Modsnap Radio

It’s been a minute since we’ve checked in on Launder, the poppy, shoegazey indie rock project of LA-based John Cudlip. But a full-length debut album is finally in the pipeline — Happening is happening on Ghostly this July — and its first two singles sound great.

Cursive’s Tim Kasher has been rolling out his new solo album Middling Age since the release of “I Don’t Think About You” in February. A couple weeks back we heard him team with punk lifers Laura Jane Grace and Jeff Rosenstock on “Forever Of The Living Dead.” And now, with the album just days away, he’s back with single #3.

In the early 2010s, there was a surge of indie rock bands that sounded restless and ramshackle and endearingly earnest. Much of this music came out through the label Salinas Records — bands like All Dogs, Radiator Hospital, and the early Crutchfield projects P.S. Eliot and Swearin’. Joyride! were the San Francisco outpost of that sound, combining the urgency of Bay Area pop-punk denizens Jawbreaker with some twee emotionality that […]

The annual Portland-area festival known as Pickathon hasn’t exactly been annual lately. Thanks to the pandemic, Pickathon hasn’t happened since 2019. This summer, though, Pickathon will return to Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Oregon, and it’s bringing an impressively all-over-the-map lineup.

Phoebe Bridgers has a new song, “Sidelines,” featured in the upcoming Hulu show Conversations With Friends, which is an adaptation of the Sally Rooney book of the same name. You can hear a bit of it in the newly-released trailer for the show — the full song will be released this Friday. Conversations With Friends premieres on May 15.

Over the past couple years, the xx’s Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim have both released solo material — Sim just released a new song, “Fruit,” last week. Jamie xx, who was the first xx member to break out on their own with 2015’s In Colour, hasn’t been nearly so active as of late, though in 2020 he released the one-off single “Idontknow.” Today, he’s back with his first new […]

When a punk or hardcore band goes long enough without releasing any new music, it’s usually a pretty good bet that the band no longer exists. So I’m delighted to report that mouth-frothing New York punks Warthog are back in business. Warthog are led by Chris Hansell, former singer from the Men, and the band features current and former members of bands like Nude Beach, L.O.T.I.O.N., and Witchtrial. Warthog’s music […]

Two experimental music icons are teaming up for a collaborative LP. Translation From Unspecified brings together David Grubbs (Gastr Del Sol, Bastro, Squirrel Bait, etc.) and Jan St. Werner (Mouse On Mars, Microstoria, etc.). The collaboration is the result of a years-long exchange of ideas, leading up to a recording session just before the pandemic. As Drag City explains:

Next month, Sacred Bones is releasing a 15th anniversary compilation featuring some artists from the label’s roster covering one another. We’ve already heard contributions from Marissa Nadler and the Hunt, and today the label is sharing another pair of tracks. Boris has covered “Funnel Of Love,” a song originally recorded by Wanda Jackson which director Jim Jarmusch then put his own spin on with his band SQÜRL for the Only […]