Words by Jonathan Stout
When not doing freelance writing, Jonathan Stout is heavily involved in the NKY and Cincinnati music scenes as the Marketing Manager for Kentucky based venue The Southgate House Revival and founder of DIY Recording label Lo Fi City Recordings. He’s also an active musician, performing and recording with Sleepy Drums, Mutt Fuzz, Burnt Cabins and gewgaw.
Guitarist Steve Gunn is returning, hot on the heels of Flam (February’s release from the Gunn-Truscinski Duo), with Music for Writers (Three Lobed) on August 15, a wordless collection of pieces meant to inspire. “It is music made in both stillness and motion, music that listens as much as it speaks,” Gunn says of the album. “Each track offers a space—open, textured, often slow-moving—where ideas, images, and feelings drift in and out.” Recorded across Brooklyn, Berlin, Latvia with a setup consisting of guitar, synthesizers and field recordings, these sparse and minimalist compositions help the listener’s mind wander to creative spaces. The largely improvisational collection not only gives the listener an opportunity to open their own mind, but it also provides an opportunity to hear Gunn operate naturally and stretch out to new realms of experimentation himself. Mixing beauty with uncertainty, these soundscapes represent the tension between presence and movement. Already solidified as one of indie rock’s most creative guitarists, Music for Writers widens our expectations from this prolific artist to new unexpected and fresh territory.
Black Market Karma’s newest release Mellowmaker follows after 2024’s Wobble, serving as the second chapter in their series for Fuzz Club Records. Crafted entirely by Stanley Belton, Mellowmaker mixes both analogue tape imperfections and modern recording techniques to create a special brand of lo-fi psychedelia – blending ‘60s pop, ‘90s neo-psych and crunchy hip-hop breakbeats. It’s a very cerebral brand of psych whose raw sensibilities recall the genuine, earnest nature of early Brian Jonestown Massacre and Elephant 6 records. There is a sense of yearning and introspection within these songs that carry on the transitional, or liminal, direction started with Wobble, but tempers it with a vague optimism. The pair of albums together ultimately leave the listener in a pensive, but positive, mindset.
June also saw the return of heavy rockers Electric Citizen with EC4, released on their new home of Heavy Psych Sounds Records. A full seven years since their previous release Helltown, EC4 is a meticulously crafted collection of compositions that both reintroduces the band while also staying true to their thunderous legacy. Guitarist Ross Dolan’s Sabbath worship has expanded to incorporate an increasing amount of exciting prog-leaning arrangements (“Static Vision”), heavy Vanilla Fudge-like organ driven proto metal (“Mire”), dramatic balladry (“Traveler’s Moon”) and Renaissance Fair acoustic sojourns (“Tuning Tree”). And let’s not forget to mention how fantastic Laura Dolan’s vocals and lyrics are here! Gone are any extra theatric adornments to her approach – what we hear on EC4 is an equally confident singer who is able to conjure a fresh sense of mystery and existential longing with the same conviction that she delivers venomous rockers like “Smokey” and “Lizard Brain.” To put it simply, EC4 takes an already really solid band and propels them even further with an impressively huge sounding recording, lush arrangements and an energized sense of inspiration that sounds more confident than ever.
Following March’s IC-02 Bogotá, Unknown Mortal Orchestra hit back in June with the six song, 12 minute CURSE (Jagjaguar). Blink and you’ll miss this one but the track selection and sequencing truly come together to make what feels like a complete work. Though some songs – and even the artwork – hone in on the band’s more Sabbathy tendencies (“BOYS WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WOLVES”, “ONE HUNDRED BATS”) they make sure to incorporate their own patented brand of chill psych with automatic classics “DEATH COMES FROM THE SKY” and “SORCERERS OF SILENCE.” Bookend these songs with some ominous dungeon synth and you have CURSE. Sounds fun? It sure is.