” is a limited edition, HQ lathe-cut vinyl single. The digital release of the single includes 5(!) remixes of “Fantastic Voyage”, several of which conjured up by High Tunnels (aka Dave Ramirez, Hypno/KM inter-member). 3 videos, directed by Stephen, were also created to accompany this release.
In 2025, Dew Claw is set to release their latest full length, titled E.L.F. The album contains 10 songs, ranging from Stephen’s personal recordings to full-band arrangements, realized by enlisting generous contributions from: Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen (Rural Tapes/I Was A King), Frode Strømstad, Dave Rick (King Missile), Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks), Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor), Alison Faith Levy (Loud Family) bolstering DCs own instrumental talents in bringing these songs to life. For this record, Dew Claw formulated their initial musical inspiration from the transition period of classic English rockers The Move into Electric Light Orchestra. The Dew Claw team dabbles in traditional orchestral instrumentation in a very studio-built affair. However, when called upon by the song, they still can’t help but getting back to their roots and (alt) rocking out. Like traditional Dew Claw material, these songs come from a very personal place for Stephen. However, on E.L.F., Stephen has allowed himself to be more open to collaboration, to open up his perspective and allow these songs to breathe freer and grow in a new light. Farmer power!
