******COMPETITION TIME!******
Pre-order the LP on any format and you could win one of 5 limited edition slip mats! So get your order in now!

NPN*


Sheer Mag have labored to carve out a discernibly singular position within the canon of contemporary rock: toggling with ease between the refined flourishes of a “connoisseur’s band” and the ecstatic colloquialism of populist songwriting—yet displaying no strict loyalty to either camp—their sound, while oft-referenced, is unmistakably and immediately recognizable as theirs alone. On Playing Favorites, Sheer Mag’s third full-length and first with Third Man Records, the band capitalize on a decade’s worth of devotion to their own collective spirit—a spirit refined in both the sweaty trenches of punk warehouses and the larger-than-life glamor of concert halls—emerging with a dense work of gripping emotions, massive hooks, and masterfully constructed power-pop anthems. Playing Favorites expands with a sense of undeniable vitality, buoyed by rock and roll’s singular capacity to channel a relentless compassion for human life: as singer Tina Halladay puts it, “Nobody seems to write straight up rock bangers anymore—more than anything else, we want this record to put huge, catchy songwriting front and center.” This is the record the Philadelphian rock and roll four-piece has always been destined to make.

*NPN - drop us an email to mail@piccadillyrecords.com with Sheer Mag Competition in the subject.

TRACK LISTING

1. Playing Favorites
2. Eat It And Beat It
3. All Lined Up
4. Don't Come Lookin'
5. I Gotta Go
6. Moonstruck
7. Mechanical Garden
8. Golden Hour
9. Tea On The Kettle
10. Paper Time
11. When You Get Back

History has shown that the greatest bands - bands with that certain, ever elusive quality called lasting power - neither conform to nor buck the trends of their time, but rather force the times to catch up to them. Sheer Mag has such lasting power in droves. After almost a decade spent carving out a career that has already become the stuff of modern underground legend, the band’s new stand-alone single, “All Lined Up,” comes alongside the announcement of their signing to Third Man Records - their first partnership with a larger independent label–who will also be physically and digitally re-releasing the entirety of Sheer Mag’s back-catalogue, including their cult-beloved early EPs I (2014), II (2015), and III (2016), as well as their first two breakthrough LPs, Need To Feel Your Love (2017) and A Distant Call (2019). Sheer Mag’s sensibility, as fervently beloved by baseball-tee clad garage rockers and tattoo-less indie kids as it is by leather-and-stud-loyal punks, finds its strength in an unconventional mixture of refined complexity and straight-forward pop prowess. Seamlessly trading between head-turning guitar heroics and a charmingly timeless blend of disco, hard rock, and garage inflected hooks, Sheer Mag’s oft-referenced, never-replicated sound has played an undeniably large role in stoking the current resurgence of interest power-pop forward rock music. While quickly adopted as a fan-favorite amongst the sweat-caked crowds of the early 2010’s underground, time has attested to Sheer Mag’s singular cultural mutability: though never straying too far from their home-town Philadelphian origins

TRACK LISTING

1. Steel Sharpens Steel
2. Cold Sword
3. Chopping Block
4. Blood From A Stone
5. Unfound Manifest
6. The Right Stuff
7. The Killer
8. Silver Line
9. Keep On Runnin
10. Hardly To Blame

History has shown that the greatest bands - bands with that certain, ever elusive quality called lasting power - neither conform to nor buck the trends of their time, but rather force the times to catch up to them. Sheer Mag has such lasting power in droves. After almost a decade spent carving out a career that has already become the stuff of modern underground legend, the band’s new stand-alone single, “All Lined Up,” comes alongside the announcement of their signing to Third Man Records - their first partnership with a larger independent label–who will also be physically and digitally re-releasing the entirety of Sheer Mag’s back-catalogue, including their cult-beloved early EPs I (2014), II (2015), and III (2016), as well as their first two breakthrough LPs, Need To Feel Your Love (2017) and A Distant Call (2019). Sheer Mag’s sensibility, as fervently beloved by baseball-tee clad garage rockers and tattoo-less indie kids as it is by leather-and-stud-loyal punks, finds its strength in an unconventional mixture of refined complexity and straight-forward pop prowess. Seamlessly trading between head-turning guitar heroics and a charmingly timeless blend of disco, hard rock, and garage inflected hooks, Sheer Mag’s oft-referenced, never-replicated sound has played an undeniably large role in stoking the current resurgence of interest power-pop forward rock music. While quickly adopted as a fan-favorite amongst the sweat-caked crowds of the early 2010’s underground, time has attested to Sheer Mag’s singular cultural mutability: though never straying too far from their home-town Philadelphian origins

TRACK LISTING

1. Suffer Me
2. Meet Me In The Street
3. Pure Desire
4. Need To Feel Your Love
5. Until You Find The One
6. Just Can't Get Enough
7. Milk And Honey
8. Expect The Bayonet
9. Rank And File
10. Can't Play It Cool
11. Turn It Up
12. (Say Goodbye To) Sophie Scholl

History has shown that the greatest bands-bands with that certain, ever elusive quality called lasting power-neither conform to nor buck the trends of their time, but rather force the times to catch up to them. Sheer Mag has such lasting power in droves. After almost a decade spent carving out a career that has already become the stuff of modern underground legend, the band’s new stand-alone single, “All Lined Up,” comes alongside the announcement of their signing to Third Man Records - their first partnership with a larger independent label–who will also be physically and digitally re-releasing the entirety of Sheer Mag’s back-catalogue, including their cult-beloved early EPs I (2014), II (2015), and III (2016), as well as their first two breakthrough LPs, Need To Feel Your Love (2017) and A Distant Call (2019). Sheer Mag’s sensibility, as fervently beloved by baseball-tee clad garage rockers and tattoo-less indie kids as it is by leather-and-stud-loyal punks, finds its strength in an unconventional mixture of refined complexity and straight-forward pop prowess. Seamlessly trading between head-turning guitar heroics and a charmingly timeless blend of disco, hard rock, and garage inflected hooks, Sheer Mag’s oft-referenced, never-replicated sound has played an undeniably large role in stoking the current resurgence of interest power-pop forward rock music. While quickly adopted as a fan-favorite amongst the sweat-caked crowds of the early 2010’s underground, time has attested to Sheer Mag’s singular cultural mutability: though never straying too far from their home-town Philadelphian origins

TRACK LISTING

1. Whose Side Are You On
2. What You Want
3. Sit And Cry
4. Button Up
5. Point Breeze
6. Can't Stop The Fighting
7. Worth The Tears
8. Hard Lovin'
9. Night Isn't Bright
10. Fan The Flames
11. Travelin' On
12. Nobody's Baby

Formed in 1992, Boris boldly explores their own vision of heavy music, where words like "explosive" and "thunderous" barely do justice. Using overpowering soundscapes embellished with copious amounts of lighting and billowing smoke, Boris has shared with audiences across the planet an experience for all five senses in their concerts, earning legions of zealous fans along the way. This is the highly-requested, unbelievably-anticipated official vinyl release of Boris's 2002 album and first dive into the stoner rock idiom, originally released in Japan on CD only. Heavy Rocks (2002) is heavy, sure, but fuses sludge, noise, stoner rock and hardcore all together for a deeply bone-shaking and unforgettable trip. For fans of: Melvins, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, BORIS

TRACK LISTING

1. Heavy Friends
2. Korosu
3. Dyna-Soar
4. Wareruraido
5. Soft Edge
6. Dronevil
7. Death Valley
8. Koei
9. The Bell Tower Of A Sign
10. 1970
11. Rattlesnake
12. Wareruraido (Demo Version)
13. 1970 (Demo Version)

Snõõper (the Project) began as a collaboration between local Nashville punk mainstay Connor Cummins and Blair Tramel, an early education teacher with a sideline in wickedly funny animation and art. As their cassette tapes and homemade videos began to find scattered fans around the world, the duo brought the Project to the live stage in late 2021 and Snõõper (the Band) was born.

Featuring one of the wildest live shows out there, as well a maelstrom of puppets, 8 bit animation, papier-mâché, whistles, flashing lights and a whirling dervish of bodies, Snõõper commits the live act to a studio setting and sets the stage for one of the most promising punk debut albums in decades.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Bristling post-punk guitars, intricate percussive blasts and rhythmic vocal lines make for one of the most refreshing and incendiary acts to have emerged in a good few years. Wonderfully inventive while still retaining all of the innate uncomplicated drive of a good punk record. Absolutely essential listen.

TRACK LISTING

1 Stretching
2 Bed Bugs
3 Pod
4 Fitness
5 Powerball
6 Xerox
7 Fruit Fly
8 Inventory
9 Stretching 2
10 Stretching 3
11 Defect
12 Town Topic
13 Music For Spies
14 Microbe
15 Unable
16 Running 

Originally called 'Love Island' - until "Linus didn't make the audition process so we jumbled it around" (or, possibly, for legal reasons) - Third Man London's first signing settled instead on 'Island of Love'.

For the label, an island within the UK music scene is exactly what Karim, Linus and Daniel are: feedback-fuelled adolescents with a depth of songwriting unheard since Teenage Fanclub's formative 'Catholic Education', and late '80s Dinosaur Jr. So mind-bendingly good are the group that Third Man co-founder and owner Ben Swank presented an offer approximately thirty seconds after they played the opening weekend of Third Man's new Soho digs (...new to the extent that the drummer left the stage with paint up his back).

Bonded by playing in various punk, hardcore and metal bands in their hometown of London, Island of Love's now double frontmen, Linus and Karim, would write and share demos between their family homes. The lo-fi, fuzzy fruits of these sessions melded into 2020's seven song 'Promo Tape', followed by 2021’s Third Man EP ‘Songs of Love’. Now, no longer a bedroom project, they present their adrenaline-filled debut, awashed with guitar distortion, Linus and Karim's dark harmonies and contemplative lyrics beyond their teenage years. This special release is sure to go down in both the TMR history books as well as mosh pits nationwide

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Island Of Love's debut is a roaring mix of 90's grunge, huge walls of sound and sharp distorted riffs twist under an undeniably tempering vocal performance from both guitarists. 'Grow' is the quintessential mid-point between grunge, pop-punk and indie, full of grit and swimming with earworm melodies.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Big Whale
2. Fed Rock
3. Grow
4. Blues 2000
5. Sweet Loaf

Side 2
1. I've Got The Secret
2. Losing Streak
3. Weekend At Clive's
4. Charles
5. Never Understand
6. It Was All Ok Forever

Raving Ghost is an album populated by mysterious characters in various states of danger – cursed lovers, doomed souls, women deliriously haunted by unseen forces. Over the course of its 11 spellbinding tracks, Olivia Jean amplifies that drama with her wildly melodic take on garage rock, handling each riff with the power and precision she’s previously shown as a member of the Black Belles and as an in-demand session/touring musician who has played with legends like Wanda Jackson.

Featuring backing from such top musicians as My Morning Jacket keyboardist Bo Koster, Jellyfish co-founder Roger Joseph Manning Jr, and drummers Carla Azar (T-Bone Burnett, Nikki Lane) and Patrick Keeler (The Raconteurs, The Afghan Whigs), the album is a feverish collision of goth- punk, power-pop, and classic garage, charged with an energy so intense that the speakers to several of Valentine Recording Studios’ vintage amps ended up blowing out during the sessions. A stunning evolution of the retro-surf sound featured on Olivia Jean’s critically acclaimed past solo work, Raving Ghost ultimately proves the most magnificently heavy and mesmerizing output yet from an endlessly fascinating artist. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Martin says: Olivia Jean presents a sleek, enjoyable mid-point between lo-fi garage rock and melodic goth-pop, all topped with Jean's psychedelic vocals. Brilliantly produced and presented too, classic Third Man.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. Raving Ghost
2. Too Late
3. Spider
4. Trouble
5. I Need You
SIDE 2
1. Ditch
2. Fun
3. Fate
4. Orinoco Flow
5. Godmother
6. Don't Leave

London-based Gina Birch began her storied career in music in 1977 when she formed the feminist punk band The Raincoats with fellow Hornsey School of Art student, Ana da Silva. Gina and Ana witnessed an early performance by The Slits and although neither of them knew how to play any instruments, they knew they had to start a band. Just months after they picked up their instruments they were on stage doing their thing around London and the UK in the fledgling and groundbreaking punk rock scene. The Raincoats quickly developed a large and loyal groups of fans and supporters, among them Red Krayola, Swell Maps and Geoff Travis and his new record label, Rough Trade. The Raincoats went on to record 3 albums for Rough Trade that are frequently found on lists of the most important records of the punk rock era and are still name checked as influences by artists today.

Originally, The Raincoats broke up in 1984 but were talked into reforming in 1994 when Kurt Cobain asked them to go on tour in support of Nirvana (sadly, that never happened). With a renewed interest in the band led by Kurt and Kim Gordon, The Raincoats records were reissued with liner notes by Kurt and Kim themselves. Worldwide tours and a brand new 4th album on DGC resulted in 1996. The Raincoats still perform today for special events and have started their own record label, We Three Records, to handle their back catalog.

Gina is a respected painter, a celebrated filmmaker and video director (directing videos for The Libertines and New Order to name a few) and is a mother of 2 wonderful daughters. She has formed and fronted the band Dorothy and The Hangovers.

In September of 2021, Gina released her first ever solo single, Feminist Song, on Third Man Records in celebration of the opening of their brand new London location. Now Third Man release Gina’s brand new and first ever solo full length album, I Play My Bass Loud, recorded by Martin “Youth” Glover from Killing Joke and featuring Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth.

STAFF COMMENTS

Laura says: The debut solo album from the former Raincoats singer / bassist is a glorious amalgamation of new and old sounds. Meandering bass weaves around brooding synths, while Gina's vocals sway from heavily processed and angsty to softer (but no less defiant) to sprechgesang and spoken word. There are some great dub infused tracks that hark back to late 70s post-punk too. It's an album that could really have been made any time between 1977 and the present day and would sit nicely alongside your The Raincoats, The Slits, Big Joanie and Dry Cleaning LPs.

Dean Fertita has been at the heart of American rock ‘n’ roll for almost two decades, from his role as an invaluable member of Queens of the Stone Age and The Dead Weather, touring keyboardist with The Raconteurs, and backing musician on records by Jack White, Karen O, Iggy Pop, Brendan Benson, The Kills, Beck, and more. While his own music had been the focus in his role as lead singer, guitarist, and founder of The Waxwings and on recordings as Hello=Fire, Fertita began Tropical Gothclub with no clear mission for a solo album under his own name. In early 2020, the TN-based musician put up a small A-frame in his backyard to use as a writing and recording space while stuck at home during the looming pandemic. With rare time on his hands, Fertita set to work recording demos of the many musical ideas he had accumulated over the years, building upon songs and fragments written during different stages of his busy career. Fertita then enlisted his old friend Dave Feeny – a veteran Detroit musician and owner of The Tempermill recording studios in Ferndale, MI – to help develop the recordings even further, pushing the original demos in deliberate new directions to create a showcase for his wide-ranging songcraft and visionary imagination.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. Needles
2. Wheels Within Wheels
3. Captivated
4. Where There Is Water
5. Infernal Inside
6. No Wonder

SIDE 2
1. Death Rattle
2. Double Blind
3. Future To Follow
4. Thunder Towards You
5. Uniform Looks

The Paranoyds are Southern California DIY rock royalty. Fueled by the fiery energy of their live shows paired with raw lyricism and subtle societal commentary, The Paranoyds are unafraid and unapologetically in perpetual pursuit of a good time. The four-piece is made up of Laila Hashemi (keyboardist-vocals), Lexi Funston (guitars/vocals), Staz Lindes (bass/vocals) and David Ruiz (drums, vocals) who together masterfully blend light-hearted playfulness with sharp sincerity over fuzzy guitar, dreamy vocals and punchy, punky rock-n-roll.

Talk, Talk, Talk, the sophomore album from The Paranoyds gives the band space to expand, evolve and above all, have fun. Over 11 tracks, the band experiments with sounds that span an eclectic array of genres–from jazz, to lo-fi punk-rock, to groovy R&B–that melt together showcasing the innovative range of The Paranoyds.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. BWP
2. Lizzie
3. Nissan Overdrive
4. Typing
5. Single Origin Experience
6. Freak Out
SIDE 2
1. Andrew
2. Over And Done
3. 6th Street Bridge
4. LA 2032
5. Sunburn

Recorded under a loft bed in the guest bedroom of his Nashville home, Michael Ruth aka Rich Ruth’s “I Survived, It’s Over” starts in a humble space. And while many contemporary music projects are produced in such an environment, “I Survived, It’s Over” sets itself apart in its transformative properties as well as its transparency. What we have here is honest sound exploration, session musician-level instrumentation, and a true love for nature run through the fingers of a dude who can channel some acute and undeniable magic.

This music goes deep.

"I conceived much of this record amidst the quiet and tumult of 2020 in my neighborhood that had recently been ravaged by a tornado," Ruth recalls, "I spent most of my days working on these pieces between bicycle rides - watching the beautiful Tennessee ecosystem flourish in Shelby Park, listening to Keith Jarrett’s The Koln Concert and John Coltrane’s Ascension."

Underneath the swell of the strings and the shredding of the guitars, this record has hard working, rustbelt, drum-heavy roots all over it (which makes sense as Ruth hails from outside of Toledo, the album was mixed by John McEntire from Chicago band Tortoise). Many of the flutes, saxophones, pedal steel, and other instruments were recorded remotely because we live in the future, but this only adds to the collage of sampled and sample-able material that Rich Ruth has to offer. The organic relationships between the artist and other musicians on the album is evident even in the compilation style sampling that needs to occur in putting such a project together.

"Working on this music is a daily meditation," says Ruth. "I constantly experiment with sound until it reflects the way I am feeling and attempt to sculpt something meaningful from it. Through years of being a touring musician, it is a constant inspiration and privilege to collaborate with the individuals that graced this record with their voices." And those relationships pay off, because “I Survived, It’s Over” is a sonic meal. It’s rich (no pun intended) with massive instrumentation that’s usually reserved for more symphonic delights. But at the same time it’s simple and leaves space to breathe–space you didn’t know you needed.

In his own words; "I Survived, It’s Over is a meditation on healing, confronting trauma, surrendering, and finding peace. I wanted to encapsulate the tranquility and disarray found within this process."

Ruth’s heart and the peace that his presence produces is all over this album. And despite his midwestern humility and willingness to brush off any praise, he’s put together something really special that carries its own weight. It's the kind of record that only comes around every once in a while and it's worthy of all the head-bobs, acclaim, and celebratory potlucks that Mike and the gang have coming their way.

“I Survived, It’s Over” is a record you should buy for your friend, your foe, and yourself. It’ll sit perfectly on your shelf between Alice Coltrane and Hiroshi Yoshimura.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. Taken Back
2. Older But Not Less Confused
3. Desensitization And Reprocessing
4. Heavy And Earthbound

SIDE 2
1. Thou Mayest
2. Angel Slide
3. Doxology

'Entering Heaven Alive' is the fifth studio album from Jack White, founding member of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather. True to his DIY roots, this record was recorded at White's Third Man Studio throughout 2021, mastered by Third Man Mastering, and released by Third Man Records.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Two LP's in one year? Madness. Fortunately, White is one of the most singularly recognisable talents out there, and manages to imbue 'Entering Heaven Alive' with every bit of his trademark dynamism and stellar riffing skills. It's ANOTHER testament to what an endlessly talented chap he is, and a bloody good listen.

Lola Kirke stands out like a flash of neon magenta in this nostalgic landscape of Americana tin-types. While many of her singing, songwriting peers look further back for inspiration, Kirke’s sweet spot is decidedly in the excess of the 80’s. Anyone only familiar with Kirke through her on-screen performances (Mistress America, Gone Girl, or Mozart in the Jungle) may be surprised by just how dazzling Lola-playing-Lola can be. Just a few lines into “Better than Any Drug,“ it’s clear no written role could reveal more of Kirke’s wit, lust for life, and sense of humor than this record captures with the help of producer Austin Jenkins (White Denim, Leon Bridges).

Scheduled for release in April 2022, the 10-song sophomore full-length album showcases Kirke’s unselfconscious, country-twinged vocals alongside a brightly colored candy shop of glam-twang guitar riffs, department store tv commercial synth stylings, and swooping, lilting, unabashedly feminine background vocals. Lady For Sale channels a high-spirited insouciance that feels invigorating and familiar, decidedly more easy-going and fun-loving than what we’ve come to expect from its genre (and the world in general) in recent years. This is a party you’ll want to attend.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. Broken Families
2. If I Win
3. Better Than Any Drug
4. Lady For Sale
5. Pink Sky

SIDE 2
1. Stay Drunk
2. The Crime
3. Fall In Love Again
4. No Secrets
5. By Your Side

Fear of the Dawn is the fourth studio album from Jack White, founding member of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather. True to his DIY roots, this record was recorded at White's Third Man Studio throughout 2021, mastered by Third Man Mastering, pressed to vinyl at Third Man Pressing, and released by Third Man Records.

TRACK LISTING

1. Taking Me Back
2. Fear Of The Dawn
3. The White Raven
4. Hi-De-Ho
5. Eosophobia
6. Into The Twilight
7. Dusk
8. What's The Trick?
9. That Was Then (This Is Now)
10. Eosophobia (Reprise)
11. Morning, Noon And Night
12. Shedding My Velvet

Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros—consisting of Bobby Weir, Don Was, Jay Lane and Jeff Chimenti—are set to release their first ever vinyl collection of recorded material. Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros: Live In Colorado is out via Third Man Records—their debut with the label.

Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros: Live In Colorado features a collection of songs recorded at the band’s live performances at the historic Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado and the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, Colorado on June 8, 9, 11, 12, 2020.

These shows were the group’s first live audience concerts in over a year and featured Greg Leisz on pedal steel, along with The Wolfpack: Alex Kelly, Brian Switzer, Adam Theis, Mads Tolling and Sheldon Brown. “Been too long,” Weir said of the performances, “but I can’t think of a better place to pick it back up…” Weir explains “I’ve been workin’ in my spare time on expanding the sonic coloration of the songs I do. The Wolfpack is basically a step toward full orchestration - and further, I gotta say, these guys are game. We worked on the arrangements a bit but eventually we needed to trot it all out and play it for folks - and right at that moment, the folks in Colorado reached out and told us they were gonna open up. Holy Shit, WTF? Let’s Go.” Third Man Records says “When Don approached us about this project of course we all jumped at the opportunity. The whole live music experience is so important to everyone here at Third Man Records and the chance to work with a few of the all time greats, well it seems like a miracle.”

TRACK LISTING

Disc: 1
1. New Speedway Boogie (Live)
2. Big River (Live)
3. West L.A. Fadeaway (Live)
4. Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (Live)

Disc: 2
1. My Brother Esau (Live)
2. Looks Like Rain (Live)
3. Only A River (Live)
4. Lost Sailor/Saint Of Circumstance (Live)

Official reissue of North Americans' 2018 breakthrough album. Originally limited to 100 vinyl LPs. "For a piece that feels as if it could float away into nothing, Going Steady becomes the night." - NPR.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: I'm pretty surprised i'd not heard of this before to be honest, because this sort of instrumental folky business is right up mine (and Matt's) alley, and here it gets a beautiful reissue courtesy of the ever-brilliant Third Man. Warm and hazy slide guitar, shimmering reverb and SUPERB psychedelic cover art.

TRACK LISTING

1. Grayling
2. Bleeding Heart Tetra
3. Stanley
4. Alice Lake
5. Tench
6. Going Steady
7. Northern Pike (Be Kind To Me)
8. Cutty
9. Sockeye

In a world that doesn’t seem capable of swaying, Silver Synthetic’s self-titled debut shakes and boogies.

In the midst of the thick New Orleans summer of 2017, Chris Lyons of garage punks Bottomfeeders found himself sitting on a small batch of songs that didn’t quite fit the fuzzed-out pileups of that band. He called in his trusted confidants: Bottomfeeders drummer and longtime musical partner Lucas Bogner plus

bassist Pete Campanelli, and Kunal Prakash (Jeff the Brotherhood) dug the songs and signed on, and the quartet started playing in earnest.



By the time the band played its first gig in late 2018 at the opening of Nola’s ManRay Records, the songs had multiplied and the members of the newly christened Silver Synthetic had become genuine rock & roll craftsmen.



It makes sense that the band’s first gig was in a record shop ‘cause folks, this is record nerd-core in a major way, evocative of the LP's first golden era, as the late sixties oozed into the strange 1970s, with the requisite T-Rex stomps, Britfolk twists and turns, and dueling Verlaine/Lloyd guitars. It’s about warmth, and you can practically smell the gently glowing amp tubes.

While many of their peers would be lost without their daisy-chained and tangled pedal-boards, there’s a refreshing directness here, unassuming but confident, the result of a band deliberately not fussing too much over the thing, maintaining a connection to the feeling of hearing a well balanced two-guitar/bass/drums combo at a house show.

And it kinda was a house show. The album was recorded with Ross Farbe of Video Age, who lugged his mobile rig over to Lyons’ place in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. With the band set up in the living room the crew got down to business, striving to adhere to the live, honest approach. Minimal overdubs, dialed in tone, a good vibe.

You could call Silver Synthetic rock & roll formalists, but the truth is they're more like minimalists, stripping away tired clutter and unnecessary bloat and just zooming in on the essential. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: It says Andy McQueen all over it this one, jangling harmonies, slide guitar and ROCK SOLID melodies. Brilliantly evocative and superbly produced, this is yet another hit for the ever-reliable Third Man records.

Danny Kroha’s "Detroit Blues" could be considered part two of his solo debut LP - “Angels Watching Over Me”. In his own words, “It was me in a room playing acoustic instruments and doing my own arrangements of some old songs”. Not so fast man! When you hear this record and dig a little deeper into the facts, you’ll have a heightened awareness of the sonic beauty found in the simplicity. On many of these traditional songs, Danny dropped, added or rearranged verses from various sources, mixing up music from one song and words from another and unintentionally created his own amalgamation of early blues and 60s folk. Instead of following all the rules rooted the early blues and 60s folk, Danny Kroha mixed up all the rural and urban traditions and kicked out a new surreal sound that could really only happen in Detroit. “I listen to both genres, for sure. I just wasn’t TRYING to make a record that sounds like that. It just came out that way”

TRACK LISTING

1. Poor Howard
2. Leavin' Blues
3. Little Lulie
4. Detroit Blues
5. I'll Be Rested
6. Adam And Eve
7. Way Down In Florida On A Hog
8. Rich Girl, Poor Girl
9. Run Johnny
10. Oh Death
11. Reuben, Oh Reuben
12. House Of The Rising Sun
13. Up Above My Head
14. Come Out Of The Wilderness

It makes sense that Detroit had a buzzy, thriving space-rock scene in the ‘90s. What American city’s denizens had a more urgent need to disengage and think outside the grim, post-industrial rustbelt realities? With space-rock (and its close sonic cousin shoegaze) being at once expansive and introspective, it naturally appealed to the young, intelligent artists who gravitated toward its vertiginous orbit.

The music of Southeast Of Saturn did not arise organically from metro Detroit’s fertile soil. Locally, garage-rock, goth-rock, neo-hippie groups, and the usual preponderance of adequate bar bands dominated the landscape. Thirsty Forest Animals guitarist Andrew Peters summarizes the prevalent attitude among the Motor City’s space-rock contingent: “I don’t think we really noticed the local Detroit scene earlier on. We were more into the bands you would see in the NME / Melody Maker, zines, and records - mostly from the UK - on the walls at Play It Again”. If anything was a major factor locally, it was Play It Again, the independent record store in the suburbs of Detroit that nurtured the scene with its amazing curation of imports and killer used records picked up on owner Alan Kovan’s British record buying trips.

Penned “Detroit Space-Rock”, the scene centered around Burnt Hair Records, Burnt Hair CEO Larry Hoffman’s Life According To Larry radio show, Zoot’s Coffeehouse and bands, such as Windy & Carl, Asha Vida, Füxa, Auburn Lull, and Majesty Crush. It was a modern movement of a more traditional “space-rock” sound, influenced less by The Stooges and MC5 and more by Spacemen 3, Loop, My Bloody Valentine and krautrock bands like Can and Neu!. Even the best-known artists on Southeast Of Saturn - Windy & Carl, Majesty Crush, Füxa - never achieved mainstream success, but within the rock underground, they inspired a cultish devotion that burns to this day.

If you missed their evanescent output the first time around, this compilation will get you up to speed over its 19 mind-altering tracks. ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO ECHO

TRACK LISTING

DISC 1
SIDE 1
1. No. 1 Fan - Majesty Crush
2. She Doesn't Believe - Spectacle
3. Nape - Thirsty Forest Animals
4. Photon - Füxa
5. Andromeda Drone - The Delta Waves
SIDE 2
1. Instrumental #2 - Windy & Carl
2. Eskimo Summer - Asha Vida
3. Continuum - Ten Second Dynasty
4. By The Hand Of God - Children's Ice Cream
5. Grey - Miss Bliss

DISC 2
SIDE 1
1. Crasher - Astrobrite
2. Stardriver - Naming Mary
3. Shift - Glider
4. Serenity - Space Monkeys
5. Something Warm About The Rain - Jazzless
SIDE 2
1. Youreyesimmaculate - Lovesliescrushing
2. Laughing At Roadsigns - Caliope
3. June-Tide - Auburn Lull
4. Butterfield Eight - Thumbling

Third Man Records is chuffed to present to you the New Mexico-based artist Heather Trost’s second or third solo full-length. Petrichor is fresh, unique, and really fucking good.

Sonically, this modern psychedelic pop music is as experimental as it is accessible. Petrichor was recorded between 2018 and 2019 by Heather Trost and her husband Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel) at their home studio. The two are community activists in New Mexico, urban gardeners, and full-time musicians.

"As the rain renews the thirsty soil, let Heather Trost's 'Petrichor' soothe your soul and wake up your ears. Swirling vintage keys, propulsive drum beats, and the sweetest of voices bloom and grow here." - Naomi Yang, Galaxie 500

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: An enchanting mix of upbeat psychedelia, hypnotic folk and swooning 60's lysergic percussion. Trost has the perfect home in Third Man.

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. Let It In
2. Love It Grows
3. Tracks To Nowhere

SIDE 2
1. I'll Think Of You
2. Jump Into The Fire
3. VK09
4. Sunrise

Blistering live album from The Hives, recorded live to a brimming 250 person audience at Third Man Records' Blue Room in Nashville. Still holding strong as one of the best live bands of their time.

TRACK LISTING

1. Hate To Say I Told You So
2. Come On!
3. Walk Idiot Walk
4. I'm Alive
5. Tick Tick Boom
6. Main Offender
7. My Time Is Coming

“There's something about this record,” Benson says, describing his Third Man Records debut album Dear Life. “A friend of mine called it ‘life-affirming.’ I thought it was a joke at first but then realized, well, it’s about life and death for sure. I don’t know if that’s positive or optimistic or whatever, but that's what's going on with me.”

Brendan Benson finds himself in an enviable spot as he enters the third decade of a remarkably creative, consistently idiosyncratic career – an accomplished frontman, musician, songwriter, producer, band member, husband, and dad. Benson’s seventh solo album, and first new LP in almost seven years, Dear Life is this consummate polymath’s most inventive and upbeat work thus far, an 11-track song cycle about life, love, family, fatherhood, and the pure joy of making music. Produced and almost entirely performed by Benson at his own Readymade Studio in Nashville, the album sees the Michigan-born, Nashville-based artist – and co-founder, with Jack White, of The Raconteurs – reveling in a more modernist approach than ever before, fueled by a heady brew of cannabis, hip-hop, and a newly discovered interest in software drum programming. The result is an untapped playfulness that elevates expertly crafted songs like the opener, “I Can If You Want Me To,” and the first single, “Good To Be Alive,” with voluble arrangements, elastic grooves, and incandescent power. Imbued with revitalized ambition and confidence, Dear Life is Brendan Benson at his very best.

Beginning with his now-classic 1996 major label debut, One Mississippi – recently reissued by Third Man in its first-ever vinyl pressing – and its masterful 2002 follow-up, Lapalco, Benson has always infused classic craftsmanship with contemporary invention. Along with his own critically acclaimed canon, Benson is of course co-founder – with Jack White, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler – of The Raconteurs. The band first convened in 2006, winning worldwide acclaim, Grammy Award nominations, and a chart-topping smash single in “Steady As She Goes,” with their now-classic debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers The Raconteurs returned two short years later with 2008’s Consolers Of The Lonely. Like its predecessor, the LP proved a popular and critical phenomenon, earning the Grammy Award for “Best Engineered Non-Classical Album” as well as a nomination as “Best Rock Album.”

Dear Life came about gradually and organically after a self-imposed creative hiatus rooted in the happy arrival of his son and later, a daughter. Having spent the majority of his adult life on the road, Benson decided he’d prefer to stay home for a change and just be a dad. “I just couldn’t bear the thought of leaving,” he says. “I was so enamored with my kids, I just sort of lost touch with my career. I just didn’t want to go back to work.” Instead, Benson directed his musical energies elsewhere and fast proved an in-demand producer/engineer (Robyn Hitchcock, Young The Giant, Trapper Schoepp, The Greenhornes) and collaborative songwriter, with a CV that includes partnerships with Jake Bugg, Iain Archer (Snow Patrol), and The Kooks’ Luke Pritchard, among others. Despite his successes, after a few years in this voluntary wilderness, Benson surprised himself in 2017 by writing and recording the rocker “Half A Boy (And Half A Man).” “It just felt really good,” he says. “I felt like I was like born again. Seriously, it was almost a religious experience, like, oh my God, I love making music. I had forgotten. That’s how it started. It was kind of a spark. A re-ignition.”

TRACK LISTING

SIDE 1
1. I Can If You Want Me To
2. Good To Be Alive
3. Half A Boy (Half A Man)
4. Richest Man Alive
5. Dear Life

SIDE 2
1. Baby's Eyes
2. Freak Out
3. Evil Eyes
4. I’m In Love
5. I Quit
6. Who’s Gonna Love You

2019's release from Japan's Psych Lords, Boris. In turns dynamic, droney, stoney, dreamy and beautiful, these albums contain multitudes. Boris continues to push their sonic palette into new mind-shreddy directions. Formed in 1992, Boris boldly explores their own vision of heavy music, where words like “explosive” and “thunderous” barely do justice. Using overpowering soundscapes embellished with copious amounts of lighting and billowing smoke, Boris has shared with audiences across the planet an experience for all five senses in their concerts, earning legions of zealous fans along the way. Buy if you dig: Sunn O))), Sonic Youth, shoegaze, shitgaze.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Japanese dronelords Boris return to the unlikely, but 'thinking-about-it,-it-actually-makes-sense' home of Third Man for their latest excursion in hazy psychedelic distortion and arrhythmic cataclysmic heft. They've always been one of the most prolific and productive outfits on the scene, and that clearly shows on this mindblowing new opus.

TRACK LISTING

LP
Disc: 1
1. EVOL
2. Away From You
3. Coma
Disc: 2
1. Uzume
2. In The Pain(t)
3. Shadow Of Skull
4. LOVE

CD
1. Away From You
2. Coma
3. EVOL
4. Uzume
5. LOVE
6. In The Pain
7. Shadow Of Skull

Official reissue of Boris' 2003 flawless release. Drone waves meet heavy guitar heroics in a satanic pinky violence gang fight at the schoolyard. This ones for the Heads. Buy if you dig: Sabbath Worship, Comets on Fire, acid, leading children astray, Boris.

TRACK LISTING

1. NakiKyoku
2. Introduction
3. Ibitsu
4. AnoOnna No Onryou
5. Furi
6. Akuma No Uta

Olivia Jean is back on the beat with her second full-length (and first self-produced) album, Night Owl, due out August 30, 2019 on Third Man Records. The album mines the shared spaces between bubblegum, beach pop undercurrents and fuzzed out garage a la B-52s and Dick Dale, lyrically diving headfirst into the frustrations of perfectionism, mental barriers, obsession and modern heartache. Unlike Bathtub Love Killings on which we found Olivia playing every instrument on the vast majority of the album, Night Owl is decidedly more collaborative, with a studio band of buddies backing up her up. Night Owl is exactly what it sounds like: the wee-hour workings of an artist engrossed in a project, pushing against omnipresent forces of fear and judgment to do exactly what you’ve always wanted to do and be exactly what you’ve known you are. It’s candy-coated and also bittersweet, fully aware and also full-hearted.

TRACK LISTING

1. Garage Bat
2. Night Owl
3. Shut Your Mouth
4. Brushfire
5. In Two
6. If You Don’t Love Me By Now
7. Rhinestone
8. The Hunt
9. JaanPehechaanHo
10. Can You Help Me?
11. Siren Call
12. I Used To Be Lonely
13. Perfume
14. Tsunami Sue

Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969, is a 50th anniversary celebration collecting previously unheard songs by such blues legends as Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, James Cotton, Son House, Magic Sam, T-Bone Walker, Junior Wells, Big Mama Thornton, Clifton Chenier, Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Lightnin’ Hopkins, J. B. Hutto & His Hawks, Roosevelt Sykes, Luther Allison, Otis Rush, Big Joe Williams, Charlie Musselwhite and more. 

The historic gathering was presented by a small group of blues-obsessed University of Michigan students determined to give their blues heroes a public spotlight where they might shine before it was too late. Among those enterprising student-promoters was John Fishel, whose teenage brother Jim Fishel, gathered some friends to help record the festival as a personal memento. Taking advantage of their all-access pass and juggling a small Norelco tape recorder from set to set, the friends let the 1⁄4” tape roll. Though field recordings in the literal sense of the term, they capture the brilliance of the musicians, the excitement of the crowd and the loose, convivial nature of the entire festival. Those tapes, long thought to be lost, have now been lovingly restored to capture the electric energy of the landmark concert. Both volumes include never-before-seen photographs, an exclusive reminiscence from Jim Fishel, and extensive liner notes by Parker Fishel, Sophie Abramowitz and David Beal.

STAFF COMMENTS

Darryl says: Released on Jack White’s Third Man label, this is a 50th anniversary documentation of the historic and legendary blues festival. Sprawling across a double CD and two volumes of vinyl this epic compilation features previously unheard material from the likes of Muddy Waters, Son House, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins and many many more.

TRACK LISTING

LP1 Tracklisting
1 Dirty Mother For You – Roosevelt Sykes
2 So Glad You’re Mine – Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup
3 Too Much Alcohol – J.B. Hutto & His Hawks
4 I Wonder Why – Jimmy “Fast Fingers” Dawkins
5 Help Me (A Tribute To Sonny Boy Williamson) – Junior Wells
6 I’ve Got A Mind To Give Up Living – B.B. King With Sonny Freeman And The Unusuals
7 John Henry – Mississippi Fred McDowell
8 Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie – Pinetop Perkins
9 Introduction – Big Bill Hill
10 Everybody Must Suffer/Stone Crazy – Luther Allison And The Blue Nebulae
11 Tu M’as Promis L’amour (You Promised Me Love) – Clifton Chenier
12 Hard Luck – The Original Howlin’ Wolf And His Orchestra
13 So Many Roads, So Many Trains – Otis Rush

LP2 Tracklisting
1 Long Distance Call – Muddy Waters
2 Movin’ And Groovin’ – Charlie Musselwhite
3 I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie) – Magic Sam
4 Jelly Jelly Blues – Shirley Griffith
5 Mojo Boogie – Big Mojo Elem
6 Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad) – T-Bone Walker
7 Announcements – Big Bill Hill
8 Ball And Chain – Big Mama Thornton And The Hound Doggers
9 Juanita – Big Joe Williams
10 Key To The Highway – Sam Lay
11 Mojo Hand – Lightnin’ Hopkins
12 Off The Wall – James Cotton Blues Band
13 Death Letter Blues – Son House

2CD Tracklisting
ANN ARBOR BLUES FESTIVAL 1969 - VOL. 1
1 Dirty Mother For You – Roosevelt Sykes
2 So Glad You’re Mine – Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup
3 Too Much Alcohol – J.B. Hutto & His Hawks
4 I Wonder Why – Jimmy “Fast Fingers” Dawkins
5 Help Me (A Tribute To Sonny Boy Williamson) – Junior Wells
6 I’ve Got A Mind To Give Up Living – B.B. King With Sonny Freeman And The Unusuals
7 John Henry – Mississippi Fred McDowell
8 Everybody Must Suffer/Stone Crazy – Luther Allison And The Blue Nebulae
9 Tu M’as Promis L’amour (You Promised Me Love) – Clifton Chenier
10 Hard Luck – The Original Howlin’ Wolf And His Orchestra
11 So Many Roads, So Many Trains – Otis Rush

ANN ARBOR BLUES FESTIVAL 1969 - VOL. 2
1 Long Distance Call – Muddy Waters
2 Movin’ And Groovin’ – Charlie Musselwhite
3 I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie) – Magic Sam
4 Jelly Jelly Blues – Shirley Griffith
5 Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad) – T-Bone Walker
6 Ball And Chain – Big Mama Thornton And The Hound Doggers
7 Juanita – Big Joe Williams
8 Key To The Highway – Sam Lay
9 Mojo Hand – Lightnin’ Hopkins
11 Off The Wall – James Cotton Blues Band
12 Death Letter Blues – Son House

From the new track’s opening “I Ain’t Your Baby,” the Nashville singer, songwriter, downtown scene slayer, and most-wanted fiddler signals a reclaimed confidence and bold evolution, telling women’s stories - including her own - that build on the strength of her “nervy” (NPR Music), 2017 Jack White-produced debut. Lillie Mae led a sequestered childhood touring in a motorhome with her musician parents, constricted by religious boundaries. In her adolescence she busked from RV parks to the Rio Grande, swept through Nashville clubs, and achieved Top 40 country status in her sibling group Jypsi, but on Other Girls, a new side of herself emerges with more to say than ever before. She embraces personal triumphs on “I Came For The Band (For Show),” breathes new perspective into “Terlingual Girl,” a song she wrote as a 19-year-old in the South-Texan desert, and professes brave truths as heard in “You’ve Got Other Girls for That.” After a vagabond past, crossing paths with hundreds of musicians, she limits the cast of Other Girls to just her brother, sister, and a few trusted collaborators. Lillie Mae will debut songs from Other Girls live this summer, as she supports the Raconteurs across the west coast. She will also join Robert Plant on tour, both opening for him and playing in his band. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Other girls is a brilliantly written mix of classic country chord structures and the slightly gloomy reverb and poignant minor key changes of modern folk, all brought together with deft production and a stunning vocal performance from Lillie Mae. Stunning stuff.

TRACK LISTING

1. You've Got Other Girls For That
2. At Least Three In This Room
3. Some Gamble
4. Crisp & Cold
5. I Came For The Band (For Show)
6. Didn't I
7. Whole Blue Heart
8. Terlingua Girl
9. Love Dilly Love
10. How?
11. A Golden Year

'Help Us Stranger' is The Raconteurs' third studio LP and first new album in more than a decade. It sees the mighty combo reassembled, stronger and perhaps even more vital than ever before as they continue to push rock 'n' roll forward into its future, bonding prodigious riffs, blues power, sinewy psychedelia, Detroit funk, and Nashville soul via Benson and White’s uncompromising songcraft and the band’s steadfast musical muscle. With 'Help Us Stranger' The Raconteurs have returned right when they are needed most, unified and invigorated with boundless ambition, infinite energy and a collectivist spirit operating at the peak of its considerable powers, once again creating a sound and fury only possible when all four of its members come together.

White and Benson wrote all the songs on 'Help Us Stranger' except one cover, “Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness),” which was written by Donovan. Recorded at Third Man Studio in Nashville, TN, the album was produced by The Raconteurs and engineered by Joshua V. Smith. Longtime friends and musical collaborators helped make 'Help Us Stranger', including keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita (The Dead Weather, Queens of the Stone Age) and Lillie Mae Rische and her sister Scarlett Rische. The album was mixed by Vance Powell and The Raconteurs at Blackbird Studios in Nashville.

STAFF COMMENTS

Mine says: After focusing on his solo career and his label Third Man Records, Jack White is reuniting with his Raconteurs for their first studio album since 2008. They pick up where they left off (ish) and, taking it up a notch, create an album that feels more energetic than its predecessors. Fans of Jack White's latest solo album will probably dig this.

TRACK LISTING

Bored And Razed
Help Me Stranger
Only Child
Don’t Bother Me
Shine The Light On Me
Somedays (I Don’t Feel Like Trying)
Hey Gyp (Dig The Slowness)
Sunday Driver
Now That You’re Gone
Live A Lie
What’s Yours Is Mine
Thoughts And Prayers

Sun Seeker has carved out a universe all their own in Nashville, TN. Biddeford, their first EP and second release on Third Man Records, is near combustion level with beautiful atmospherics, willful lyricism and a supernatural ear for atypical pop hooks which should ring immediately familiar to fans of their debut 7’’ “Georgia Dust”. Six charming vignettes explore friendship, romance, and the daydreams populating the space between them.

EP highlight and single, “Won’t Keep Me Up At Night”, gives us the best of singer and principal songwriter Alex Benick – his ability to breathe life and a depth of scenery into a song, especially with the clever rhythms of drummer Ben Parks and guitarist Asher Horton’s near-perfect pop instinct.

Sun Seeker has climbed into broad daylight, into blessed dynamics, and every song blossoms as a result of it.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Sun-soaked guitars and hazy basses roll around the mix, topped with beautifully shining vocal melodies and imbued with vague melancholic leanings. It's a beautiful and endearing outing from Sun Seeker, and one set to endure for a time to come.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Churchill
2. Biddeford
3. Won't Keep Me Up At Night
Side 2
1. With Nothing But Our Last Words
2. Sunny Day Girls
3. Might Be Time 

Oh yes, indeed! Jack is BACK! "Love Interruption" is the first taste of Jack White's debut album, Blunderbuss, out April 23 on Third Man Records/XL.

Features non-LP B-side "Machine Gun Silhouette".

Produced by White and recorded at his own Third Man Studio in Nashville, Blunderbuss has been described by White as "an album I couldn't have released until now. I've put off making records under my own name for a long time but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name. These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas."