PARK NATIONAL
RECORD: You Have To Keep Searching
RELEASED: 02|05|2025
LABEL: Brain Synthesizer
COLOUR | EDITION: Jade Green Eco-Blend, Limited to 250
FAVORITE TRACKS: Lake Mich., Old Wounds, Distance, Fallback, Let ‚Em Live, 21
PURCHASED: Devil Dog Distro
BAND DISCOVERED
I occasionally place orders from this UK store since learning about Devil Dog Distribution through a connection with Best Life Records. They got some really cool Devil Dog exclusives, and Joe, who runs the business by himself, is a cool person. So Devil Dog’s suggestions are usually good ones for finding great new music. And so it was with Park National. Liam Fagan, who is the one behind Park National, was unknown to me, and I’m glad that now I have the chance to get to know him and his music better and better. Smart emotional rock music, some classic, some groovy, and always a touch of melancholy.
WISH
Hope to see Park National at some time in Europe.
HORSE RIDER
BAND DISCOVERED
It was a decision by the cover artwork. How cool is that? That’s what I remember. I definitely read the review after my first listening. I can’t remember which internet fanzine picked Horse Rider but I’m glad that anyone at all did so. Sometimes it’s so joyful and heartfelt when find new music, new music in the sense that your feelings simply need this musically snapshot and your inner self is simply served perfectly.
CHARACTERISTICS THAT APPLY
melancholy | emo | differently | alternative
BESIDES THAT
Curious about more. Live and as a physical release.
BUNNY TONIGHT
BAND DISCOVERED
I discovered Bunny tonight via an IG Story post from the band Glaring Orchid. Often the best source is simply to trust the musicians you like and who cater to your bubble of taste. No promotion pulled out of your fingers can compete with that.
CHARACTERISTICS THAT APPLY
noisey | experimental | diy | independent | distorted | melancholy
I CAN MAKE A MESS
RECORD: I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business
RELEASED: 04|25|2025
LABEL: Drive-Thru Records
COLOUR | EDITION: Tri-Colour, Pink, Green & Blue Vinyl, 2x LP (US-Import)
FAVORITE TRACKS: So I Finally Decided To Give Myself A Reason, Timshel, The Best Happiness Money Can Buy, An Oak Tree Stand Besides A Linden, Salvy
PURCHASED: Devil Dog Distro
BAND DISCOVERED
This was too long ago. The internet was just open to the public, but no one thought about music websites, blogs, social media, etc. I guess it was the German print magazine Visions with a story or a review for Ace Enders‘ (The Early November) debut solo record under the moniker I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody’s Business, which turned a few years later just into I Can Make A Mess. That CD was played on heavy rotation. And many songs went on mixtapes and burned CDs. In April 2025, this record was released for the first time on vinyl. I didn’t hesitate a second and bought this one at Devil Dog Distro.
GREET DEATH
RECORD: Die In Love
RELEASED: 06|27|2025
LABEL: Deathwish Inc.
COLOUR | EDITION: Candied Heart, Limited Edition – Deathwish Exclusive
FAVORITE TRACKS: Same But Different Now, Country Girl, Red Rocket, Emptiness Is Everywhere, August Underground, Small Town Cemetery
PURCHASED: Devil Dog Distro
BAND DISCOVERED
I noticed Greet Death via Deathwish newsletter. The first song was probably Do You Feel Nothing from the Deathwish debut New Hell. During Covid I fell in love with the melancholy acoustic ballad Your Love Is Alcohol and sadly but true, alcohol was a thing during Covid. This band could be very versatile and has multiple facets. It’s a recommendation from the heart – go get the album.
BESIDES THAT
The song Country Girl has such a monotonously beautiful groove that I couldn’t stop listen.
WISH
Hopefully they will play Europe someday.
TURNSTILE
RECORD: Never Enough
RELEASED: 06|06|2025
LABEL: Roadrunner Records
COLOUR | EDITION: Orange Clay, Limited Edition Gatefold Cover
FAVORITE TRACKS: Never Enough, I Care, Look Out For Me, Seein‘ Stars
PURCHASED: Turnstile Official Webstore
BAND DISCOVERED
It was back in 2015 when a friend of mine suggested a Turnstile gig in Cologne. After checking out their long-play debut, Nonstop Feeling, it was clear to me that this is not my type of thing. A few years later, in 2018, the HC band Fury came to the Rhine area, and I freaked out that this really happened. They played with two or three other bands, some local support, and another US band. That band was Turnstile. I didn’t care because all I wanted to see were these songs from Paramount, the glorious Fury debut record. Nearly 100 people were at this tiny location, and after the Fury set, my inner music nerd became (another) Turnstile fan. It was awesome.
BESIDES THAT
I’ve also followed the musical work of the bands Big Cheese and Chubby & The Gang here and there and was super happy for Meg Mills that she found her place in Turnstile. It’s all become incredibly huge. Music remains a matter of taste, but this band is doing a few things the right way.
wish:
Stay focused on the good ones.
HOTLINE TNT
RECORD: Raspberry Moon
RELEASED: 06|20|2025
LABEL: Third Man records
COLOUR | EDITION: Black, LP
FAVORITE TRACKS: Was I Wrong?, Julia’s war, Letter To Heaven, Break Right, Candle
PURCHASED: Underdog Recordstore
BAND/ARTIST DISCOVERED
I’m pretty sure that I noticed Hotline TNT via an instagram post by the New York City club and bar Baby’s All Right. I follow that channel since a Coughy gig back in 2018 I went to. Hotline TNT played there in 2022. I checked out their profile and saw the many similarities in shared followers – so it was pretty clear that this is a match.
BESIDES THAT
The classic distorted independent sound of Hotline TNT is full of nostalgia, DIY and melancholy.
WISH
Hopefully they will play Europe in the near future to catch them live.
CHLOE FOY
RECORD: Complete Fool
RELEASED: 06|06|2025
LABEL: Self Released
COLOUR | EDITION: Black, First Pressing
FAVORITE TRACKS: Accidents, I Tried So Hard To Disappear, Elephant In The Room, Animals
PURCHASED: Artist Bandcamp
BAND/ARTIST DISCOVERED
Chloe Foy and her musical partner Harry Fausing Smith were live musicians with William And The Conquerer in the song The Puppet And The Puppeteer. I fell in love immediately after listening to her own songs from the debut record Where Shall We Begin and her beautiful cover of one of my all-time favorites, Just Like Heaven.
CHARACTERISTICS THAT APPLY
heartfelt | introverted | empathetic | melancholy
WISH
Seeing Chloe Foy live at Orange Blossom Special Festival one day
