Summertime Rock Edition: Ty Richards, Wand, You Said Strange, The National Reserve & Kingsley Flood

Ty Richards: Welcome to Flat Earth

http://store.tyrichards.com/album/welcome-to-flat-earth

Summer’s here and the time is right for some kick-ass rock ‘n’ roll … 2018-style. Here are some good ones to blast from open windows. First up is the newest release from Ty Richards. One of my favorite albums of last year was his RecommNed’d debut Zillion and he’s already back with a worthy follow-up in Welcome To Flat Earth. Richards’s fuzzed-up sound is a perfect classic rock for the modern day, guitars-meets-synth best enjoyed at loud volume. Dig in and get down!

Spotify

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Wand: Perfume

Don’t turn that volume down just yet. The new one from Wand is worthy of a crank on the old hi-fi as well. The Los Angeles-based rockers are back with what’s either a longish EP or a shortish LP, but whichever way you cut it, Perfume is worth 30 minutes of your fist-pumping time. With a garage-psych background that still informs their sound, Wand is now expanding and exploring, creating an intelligent, many-layered thing that reveals new facets each go-around. And they still rock pretty hard. Had the pleasure of seeing these guys on stage recently and the material really took off live. Highly recommended.

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You Said Strange: Salvation Prayer

I think my favorite new-discovery band name might belong to my next rec, You Said Strange. Thankfully, their music also kicks some serious ass. The band is from the Normandy region in France, not exactly a known hotbed of headbanging rock ‘n’ roll. No matter. Their debut full length, another RecommNed out on the Fuzz Club label, is Salvation Prayer and it is a just-heavy-enough must-listen of blood-pumping psych-rock. Feels like pretty much every track on this one is a cranker. I think you’ll dig.

Spotify

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The National Reserve: Motel La Grange

The National Reserve is a NYC-based band who’s had a longtime residency playing weekly in what passes for a honky tonk in Brooklyn. The well-worn playing and finely-honed songcraft of a regular gig shines through on their newest record, Motel La Grange. If you’re a fan of songs-first, country-foundation rocking of bands like Deer Tick, you should definitely give this one a whirl. Fantastic songs with a bar-band growl that whiffs of canned beer and whiskey. Good stuff.

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Kingsley Flood: Neighbors and Strangers

While we’re on the rootsier side of rock ‘n’ roll, I’ll finish this week’s crop with a RecommNeds “regular.” Kingsley Flood is a rock band out of Boston who has quietly been churning out rec-worthy albums for almost 10 years. Well, quiet in the metaphoric sense, like the rest of this week’s picks, the music, even the quiet, heartfelt stuff, is at its strongest when played loud. Their latest is Neighbors And Strangers and frontman Naseem Khuri and the band are in top form. Great songs, killer hooks, some love and maybe a message or two. What’s more rock ‘n’ roll than that? Enjoy!