OP ED
E.P. by OP ED
(Self-issued)
All thunderslaps are concise and race furiously, tuneful architecture stabbing gray matter.
Recommended: "Poetry About Narcotics," "Inept Pimps," "Subordinate," "Death Wish"
Video: live August 2025 (Four songs, two from above EP)
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Magic Sands
Limón y Agua
(Hi-Tide Recordings)
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Many travel agents, posters of exotic destinations adorning office walls, could doubtlessly convey you to Kona, Hawai'i's Magic Sands, reputedly the world's most dangerous beach. (Riptides, shorebreak, and all.) But know that the present Los Angelino combo, sharing that and-still they-come tourist-spot's name, can do so faster and cheaper. Hawai'i's ancient charms roll forth in wonderment, as strings are plucked and strummed with a dignity that is all the more intriguing for its mum knowingness. Percussions of island, exotica, and Latin characters induce pleasing physical inclinations. August ambience is further embellished by piano-key judiciousness.
Sun disappears far across blue vastness, as ti leaf-wrapped pigs roast beneath earth in kālua enterprise. Mesmeric airs waft through evening air, and hula voluptuousness undulates.
Hi-Tide has specified a June 26 release date. Orange and green vinyl versions in gatefold jackets, with collectable obi strips, will be marketed in 200-unit limited edition.
What travel agent could offer all that?
Recommended: "Hawai'i Kai," "Vaquero," "Night in the Medina," "Mahina," "Back Door," "Hawai'i Kai," "Limón y Agua," "Baja Norte"
Videos: "Hawai'i Kai" "Vaquero" "Payout" "Mahina"
Lil' Mo & the Dynaflos
Fronted by a siren with angelic tones capacity, a trio of doo-woppers, straight from beneath some Bop Street lamp post, urge tender confederacy. Players with PHDs in hepness spin understated merriment - with saxophone piquancy - ensuring embrace.
Video: "Let's Fall in Love"
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Pat Todd & the Rankoutsiders
A One-Sided Affair one-sided, six-song, 12" clear vinyl
(Ghost Highway Recordings)
Crank stereo volume to utmost reaches. "Classical, 1970s-type Hard Rock" might be the assessment offered by someone ignorant of the music's evergreen bounty. Of course, guitar-powered tunes featuring rocket-fueled rhythm sections and too-devastational-to-ignore vocal bombardments give absolutely zero damns about any calendar that Hallmark might roll out. Wild don't age. Those wise enough to search out this disc will thrill to a succession of tunes whose muscles ripple, and which are greatly more planet-splittingly powerful than the insipid music product churned by faceless production gadgetry. Being alive kicks ass!
Recommended: "Mercy," "If Love is Outta Style," "Like Trash on the Ground," "Hey 2 Face"
Videos: "Mercy" "Like Trash on the Ground" "Hey 2 Face"
Kit Major
"Not as Witty as I Used to Be" single
(Futureless)
London sparkplug Kit not only draws influence from the safety-pinned Class of '77 and its successive roustabouts - her 'wanna make somethin' of it?' attitude and full-throated declarations qualify her as a member in good slouching, herself. At her back are electrified agitators, themselves of wicked potency. Numbered among them are AJ Peacox (guitar), Kamber Fishbein (bass), and Tom Fitzgibbon (drums). With forces combined, they crusade as a juggernaut of slashing gusto. "Not as Witty" was culled from forthcoming EP Miss Ego, scheduled for June 12 issuance.
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Crown City Bombers
"Toxic Town" single
(Self-issued)
With matter-of-fact terseness, Bombers' boss man Dave Bertiz relates a dark-truth tale: "Hey little girl gettin' off the bus, you're gonna be a star / You got strung out, you lost your job, well now you won't go far. Hey everybody gather 'round / It's showtime in this Toxic Town." Chugging rockbop makes common cause with his somberness, and is entirely content to monger its mesmerism as poised understatement. Albert Hammond's 1972 radio staple mourned identical dark-side-of-Hollywoodland realities, but lacked the razory soloing Dave deploys with head-turning consequence.
