Stardumb Indierock | Alternative 7 Items

After two critically acclaimed solo albums, Geoff Palmer is back with his third full-length, this time coming with a surprising cover album. Ever since Screeching Weasel covered the self-titled Ramones debut, it became a tradition among punk rock bands to cover Ramones albums in their entirety. So far, Dee Dee King’s infamous 1989 rap album ’Standing In The Spotlight’ – hated by some, dearly loved by others – remained untouched, though. Until now! With the help of a bunch of friends (including Kurt Baker, Brad Marino, and Mass Giorgini), Geoff Palmer pays tribute to this piece of history by lovingly covering it, hopefully putting a spotlight on these songs to bring them to a new generation. Out on Dee Dee’s birthday, September 18th.

In Spring 2022 and with a new record from his band More Kicks in the can, James found himself waiting. Release dates scheduled for nine months in the future, nothing much could happen beyond tour planning for the following year. “To be honest, I was scared” says James. “I’d been writing and recording like a man possessed for the past 18 months, writing the More Kicks album ‘Punch Drunk’ and my first solo record ‘Light Years’. I was worried what would happen if I stopped. So I headed back to my cupboard-sized ‘studio’ and plugged in my halfbroken tape machine.” ‘Vital Signs’ was written and recorded over the next couple of months, dragging a handful of friends into that cupboard studio for a lending hand here and there. Written, recorded, mixed, mastered and then back to the ‘day job’ of More Kicks touring across Europe, USA and UK. Stuff. To. Do. But something wasn’t quite right. “It took me a long time to realise that I didn’t want to make another record with More Kicks. I was obsessed with making us as good as we could be but suddenly I didn’t feel like writing new More Kicks songs and I had this finished record sitting there doing nothing.” ‘Vital Signs’ expands James’ musical palette to include blitzed-out fuzz (‘Dronify’) and chewed-up chamber quartets (‘La Rochelle’), while never entirely abandoning the more familiar turf of sneakily self-lacerating melodic nuggets (‘All I Wanna Do’, ‘Endless Summer’). Take the first track, ‘It’s Good To Be Wrong’, a Modern Lovers, Alex CHILTON-style stomp that blends heartbeat drum crashes with psychedelic organs and swooning Replacements guitars. “That song was a deliberate attempt to do as little as possible. My tendency is to overthink structure so I wanted to make a song that was essentially a mantra. Just hammer myself over and over with only two chords. It almost worked, there are three. “I recorded everything on an 8-track by myself and there are unhealthy amounts of tape hiss over everything. But for me, the whole point of these solo records is to get out of my head, don’t think twice, press record, keep going. It’s not that I don’t care, quite the opposite. But if I’ve learned nothing else from playing music, it’s that I should trust my instinct far more than my brain.” That brain almost left this record languishing on a tape before the instinct to put it out into the world took over. If what comes next isn’t immediately obvious, it’s certain that more music will continue to emerge from this innately restless writer. “I’ve accepted my fate that I’m a lifer.”

With their unique brand of infectiously catchy indie meets post-pop punk, Lone Wolf have been building a name for themselves and recruiting fans everywhere they go in Europe and North America ever since forming back in 2016. They’re now presenting their third album, 'Haze Wave', via Stardumb Records on May 12. The first single is 'Begging Me' and on the first notes of the album’s opening track there’s that instantly recognisable and unique sound that Lone Wolf have honed for themselves over the years. The sound is certainly familiar yet there’s a new polished edge to it that keeps things sounding wonderfully fresh. 'Haze Wave' is the band sounding better than ever and, with tour dates planned in Europe and North America in 2023, there’s no better time than now to jump on the Lone Wolf train.

After Screeching Weasel broke up 2002, founding member John Jughead Pierson formed Even In Blackouts as an "acoustic pop punk" band. Over the years they released four great albums, all of which only appeared on CD. This is their vinyl debut; compiling sixteen of their favorite songs from all four albums.

The Apers’ third album ’Skies Are Turning Blue’ from 2005, never released on vinyl before! The LP appears on limited sunshine yellow vinyl, and is fully remastered by Perry Leenhouts (Travoltas). This album finds The Apers in a slightly more experimental mood than on their previous two records, which turned this album almost into the black sheep of their catalog. Those who gave the album a chance know there’s a lot to love here though, from the Jerry Hormone-penned lead single ‘Hey Girl’ to the classic Marien Nicotine tune ‘Wine & Dine’.