Andy Matter “Pacific Midwest”

(Gubbeyrecords.net) That’s a pretty good name! Not the best singing, but a good name. Some decent hooks, too. Though not as hooky as the name. Just looked it up online and the greatest wrestler ever at Penn State had that as his actual name, so maybe this Louisville power pop singer-songwriter got lucky with a real, live family sobriquet. Or maybe his dad wrestled at Penn State in the 70s, but Andy, Jr was a worse performing name.

Gina Villalobas “Sola”

(Ginavillalobos.com) Villalobos is a great rock singer, her gritty, soulful voice sounding like it’s battled through the rock ‘n’ roll trenches, despite the music not so much rocking, unless you count rocking your emotional world. Still that voice, more Bonnie Tyler than Sheryl Crow, but Crow-esque enough to imagine her getting really big, sells these lush driving ballads like a powerhouse bar rocker.

Reacta “Refraction”

(Alara, reacta.bandcamp.com) I had a bad reacta-tion to this spacey, indie alt rock throwback. But it is impressively spacey, indie and alt-rock-ish.

There Is Danger “Living Dreams”

(thereisdanger.bandcamp.com) Precious (in a good way) enchanting dreamscapes that somehow seem lushly arranged and minimalistic at the same time. There is Awesome!

The Unsemble

(Ipecac) Improvisational Ambient Avengers Unsemble!

I Love Rich “Respect the Rich”

(iloverich.net) Sounds like classic KISS, if KISS took it to next level and used lyrics like “I’m Gonna Fuck You with the Lights On” (to make the analogy near perfect they offer a bonus track where “fuck” is replaced with ‘love” like in most KISS songs). So let me reiterate: This album represents what would happen if there was a less classy Gene Simmons! Mindblowing!

MAXIMUM TREMOLO zine

(UTRecords) If stodgy, oldies radio reverant, cliché riddled surf music is the established church, this zine is a theses nailed to the castle door declaring surf music alive, young, dangerous, and ugly again! Issue one has a rat on a longboard, a lot of recommendation for Japanese surf classics, scales to practice, and a defense of (nay, a mandate for) shitty instruments are all here, and all wet, in the Wipe Out! sense. Issue #2 continues the surf gospel, with more interviews and boners.

Heavy Glow “Pearls & Swine and Everything’s Fine”

(Purge) Should be called Heavy Flow because these mighty mothers menstruate rock ‘n’ roll! Groovy classic not too heavy/not too lite rock that delivers the cool!

Midwestern Cuban Comics #s 1-6

(http://mccomics.tumblr.com) It is hard to know where to start my raves about this series. But perhaps I will do it with a list of three things this amazing series argues so passionately for: The first is the power of storytelling. The two storylines crafted by Odin Cabal are far from groundbreaking, but as we follow the travails of Pito and Maria, a gambling parrot and a busty tough broad trying to scratch together money to fix the plumbing in their apartment, and Francisco, a moral but violent ex-con, it's hard not to hang on every word, laugh at every jokes, and get tense at every strange turn. This is remarkable in part because the comic is ridiculously, to use an overused phrase, raw, with a scratchy drawing style, loose, sometimes misspelled lettering, and stylistic decisions one might mistake for amateurish, if  the awesomeness of the books as a whole didn't reveal that this cat is what professionals should strive to emulate. The second thing MCC celebrates is the power of the "floppy!" Like all contemporary indie cartoonists, the artist posts this work on Tumblr, and I suppose he could go the route of many and just get these stories square bound in book form, skipping the old school comic book format (known as floppies in the industry). But the fact that this is the same size and shape as Avengers, Archie, and Richie Rich, even boasting a full color (albeit crayon-colored) cover makes this feel so much like a real live comic book that it's easy to get past the rough edges and discover the awesomeness. And the third thing that is celebrated here is pure artistic vision. This is a book saying exactly what it wants to, and while there are definite influences felt (especially Los Bros Hernandez, not just for the Latin themes and large-breasted protagonist, but for specific visual and storytelling elements), Midwestern Cuban Comics feels like an unfiltered personal expression, an artist doing exactly what he wants to do, how how wants to do it. Man, do I love these comics!

Wolf Party: New Zealand Werewolf Sounds From New Zealand

(Voodoo Rhythm) Before I describe the music, I’ll tell the backstory, but before I tell the backstory I have to describe the music a little: this genius, spooky, raw, evil trash/garage/surf/primitive/futuristic monster rock compilation is so amazing that I have a hard time believing it documents the miracle a real live unknown underground scene: if this turned out to be the handiwork of some of the great Voodoo Rhythm artists in disguise pretending to be New Zealand Maori earthquake survivor tape label discoveries that’s fine with me, so long as I get to listen to it! The backstory: Stink Magnetic for years has been releasing short run tapes, CD-Rs, singles, video tapes, etc of the wildest, weirdest secret New Zealand bands, and there are earthquakes and art galleries and a 15^th anniversary involved. Now the music: Oh my god (or my Satan, if you prefer)! Bad Evil sounds like Hasil Adkins channeling Mötörhead! Mr Slackjaw’s eerie lycanthropic twang rock is chilling! Slim Chants sounds like a rockabilly band from an R-rated episode of the Flintstones! Golden Axe incredibly Devo-lutions into centuries-old New Wave! Don King makes ominous surf rock in which they murder someone in the studio each recording session for extra oomph! Full Fucking Moon murdered me! The Chandeliers are just really, really, really good at instrumental party rumble rock! And the other ten bands are just as good or better, I just would rather listen than type! Again, not sure what this musical magic is, but whatever it is, this is my favorite compilation in the last hundred years!