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.
I wanted to kick this edition off by talking about a couple recent releases from my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio!
The experimental project consisting of prolific artists Mother Father and Jake Borgemenke returned in June with …And It Showed Us the Truth, a true mash-up between the artists’ styles. An introspective album, with lyrics often drawing upon self-reflective topics, the music jumps all over the place- from lo-fi indie rock (“Will We Hear It Speak to Us,” “Q.O.D”), rhythmic spacey synth (“Mind Reader,” “Packed Lunch”), cold and driving post punk (“Spiral”), tripped out, classic Beck style hip hop (“Running Away”) and more. The genre hopping might be too jarring for some listeners, but it also makes sense in a progressive sense. In this day and age, there’s a lot of discussion among artists mourning the supposed death of the album, as streaming models have modern listeners preferring singles and playlists over listening to entire albums from single artists. However, as alternative artists have become less tethered to rigid parameters, we’re hearing a lot of new releases that experiment with a variety of sounds. …And It Showed Us the Truth isn’t scared of pushing parameters and leans into this concept – if you make a record that sounds like a shuffled playlist already, maybe listeners will be more inclined to stick around to the end!
Shoegaze psych knob-twisters, Left at Orion, also returned in June with Irene’s Dream. This release delivers nine tracks that follow solidly in the path set forth with 2024’s Radiowaves and with the members’ previous band Slow Glows, Irene’s Dream ratchets up the reverb throughout, but especially on hypnotizing numbers “Hey Cade” and “Avalanche” where listeners get lost in the spiraling layers of vocals and guitars. But it’s not all soothing atmospherics here, with up-tempo overdriven janglers like “Sunbeam” and “Jellyfish” turning up the volume and rollicking in a Brit-pop psych way that would make Ride and The Verve proud. The sonic collage is held together by brief experimental instrumental sojourns ( “ride”, “the wave”) which add a mysterious depth to the overall listen.
We’re going to leave Cincinnati now and travel to Norway to cover Motorpsycho’s newest release, The Gaia II Space Corps. Following their previous sprawling, ominous epic (2025’s Motorpsycho), The Gaia II Space Corps takes the focus away from the occult imagery of its predecessor and instead delivers 7 hard hitting slabs of fuzzed out, proto-psych prog goodness. This release benefits from its succinct runtime and delivery, since their previous double-album took a bit longer to digest. The Gaia II Space Corps kicks open the gates from the jump with “Fanny Again, Or” and lets the jams run free from there on out. A tried and true guitar album, this release draws upon the rollicking heavy vibes of 70s icons like Mountain, Steve Miller, King Crimson, Captain Beyond and Van Der Graaf Generator to create an exciting space psych ripper that holds the listener closely for its 36 minute run time. This band has existed since the 90’s and still remain endlessly inspired- constantly churning out new releases, each following a wide range of stylistic muses. The Gaia II Space Corps proves the juices are still flowing in abundance – luckily for us!
Heavy psych legends Dead Meadow returned late last month with Foundlings (Heavy Psych Sounds) a collection that digs deep into the band’s archives, spanning over two decades of sessions, tributes and unreleased gems. Seemingly bookending the band’s time with bassist Steve Kille (who passed away two years ago after a long battle against cancer) Foundlings captures everything that’s great about the band, but also leaves a bittersweet feeling for fans. Not only is the release not necessarily all “new” content (as fans have probably already hunted down the previously released tribute albums containing “No Quarter” and “Tomorrow Never Knows”), this collection seemingly ties up all previously unfinished work with Kille, which means this era of the band is officially done. Nonetheless, as the band has continued to soldier forward with new live shows this year, it’s clear that they still have more to offer, and as sad as it is to no longer have Kille, it’s nice to still have the band in existence. This release is a nice treat for fans, collecting recordings from rare recent sessions, and whereas The Beatles and Zepp songs may have been previously easy to find, their EarthQuaker Devices session and Committee to Keep Music Evil session recorded with Anton Newcombe and Rob Campanella (The Brian Jonestown Massacre) were not. Is this an essential release? Probably not – but it’s still a wonderful testament to the bands range and ability that old fans will appreciate and will easily have new fans begging for more.