You’ve may have seen this solo project from ONLY guitarist Evan Hickman mentioned over on The Cream but if you haven’t taken the time to dive into it yet, take a moment now to immerse yourself. The jangly reverb guitar is reminiscent of plenty of 80′s era indie and pop outfits, even the production feels akin to that era. It’s a great backdrop to a quiet winter morning.

Prior to their debut performance at Exit/In, Warm Ryders dropped by Lighting 100 to perform two songs. Some great harmonies there and I fully support anything Evan P Donohue is involved with.

Anyone that has been reading this site for any amount of time knows that I have a deep affinity for any band that is capable of finding the balance between upbeat pop music and melancholy vocal delivery. With that in mind, when I stumbled upon People Zoo and their debut EP I was quite pleased. There’s a good smattering of frantic, wild pop explosions that are often tempered with woeful and wistful vocal parts. 

Want to know a surefire way to take already enjoyable, immersive, shoegaze music to the next level? Take the audio intended for 45rpm playback and set it at 33 1/3 speed. That slowed down sludginess provides just the right amount of disconnected, time-warp, ethereal immersion. 

Last we heard from Friendship Commanders they were releasing their GARFIELD cassette with a full-length to follow shortly. According to their site, they scraped that album and started anew. The results are DAVE – to be released this February – and you can hear the first sneak at their efforts in “Animals of Pride”.  Preorder the album here or just enjoy the song.

The specificity of it is hard to describe but there’s a raw confidence throughout the latest full-length release from Anchor Thieves that really carries the album. The fuzzed out guitars and dreamy vocals are expertly executed through the ten songs but the variety of small details that crop up in each song are what have me smitten. Listen to the squelching resolution of “Space Stash” or the guitar string swipes of “Algo Siento” to hear what I mean. 

After playing in various bands for over a decade, Anchor Thieves have their feet firmly planted and clearly understand what it means to make an album that looms large from a cursory listen and rewards you even more when paying close attention. The title Monolith is appropriate, as the album is a big, unwavering, striking presence.