The Helltones’ bright, lively sound combines jazz, R&B, doo-wop, surf music and other diverse elements with the deeply felt lyrics of main songwriter, singer and band leader Darwin Siegaldoud. The band’s uplifting music contradicts their foreboding name.
Gwen Levey punches through the morass of her life on Not the Girl Next Door. This is a hard-driving country-rock EP that finds Levy taking control and reveling in it. The five songs chronicle her realizing that partying hard with people who don’t care about your feelings is not the way (“Toxic City”), and guides us straight through to loving forgiveness (“The Next Lifetime”) and embracing yourself (“Not the Girl Next Door”). The EP closes with “Barefoot and Pregnant,” a retro-country banger that mocks the repeal of Roe v. Wade. This arena-ready collection cements Levey as an artist to keep an eye on.
While rock n’ roll is always changing and evolving, sometimes it’s just as refreshing to hear a band throwback to the sounds that built the foundation of the genre. Oakland’s The Helltones do this with a flair and panache that makes the songs on their latest album, Medusa, exquisitely timeless. Stirring up a pot of garage rock, doo-wop, lounge, R&B and soul, the group mines gold from the past while never losing track of modern hooks.
It’s not uncommon for fatherhood to change the trajectory of a nerdcore artist. The arrival of a new baby compelled MC Lars (along with his wife, Ash Tell Em) to pen a parody song about the rigors of messy diapers, mc chris, released not one but two children’s albums inspired by his kid, and Illbotz’s Stevie D went so far as to start a whole new band with his son.
However, Chip-hop pioneer Mega Ran took a slightly different approach; his latest full-length album, Buddy’s Magic Toy Box, collects a dozen tracks of tuneful advice, encouragement, affirmations, and education tailor-made for his young son. Still, you and yours will find it wonderfully inspiring as well. Priced at $11 for the digital album, $11.99 cassette, $12.99 CD, and $26.99 LP, it’s available on MegaRan’s Bandcamp page. –Z.
Collectively, Old Heavy Hands have survived a musical “misspent youth” full of punk ambitions, cancer and beat addictions to share stages with acts like Jason Isbell, John Moreland, Lucero, Tyler Childers and more. In January, 2024, Old Heavy Hands will release the album Small Fire’s. We’ve partnered with the band to bring a special preview of “Shelter Me” from the album for your listening enjoyment.
Small Fires was produced by Danny Fonorow and engineered by Ted Comerford & legendary producer Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Pavement, Wilco, Drive-By-Truckers) at the Fidelitorum. The song captures feelings of futility in an uncaring and unforgiving world.
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Ahead of the album’s release, the band are back today with another new single, “Continent,” premiering with Under the Radar.
“Continent” is a chiming and melodic effort, introduced by an avalanche of dreamy guitar lines and playful melodies. Churning guitar chords, swaying rhythms, and wistful piano tones all come together into a blissful folk rock ramble, imbued with a joyous sense of hope and camaraderie. After the record’s many melancholic and existential turns, the album closes on a bright burst of life-affirming energy, with Gerlock celebrating friendship as a unifying bond: “We don’t face this alone / The parts compose a whole / This planet’s oceans bask in the sun / The islands warm as one.”