VIA PRESS RELEASE | Independent Project Records (IPR) and the New York City three-piece Springhouse announced today that they will reissue the band’s 12-track album, From Now to OK on March 14. Originally released as a limited edition CD in 2008 by Independent Project Records, this edition will be released on vinyl, CD, and digital formats and includes a bonus CD of previously unreleased demos and live tracks. A single and video for the track “Moving Van” is out now. Full album details here.

From Now to OK captures Springhouse exploring a more acoustic, folk rock-indebted sound; still showing their trademark flair for dreamy melodic textures, the ever-Anglophile Springhouse can be heard embracing the late sixties influence of Nick Drake and The Beatles.

All physical formats will be presented in a beautiful package from master designer Bruce Licher. This new LP edition will be made available on black vinyl as well as clear orange vinyl (a super-limited translucent green tint vinyl of only 200 copies was released for RSD Black Friday in November of 2024). The new CD edition has been remastered by Josh Bonati and also includes the second bonus disc of demos and rarities, packaged with a folding insert in an oversized CD pocket folder letterpress-printed by hand at Independent Project Press.

New York trio Springhouse may be best remembered as the first major-signed, nationally touring US shoegaze band of the original era: a 1991 MTV video, “Layers,” a Rolling Stone feature and copious airplay brought notice to two memorable albums on the fabled Virgin Records’ subsidiary Caroline Records. The group started with a hot 1990 debut single for Singles Only (a label founded by Bob Mould, Maxwell’s Steve Fallon, and radio DJ Nick Hill) then signed to Caroline, who released their first two albums, 1991’s Land Falls (featuring superb design by IPR’s Bruce Licher) and 1993’s Postcards From the Arctic.

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Remembering Françoise Hardy, born on this date in 1944. —Ed.

French vocalist Françoise Hardy openly disdains being described as an icon, though of course her modesty plays a large role in why she continues to be revered by so many. Naturally, the most important component in her enduring reputation is the music; a superb singer and true artist from within the oft-unrelenting 1960s pop machine, her records have aged exceptionally well, retaining the allure of their era as they lack period gaffes. Hardy’s first five French language albums, all originally issued by Disques Vogue from ’62-’66, comprise a highly worthy run of productivity.

Françoise Hardy is a cornerstone of the ’60s Euro-pop phenomenon known as yé-yé. Akin to rock, girl groups, svelte male crooners, and the majority of the era’s teen-oriented sounds in general, yé-yé was widely considered to be of an ephemeral nature, and by extension was basically dominated by the collusion of producers and labels. The singers, amongst them France Gall, Sylvie Vartan, Clothilde, and Chantal Kelly, were the crucial ingredient in a very calculated recipe.

Hardy differed from the norm by writing a significant amount of her own stuff, all but two songs on her debut in fact, and as a result she evaded the sometimes embarrassing subject matter thrust upon other yé-yé girls. Furthermore, she was regularly photographed with guitar in hand, though it’s unclear to what extent she actually played on these recordings. To borrow a phrase relating to Studio-era Hollywood, Hardy transcended the “genius of the system” method of pop manufacture, instead excelling at a subdued auteur-driven approach.

In the tradition of the original filmic auteurs, few recognized Hardy as a major talent during her emergence on the scene. She definitely sparked interest in fellow musicians however, including The Beatles, Mick Jagger, and Bob Dylan, the last so struck by her skills he dedicated the poem “Some Other Kinds of Songs” to her; it’s on the back of Another Side of Bob Dylan’s sleeve.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | It’s been 20 years since Hinder’s major label debut Extreme Behavior was released, and we’re still not sure the music industry has recovered. Seldom have commercial and critical success been poles apart to this degree; this record went TRIPLE platinum and scored, what, four major hit singles (more if you count the international charts)?!

Yet, critical scorn was unrelenting, one reviewer commenting Hinder “appeal not to fans of music, but fans of high fives.” Which is pretty funny…but this Oklahoma City band laughed all the way to the bank, as songs like “Get Stoned,” “Lips of an Angel” (#3 on the Hot 100), “How Long,” and “Better Than Me” were worldwide hits. Part of this was due to the undeniable charisma of lead vocalist Austin John Winkler; producer Brian Howes also deserves credit for co-writing the songs.

But a big part of Hinder’s allure (aside from the fetching cover photo taken straight from the cover of the book How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do: Sex Advice from a Woman Who Knows) was the band’s devil-may-care attitude.

Fans of Jackass found their party-hearty soundtrack right here; Extreme Behavior is good, unclean fun. Remastered for its first-ever vinyl reissue on its 20th birthday by Mike Milchner from Sonic Vision, and pressed in blackberry vinyl!

Japanese freak rock heroes Acid Mothers Temple—with their offshoot groups and collaborations and what not—have been winning hearts and minds and blowing the latter since 1996 with their dozens of psychedelic and space rock albums, and one thing is undeniable: they have a playful sense of humor, as you can tell by their positive genius for coming up with amusing album titles that evoke classical rock albums of the past. Or maybe they don’t think they’re funny at all. I do.

There are far, far too many to mention, but my favorites include 2001’s Absolutely Freak Out (Zap Your Mind!), that same year’s Electric Heavyland, 2002’s St. Captain Freak Out & the Magic Bamboo Request, 2004’s Minstrel in the Galaxy, 2009’s Are We Experimental, that same year’s Dark Side of the Black Moon: What Planet Are We On?, 2011’s The Ripper at the Heaven’s Gates of Dark and THAT same year’s Son of a Bitches Brew, 2012’s Chaos Unforgiven Kisses or Grateful Dead Kennedys, 2013’s Doobie Wonderland, 2024’s Trust Masked Replicants, and my personal fave, 2006’s Starless and Bible Black Sabbath.

I’m not going to run down all of Acid Mothers Temple name variations and offshoot bands—suffice it to say they’ve mostly recorded under the names Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. and Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno, although if you’re lazy like me you’ll just call them Acid Mothers Temple and be done with it. Stylistically, they’ve covered entire continents worth of territory—the playful Doobie Wonderland is a far cry from the spacy jazz rock of Son of a Bitches Brew or the ferocious metal bong-grind of Starless and Bible Black Sabbath.

Despite those album titles, group founder Kawabata Makoto doesn’t cite classic rock—although he concedes he got his LOOK from Ritchie Blackmore—as a primary influence on Acid Mothers Temple’s music. He’s more likely to cite Krautrock, progressive rock, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. But things he’s said over the years make it clear his music comes from a more cosmic place.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Craft Latino is thrilled to reissue one of salsa music’s most essential albums, Tremendo caché, from two of the genre’s biggest stars, Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco.

Originally released in 1975, the album marks the second of several popular collaborations between the artists and includes such classic hits as “La sopa en botella,” “Tres dias de Carnaval,” and the chart-topping favorite, “Cúcala.” Joining Cruz and Pacheco in the studio is an all-star lineup of talent, including Papo Lucca, Justo Betancourt, and Roberto Torres, among many others.

Returning to vinyl for the first time in decades on March 14th, and available for pre-order, this 50th anniversary edition of Tremendo caché features all-analog mastering by Clint Holley at Well Made Music and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl for the ultimate listening experience and housed in an replica of its original album jacket. A “Caché en Negro y Blanco” (black with white splatter) 180-gram color vinyl variant (limited to 300 copies), with an exclusive bundle option that includes a Vaya Records T-shirt, is available at Fania.com.

Tremendo caché also arrives in honor of The Queen of Salsa’s centennial, which Craft Latino will celebrate throughout the year with a series of digital and vinyl reissues, exclusive content, and other special releases. For more information, visit Fania.com.

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Celebrating Jim Stafford on his 81st birthday. —Ed.

The list of famous country novelty songs is a long one. There have been hundreds–probably thousands–of them. Just off the top of my head: Johnny Cash’s “A Boy Named Sue,” Loretta Lynn’s “You’re the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly,” Mark Chesnutt’s “Bubba Shot the Jukebox,” and my dad’s all-time favorite (he sang it all the time), Mac Davis’ “It’s Hard to Be Humble.” Any half-decent country fan could reel off dozens more.

But when it comes to country novelty tune artists, Jim Stafford could just be the king. I grew up listening to “Spiders & Snakes,” “Wildwood Weed,” and “I Got Stoned and I Missed It,” and while I’d never kissed a girl or smoked a joint in my life, I loved the obvious spirit of fun behind all of ‘em.

Stafford has released only three albums, and since 1990 he’s dedicated his energy to operating and performing at the Jim Stafford Theatre in Branson, Missouri (no vanity there, and by the way: should you find yourself in Branson, be sure to stop by Dolly Partons’ Stampede!). Don’t know if he’s plain lazy or doesn’t need the money, but Stafford hasn’t released an LP since 1993. (He has done some acting; he played the role of Buford in 1984’s immortal Bloodsucker from Outer Space.)

Jim Stafford spawned four Top 40 hits, and if there’s one word to describe the LP it’s versatility. You get some swamp rock, a faux-lounge number, a couple of good ole’ country numbers, a blues parody, a rockabilly pastiche, and a couple of songs that pack what can only be described as a hard rock punch. And that “variety” also extends to Stafford’s knack for creating personae; he’s a shapeshifter who is, by turn, a sly hayseed, an aging rockabilly fan, a very confused courter, a Louisiana oracle, and so on.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | On February 14th, 2025, Father John Misty’s I Love You, Honeybear, his internationally acclaimed second album, will be available as a single LP for its 10th anniversary along with a digital-only companion release of demos that were initially released on cassette in 2015.

The digital companion piece (“I Love You, Honeybear Demos, etc.” ) also includes a solo acoustic performance of Nirvana’s ”Heart Shaped Box” recorded for SiriusXM during the …Honeybear cycle. While his excellent debut, Fear Fun, would “introduce” the world to the singer and songwriter, it was the love and brutal honesty showcased in I Love You, Honeybear that would elevate Father John Misty’s career. The album became his most successful release to date.

Tillman wrote the following for the album’s release: “I Love You, Honeybear is a concept album about a guy named Josh Tillman who spends quite a bit of time banging his head against walls, cultivating weak ties with strangers, and generally avoiding intimacy at all costs. This all serves to fuel a version of himself that his self-loathing narcissism can deal with. We see him engaging in all manner of regrettable behavior…

“My ambition, aside from making an indulgent, soulful, and epic sound worthy of the subject matter, was to address the sensuality of fear, the terrifying force of love, the unutterable pleasures of true intimacy, and the destruction of emotional and intellectual prisons in my own voice. Blammo.”

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John Fred and His Playboy Band are secure in pop history for one song, namely “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses),” which climbed all the way to #1 in 1968. Now, some deride the tune as a brazen rip-off of a certain Beatles ditty, while others persist in enjoying its upbeat and faux-psych bubblegum vibes. 

Some call the Louisiana-based John Fred a one hit wonder, but that’s arguable. He did place two other songs on the Billboard chart, but neither broke into the Top 40; the first was “Shirley” way back in 1958 (issued by John Fred and the Playboys), released by the Montel label with help from the band of Fats Domino (this song, as covered by Shakin’ Stevens, became a #2 hit in the UK in 1982).

“Shirley” is an okay slice of horn-laden ’50s NOLA pop-R&B action landing in the tight crevice betwixt bathtub-era Bobby Darin and Frankie “Sea Cruise” Ford, but it’s not included on Liberation Hall’s reissue so we will devote no more space to it here. “Hey, Hey Bunny,” a rock & soul revue-styled number complete with horns and strings that stands as Fred and the Playboy Band’s second biggest hit (#54, 1967) is featured on the album; it brings to mind Mitch Ryder with a touch of Mark Lindsay and some Rascals-y organ, but it’s frankly not as cool as that description (might) insinuate.

Better is “Agnes English,” which dials up the similarities to Lindsay (without going overboard) alongside pop-psych elements (crashing echo at the start, fuzz guitar) that intersect with utterly mainstream strings and horns, plus some mildly oddball gal backing vocals. It’s a fun stew (shoulda charted higher than its reported #125), but I much prefer the straight soul-isms of “Out of Left Field” (with a bit of that strange backing singing retained), a song first recorded by Percy Sledge (and written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham).

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “As band members, you share a unique bond that no one else can truly understand, not even family. That brotherhood comes with a long career like ours. We all felt part of something special, trusted each other, and they trusted me. I never let them down. It was always a give-and-take by everybody.” —Jon Bon Jovi

Genesis Publications announce that the British, family-owned publishing house will be publishing Bon Jovi’s first-ever authored anthology. With unlimited access to Bon Jovi’s extensive archive and narrated by Jon Bon Jovi, Bon Jovi: Forever chronicles the band’s remarkable 40-year history. Bon Jovi: Forever will be shipping in June 2025, with the limited edition now available to pre-order.

The meticulously curated collection showcases a treasure trove of memorabilia, including handwritten lyrics, tour passes and posters, iconic stage costumes, guitars, studio track lists, and hundreds of photographs from the band’s personal archives and private collections. Complemented by an array of vivid images that capture Bon Jovi live, backstage, on tour, and in the studio, this book offers fans a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the band’s enduring legacy.

Through exclusive interviews, Jon Bon Jovi shares the intimate stories behind the artifacts, shedding light on the creative process behind his songwriting, the making of the band’s legendary albums, and the key performances that cemented Bon Jovi’s place in rock history.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Three One G have announced a reissue of their flagship band The Locust’s iconic final album, The Peel Sessions, due out January 24th. The news comes as the label celebrates its 31st anniversary.

On the album, label founder and Locust member Justin Pearson shares “Recording a Peel session for John Peel was one of the many surreal things that The Locust got to do during its lifetime. In hindsight I wish we had planned more accordingly when we got the opportunity to do it, as we sandwiched the session in among a no-night-off tour we had in the UK/ Europe back in 2001. I remember getting into London early in the morning from an overnight drive, recording all day, and then having to leave that night and travel to mainland Europe to get to Belgium or somewhere by the following morning.

However it turned out very interesting as this was a document of old and new tracks with a major line up change, shifting from a five-piece to a four-piece band, most notably having Gabe Serbian move from guitar/vocals to drums, which redefined the band and its line up. Of course, the album was finalized for its vinyl release many years later, and included a layout and mock design by Sonny Kay of the traditional Peel Sessions we all grew up listening to. What an honor to be on John Peel’s radar and even more to record at BBC1 for the legend.”

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Van Morrison had a busy 2023, releasing three albums. The projects included another album of skiffle music, (Moving on Skiffle), one of instrumentals of unreleased material from the 1970s to the present (Beyond Words), and one of covers of rock, R&B, and country (Accentuate the Positive). His new album very much follows in the same vein of these releases.

Rather than a studio album of mostly new compositions, Morrison presents previously unreleased big band arrangements of songs from his catalog and some newer duets recorded between 2014 and 2019. While an instrumental album from one of the greatest singers in rock history seemed a bit odd, revisiting older songs and presenting them in a new way works beautifully for Morrison, given the quality of the songs and the vast singing and musical styles with which he is comfortable.

Also, while it would seem daunting for any living singer to match vocals with Morrison in a duet, the collaborators he chose here—Kurt Elling, Joss Stone, and Willie Nelson—are all up for the challenge and help Morrison draw from various musical styles from his background. This entire affair has a timeless quality and a first-take spontaneity that reminds one of Frank Sinatra at his studio peak, although there are times where Ray Charles seems a closer vocal touchstone. That’s some pretty heady company, but even at 79, Morrison makes it seem effortless and his voice has not lost any of its luster, which is truly remarkable.

Morrison revisits music from every decade of his solo career since the ’70s except the 2020s. From the classic His Band and Street Choir from 1970 he redoes the obscure “I’ll Be Your Lover Too.” From Period of Transition, released in 1977, he remakes “You Gotta Make It Through the World.” The ’80s is represented by “The Master’s Eye” from Sense of Wonder from 1985, and “Someone Like You” from Poetic Champions Compose from 1987.

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