MANDY ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM "LAWN GIRL" + SHARE "HIGH SCHOOL BOYFRIEND" VIDEO

Posted on March 11th, 2024

Miranda Winters announced the debut album from her solo project as Mandy, Lawn Girl, will be released on April 26, 2024, via Exploding In Sound Records. She has also shared the infectious lead single, “High School Boyfriend,” alongside a video directed by Liam Winters with cinematography Marty Schousboe (Joe Pera Talks With You). From its squalling start to the rapidfire finish of its 2:08 runtime, the song is an instant anthem. “‘High School Boyfriend’ is a revenge fantasy song about the embarrassment of sincerity and waiting so long to say something that by the time it comes out you're yelling,” explains Winters. “It's a ballad for teenage girls everywhere.” Lawn Girl is now available for pre-order.

Winters, as the voice of Chicago’s much-loved noisemakers Melkbelly, has spent the past few years happily in her own shadow. While she has quietly written and occasionally released her own music for 15 years, she finally steps out into the bright light with the release of Lawn Girl. The album, a combination of older songs and newer creations, feels positively and endearingly alive–like a freeing of pent-up energy, an intimate rebuilding of the self. While Winters recorded and produced a number of the songs herself, she worked with Taylor Hales at Electrical Audio to feed those songs back into the studio, where they were re-recorded with room mics and worked back into the original versions. “I see it like photocopying,” she says of the process. “I’ve always loved working with photocopying and related printing techniques in my visual art because of the way everything decays and falls apart. It was nice to honor that on the record.”

Performed by an all-women band–Linda Sherman (guitar), Lizz Smith (bass) and Wendy Zeldin (drums)–the songs on Lawn Girl suitably find Winters ruminating on the idea of femininity; about her mom (who graces the album cover) and being a mother herself; her female friends; and what it means and what is required to make art and music in a female space intentionally.

She self-defines the breathlessly unraveling album as “dirty-bubblegum pop rock,” and while Mandy’s sound is packed full with such exhilaration, there are moments where the relentlessness relinquishes, instead offering up tender, yet equally weighty moments. Lawn Girl’s swirling amalgamation of noise and rock influences leans into its love of Veruca Salt, Sonic Youth, and Liz Phair, but never takes its eye off what’s buried just under the surface: the distinctive singer-songwriter style of Connie Converse, the hushed, scrappy bruising of Elliott Smith.

Equally adept when recalling teen love as it is about reflecting on the relentless complexities of adulthood, Lawn Girl feels like both a beginning and an end: a line in the sand moment for a songwriter who has never stopped questioning where they are and how they got here. “When I think of these songs all together, I see the color green,” Winters says. “I’m seeing green for the very clichéd reason that the record feels like a rebirth, or a turning point, or a transition into a new phase of life. Some of this material has been floating around with me for a while, and I feel that by packaging it all up, I can say goodbye and move forward.”


WASHER SHARE NEW SINGLE "YOU'RE ALSO A JERK"

Posted on March 6th, 2024

Washer are sharing a brand new single, "You're Also A Jerk," their first new music since the release of last year's Improved Means To Deteriorated Ends LP. The duo of Mike Quigley and Kieran McShane are heading out on the road together with New Hampshire's Rick Rude for a run of dates later this week!

Set to release Come Back As A Bug, a new two-song single via Exploding In Sound Records on April 2nd, "You're Also A Jerk" is the first of the pair, a song that captures signature Washer, taking a minimalist framework and converting it into an introspective anthem.

Speaking about the song, Mike Quigley (vocals/guitar) shared, "'You're Also A Jerk' is about the sort of caustic pull of self-hate and how it distorts attempts at analysis into a naval-gazing feedback loop."

The band head out this week for a run of dates together with the amazing Rick Rude.

UPCOMING SHOWS:
03/09 - Brooklyn, NY @ Alphaville
03/10 - Washington, DC @ Pie Shop
03/11 - Durham, NC @ Pinhook
03/12 - Asheville, NC @ Different Wrld
03/13 - Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr
03/14 - Louisville, KY @ Mag Bar
03/15 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Roboto
03/16 - Philadelphia, PA @ Foto Club


PILE SHARE "ONLY FOR A REMINDER" SINGLE + ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES

Posted on November 16th, 2023

Pile recently announced their new EP, Hot Air Balloon, due out January 5th from Exploding In Sound Records, and today they're back with one more early single from the release--the captivating "Only For A Reminder."

The five song Hot Air Balloon was recorded during the sessions of Pile's acclaimed 2023 full-length, All Fiction, and functions as a companion to that album. But these aren't simply extra songs from the All Fiction sessions, these are essential Pile tracks that pack a serious punch, as indicated by previous singles "Scaling Walls" and "The Birds Attacked My Hot Air Balloon" (which drew attention from the likes of NPR, Stereogum, Paste Magazine, BrooklynVegan, and more).

"Only A Reminder" leans into the adventurous streak that's always powered Pile's music, unfolding around a haunting synth line and vocalist/guitarist agile melodies. The track crests with a squall of cutting guitars and bass then settles on a beautifully sparse outro that highlights Pile's unending drive to push their sound into new territory.

Maguire discussed the new song, saying:

"'Only For A Reminder' is a song about punishment, judgment, and betrayal from a force once thought of as benevolent or at worst, benign."

The release of All Fiction felt like the start of a new chapter for Pile, leaning into the band's keen sense of atmosphere and experimentation to create some of their most ambitious work to date. The album's sessions were especially productive and luckily for the listener, these other recordings are set to see the light of day via the Hot Air Balloon EP. After sixteen years as a band, Pile are still making visceral and essential music, and if Hot Air Balloon is any indication, the band are doing more than keeping up the pace--they're just getting started with some of the boldest and most compelling songs of their career.

Pile have also announced an upcoming full band performance in Somerville, MA, as well as a run of Rick Maguire solo shows. See full itinerary below.

Upcoming Shows:

11/28/23 Somerville MA - Crystal Ballroom w/ Ovlov, Disco Doom, & Rong
12/05/23 Kittery ME - Buoy Gallery w/ Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band *
12/19/23 Troy NY - No Fun *
12/20/23 Ithaca NY - Angry Mom Records *
12/21/23 Pittsburgh PA - Bottle Rocket *
12/22/23 Louisville KY - Camp Social Club *
12/23/23 Nashville TN - DRKMTTR *
12/27/23 Memphis TN - HI Tone cafe *
12/28/23 Oklahoma City OK - Resonant Head *
12/29/23 Dallas TX - Club Dada *
12/30/23 Austin TX - Mohawk (Indoors) *
01/02/24 Houston TX - Bohemeo's *
01/03/24 New Orleans LA - Gasa Gasa *
01/05/24 Chattanooga TN - Woodshop *
01/06/24 Asheville NC - Different Wrld *
01/07/24 Raleigh NC - Kings *
01/08/24 Washington DC - Pie Shop *
01/09/24 Philadelphia PA - Johnny Brendas *
01/10/24 New York NY - The Broadway *
01/11/24 Boston MA - Rockwell *

* Rick Maguire solo shows


DISCO DOOM RELEASE "TUESDAY COMET" SINGLE

Posted on November 2nd, 2023

Last year, the esoteric Swiss band Disco Doom released their first new album in eight years, Mt. Surreal. Today, they’re back with a two-song single, “Tuesday” and “Comet,” ahead of some North American tour dates that will see them playing with fellow Exploding In Sound brethren like Pile, Ovlov, Editrix, and more. The new songs are characteristically great, the former more wiry and sparse and the latter an expansive fuzzing chug. Check out both below.


MISTER GOBLIN SHARES NEW SINGLE "KENTUCKY KINGDOM"

Posted on October 3rd, 2023

[as seen on Stereogum]

Last year, Mister Goblin — the long-running project of Two Inch Astronaut frontman Sam — released a new album, Bunny. Today, he’s back with a new single, “Kentucky Kingdom,” a downtrodden one about feeling underprepared: “Haven’t really worked for shit in my whole life/ Hoping that it’s not too late to learn to/ Because I haven’t done much of anything.”

“I’ve had some version of ‘Kentucky Kingdom’ written for a while but it’s enough of an outlier that it didn’t really seem to fit on Bunny or my upcoming record,” he shared in a statement, continuing:

I’ve written some schmaltzy stuff before, but this one is pretty deep in the teen soap opera soundtrack zone. The song is essentially about the experience of having a really nice time while wondering whether you’ve earned it. Kentucky Kingdom is a theme park in Louisville and there are a few references to specific rides in the song, but I’ve never actually been there. I did go to Kings Island over the summer in Ohio, but Kentucky Kingdom just has more of a ring to it.

This is not the first or even the second Mister Goblin song named after a theme park. See also “Six Flags America” and “Holiday World.” Listen to “Kentucky Kingdom” below.