UNSLUMP! is a radio show on SPACE 101.1FM, so if you’re in dire need of a sonic refreshment at a weekly cadence, tune in at space101fm.org every Sunday from 2-3pm PST or listen on demand using the archive, here.

Additionally, you can follow the master playlist of every song I’ve played on-air on Spotify or Apple Music- it’s updated weekly. And don’t forget the concert calendar, where I track artists playing Seattle (so you don’t have to!). You can sync it to your favorite digital calendar so you never miss a show.

With all that said: Here’s what you missed on UNSLUMP!

DEN FEST!

August 7th and 8th, 2026

Starting off strong with a killer local music festival at Sunset Tavern in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood this weekend. Den Fest is run by the indie cassette-only label Den Tapes, fronted by renaissance woman Kay Reddan. Reddan also manages record shop Sonic Boom, where you can purchase physical Den Tapes releases. Check out Den Tapes’ complete catalogue on their Bandcamp.

As per a great Stranger article from last year: “Den Fest isn’t a garage sale, nor is it a greasy meeting in your weird uncle’s basement… Having released more than 100 albums on cassette, Den Tapes has become a staple of the local music scene by fostering inclusivity and creating opportunities for local musicians.”

Celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the label with a two-night fest at the Sunset Tavern featuring a stacked lineup of 16 bands. You can catch a one-time-only reunion gig from punk band Choke the Pope (their final show was at Sunset in January 2023), electronic-meets screamo innovators N3ster, the tongue-and-cheek shoegazers Spiral XP, and the last show from supergroup Uncleholic.

Get a ticket for both nights, or for just Friday, August 7th or Saturday the 8th.

Your Summer Mixtape

Featuring releases from May through July you may have missed, with some of my favorite albums highlighted below for your reading pleasure.

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

Twisted Teens - Florida Water Blues (August 2026)

This one is the New Orleans band’s third album, fronted by dynamic frontman Caspian Hollywell with lap steel flourishes from Razor Ramon Santos.

Think Pavement if they were a bit more bumpkin-coded. Steven Malkmus if out in the sun a bit too long, Iggy Pop whispering sweet nothings into his ear. Slurred, lo-fi rock music with the ethos of punk, of not caring, of getting it out there. A bizarre aura surrounds this record. It’s like the Replacements and Bruce Springsteen’s love-child. Too far? You tell me.

Twisted Teens is taking on Baba Yaga on August 30th - be there.

Nirosta Steel - MY SKYSCRAPER (June 2026)

Out of San Miguel De Allende, Mexico - ‘My Skyscraper’ represents more than 40 years of the works, re-works and works-forever-in-progress of Steven Hall, friend, neighbor, collaborator and co-conspirator of the late Arthur Russell.

The album is a constellation of queer love songs (there’s even one originally penned for Madonna in the early 80s- see video below), beat-driven odes to desire and giddiness, and sometimes seemingly random soundscapes. There’s a lot to take in here, but the process of listening feels vast, enriched with the tales of lovers gone by.

Described in the press release as “post-rave sauna rave”, “Sexy AF window-buffet disco”, and “cloudfolk earlobe-lick confessionals”.

Helado Tropical - Helado Tropical (July 2026)

Helado Tropical, the collaboration between Roberto Carlos Lange of Helado Negro and Fabi Reyna of Reyna Tropical yields a delicious summer-forward mix of latin chill. Great for riding a bike, swimming, and praying for better air quality (please Seattle, please).

Coming to us via Psychic Hotline, the record weaves acoustic guitars, vintage drum machines and synthesizers to emulate the Afro-Indigenous sound of both artists.

Helado Tropical will be playing August 18th at the Neptune here in Seattle.

mary in the junkyard - Role Model Hermit (July 2026)

London-based mary in the junkyard - comprised of vocalist and guitarist Clari Freeman-Taylor, bass and viola player Saya Barbaglia, and drummer David Addison - deliver a great debut EP inspired by their early touring experiences.

The group once played in New York with no place to stay, and ended up lodging with performance artist Marina Abramović. Bassist Saya Barbaglia says of Abramović: “She calls us her children”.

mary in the junkyard will be at Barboza on November 7!

ear - Rumspringa (May 2026)

2026 seems like the year of the digital hardcore, “laptop twee” genre. This is one of my favorites of the year so far - replete with wet, squishing sounds, hushed vocals and lots of old voice memos.

The album’s namesake, the Amish period of exploratory adolescence—invokes suitably organic imagery of frolicking youth.

Your Fall Seattle Show Radar:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here!

Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 8/15 - Jejune with Racecourse at The Vera Project

• 8/18 - Helado Tropical (III) at Neptune Theatre

• 8/20 - Downtown Summer Sounds: La Luz (VIII) at 117 S Washington St (Free!)

• 8/30 - Twisted Teens at Baba Yaga

• 9/4-9/5 - Bumbershoot at Seattle Center

• 9/23 - Sweeping Promises at Baba Yaga

• 9/25 - Friko (XXX) at Baba Yaga

• 10/24 - Freak Slug at Neumos

That wraps up Volume 31 of UNSLUMP!

Tune in every Sunday from 2-3pm PT for UNSLUMP! live on Space 101.1fm.

Until the next one - stay out of the slump!

Jess

As you’re likely aware, I host a weekly radio show on SPACE 101.1fm here in Seattle. This means I’m hunting for so much new music each week, leading to less time to dedicate to write-ups for this newsletter. My favorite part of writing UNSLUMP! is delving into the world of a new artist. I don’t want to retire the newsletter, but will likely be focusing on live show reviews and specific album deep dives, rather than the monthly 7 tracks. If you’re interested in keeping up with new music in the format of a playlist, I still update the master playlist on Spotify or Apple Music at a weekly cadence! Don’t fret!

Additionally, I hope to keep up the Seattle concert calendar (you can sync it to your Google / Apple calendar so you never miss a show) with the help of fellow SPACE DJ PK.

Thanks for being there for this little update - I look forward to sharing more new music and to continue amplifying shows in the Seattle community. If you have any interest in photographing or writing for UNSLUMP! about an album that’s moved you recently, do reach out either via substack or email.

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: June 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here!

Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 6/11 - The Lemon Twigs with Mod Lang at Neptune - Tickets

• 6/13 - Belle and Sebastian: 30th Anniversary Tour (Performing Tigermilk) at Neptune - Tickets

• 6/18 - Celebrating the Miles Davis Centennial at Town Hall - Tickets

• 6/20 - Gia Margaret and Brendan Eder at Fremont Abbey - Tickets

• 6/26 - Hannah Lew LIVE on KEXP - Free!

• 6/30 - A$AP Rocky: Don’t Be Dumb World Tour - Tickets

Thanks for reading, as always!

Tune in every Sunday from 2-3pm PT for UNSLUMP! live on Space 101.1fm.

Until next time - stay out of the slump!

Jess

Opener Goon’s set read like vignettes; little slices of scenery. Their hand-painted stage decorations lent a certain youth and earnestness to their stage presence and sound, their songs moving in slow motion until a surprising screaming finale.

The band of the hour, Vundabar, was nothing short of epic. Descending from Boston, Frontman Brandon Hagen has a Jim Morrison ethos, basking in the crowd’s admiration with the earned confidence of a seasoned artist.

At the beginning of the set, Hagen gave specific instructions on his preferred timbre of crowd whooping. “Can you do it more like this?” he asked, before beginning a low, throaty chant. His dominance onstage is overpowering - he doesn’t just perform, but commands energy from the crowd.

A Vundabar mosh pit is like no other. No one is safe from being thrashed. Bruises will occur. Someone lost his shoe. Someone else lost his shirt. In times like these, what can you do except fight back? To push and pull, to resist cowering. To give in to the recklessness of it all. To find comfort in the noise.

One of my favorite moments of the show was when Hagen’s mic stand broke by the sheer will of his performance. A sound tech came out and held the mic stand in place as Hagen sang. Everyone serves Vundabar.

Check out their latest release, Surgery and Pleasure, out on Loma Vista.

I almost started this review with an interrupting cow knock-knock joke - which wouldn’t be too far off if you heard the crowd last night as Vermont’s King Tuff returned to Seattle for the MOO tour.

Opener Gabriel Bernini and his three piece band (Noel Friesen plays bass for Bernini and King Tuff) riled up the crowd with some crunchy surf rock, guitar worn high on his chest as he regaled Barboza with a rendition of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” before launching into originals reminiscent of a more androgynous Tom Petty.

When it was time for rock veteran Kyle Thomas, performing under his well-worn moniker of King Tuff to take the stage, he began with a simple: “Moo when I’m tuning, I find it comforting,” before christening the crowd with “Twisted on a Train”.

The mass of Tuff’s disciples in the Capitol Hill crowd were long haired, cinched at the waist (belt count incredibly high!) and ready to thrash languidly as KT brought it home. Drummer Corey Rosé was a force to be reckoned with as she smiled through the well-rehearsed lineup of tracks from the latest record, released on Tuff’s own MUP label (which stands for “Many Unusual People”, or “Musically Untidy Performances”).

KT played Barboza like it was a much bigger stage, joking between songs about the piña coladas at the restaurant across the street and his face-off with an angry raccoon (see song “Cross-Eyed Critters”). The album translates beautifully live- it’s no surprise, as Thomas recorded the whole thing onto a Tascam 338, the same tape machine he used for his first album, Was Dead.

King Tuff is an original, steeped in classic rock and roll antics and above all, contagious joy. There’s something handmade about his music, and as he packs and ships every order of MOO himself, I, for one am excited for what more KT has in store.

April - the month of mowing lawn, riding bike, soaking sun, and eating copious amounts of cheese at as many picnics as possible until Seattle decides to go back to being gray. It’s lovely, let’s take it in!

Some shows I saw in April:

• Ratboys, villagerrr at Neumos

  • Coming off of their latest record, Singin’ to an Empty Chair, Ratboys delivered a humorous, electric live show capable of making a fan out of even a passive listener. Check out the new record and see them on tour if you can: it’s that good old-fashioned angsty folk-rock.

• Courtney Marie Andrews (XXVII), Lou Hazel at Tractor Tavern

  • For those wishing to ascend - my feet lifted off of the ground at Tractor Tavern as Courtney wooed the room with her immaculate lyricism and incredible poetry. One of the greatest modern singer-songwriters, I’m so thankful I got to see her!

• The Bad Plus at Jazz Alley

  • I hadn’t heard the Bad Plus until a friend of UNSLUMP! introduced me- right on the precipice of their farewell tour. Seeing this dynamic group at Jazz Alley was mind-expanding and inspiring. And holy crap, David King sure can drum.

I host a weekly radio show on SPACE 101.1FM, so if you want to hear more new (and awesome) music, tune in there! Every Sunday, 2-3pm PST, or listen on demand using the archive or the master playlist on Spotify or Apple Music. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle (you can sync it to your Google / Apple calendar so you never miss a show).

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - Still Around - Friko (Something Worth Waiting For)

For fans of: diversity of transportation, anthemic pop, trip planning

Do you yearn for public transportation that works? So does Friko. On their second album produced by John Congleton, the Chicago frontrunners bring wide open space, grand lyricism and the type of balladry reminiscent of Destroyer (XVIII) or Ezra Furman (XIX). It’s easy to draw comparisons to other strong male vocalists and yearners, but Friko is doing something purely them- they put new words and feelings to experiences we have all tried to express and feel.

On the new album, the group jumps between trains, hot air balloons and bicycles, delivering a project that is both fresh and lived-in. It’s an instant classic, possessing a generational appeal perfect for any indie rock appreciator.

Standout tracks: “Choo Choo”, “Alice”, “Hot Air Balloon” “Seven Degrees”

The music video for the single “Seven Degrees” is below.

6 - Blind Your Sun - White Fence (Orange)

For fans of: Patti Smith, The Replacements, sailing on a sunny day

A vehicle for Tim Presley’s solo work outside of The Fall, White Fence formed in 2010 with a steady output of pop albums until a 2014 hiatus, experimental release I Have to Feed Larry’s Hawk in 2019, and now, Orange, a summer-ready album of Mac Demarco-adjacent guitar strummers laid bare next to 60s punk glam reflective of the Velvet Underground.

Mixing this album is Ty Segall, who engineers a clean and spacious sound. For the first White Fence release in seven years, it was well worth the wait, and showcases some of Presley’s most prolific songwriting. There’s something mysteriously optimistic here, like a visit from the oracle.

Other standout tracks: “Given up My Heart”, “Unread Books”, “Evaporating Love”

Music video for “Your Eyes” below.

5 - Wor Jackie - Knats (A Great Day In Newcastle)

For fans of: spoken word poetry, football (soccer), logging runs on Strava, nu jazz

The quintet known as Knats, led by two lifelong best friends from Newcastle Upon Tyne, are documenting the North East working class experience: through jazz. Out on Gearbox Records and supported by producer, friend and ex-black midi frontman Geordie Greep (who is even featured on a track!) A Great Day In Newcastle fuses the group’s distinct jazz identity with the storytelling acumen of poet Cooper Robson, who tackles subjects like substance abuse, crime and toxic masculinity atop an incredibly groovy soundscape.

Featured track “Wor Jackie” was the lead single for the record, and it’s a surprising oscillation between punk motifs and more traditional jazz arrangements- I love the tasteful saxophone. The song is about Jackie Milburn, a midcentury Newcastle United footballer who also worked in the coal mines.

Fun fact: A group of gnats is called a CLOUD!

Other standout tracks: “7 Bridges to Burn”, “Messy-In”, “Carpet Doctor”, “Farewell Johnny Miner”

4 - Ragazzo - GiGi Girls (Greatest Hits)

For fans of: Kero Kero Bonito, Smerz, eating watermelon, Tchotchke (XXIII)

On their debut album, German band GiGi Girls does their best ode to 80’s Italo-pop, expressing sentiments on boys, love and summer feelings. The album has a clear aura - hazy days in the sun, laying in the grass, spinning slowly in a gauzy dress. This album is an Italian holiday.

There’s very little journalism on GiGi Girls, and I’m curious as to how this German group decided to sing in Italian and made an Italo-pop album. The group underwent a “GiGi Bootcamp” in Italy, where they worked together during a period of concentrated songwriting. I wonder what inspired them? Tell me more, GiGi Girls!

Other standout tracks: “Baci al Sole”, “Amica Perfetta”, “il Futuro”

3- Fruit and Honey - Mai Khôi & The Dissidents (Five Years in Exile)

For fans of: music with political undertones, a plethora of horns, Pittsburgh

Mai Khôi’s story is fascinating: a one-time nationally-celebrated pop star in Vietnam (she was dubbed Vietnam’s Lady Gaga!), she became known internationally for rejecting state sponsorship and running for Vietnam’s National Assembly on a pro-democracy platform. Forced to leave her home country, Khôi was exiled to the United States in 2019, where she met her collaborator and husband, March Micchelli, at the University of Pittsburgh, forming a band of local musicians who she calls “the Dissidents”.

The group makes experimental jazz - offbeat rhythms, challenging melodies and Khôi’s powerful voice create a sound that burns.

Five Years in Exile is what it sounds like: a chronicle of Khôi’s anger, frustration and homesickness of the past five years in Pennsylvania, but also the notions of hope and optimism that new love can bring.

“In the past five years living in Pittsburgh, I found love. My life is changing and I have to build my life from the beginning. And I also see the political system in the US now turning toward dictatorship, just like what I experienced in my country. I was living in a very scary time in Vietnam, but here, it is another kind of scary.”

Other standout tracks: “While Waiting”, “Innocent Deer”, “BURN”

The music video below is for the track “Innocent Deer”, written to support three men on death row in Vietnam. The men maintained their innocence and said their confessions were coerced, sculpting tiny deer figurines from plastic bags with messages proclaiming their innocence.

2 - Don’t Stop - Another Taste (Another Taste II)

For fans of: The Devil Wears Prada, Daft Punk, Donna Summer

The Rotterdam, Netherlands funk collective returns with their second album “Another Taste II” (very creative name), out on Space Grapes. The whole album was recorded live to tape - an impressive feat for such an eclectic arrangement of boogie, funk and disco. The bass is especially evident on this record- it sounds great through even the most treble-laden of speakers.

This is easy listening- throw it on at the pool party, on a bike ride, or while cooking something up for a picnic.

Other standout tracks: “Waiting Game”, “Run Into Love”

1 - GAS STATION - Slayyyter (WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA)

For fans of: John Waters, brat summer (VIII), gas station food (yum but also, yuck)

Slayyyter is back with her third album, inspired by her upbringing in St. Louis and 2010s iPod music. Her music is bold, brash, and deemed “vile” by music critics- she doesn’t go gently unto the dark night, but kicking and screaming, creating shifting landscapes of club beats. Her music is like a crazy pair of platform crocs.

Croc simile aside, Slayyter kicks hyperpop into high gear with this record - there’s urgency in every track, creativity blooming from what we thought were tired Usher-era tropes (and you know I love Usher).

Other standout tracks: “BEAT UP CHANEL$”, “CANNIBALISM!”

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: May 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here!

Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 5/4 - King Tuff (XXIX) at Barboza - Tickets

• 5/6 - Angelo De Augustine with Hannah Frances at the Triple Door - Tickets

• 5/9 - Holy F*ck, MEMORIALS at Tractor Tavern - Tickets

• 5/13 - Asher White (XXIII), OK Bucko and Sheridan Riley at Sunset Tavern - Tickets

• 5/14 - Telehealth - Green World Image Album Release Party / with Coral Grief and Buddy Wynkoop at Neumos - Tickets

• 5/15 - Robert Lester Folsom (XVIII), Kassi Valazza at the Tractor - Tickets

• 5/16 - Elias Rønnenfelt & Evanora Unlimited (XXV) at Substation - Tickets

• 5/18 - Dry Cleaning (XXVII), Hotline TNT at The Showbox - Tickets

• 5/23 - hemlocke springs (XXIX): the apple tree under the sea tour at The Showbox - Tickets

• 5/26 - Vundabar - ‘Gawk’ 10 Year Anniversary Tour 10 Years of Gawk / with Goon at Neumos - Tickets

That wraps up Volume 30 of UNSLUMP!

Tune in every Sunday from 2-3pm PT for UNSLUMP! live on Space 101.1fm.

Until next month - stay out of the slump!

Jess

Hasta la vista, March! It’s been a busy month - I finally attended a South Gate Roller Rink show, had the pleasure of experiencing Ground Hum at Washington Hall, went to Georgetown Art Attack, and traveled to Turkey!

Some shows I saw in March:

• Alden Hellmuth at Recreational Psychoacoustics Lab

  • Experimental jazz show put on by friends of UNSLUMP! The Goodbye Look. Mentored by Herbie Hancock, Hellmuth fused sax, electronics and two upright basses to create compositions that depart completely from convention.

• FIGURE EIGHT with Peeled and Stoneyard at Black Lodge

  • Longtime friend and collaborator Oliver was in town with the band FIGURE EIGHT- classic San Francisco post-punk with a shoegazy femme vocal. They were great!

• Lots of Hands and Lala Lala at Baba Yaga

  • Lala Lala, Baba Yaga, Goo Goo Ga Ga :)

  • Perfect show - two bands that complemented each other seamlessly. Lots of Hands has a great new track with Knats, listen here! + Check out Lala Lala’s latest record, Heaven 2.

I host a weekly radio show on SPACE 101.1FM, so if you want to hear more new music, tune in there! Every Sunday, 2-3pm PST, or listen on demand using the archive, here.

Want more UNSLUMP!? Check out the master playlist on Spotify or Apple Music. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle (you can sync it to your Google Calendar so you never miss a show).

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - Invisible Ink - King Tuff (MOO)

For fans of: garage rock, Tom Petty, magicians, ice cream sandwiches

King Tuff smashes it with his latest, MOO. Known for playing in Ty Segall’s band, the Muggers and co-founding the band WITCH along with J. Mascis, Burlington, Vermont’s finest purveyor of stripped down rock n roll is so very back.

Kyle Thomas wrote, performed, produced, recorded and mixed this whole album himself - and did it all straight to tape. A 34-minute runtime takes us on a psychedelic 70s acid-fueled journey, evoking early Wavves meeting REO Speedwagon. Lyrics are casual- Thomas sings about being in love, riding trains, watching bugs and getting an oil change. This one is a genuinely fun listen. MOO!

Other standout tracks: Twisted On A Train, Landline, Unglued, Backroads

King Tuff plays on May 4 at Barboza.

6 - You Have Been Blessed - EXEK (Prove The Mountains Move)

For fans of: philosophy, knowing your way around in the dark, short hikes

EXEK’s seventh album and first for DFA, Prove the Mountains Move is a masterpiece of post-punk clarity. It’s the nostalgia of a moment before it’s ended. EXEK fuses memory, abstraction and dissonance to create a project that’s one of a kind.

Songs weave languidly, Albert Wolski’s deadpan delivery giving way to trumpeter Valya YL Hooi’s persistently haunting brass embellishments. On “You Have Been Blessed”, the listener is invited to a John Hughes-style 80s prom, with synth-wiz Andrew Brocchi’s luminous keys akin to early Eno or the Psychedelic Furs.

Other standout tracks: Sidestepping, Visiting Dust Bunnies, Arrivederci Back Pain, Spotless

5 - Pieces - Robber Robber (Two Wheels Move the Soul)

For fans of: Water From Your Eyes, Yellowjackets, Mandy, Indiana (XXVIII)

Robber Robber fuses the stark vocal of Karen O with the sludgy guitar work of Sonic Youth on Two Wheels Move the Soul. The album was written and recorded throughout winter of 2024 and 2025, wherein Nina Cates and Robber Robber co-founder Zack James were unexpectedly displaced from their longtime home. The album’s animating force is instability - they’ve managed to make mental fog musical.

This whole album feels like a coiled spring, always building in momentum. It’s filled with texture and distortion, throwing the listener into unconventional song structures and flowing in a way more akin to hip hop than traditional rock music.

Other standout tracks: The Sound It Made, New Year’s Eve, Watch For Infection, Talkback

4 - Mantis - Courtney Barnett (Creature of Habit)

For fans of: Kurt Vile, sunset porch hangs, self-deprecation

Melbourne’s Courtney Barnett has always been great at celebrating the magic of an ordinary day. Inspired by Joshua Tree, her fourth album is full of her characteristic charm and patient delivery, with lyrics celebrating the stability of routine and the uncertainty of her recent move from Australia to Los Angeles.

The track “Mantis” reveals meaning in signs - when Barnett saw a preying mantis in her kitchen, she felt she was on the right track. Her music captures life’s questions, beauty in the mundane, and the stifling experience that doubt can create.

Other standout tracks: Site Unseen (feat. Waxahatchee), One Thing At A Time, Sugar Plum

Barnett is playing at Woodland Park Zoo on August 18th with Built to Spill & Zoh Amba.

3- Creon I - Voka Gentle (Domestic Bliss)

For fans of: sound art, white water rafting, competitive worm charming

London trio Voka Gentle sounds like Laurie Anderson meeting Dry Cleaning’s evil twin. On Domestic Bliss, subjects include Cheddar Man, a ten thousand year old corpse found in a Somerset cave, Jude Law in his 1995 prime, and Greek mythology.

“Creon 1” follows the figure of Crean (who appears twice across the record), the deputy from Greek mythology who preferred to be second in command because it offered him influence without accountability.

Voka Gentle is a group of sound designers and academics, and they geek out on the record by utilizing a binaural head, field recordings (including that of a motorbike convention!), and vocals recorded directly through a phone line. SO SICK.

Other standout tracks: Torpedo Mike, Battle Sequence (I’m Atomic), Jude Law for Vogue (1995)

2 - be the girl! - hemlocke springs (the apple tree under the sea)

For fans of: Madonna, FKA Twigs (XVI), Disney channel originals

Raleigh, North Carolina’s Isimeme Udu, better known as hemlocke springs’ self-released debut concept album follows a heroine on a journey of self-discovery. Udu gained popularity posting homemade videos of her songs on TikTok while she worked as a librarian before catching the attention of Doja Cat and Chappell Roan, who both took her on tour.

Co-produced with BURNS (Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Charli XCX (XXVIII), the apple tree under the sea follows Udu’s upbringing as the child of Christian Nigerian parents. Electronica, pop-dance and piano ballads all amass on a greatly varied album.

Other standout tracks: the beginning of the end, w-w-w-w-w, sever the blight, set me free

hemlocke springs plays The Showbox on Saturday, May 23.

1 - Who’s Got a Problem With GENA - GENA, Liv.e, Karriem Riggins (The Pleasure Is Yours)

For fans of: neo-soul, Hiatus Kaiyote, the first signs of a Seattle summer

GENA - God Energy, Naturally Amazing – is the new collaborative project from drummer / producer Karriem Riggins (best known for his work with Common, Erykah Badu, the Roots, Madlib and J Dilla) and multifaceted artist Liv.e (I).

While Liv.e is only half Riggins’ age, she’s collaborated with Earl Sweatshirt (VIII) and Mount Kimbie, in addition to some strong solo work, including 2024’s PAST FUTUR.e (which I wrote about in the very first edition of UNSLUMP!)

Other standout tracks: Left the Club Like “Really Ni***!”, You’ve Outdone Yourself Today, Howweflow, TGD

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: April 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here!

Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 4/3 Father John Misty (XIII), Damien Jurado at Paramount Theatre - Tickets

• 4/7 Ratboys, villagerrr at Neumos - Tickets

• 4/11 Courtney Marie Andrews (XXVII) at Tractor Tavern - Tickets

• 4/13 Maria Somerville at Belltown Yacht Club - Tickets

• 4/14 OKLOU at Showbox SoDo - Tickets

That wraps up Volume 29 of UNSLUMP! Comment with any tracks you’ve discovered this March. :-)

Need more tunage? Tune in every Sunday from 2-3pm PT for UNSLUMP! live on Space 101.1fm.

Until next month - stay out of the slump!

Jess

Hey, we made it two months into 2026! Thank you everyone who has sent me music this month, it’s already been a great year for new tunes!

February live music highlights:

• The Pharcyde at Nectar Lounge

  • Touring on the 30th anniversary of Labcabincalifornia, the group delivered a fiery, non-stop performance.

  • Labcabincalifornia marked creative evolution for the group, with production handled by The Pharcyde themselves and the late, legendary J Dilla, whose sound helped define the album!

    • The 30th edition of the album is out, featuring instrumentals, demos and remixes by J Dee (Dilla’s brother).

• Brute, The Black Velvet Band, Ponty’s Revenge at Black Lodge

  • An impeccable punk show with three local bands. Ellensberg’s The Black Velvet Band bring a classic hardcore sound, and the band even has trading cards with the members’ faces you can purchase at the merch stand. Super cool.

  • Ponty’s Revenge is a new favorite- from Tacoma, a spitting girl vocal / drummer combo leads to a show that’s hard to look away from. So goooooood. So much charm.

• Sudan Archives (XXI) at Neptune Theatre

  • A performance jam-packed with artistic flair- Sudan Archives draws her violin bow like a sword. An ode to loving yourself.

  • Self-described as “orchestral Black dance music”, Sudan Archives’ newest album, THE BPM was recorded in Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit, merging sounds from all three cities.

Want more UNSLUMP!? Check out the master playlist on Spotify or Apple Music. Listen weekly on SPACE 101.1FM, and don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle (you can sync it to your digital calendar so you never miss a show).

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - This Time I’m Present - Ulrika Spacek (EXPO)

For fans of: Deerhunter, fresh figs, tasteful sticker graffiti

London, England’s Ulrika Spacek is one of the most interesting bands of recent time, merging a Radiohead-esque emotionality with meandering guitars and a glitch collage of their own original sample bank. Composed of singer-guitarist (and experimental physicist!) Rhys Jenkins, guitarist-keyboardist Joseph Stone, bassist Syd Kemp and drummer Callum Brown, the band is playing at Baba Yaga on April 2!

EXPO explores the disconnect between human warmth and digital isolation, exploring themes associated with the connection and lack thereof caused by the twisted darkness of the INTERNET.

Other standout tracks: Picto, Build a Box Then Break It, Square Root of None

6 - Niger River - Owelu Dreamhouse (Owelu Dreamhouse)

For fans of: Rubblebucket (IX), big bands, Seattle’s “fake Spring”

Owelu Dreamhouse is the new collaboration formed by vocalist Nkechi Anele and arranger and multi instrumentalist Nic Ryan-Glenie, the pair rekindling their musical relationship originally forged by their iconic Melbourne soul band, Saskwatch. The duo is heavily influenced by Manu Dibango, a Cameroonian saxophonist, along with their love of cinematic soul and Afrobeat.

In Owelu Dreamhouse, Anele explores her Nigerian heritage- the band’s name being a play on her grandmother’s village, Owaelu.

Other standout tracks: Kellen, Owerri Disco, Oluwasam, Struggle for Kasawa

5 - Night Faces - Asher White (XXIII) (Jessica Pratt)

For fans of: sunroofs, cover albums, foot tappin’, cowboy boots

I love Asher White!! The mad-scientist of indie pop, she was the artist behind my favorite album of last year, 8 Tips for Full Catastrophe Living. Now, she’s taken her maximalist approach to folk artist Jessica Pratt’s 2012 self-titled debut, transforming familiar songs into new tapestries of sonic intrigue.

While I’m usually skeptical on cover albums, White makes something so fresh it’s chilling. Featured track “Night Faces” becomes a kaleidoscopic dance track set to a cha cha rhythm.

Asher White will be playing in Seattle with OK Bucko and Sheridan Riley at the Sunset Tavern on May 13th - Be there or be square!

Other standout tracks: Hollywood, Mountain’r Lower, Mother Big River

4 - Sicko! - Mandy, Indiana, billy woods (URGH!)

For fans of: mario kart, comeuppance and revenge, science fiction

Sung predominantly in French, Mandy, Indiana’s sweaty, gothic, noise-laden Sacred Bones debut is a visceral confrontation with injustice and pain. While working on the album, two of Mandy, Indiana’s members were faced with their own mortality. Drummer Alex Macdougall had surgery for a hernia, and after the doctors found a lump, had half of his thyroid removed. Lead vocalist Valentine Caulfield lost most of her vision in one eye. Still, the band persisted through 10-hour recording sessions, fighting a battle of EBM-influenced hardcore, cutting lyrics abrasively alive.

“Sicko!” is rife with the cynical rap prowess of billy woods, whose rhymes hammer against a cartoonish-synthesizer patch as he criticizes with the line “harm reduction is hiding the body so they can keep hope alive.”

It’s not just the messaging that fuels this album, but the searing, unapologetic instrumentation. Industrial, spine tingling beats, mechanical glitches and vocals compressed to their maximum. Body thrashing, skin melting goodness.

Other standout tracks: Magazine, Dodecahedron, Cursive, I’ll Ask Her

3- Norf Side (feat. Tierra Whack) - Jill Scott (To Whom This May Concern)

For fans of: Doechii, North Philly, baby!, spoken word poetry

Her first full album in 10 years, To Whom This May Concern is biting, lived in and conversational. Scott’s voice cuts through the mundanity of life, searing and deeply emotional. The instrumentation on the record is warm and groovy, featuring lots of brushed percussion and expansive basslines to ground you in the moment. Most of these songs feel like they’d be at home in a late night jazz club.

“Norf Side”, featuring longtime favorite Tierra Whack, shows a more playful side of the record, which oscillates between more subtle moments and explicit, upbeate bangers.

Other standout tracks: Be Great, Pay U on Tuesday, Pressha, To B Honest

2- COLLECTION PLATES (feat. Young Chris) - Ransom (Salvation for the Wicked)

For fans of: Boldy James (XXV), rotary phones, melatonin

“An album that worships and sins in the same gesture” is how this one is described in its press release. A drumless rap record from Canadian producer Nicholas Craven, Michigan’s Boldy James and New Jersey’s Ransom team up on a new collaborative EP.

“Collection Plates” featuring Young Chris finds the trio rapping bout blood money in the church’s collection plates. Ransom’s chorus “drags election dates, rations, and rubber-banded cash into the same prayer”.

Other standout track: Field of Nightmares

1 - Funny Mouth - Charli xcx (VIII) (Wuthering Heights)

For fans of: John Cale, orchestral pop, The Moment

The soundtrack to Emerald Fennel’s latest film is a standalone album worthy of praise (wheras the movie has me thinking with a bit more cynicism). After the whirlwind of BRAT summer, Charli describes her urge to “dive into persona, into a world that felt undeniably raw, wild, sexual, gothic, British, tortured and full of actual real sentences, punctuation and grammar… Without a cigarette or a pair of sunglasses in sight, it was all totally other from the life I was currently living.”

Wuthering Heights is playing at SIFF right now, if you’d like to see this soundtrack in action.

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: March 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here!

Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 3/7 - Alden Hellmuth at Bad Bar - Tickets

• 3/12 - Mt Fog (release show) with iro iro and DJ Martin Douglas at Tractor - Tickets

• 3/15 - Aimee Mann (XXII), Jonathan Coulton at the Neptune - Tickets

• 3/18 - Lala Lala with Lots of Hands at Baba Yaga - Tickets

• 3/22 - Nothing, Full Body 2, Cryogeyser, VMO at The Crocodile - Tickets

• 3/22 - Tune-Yards (X) with Kassa Overall at Neumos - Tickets

• 3/26 - Mclusky, Ekko Astral at The Crocodile - Tickets

• 3/28 - Acopia (Melbourne) at Baba Yaga - Tickets

That wraps up Volume 28 of UNSLUMP! Thank you for reading :-)

Tune in every Sunday from 2-3pm PST for UNSLUMP! live on Seattle’s SPACE 101.1FM.

Until next month - stay out of the slump!

Jess

Share UNSLUMP! The Music Recommendation Substack

Happy new year! Here we are! Another year of great new releases- January was a fun one. UNSLUMP! is evolving, and I’m going to continue to send out this email newsletter with 7 featured tracks every month, drawn from my weekly radio show on SPACE 101.1FM, so if you want to hear more new (and awesome) music, tune in there! Every Sunday, 2-3pm PST, or listen on demand using the archive, here.

Want more UNSLUMP!? Check out the master playlist on Spotify or Apple Music. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle (you can sync it to your Google Calendar so you never miss a show).

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - Keeper - Courtney Marie Andrews (Valentine)

For fans of: chamber folk, Aimee Mann, rainy days gazing out of the window, Sally Rooney’s Normal People

Phoenix, Arizona’s Courtney Marie Andrews released her ninth studio album this month- a delightful exploration of love at its most complex, transformative and demanding. This record feels very alive to me, and it’s the perfect start to the new year.

“Keeper” is a delicious song: the production is crisp, clean and healing. Recorded largely to tape, Andrews was influenced by Lee Hazelwood and Tusk-era Fleetwood Mac. You can hear her embrace of full in-studio performances, which I also love!

Other standout tracks: "Cons and Clowns”, “Little Picture of a Butterfly”, “Everyone Wants To Feel Like You Do”

Courtney Marie Andrews will be playing the Tractor Tavern on April 11th!

6 - I See Poseurs Every Day - Winged Wheel (Desert So Green)

For fans of: pen pals, Chicago (the band and the place), monsteras

Detroit sextet Winged Wheel is a force. With members spanning several projects (Matchess, Cicuit des Yeux, Spray Paint, Sonic Youth, Tyvek) and living in different cities, their latest album is a love letter to working remote.

Long distance file-trading is Winged Wheel’s MO- their 2022 debut album, No Island was impressive enough to inspire the group to meet in person for the recording of their 2024 release, Big Hotel, and now, Desert So Green. The album twists through art-rock psychedelia, bird sounds, casual jam sessions, callbacks to krautrock and ambient synthesizer music.

5 - My Soul / Half Pint - Dry Cleaning (Secret Love)

For fans of: souvenirs, thrift shops, Cate Le Bon (XXVI), making a mess

South London’s Dry Cleaning’s latest record is an ode to the strength of the band’s connection amidst civic unrest and political upheaval. Each song is a souvenir in the group’s worn luggage of avant-pop creativity. Cobbled together in Peckham rehearsal rooms, Jeff Tweedy’s Chicago studio, and Gilla Band’s Allan Duggan and Daniel Fox’s Dublin space before getting shipped off to Cate Le Bon in The Loire Valley, Secret Love is like a worn jacket, slipping on seamlessly and patched up to perfection.

Inspired by postcards and ephemera picked up by lead singer Florence Shaw in her travels, songs cover topics ranging from designing cruise ships (“Cruise Ship Designer”), longing for connection despite the feeling others are repulsed by you (“Let Me Grow and You’ll See the Fruit”), and going “floppy” with your friends (“Joy”). Featured track “My Soul / Half Pint” is about the resentment of house cleaning. TRUE!

4 - Manzana Prohibida - Lucha Luna (BRILLA BRILLA)

For fans of: Dark Chisme, mystery and intrigue, UV lamps <3

Local Seattle band Lucha Luna mixes latin percussion, booming basslines, dance punk vocals and reggaeton flows on their larger than life debut album, BRILLA BRILLA.

Formed in 2025, the duo of Eva Vazquez and Thomas Arndt channels resistance, liberation and community in their lyrics. I love the track “Manzana Prohibida”, and I’m excited to catch them performing live.

Other standout tracks: “Camino por la Noche”, “Marca del Sol”

3- Smelly Boys - Itchy and the Nits (single)

For fans of: the Ramones, surf punk, summer feelings

I’m loving this new release from Australia’s Itchy and the Nits. The group has spent the last two years touring across the US, EU and Japan, writing their latest album, Greetings From… out February 6th via Total Punk and Anti Fade Records. Lead single “Smelly Boys” is full of charisma and charm, the track a simple three-chord melody easy to whip out and yell with friends.

Timeless and classic, the Nits are rock and roll with ease, surfing waves and taking names.

2 - Peel - PVA (No More Like This)

For fans of: Massive Attack, industrial music, watching the Grammys for the plot

A physical, body-bracing record from PVA leads us to the shadows of the dance floor. Claustrophobic and sweaty rhythms juxtapose with singer Ella Harris’s soothing, hypnotic vocals, lending a comfort amidst the chaos.

The album prioritizes texture and sensuality, ricocheting across through your headphones and hammering straight into your brain stem. Many tracks are laced with queer identity, the songs “Boyface” and “Sleek Form” major standouts tackling gender through pure artistic expression.

Other killer tracks: “Enough”, “Send”

1 - Rain Dance - Roc Marciano (656)

For fans of: underground rap, bad table manners, novelty ice creams

Roc Marciano’s latest record is sample-heavy, quick-witted and filled with the sharp-tongued retorts we’ve come to expect from him. Every track is seamlessly set up and deployed like a secret weapon, and it’s great to see Marciano back in the production seat for his first self-produced album since 2016.

On “Rain Dance”, a collaboration with Errol Holden (the album’s only feature!) provides a textured, tornado-like effect in an already hard-as-nails track.

Here are some of my favorite lyrics:

Uh, maybe I am a dick
I insist to piss in the lobster bisque /

Look, you way too busy playing footsie underneath the table, but it was just a waste of some good eats.

Say it again, Roc.

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: February 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here!

Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 2/5 - Naima Bock with Mildred, Carson Daniel at Tractor Tavern - Tickets

• 2/11 - Syko Friend, Anastasia Coope (XIV), YDC at Black Lodge - Tickets

• 2/14 - Sudan Archives (XXI): The BPM North America Tour 2026 at the Neptune Theatre - Tickets

• 2/22 - Bitchin Bajas, Geologist at The Sunset Tavern - Tickets

• 2/24 - JAZZ NIGHT in Pioneer Square - Free!

  • 15 location, 15 bands, 1 night of JAZZ!

• 2/25 - Taraneh (XIII) at Black Lodge - Tickets

• 2/25 - CLIPPING. + Open Mike Eagle at the Showbox - Tickets

• 2/27 - Forty Feet Tall (XXII), The Maya Experience, Chico Detour at The Sunset Tavern - Tickets

  • If anyone wants a ticket to this show, respond to the newsletter and its yours!

That wraps up Volume 27 of UNSLUMP!

Tune in every Sunday from 2-3pm PT for UNSLUMP! live on Space 101.1fm.

Until the next one - stay out of the slump!

Jess

2025 was a killer year for UNSLUMP! Writing this newsletter has connected me with so many great people and such wonderful music. I’m thankful to have expanded this project into a live radio show on SPACE 101.1FM, written many a review for Post-Trash, seen so many new artists live, and continued to expand into more international releases!

A huge thank you to everyone who’s read this newsletter, texted me your favorite tracks, sent this to friends or shared siiiiiiiick tunage with me this year. I’m excited to continue fighting the music slump in 2026!

For the year’s final newsletter, I’ve compiled a “25 for 25” playlist with 25 of my favorite tracks (from my 25 favorite albums) released this year- some have been featured in previous editions, while some are new! Read on!

ALSO- January’s Show Radar at the bottom, don’t forget!

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s my favorites of the year…

Want more UNSLUMP!? Check out the year’s master playlist on Spotify or Apple Music. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle (you can sync it to your Google Calendar so you never miss a show).

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

25 - Kindness in a cup - Hélène Barbier (Panorama)

Album review for Post-Trash

For fans of: whimsy, no wave, Synecdoche, New York

Barbier’s third album under her own name is a no-wave masterpiece of dislocated 70s punk. Known for founding the indie label and zine collaboration Celluloid Lunch with her husband/bandmate Joe Chamandy, Panorama takes the listener on a journey through space and time. Songs see-saw from describing boredom (“Milquetoast”), to more conventional reflections on heartbreak (“Dans l’os”).

24 - Pick Up That Knife - Wednesday (Bleeds)

Album mentioned: SPACE 101.1FM

For fans of: MJ Lenderman, meandering guitar, celebrity breakups

A beautifully varied indie rock album from Asheville, NC’s favorite self-aware pioneers of heartbreak and nostalgia. The album asks: Can a self-portrait be a collage? Can empathy be autobiographical? What’s the point of living if we’re not trying to understand all the horror and humor that surrounds everything?

One of my favorite lyrics from the record:

We watched a Phish concert and Human Centipede / Two things I now wish I had never seen

23 - No Blemishes - Boldy James, Nicholas Craven (Criminally Attached)

Album mentioned: Volume XXV: November 2025

For fans of: bingo night, The Alchemist (XVI), The Museum of Jurassic Technology

Boldy James’ ninth album of 2025 had him teaming up with Nicholas Craven for a project packed with stellar beats and innovative sampling. Expect jazz-infused raps, clean production, and endless swag.

22 - Play - james K (Friend)

Album mentioned: Volume XXIII: September 2025

For fans of: drum n bass, ominous mist, the spinning ballerina illusion

james K’s textured, dance floor-ready music leaves the brain warm and cozy, like sitting in the sun after getting out of a swimming pool. Akin to something out of a dream, Friend evokes a sadder, more subdued Björk.

21 - JIVE - Sorry (COSPLAY)

Album mentioned: Volume XXV: November 2025

For fans of: bar italia (XXIV), hard boiled egg molds, the members only goth club

London band Sorry’s third album is their most varied, evoking the Shins, Model/Actriz, grungy goth club bangers and switching up instrumentation with every track. I was lucky to catch Sorry playing live at Substation, their performance lending new depth to an albeit polished, perfectly splended rock album.

20 - Honey Water - Japanese Breakfast (For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women))

Album mentioned: Volume XVII: March 2025

For fans of: paddle boarding, Greek mythology, eggs benedict

The band’s first studio release finds Michelle Zauner building a mythological world of yearning, rife with orchestral flourishes and lyrics reflecting on the perils of desire.

I loved seeing J Brekkie at the Woodland Park Zoo this summer, with Ginger Root (IX) opening!

19 - Lucky Number - Optic Sink (Lucky Number)

Album mentioned: Volume XXV: November 2025

For fans of: tape hiss, billiards bars, Artificial Go (XIX)

An off-kilter, weirdly fresh release from the Memphis trio known as Optic Sink finds the band evoking Joy Division blended with the B-52s. Perfect to dance around the living room to. Let Optic Sink knot their rhythms around your ankles and up and down your Frankenstein spine…

18 - Lead Paint Test (ft. E L U C I D, Cavalier & Willie Green) - billy woods (GOLLIWOG)

Artist mentioned: Volume XV: January 2025

For fans of: missed connections, Ursula K. Le Guin, Sinners

Rapper billy woods released his first album in two years. 2023’s Maps, also produced by Kenny Segal, was in my top three of that year. GOLLIWOG weaves horror and Afropessionism into a tapestry interlacing traveling trap cars and malevolent ragdolls. “A black carnival pitched in a muddy field overnight, empty rides whirring and clattering in the dark.”

17 - Tamat - Nusantara Beat (Nusantara Beat)

Track mentioned: SPACE 101.1 FM

For fans of: Altin Gün, identity through music, vintage melodies

Amsterdam-based Indonesian psych-folk group Nusantara Beat emphasizes cultural roots, folk melodies, Indo-pop and contemporary psych-rock textures in a genre-hopping all-encompassing debut album.

16 - Julie - Horsegirl (Phonetics On and On)

Album mentioned: Volume XVI: February 2025

For fans of: folk pop, groovy basslines, Modest Mouse

Chicago’s Horsegirl makes sincere indie music, wooing the listener with “da da das” that shoot right to your brainstem. The perfect road trip album, Horsegirl continues to evolve and grow, each member of the band feeling like the kid sister you never had.

15 - Born at Night - Pile (Sunshine and Balance Beams)

Album mentioned: Volume XXII: August 2025, Post-Trash review

For fans of: stoner rock, skateboard tricks, smoking section of your local casino

The band’s ninth studio album sounds both feral and rehearsed, delivering a timeless, emotional sound that chases you around the ring and throws you to the mat. Tension builds through Molini’s rhythmic, strident basslines, the subtleties of Kuss’s brushwork on the drums, and unpredictable symphonic flourishes tie the whole project together.

14 - Moony Cat - Onyon (Pale Horses)

Album mentioned: SPACE 101.1 FM

For fans of: egg punk, hypnosis, garage

Leipzig, Germany post-punk Onyon released a great record this year. Their disorienting rhythms and DEVO-inspired prominent basslines ooze primitive cool.

13 - A COMPUTER LOVE - Sudan Archives (THE BPM)

Album mentioned: Volume XXI: July 2025

For fans of: Doechii (XI), organized chaos, unpacking after a long trip

Sudan Archives’ newest merges dance floor breakbeats with her classic orchestral hip hop. Recorded across Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit, the album offers a fresh take on R&B, bringing it seamlessly into the present.

12 - A World of Love and Care- Ezra Furman (Goodbye Small Head)

Album mentioned: Volume XIX: May 2025

For fans of: Alanis Morissette, moped rides, Father John Misty (XIII)

Goodbye Small Head is filled with emotion, longing, and some of Ezra’s most astounding lyricism to date. Tracks are packed with exhaustion and anger, leading to candid reflections and sweeping beauty. I love when the lyrics disintegrate into a sprawling, distorted guitar solo before finding their footing again.

11 - Life Signs - Water From Your Eyes (It’s a Beautiful Place)

Artist mentioned: Volume I - 2023’s Top 7

For fans of: uncanny valley, space travel, dueling guitars

A short, twisting album from self-proclaimed “sandwich rock” band Water From Your Eyes breeds crunchy riffs and experimental noise-laden guitars behind the deadpan poetry of Rachel Brown. As abstract as it is dancy, this is an album you won’t want to miss.

10 - Heaven Is No Feeling - Cate Le Bon (Michelangelo Dying)

Album review for Post-Trash

For fans of: photo albums, John Cale, Horsegirl

Avant pop missionary Cate Le Bon’s newest is a study in all-consuming heartbreak. Following a breakup that “was like an amputation”, Le Bon recorded the album between Hydra, Cardiff, London and L.A. Her pure vocal delivery reflects Laurie Anderson’s Big Science, Nico’s matter-of-fact “Sunday Morning,” and the quiet yearning of the indie-shoegaze band Beach House.

9 - Max Potential - Nourished by Time (The Passionate Ones)

Artist mentioned: Volume IV: March 2024

For fans of: soul food, The Cure, light drizzle

The second album from Baltimore’s Nourished By Time is a sermon on the ruins of the American Dream, shaped by jazz, punk, indie, hip hop, electronic and R&B. One of my favorite live shows of 2025, Marcus Brown is the definition of smooth.

8 - Sparrow Sparrow - Deerhoof (Noble and Godlike in Ruin)

Album mentioned: Volume XVIII: April 2025

For fans of: Mario Kart, hard panning, slam dancing

US/Japanese quartet Deerhoof led the mass Spotify exodus with an astounding new album that reads likea sound collage and alternates between being gorgeous and abrasively overstimulating. The whole thing is epic from front to back- it feels like a religious awakening.

7 - Husbands - Geese (Getting Killed)

Album mentioned: Volume XXIII: September 2025

For fans of: leaves crunching underfoot, a new age of indie rock, mustaches and mullets

One of the most inventive indie albums of 2025, Cameron Winter’s latest has resusitated every disillusioned rock fan, from the furry bar to Easy Street Records. The great unifier of 2025- This album probably brought us the closest to world peace we’ve ever been.

6 - The Ignoramus of Love - Destroyer (Dan’s Boogie)

Album mentioned: Volume XVIII: April 2025

For fans of: Philadelphia architecture, academia, David Bowie

The fourteenth studio album by Canada’s Destroyer is Dan Bejar’s moment as an all-seeing oracle, tackling aging and decay through theatrical, varied songs that build into an all out rock opera.

5 - To Kaže Sve - Evanora Unlimited (Portraits from Memory - EP)

Album mentioned: Volume XXV: November 2025

For fans of: last year’s Skopje zine, emotional vulnerability, Rocky Horror

A treasure trove of heartfelt reflections in noise-laden Croatian and English, Evanora Unlimited’s latest chronicles the cinematic world of 25-year-old Orion Sage Ohana. It’s a gothic ode to wanting more.

4 - Unseasonable Warmth (Live at Rrr) - EXEK (Live at RRR)

Album mentioned: SPACE 101.1 FM

For fans of: spoken word, krautrock, Can

Melbourne, Australia’s EXEK came out with my favorite live album of the year- recorded on the air at RRR 102.7FM, each song is a punk journey into an abstract experience, from an experimental chiropractor at the airport to creatures made from food court dust.

3 - Thief - Little Simz (Lotus)

Album mentioned: Volume XX: June 2025

For fans of: Brittany Howard (III), gym playlists, Bond movies

UK-based rapper Little Simz surprises with an album that feels like getting hit in the head, in a good way. Impossible to passively listen to, this is a hip hop release that has an inherent magnetism, depth, and ease.

2 - Eusexua - FKA Twigs (EUSEXUA)

Album mentioned: Volume XVI: February 2025

For fans of: glitchcore, strobe lights, chopped up vocals

FKA twigs’ masterpiece EUSEXUA and its follow-up, EUSEXUA Afterglow is astounding. Like spelunking and ending up at a cave rave. FKA twigs is coming to WAMU in 2026!

1 - Voice Memo - Asher White (8 Tips for Full Catastrophe Living)

Album mentioned: Volume XXIII: September 2025

For fans of: midwest emo, industrial music, Xiu Xiu

Asher White’s 16th album is chock-full of noises, machine whirs and collections of memories, left choppy and unfinished yet tender and careful. One of the most interesting albums of the year and my #1, it’s one I can’t stop spinning and getting something a little different out of each time I listen to it.

🎵 Seattle Show Radar 🎵:

Shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here!

That wraps up Volume XXVI of UNSLUMP!

What were your favorite releases of the year? Leave a comment!

+ Tune in every Sunday from 2-3pm PST for UNSLUMP! live on Space 101.1fm.

Until next year - stay out of the slump!

Jess

We are almost to the end of the year! How did that happen?? I’m thankful for the community this newsletter has brought into my life- from friends who keep me abreast of great music, to the opportunity to take UNSLUMP! on the air - Listen on SPACE 101.1FM! Next edition will be 25 for 2025, keep your eyes (and ears?) peeled.

Some of my favorite live shows in November:

• Laele Neale at Sunset Tavern

  • Laele Neale stunned with tracks off her latest record, Altogether Stranger. An otherworldly delight! Tear to my eye.

• Freakout Fest (Ballard)

  • 55castles at Ballard Smoke Shop

    • Freakout Fest was one of my favorite festivals I’ve been to. Chock-full of garage and psych rock, Oakland’s 55castles stood out as an ode to neo-goth dance floor realness.

  • No Joy at Tractor Tavern

    • No Joy’s album Bugland was a favorite of 2025, and the Montreal band didn’t disappoint with their live show. Catch them live if you can- you won’t regret it.

Want more UNSLUMP!? Check out the year’s master playlist on Spotify or Apple Music. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle (you can sync it to your Google Calendar so you never miss a show).

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - siestas ahí - Juana Molina (DOGA) [November 2025]

For fans of: Salvador Dalí, horror movies, grandfather clocks

Juana Molina used to ride up and down the noisy elevator of her grandmother’s Buenos Aires apartment building, singing against the squealing of the elevator gears. Inspired by the sounds of her youth, Juana incorporates slow, droning sounds amidst psychedelic folktronica and stunning balladry.

Molina’s music is many things: transformative, experimental, folky, drone-heavy. Robin Deselow of The Guardian called her the “one-time Queen of Latin chill”. Before her descent into music, Juana was the star of TV show Juana y sus hermanas, which premiered in 1991. The show was syndicated to countries in Latin America, leading Molina to become Argentina’s most popular comedian, before leaving it all behind to focus on music.

Her first in eight years, the name of the record, DOGA, is a reclamation of “female dog”.

I didn’t think about this until yesterday, when I got a comment that said, “Te amo, perra,” but it’s much nicer than “bitch” or “perra.” But I didn’t mean it that way at all. I think it’s a strong word, and I like the fact that it’s made up — there are a few made-up words in this record.

Other standout tracks: la paradoja, desinhumano, miro todo

6 - Ciao Ciao, Slatka Fantazija - Evanora Unlimited (Portraits from Memory - EP) [October 2025]

For fans of: emotional vulnerability, Taraneh (XIII), Rocky Horror Picture Show

A treasure trove of heartfelt yearning in noise-laden Croatian and English, Evanora Unlimited’s latest encompasses the cinematic world of 25-year-old Orion Sage Ohana. It’s a gothic ode to wanting more.

Based out of San Francisco and largely influenced by noise music and rap, Ohana has performed under many aliases, cycling between Evanora Unlimited, Marjorie -W.C. Sinclair and housepett. The alias of Evanora Unlimited is self-described as “based on true events / erotic science fiction [and] a religious horror epic”.

Featured track, translating to “Ciao Ciao, Sweet Fantasy”, is brain-meltingly well-produced. It’s hard to skip any track on this EP- it packs major punch.

Other standout tracks: Despierte (feat. Alles Catalan), To Kaže Sve, Elysium (feat. Ushko)

5 - Mr. Quaker Oats - Boldy James (II), Nicholas Craven, Poppy Bricks (Criminally Attached) [November 2025]

For fans of: The Alchemist (XVI), bingo night, The Museum of Jurassic Technology

If you know me, you know I’ve been having a major case of car fever, i.e.: I have been trying to purchase a used car. Criminally Attached is the perfect album to play in the car and it is my new mission to play it in one. If you have succumbed to car fever I recommend playing this album in your car. Moving on!

Boldy James is back with his ninth album of 2025 (Boldy, slow down!) and it’s another great release under the hip hop collective Griselda, formed by the legendary Westside Gunn (who also just dropped a fresh album). Teaming up with Nicholas Craven for the second time this year, Criminally Attached is packed with great beats and the innovative sampling Craven is known for. I still regularly turn back to his 2024 collab, Penalty of Leadership, which I wrote about in one of the first editions of UNSLUMP!. Good times.

Mr. Quaker Oats is jazz-infused smooth delivery Boldy at his best. Craven’s production is shiny and clean. Don’t miss it.

Other standout tracks: No Blemishes, Infrared Dot Com, Trifecta (feat. 50 Gwuap Taj & Dave Hill), 2 Left Feet

4 - Laughing Backwards - Optic Sink (Lucky Number) [October 2025]

For fans of: tape hiss, billiards bars, Dancer (VI), Artificial Go (XIX), skipping rope

A beautifully weird release from Memphis trio Optic Sink finds the band evoking Joy Division if they got caught in a blender with the B-52s. A joy to dance and thrash to, Lucky Number defines lyricist Natalie Hoffmann’s departure from her previous minimalist project, NOTS, in favor of dancier rhythms and lo-fi production by Caufield Schnug of Sweeping Promises.

I love this description from Green Noise Records:

“… like icicles on slate rooftops, strong and fragile, sharp and melting, dripping mineral water on fluorescent lamps and power circuits… exotica percussion and electro funk mixed with bits of early mid-60s secret agent elbowing its way into the sound… surrender and let Optic Sink knot their rhythms around your ankles and up and down your Frankenstein spine… let go of the railing and bop your noggin like the heads of the Peanuts dancing away the holidays...”

Other standout tracks: Construction, Don’t Look Down

3- Jetplane - Sorry (COSPLAY) [November 2025]

For fans of: bar italia (XXIV), Model/Actriz (XIX), the members only goth club, hard boiled egg molds

English outfit Sorry’s third studio album is filled with classic indie rock charm- it’s a surprising project that sounds like it came from a much older and more established band. COSPLAY is filled with textures, genre switch ups (expect tracks evoking the Shins back to back with harder rock akin to Model/Actriz). Definitely their most varied release so far, Sorry shows they’re not to be put in a box.

Featured track “Jetplane” starts with a sample from Guided by Voices’ “Hot Freaks”, one of my favorite tracks from one of my favorite bands. Sorry is coming to Substation this month- Get your tickets! Don’t be…. sorry… you missed them.

Other standout tracks: Echoes, Candle, Waxwing

2 - Untitled <3 - haloplus+ (Musicality) [September 2025]

For fans of: dummy (XI), Webkinz, leaving a voicemail so long it gets cut off by the machine

Danish alternative pop trio haloplus+ offer up a Limewire release perfect for burning a fresh CD. Based in Copenhagen with members hailing from Denmark, China and Korea, their debut album oscillates between chiptune, lo-fi production, beatboxing, bubbling synths and drums. Each track feels vaguely unfinished, like you’re listening in one headphone on a crowded bus. Ideal!

Featured track “Untitled <3” sounds like a voicemail, earnest in its delivery and lyrics. It’s no surprise the group began by trading musical demos over voice messages, some of that cloudy production carrying over into the final project.

I love this album because it sounds like memory. So many little ideas, flowing into each other seamlessly.

Other standout tracks: Heart Simmer, Super Cute / Put it on, Musicality

1 - muozzeco - juni (nero, attimo) [November 2025]

For fans of: FKA Twigs (XVI), pinball tournaments, this electricity ball lamp

This album opened my third eye. Marking the first release for Italian performer Ilaria Formisano, the stage name juni comes from the month of June when the project began (and the month of her birthday- Gemini vibes).

Living in Bologna and describing herself as an “experiment”, nero, attimo (translating to “dark moment”) follows Formisano’s processing of the loss of a close friend. The atmosphere of the album is described as “smoking a hand-rolled cigarette on a glacier”. OK!

Every track on here is surprising, and the album’s runtime is so short (20 minutes!) it’s impossible not to play it again. The percussion is immersive, simple synth embellishments and over-compression are used tastefully and skillfully. First and last tracks are perfect bookends. No notes!

Other standout tracks: mosca cieca, di malva, solving puzzles, tra le noci

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: December 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here!

Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 12/5 - Foxwarren, Hannah Frances at Neumos - Tickets

• 12/6 - Georgetown Records & Fantagraphics Book Store Holiday Party - More info

• 12/7 - Damien Jurado’s December Residency at the Tractor - Tickets

• 12/8 - Greg Freeman at Barboza - Tickets

• 12/9 - Mint Field (MX), glass egg at Belltown Yacht Club - Tickets

• 12/9 - Robert Glasper at the Nectar Lounge (2 shows) - Tickets

• 12/11 - Takuya Nakamura at Barboza - Tickets

• 12/12 - MSPAINT at Black Lodge - Tickets

• 12/12 - Modern Nature (UK) at Clock-Out Lounge - Tickets

• 12/16 - Sorry at Substation - Tickets

• 12/17 - Earl Sweatshirt, Liv.e, Zeloopers, Cletus Strap at Showbox SoDo - Tickets

• 12/31 - NYE 2025 with Zookraught, Anthers, Gondos at The Sunset Tavern - Tickets

That wraps up Volume XXV of UNSLUMP!

What were your favorite releases of the year? Leave a comment and weigh in, champion.

+ Tune in every Sunday from 2-3pm PT for UNSLUMP! live on Space 101.1fm.

Until the next one - stay out of the slump!

Jess

Beginning December 7th and airing every Sunday from 2-3pm PT (5-6pm EST), I’ll be playing new tracks + highlighting upcoming Seattle shows live on the radio.

Tune in weekly at space101fm.org or 101.1 on the dial if you’re local to Northeast Seattle. If you can’t tune in live, episodes will be available on demand on the website.

Don’t worry- the monthly newsletter will still continue! Thank you for your continued support and dedication to great music. See you for November’s monthly roundup in a few days! <3

Jess

In October, I really enjoyed John Waters’ book, Role Models. I also made a paper-mache head (awesome). Daylight savings is upon us… time to go to lots of concerts! Get out there, be strong!

October live show highlights:

• Nourished by Time (XXII) at Barboza

  • Invigorating R&B from one of my favorites, DJ Marcus Brown. Catch him live if you can!

• Mitchell Beck at the Good Shepherd Center

  • Mitchell Beck was incredible. He uses loop pedals, everyday objects, and his body to create immersive percussion pieces, complete with bird sounds and a voice that rivals John Cale at his finest.

  • My first time at the Good Shepherd Center- a community performance space within a restored chapel. The nonprofit NonSequitur stages performances, readings, theater and more in the historic space!

    • Check out their upcoming events.

Want more UNSLUMP!? Check out the year’s master playlist on Spotify or Apple Music. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle (you can sync it to your Google Calendar, so you never miss a show).

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - Terminal - Automatic (Is It Now?) [September 2025]

For fans of: Wet Leg (XXI), dirty gin martinis, stomping through puddles, dream journals

Out on Stones Throw records, Automatic’s Is It Now? is one of my favorite releases of the year. Dubbed “disco punk” by the LA-based band, the trio of Izzy Glaudini, Halle Saxon and Lola Dompé (the daughter of Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins!) meld new wave, post-punk and synthesizers to evoke bands like Suicide and Stereolab.

The angular sound of Automatic is honed to its sharpest edges on this new record, Dompé’s drumming being a highlight and constant source of energy throughout. The trio brings nostalgic flair to more modern pop music, making them an exciting group to play with The Last Dinner Party on tour in 2026! They’re coming to the Showbox SoDo!

Other standout tracks: mq9, Mercury, Lazy

No music video for Terminal, but I’m linking a video for titular track, “Is It Now?”- this vid is too cool to pass up.

6 - joey knows - dance arts center (dance arts center presents) [October 2025]

For fans of: Caroline Polachek, zumba, FKA Twigs (XVI), Britney Spears, Glee, All That Jazz

The maximalist performance project of LA-based Nicolette Norgaard known as dance arts center is where “club meets theater”. dance arts center presents is fascinating: it’s a concept album styled as a fictional Broadway cast recording. The album reminds me of the movie All That Jazz- You can picture the dance numbers and the campiness of it all, but the music is still applicable in a club setting (or even a walk around the neighborhood).

dance arts center presents is the group’s debut album, and its exploration of performance within relationships (and within the self) is prescient.

For live shows, expect dance arts center to bring it- The show is narrative-driven Fosse-inspired madness. I hope it’s like Glee!

5 - Snowball - Patti Smith (Horses - Legacy Edition) [October 2025]

For fans of: good crusty bread, sacrilege, Lou Reed, the East Village

It’s the 50th anniversary of Patti Smith’s legendary 1975 album, Horses! Patti is a favorite of mine- Horses defined 70’s punk and CBGBs, ushering in a new era of harder, faster, poetic and emotive music that resonates in lots of modern acts today: Amyl and the Sniffers, Fontaines DC, IDLES, the list goes on and on.

The “legacy edition” of Horses features the original album remastered directly from the master tapes, as well as eight never-before-released songs, one of which I’m featuring here. Patti is also publishing a memoir, Bread of Angels, and doing a book tour! She’ll be at the Paramount Theatre on November 10th.

4 - rooster - bar italia (Some Like It Hot) [October 2025]

For fans of: la croix, tv static, roasted vegetables, Sonic Youth, no wave

Former flat neighbors Nina Cristante and Sam Fenton are back with a beautiful arc in their collaboration with Jezmi Tarik Fehmi as bar italia. Their fifth album in five years is filled with texture, evoking Sonic Youth, no wave skepticism and the aura of vintage film.

Inspired by the 1959 movie of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe, Some Like It Hot ushers in a new era for the band following a chaotic worldwide tour where the group honed their musicality, production and art-punk sound. One of the coolest bands to see live, this album is filled with jumpable, danceable tracks that are made for throwing down in the mosh pit. Take my word for it, or catch them at Neumos on November 11th!

3- Divine Blessings - Joker Starr, AnyWay Tha God (Sidenote) [October 2025]

For fans of: manual transmission, walking tacos, Boldy James (II), new balances

Sidenote, the surprise new album from UK rapper Joker Starr, began as a series of sonic explorations during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the rapper was living in his hometown of Slough, dubbed “the most miserable place to live in Britain.”

The album is a meandering ode to feeling stuck, yet creatively pushed from that same trap. Simplistic in its production, the album is a mixture of lo fi loops, earnest musings on isolation and community (each track on the record features a different guest!), and exciting instrumentation- expect an organ on the track “Same Old Flow”, cranked up guitar on “Cold so Bold”.

Other standout tracks: Sidenote, Divine Blessings

2 - Run - MADMADMAD (Run) [October 2025]

For fans of: Cavatappi noodles, carnival rides, monsteras, Parliament-Funkadelic

London, UK-based electronic trio MADMADMAD has lived many lives in their three album discography. The group formed in 2017 out of a late night jam session in a flat-turned-studio. What resulted was the group opening for Róisín Murphy in 2022 and eventually becoming her backing band. From krautrock to mutant disco, to a website boasting that it fits on a 1.44MB floppy disc, it’s tough to predict what this group will do next.

I really like this quote from Larry Fitzmaurice, the editor at large for Fader:

1 - Struggle With the Beast - Anna von Hasswolff (Iconoclasts) [October 2025]

For fans of: Kate Bush, Hausu (1977), Dansko clogs, Julie Doiron, Evita starring Madonna

Anna von Hausswolff is a goth-adjacent Swedish singer and organist. With new album Iconoclasts released on Halloween on YEAR001 Records, she melds echoey, pure vocals with sweeping orchestral arrangements and emotional lyricism.

“Struggle With the Beast” is a masterpiece of a song- it reads like an opera in its use of pure emotion, the different musical interludes (that SAX!!!!) winding seamlessly together to create the arc of a larger story, bookended by an insatiable grooving beat. It’s hard not to become entranced in the flow of it all, to stand completely still and take it all in.

From Anna:

“I wrote this song after a close friend experienced a psychosis. There was something unstoppable and completely disconnected about her, as if she were living and reigning in a parallel universe of some kind. She was so far away from the person I knew, as if all of her social barriers had completely dissolved. There was a new, weird brilliance to her way of communicating and being. She had no filters. I’m glad she’s back to normal today, but it made me think of how vulnerable and complex we all are, and that there are layers of unresolved trauma and unspoken truths within everyone.”

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: November 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here! You can even integrate it with your calendar (Google or Apple).

Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 11/6-11/9 Freakout Fest - More info

  • A 4 day festival across a plethora of Ballard venues, featuring Melt-Banana, Liz Cooper, Whitney K, Forty Feet Tall (XXII), and a surprising number of Mexican post-punk bands. You don’t want to miss it!

• 11/7 Subhumans at The Vera Project - Join me on the Waitlist :(

• 11/9 Feeble Little Horse (I) at Neumos - Tickets

• 11/9 They Are Gutting a Body of Water at The Vera Project - Tickets

• 11/10 Patti Smith and her band On the 50th Anniversary of HORSES - Tickets

• 11/11 bar italia at Neumos - Tickets

• 11/19 Khrangbin LIVE on KEXP - Free

• 11/26 Primitive Man with Otay: Onii, Guitless, and Muñeca at Chop Suey - Tickets

That wraps up Volume XXIV of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites! Got any local music on your radar? Send it my way, I dare you!

Look out for an extra Interview edition of UNSLUMP!, featuring Berlin band Matching Outfits (XXIII), out soon.

Until November’s roundup - Stay out of the slump!

Jess

This month marked the premiere of Survivor season 49 (lots of characters, including a woman named Annie who fronts one of the most chaotic music projects I’ve ever heard), training for the Seattle Half Marathon (up to 7 miles!), making my first soup of the fall season (potato leek!), and stressing out over what to be for Halloween (please help!!).

I saw many shows in September. Here are some highlights!

• Wet Leg, Mary in the Junkyard at Paramount Theatre

  • MITJ was shoegaze perfection, and Wet Leg surprised me by feeling very genuine. I had a great time with my new roommate, Isabell <3

• Japanese Breakfast, Ginger Root at Woodland Park Zoo

  • Japanese Breakfast can do no wrong. Some of the sickest stage design I’ve ever seen. +++ Ginger Root goes crazy with their camera and video work.

• Dead Spells at Tractor Tavern

  • Local PNW band Dead Spells released their debut album this past month with a raucus, gothic show at Tractor. LOVED!

• Magdalena Bay at Showbox SoDo

  • Stoked to have finally caught Mag Bay live- such a beautiful, ethereal show with lots of magic and many costume changes. Stunning stuff, and even a KEYTAR!

Want more UNSLUMP!? Here’s this year’s master playlist. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle.

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - Cobra - Geese (Getting Killed) [September 2025]

For fans of: Rufus Wainwright, leaves crunching underfoot, Father John Misty (XIII)

One of the most inventive rock albums of recent time, Cameron Winter’s New York band Geese delivers a beautiful fourth record that’s resuscitating (or maybe exorcising) every disillusioned indie rock fan you know. From the furry bar to Easy Street Records, this record’s being spun everywhere I step foot, and I’m not mad about it.

Start with featured track “Cobra” for a vintage ballad reminiscent of Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon”, but don’t be surprised when the album takes you on a free jazz journey, invokes a Ukrainian choir, and even ventures into more punk atmospheres.

6 - Doom Bikini - james K (Friend) [September 2025]

For fans of: animal sounds, urban hikes, Titane, Katelyn Aurelia Smith

james K is an artist of many textures. Her music is easy to sway to, the soothing vocals and steady beats leaving your brain comfortable and warm, much like sitting in the sun after getting out of the pool. A fun album from front to back, dreamy harmonically layered vocals complement drum n’ bass breaks and synth melodies seamlessly. This album feels like walking in a dream.

While a melancholy listen, Friend is perfect for Fall. Evoking a sadder, more subdued Björk, james K is an artist to watch out for.

Friend sounds like the sonic equivalent of the spinning ballerina illusion.

5 - No Whiskey - Matching Outfits (Ditch Me) [July 2025]

For fans of: Porridge Radio (XVI), theatricality, the chaos of being a woman in a modern world, Artificial Go (XIX)

I haven’t been able to stop listening to Berlin-based Matching Outfits. Ditch Me won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but for me- I’ll take the pot. The album follows lead singer Linnea Mårtensson’s grappling with a breakup after a long-term relationship. Linnea laments on heartbreak, existence, and everyday inconveniences in excruciating and beautiful detail. Her writing is stream of consciousness and standup comedy all at once; theatrical, genuine and addictive.

This is more than an album- it’s performance art. Beautiful harmonies, horns and bells, shouted choruses- lyrics like:

Last time that I saw you

I asked you to pick up some toilet paper

Tomatoes and bread too

You threw in some grapes and bananas as

A surprise

That was nice

But then you broke my heart

That was not very kind

At least I had some toilet paper

from the song “Toilet Paper”

There’s so much more I have to say about Matching Outfits, and if you like what you hear + want to read more about their story- stay tuned! I’ll be interviewing the band later this month and plan to release a full write-up on UNSLUMP! when it’s finished! I’m so excited!!!!

4 - Beers with my name on them - Asher White (8 Tips for Full Catastrophe Living) [September 2025]

For fans of: midwest emo, industrial music, Geese (see above), Car Radio by Twenty-One Pilots (rip), Xiu Xiu

Asher White’s 16th album (WOW!) 8 Tips for Full Catastrophe Living categorizes the artist’s move from Providence, Rhode Island to New York. The album is chock-full of noises, machine whirs, and collections of memories, left choppy and unfinished yet tender and careful.

My friend Sydney described “Beers with my name on them” as a “crazy transition from midwest emo wailing vocals to breakcore”, which I think is the perfect description.

I really liked reading Pat Pilch’s interview of Asher White for Post Trash- He asks about how exposure to Chicago’s noise music scene primed Asher to make her own music:

I felt like it primed me to be into fucked up shit… It just blasted everything open. I think it’s Bruce Springsteen that talks about how, after hearing the opening drum fill to “Like a Rolling Stone,” it was like Bob Dylan kicking down the door to his mind, which is actually a beautiful thing to say. For me, [those experiences] blew out the door to what I understood music to be and instilled in me a real thirst extreme and difficult stuff. It’s so galvanizing to think that you can incorporate the sounds of your everyday into whatever.

Other standout tracks: Cobalt Room: Good Work / Silver Saab, Voice Memo

In the credits for the album, Asher White lists instruments used, including: acoustic guitar (generic unbranded), broken electronics, drums, fake organ, fucked up unknown guitar pedals, glockenspiel, Jose Cuervo Especial Silver tequila (375mL), Magnus 7000 electric chord organ, Modelo beer (12pk), toy piano (unbranded), and YouTube videos.

3- Pink Flamingos - No Peeling (S/T) [September 2025]

For fans of: Ramones, gushers, the Replacements, egg punk

The sonic equivalent of adderall - No Peeling’s S/T, or as it’s billed by the band, “7 Songs, 8 Minutes, 451 ideas” is no-nonsense punk. Like a Jackson Pollock, Nottingham’s No Peeling throws themselves into each track, spattering themselves everywhere on this record (not in a gross way, in a cool, punk, arty way).

This album reminds me of one of my favorite bands, the Replacements, and how I imagine it would have been like to see them live. Their live performances were marked by the band playing their songs as fast as they could.

I’m excited to see what’s next for No Peeling, and hope to catch them live!

Other standout tracks: Resuci Annie, High Vis

2 - What Is It?! - Donna Thompson (single) [September 2025]

For fans of: Gospel, Brittany Howard, the final days of summer before a long Seattle Winter ( :( )

Donna Thompson, drummer, vocalist and jazz-head extraordinaire just released new single “What Is It?!” in anticipation of her new EP What In The World?!? out on November 21st on PRAH Recordings.

Donna has a wide range of musical style - from calm jazz piano work to being a part of Alabaster DePlume’s live band, to more upbeat R&B with her former group, Lightboxes. Now, she’s riding the wave of a solo career, and this latest EP is bound to be an exciting one. Both singles released so far have been sonic headache cures! <3

1 - Poor Girl - Tchotchke (Playin’ Dumb) [September 2025]

For fans of: Tchotchkes (duh), vintage clothing, Fanny’s “Leader of the Pack”, the Supremes

A spot-on ode to 60’s pop, Tchotchke’s Playin’ Dumb is making yearning fun. Anastasia Sanchez, Eva Chambers and Emily Tooraen create a record thatwould fit perfectly into your grandmother’s collection, go along with a vintage synchronized swimming video, or be the soundtrack as your greaser boyfriend drives you on his motorcycle. Hold on tight.

Songs on the record follow different characters as they navigate love, girlhood and lusting after silly boys. The record was produced by indie legends The Lemon Twigs- Don’t miss this one, it’s fun!!

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: October 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here! You can even integrate it with your calendar (Google or Apple).

Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 10/4 MORPHO Live at Easy Street Records (free)

• 10/4 Nourished by Time (XXII), Zsela at Barboza - Tickets

• 10/7 Turnstile, Amyl and the Sniffers (XII), Speed, Jane Remover at WAMU - Tickets

• 10/7 MEMORIALS with Maria BC and iroiro at Substation - Tickets

• 10/9-10/10 Nation of Language (I), Westerman at The Showbox - Tickets

• 10/13 Wombo, Ribbon Skirt at Barboza - Tickets

• 10/15 james k at Substation - Tickets

• 10/17 Kumo 99 at Baba Yaga - Tickets

• 10/18 BIG BITE with Supercrush, Sun Spots at Neumos - Tickets

• 10/24 Geese at the Showbox - Tickets

• 10/25 Destroyer (XVIII) at the Croc - Tickets

• 10/25 Shonen Knife (and Osaka Ramones), The Pack A.D. at Tractor - Tickets

• 10/30 Halloween Fundraiser for Gaza with Telehealth, Casual Hex and SUX at Baba Yaga - Tickets

That wraps up Volume XXIII of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites! Got any local music on your radar? Send it my way, I dare you!

Until October’s roundup - Stay out of the slump!

Jess

This month, I moved from Capitol Hill to Wallingford— It’s been an adjustment, as moving always is, but the craze of packing/unpacking and realization of all of the weird things I’ve accumulated feels healing, too. It’s fun to build a new space, and I’m excited to have roommates. <3

Many shows attended in August! Life is grand!

• Thomas Dollbaum at Chop Suey

  • Chop Suey is up there as one of my favorite venues in Seattle. It’s the perfect size, and I love how high up the stage is. New Orleans’ Thomas Dollbaum was a real treat- very MJ Lenderman (XIV)-coded.

• Ezra Furman at the Crocodile

  • Holy shit, go see Ezra Furman if you can! INSANE! Raw punk energy and even a furry in the crowd (my first concert furry sighting). Momentous.

• Kim Deal (XIII) at Marymoor

  • WOW! Kim played the Pixies’ Gigantic and added a HORN ARRANGEMENT! I felt lucky to be there.

• Godcaster at Neumos

  • Godcaster, who opened for Horsegirl (XVI), blew me away with their live show. Frontman Judson Kolk personified a flamingo, embracing performance art and noise music mixed with Jim Morrison-esque sensuality.

Want more UNSLUMP!? Here’s this year’s master playlist. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle.

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - Nothing At All - Mac DeMarco (Guitar) [August 2025]

For fans of: porch breakfasts, a cat lounging in the sun, sleeping in, yacht rock

An exquisite album from front to back, Mac DeMarco stuns with a seemingly simple collection of guitar-based tracks on his aptly titled, Guitar. The Canadian singer-songwriter is known for emotional lyricism, porch-style jams and earnestness— all of which amount to something truly beautiful.

DeMarco is studied and strategic in his musicality, with songs drifting in and out of each other in the album’s quick 30 minute runtime. It’s an album made for the scratchy hi-fi of vinyl, DeMarco’s falsetto evoking a toned down Rod Stewart, his guitar meandering with a voice of its own.

DeMarco describes his genre of music as “jizz jazz”. Thoughts on this?

Other standout tracks: Sweeter, Phantom, Terror, Home, Holy (Okay, fine… just listen to it all! It’s worth it.)

6 - Selkie Bride - Anand Wilder (Psychic Lessons) [August 2025]

For fans of: Animal Collective, Passion Pit, talkbox usage, mushroom foraging

Anand Wilder (formerly of the band Yeasayer) drops a psychedelic record that surprises with every track. Single “Appointment in Samarrah”, released last month, was catchy and lush with instrumentation- the perfect introduction for an excellent album.

The percussive elements on this album are particularly invigorating. Wilder uses wind chimes, clicking, clacking, and synthesizer segments to create a wall of reverb-cloaked sound.

Other standout tracks: Appointment in Samarrah, Molly’s Song, Social Exile, Tech Job, Bog People

5 - Alabaster - Flyte, Aimee Mann (Between You and Me) [August 2025]

For fans of: Magnolia, Big Thief, socks and sandals, friendship handshakes

I LOVE AIMEE MANN, so it was fate to be enamored with “Alabaster”, new track from the UK band Flyte, whose frontman Will Taylor is the romantic partner of UNSLUMP!’s favorite folk princess, Billie Marten (XXI). Flyte’s former collaborators have included Billie herself, Laura Marling, Madison Cunningham and even actress Florence Pugh.

“Alabaster” is a beautiful track about an affair amidst an apocalypse. If you like this album, check out Flyte’s debut album, another really beautiful collection of tracks.

Flyte is touring the U.S. - find dates here.

Other standout tracks: Hurt People, I’m So Down

4 - Carrion Song - Pile (Sunshine and Balance Beams) [August 2025]

For fans of: stoner rock, skateboard tricks, the smoking section of the local casino

Pile just released their ninth studio album, the first through label Sooper. The Boston-based band sounds both feral and rehearsed, delivering a classic sound and a really fun album I can’t seem to put down. The tracks ebb and flow from more upbeat energetic moments to soothing reflections and back again— really beautiful pacing here.

I went to a casino in August and won $50 at Blackjack, which is kind of how listening to this album makes me feel (LUCKY!!!).

Pile plays live this weekend at Madame Lou’s. Sweet!

Other standout tracks: Born at Night, A Loosened Knot, Bouncing in Blue

3- I Won’t Find Something Better - Forty Feet Tall (single) [July 2025]

For fans of: Fontaines DC (X), a well-loved multitool, Cha Cha Sundays at the Cha Cha Lounge

New PNW favorite: Portland’s Forty Feet Tall’s Clean the Cage is moshable and slammable. It’s like the Danimals crush cup of albums. Childhood besties Cole Gann and Jack Sehres craft tight punk tracks in the vein of the Ramones or more modern acts like High Vis (XII).

FFT is a band with a lot of ideas. They whip together infectious melodies, driving backbeats and flutters of synthesizers, finishing it all off with some classic guitar squeal. This is a group you won’t want to miss the next time they play live.

Other standout tracks: Castaway, Paystub, One By One

2 - Apple Crumble - Pinc Louds (You Can’t Eat the Moon and Be a Werewolf Too) [August 2025]

For fans of: Ezra Furman (XIX), Deerhoof (XVIII), CRT television, “freak folk Latin jams”

Pinc Louds are a band doing completely their own thing. Ever since bonified tastemaker/textile artist Izy Carney first discovered and foisted Pinc Louds upon my humble ears, I’ve been yearning for new tracks from them. Finally, this past month I got my wish, and AWOOOOO! You Can’t Eat the Moon and Be a Werewolf Too was born.

The NYC-based group does so many things within these 11 tracks. Lead singer Claudi (pronounced “cloudy”) is an otherworldly presence, their falsetto setting the tone for Pinc Louds’ iconic sound. Originally from Puerto Rico, Claudi moved to New York and formed the group by busking in NY subway stations, employing puppeteers and artists to join their gang of traveling creatives.

Other standout tracks: This Hate Hurts, Sequins (Do the Twenty Two!), Quotidien

1 - Max Potential - Nourished By Time (The Passionate Ones) [August 2025]

For fans of: the last time I featured NBT (IV), leaving your butter out instead of putting it in the fridge, downward dog, Baltimore

It feels good to shake your tail. That’s exactly what I do when I hear a track from Baltimore-based DJ and performer extraordinaire Marcus Brown. One of my favorite R&B artists to grace the airwaves, The Passionate Ones picks up right where his 2024 EP, Catching Chickens left off. Brown mixes jazz, indie and hip hop to create an album that’s smooth as butter. Mmmmmmm! Let’s close out Seattle summer the right way: Let’s…. nourish our time……

Other standout tracks: Idiot In The Park, 9 2 5, BABY BABY

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: September 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here! Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 9/4 No Existo (Mexican post punk!), Carson Daniel, Enfield at Blue Moon Tavern

• 9/5 BADBADNOTGOOD, Baby Rose (VI) at the Showbox - Tickets

• 9/10 Jared Justen, Luvr, Dax Millan, Naked Soc1ety at Chop Suey - Tickets

• 9/11 NXWORRIES (VIII), Rae Khalil (X) at Showbox SoDo - Tickets

• 9/12 Dead Spells (EP release) at The Sunset - Tickets

• 9/13 Zookraught, Gumby’s Junk, Sleevies at The Sunset - Tickets

• 9/16 Billie Marten (XXI) at the Croc - Tickets

• 9/18 Grandaddy (25th Anniversary of the Sophtware Slump) at Neptune - Tickets

• 9/19 Bolis Pupul at Madame Lou’s - Tickets

• 9/20 Hotline TNT, Combat Naps, So Pitted at Baba Yaga - Tickets

• 9/23 Mac Demarco at Paramount - Tickets

• 9/24 High Vis (XII), No Warning, Gag, Cold Gawd at Neumos - Tickets

• 9/25 Guerilla Toss at the Vera Project - Tickets

• 9/29 Magdalena Bay (X) at Showbox SoDo - Tickets

That wraps up Volume XXII of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites! Got any local music on your radar? Send it my way, I dare you!

Until September’s roundup - Stay out of the slump!

Jess

In July, I started running. I pictured a version of myself where I would run somewhere just because I could, not because I was in a rush, or chasing after the bus, or out of any obligation to my physical form. Many of July’s tracks have been RUN-TESTED (well, run-walk tested. I’m no pro, yet)!

In July, I ran sound for the Alki Art Fair, which was a great opportunity to see some local music. Here are my personal highlights:

• The Potholes

  • The Long Faces meet Depeche Mode meets Pulp.

  • West Seattle-based funk-pop band. Frontman has a KILLER voice and presence. Impossible not be sucked into their world. Excited to see more from them! Loved them live.

  • They have a concept album about WWE called WWE: The Musical. OKAY!

• Amelia Day and the Cloves

  • One of my favorite local acts. Brandi Carlile / Alanis Morissette / Billie Marten (keep reading for more on her!) energy

  • Amelia Day has a voice that makes you stop in your tracks and stay still. It’s such a joy mixing for her + her backing band, I hope I get to run sound for her again in the future!

• Gniffke

  • Good ol’ fashioned glam rock music a la Quiet Riot / Thin Lizzy.

  • Backing harmonies go incredibly hard. Great to head bang to, fun to thrash around to. Glad rock n roll is alive here in Seattle!

+ another local musician and good friend of mine, Kiko Cvetanovski has a project called Collected Works and just released a single funnily titled “Kiko’s Song”. It feels very appropriate for these sunny Seattle days.

Want more UNSLUMP!? Here’s this year’s master playlist. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle.

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - You got time and I got money - Smerz (Big city life) [May 2025]

For fans of: David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, Bittersweet Symphony, Eyes without a Face, the Volunteer park telescope guy

Big city life by Norwegian electronic duo Henriette Motzfeldt and Catharina Stoltenberg seamlessly blends R&B and electronic elements as an ode to living in a city, with each track feeling like its own work of art.

The variety on this album is incredible— You’ve got some droney experimental tracks, shoegaze, and more upbeat club-style hooks. Lots of these songs feel open-ended and unfinished, but I think that adds to the experience of “Big city life”, so to speak— figuring things out as you go, and not having all the answers.

Album single “You got time and I got money” has been in my head all month. A vulnerable ballad about the relationship between a woman with a job and a man without one, the track is lush with romantic instrumentation and dreamy vocals.

Other standout tracks: “Roll the dice”, “Feisty”, “A thousand lies”

6 - MY TYPE - Sudan Archives (MY TYPE / YEA YEA YEA) [July 2025]

For fans of: Doechii (XI), organized chaos, unpacking after a long trip

Self-described as “orchestral Black dance music”, Sudan Archives’ newest single is magnetic. Her newest album, THE BPM, out October 17th, was recorded in Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit, merging sounds from all three cities. 2022’s Natural Brown Prom Queen was one of the strongest records out that year, and I can’t wait to hear what Sudan’s got cooking for this upcoming release.

“MY TYPE” is an upbeat track rich with electronic artifacts, sweeping synthesizers and lyrics designed to hype you up. ‘These are the types of girls I like’,” Sudan says. “[The track is] also hinting on sexuality – are these just friends, or women I’m in love with?”

5 - Portland Town - Heavenly (single) [June 2025]

For fans of: Bikini Kill, Betty, Kitty Craft, 2000’s rom coms

“Riot twee” Oxford indie band Heavenly has released their first new track in 29 years. Heavenly formed four decades ago from members of C86 band Talulah Gosh before coming to a tragic end in 1996 after drummer Mathew Fletcher took his own life shortly before the release of their album Operation Heavenly.

Mathew’s sister Amelia, along with members Rob Pursey, Cathy Rogers, Peter Momtchiloff and drummer Ian Button have teamed up for a new album as their originals are reissued on vinyl by Skep Wax, the indie label run by Pursey and Fletcher out of their home in Kent.

New single “Portland Town” is inspired by Portland, Oregon— shorthand for anything cool, eco-friendly, and safe.

4 - mangetout - Wet Leg (moisturizer) [July 2025]

For fans of: Rubblebucket (IX), The Smashing Pumpkins, The Last Dinner Party, Porridge Radio (XVI)

Wet Leg is a divisive band— You either love them or hate them. Initially described as “industry plants” when they gained popularity incredibly (and some say, suspiciously) fast following their eponymous first album, I think Wet Leg has proved themselves capable of writing catchy pop hooks and looking great while doing it. Why is that a crime?

On their second album, moisturizer, the Isle of Wight five-piece fronted by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers have refined their songwriting, trading predictable lyricism and catchy hooks for more varied instrumentation, meandering guitars, and a head-bopping ethos that feels organic compared to their sanitized and perhaps over-produced debut.

Other standout tracks: “CPR”, “catch these fists”, “davina mccall”, “pillow talk”

I also like that when I google this album, I get a lot of lotion ads.

3 - Pulled Me in Dark - Giant Claw (Decadent Stress Chamber) [July 2025]

For fans of: music trivia, rock opera, bedroom raves, old computer startup noises, glitch pop

Giant Claw was a new find for me this month, and I’m loving Decadent Stress Chamber. Keith Rankin (a member of electronic collective Death’s Dynamic Shroud) expertly reworks vocal samples, distorting and blending them into something completely new. Syllables are repeated, leading to new meaning and sentences, glitchy and entrancing sonic wonders.

“Pulled Me in Dark” ebbs and flows, each section of the song feeling like an act of a play. The track is formed around a sample of Selena Gomez’s 2015 song ‘Nobody’, made almost unrecognizable. Part of the fun of Decadent Stress Chamber is seeing if you can recognize any of the vocals within it after they’ve been totally re-imagined. Claire Biddles from the Quietus puts it best:

Other standout tracks: “Something to Believe In”, “Desire Despair”, “Decadent Stress Chamber”

2 - Ran Out of Time - Aunt Katrina (This Heat is Slowly Killing Me) [July 2025]

For fans of: feeble little horse (I), Elliott Smith, Duster

The coagulation of three great bands: Snail Mail, Tosser and Feeble Little Horse— Washington D.C. meets Baltimore’s music scene with zest and flair. Aunt Katrina reached my ears through my friend Max Cohen’s compilation of DC artists Plenty Happening (check it out on Bandcamp— all proceeds go towards supporting gender affirming care for D.C. youth at Whitman-Walker!).

They’ve got a quintessentially 90’s sound, merging bedroom pop and the earnestness of kids playing music in a basement. This Heat Is Slowly Killing Me is Aunt Katrina’s debut full-length, steeped in warm ambling guitars, quiet vocals and digital processing.

Other standout tracks: “Four Corners”, “Bait”, “Locked Me Up”

1 - Crown - Billie Marten (Dog Eared) [July 2025]

For fans of: horse girls, poetry bros, overthinking the smallest things

Billie Marten’s fifth studio album, Dog Eared is out, and it’s swell! Titled after her love of books and reading, the album oscillates between quiet reflections on hurt, love, stillness and embracing change, marked by jazz-influenced instrumentation, full band sound, and Marten’s stunningly warm vocals.

Marten toured this year opening for Tennis on their farewell tour, hiding bookmarks at local bookstores along the way. I was lucky enough to catch her in Cleveland, Ohio (where dreams truly do come true), and was blown away at her full band sound despite only Marten and her guitar being onstage. Marten’s music is rooted firmly in the earth.

Other standout tracks: “Clover”, “Leap Year”

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: August 🎵:

More shows I’m looking forward to are on the Google Calendar, here! Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 8.3 Cory Hanson (Together Pangea, Wand) at Black Lodge - Tickets

• 8.5 MSPAINT, Lip Critic (VI) + Pat and the Pissers at Barboza - Tickets

• 8.8 Erykah Badu, The Alchemist (XVI) at Showbox SoDo - Tickets

• 8.12 Nine Inch Nails at Climate Pledge Arena - Maybe StubHub will provide?

  • I would do anything to see Trent Reznor in the flesh.

• 8.13 Ezra Furman (XIX) at the Croc - Tickets

• 8.16 CHOMP! Fest Kim Deal (XIII) (FREE) - More info

• 8.20 Horsegirl (XVI) at Neumos - Tickets

• 8.22 Car Seat Headrest LIVE on KEXP (Free, get in line early!)

• 8.22 Forty Feet Tall (release show), Screen Frogs, Tongues - Tickets

• 8.23 Linda’s Fest at Linda’s Tavern (local music festival, no cover!)- More info

• 8.27 Brittany Davis with the Exhales (Free) - Ranier Tower 12-2pm

A quick note on Spotify:

As you’ve probably heard, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is investing in AI military weapons. Unfortunately, it’s also how most of us access and listen to music. These things don’t have to be ubiquitous, which is why I have included an Apple Music playlist as well as Bandcamp links when possible. I want to divest myself from Spotify and recommend buying physical media whenever possible. Get a CD player! Just because something is easy doesn’t mean it’s morally sound. Listen responsibly. <3

That wraps up Volume XXI of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites! Got any local music on your radar? Send it my way, I dare you!

Until August - Stay out of the slump!

Jess

June 2025 in Seattle means you can snowshoe one day and be sweating your ass off the next. This month I went to Tampa, Florida, volunteered at the Fremont Solstice Parade (so many butts), and sound-tested many of these tracks while riding my bike (an important test). Here we go!

Here’s highlights of some shows I saw in June:

• Javier Santiago Trio at Bad Bar

  • This show was curated by The Goodbye Look, a group that presents and produces live jazz popup shows around Seattle.

  • I couldn’t believe the inescapable allure of the Javier Santiago Trio- Bad Bar was a perfectly intimate venue— I’m always blown away at just how different the feeling of live jazz can be compared to the pre-recorded stuff.

• Dirty Suns, Anthers at Big Ass Boombox Festival at Sunset Tavern

  • Free festival? Okay, I’ll bite. Boom Box Fest was killer at Sunset Tavern- great energy and always fun to see Seattle mainstay Anthers- noisy, jagged-around-the-edges art rock. Jumpable.

• Townsend’s Solitaire at Charlie’s Queer Books

  • Some earnest folk music from Bobby Odle under the moniker of his favorite bird. Beautiful lyricism and a new album that comes out in July. Check out his 2024 debut, Glad to Be Alive.

Want more UNSLUMP!? Here’s this year’s master playlist. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle.

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - bellboy - Harry the Nightgown (Ugh) [June 2025]

For fans of: wind chimes, Oneohtrix Point Never (I), Discovery Zone (IV), avant pop, Mario Kart

Starting off this June mix with Harry the Nightgown, the trio of Sami Perez, Luke Macdonald and Spencer Hartling. The former two are members of Cherry Glazerr, punk-pop aficionados and one of my favorite lasting bands of the early 2000’s. Harry the Nightgown, however is something new— think Mamalarky (XVIII) meets Oneohtrix Point Never— mixing soundscapes of found sound, synthesizers, horns and drums with glitchy production and pure, soaring vocals.

This is an album that feels like submerging yourself underwater, the childhood wonder of pawing at a baby mobile as it swings overhead, and running as fast as you can, to the point where you’re not sure if you’ll be able to stop yourself from falling.

Other standout tracks: falling down that hill, miss dragon, i suck (this one has emo pop tendencies), in ur house

6 - Bounce House - Gelli Haha (Switcheroo) [June 2025]

For fans of: OMD, new wave / trance / girl pop, hitting the dancefloor, the circus

Gelli Haha (pronounced Jelly-Haha) was a new discovery for me this month, but lately I’ve been craving the sort of music that’s distractedly upbeat, filled with the chaos that life has been delivering. The delightful derangement and absurdity of life and the balance of everything in it is hard to capture, but Gelli Haha does a hell of a job of it on Switcheroo. The LA artist exhibits a silly passion, wielding her “non-serious revolution” like a blade.

Switcheroo brings us into a new universe, affectionately referred to as the “Gelliverse”- a world in which the primary colors are red, yellow and blue, and live performances include trampolines, inflatable hammers, and balloons. Maybe like the Blue Man Group? (I’m single btw, if any UNSLUMP! readers know any Blue Men.)

Other standout tracks: Funny Music, Split, Normalize, Johnny

5 - Flood - Little Simz, Yukimi, Obongjayar, Moonchild Sanelly (Lotus) [June 2025]

For fans of: Brittany Howard (III), gym playlists, the breeze that blows your face as you run / ride a bike, Bond movies

UK-based rapper Simbiatu Abisola Abiola Ajikawo (Little Simz) surprises me more and more with each new release, and Lotus is an album I expect to ride out until the end of the year. Sometimes, you hear a release that feels like getting hit in the head, in a good way. Lotus is an album impossible to passively listen to, and it’s a hip hop release that I’m stoked to try and catch live- I can picture these songs being absolutely magnetic onstage.

A few months prior to the release of this album, Little Simz sued her longtime producer Inflo over a $1.7 million loan he never paid back. Inflo had produced nearly every Little Simz release, and the battle ended their working relationship. Many songs reference the betrayal, and Little Simz’ earnest pain is visceral on this record.

Other standout tracks: Thief, Blood (searing track about sibling disconnect and familial trauma), Free, Lion

4 - in a circle - Yaya Bey (do it afraid) [June 2025]

For fans of: A/C after a heatwave, roller skating, Miami, neo soul, Doechii (XI)

This one is for the GIRLS! Throw that ass around! Sometimes you just need to be told this. I am always saying this, personally.

Yaya Bey echoes the easy, RnB goodness of voices like Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill on her latest, do it afraid. The album is a super fun listen from front to back, great for listening to in the car! This is Yaya Bey’s sixth studio album, produced in part by BADBADNOTGOOD (VI) and songs move from classic hip hop to 80’s funk to soca and dancehall. The album oozes with inexhaustible joy, offering insight on the balance of peace and pain. Yaya Bey’s lyrics touch on the violence of systems designed to inflict pain and committing to “life’s delight— humor, love, the power of human movement and connection — even if [she] hes to do it afraid”.

Other standout tracks: raisins, spin cycle, merlot and grigio, beakthrough

3 - Scam - Self Improvement (Syndrome) [June 2025]

For fans of: Dancer (VI), post punk, tripping on the sidewalk, eating too much wasabi, X-Ray Spex

Los Angeles-based Self Improvement dropped Syndrome this month, a fun and jagged record reminiscent of angry girl music of the indie rock persuasion. This one makes me involuntary start slam dancing, so hide your children.

I like the skittish nature of this album, which upon first listen may be jarring. The songs stand strong on their own, especially within this mix. The guitar riffs feel like the points of a triangle. This album is geometric and strange and creepy and interesting.

Other standout tracks: Settle Down, I Grew Up Here

2 - Vanity - Frankie Cosmos (Different Talking) [June 2025]

For fans of: La La Land, recovery after being ghosted :-(, American Girl historical dolls, Faye Webster (II), Clairo (IX)

God, I wish we still had our phone ringers turned on in this modern year of 2025, because I long to make “Vanity” my ringtone. It’s got that jingly, earworm twang that feels like it belongs on a bedazzled Motorola Razr.

Despite the shortcomings of modern technology (it’s boring), Frankie Cosmos’ 6th (and first entirely self-produced) album Different Talking offers a fresh take on memory, disappointment and growing up. As a big fan of 2022’s Inner World Peace (F.O.O.F. was one of my favorite tracks that year), I had high expectations for Different Talking.

Frankie Cosmos AKA the four-piece of Greta Kline, Alex Bailey, Katie Von Schleicher and Hugo Stanley hit familiar strides with witty lyrics and nostalgic takes on what it feels like to love and live. The album can be a bit formulaic, but maybe that’s not a problem when the formula is successful. Kline’s writing feels like she’s ripping out pages of her journal and reading them out loud, noodling with her guitar, and leaving the listener with fragments of memory to piece back together. The album meanders between indie pop and 70s chamber pop, with a sprinkle of old-school Shangri-La’s and VW Bus energy.

Other standout tracks: One of Each, Bitch Heart, Porcelain, Margareta

1 - Real Thing - Drugdealer, Weyes Blood (single) [May 2025]

For fans of: Carly Simon, Suzi Quatro’s “Stumblin’ In”, yacht rock

To me, Weyes Blood never misses. She’s one of my favorite modern acts, and “Real Thing” is absolutely exquisite. Weyes Blood (Natalie Laura Mering) and Drugdealer (Michael Collins) have teamed up a few times over the years— “Suddenly” and “The End of Comedy” in 2016 and “Honey” in 2019. They’re a nostalgic, 70’s-influenced pop machine.

“Real Thing” took two years to make, and it’s folk pop sensibilities have me itching for more from this dynamic duo. The sax is smooth!!! Bring on endless summer.

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: July 🎵:

Lots of free shows happening this summer!

Highlighting my favorites down below with more on the Google Calendar, here! Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 7.12-7.13 Ballard SeafoodFest: Illuminati Hotties, Sir Woman, Skating Polly, Spirit Award, and more (FREE!) - 2208 NW Market St

• 7.15 *Art Don’t Sleep & Jazz is Dead Present: Gyedu-Blay Ambolley at Tractor - Tickets

  • Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is the first Ghanaian musician to formally incorporate rap forms into local highlife rhythms, creating a genre called Simigwa. Check it out!

• 7.16 TEKE::TEKE at Madame Lou's - Tickets

• 7.19 Pearl & The Oysters at Chop Suey - Tickets

• 7.19-7.20 Capitol Hill Block Party - More info

• 7.19-7.20 Alki Art Fest (FREE) - More info

• 7.20 *SISTER NANCY with The Rootsonic Band and Zions Gate Sound at Nectar Lounge - Tickets

  • Sister Nancy is a Jamaican DJ and singer, known as the first female dancehall DJ!

• 7.22 Cosmo Sheldrake at Pier 62 - Tickets

• 7.23 *Mei Semones (XIX) at Barboza - Tickets

• 7.25 CapNJazz at Neumos! - Tickets

• 7.26 QUEERTOPIA in Volunteer Park - FREE

• 7.27 The Marías Submarine Tour (Extended) with julie at WAMU Theatre - Tickets

• 7.30 *Lifeguard at Baba Yaga - Tickets

That wraps up Volume XX of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites! Got any local music on your radar? Send it my way, I dare you!

Until July - Stay out of the slump!

Jess

May 2025 was filled with lots of great music— a welcome respite from a really tough work month. Sometimes it’s hard to slow down and catch your breath, and it’s especially difficult when your heart yearns to be swimming in Lake Washington but your body is trapped doing corporate AV in a Bellevue hotel. Alas, here’s to hoping for balance in June.

Here’s highlights of some shows I saw in May:

• Deerhoof (XVIII), Kusikia at Neumos

  • One of the best live shows I’ve seen in recent time. Deerhoof is one of my top five bands of the current moment!

  • Kusikia, who I hadn’t heard of previously, are a PNW-based band who blew me away with their atmospheric and haunting sound. Excited to see more of them!

• Gang of Four at Neptune Theatre

  • It’s Gang of Four’s farewell tour, and it’s a bittersweet goodbye to a band who still knows how to rock our socks off. Super glad to have caught them at Neptune Theatre. Favorite moment? When Jon King smashed a microwave!

    • Really wanting to read Jon King’s book, To Hell with Poverty!

• Midpak at Northwest Folklife

  • Local funk-psych group Midpak was a highlight of Northwest Folklife this year. Catch them locally, they most recently played Sea Monster Lounge!

Want more UNSLUMP!? Here’s this year’s master playlist. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle.

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - Zarigani - Mei Semones (Animaru) [May 2025]

For fans of: Wombo, gentle scatting, Origami Angel, bossa nova, Indigo de Souza (I)

Brooklyn-based Japanese artist Mei Semones delivers a beautiful, hope-filled jazzy indie rock/bossa nova album via Bayonet Records. It’s exquisite, and one of my favorites of the year so far. Semones is one of those discoveries that inspires me to keep writing UNSLUMP! Music is so kick-ass!

Arpeggiating guitars, bossa rhythms, orchestral sweeps and mathy flourishes fill this album, with songs feeling springy and playful. Lyrics alternate between English and Japanese.

Featured track “Zarigani”, translating to “crayfish”, is an expression of love for Semones’ twin sister. My favorite part of “Zarigani” is when Semones repeats “Don’t let your guard down.” There’s something in that line that makes the chest tighten :-).

Other standout tracks: “Animaru”, “I can do what I want”, “Donguri”

Fun fact- Mei’s mom, Seiko Semones, makes all of her album and single artwork, similar to Indigo de Souza, whose mother also makes her album artwork!

6 - Original Guilt - Broncho (Natural Pleasure) [April 2025]

For fans of: Dune (David Lynch version), being in the woods, Vampire Weekend

It’s been seven years since the last Broncho album, and time only makes the heart grow fonder. Oklahoma-based Broncho was a formative band for my 2014 indie rock exploration phase, and they continue to be a group I go back to when I want to feel like myself.

Natural Pleasure marks a departure from their more playful and groovy upbeat tracks in favor of shoegazy textures and introspective rhythms. My favorite thing about Broncho has always been vocalist Ryan Lindsey. I never know what he’s saying, and I really love that. His voice is another texture — It can be dreamy and soft, or brash and whiny. His voice has always felt like another instrument.

It may have been seven years, but this album was worth the wait.

5 - Fallen - Jimmie D, Nicholas Craven (Good Music Hypnotizes) [May 2025]

For fans of: Detroit hip hop, Carole King, bedazzled jeans

The summer gets me in the mood for Nicholas Craven, and he just produced this great Jimmie D. album after last year’s Penalty of Leadership (II) for Boldy James. I hadn’t listened to Montréal, Québec’s Jimmie D before this, but I found his flows to be complemented well by Craven’s masterful sampling, stretching and looping.

Good Music Hypnotizes is an easy listen, perfect for a beach trip or a long drive with the windows down.

Other standout tracks: “High Winds”, “Notre Dame”

4 - Spirals On My Tongue - RIP Swirl, Ydegirl (Emo Regulation EP) [May 2025]

For fans of: My Bloody Valentine, dessert wine, the red wax from babybel cheese

Berlin-based producer RIP Swirl weaves his way from RnB to laid-back Nilufer Yanya (XIV)-esque indie pop. I really liked his 2024 project, Perfectly Blue, and this EP follows it nicely, albeit a bit more forgettably. Still, I think “Spirals On My Tongue” fits well into the mix, especially with the lyric “Perfect day… by the lake.” I’m manifesting!

There is very little information about RIP Swirl online, so I want to do some field research (going to his concert in June- see below for June’s complete concert radar!).

3 - I Need the Angel - Ezra Furman (Goodbye Small Head) [May 2025]

For fans of: The Velvet Underground, moped rides, The Replacements, Father John Misty (XIII) (they share a record label!)

Another release that saved me this month. I’ve had this on repeat since it came out and it’s not leaving my rotation any time soon. I first stumbled upon Ezra Furman via her soundtrack for Netflix’s Sex Education, but it’s my mom who locked in on Ezra and became a mega-fan. I’m excited to catch her show at the Crocodile in August!

Goodbye Small Head is filled with emotion, longing, and some of Ezra’s most astounding lyricism to date. Tracks are packed with exhaustion and anger, leading to candid reflections and sweeping beauty. The album reminds me of the Velvet Underground and the simple lyricism of Lou Reed, with track “I Need the Angel” being my favorite. I love when the lyrics disintegrate into a sprawling, distorted guitar solo before finding their footing again.

Other standout tracks: “Power of the Moon”, “Jump Out”, “You Mustn’’t Show Weakness”, “You Hurt Me I Hate You”, “Slow Burn”, “A World of Love and Care”… Who am I kidding. Listen to it all!

2 - Cinderella - Model/Actriz (Pirouette) [May 2025]

For fans of: Squid (XVI), the Killers, industrial noise, meatballs

Punk is back! Model/Actriz is a band that’s been recommended to me many times by friends (Hi Wyatt, hi Manasa!) and it took this new album Pirouette for me to come to my senses and take a listen. I’m glad I did. Model/Actriz is on tour! It’s perfect timing.

Model/Actriz balances dance-heavy bass with strong lyrics and insane live performance energy. Bass player Adam Shapiro once described their sound as “everything is a drum”. Singer Cole Haden’s vocal delivery reminds me a bit of Nation of Language, but it’s his lyrics that are totally raw; reveling in queer joy and confusion, a direction frequently ignored within the punk ether.

“Cinderella” is a beautiful, dance-ably poetic track.

Other standout tracks: “Vespers”, “Poppy”, “Diva”

1 - The World is My Runway - Artificial Go (Musical Chairs) [May 2025]

For fans of: skorts, Suburban Lawns, dog haircut videos, pool noodles, Finom (VIII), no wave

A playful, charming, post-punk indie pop adventure from Artificial Go, following their Hopscotch Fever EP. The Cincinatti-based trio trades off instruments on this album, harnessing an art punk chaotic energy that is a blast to listen to.

Musical Chairs reminds me a bit of the B52s, especially featured track “The World is My Runway”. This track is an ode to living as a spectacle, being authentic and living life. It reminds me of one of my favorite aphorisms: “Grab life by the balls and squeeze!”

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: June 🎵:

Tons of great shows this month, so highlighting my favorites down below with more on the Google Calendar, here! Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 6.2 Billy Woods (XV), Quelle Chris at Madame Lou's - Tickets

• 6.6-6.7 Big Ass Boombox at The Sunset Tavern - Tickets (Day 1, Day 2)

  • Free local music festival in Ballard featuring 16 bands over two nights!

• 6.10-6.11 OMD at Moore Theatre - Tickets

• 6.13 The Crocodile Presents: R.A.P. FERREIRA wsg/ BLAX & Frankie Jax - Tickets

• 6.13 Clock-Out Lounge Presents: Casual Hex w/ Versing, SUX, Fine - Tickets

• 6.13-6.15 They Might Be Giants at Neptune Theatre - Tickets

• 6.14 Tractor Tavern Presents: Twain, guests - Tickets

• 6.19 Oso Oso at the Vera Project - Tickets

• 6.19 Panchinko (XV) with Tanukichan at Showbox SoDo - Tickets

• 6.20 Karate at Madame Lou’s - Tickets

• 6.21 2025 FREMONT SOLSTICE DAY PARTY feat. WARREN DUNES, MIDPAK* - Tickets

• 6.22 Broncho* at Neumos - Tickets

• 6.22 KEXP Presents: LIVE! ON STAGE: JONATHAN RICHMAN (The Modern Lovers)- Tickets

• 6.24 Provoker with support from RIP Swirl* and Faerybabyy - Tickets

• 6.25-6.26 Belltown Bloom and The Crocodile Present: Crumb, Discovery Zone (IV) - Tickets

• 6.25 The Crocodile Presents: Esmé Patterson - Tickets

That wraps up Volume XIX of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites! Tell me something great that happened last month.. I’d love to know :-)

Until June - Stay out of the slump!

Jess

April 2025 brought the sun! I’ve been riding my bike, I saw the Minecraft movie (insane, overstimulating, legendary), and even flew over to New York / D.C. for an east coast tour. There’s nothing like a New York deli sandwich to get me feeling more like myself.

Here’s a recap of some shows I saw in April:

• Robert Lester Folsom, Tomten, Sunchild at Tractor Tavern

  • Tomten opened— Despite a lack of cohesion in terms of style, the vocalist reminded me of Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker on their best tracks. Especially enjoyed their song “Grapefruit Sea”.

    • Side note: Been enjoying the new Pulp single, “Spike Island”. Excited to see what’s cooking there!

  • Robert Lester Folsom was incredible, merging the old school charisma of a church pastor and the innocence and dance-ability of the Partridge Family.

    • Hilarious experience watching the guy in front of me at this show— This passionate concertgoer was Shazam-ing songs, checking the set list after every track, and even looking up and seemingly studying the lyrics to Folsom’s main hit and encore song, “My Stove’s On Fire”. I’m obsessed with the earnestness (and lack of self-awareness) of it all.

• Tsunami and Ida at Tractor Tavern

  • I am a huge fan of record label Numero Group, and they’ve been reissuing tons of Tsunami’s stuff from the 90s. Now, Tsunami is touring along with fellow Simple Machines labelmates Ida. Frontwoman Jenny Toomey is phenomenal, she’s got the sauce and the swag.

Need more UNSLUMP!? Here’s this year’s master playlist. And don’t forget the concert calendar if you’re in Seattle.

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World - Destroyer (Dan’s Boogie) [March 2025]

For fans of: T Rex, Ezra Furman, David Bowie, old architecture

Dan’s Boogie marks the fourteenth studio album by Canadian band Destroyer on NC-based label Merge Records. I like listening to music by people who are much smarter than I am, and Dan Bejar is this guy. He’s well-read and he’s seen things, and when I listen to Dan’s Boogie, I picture myself seated at his feet as he regales me with tales from his life. He’s the oracle.

The album tackles aging and decay through theatrical, varied songs that feel like a rock opera. Don’t let the album scare you off with its more experimental moments- it’s these surprising flourishes that remind us that we are breathing and growing, too.

Front-to-back, one of my favorite releases of the year so far! + He’s coming to Seattle on October 25!

6 - Under Rats - Deerhoof, Saul Williams (Noble and Godlike in Ruin) [April 2025]

For fans of: Mario Kart, Fontaines DC, strong headphone panning, tUnE-yArDs

US/Japanese quartet Deerhoof has been one of my favorite bands for a while now— I never know what they’ll do next. Noble and Godlike in Ruin is a sound collage that alternates between being stunningly beautiful (“Overrated Species Anyhow”, “Sparrow Sparrow”) and abrasively overstimulating (“Ha Ha Ha Ha, Haa”, “Disobedience”), but somehow still jaw-droppingly epic.

Featured track “Under Rats” is like being in a church, feet stomping on wooden floorboards, hands thrown towards the sky and sweat dripping down your face. In minute 3:25 of this song, we get a brief glimpse of a symphony and an opera, nestled at the end of the track, like a quick bit of interference.

I think a Japanese Breakfast / Deerhoof collab would rock super hard. Manifesting this! Please!

Catch them May 4 at Neumos!

5 - Happy Birthday - Black Country, New Road (Forever Howlong) [April 2025]

For fans of: Aimee Mann, Camera Obscura, jangle pop, Practical Magic

Black Country, New Road’s newest album comes at the loss of singer Isaac Wood, birthing a new triple-frontwoman lineup of Georgia Ellery, Tyler Hyde, and May Kershaw. With this change comes a new creative direction and one of the band’s densest albums yet. While a long listen, the album is expansive and varied. I think this one will take a few listens to stick to my brain completely, but I’m really enjoying a lot of the tracks.

Also, one of the coolest album covers of the year so far!

Other favorite tracks: “Socks”, “Two Horses”, “Mary”

4 - Kelly Watch the Stars - Vegyn Version - Vegyn, Air (Blue Moon Safari) [April 2025]

For fans of: Record Store Day, dinner music, Daft Punk

I’m a huge fan of Air’s 1998 album Moon Safari, so was intrigued to check out Vegyn’s remixed version of the album in honor of Record Store Day this year. Air’s original is worth the listen on its own of course, but the remixes here are an exciting introduction (or return) to such a seminal electronic album. Think of it like Moon Safari, after hours.

British producer Joe Thornalley (Vegyn) has produced for Frank Ocean and Travis Scott, so to see him create something so modern from such an established classic album feels exciting. Definitely one of the more interesting electronic releases of the year so far!

Other favorites: “Sexy Boy”, “Remember”

3 - Messy Hair - TV Girl, George Clanton, Magdalena Bay (Fauxllennium) [April 2025]

For fans of: Poptropica, orange juice, water parks

If you’ve read UNSLUMP!, you already know I’m Magdalena Bay-pilled, so I was stoked to see this collab with TV Girl and George Clanton on the Japanese Deluxe edition of Fauxllennium (one of the toughest album names to spell, ever??). Upon regular release of this album, I wasn’t too blown away, but some of these extra tracks were killer— “Poison Ooze” with Frankie Cosmos was another that stood out.

I think TV Girl can feel very rooted in the “Tumblr-core” aesthetic of the early 2000s, which is why their recent releases haven’t resonated as much for me, but I liked seeing them expand in this direction.

2 - #1 Best of All Time - Mamalarky (Hex Key) [April 2025]

For fans of: Crumb, good old-fashioned indie rock, Feeble Little Horse

Mamalarky is quirky in what feels like a realistic and genuine way. I’m often wary of indie bands who lean into the “We’re weirdos!” vibe, but I saw Mamalarky in 2021 on their tour for their 2020 eponymous debut, and was blown away by their stark musicality and style. They’re super groovy in a live setting, and I’m drawn to their more energized tracks and multitude of synthesizers. <3

After being slightly underwhelmed by their last album, I’ve been delightfully surprised by the memorably titled Hex Key. The songs are whimsical and don’t overstay their welcome.

Other favorites: “The Quiet”, “Nothing Lasts Forever”, “Feels So Wrong”

1 - Henry’s In Love - Henry Badowski (Life Is A Grand…) [1981- April 2025 Reissue]

For fans of: 80s new wave, John Maus, Brian Eno

Here’s an awesome one. Henry Badowski’s Life Is A Grand… was a record previously only available on physical media, lost to time (just like Henry!). Badowski was a member of The Damned & The Good Missionaries before embarking on a solo career, with Life Is A Grand.. being his only full-length work before he faded into obscurity. Where did he go?!

On the album, Badowski sung, played keys, programmed the drum machine and played sax. The style reminds me of Eno/Cale collaborations, Roxy Music and XTC. From front to back, it’s incredible, upbeat post-punk greatness.

If you’re into Life Is A Grand… check out Gene October’s Chelsea, another great band of the scene Henry was a part of.

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: May 🎵:

Tons of great shows this month, so highlighting my favorites down below with more on the Google Calendar, here! Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 5.1 Squid (XVI) at Neumos - Tickets

• 5.2 The Ocean Blue performing the Self-Titled and Cerulean albums w/ Brian Tighe of The Hang Ups at The Crocodile - Tickets

• 5.3 Friko, youbet (VII) at the Crocodile - Tickets

• 5.4 Deerhoof (IV), Ghost Ease + Kusikia at Neumos - Tickets

• 5.9 Clock-Out Lounge Presents: Spiral XP w/ Mt Fog, Jo Passed - Tickets

• 5.9 The Hard Quartet with Evicshen at the Showbox - Tickets

• 5.10 Rahill with Lionmilk at Baba Yaga - Tickets

  • Rahill’s 2023 release, Flowers At Your Feet was one of my favorites that year.

• 5.12 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Paramount Theatre - Tickets

• 5.12 The Triple Door presents Molly Lewis & Zan Fiskum at the Rabbit Box- Tickets

  • Molly Lewis is a WHISTLER! She WHISTLES!

• 5.13 Slowdive, Creepoid at Paramount Theatre - Tickets

• 5.14 Momma, Wishy at Neumos - Tickets

• 5.16 Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory LIVE on KEXP (OPEN TO THE PUBLIC) - More info

• 5.17 Lambrini Girls at Baba Yaga - Tickets

• 5.17-5.18 zoe | juniper + Xiu Xiu at The Moore - Tickets

• 5.20 Being Dead (XIV), Nug at Madame Lou’s - Tickets

• 5.20 Gang of Four at Neptune Theatre - Tickets

• 5.21 KEXP and Tractor Tavern Present: Dean Wareham, Jess Cornelius (VIII) - A Sunset 25th Anniversary Show - Tickets

• 5.22 Panda Bear at the Showbox - Tickets

• 5.24 Black Country, New Road at the Moore - Tickets

• 5.29 The Great Seattle Fire: Underground Artist Showcase at Chop Suey - Tickets

• 5.30 Zookraught, Black Ends, Flesh Produce at Sunset Tavern - Tickets

That wraps up Volume XVIII of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites!

Until May - Stay out of the slump!

Jess

March 2025 was filled with new experiences. From trying contra dancing (sweaty, lots of spinning), to visiting Graceland in Memphis, TN with a loyal UNSLUMP! reader (my MOM, hi mom!), to even attending (and falling asleep during) the opera!

Here’s a recap of some shows I saw in March:

• Fun Parents, LEMON BOY at Cha Cha Lounge

  • Fun Parents is a local band to watch- their DIY, synth-driven emo sound reminds me of Hey Ily. Check out their 2020 album, Fun Parents (standout tracks: Pete’s Swanky Hips, Gelatinous Cube)

• Kim Deal (XIII) at the Neptune Theatre

  • Kim Deal is touring her solo album, Nobody Loves You More, which she plays front-to-back, with a full live band — she’s got horns and strings, plus her sister, Kelley Deal joins for some Breeders songs. Hauntingly beautiful and filled with wisdom- that’s Kim Deal!

• Amyl and the Sniffers (XII, XIV) and Sheer Mag (III) at Paramount Theatre

  • Sheer Mag frontwoman Tina Halladay gives off Jack Black circa School of Rock / Meatloaf’s Paradise By the Dashboard Light. She’s got pipes. Crowd was sleepy for them, which is too bad!

  • Amyl and the Sniffers blew me away. I wasn’t sure what it would be like to see a punk show at the Paramount, but Amy Taylor commanded that whole place — she was on a whole new wavelength. Loved her commentary and the pub-rock energy she brought to the venue.

Need more UNSLUMP!? Here’s this year’s master playlist. And don’t forget that concert calendar if you’re in Seattle.

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - New Second - OK (Western Demonstrations) [February 2025]

For fans of: surf rock, Monumental Grooves, zines as an addendum to music

Oliver Kogod (of San Francisco noise goth band, Jock (XI)) released his first solo EP under the moniker OK, in memory of his family dog, Sonny. OK’s tracks are marked by push and pull, each track feeling like a question mark — curiosity and exploration are his strong suit, and you can feel the palpable inspiration on each track, recorded on a 4-track cassette player.

I have a bit of bias, since I mixed this EP! It’s really good! New Second is my favorite track- it’s got the perfect mix of old school Sonic Youth-esque chord progression, a groovy bassline and that head-bobbing, summer driving feeling.

Check out Oliver’s zines, they’re an amazing look into his brain! Big fan of OK!

6 - 119 - Monde UFO (Flamingo Tower) [March 2025]

For fans of: David Lynch, Cronenberg’s Crash, The Velvet Underground, ASMR

I love an album that sounds like aliens would enjoy it, and that’s Flamingo Tower. LA-based Monde UFO, led by Ray Monde, takes us on an expedition through avant jazz, orchestral rock and psychedelia. Whispery vocals, discordant synthesizers and saxophones, and even a song that’s an ode to huffing glue (is this a subtle callback to this Ramones song?).

This is an album to listen to before bed, in headphones!

Other standout tracks: Sunset Entertainment 3, Samba 9

5 - Mega Circuit - Japanese Breakfast (For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)) [March 2025]

For fans of: paddle boarding, Fiona Apple, eggs benedict

I can’t stop listening to the newest album from Michelle Zauner’s Japanese Breakfast. J Brekkie is one of the most consistent acts in terms of quality production, beautiful songwriting and surprising flourishes. This is her fourth album under Japanese Breakfast, and the first recorded in a professional studio setting, produced by Blake Mills.1

This album is going to be beautiful live, and I can’t wait to see Japanese Breakfast with Ginger Root (IX) at the ZOO this summer!

Other standout tracks: Orlando In Love, Honey Water, Picture Window

4 - Pale Blue Dot - Moreish Idols (All In The Game) [March 2025]

For fans of: Elliott Smith, Dancer (XIV), hard boiled eggs (I am in my egg era), Pavement

London’s Moreish Idols were a new find for me this month, and one I’m stoked about. From track to track, Moreish Idols are varied and intentional, weaving driving drumbeats, string sections, Krautrock influences and more into one perfect album.

Moreish Idols is tough to compare to other bands. Their music feels incredibly fresh and new, and this album is worth listening to front to back. The songs revolve around existentialism, memory, and time. For the title track, the same sax part is played at different tempos, recording onto tape moving at different speeds!!

Other standout tracks: Railway, All In The Game, Slouch, Dream Pixel

3 - Goji - Serebii (Dime) [March 2025]

For fans of: Sufjan Stevens, Shira Small, sunny side up eggs, Aldous Harding

New Zealand multi-instrumentalist Callum Mower, known as Serebii, has released his first album with vocals. Serebii’s past projects were in the dub techno sphere, focused mainly on rhythms, so Dime is surprising for those expecting something similar. Mower surprises us with tender, expertly mixed songs that feel light, delicate and effortless.

Goji is a danceable song that reminds me a bit of The Girl from Ipanema. The instrumentation feels warm, comfortable.

Other standout tracks: Verrans Corner, Dime

2 - Ate the Tuning Fork While I Taxied in the Crepuscular - Rhys Langston, Open Mike Eagle (single) [March 2025]

For fans of: sitting in the exit row, 70s funk, Funkadelic / Parliament

New single from Rhys Langston + Open Mike Eagle as the pregame to Langston’s new album Pale Black Negative is so much fun! “Ate the Tuning Fork While I Taxied in the Crepuscular” is an insane title name, but it works well for such an artful track by two adventurous LA rappers.

Here are some of the lyrics- drink them in!

The white zone is for loading emotional baggage only /

The red zone is for dumping it onto others /

Ah yeah, check your boarding passes /

We are now about to board triple platinum double fudge. /

If you are not triple platinum double fudge, step to the rear and climb into the trashcan.

What’s a crepuscular, you ask?? It means twilight! It’s usually used to refer to animals active during dawn and dusk.

1 - Assis - spill tab (single) [March 2025]

For fans of: Billie Eilish, insane synthesizer riffs, old-school slot machines

French-Korean singer, songwriter and producer spill tab, aka Claire Chica’s new single “Assis” is rooted in a great bassline and surprising arc of instrumentation and electronics. The single, produced by John Hill (Charli XCX, FKA Twigs) is entirely in French, with “Assis” meaning sitting or sat, an ode to sitting and overthinking the same thing.

spill tab’s debut album ANGIE out May 16 via Because Music.

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: April 🎵:

Check out the Google Calendar, here! Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 4.1 Rubblebucket (IX) at the Neptune Theatre - Tickets

• 4.3 Black Country New Road Listening Party at Easy Street Records

• 4.3 Headstone Brigade / Byssus / Mountain Holler at Teatro de la Psychomachia

• 4.4 No Edits, Molt, High Priors at Southgate Roller Rink

• 4.5 Martha Wainwright, Brad Barr (of The Barr Brothers) at Fremont Abbey - Tickets

• 4.5 Going Left Fest at Add-A-Ball - More info

• 4.6 Youth Lagoon (XV) at the Crocodile - Tickets

• 4.9 Kraftwerk at the Moore - Tickets

• 4.13 Nubya Garcia at Tractor Tavern - Tickets

• 4.15 High Vis (XII), Militarie Gun at Neumos - Tickets

• 4.17 Fontaines DC (X) at Showbox Sodo - Tickets

• 4.18 An Evening with Ida & Tsunami (XIII) at Tractor Tavern - Tickets

• 4.19 Butcher Brown (IX) at Nectar Lounge -Tickets

• 4.21 Finom (VIII) at Madame Lou’s - Tickets

• 4.25 Smino at Showbox Sodo - Tickets

That wraps up Volume XVII of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites!

Until April - Stay out of the slump!

Jess

In what feels like the blink of an eye, February is over and we’re onto March— time seems to be moving impossibly fast this year, I feel breathless- not always a bad thing. This month, I found myself in Mexico City and in Portland, Oregon, two places I’d never been. Hoping this year brings more firsts, and more discovery. That’s what it’s all about! Let’s make it happen.

Need more UNSLUMP!? Here’s this year’s master playlist. And don’t forget that killer concert calendar if you’re in Seattle.

Also!! Seattle pinball institution Add-A-Ball has opened a venue, and you can check out their shows here.

UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try.

Follow along on: Spotify | Apple Music

7 - Switch Over - Horsegirl (Phonetics On And On) [February 2025]

For fans of: folk pop, people younger than you making music better than you ever will, essential grooves, “Modest Mouse for girls”

Chicago’s Horsegirl is one of my favorite bands on the current wave of sincere indie rock music. They’re the queens of singing “da, da, da, da da da” earnestly. I swear, with every “da”, you get one more ping of serotonin to hit your brain. Horsegirl is basically a musical SSRI!

Phonetics On And On is a quick and interesting listen, with new standout tracks emerging every time through, and no real drags or skips. I drove with my friend Norah to Portland this month, and the album proved a great backdrop to beautiful I-5 (sarcasm).

Other favorite tracks: In Twos, Julie, Information Consent

Catch em’ at Neumos this August.

6 - Drums of Death - FKA twigs, Koreless (EUSEXUA) [February 2025]

For fans of: glitchcore, strobe lights, Fremont Coffee Company, chopped up vocals

FKA twigs’ masterpiece EUSEXUA has been on repeat all month. It’s an album I love in headphones, in the rain, in the shower, on a walk, sitting and staring at the wall, rolling on my apartment floor. The production is astounding, with some tracks sounding like your head is filled with marbles (complement), or like you’re spelunking and end up at a cave rave.

twigs created the word “Eusexua”, defining it as being “for the girls who find their true selves under a hard metal silver stiletto on the damp rave floor”.

Lots of standouts on the album; it’s impossible to highlight just a few. “Drums of Death” epitomizes everything I love about EUSEXUA— It’s a song that feels like a machine. Let it’s glitchiness take you away.

5 - Bad Choices - Larry June, 2 Chainz, The Alchemist (Life Is Beautiful) [February 2025]

For fans of: Severance, the serendipity of everything going slightly wrong, Boldy James (II), Earl Sweatshirt, Bay Area hip hop

I was a big fan of Larry June’s 2023 collab The Great Escape with the Alchemist, so when I caught wind of a 2 Chainz and June collab, my interest was rightfully piqued. The Alchemist is a stellar producer as always, and continues to create psychedelic, dreamy backgrounds that complement both rappers.

Life Is Beautiful is a laid back album, and despite many of the tracks having a slower feel, “Bad Choices” is an instant classic.

Fun fact: According to some slightly out of date intel (circa 2016), Larry June plans on releasing his own brand of oranges.

4 - Flood - Little Simz, Obongjayar, Moonchild Sanelly (single) [February 2025]

For fans of: tUnE yArDs (X), 6pm sunsets, perfect mixes, main character syndrome

Little Simz drops a punchy, powerful new track in the announcement of her sixth record Lotus, out May 9 via AWAL. “Flood” is a funky, staccato call to action, featuring vocals from Nigerian vocalist Obongjayar and South African artist Moonchild Sanelly.

After a bit of a forgettable 2024 release with Drop 7, I’m excited to see what Little Simz has in store with Lotus.

Number one is play your position /

Don’t trust all the hands that you shake… Number two, don’t take it personal /

This place is infested with snakes.

3 - bald heads crackin - School Fair (bird the kid) [January 2025]

For fans of: placing in the top three at pub trivia, cracking your knuckles in a silent room (do you regret it?), being a little off-key when singing happy birthday, Squid (who also released a great album this month), Majesty Crush (III)

New find for me this month- indie band School Fair of Dunedin, New Zealand gives us a long, meandering album lush with speak-singing, heavily panned guitars and driving drumbeats. Bird the Kid feels nostalgic, hearkening to bands/artists like Majesty Crush, Elliott Smith, and that essential post-punk guitar-driven sound.

School Fair remains pretty mysterious, with very little information available online, but that only adds to their crate-digging nature. They’re comforting and soft and warm. They’re for cassettes.

2 - I’ve Got A Feeling (Stay Lucky) - Porridge Radio (The Machine Starts to Sing) [February 2025]

For fans of: last hurrahs, the romance of having a notebook and pen on hand when you need it, micro bangs, dishes piling in the sink (in a non-threatening manner)

I stood outside of Neumos this month as Porridge Radio sound checked for their final Seattle tour after announcing their breakup earlier this year. One of my favorite bands in recent time, the British intensity of a solid indie rock band fronted by vocalist Dana Margolin performed one of my favorite live shows in recent memory when I lived in Washington, D.C. and saw them at DC9 (I miss that place!!). Their 2022 release, Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky is one of those albums that reads as nostalgia.

Their final EP, The Machine Starts to Sing feels like a perfect ending, mixing heartfelt lyrics with the synthesis they’re known for, rasping lyricism and lots of heart. I’ll miss you, Porridge Radio!

1 - Lowlands - Fernette (single) [January 2025]

For fans of: finding little joys, Beach House, Sophie Thatcher (XII)

I discovered Fernette through , one of my favorite music writers. He saw Fernette as the opening band for a show celebrating the release of Antics magazine, describing the performance as like “seeing Nico sing at a piano bar, but with robot aliens attacking on the periphery”.

For their live shows, Perpetua says there’s lots more electronic noise- hoping that might be the case as they release more recorded tracks. Still, “Lowlands” seems like the way to end this month’s mix.

🎵 Seattle Show Radar: March 🎵:

Check out the Google Calendar, here! Artists I’ve mentioned in UNSLUMP! previously are linked to their editions :-)

• 3.1 + 3.2 Tyler the Creator at Climate Pledge Arena - 3.1, 3.2

• 3.3 Freak Slug LIVE on KEXP - 11am, show up early for a free ticket!

• 3.18 Still House Plants at the Vera Project - Tickets

  • Experimental raucous noise music !!!

• 3.19 Astrid Sonne at Here-After - Tickets

  • Really cool ambient / atmospheric singer-songwriter stuff a la Julia Holter.

• 3.23 WAND at the Vera Project - Tickets

  • 2014 and 2015’s Ganglion Reef and Golum are my favorite projects from WAND, check em’.

• 3.24 Kim Deal (XIII) at Neptune Theatre - Tickets

• 3.24 ELUCID at Barboza - Tickets

• 3.25 Frog LIVE on KEXP - 3pm, show up early for a free ticket. / at the Vera Project - Tickets

• 3.27 Hinds LIVE on KEXP - 12pm, show up early for a free ticket.

• 3.27 Amyl and The Sniffers (XII): Cartoon Darkness Tour with Sheer Mag (III) at Paramount Theatre - Tickets

• 3.28 Amyl and the Sniffers (XII) LIVE on KEXP - 12pm, show up early for a free ticket.

• 3.28 Hinds, Mamalarky at Tractor Tavern - Tickets

• 3.29 Clock-Out Lounge Presents: Ovlov + Washer - Tickets

• 3.29 Delicate Steve at Tractor Tavern - Tickets

• 3.30 Pom Poko at Sunset Tavern - Tickets

• 3.31 This is Lorelei, Starcleaner Reunion at Barboza - Tickets

  • Nate Amos of Water From Your Eyes’ solo project, This is Lorelei is for fans of Mt. Eerie / Modern Baseball / indie slowcore. Yum. Starcleaner Reunion is good fun, too. Enjoyed their latest EP.

That wraps up Volume XVI of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites.

Until March - Stay out of the slump.

Jess