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The Surf Shack ride a wave of retro charm and sun-soaked nostalgia on Come Back and Stay, a warm fusion of surf rock grooves, soulful melodies, and psychedelic guitar shimmer. Built around fluid rhythms and breezy instrumentation, the track captures the feeling of endless coastal afternoons while carrying an emotional undercurrent that gives the song real heart beneath its laid-back exterior. Michael Dommes blends classic surf aesthetics with touches of funk, jazz, and cinematic atmosphere, creating a sound that feels timeless rather than merely nostalgic. Smooth, uplifting, and effortlessly transportive, Come Back and Stay is pure escapism wrapped in glowing vintage tones.

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It hasn’t even been 24 hours since Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 people announced the lineup of the Great American State Fair, a series of summer concerts on the National Mall intended to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday. That lineup honestly looked like a joke — a collection of where-are-they-now ’90s hitmakers that included names like Milli Vanilli, Vanilla Ice, and C+C Music Factory. Now, it’s looking like even more of a joke, as a couple of the announced acts have made it clear that they want nothing to do with this clusterfuck.

The post Young MC Also Drops Off Trump’s <em>I Love The ’90s</em> Freedom 250 Celebration appeared first on Stereogum.

Taji blur the line between chaos and control on Used Like New, a restless art-rock rush packed with emotional urgency and unpredictable sonic turns. Ethereal guitar textures collide with crashing rhythms and impassioned vocals, creating a sound that feels simultaneously expansive, intimate, and slightly unstable in the best possible way. Drawing from post-punk melancholy and adventurous indie experimentation, Taji balances hook-driven songwriting with abstract flourishes and off-kilter phrasing that keep the track constantly shifting beneath its melodic surface. Raw, ambitious, and creatively fearless, Used Like New captures the thrill of an artist embracing imperfection and pushing toward something genuinely distinctive.

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Sun Dont Shine — the band featuring Kirk Windstein (guitar/vocals; Crowbar, Down, Kingdom of Sorrow), former Type O Negative members Kenny Hickey (guitar/vocals), Johnny Kelly (drums), and Todd Strange (Crowbar, Down) — has released the official music video for “All You Wasted.” The clip was shot by Mike Holderbeast. The band was formerly known as Eye Am.

“All You Wasted” is taken from Sun Dont Shine‘s debut album, From Birth to Death, which was released April 1 via Corpse Paint Records.

Hickey said: “I don’t want our music to be one-dimensional. I don’t want it to be just dark and doomy or always so heavy. I want it to be both light and dark, dynamic and unpredictable.”

At its core, Sun Dont Shine is about rejecting the overly polished and letting the music speak for itself. With Windstein‘s earth-shaking riffs and Hickey‘s evocative, often ethereal melodies, the band strikes a delicate balance between heavy and haunting. Kelly‘s drumming keeps things tight while Strange‘s bass lines anchor the bottom end. Influences span Black Sabbath to The Beatles.

Regarding the name change from Eye Am to Sun Dont Shine, Hickey told Revolver: “There was another metal band called I Am, and also a rap band called Eyeam, spelled exactly like [us] on Spotify. We tried to trademark the name, but we found out the rapper already owned it. So, we were not able to go forward. But that was just a mock-up name that Andrew came up with, you know what I mean? We didn’t figure we were gonna even be a band. Same thing happened with Type O back in the day. We were called Sub-Zero, but there was another band named Sub-Zero and they threatened [to sue]. We had all gotten the negative tattoos already — you know, ‘Sub-Zero’ — and then history [became] history. It ended up being Type O Negative.”

Under the Eye Am name, the band released singles “Dreams Always Die With The Sun” (June 2023) and “Cryptomnesia” (November 2023) via Corpse Paint Records, both with music videos shot and directed by Holderbeast at OCD Recording and Production. The band’s first single under the Sun Dont Shine name, “The Promise Song,” came out in January 2025. Although an EP called Coming Down was announced in June 2025, the band later chose to focus on recording a full-length album instead.

Hickey and Kelly had previously collaborated in Seventh Void, which released Heaven Is Gone in 2009, and Silvertomb, which issued Edge of Existence in 2019. Original Crowbar bassist Strange returned to the band in 2016 for the touring cycle in support of The Serpent Only Lies before departing once again to focus on his family. Windstein, who also plays in the New Orleans supergroup Down, previously recorded two albums with Hatebreed‘s Jamey Jasta under the Kingdom of Sorrow banner and has issued two solo albums.

The post SUN DONT SHINE, Featuring TYPE O NEGATIVE & CROWBAR Members, Share Music Video For Single “All You Wasted” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Website   [Release date 29.05.26] Sharon Lazibyrd as been on the GRTR! musical radar for some years now and it was a pleasant surprise to receive an advance listen to this song, ‘Quand je vois le Monde’, the second single from … Continue reading →

The post Single review: SHARON LAZIBYRD – Quand je vois le Monde appeared first on Get Ready to ROCK!.

IroningBoard Records [Release date 01.04.26] On his 11th album now, successful songwriter (‘These Dreams’, ‘We Built This City’, ‘King Of Wishful Thinking’ and many more) Martin Page’s softly softly approach to his own material remains untouched. He tells us : … Continue reading →

The post Album review : MARTIN PAGE – The First And Last Freedom appeared first on Get Ready to ROCK!.

The lunchtime beers are already flowing, and Camden is buzzing with activity for day two of Desertfest. It’s already one in, one out at the Black Heart, with the queue snaking through the busy pub downstairs and onto the street.

Words: Ellie Odurny // Photos: Jessi Lotti, Sam Huddleston and Tim Bugbee

INSTAR SLING

Downstairs in the Underworld, things are decidedly less lively as Instar Sling launch into a relentless assault of brutal noise. Every drawn-out, downturned chord sounds like it’s been dragged through a mire and every snarled vocal is packed with venom. It’s slow, it’s dark and it’s crushingly heavy. They aren’t going to get any toes tapping or heads banging, but if you like your doom to be as bleak, sludgy and as smothering as possible, then Instar Sling are the band for you.

INHUMAN NATURE

The Roundhouse replaces the Electric Ballroom as the largest space for the weekend dates of Desertfest, so it’s a small trek up to Chalk Farm to watch Inhuman Nature in the opening slot. The London five-piece inject intensity into their set from the start, as hardcore-tinged vocals interplay with rapid thrash rhythms. Scattered over the weighty riffs and the occassional half-beat breakdowns are plenty of guitar solos that make full use of the fretboard, dishing out delightful metal squeals. The pace in general is much faster than a lot of the bands on the line-up, and even though the pit isn’t enormous or particularly ferocious, Inhuman Nature do a great job of blowing off any cobwebs from day one to hurtle into the second day of Desertfest at full velocity.

HARROWED

It’s a sprint back down the road to catch Kent trio Harrowed, who are busy trying to blow the roof off the Underworld with their raucously rapid metallic hardcore. Visceral vocals are screamed over ruthless drums and heavy-as-heck riffs. The set is full of the kind of aggression that constantly sounds like it has a purpose; always furious, never unhinged. Harrowed are ear-shatteringly loud, sure, but not just for the sake of it. There are elements of punk and death metal woven into the mix, adding texture and nuance to a technically impressive performance.

ELEPHANT TREE

It’s back to the Roundhouse again for Desertfest favourites Elephant Tree. The stoner/psych rockers bring a dreamy, groove-ridden mood to an increasingly-busy floor, as fuzzy guitars and entrancing beats wash over the crowd with ease. The tempo is slow and steady, with heads nodding along to the psychedelic, bluesy and occasionally doom-infused pulse. Not for the first time at Desertfest, the crowd sing happy birthday to bassist Peter Holland, the trailing cheers drowned out by hazy bass and laidback melodies.

PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS

Newcastle’s Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs always look like they’re having a fantastic time on stage. Their energy is infectious and it doesn’t take long for the Roundhouse crowd to work themselves into a frenzy in response. The bass thunders out into the rafters and trademark gravelly vocals power through to the very back of the room. The band have been carving out a space for themselves in the metal scene for the past 14 years and have developed an inimitable stage presence during that time. There’s no stillness to their operation; it’s a buzzing, energetic hive of activity that waxes and wanes through syncopated rhythms and churning guitars. Combining the groove of the early heavy metal scene with the driving rhythms of more upbeat stoner rock, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs deliver a set that has everyone bouncing and thrashing along from start to finish.

GREEN LUNG

It felt like every other person in Camden today was wearing some kind of Green Lung merchendise. The now-London locals have amassed quite the fanbase over the years, and it seems like most of them are here tonight for Green Lung’s inaugural Desertfest headline set. With the gathering masses still jostling to find the best spot, vocalist Tom Templar appears, bathed in a spotlight to deliver the opening bars of ‘The Harrowing’. A fittingly flamboyant beginning to a show that is steeped in occult iconography and folk mystery. Imagery aside, the production is (almost always) slick and confident, without veering into conceited territory. The guitar solos ooze old-school metal charm, and it’s quite something to see a tambourine being played so aggressively. New track ‘Evil In This House’ is a stomping tune, lapped up by the crowd and dripping with classic heavy metal flare. The slower numbers are heavy on the bass, with the theatrical vocals lifting a doomy low-end into something altogether more dramatic. It’s not all serious though. In a scene that could have been cut from ‘This Is Spinal Tap’, a mysterious creature appears on stage, only for the horned head to flip over backwards and render the beast virtually headless. It’s swiftly tossed back into place by a visibly amused Templar who carries on regardless with a smooth professionalism that epitomises a Green Lung show. There are layers of carefully constructed sound and there are moments of mildly self-indulgent guitar trilling, but overall, they’re just a whole lot of fun. For the finale, original bassist Andrew Cave joins the band on stage for ‘Let The Devil In’, with Joseph Ghast adding some brass flounce on saxophone. It’s another string to the proverbial bow of a Green Lung gig, and the camaraderie, cohesion and talent on stage are proof of why this band’s popularity is ever-growing.

Everyone loves a great comeback story, and so it’s a sincere pleasure to share with readers the return of Ryan McGarvey to the blues music world with the release of his brand new album, Up From The Ashes, set to be released on May 31, 2026. Due to health and life events, it has been eight years since the release of his last album, but McGarvey is now back doing what he loves. What he loves is playing guitar, writing, and performing.

Born almost forty years ago in New Mexico, he was named Guitar Center’s “Guitarmaggeddon: Next King Of The Blues” in 2006. He followed that by recording his first album, Forward In Reverse, in 2007, followed by three more studio albums and one live album through 2018. McGarvey was selected to perform by Eric Clapton at Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2010 and 2019. He has also shared stages with the likes of Jeff Beck, Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and B.B. King. He’s been nominated for, and has received, many musical awards in both the U.S. and European markets, so it’s fair to say that he has plenty of musical credibility preceding this brand new album release.

Appropriately titled, Up From The Ashes is loaded with Ryan McGarvey’s masterful guitar playing, particularly his soulful slide work. There is no skimping on quantity on this album either. It contains eleven songs, including a cover of a classic. Recorded at Rio Grande Studios in New Mexico, McGarvey is supported by a group of talented musicians, including Tony Franklin (bass on tracks 1, 7, and 11), Logan Miles Nix (drums), Artha Meadors (bass), and Brant Leeper (keys).

The recording opens with McGarvey’s first single release from this project, titled “Back To Life,” which is available on YouTube. This tune is an accurate reflection of McGarvey’s return to performing and recording as he sings, “You thought I was down for the count.” He continues with, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Now you see that I’m here to stay. You can’t keep me down. I’m coming back to life.” You just can’t help but feel good about his return. This song also offers some of his fine slide work to kick this album off right.

The fourth cut on Up From The Ashes is “Gone Come Morning,” and it has a real Allman Brothers feel to it. McGarvey sings, “I’ve got a good mind baby to walk right out your door. I’ll be gone come morning, I just can’t take no more.” I absolutely love his slide work on this classic-styled blues number. The vocals here are strong and drenched in soul, and for me, this is where Ryan McGarvey sounds his very best.

“Cold Prison Cell” begins with what I call a stomp, clap, and slide and, again, it’s where he sounds right at home. The vocals are great, and the playing is right on the money. This song explodes and morphs into a rockier version of itself. “Now I’m writing you my love from my cold prison cell.” Some fiery picking carries this song to a great ending.

The last cut on Up From The Ashes is one that many of our readers might recognize. It is a smoking hot cover of Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks.” There are very few folks who will attempt a recorded version of any Led Zeppelin tune, but Ryan McGarvey pulls it off and does a classy job of it as well. Again, as on every track of this album, his guitar work is a highlight and will be appreciated not only by listeners, but by every player who has ever held a guitar in their hands and called themselves a musician.

I can’t even begin to imagine the anxiety that Ryan McGarvey has endured in the creation of this brand new album after enduring the ups and downs of the past few years. We all know that old cliché about absence making the heart grow fonder, and based on this recording, it could very well be true.

Again, it is always great to witness people overcome adversity, and I wish Ryan McGarvey the very best as he continues his musical journey. Check out social media sites for upcoming events and go out and catch him live. I would also suggest that you grab a copy of Up From The Ashes and enjoy this recording for yourself.

And lastly, welcome back, Ryan McGarvey!

The Review: 8/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– Back To Life
– Gone Come Morning
– Cold Prison Cell
– When The Levee Breaks

The Big Hit

– Gone Come Morning

The post Ryan McGarvey: Up From The Ashes Review appeared first on Blues Rock Review.