Chicago’s Zeshan B has just released “O Say, Can You See?” —the first-generation Indian-American’s new album is steeped in social justice, while blending timeless soul, gospel, and at its core, a perpetual eye on community building. The first single to radio is a powerful bit of forward-thinking uplift in “Change (Is On The Way).” “When there’s so much strife going on, singing something optimistic is just therapeutic. There’s something you feel, there’s some redemption, some hope, some solace. Music from the Civil Rights era had so much idealism. I need to hear this optimism. I need to sing it to myself. And maybe, just maybe there are others who could use it too.” – Zeshan B ++ Classic, gospel-infused R&B with passionate lyrics about American social justice” — Variety ++ “seeks out commonalities between classic soul and the Indian and Pakistani music he learned from his immigrant parents” — New York Times “powerful soul singer” — Rolling Stone (’10 Artists You Need To Know’) “Soaring vocals with swaying rhythms that inspire the soul and move the feet to action.” — No Depression “For Bagewadi, soul isn’t just a specific genre – it’s a feeling that pervades American and Indo-Pakistani music alike”— NPR/Weekend Edition Recorded live in Brooklyn, NY., “O Say, Can You See?” was produced by Mike MacAllister (co-writer/performer on a few tracks too), and features a talented cast of musicians including concert-master Antoine Silverman’s chamber orchestra and singers from the famed Resistance Revival Chorus. The album is is executive produced by former U.S. Attorney for New York’s Southern District, Preet Bharara, who shares a passion for social justice and unity through art. In Zeshan‘s own words, “All Preet’s life, he has fought for justice in the courtroom. All my life, I’ve fought for justice with a microphone.” Each of the songs were written by Zeshan in the midst of life-altering “low points” in recent American history, including the murder of George Floyd, the 2020 election, the January 6th riot, and the day Roe v. Wade was overturned. Despite challenging topics, each song is infused with courage and hope for the future. Growing up within earshot of the Jersey Shore, Bobby Mahoney‘s blue collar work ethic and education was borne from a relentless touring schedule opening for the likes of Against Me!, Frank Turner, and Steve Earle (to name a varied few). Mahoney now unveils the timely title track “Another Deadbeat Summer” off his newly released album debut for Wicked Cool Records! “We take a lot of pride in being an energetic and uplifting concert experience. We play fast and loud rock ‘n’ roll, and you will leave singing at least one of our songs on the way home. We are real and raw on stage, and I think that resonates with people. I like to say we will play basements, bars, backyards, theaters, arenas, (stadiums one day) and everything in between. And we play every show like we are playing the Garden, and we leave it all on the stage.” — Bobby Mahoney “flooded with gorgeous melodies and bright, shiny pop-punk hooks. It’s classic Jersey rock at its finest.”– New Noise Magazine “That timelessly youthful Jersey Shore sound is alive and well, with a punk edge breaking through by way of Mahoney’s rugged vocal.”– Underground Music Collective Steeped as much in Springsteen as Gaslight Anthem, Bobby Mahoney played The Continental Club in Austin, TX as part of the Wicked Cool Records Revue for this year’s SXSW, but never once takes these opportunities for granted. He wasn’t just soaking up the adulation of the built-in crowds or moon-facing at his musical mentors. In Mahoney’s own words, “We approach every show as a chance to improve, to learn, and to strengthen our bonds within ourselves and our audiences.“ Washed Out‘s fifth and most audacious album to date is “Notes From A Quiet Life.” The music of Washed Out has always levitated over a timeless frontier. You can sense it in his immersive, amorphous vocals, expansive soundscapes, and wistful storytelling. In 2021, Washed Out’s creative force, Ernest Greene, left Atlanta to return to the countryside he knew growing up. Where escapism once flooded his thoughts, today, he is preoccupied with the universe of wonder in the reality around him. He named the former horse farm he moved to “Endymion” (after the pastoral John Keats poem about a lovesick shepherd — its opening line: “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever”). It has shaped all that he’s created there, from his music to his albums’ creative direction to his planned large-scale visual-art experiments. That purity of vision is what makes “Notes From a Quiet Life” so potent. It’s the first album Greene wholly self-produced, with mixing assistance from Nathan Boddy (James Blake, Mura Masa) and David Wrench (Caribou, Florence + the Machine). Unabashed and unafraid to pioneer and incorporate new technologies within his art, Greene enlisted multi-disciplinary Artist, Writer, and Director Paul Trillo to direct the music video for the album’s lead single, “The Hardest Part.” Created using OpenAI’s Sora, “The Hardest Part” marks the first collaboration with an artist and filmmaker to be generated entirely utilizing this technology. As Royel Otis sets sight on the 2nd leg of their headline tour of the U.S. this fall (check our Tour page!), and Of Course following their #1 Breakthrough Hit at Alternative Radio in “Murder On The Dancefloor,” there’s A Pair Of Bonus Tracks to tuck into from their debut album “PRATTS & PAIN!” “Claw Foot” the band say is about “Facing the obstacles head-on and trying not to procrastinate. Not giving into your wishes,” AND “Merry Mary Marry Me” when “Everyone around you is settling down with their lives and you’re feeling like you’re falling so far behind it’s out of reach.” Australian group Girl and Girl release their debut full-length, “Call A Doctor,” out now! The album is the full-length follow-up to the band’s 2023 digital release “Divorce +,” an eight-track EP that featured the standout singles “All I See” and “Dance Now.” “Call A Doctor” is an unforgettable first bow from Girl and Girl, an audacious and aggressively tuneful blast of a record from this Australian four-piece garage rock outfit. It features frontperson Kai James and his Aunty Liss on drums, longtime friends Jayden Williams on guitar, and Fraser Bell on bass. Call A Doctor was recorded at Sundowner Sound in Melbourne, a two-story industrial complex where the band ate, slept, and made music in marathon sessions for two weeks straight with producer Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, Julia Jacklin). “‘Hello’ is the story of a young man who requires daily consults with health professionals in order to rationalise his self-destructive thoughts and routines. It’s about romanticizing your own misery. Letting those deep, dark, dirty thoughts take over. Understanding that even if you could pull yourself out, you wouldn’t because the constant stress and worry are all too familiar and comfortable.” -Kai James/Girl and Girl METZ is out with “Up On Gravity Hill,” their first album in 4 years! The album was engineered by Seth Manchester (Mdou Moctar, Lingua Ignota, Battles, The Body) and features guest performances from Amber Webber of Black Mountain and composer/string arranger Owen Pallett. METZ, a band once known for blowing out eardrums with songs of joyous rage, have, over their past few records, begun exploring ways to turn abrasiveness into atmospherics, the evolution of their sound not only a reflection of the maturing of the band themselves but also of a changed world that demands nuance and compassion to comprehend and to survive. This is so on their latest effort, “Up On Gravity Hill,” which finds the band continuing to bend the raw power of rock music to its most delicate, intricate ends. Delivering a deep, detailed, and unyieldingly personal collection of songs that are fused together to form not only METZ’s most powerful record to date but also their most beautiful. To spotlight this evolution, the band has shared two new contrasting singles: the stomping motorik “99,” and the charging and deeply melodic, “Entwined (Street Light Buzz)”, that offers a dreamier Swervedriver-esque guitar sheen never before utilized by the Canadian trio. METZ frontman Alex Edkins says, “These songs couldn’t be more stylistically and thematically dissimilar. ‘Entwined (Street Light Buzz)’ is a song about the deep connection humans can foster with one another and how we carry people with us forever, even after death. ‘99’ is about the scourge of corporate greed and bottom-line thinking that runs rampant in modern society. Anything for a buck is the message being sent to younger generations.”Listen: Zeshan B – “Change (Is On The Way)”
Listen: Bobby Mahoney – “Another Deadbeat Summer”
Listen: Washed Out – “The Hardest Part”
Listen: Royel Otis – “Murder On The Dancefloor”
Listen: Girl and Girl – “Hello”
Listen: Metz – “Entwined (Street Light Buzz)”
Artist Development and Exposure–Specializing in Modern Rock Radio Promotion
