‘Terry’ is the title of INDOLORE’s latest single. The singer and songwriter with Irish roots and a base of operations in the French capital, presents his listeners with ‘Terry’, a song written for his friend, English music icon Terry Reid. Written shortly before Terry’s sudden health deterioration and his passing away in the summer of 2025, INDOLORE managed to run the song by him and get his heartfelt approval right away, and listening to the song, it’s honestly not difficult to understand why.

‘Terry’ is a soft and warm ballad that sounds exquisite. With its roomy and restrained bass and drum section and the fragile swoons from INDOLORE, ‘Terry’ establishes an outstanding groove and an extremely warm vibe. The electric keyboard is masterfully struck. There is honestly a general sense of tasteful restraint that runs throughout this professional and focused mix, all in all making ‘Terry’ a truly gorgeous piece of music to listen to.

INDOLORE is a great figure in French underground pop and soul landscapes. A singer/songwriter with an astounding heart, voice, and impact. We have lost an endearing figure from the infamous generation that initiated the British Invasion when we lost Terry Reid, and it is comforting that artists as tasteful as INDOLORE are treating this tragedy with enough grace and inspiration as to birth something as heartfelt as ‘Terry’

‘Father and State’ is the centerfold of Boxing Day’s debut EP What’s the State Done To You. Boxing Day are a four piece group that was forged in the London underground gig scene with strong and defined roots in Glasgow. Both backgrounds create a solid image that’s rugged, restless, and confident in its tendency for elegant, political expression, with a hint of rebellion and a sense of controlled musical mayhem, all on dazzling show in the gorgeous and aggressive ‘Father and State’.

Perhaps the most prominent element driving the sonic identity forward is the vocals, gritty and with a distinct theatrical bite that gives the politically charged words momentum. The music is led by the gorgeous, chord-based rhythm guitar performance, overdriven and consistent like a well-oiled locomotive, locked in ever-too-tight with the rock-solid bass and drum parts. The composition is undeniable melodic and stirring, and the open-ended vocal melody also lends a lost-without-a-home feel that serves the rebellious nature of the words quite well.

‘Father and State’ is mature and heartfelt. A powerful statement that is sure to charge Boxing Day into all the relevant scenes with confidence and charisma that’s present in droves.

Patience Please is a rock trio based in London. Their full and well-fed sound comes courtesy of guitars from frontman Ollie Palmer and guitarist Arthur Marriott, with Tommy Lane on the drums. The blending of the sounds that the three Englishman make is absolutely rich, as is almost every minute on Miles Away.

The album starts with ‘Wasting Time’. A powerful, wistful ballad that reminded me of the emotional weight of Travis’s music. While the voice of Palmer is totally different from that of Travis frontman Fran Healy, both of them deliver in a tangible, heartfelt, and genuinely emotional way that made my mind put them in the same school. Musically, the song is obviously led by the crunchy and colorful guitars of Palmer and Marriott. The mix is astoundingly lush. A truly gorgeous sounding recording with a lot of compositional nuance that makes this cut an immediate attention grabber, getting listeners prepped for what is about to come.

‘Miles Away’ comes next. The titular cut makes without the wistfulness of the opening cut, replacing the slow-paced melancholy with arena-sized riffs and a manic, jumpy energy that’s neither brooding nor saccharine. A balanced offering that showcases Palmer’s vocal prowess and Lane’s grooving capabilities. ‘Pretend’ lands the trio’s style in the court of early 00s showstoppers Green Day and Blink 182. With its chugging power chords, wailing modulated, atmosphere-building guitars, and simplistic groove, ‘Pretend’ is a no frills pop rock stunner that continues to show absolute songwriting maturity from Patience Please.

The EP’s latter half begins with the soft and melodic ‘Madelaine’. Opting for cleaner guitars and a more subdued arrangement for this sweet love song with brushed snares and a deep, buoyant bass, ‘Madelaine’ brushes swiftly by the country rock side of things. A precious, soothing, and restrained piece that sets a gorgeous mood, and lets it run uninterrupted by distractions. Another showcase for the band’s mature songwriting. Following up is ‘Miracle’, arguably the album’s centerpiece. At least for me. This cut excels with a fantastic showcase of strength, a fantastically capable vocal part, and a superb display of dynamic control between the subdued, syncopated verses, and a chorus that lets it all out with gargantuan, single bass notes that play with each chord, enough to fill up the soundscape. The guitars solo is also a thing of beauty.

The album then concludes with ‘I Want It I Got It’. A cut that tickles with rockabilly tendencies for a fun and exciting finisher to a superb collection of brilliantly crafted and executed songs. Patience Please effortlessly shake their sound and style on demand on Miles Away, while maintaining a clear sonic identity that gets established very early on. An amazing new discover for sure.

Dickens are a trio of the timeless guitar/bass/drums format that hails from Esperanza, Mexico. Having existed as Dickens since 2001, spearheaded by Hector Avalos, the band have well proven themselves as a consistent and reliable force in the region’s independent music scene, and listening to Marionetaz, an album with a handful of outstanding offerings, and a continuous stream of exceptional quality, on musical and engineering terms, we come face to face with what makes Dickens a special band worth celebrating.

While punk has always been, and still is, a polarizing sound that you either get or you don’t, Dickens excel in making punk accessible and easy to appreciate. Their songs are lighthearted, full of enjoyable hooks, memorable melodies, and vocals that deliver the manic energy you’d expect from a punk trio, remaining throughout the album equally universal in their pop approach to writing their songs, and true to their original sound as a punk band.

The album kicks off with ‘Somos Como Marionetz’, a blitz of overdriven riffs and breakneck grooves interspersed with the manic yelps of the punk vocals. The song is immediate in its impact and is a lovely sound to lose yourself to. The drums are punchy and present, the bass is a reliable backbone that does not challenge or shy from the spotlight, and the guitars are just exceptional. ‘Segundos de Verdad’ sounds arena-ready. With its 80s-themed guitar and keyboard-led motifs and potently emotive chord sequences, this song introduces a melodious and softer side to the trio right from the get-go of the album, confidently stating that the band has a wide range of sounds at their disposal.

‘Music Rock’ returns to the pure pop punk territory with more hasty paces and riffs that are brimming with motion. The following ‘Muero al Despertar’ is melodic and sweet. The distorted bass thumping in the background was especially fun to pay attention to in contrast to the restrained guitars and saccharine keyboard motifs. A colorful piece that intentionally disintegrates in its middle in a memorable bridge that’s expertly executed. The pop-heavy sound continues on the following ‘Marian’, a sweet and colorful ballad-like offering with slow and heartful croons. One of the album’s most direct and familiar sounding offerings, and subsequently one of its most accessible and easy to love.

Standing out in the album’s latter half is ‘Tek Tack’. A simply joyful piece of pop punk with fantastic use of vocal harmonies and a short, fiery guitar solo that makes the song one of the album’s most memorable. The album’s penultimate cut ‘Kaliman’ sounds like the album’s most involved and intricate. With its nuanced introduction with guitar harmonics, its subdued mix that favors atmospheric, clean guitar arpeggios rather than flamboyant punk riffing, and its time-twisting chorus section, it is the album’s most ambitious song, and it effortlessly hits the mark. The restrained vocals in particular are a fresh addition at this point in the album, and its guitar wails are very impactful.

After a thoughtful, slow, and deliberate closer ‘Los Barcos del Dolor’, the band concludes its immersive journey as the Marionetaz, bringing their album to a satisfying closing that will take some time to wash off. Dickens’ Marionetaz is a vivid album and a very balanced listen that is executed with soul, passion, and to a great degree of attention to detail. The results are a handful of easily lovable songs that are a fantastic introduction to the catalog of this veteran outfit.

A singer and songwriter who specializes in his personal, yet very familiar, brand of folk, pop, and indie, Dave Curl’s base of operation is Winterthur in Switzerland, while he has English-Australian roots. Dave started with the very first drafts of ‘Zueri’ 30 years ago, when he was a student in the city, and what started all that time ago about an elderly busker playing Bob Dylan right next to one of the city’s more affluent streets, is only seeing the light of day now, with rich, melodic guitars, and an addictive beat.

On paper, ‘Zueri’ is a very simplistic song, with predictable chord changes, and an accessible vocal melody. However, this also proves that some musical themes are timeless for a reason. ‘Zueri’ is in perpetual motion, never settling and never for a moment sounding boring. Its lyrics, blending German and English add to the song’s sense of accessibility and universality, and the song’s warm and immersive overdriven guitars are somehow the world’s most welcoming sounds.

The beautiful visuals in the video, shot in the city streets and featuring blissfully no AI input whatsoever, showcase two sides of the historic town, with gorgeous European street scenes right next to dingy, graffiti-ed alleys, maintaning the sense of social responsibility that spurred the project into being 3 decades ago.

Dave Curl is a talented and accomplished artist whose work feature an element of elegant universality. From the guitars and wholesome mix, to his easy going vocals, his thoughtful lyrics, and his modest-yet-meaningful audiovisual style, Dave Curl is an artist to follow, and ‘Zueri (Zurich)’ is a perfect introduction to his musical world.

Based in Dublin, Ireland, Gravité Fresq is an act that specializes in a neon-lit, dingy run on 80s synthpop, a la Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and New Order. Their latest single is titled ‘Reality Is Premium’. A tongue-in-cheek dissertation on the impact of AI on arts in our everyday life, the song is massive, beautifully written, sung, and mixed. An immediately outstanding affair, regardless of your alignment with its message.

With a pace that is above average, the song is in a rush to go somewhere with its simple, prodding groove that acts as a tireless locomotive for the song’s layers and layers of synths, guitars, and vocals. The composition is simple, with a strong influence from Depeche Mode’s historic ‘Personal Jesus’ riff, a riff so ubiquitous it might have been pulled directly from the cosmos. The synths are electrifying, and are just loud enough to back the gorgeously flamboyant wails from the frontman who carries the brunt of the song’s brilliance via his technically profound yelps on the chorus alone.

‘Reality Is Premium’ is a fun, not-at-all-depressing look at how AI is basically having us all in its deathgrip at the moment. The song is sung and produced well, with vibes for ages. ‘Reality Is Premium is just a good time to be had.

Rowdy, loud, shameless, and dripping with character is how I would refer to 9 O’Clock Nasty, the boys from Leicester, and the moment I heard that their latest single is a piano-driven ballad-of-sorts about regret I almost worried that the group had lost their loud bearings. But I am pleased to report that ‘Beast’, while being indeed softer, if that is the correct word, than what we are used to from the group, it never loses touch with what makes the group’s music scratch the itch with their lovers.

‘Beast’ is still simple in composition, hooligan-ish, and is home to the same feral yelps from the group’s pair of frontmen. The beat is still massive and cavernous, sounding like it was recorded in a blissfully dingy garage. The mix is edgy and the vocal deliveries are as charismatic as ever, with the group’s usual freeform rhythmic twists at play. Business as usual, thankfully.

‘Beast’ is a single that sounds quintessentially 9 O’Clock Nasty, but with a fresh, stripped down feel that makes all the vocal mayhem even more potent and exciting. It is a mild left turn that surprisingly heightened what the group already does best. Count me in.

A bluesman, singer/songwriter, and producer based in Denver, Colorado, Nate Todd is an expert song craftsman, and his ‘Red Light District Blues’ is a prime example of what he does best. A song that has the blues at heart, ‘Red Light District Blues’ is like a vehicle that collects what soul, funk, americana, and folk it can along its route.

What the song primarily excels at is creating a vibe. An engulfing atmosphere that immersed me in the midst of its layers and its balanced, colorful mix. This atmosphere is doubtlessly put together by the song’s ultra-efficient rhythm section. A single-note bass line that’s sleazy and unrushed, sounding massive and all encompassing, alongside a minimal drum part that features a pocket so deep you might get lost inside, courtesy of Squeaky Feet’s Kevin D’Angelo. On top, layers of jangly electronic keyboards and overdriven guitars sing a sonorous song of major blues. Tasteful, timeless, and very, very pleasant.

With Nate Todd’s nasal vocals embedded within this rich mix, and then all elements blended together in a rather lush production job, ‘Red Light District Blues’ is an immediate winner. A single of outstanding proportions from Nate Todd.

Upcoming Tour Dates

• February 25 — Hotel Utah — San Francisco, CA
• March 14 — New Old Rock Deli — New York City, NY

Holly Woodlove is the solo musical outfit run by San Diego-based Alexander Dausch, who takes his DIY approach rather seriously, writing, recording, mixing, and mastering all aspects of his music by his own hands, blending analog tapes with digital recording equipment. The results are stupendously good, as can be heard on ‘Run Back’, with all its rich, guitar glory.

Starting with a wailing wall of vintage-sounded guitars, ‘Run Back’ immediately sets the tone for a rather timeless rock palette. Then, proceeding with a healthy song structure of well defined verses, choruses, and pre-choruses, ‘Run Back’ goes rather confidently through its moderate runtime, aided by the fantastic, rich, and colorful yelps of frontman -and everyman- Alexander Dausch, whose vision puts everything together very nicely. The guitars carry the brunt of the song’s arrangement, being gritty, overdriven, and endlessly jangly. An intricate layout too, with multiple layers delivering the song’s different parts, most notably the bending-based riff that opens the song, and the western-inspired figure that repeats in the background during the choruses, lending the song a particular surf vibe. Do not forget to pay very close attention to the fantastic synergy between the bass and drum parts. Groovy, locked-in, intricate, and massive.

‘Run Back’ is what can be called a simple, good time. A healthy rock song that’s passionately written and performed, Holly Woodlove effortlessly won me over with this one.

Based in Florida, Fringe Frontier are a group that stands out with their off-kilter vocals on top of gritty guitar riffs and honest, direct songwriting that blends americana with indie and pop like no other band does. ‘Think Back’ is one of the band’s shorter singles, and for its short runtime, this is a single that is packed full of energy.

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Short and sweet, ‘Think Back’ makes use of its blazing pace and fast tempo. alongside the speed that is a good bit above moderate, Fringe Frontier bring their usual palette of energetic, locked-in drum and bass parts, and swift, prominent, and dirty guitar riffs. This song makes use of shimmery overdriven rhythm guitar to deliver its uplifting major chord progressions. The tone gives the song an indie punk flair that adds a lot of color to the song’s sonic character, and with the short lived, but impactful, little solo near the end, the band wrap up a rather lively arrangement quite nicely.

Fringe Frontier know how to write a simple, joyful song, with a lot of character. ‘Think Back’ is a prime example of this, and it is a precious little addition to this band’s growing catalog.