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Katie Alice Greer Interview

Nine years ago a lot of us music nerds were introduced to a fantastic Washington DC-based band named “Priests.” This fearless quartet tackled themes such as capitalism, consumerism and oppression, and following the terrifying inauguration of Donald Trump, the band’s debut album Nothing Feels Natural arrived at the perfect time. What made this band so infectious was their riotous style of Post-Punk yes, but also their lyrical style that stayed away from typical protest song sloganeering, and focused more on the effect capitalist-induced routine and consumerism has on our society. This was all executed with an introspective and at times sardonic tone, which was immensely refreshing. This band fucking meant what they were saying.

In 2019, now down to three core members, the band released their second and final album The Seduction of Kansas, a forward-thinking album that incorporated Dance-Punk and Disco. That album was very special to me and I listened to it constantly, so you can imagine my sadness when it was announced that “Priests,” as well as their own record label “Sister Polygon Records” was going on an indefinite hiatus. However, this wasn’t the end for lead singer Katie Alice Greer. In fact, this was only the beginning of a brand new chapter in her music career. After leaving D.C. and relocating to Los Angeles, California, Katie Alice Greer began working on what ended up being her solo debut album Barbarism, which was released in 2022. To this day I’m blown away by the sounds she created on that album. It’s noisy but catchy, it’s nightmarish but dreamy, and she delivers soothing R&B-inspired vocals on top of some Cabaret Voltaire sounding instrumentation. It’s incredible. Now, her new album Perfect Woman Sound Machine, Vol. 1 is out in the world, and it’s just as astonishing as her debut album. This album features even more interesting sound collages, but this time around she incorporates elements of Trip Hop. It’s a fascinating album. I had the opportunity to interview Katie Alice Greer about her new album, her creative process, her role in Ben Hozie’s upcoming film JACK LONDON CALLING, and much more.

Steven Sandoval: Your new album Perfect Woman Sound Machine, Vol. 1 is an album I’ve been listening to regularly since it dropped back in April. It’s fantastic, and much like your previous album Barbarism, features some very interesting soundscapes and sound collages, but on this new record I’m hearing more of a Trip Hop influence, which brings to mind bands like Massive Attack and Portishead. Was incorporating Trip Hop intentional, or was it something that happened subconsciously?

Katie Alice Greer: No, the musical influence was totally conscious! My first solo record was me getting every idea out of my head, every strange impulse or jagged-sounding low fidelity voice memo recording into a sound collage or beat. I was making it in quarantine and it was a record mostly for me, I didn’t think much about whether other people would be interested. So, once I got all that out of my system I was like… damn, I kinda wanna make music that other people might enjoy, too. Portishead have always been a North Star band for me, a guiding principle in music-making. I’ve never intended to sound exactly like them (wouldn’t mind if it happened, incidentally) | just resonate with their production approach and their influences. This record sounds nothing like Portishead obviously but it’s probably the closest I’ve gotten.

Steven Sandoval: The album’s opening track “Expo ‘70” is an infectious Psychedelic Pop tune that’s both dreamy and melancholy. I read that it was inspired by the 1970 World’s Fair. How did Expo ‘70 inspire you to make this track?

Katie Alice Greer: I was browsing Reddit one night and found a post on r/bizarrebuildings called “1970 Osaka Expo was weird,” https://www.reddit.com/r/bizarrebuildings/comments/qzyvv7/1970_osaka_expo_was_weird/ and it had all these images of buildings that looked like they could’ve been stills from a Tarkovsky movie about the future on an imaginary planet. Some look like apartment buildings made out of jungle gyms for adults and there’s one building that has a face on it and looks like a live action studio ghibli set piece. So of course I had to learn everything I could about the Osaka world expo in 1970. I found these beautiful posters Yasaku Kamekura designed, and felt inspired by the event’s theme: progress and harmony for mankind. Every country submitted designs and ideas meant to imagine a kinder, more efficient and harmonious world. It made me a little sad, thinking of all these hopeful 70s people who’d eventually get their hearts broken by the trajectory of how things are going as of late! The song is a dash of retrofuturism, me wondering if we’ve so lost the plot as a species in 2026 that maybe we ought to look backward or close our eyes and imagine something better again.

Steven Sandoval: What I’ve always admired about your lyrical style is your ability to speak on various important topics through the point of view of different characters you’ve created. In the case of “Unglued,” this character expresses how they’re always wanting more. Is this commentary on consumerism and societal greed?

Katie Alice Greer: Well first, thanks! I like making up characters. Sometimes speaking through that lens feels more honest than trying to synthesize all my thoughts and experiences into one fully formed truth representative of me as one individual. “Unglued” was inspired musically by me randomly hearing a really unhinged Guided By Voices song and wanting to create something similarly primal and unconcerned with restraint. I tried to channel energy from one of my favorite live albums, The Day the Earth Met Rocket From The Tombs – Live From Punk Ground Zero, Cleveland 1975. I realized I was lyrically riffing on the idea of insatiable wanting. Greed, I suppose. It’s not too interesting to me to say “greed is bad,” but I do like wondering what informs our greed. Is it even greed in our increasingly barren landscape, where everyone’s sense of scarcity is more rooted in reality than ever before? I can’t answer this question but I do think the societal sense that there isn’t enough to go around partly informs a lot of the low-level grabbiness we all embody sometimes.

Steven Sandoval: Is it true you channeled the persona of your former band “Priests” for “Unglued”?

Katie Alice Greer: Yeah, sure. I think I found myself singing and writing more like I would for Priests when I was writing that song. Which I really do enjoy doing from time to time! But I need variety when I’m making stuff. The reasons why Priests isn’t an active band are more logistical than anything else. I think we always felt like we could make music however we wanted. But, it was definitely frustrating sometimes that no matter what we sounded like, people just called us a punk band.

Steven Sandoval: On the track “Talk To Leslie,” the protagonist apologizes for using someone else’s name to fill in a form. How did this song come together, and who exactly is Leslie?

Katie Alice Greer: A lot of the songs on Perfect Woman Sound Machine Vol. 1 came from writing some sketches for short stories, I didn’t think I’d end up turning them into songs because I had no time for working on music. I was working for a production company, for a celebrity, in food service, doing odd jobs. Making music requires so much free time for me, and I had barely any of it. One of the short stories taking shape was about an unnamed narrator who’d gotten someone named Leslie into serious trouble. They’d had a special bond, and the narrator’s carelessness made it impossible to pull off the plant they’d carefully developed, which involved tax fraud. While this had negative consequences for both parties, it was Leslie who took the lion’s share of the punishment. The narrator doesn’t realize it at first, but Leslie, being locked up, is so furious with the narrator that she won’t even communicate. The narrator is completely obsessed with Leslie and, so deluded by their obsession, they can’t even acknowledge that Leslie wants nothing to do with them. This song came together the way most of mine do: slowly, and without much premeditated intent. I can only sort of let songs or anything I make take shape the way they’re falling out. I can’t really sit down and say “I’m making a song about this or that”. The songs themselves decide what they’re about.

Steven Sandoval: Your cover of “I’m Your Man” is a spacey and hypnotic reimagining of the Leonard Cohen classic. What compelled you to cover that song?

Katie Alice Greer: I adore Leonard Cohen. November 7th 2016 was a bad day for us as a species on planet earth – not only did we realize Donald Trump would be leader of the free world, we also learned of Leonard Cohen’s departure from this realm. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking, I get it, man. You don’t wanna stick around for what will surely be an enormous drag. I’m glad he hasn’t had to deal with all the bullshit of the last ten years. I’m grateful for his documentation of his time on this realm. He taught so many of us how to respect the human experience enough to write it down without being embarrassed of the smallness of your own feelings.

Steven Sandoval: What inspired the title Perfect Woman Sound Machine?

Katie Alice Greer: A novelty toy I got in a gas station in the desert. It was a little box with buttons you’d press and a woman’s voice would say really old fashioned ideas of things that make the perfect woman, like how she loves sports or would never go shopping again and just stay home and cook or “Would you like another blowjob?” It was funny in an old timey way. Probably would’ve pissed me off had I been a woman at a time where I still felt heavily persecuted by this mentality, but I just don’t spend my time around people who think about women in this way. So instead of feeling insulted by it, I thought it was such a commanding combination of words. Good enough for a great title.

Steven Sandoval: How does writing solo material differ from your creative process when you were with Priests?

Katie Alice Greer: Priests, or any collaborative work, is totally informed by the participants’ experience, predilections, and the way each person’s contributions are in conversation with each other. The limitations are inherent to the shared Venn diagram of taste and experience the team has. Solo work means you can make whatever you want, or at least are guided by the hubris of your lone wolf mentality, thinking you can just make anything, that nobody is gonna stop you. It ends up being a very solitary journey. This album was less of a solitary journey than Barbarism, because I was working with Meg Searl as producer and collaborator. It was fun to find our shared sense of sound. She comes from professional studio world, working for big name producers on pop records. She studied audio engineering at school. I come from scrappy home studio figure-it-out-as-you-go punk world. So it makes sense that a lot of our shared sonic middle ground was trip hoppy stuff like Portishead, where you can scratch both itches.

Steven Sandoval: You announced back in April that you were in search of musicians to join your live band, and not too long after that you had a full band assembled. How did that process go, and how has your experience performing with your new band been thus far?

Katie Alice Greer: I felt so grateful and honored that so many people reached out about jamming, I think I got really lucky but also maybe it’s a sign that like me, lots of people are in search of creative connection and collaboration these days. I think we’ve seen a continued fracturing of third spaces, where people can organically meet and share experiences, since the pandemic. The west coast based band was simply the first people who responded to my post, who ended up all working out really well. Ryan, on guitar, also has a project called Coffin Prick who I just saw open for Tortoise in the desert this past weekend. His guitar playing is so masterful. He’s such a great collaborator, always attentive to what the band leader wants. But, I usually didn’t have a ton of feedback because I love hearing how he plays. All 3 of those guys are killer, I hope we get to play together more (show bookers, please invite us on your bills). My east coast band in New York are equally a bunch of ringers. Lilah Larson has long been a very dear friend and one of my favorite guitarists around. Daniele from Priests played bass, which was such a joy for me. And Blaze from the band Bambara played drums, we’d only just met but I already adore him too. I feel blessed by a wealth of brilliant talent whenever I get to play with other people.

Steven Sandoval: You moved to Los Angeles, CA from Washington, D.C. back in 2020. How is the LA music scene compared to DC, and does LA have an impact on your creative process?

Katie Alice Greer: The punk/diy scene we all had a part in building around DC and the greater east coast in the 2010s was incredibly singular, I don’t think there will ever be another one like it for me. It birthed so much that I still see reverberations of in culture, sometimes even in the mainstream today. But community can be overwhelming, and when it starts falling apart it really breaks your heart. I moved to LA two weeks before the pandemic hit, and I wasn’t exactly disappointed when I realized we’d all be stuck inside for a while. I felt like I needed to internally reset a bit, go into loner mode for a while. I love it here in LA and I have great friends, but I don’t feel part of any one scene here in particular. I am a friend of many communities. And yes, being “solo” has a tremendous impact on my creative process. Everything is slower. I’m finally really starting to miss having a sense of community around me. But, it isn’t something I’ve found I can just summon, or visit, it happens as something you’re building and something happening around you when you least expect it. So, maybe one will emerge around me as something I’m contributing to again, or maybe not.

Steven Sandoval: I want to ask you about your veganism. How important is veganism to you, and what are some of your favorite vegan dishes?

Katie Alice Greer: I’m vegan yes but there’s lots of stigma around vegans so I don’t advertise it too loudly. There are lots of misconceptions about us. I personally feel like every person is the best expert on what should and shouldn’t go in their own body. I’ve eaten this way for probably around thirteen years at this point, and I’ve been vegetarian since I was a kid. It’s just easier for me to eat a less processed, plant-based diet. There is so much bullshit in the foods we eat, even if you don’t eat animal products. The food industry, like everything else in this country, is broken and poisons people. I love nature. I love animals. I don’t like eating stuff that harms the earth or animals, but I don’t think anybody loves that aspect of the food they eat and we’re all participants in capitalism and its evils whether we like it or not, there’s no full opting out. Just ways to interface with it that feel acceptable for you personally. I’m not really interested in judging other people’s paths of navigating their time on earth and I don’t have a ton of interest in their judgments of mine. We’re all imperfect human beings just doing the best we can. I like putting stuff in my body that makes me feel good both physically as much as ethically. Being vegan isn’t the only answer. There are ways to be vegan and eat like shit, too. But it’s a guideline that works for me. I am a total sucker for great instagram food content. Love when they do the little video edits that make it look like they cooked a tofu paprikash in thirty seconds, do it again! Stuff I’ve made lately includes barbecue jackfruit, oyster mushroom tacos, nachos (I love good nachos), and Honey-Hi inspired greek gigante beans. I really love Greek food.

Steven Sandoval: You’ve announced that you will be starring in Ben Hozie’s upcoming film JACK LONDON CALLING. Can you tell me more about the film?

Katie Alice Greer: Yeah! This is the main creative project I’m focused on and excited about right now, mostly because it’s a little different for me. Ben is a wonderfully ambitious filmmaker. His last feature, PVT CHAT, is so nuanced and thoughtful. He gets such brave and honest performances out of his actors. I’ve done a little acting over the years and it was my main passion for a time as a kid, I did a movie called What Is A Group? with lan Svenonius a while back, and had a recurring role in Mike Cuenca’s Boys About Town series last year. So I was thrilled when Ben reached out asking if I wanted to read a new script he had. Ben has a great band called Bodega and we ran in the same circles when I was doing Priests. Jack London Calling is the name of my character Sue’s new band. She’s navigating the modern underground music/artist landscape and all the challenges of it that so many of us are familiar with. The storyline has a bit of a Pride & Prejudice influence that I also loved, as a fan of romcoms and stubborn women protagonists. Sue is a total hot head, she’s really passionate about her work, and maybe sometimes lets that override her better judgment interpersonally with her relationships. She’s got a bit of a lone wolf mentality and we’re trying to see if she can let people in a bit, for her own benefit as much as the group effort. At one point she gets into a debate at a rave about how much Al sucks for artists. Probably to the surprise of no one, the character wasn’t hard for me to relate to. I really felt for her. I’m looking forward to working with all these talented people involved in the project and getting out of my comfort zone. I think for Ben, it’s exciting to have a project where he’s able to pull people from his music world (real musicians from bands like Bodega and Gustaf will be in the film) and film world together into the project. I’ll be back on the east coast for a few weeks in August when we start filming. Movies are even more expensive than making records, like enormously more expensive. People are impressed these days when an independent movie is made for less than a couple million. We are hoping to raise $50k with this fundraiser, https://www.gofundme.com/f/jack-london-calling-romantic-indie-film-by-ben-hozie this is what will make it possible for all of us to work on the movie. I gotta pay rent while I’m not home.

Steven Sandoval: Will there be a Perfect Woman Sound Machine Vol. 2?

Katie Alice Greer: There is more than enough recorded material for a Vol.2. I just need to make sure that it feels like a cohesive narrative for me, enough to release it all together. The likelihood of a sequel is strong.

Perfect Woman Sound Machine, Vol. 1 is out now!
https://katiealicegreer.bandcamp.com/album/perfect-woman-sound-machine-vol-1

Sun Spoiler Shares New Single “Reek”

“I locked myself in my home studio on the 4th of July and made this song in three hours. Pure Catharsis.” Says Los Angeles-based musician/producer Sun Spoiler about his new single “Reek.” “Sun Spoiler” is the moniker of Andreas Emmanuel, and he has been making music under this name as far back as 2023, crafting an eclectic mix of Pop, Indie Rock, Alternative, Electronic, and 80s-tinged Synth-Pop, but “Reek” is by far his best work and the most locked in he’s sounded. With a runtime of 1:41, the track is infectiously energetic with a raw Punk edge, and if we’re in for more music in this vein, then Sun Spoiler is most certainly an artist to pay attention to.

Stream “Reek” Here: https://sunspoiler.bandcamp.com/track/reek

Album Review: The Strokes – Reality Awaits

Rating: 6/10

There was a point in time when “The Strokes” ruled the world. When the band released their debut album Is This It in 2001, it seemed as if the five boys from NYC appeared out of nowhere and were quickly on everyone’s radar whether they liked it or not. Music publications dubbed them the “saviors of rock,” and this prompted record labels to sign just about every Garage Rock-tinged band with “The” in their name. To quote Alex Turner of “Arctic Monkeys,” “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes.” We all wanted to be them. I know I did. I dressed like them, and even grew out my hair, and lucky for me, my hair is naturally curly, so I was walking around thinking I looked like Fabrizio Moretti. Though the band undoubtedly reaped the benefits of their newfound success, the pressure of being the “saviors of rock” inevitably took its toll. The band’s sophomore album Room on Fire also received acclaim, but it seemed as if the band were playing it safe by sticking to the formula that garnered them much success on their debut album, and playing it safe in a fickle music industry can only last so long. Aside from spawning some killer singles, their very bloated third album First Impressions of Earth flopped, and we didn’t hear anything new from the band for six years.

In 2011 the band made their triumphant return with their fourth album Angles. Well, maybe not so triumphant. The album’s reception was split between people who lauded the band’s departure from their early work, incorporating elements of New Wave and Synth Pop, and people who felt the album was disjointed due to the recording process in which singer Julian Casablancas recorded his vocals separate from the band. Their following album Comedown Machine received an even more lukewarm reception, and was the band’s most polarizing work, until now.

The band’s new album Reality Awaits is the new champion of polarization. This album is interesting, off-putting, at times catchy, at times grating, and utterly fascinating for the mere fact that some of the artistic choices made on the album are questionable, mainly Julian Casablancas’ overuse of autotune. Casablancas is no stranger to autotune. He has utilized it in a very creative way with his band “The Voidz,” but on Reality Awaits, it seems as if he’s intentionally trying to obliterate these tracks with the most hard to listen to autotune you’ve ever heard. Is this career suicide? Is this Julian telling us to never ask for a Strokes record again like some people online believe? I would think that myself if the instrumentation wasn’t so damn catchy and the lyrical content wasn’t so damn interesting, because aside from the overuse of autotune, which is unfortunately the only thing most people will take away from this record, there are some cool moments, which makes me believe Julian still has faith in “The Strokes.”

The album opens with “Psycho Shit,” a slow building epic that criticizes the current state of politics, modern warfare, world leaders, and celebrities who fail to use their platform to speak out against injustice, and though lyrically topical, the one thing that overpowers the rest of the song is, AUTOTUNE! When I first listened to this track with my family in the room it sounded so bad that my two year old daughter walked away from the speaker, and she’ll dance to the sounds of our fucking washing machine, but after repeated listens I grew accustomed to the autotune, which is the case for the rest of the album. However, being acclimated to this world where Julian sounds like a drunk “Daft Punk” doesn’t necessarily make this song sound better. Instead, the autotune robs us of a powerful vocal performance that could have complimented the intensity of the instrumentation. The autotune isn’t all bad though. It actually works quite well on the track “Lonely in the Future,” but the problem with this song is the God damn lyrics. This is the most bitter Julian has sounded. He disses artists like The Weeknd, Drake, and Harry Styles for copying his style, and instead of seeing the compliment that people being influenced by him is, he goes down the “I did it first” route, but the most embarrassing moment on this track is without a doubt his jab at music critic Anthony Fantano for simply having an opinion on his latest “Voidz” album. This isn’t the scathing diss Julian might have envisioned in his head. It’s just a sign of insecurity. The track “Going Shopping” becomes a catchy tune the more you listen to it, and is a fun critique of consumer culture. The same can be said for the track “Dine N Dash,” which criticizes our society that consumes resources while destroying the environment in the process, and though these are important topics to tackle, especially seeing as how AI is on its way to destroy us, the lyrical content doesn’t make up for how incredibly boring much of these songs are. The deeper you dive into this album, the more you start to realize the autotune isn’t the problem, the real problem is the drab nature of most of these tracks. This album has some good ideas, but most of these ideas are half-baked and have very little replay value.

Say what you will about the band’s divisive body of work, but you gotta admit that it’s impressive that they still have our attention after all these years. Every album release is an event, and we’re sure as Hell going to listen to anything they release, for better or for worse, and given the direction the band went in on this record, especially following their highly successful album The New Abnormal, it’s clear the band are still uncompromisingly doing whatever the Hell they want.

Written By: Steven Sandoval

Album Review: Josh da Costa – New Wave Graveyard

Rating: 8/10

“Aside from being kind of a facetious way of describing my album, New Wave Graveyard is more of a reference to my perception of LA – the sort of hollowed out carcass of this shiny, new, and exciting future city as depicted in TV & Movies and pop culture in general throughout the entirety of my childhood,” says Josh da Costa about the title of his debut solo album for “Stones Throw Records.” Described as a “greatest hits from an alternate universe,” New Wave Graveyard is an apt title for an album filled with 80s-tinged bangers. I could say this music is anachronistic, but given the resurgence of 80s-styled media whether it be B-movie Horror sleaze, or the frequent use of synthesizers and punchy drum machines, (see just about every modern Darkwave band) New Wave Graveyard sounds as modern as it does nostalgic. However, this music isn’t just nostalgic, it’s more of a period piece, a natural continuation of 80s and 90s styles such as Synth-Pop, Post-Punk, Shoegaze, Jangle Pop, and Madchester adjacent Alternative Dance. This isn’t Josh’s first rodeo when it comes to showcasing what makes these genres so enticing. His former band “CMON” often flirted with these styles, but I feel like everything was leading up to this. New Wave Graveyard is by far his best work.

Opening with the track “Skygirl,” a song about falling in love, the listener is immediately teleported back in time to the early 90s. It’s familiar, but refreshing, and that’s what makes this album so damn good. Josh acknowledges the past all while creating his own distinct style. Everything from “Proving Me Right,” which sounds like if the “Bee Gees” made Shoegaze, to “Tissues,” which is his ode to depression and anxiety, to the danceable “Slip By,” a track that wouldn’t sound out of place on New Order’s Brotherhood, this album is varied, which perfectly nails the concept of a compilation of various hits composed by various artists from an alternate universe, but is cohesive at the same time. There’s a recurring dreamlike quality to this album, and that dreamy haziness is front and center on tracks like “Cordelia,” which is a tribute to both his girlfriend and his favorite record label of the same name, and the mysterious “96 Year Old Girl.” This album is a thoughtfully produced opus where no second is wasted.

New Wave Graveyard is a perfect example of how it’s possible to unapologetically wear your influences on your sleeve while staying true to your own distinct vision. I recently interviewed Josh da Costa via email, and in that interview he said he does plan on touring to promote this album, so I’m excited to see how these songs are translated live, and I’m excited to see what musical endeavor he embarks on next.

Written By: Steven Sandoval

Josh da Costa Interview: https://meltreviewssite.com/2026/07/14/josh-da-costa-interview/

Protomartyr Announce New Album “Hotel Usona,” Share New Single “Sounds We Cannot Hear”

The four-piece Detroit band “Protomartyr” have returned with a new single titled “Sounds We Cannot Hear,” as well as the announcement of their seventh album Hotel Usona, which will drop September 25th via longtime label “Domino.” According to the band, the album “is an effort that finds the Detroit post-punk outfit reckoning with the horrors of our current moment. It is not easy listening. It’s essential.” Lead singer Joe Casey has imagined his country as an aging hotel here, each song a room haunted by its own troublesome guest. It’s a “hard look at a nation in free fall, gripped by fascism.”

Album Pre-order: https://protomartyr.bandcamp.com/album/hotel-usona

Boy Harsher Announce New Album “Get Mean,” Share New Single “Hard Beat”

Following their recent 80s Pop Rock-tinged banger “Jeans,” Darkwave duo “Boy Harsher” have officially announced the release of their new album Get Mean. The album will drop September 18th, and follows The Runner, which was the soundtrack for their short film of the same name back in 2022. The duo have also released another new track off the album titled “Hard Beat.” About the album, the band have stated “Get Mean is a meditation on love, loss, and survival.” The duo confronts “grief and heartbreak head-on, tracing the difficult process of moving through loss and discovering a path toward renewal. At its core, Get Mean is a redemption album – a document of one of life’s most painful chapters and the strength found on the other side of it.”

Pre-order: https://boyharsher.bandcamp.com/album/get-mean

Josh da Costa Interview

Photo: Tonje Thilesen

I first became aware of Los Angeles-based musician Josh da Costa back in 2018. It was a year when I went through a lot of life changes, and it was my third year of running “MELT Reviews.” I fully immersed myself in music and live shows that year. I would take the Amtrak from Hanford, CA to Bakersfield, then take the bus all the way to L.A. for numerous shows. One of these shows was Geneva Jacuzzi at “The Echo,” which was a fantastic show, but one of the opening bands that really blew me away was CMON (Confusing Mix of Nations.) Their blend of New Wave, Post-Punk, Electronic, and Neo-Psychedelia was irresistible, and all of these very pleasing sounds were coming from only two people, Josh da Costa and Jamen Whitelock. I instantly became a fan. Fast-forward two years to 2020 and “CMON” now have a debut full-length album out. However, 2020 was, well, 2020. The pandemic derailed every band’s tour schedule, including “CMON,” and Josh da Costa also went through a lot of life changes, which prompted him to revisit music from his adolescence and “get deep into some of the gear I’d had lying around for years but overlooked.” Over the following years Josh DJed around LA, shared a myriad of underground tracks on his “Confusing Mix” show on “NTS Radio,” and performed with various bands including Drugdealer, MGMT, and Jessica Pratt, and during this time he began writing and recording his debut solo album New Wave Graveyard, which is set to be released on July 24th via “Stones Throw Records.” I had the opportunity to interview Josh about his upcoming record via email, and he gave me some very in-depth answers regarding his creative process, what inspired the record, being signed to Stones Throw, and much more.

Steven Sandoval: I want to start this off by saying I love the new record. I think it’s a perfect amalgamation of everything that makes 80s and 90s music so enticing. It’s varied, but cohesive and features a distinct sound that’s very much your own, as opposed to being a complete emulation of certain bands or styles. You’ve described this album as a “greatest hits from a parallel universe, classic songs from an alternate reality.” Can you elaborate on that? Are their specific bands or genres of music that inspired you while recording this album?

Josh da Costa: As you so eloquently put it, I’d like to think it’s an”amalgamation of everything that makes 80s and 90s music so enticing”. That’s pretty much my area of interest, or rather my obsession.

Steven Sandoval: Did you play all of the instruments on this album?

Josh da Costa: With the exception of Daryl Johns who played bass on “Tissues” and some programming assistance from Jamen Whitelock, yes I played all of the instruments on this album.

Steven Sandoval: Do you plan on touring to promote this album?

Josh da Costa: Yes!

Steven Sandoval: This is your first album since signing with “Stones Throw Records,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and has released some iconic albums, Madvillainy being one of them, which is one of my favorite Hip Hop albums. How did you get signed to Stones Throw, and how has your experience with them been thus far?

Josh da Costa: I had been working on a bunch of songs for a good few years and was looking to find them a home. I sent Peanut Butter Wolf a folder of about 20-25 songs and to my delight he agreed to release them. I’ve known Wolf for a while now through my involvement in the LA weirdo indie music scene and also through DJing at his bar the Gold Line which is in our sort of shared neighborhood of Highland Park. It felt like a very local connection that I wanted to try and honor if possible.

Steven Sandoval: The album’s opening track “Skygirl” is a banger and reminds me of bands like “The Stone Roses” and “The Charlatans,” which brings to mind the Madchester scene of the late 80s – early 90s. Were these bands an inspiration, and can you tell us what this song is about?

Josh da Costa: Yes, those bands and that scene / sound was the biggest inspiration on “Skygirl.” That song is about falling in love, plain and simple.

Steven Sandoval: The track “Tissues” is an ode to anxiety and depression, two things a lot of us know too well, and you lyrically nailed the feeling of living with these things perfectly. If you don’t mind me asking, are these things you too live with, and if so, how do you control them amongst touring, making music and being surrounded by large groups of people?

Josh da Costa: Yeah I live with those things but I wouldn’t say to a crippling extent, for which I am grateful. However that song had been kicking around my mind for years without any real lyrics and one day I was like OK I *have* to finish “Tissues.” So I set out to write it properly and when it came time I think I was in the mood to try and embody the feeling that the music was conjuring inside of me, which spoke to that part of my emotional makeup. Because those feelings are definitely in there and in certain moments or phases of my life I can succumb to them for sure. It can be pretty harrowing when they kick in, for instance, on tour because being on tour can put you in a pretty existential state and depending on the touring party, can be quite uncomfortable. But to be honest, tour sometimes is a convenient escape from the woes of daily life at home, which can also be pretty existential I guess, except you’re not distracted by tons of people and you’re not keeping busy, moving from place to place- you’re just at home. And I typically work from home – as a matter of fact most of the songs on this record were recorded at home – so to have to be able to stay focused and motivated when surrounded by your daily reality at home can be a little challenging, especially if depresh’ and anx’ are rearing their ugly little heads. How I control them? Not totally sure I do other than sticking to a loose routine that usually consists of me going to the same café every day and ordering the same iced cappuccino and then bugging my friend at his shop around the corner for a little chat – socializing and being around people is kind of my drug of choice. Classic extrovert shit I suppose. Nuzzling up against my cat Thomas helps. Going for walks or drives with my girlfriend and coming home to watch some X-Files before bedtime is just what the doctor ordered. I used to love going to record stores but sometimes those actually make me more sad. Can’t explain it but sometimes it just feels heavy.

Steven Sandoval: “96 Year Old Girl” is one of my favorite tracks off the album. I read that it was written one night “after getting really high, ordering Dominos, and watching Terminator 2, and reckons with not feeling seen by a loved one. Can you tell us more about that?

Josh da Costa: I mean that’s pretty much the story right there. That song is special to me – I think it definitely achieves something that I admire in other songs which is that it sorta defies genre or conventional structure but still manages to flow nicely and evoke something mysterious. Mystery or intrigue is a really hard thing to manufacture but I think I kinda bottled some of that with this one by illustrating some kind of a scene and some kind of a person. Like who is she? And then the chorus has a different perspective since I’m not addressing the 96-year old girl but addressing “you”. So it has some funny shifts and quirked up imagery that I think gives people something to think about and the textures are cool too. But all of that came about by experimenting after having had a lot of time and space to digest lots of ideas and melodies and then when I had a window to myself one night, I kicked back, relaxed with some’za and some T2, and felt inspired so l went for it.

Steven Sandoval: “Cordelia” is such a luscious and dreamy track. Who exactly is Cordelia?

Josh da Costa: Cordelia is my girlfriend. But at the time, Cordelia was just my roommate. I met Cordelia outside of a show one night after my house had recently burned down and I was looking for a new place to live. She had just moved to town and needed a roommate so I threw my name in the hat. She graciously accepted me and I felt so honored that I wanted to pay tribute in a song. The plot eventually thickened, but I’ll leave it at that. I was also inspired by the record label “Cordelia Records” and figured it would be a great way to pay homage to both this special person and this special label.

Steven Sandoval: The album is titled New Wave Graveyard. What inspired the name?

Josh da Costa: My friend Douglas Mcgowan inspired the name, which I had actually inspired him to say out loud one day by proposing a compilation of fairly obscure 80s songs that I was fixated on at the time. I thought it had a nice ring to it and I sorta put it in my back pocket. Eventually I felt like it applied nicely to my album.

Steven Sandoval: You’ve lived in Los Angeles for awhile now right? How much of an impact does it have on your music, and has it changed at all since you first moved there?

Josh da Costa: I’ve lived in LA for over a decade and its had a profound impact on my music. In fact, I feel like aside from being kind of a facetious way of describing my album, New Wave Graveyard is more of a reference to my perception of LA – the sort of hollowed out carcass of this shiny, new, and exciting future city as depicted in TV & Movies and pop culture in general throughout the entirety of my childhood. It has changed though, and what used to be a little grimier and sketchier now feels a little more safe and sanitized. Of course, that is a mixed bag, and not really a can of worms I care to open but let’s just say if I were to say I miss the old days, I am sure someone else would be quick to point out that by the time I got here it had already changed a lot anyway.

Steven Sandoval: You’ve also played drums for various bands including “Drugdealer” and “MGMT.” How does being behind the drum kit differ from recording solo material?

Josh da Costa: It differs in many ways but ironically the way in which it differs the most for me is that I am pretty unfussy with drumming on my own material because I know that there is so much other work to be done that I try to spend as little time on the drum performances as possible. I inevitably end up editing the hell out of them anyway, so maybe that’s foolish, and maybe I should put a little more effort into exploring my drumming abilities on my own songs but I think I just need there to be something solid and predictable so I can just get cookin on the other parts I need to lay down.

Steven Sandoval: I’ve listened to your “Confusing Mix” show on “NTS Radio,” and I’m very impressed with how deep your knowledge goes when it comes to underground and obscure music. How do you discover these artists, and just how big is your record collection?

Josh da Costa: I discover music primarily through three different channels – through friends, through going to record shops and digging, and through youtube. Occasionally the algorithm will surprise me but not too often. My record collection used to be bigger but it’s still fairly chunky. I haven’t counted in a while but it’s .. something.

Steven Sandoval: Any chance we’ll hear new “CMON” music in the future?

Josh da Costa: It’s anyone’s guess as far as new “CMON” goes. Jamen and I stopped working together in 2020 and briefly jammed again a couple of years later. The last time we got together to make music felt super organic and inspired and even though it sounded completely different from what “CMON” sounded like it sounded extremely true to our shared musical vision. So even if we were to produce more music together, it’s likely that it wouldn’t sound like anything we’ve done before.

Josh da Costa’s new album New Wave Graveyard drops July 24th via “Stones Throw Records.”

Pre-order: https://joshdacosta.bandcamp.com/album/new-wave-graveyard

Chat Pile Share New Single “PEN I S MALL”

Oklahoma-based Sludge band “Chat Pile” are set to drop their third album Who Loves The Sun on September 3rd, and following their absolute ripper of a track “Deep Blue,” the band have released another track off the upcoming album that might be their heaviest yet. The track is titled “PEN I S MALL.” Yes, you read that correctly. Despite the title sounding like something you’d write on your buddy’s face with a sharpie while he’s passed out drunk, the name is actually taken from a broken sign in the maintenance tunnels of “Penn Square Mall” in Oklahoma City, where the remaining letters spell out “PEN I S MALL.” About the track, lead singer Raygun Busch says “If survival wasn’t so brutal in the United States, a maintenance job at a local mall could in theory be a fun gig…Of course, the awful beast known as Capitalism is extremely rickety with not enough to truly go around in fair share as those in the lower and even middle positions know all to well.” This track is a necessary reaction to capitalism and the exploitation of workers, and will resonate with most of us who are fed up with this system where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Watch the music video for “PEN I S MALL” below:

Mazmere Releases New E.P. “David”

England-based artist Jake Sinetos’ last release under his “Mazmere” project dropped 6 years ago. It was an E.P. titled Mbjdebnrbm, and it was an uncompromising release that tackled such topics as mental illness and recovery, while the instrumentation featured noise-driven Post-Punk that perfectly provided a backdrop for the unsettling but honest lyrical themes. Now, “Mazmere” has returned with a new E.P. titled David. This one is very personal. This release is about his cousin David who has passed away, and it’s a touching tribute. “I’ve worked on the song on and off since he died a few years ago, never really feeling I’d got it where it needed to be. Every time I thought it was finished, I’d end up pulling it apart again. This version is the closest I’ve come to getting it right. The track was produced by H.A. Eugene of Brooklyn glitch duo Business 80, whose ideas and patience helped shape it into what it eventually became. It also features beautiful acoustic guitar and bass from Amyas Varcoe and electric guitar from Ian Evans, both of whom brought something special to the recording.” This release also features the track “I Can’t Hear You,” and it’s an Avant-garde wall of sound that’s as soothing as it is discombobulating. “Run” is a live track that features Rob James on drums, who has sadly passed, and it provides a glimpse into what Mazmere’s live shows must be like. This release closes with a remix of “David,” which is a beautifully bizarre reimagining that is both dreamy and nightmarish. According to Sinetos, he hadn’t planned on releasing these songs together, but upon realizing they’re all connected to the same thing, it just felt right. It’s a beautiful tribute to those who are no longer with us, and that’s something we can all relate to.

Listen to “David” here: https://mazmere.bandcamp.com/album/david

Album Review: Downtown Boys – Public Luxury

Rating: 7/10

It’s been 9 years since the last “Downtown Boys” album Cost of Living was released, and 11 years since the band released their groundbreaking debut Full Communism, an album that made waves in the Punk scene and rallied against capitalism, sexism, homophobia, and exploitative labor conditions. That’s right, they’re as Punk as Punk gets, and 11 years later these things are still being fought by those who are tired of oppression, so a new “Downtown Boys” album is completely necessary. Their new album is titled Public Luxury, and according to the band, the title means “everything for everyone,” reminding us that we as the people have the power, and in a time where things seem hopeless for many of us, it’s important for artists to provide a sense of beauty and hope to prevent us from falling down the rabbit hole of nihilism. Musically this album is business as usual, which isn’t a bad thing by any means. Lead singer Victoria Marie’s raucous bilingual vocals that jump from Spanish to English are as sharp as ever and bring to mind Punk legends like Poly Styrene or Kathleen Hanna, the music still features frantic guitars and saxophone lines, but this is the most polished the band have sounded, without sacrificing the band’s signature rawness. However, there are some tracks on this album that depart from their usual sound a bit, and these tracks are where the band sound truly rejuvenated. “Yellow Sun” is a New Wave-tinged vibraphone-filled track that has a bit of a Post-Punk Revival sound, “You’re a Ghost” is a hard-hitting Industrial track that speaks out against ICE, and the album’s closing title track features a dreamy mix of synths and piano, creating ethereal atmospherics that reflect the optimistic theme of the lyrics. Though the band have solidified their status as Punk’s most relevant and exciting acts, I hope they continue to experiment like this in the future, because I feel like this is a natural progression for the band. A lot of us identify with the band and their anger toward all the things that keep us oppressed, but it’s hard to stay optimistic in these dire times, but the band’s message of hope is refreshing and we need more protest music like this that has a perfect balance of pointing out corruption and hopeful optimism.

Written By: Steven Sandoval