Everything I know about Thelma and the Sleaze points to them being a hard rocking, no-fucks-giving, party rock band. Their “Too Tough” video from 2013 has the band dressed as bikers watching a no-holds-barred wrestling match. Their 2014 EP Heart Like a Fist is filled with dark, big riff, rock songs. They are defiant and confident, to say the least.

Which made the first listen to their full-length Somebody’s Doin Somethin’ a bit of a surprise. The album showcases a much more diverse and, dare I say, softer sider of The Sleaze. “Why You Wanna Do That?” has a 50′s soul feel, right down to the background ooh’s and aah’s. “Roses” has a jaunty piano line running underneath the guitar solo and pleading vocal line. These are not unpleasant elements, just unexpected.

That’s not to say that the album doesn’t have it’s fair share of bootlicking hard-rock as well. “Lucy” is as explosive and immersive as you could hope for and “Lost City” has all sorts of fist-pumping anthemic vibes (and a xylophone). 

It’s a refreshing listen and nice verification that the band has more tricks up their sleeve than they may have pigeonholed for. 

The thing about a joke band is that you have to be noticeably awful to really let your audience be IN on the joke. I recently caught a set by Lazersnake and honestly couldn’t tell that I was seeing a parody band; they loved what they were doing.

Thankfully, such is not the case with the second EP from Scoot and Skeet, a comedy undertaking from unknown sources that does an unbelievably good job of aping a number of genres with their own absurd twist. Will I listen to the Chipmunk’ed gibberish vocals backed by exploding shoegaze emo fury of “Sad Hawk Down” on repeat for the rest of the day? You bet your ass I will. It’s legitimately hilarious and shockingly well executed. 

The final track, an ambient undertaking entitled “Affleck, You Da Bomb In Phantoms Yo!” is the only questionable contribution; as there’s no funny stuff, just a haunting dirge. Maybe Scoot and Skeet’s got more to offer than they’d have you believe.

Another new track from the forthcoming Blank Range album, Marooned with the Treasure (due August 25th), is now streaming. Listen to more country tinged goodness from the band and mark your calendars for the full release.

My apologies for sleeping on Sad Baxter. They put out a full-length album back in 2016 entitled Weirdy and it just slipped right past me. I had the pleasure of seeing them play The East Room last weekend with The By Gods and they really left an impression. Their vibe is a bit of the 90′s throwback (hence The By Gods show coupling) but singer Deezy’s voice is unique in its sweet but gravely delivery. 

Overall, they pack a punch. Embedded is their latest offering, the single “Doubt” that appears on a recent split. It starts with a slow burn but delivers the packing punch I experienced at the show. I welcome more of it.

It’s actually fortunate that it’s a bit dreary in Nashville today because it serves as an appropriate backdrop to the new surprise release from Makeup and Vanity Set, the soundtrack to the short film Jogger. As with much of MAVS (friendly nickname) catalog, it’s a dark and foreboding piece of work; particularly fitting for a film about a man on a run who witnesses a horrible act, does nothing and is plagued by guilt. 

Today, August 4th, Bandcamp is donating 100% of their profits to the Transgender Law Center in support of Transgender Rights. Read more about that, here.

In support of this movement, PANGS has released a new song, “Next to Me”, that you can purchase for as little as $1 or if you’re looking to donate more to the Bandcamp Transgender movement. It’s a delightful combo of keyboards, crunchy guitars and detached vocals.