RiYL

Two years of pandemic couldn’t keep Melvins down. In 2021 alone, the group released a pair of LPS: Working with God and Five Legged Dog, their 24th and 25th, respectively. The latter found the band revisiting their back catalog with acoustic reimaginings of 36 tracks. Last month, the group released the four-song EP, Lord of the Flies, a preview for yet another full length due out later this year. Frontman Buzz Osborne and drummer/bassist Dale Crover have remained the driving force for the band’s nearly 40-year history. Through the decades and a rotating cast of musicians, Melvins have remained a defiantly pioneering – and weird – force. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When she hops on the call, Naomi Yang is still in the middle of an editing project. It’s one she’s not quite ready to talk about. At it for a little over a decade, filmmaking is a relatively recent passion, but she’s managed to compile an impressive list of projects, including the 2013 short film Fortune and a number of music videos for artists including Marissa Nadler and Waxahatchee. An accomplished photographer, Yang also designs book covers for Exact Change, a publishing house she co-owns with partner, Damon Krukowski. But in amongst her myriad projects, she never strays too far from music. Along with Krukowski and Dean Wareham, Yang cofounded the short-lived, but extremely influential group, Galaxie 500. Since 1991, the pair have performed as Damon & Naomi, releasing their 9th album, A Sky Record, in August of last year.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fresh off a rescheduled tour opening for Drive-By Truckers, I manage to catch Carl Nichols at home. In the not so distant future, he’ll be back on the road, with a headlining stint bookended by tours with Houndmouth and Valerie June. It’s a far cry from the years and months spent at home during quarantine in his newly adopted home of Austin, Texas. Still, he sounds restless. Having graduated from his hometown of Milwaukee and found acclaim with his self-titled debut, Buffalo Nichols, the singer is ready to branch out from the blues genre. It’s a familiar feeling for a musician who never feels comfortable staying in one place. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In July 2013, Lester Chambers was attacked. Performing at a Bay Area blues festival, the singer had just launched into the Impressions’ classic, “People Get Ready,” as a woman charged through the crowd incensed that he had had dedicated the song to Trayvon Martin. It’s something of a dramatic understatement to say Chambers is a survivor. The musician has seen the heights of music stardom, from fronting The Chambers Brothers to guesting on albums by fellow musical legends like Miles Davis. But the years have found the singer battling labels for royalties and even spending a period homeless and uninsured, battling severe medical issues. But while the industry may have abandoned him, Chambers never lost faith in the music. Keeping the family tradition, he’s returned to the stage with his son Dylan, as part of the musical collective, Moonalice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two years, Mark Oliver Everett interjects, isn’t really that long away from the road. In March, the Eels return to the road for the perfectly titled, “Lockdown Hurricane” tour.   Even as the rest of the world shut down, the band was never away for too long, releasing Earth to Dora in 2020, and returning this month with Extreme Witchcraft – their 14th album overall. It’s a hard rocking affair, a reinvigorated return for a band that’s managed a remarkable run over the past 20 years. It’s a musical project that’s held together even in the face of Everett’s own doubts, which not even a proper pandemic could keep away for too long.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2021 saw reissues of some of the most beloved albums in the Lilys’ 30+ year history. After many years out-of-print, A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns, Better Can't Make Your Life Better and The 3-Way were all reissued. The band kicks off 2022 by revisiting those classics on tour. It’s been more than 15 years since the Kurt Heasley-fronted group has released a proper LP, but something is definitely happening in Lilys land. To commemorate going back out on the road, Heasley – the band’s sole consistent member – joined us to discuss the heady days of the 90s music industry and the Lilys’ lifelong aversion to staying in one place. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In February of last year, Oliver Ackermann launched a new label. For some, such a project could easily have been written off as a pandemic project or platform for launching a few pet projects. But from the outside, at least, the Brooklyn-based musician rarely takes half-measures. Dedstrange, “built from the smoldering decay of the music industry,” per its online bio, currently lists a half-dozen bands on its roster. The list, naturally, includes Ackermann’s own A Place to Bury Strangers, which has thus far released an EP, with the full-length, See Through You due out next month. Prior to forming "the loudest band in New York,” Ackermann launched effects pedal company, Death By Audio, which lent its name to a beloved Brooklyn art/workspace and venu, which ultimately shut down in 2014.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There may be no singular figure in rock who has aged more gracefully than Nick Lowe. This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Convincer – perhaps the quintessential example of the singer-songwriter settling into a comfortable new role as a rock elder statesman. But while the artist notes that he’s happily left the Chuck Berry-esque rock and roll stage antics in his past, two decades later, he finds himself reimagining his catalog with luchador mask-wearing instrumental rock band, Los Straightjackets. You can leave the rock and roll behind – but if you’re lucky, the rock and roll never leaves you. Half a century after a brush with fame as the front man of pub rock group, Brinsley Schwarz, Lowe has continued to thrive. From serving as the in-house producer for Stiff records, to breaking through with like "Cruel to Be Kind" and "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass,” to penning classics covered by Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash and Dave Edmunds, he’s endured as one of great songwriters of his – or any – generation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2017, Greta Van Fleet did the seemingly impossible: broke through the pop music world as a new rock band. And while the Michigan-born quartet was chided in some critic circles as a throwback to the genre’s heyday, it’s a no less remarkable feat. That same year, the band’s second EP, From the Fires would go on a Grammy for Best Rock Album. In spite of its rapid climb to the tops of the international charts, the band – comprised of brothers Josh, Jake and Sam Kiszka and drummer, Danny Wagner – have remained restless in their pursuit of new ways to expand their hard rock palate. Singer Josh and bassist Sam sat down to discuss the band’s journey and life during the pandemic.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nine years after her last solo album, Julie Doiron returns with I Thought of You. Written and recorded prior to the pandemic, the album was shelved for a spell, in hopes of finding a more welcoming release window. Ultimately, Doiron and her label thought better – in part, due to the stark realization that this moment isn’t ending any time soon. While touring remains difficult, the record is a welcome breath of air, building on her joyful writing and singing in a way that’s both intimately joyful and broadly welcoming. Thankfully, in the years between releases under her own name, Doiron never truly went away, save for some breaks for family.She’s continued releasing music in a variety of configurations, including a rock record under the name Julie and the Wrong Guys and her second collaboration with Mount Eerie, Lost Wisdom Pt. 2. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.