Today, Star Matriarch has unveiled the video for “You’re Free,” which can be found on Red Ship. Having Crypt Bar in Olympia, Washington as the backdrop, the video highlights Bui performing the single. The song swings with post-punk sound and powerful vocals.

Bui said of the single, “I wrote ‘You’re Free’ when I was a sex worker. It’s about being empowered by work that others expect me to feel shame for. I was paid well for the emotional and physical labor, in a world where patriarchy constantly demands it for free. There was power in my clients’ vulnerability. Their trust made me feel a little dangerous.”

The original version of the record was released in 2011 but was rife with Orientalist embellishments. “I was trying to capitalize on my own marginalization as an Asian American sex worker, but also with Red Ship. The white Eurocentric gaze got me initially, and it was all over the original release.”  Additionally, the social climate was, and still isn’t, kind to sex workers and thus, Bui didn’t feel safe in presenting the record as truly autobiographical. “So, I retracked all vocals, added some new guitars, had it remixed, augmented it with new material, and it’s being reissued with the help of one of my favorite feminist rabblerousers”, referring to Katy Otto, who runs Exotic Fever Records. This new iteration of Red Ship is raw, less Orientalist in instrumentation and theme, while Bui’s own personal stories are centered. The influence of Arabic dance shines still, expressed with a personal authenticity that wasn’t there before.

Weaving her punk roots with the immediate experiences of colonized femme-hood, expertly executed with a delicate balance of raw power and vulnerability, Red Ship is an empowering rock catharsis that rejects the shame prescribed for those asserting their agency. “The one thing that has always been missing for me personally from a lot of punk is feeling a personal connection to the stories” Bui explains. “I’m going to tell my truth. This was my truth. There’s this relentless message I hear that being Asian American, being a woman, that I’m supposed to be stoic and hard working. Not allowed to show big expressions of joy or of despair. This record is my answer to that, born of painful lived experience and the complexity of modern reality.”

The guitars are abrasive and pithy, the melodies are as ferocious as they are sweet, the rhythms viscerally primordial, and the words tell uncomfortable stories you probably haven’t heard. Reclaiming sexuality and radicalizing femininity, a huge part of Star Matriarch’s redefinition of strength is boldly declaring the right to feel her emotions fully and loudly – no matter how inconvenient they may be to the white, cishetero patriarchy.

From her boisterous drums that somehow suggest both post-hardcore and Levantine folk, her lyrical yet abrasive guitars, to her emotively robust voice, Star Matriarch displays the full spectrum of emotions born from her lived truth; sacred rage, disarming joy, deep grief, and spiteful celebration. A stunningly embodied record, Red Ship commands a fully somatic listening experience, challenging the limits of a supposedly dying genre.

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The song was inspired by a recent instance of zzzahara running into someone they’d been seeing at the bar. “She pretended like she didn’t know me, and it tripped up these feelings of abandonment that I felt before,” they say. “It wasn’t so much her, maybe she was having an off day, but it triggered this inner shit that I need to work on. My mom left when I was 14, so [the song] is more about feeling rejected in life.”

“It’s pretty common for fathers to walk out of a child’s life. A mother? That feels less likely, but for some reason that wound hurts a whole lot differently,” continues zzzahara. “It’s hard to replace the warmth and effeminacy…when there is no parental figure to model that for you. This song is dedicated to anyone who grew up without softness.” The ending of “She Doesn’t Want Me To Exist” is an emotional display of teenage angst. The music video depicts a child who spends some time with his mom before she takes off. That abandonment wound manifests into his adult years and is a core memory that haunts him via relationship insecurity.

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So….the Dwarves return with a new album but if you had to guess, the band never left. Sure there have been pauses or breaks within the band’s career but again, the band never left.  Still consisting of members Blag Dahlia and HeWhoCannotBeNamed, the band, with an ever changing lineup is rounded out by Rex Everything, The Fresh Prince of Darkness, and Snupac.  The punk purveyors of filthy punk just released its new Jenkem (MVD Visual) and it’s what you might come to expect here: loud, fun, angry, dirty, energetic. It might be difficult to believe with a career spanning over 40 years, there still remains the intensity fueled by its fiery hunger to create sonic assaults that would make the band’s contemporaries blush. As punk goes, yeah, this gets added to the playlist. The Dwarves are here and they don’t give a fuck if you like it or not.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE – I BUILT YOU A TOWER

While moving from one direction to another doesn’t normally mean you’re leveling down, it does mean you’re trimming the fat that’s probably been surrounding you for some time. Is it complacency? Maybe, but it’s just business. There are certain things that come to mind, a mindset of sorts: back to my roots, a phrase penned to a song by dälek in his alter ego IconAclass. It’s more common than we might think, with artists eschewing major label life for one that allows for much more self-control independently. Artists like Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, and Pixies all began musical careers as independent artists and found success maneuvering through major labels. But they all did make their return through independent channels and were able to move outside of the corporate machine. Continued success doesn’t always follow an artist once they’re dropped from a label or even leave voluntarily, although it can happen.

After years of releasing albums on Atlantic, Death Cab For Cutie makes its return to the independent world with I Built You A Tower (ANTI-), releasing its first album for Epitaph’s sister label. So what does this mean now? Absolutely nothing, DCFC has the support from its fanbase, and with the new album, there’s no regression in sound quality. While the band has had substantial growth since releasing its 1998 debut Something About Airplanes, there’s no going back. There’s never been a moment when anyone has slept on the group’s penchant for piecing together clever melodies and chord progressions, and here it doesn’t seem as if anything is much different.

Still ever present is the flurry of lush soundscapes, which doesn’t always rely on guitars, much like “Trap Door,” filled with keyboard and piano interplay, with backdrops awash with musical notes that are more akin to the changing seasons of the year. Ben Gibbard’s voice always remains soothing, inviting – never over-the-top – with thoughtful lyricism, “There’s a trap door in your heart / where everyone disappears / when they reached to pull you near / there’s a trap door in your heart / I wish I knew / and now I’m falling through.” What’s interesting is Gibbard isn’t moved, and there’s no sense of regret. Some songs aren’t without their, um, issues. It’s not so much an issue as it is a similarity. Through “Riptides,” you might linger within the throws of familiarity, and no one would hold or blame you for it. For the record, this is a song you may just fall in love with, but it may be on a nostalgia factor. For me, it might be a little bit of that, adding in how my feet are firmly planted in the present. While they’re two different artists in so many aspects, there is a progression that shares a similarity to Eddie Money’s “Baby Hold On.” For the record, Gibbard and Money share absolutely no other similarity, and this is, in fact, a DCFC song through and through.

Yes, the band has its own unique mastery over its instruments and song development, and we can all hear that on “Punching The Flowers,” where Death Cab’s aggression is offset by the beauty of melody. Although the band creates a thoroughly vibrant track that’s sonically enticing, Jason McGerr’s throttle is the star of the show here. His consistent drumming is what drives the band, and everything else atop it all is just gravy. Well, not really, but you get the drift, as guitars occasionally rage with a bassline that’s quickly covered in distortion. Again, it’s the silkiness of Gibbard’s voice that brings it all together. There’s also a gooey sweetness to many of these songs, not unlike “The Flavor Of Metal,” a jangly pop without the jangle as Gibbard throws us all back with lyrics about the fear of razorblades in candy, probably something every parent fears on Halloween, and now gives me pause hearing this. There’s even a clever little portion that just might be an ode to Peter Hook, but either way, the song gets stuck in your head with no relief in sight. That’s not a bad thing though. 

Where does this leave Death Cab For Cutie? I Built You A Tower contains 11 songs on the band’s 11^th album, which is rich with fine melodies and generous textures you don’t often find within music. Music is sometimes about extremes, and with this new album, songs are extremely contextualized in a manner that appeals to the casual listener, the rabid fan, as well as the music nerds who occasionally need to dissect things at random. This is, in fact, one of the best albums released this year.

FUCKED UP – YEAR OF THE MONKEY

How difficult would it be to shift your persona into another and believe others will continue to look at you the same way? For some, the answer is simple: Step out of your comfort zone, change your name, and move forward with however you’d like to proceed. All that, while others just think, “Eh, let me try something different here and maybe people will dig it, maybe not. In the end, at least we tried.”

While Canada’s own Fucked Up has spent its formative years in Hardcore punk circles, as of late, it’s been working again on its Zodiac series. Considering the series began back in 2006 with Year Of The Dog (Tankcrimes) the band is doing something right.  The release of 2025’s Year Of The Goat was just the first in its 3 part series, subcategorized as Grass Can Move Stones. The latter seems to be the mind state Fucked Up finds itself in. Part 2, Year Of The Monkey was just released, and it’s a collection of 4 songs, each over 24 minutes long. For this segment, the band has tapped a number of artists who make guest appearances like John Brannon (Laughing Hyenas), Carson McHone (The Outfit), Walter Schreifels (Quicksand), Dan Bejar (Destroyer), Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, Off!), Jake Bannon (Converge), Brandon Welchez (Crocodiles), Chris Colohon (Left For Dead, Cursed), Leigh Arthur (Extravision, Sissy), and Annie-Claude Deschênes (Duchess Says).

While the songs are listed in 4 parts, it’s much more than that. Each track is built around multiple songs and the energy shifts anywhere from hardcore to powerfully symphonic, straying into pop, and then sometimes heading into spacey uncharted territory. 7 minutes into “Monkey Meets The Dragon,” there’s a quick squeal, the sound a mouse or rat might make as the group’s ethereal transition lasts for about 2 minutes. But it’s the Peter Gabriel-like backing harmonies that surface, which make for an interesting texture. Here at the 10:43 minute mark, the band picks things up again, like a thoroughbred racing to the finish line, yet we haven’t made it to the finish line yet! This is inviting though, and the band’s own brand of skewered pop, with so many additional voices ringing throughout, doesn’t allow listeners to figure out who is singing. But no one should care because it all blends together seamlessly.

It’s difficult to break things down around Year Of The Monkey, because songs are so tied together to one another. But it doesn’t mean the release isn’t audibly inviting. To the contrary, with this lengthy piece of work clocking in at around 104 minutes, Fucked Up has created a fucking masterpiece.  

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Filling its songs with loud & thunderous rhythms and over-the-top distorted guitars, the band offsets it with soaring melodies, underscored by captivating harmonies. It’s no different here with its infectious “Good For Me.”

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“Someday Sunshine” marks an evolution in Glimmer’s sound, trading in some of the grungy grit of the band’s earlier singles for a more dream-pop inspired feel. While heavy, fuzzed-out guitars and driving rhythms still feature throughout, there’s a spaciousness that creates a warmer, more expansive atmosphere and lends a sense of blurred nostalgia to the track.

Following multiple tours across the US and Europe, Glimmer will play NYC’s TV Eye this week and kick off a European & UK tour in July — see below for all upcoming dates. 

Glimmer on Tour
June 5 – NYC – TV Eye
June 20 – Washington, DC – Telepathic Windows Fest
July 8 – Rome, IT – Monk
July 9 – Ravenna, IT – Hana Bi
July 10 – Munich, DE – Backstage Club
July 11 – Katowice, PL – Piaty Dom
July 12 – Berlin, DE – Neue Zukunft
July 13 – Kusel, DE – Kinett
July 14 – Hannover, DE – Cafe Glocksee
July 15 – Amsterdam, NL – Nachbar
July 16 – London, UK – Shacklewell Arms 
July 17 – Northampton, UK – Abington Groove Records 
July 18 – Norwich, UK – Voodoo Daddy’s 
July 19 – Bristol, UK – The Exchange 
July 21 – Paris, FR – Supersonic
July 22 – Rouen, FR – Le 3 Pieces
July 24 – Fano, IT – Bagni Elsa
July 25 – Florence, IT – Annibale Fest
 

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The Afghan Whigs are also announcing new tour dates today in both Europe and North America for this fall.  Tickets for all shows will go on sale this Friday.  Joining the band on the road are two of Greg Dulli’s favorite artists.

In North America: Night Moves.  The country-soul-psych-rock band, from Minneapolis released their fourth and most recent album Double Life via Domino Records last summer.  Continuing their AM Gold twilight zone trajectory, Night Moves put on a phenomenal live show that’s not to be missed. 

In the UK/EU: Ed Harcourt.  One of Britain’s most cherished and inventive music creators Harcourt made his debut with the Mercury Prize-nominated Here Be Monsters (2001).  He has built a career defined by raw emotion, masterful songwriting, and dynamic live performances.  His latest release is last year’s Orphic. 

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Of the track, Guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Douglas offers, “‘Sear Zoning’ is the story of a young talent follows their dream and succeeds, but is struggling to adjust to the pressures of fame.”

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Helado Tropical will be hitting the road this summer and fall. These songs were born in motion – across places, time, and instinct – and now they finally get to move with you.

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Black Marble’s Life in Small Spaces is an album of commentary, analysis of the music industry, discussion of authenticity, and a letter to all independent creatives in the world. Drawing on early American left-of-the-dial “college radio” staccato guitar lines (recalling Pylon, The Necessaries, and R. Stevie Moore), and live drum samples (a nod to Wire’s simple metronomic style), the album takes on more of a live sound, trading in Stewart’s usual walls of synths.

According to Stewart: “I always knew a lot of people in music struggled to make ends meet, but it surprised me to learn that the people you thought would be doing well often weren’t. For me, seeing the business from the inside like that changed how I looked at things. When I looked up to see a new artist on a billboard, I started to wonder, will I one day have to pretend to be something I’m not, in order to succeed? The life of an artist goes on after your moment ends, you know? So who do you want to be in the end and how do you want to be seen by the people that know you? I made Life In Small Spaces while thinking about that, and for me, it serves as my own ideal for living an artistic life. I’m doing it as a vocation, not some last-ditch effort to escape to some other world. I made this record not only as a way of saying that, but as a way of saying it’s ok to feel that way. It’s ok for people to sacrifice some degree of creature comfort in order to live a life you believe in. And it doesn’t have to be an endless search for something just out of reach, it can be a permanent way of being and something that sustains you.”

The announcement is accompanied by the lead single “Jim Carol New Year” which comes with a video starring Chris Stewart, directed by Clayton Hunt. “Jim Carol New Year” (its title a nod to both author, poet, and musician Jim Carroll, and holiday season carols) casts another critical eye on life, rejecting false promises of religion, advice from so-called experts, or easy answers in favor of self-validation and independence of thought. While drawing us in with a more rhythmic synth melody, twirling listeners into an illusion of joy, the phrase “I forgot my money” is used over and over to convey all the things the protagonist isn’t buying. “If you want to be free,” Stewart says, “you have to watch out for some of life’s classic pitfalls.”

With regard to the video, Clayton Hunt shares: “Chris had an idea of a house in the distance with two travelers being drawn toward it. We wanted each traveler to represent a different version of the journey. One traveler struggled unprotected against the landscape, the other was cautious, outfitted in an orange hazmat – type suit. I decided to shoot 16mm and capture everything against the green landscape, creating a vibrant contrast. That imagery helped guide the production and inform the story.”

Black Marble – TOUR DATES

* w/ The Serfs

# w/ Public Circuit

(and Jimmy Cicero for select shows)

Aug 22 Constellation Room at the Observatory Santa Ana, CA *

Aug 23 1720 Los Angeles (LA), CA *

Aug 25 Rickshaw Stop San Francisco, CA *

Aug 26 Harlow’s Sacramento, CA *

Aug 28 The Crocodile Seattle WA *

Aug 29 Wonder Ballroom Portland, OR *

Aug 30 Shrine Social Club Boise, ID *

Aug 31 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City UT *

Sep 1 The Federal Theatre Denver CO #

Sep 3 Slowdown Omaha, NE #

Sep 4 Fine Line Minneapolis, MN #

Sep 5 Thalia Hall Chicago, IL #

Sep 6 El Club Detroit Detroit, MI #

Sep 7 Lee’s Palace Toronto, ON #

Sep 8 La Sala Rosa Montreal QC #

Sep 10 Webster Hall New York (NYC), NY #

Sep 11 Union Transfer Philadelphia, PA #

Sep 12 Ottobar Baltimore, MD #

Sep 14 Kings Raleigh, NC #

Sep 15 The Earl Atlanta GA #

Sep 17 White Oak Music Hall – Upstairs Houston, TX #

Sep 18 Club Dada Dallas TX #

Sep 19 29th Street Ballroom Austin, TX #

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One of hip-hop’s most under-appreciated multi-hyphenates, over the last several years, Spesh has steadily built one of the most consistent and respected catalogs in hip-hop, balancing gritty authenticity with elevated craftsmanship.  8 Shots is another clip that further cements that status, as he pushes his evolution even further, assembling a heavyweight lineup that includes Method Man, Busta Rhymes, Rome Streetz, Dave East, Ransom, and Che Noir. The project showcases Spesh’s ability to bridge generations of elite lyricists while continuing to sharpen his own voice as both an artist and producer.

“It’s been a minute since I dropped an album, so I wanted to give listeners 12-tracks of that bar-heavy Spesh music my fans been waiting for,” Spesh proclaims.  “On top of some high-profile guests, I’m also introducing some talented new artists.” Few artists embody independence quite like 38 Spesh. Whether producing cinematic street anthems, curating collaborative projects, or delivering vivid street narratives himself, Spesh has consistently elevated the standard for modern East Coast rap.

8 Shots continues that legacy—an uncompromising statement piece built on precision bars, heavyweight production, and the type of authenticity that can’t be manufactured.

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