New Noise magazine was kind enough to premiere the video for “Snowglobe,” by *Sugar Fight*, calling the track “a wistful meditation on leaving the city, with melancholy that is belied by a joyful pop-punk melody and walls of guitar.”
You can read their comments “here”:https://newnoisemagazine.com/video-premiere-sugar-fight-snowglobe/?fbclid=IwAR0t8eY0ak-avGymBDTHjsRV3CLKEHhRkKQ4i-8tAULoHyRQM8VLq_3LKvw
Watch the video here:
John S. Hall of King Missile fame is back with You, Me and This Fuckin’ Guy (formerly King Missile IV), featuring Azalia Snail and Dan West of LoveyDove.
Adopting the persona of cranky, nature-loving poet This Fuckin’ Guy, Hall expresses wondrous appreciation for the beauty of the world around him, but doesn’t suffer fools.
The music created by Azalia Snail and Dan West is equally singular. Utilizing Snail’s trademark space vocals and vintage omnichords in conjunction with West’s arsenal of virtuous musicality, the duo creates the perfect cushion for Hall’s prickly repartee.
John S. Hall is the lyricist, vocalist and co-founder of legendary Atlantic and indie recording artists King Missile (“Detachable Penis.”) He’s a NYC favorite, performing spoken word and singing as a solo artist in several area musical projects including Unusual Squirrel, The Hat Cousins, The Lincoln Memorial and Sensation Play.
LoveyDove tour Europe regularly and are working on a third album. Azalia’s most recent solo album is Neon Resistance) and Dan’s latest is _d’Animal l’Ogic. West is a composer and arranger, music producer and mastering engineer.
“Garden Variety Fuckers” LP
We’re thrilled to announce our first project with musicians from New York’s Hudson Valley: a brand-new single by *Sugar Fight*.
Initially conceived as a songwriting exercise by bassist Mark Lerner, the pandemic power pop project quickly evolved into something greater, as area musicians climbed on board to make the sugary sweet songs a reality. In addition to Lerner, drummer Lukas Lerner (Brass Orchid), guitarist and studio wizard Chris Maxwell (Skeleton Key, Gunbunnies and his own solo career), and vocalists Frank McGinnis and Peter Naddeo (Archipelago) signed on, and the result is an outstanding three-song single (two originals and a cover) that we’ll be releasing on May 7.
The songs will be available digitally in all formats (including streaming), as well as via limited-edition lathe-cut 7″, the latest in our series of gorgeous handmade plexiglas picture discs.
You can preorder the discs now at our “webstore”:https://dromedaryrecords.bandcamp.com/album/snowglobe
Northeast Jersey quartet The 65’s have always embraced their high stress, high anxiety, chaotic environment, allowing the gridlocked cityscape to inform their aggressive blend of punk influenced rock & powerpop. A lean, authentic sound that exudes integrity, sitting somewhere between the Replacements and New York Dolls.
Formed in 2008 as a side-project by Joseph O. Pugsley of The Dark Brothers, the first lineup of The 65’s consisted of Joe (guitar/vocals), John Steele (drums), Cindi Merklee (bass/vocals) and Daniel Smith (guitar/vocals), each bringing their own influences and musical pedigrees, releasing their acclaimed debut Strike Hard! on Dromedary Records in 2009. A video for the first single “Walk On Selfishly” came soon after, premiering on Magnet Magazine.
Their live performances made them a standout in the popular melting pot scene bubbling out of Maxwell’s in Hoboken, and they formed alliances with other local upstarts Miss Ohio and Galanos and began releasing under their own Pyrrhic Victory Recordings label. The band has gone through several lineup changes, most recently featuring Pugsley and Steele, along with guitarist Ed Roessler and bassist/vocalist Ryan Struck.
Drawing on years of experience and wide array of influences, it’s no wonder why their debut album, Strike Hard! was been described as “an amalgam of college-rock’s brightest moments”‚Äù” by Jim Testa in The Jersey Journal, a ‚”delightful mix of styles” by Magnet magazine and “affecting and impressive in equal measure” by Joe Wawrzyniak of Jersey Beat.
The latest cover we’re releasing in Smallpox’ _Covers Album_ project is “Steppin’ Out,” originally recorded by Joe Jackson and released on his _Night and Day_ album in 1982. Listen to it “here”:https://dromedaryrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-covers-album.
For me (this is Al from Dromedary writing), Joe Jackson circa-1979 was an introduction to a whole world of new sounds. Thing is, they were _punk_ sounds in 1979 – snotty, aggressive, and yes, mainstream – but they opened doors to a whole new place for me. _I’m the Man_ was an absolutely critical record in my own development. The music was aggressive, the subject matter literate and interesting, and man, the _hooks_. And next came a record that turned me on to reggae, and a Jimmy Cliff cover. Amazing. These were life-changing albums for me.
Next, though? Next was a big band record, _Jumpin’ Jive_. Young me just figured it was a novelty thing, like a Joe Jackson’s covers record, or Bing Crosby doing a duet with David Bowie, or like the Kiss solo albums – not something to be taken seriously.
When “Steppin’ Out” came out, though, that was it for me. My own tastes had gotten angrier and louder; at that point I was listening mostly to metal. My intro to angry rock had sold out. Joe Jackson was playing elevator jazz, and I most certainly was not buying in.
It was only years later, when discovering the unbelievable musicianship of Joe Jackson’s band (particularly Graham Maby’s amazing bass work) that I took time to revisit those later Joe Jackson records, with fresh, more mature ears. Unfortunately, I still hate them.
Still, Dan Smith is one of my favorite bass players, and so is Graham Maby, so when I saw “Steppin’ Out” listed among the covers that Smallpox would be releasing with this project, I gave it _another_ set of fresh ears, and found Dan tearing the song apart, layering it with heavy guitar and a driving beat, only a tiny hint of Maby’s signature bass line remaining from the original. Not a bad song for rolling down the windows and barreling down some highway somewhere, if I may suggest a weekend activity.
Every once in a while we enjoy springing an unannounced release on you, so here’s a cool piece of psych from some of New Jersey and NYC’s indie rock royalty – *Psych-O-Positive*, whose new psychedelic single “Gummy Bear” is available today on limited-edition lathe-cut 7″ and all digital formats via our webstore.
An iconoclastic attack on prohibition, “Gummy Bear” is a celebration of the mind unleashed. Hooked into the zeitgeist and freed from the shackles of criminality, screaming guitars, sotto voce harmonies layered with sick licks dominate this highly-infused track. There is no better way to kick off the new roaring twenties than with the complexity and color of a tune so intense that it’s practically edible!
