Best of the underground, week of strange St Patrick’s day, 2020: Cinnamon creates and then raps to a geese beat. Can John REALLY crack walnuts with his butt cheeks? (All podcasts and reviews are on, www.hlycrp.com, and you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.) Artists! We like […]
White Oak Splits guys are great – and this song is the musical marriage of the raw garage sound of Velvet Underground’s “White Light White Heat” with the all-American pastime of making it in the back seat of an automobile. On the previous album the White Oak Splits dug into an Allman Brothers sound – […]
This is the perfect pop song. Just over a minute long and there isn’t a second of this banger that isn’t fun and catchy and so true. Do what they say! There is beauty in the brevity. Do what they say! Like The Ramones every moment is a gem of exquisite trash and f*ck you […]
What matters only at the end of the day? This dreamy pop song – this beautiful art – this matters at the end of the day. To me it still feels pretty – even though I feel low. Cinnamon says this song is “Garfunkley” – and what she means is this vocal line is so […]
Do you like Canadian music? I like Canadian music. Don’t you like Canadian music? Baby. Sweet Sebastian shoves together the most catchy sing-along hooks hidden just below the surface. Like The Pixies, these guys walk that fine line between pop and weird. There’s experimental music when the creator doesn’t truly understand song – and then […]
Best of the underground, week of March 10, 2020: Tips for enjoying the apocalypse. How John’s hubris ruined SXSW. The one instrument that will definitely make money for your band. Also, SEVEN fantastic songs, one of which is a bonus. (All podcasts and reviews are on our newly-unhacked website, www.hlycrp.com, and you can also follow […]
Best of the underground, week of March 3, 2020: SO MUCH MUSIC! And: Ether, vocabulary, more facts about Johnson City, and introducing Cinnamon’s Craft Corner. Also, SEVEN fantastic songs, one of which is a bonus. (All podcasts and reviews are on our newly-unhacked website, www.hlycrp.com, and you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and […]
The underground is not afraid of sweetness. Anthony Warden’s song “What in the World” is the sweetest of confections. Drum machine. Synth arpeggiator. Strings. And gorgeous harmonies over the lines “What in the world could it be? Could it be? It’s alright.” This is the perfect example of the beauty of simplicity – this song […]
In the small town of Black Mountain, up in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, there’s a hut at the end of the dirt road. Hidden in the basement cave is a recording studio that has produced some of the defining albums and songs of this great garage rock era. The monk who sits in the cave, […]