(Photos by Doug Moore, Lisa Hagen Glynn, Brady Tuazon and Erik Meharry) Portland-based psychedelic gaze-wave band Sun Atoms has teamed up with Isaac Brock, the frontman of Modest Mouse, to release the single, “Narco Polo“.

Sun Atoms is composed of a group of musicians: Peter G. Holmström (The Dandy Warhols, Pete International Airport) on bass and production, lead vocalist Jsun Atoms (The Upsidedown, Daydream Machine), multi-instrumentalist June Kang, saxophonist and trumpeter Mars de Ponte, drummer Eric Rubalcava, and guitarist Derek Spencer Longoria-Gomez (Hi Hazel).

As Sun Atoms was working on their forthcoming album “Everything Forever”, set to be released on November 8 via Little Cloud Records, Holmström sent Brock early mixes of the track “Narco Polo”. Months later, Brock invited Holmström to his Ice Cream Party Studio in Portland, where Brock recorded his vocal contributions. The song was mixed by producer Jagz Kooner (Massive Attack, Primal Scream) and mastered by Keith Tenniswood (Spiritualized, Death In Vegas).

Ahead of this release, Sun Atoms dropped two singles from their sophomore album. “Ceiling Tiles”, a new wave-influenced track, was paired with a tribute to Leonard Cohen, “Tower of Song”.

Another single, “Take This Love,” came with the B-side “And The Lion Saw The UFO” accompanied by a sci-fi-themed music video shot at Oregon’s famous Airplane Home.

Sun Atoms’ music mixes psychedelic rock, indie pop, and post-punk. Their debut album, “Let There Be Light” (2021), was produced by Holmström and mixed by Stephen Street (Blur, The Smiths). It included collaborations with Alex Maas of The Black Angels, Jasno Swarez of The Vandelles, and producer Gregg Williams (Sheryl Crow, Blitzen Trapper).

Sun Atoms Concerts

• Nov. 09 – Portland, OR – Show Bar at Revolution Hall (with The Veldt, Asteroid #4, and Los Mundos)
• Nov. 16 – Portland, OR – Belltown Yacht Club (with Valley Suns)
• Dec. 11 – Portland, OR – McMenamins Mission Theater (with LSD & The Search For God and TREMOURS) – Little Cloud Records Showcase celebrating The Dandy Warhols’ 30th Anniversary

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Portland’s psychedelic gaze-wave band Sun Atoms has unveiled their new 7-inch single “Take This Love” including the B-side “And The Lion Saw The UFO”. The single (out via Little Cloud Records) includes a sci-fi video shot at Oregon’s Airplane Home, created by Bradley Tuazon.

“Take This Love” was mixed by Jagz Kooner (Massive Attack, Primal Scream) and mastered by Keith Tenniswood (Spiritualized, Death In Vegas). The B-side, “And The Lion Saw The UFO”, was recorded with Gregg Williams (Sheryl Crow).

The single follows their earlier release, “Ceiling Tiles” / “Tower of Song (in the key of JAMC)”, and comes ahead of their sophomore album, set for autumn release.

The band members of Sun Atoms are Peter G. Holmström on bass and guitar, Jsun Atoms handling vocals and guitar, June Kang as a multi-instrumentalist, Mars de Ponte on guitar and keys, Eric Rubalcava on drums, and Derek Spencer Longoria-Gomez on guitar and vocals.

They debuted in 2021 with the album “Let There Be Light”, produced by Peter G. Holmström and mixed by iconic producer Stephen Street (Blur, The Smiths, The Cranberries), involving contributions by The Black Angels’ Alex Maas, The Vandelles’ Jasno Swarez and Gregg Williams (Sheryl Crow, Blitzen Trapper).

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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(Photo by Matt Vardy) This will interest some of you for sure. The Toronto-London ensemble, The Flowers of Hell, have announced the inaugural vinyl release of their album “Odes”, set for April 22nd in celebration of UK Record Store Day. The 180-gram red coloured vinyl will be issued through Space Age Recordings and presented in a luxurious die-cut sleeve.

The record showcases orchestral-pop interpretations of tracks by some of the group’s most admired artists, such as Joy Division, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Bob Dylan, Klaatu, Stereolab, Laurie Anderson, The Velvet Underground, and Neutral Milk Hotel. Featured on the album are Sea Power’s Neil ‘Hamilton’ Wilkinson and Abi Fry (Bat For Lashes, Sea Power), Ivo Pospíšil, a renowned figure in the Prague underground scene, and the Plastic People Of The Universe. “Odes” was recorded in Toronto and co-produced with Grammy-winning engineer Peter J. Moore (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Joe Strummer), who also remastered the album for vinyl.

The band has now released videos of their versions of Joy Division’s “Atmosphere” and “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft,” a song popularised by Toronto prog-rock group Klaatu (once believed to be The Beatles under a pseudonym) and later, The Carpenters. Written in the early 1970s, the song was influenced by the 1950s International Flying Saucer Society’s attempt to synchronise their global membership to telepathically transmit a specific message to extraterrestrial life, hoping for a response. “Calling Occupants” is now the official anthem of World Contact Day.

On May 12th, The Flowers of Hell will release their sixth studio album, “Keshakhtaran,” and their first in six years. The 42-minute psilocybin meditation piece, comprised of two sections, features contributions from 20 artists, including Rishi Dhir (Elephant Stone, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Black Angels, Beck) and avant-accordion virtuoso Angel Corpus Christi (Suicide, Spiritualized, Dean Wareham). The preview single “Foray Through Keshakhtaran” is now available on digital platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Bandcamp.

For more on Joy Division, see When members of Killing Joke and Joy Division collaborate you get K÷93 on Side-Line.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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(Photo by Renaud Monfourny) The 35th anniversary release of Suicide’s third studio album, “A Way of Life”, will be available on May 26th, 2023 through Mute/BMG. The album has been remastered and includes previously unreleased tracks. Suicide, consisting of members Alan Vega and Martin Rev, was a pioneering duo in the punk and synth-pop scene.

The anniversary edition of “A Way of Life” will be released on transparent blue vinyl (including an art card and two bonus tracks), CD (with a 4-page booklet and five bonus tracks), and digitally. Jared Artaud discovered the unreleased bonus tracks while working on the Vega Vault archives. Denis Blackham of Skye Mastering, who worked on the recent remastered reissues of Suicide’s first and second albums, remastered the album. The album’s artwork design and concept were created by Artaud and Michael Handis.

Listen to the unreleased version of Suicide’s 1988 live cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” right below.

“A Way of Life,” originally released in 1988, more than a decade after their groundbreaking self-titled debut, features classic Suicide tracks like “Surrender”, “Jukebox Baby 96”, and “Dominic Christ”. For the production of the album, Alan Vega and Martin Rev collaborated once again with Ric Ocasek, frontman of The Cars.

Suicide, formed in the early 1970s, became an integral part of the New York punk scene by 1976. Their debut album has since been recognized as a significant influence on countless artists and musicians, such as New Order, Depeche Mode, Bruce Springsteen, KLF, Spiritualized, Moby, Soft Cell, The Jesus & Mary Chain, The Sisters of Mercy, Primal Scream, and Nick Cave.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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South Carolina-based post-punk / indie rock outfit Candy Coffins present “Everyday a Fresh Atrocity” from their forthcoming new album “Once Do It With Feeling” (out on October 21st). This 10-track offering comes two years after the band’s latest “Somehow Misplaced” EP.

“The song ‘Every Day A Fresh Atrocity’ explores the dark corners where our work often resides, both sonically and lyrically. It conveys the feeling of the haunting suffocation of a broken relationship, compounded by a reality that seems to become more dystopian each day,” says frontman-songwriter Jame Lathren. “The full album chronicles a relationship from the onset of the first crack to its complete crumbling dissolution. All the feelings and emotions of tumult are captured here, from both persons’ perspectives.”

Based in Columbia, South Carolina, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Jame Lathren formed Candy Coffins in 2018. After disbanding his previous post-punk band Crown The Cake, he formed Candy Coffins with hometown guitar legend Tom Alewine (Bachelors of Art), followed by Alex Mabrey on bass and Justin Purdy on keys, and former Iron & Wine touring drummer Jonathan Bradley. Their influences come from Joy Division, The Cure, The Psychedelic Furs, The Afghan Whigs and The Cult, as well as contemporaries like The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Spiritualized, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Interpol.

You can check out “Every Day A Fresh Atrocity” right below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Shhadows is the project of Denver Colorado based producer Jason Timothy who has been making music under a variety of names since 1987. For Shhadows he blends his love of dark 80’s synth music with a modern electronic production.

The project debuted with “Renewal” featuring his versions of classics like Desire’s “Under Your Spell” and The Chameleons’ “Swamp Thing” next to original tracks like “Don’t need Knives (To Cut You Up)” and “Get it Right”.

Shhadows 2nd album “Bloodwork” is out now on Re:Mission Entertainment and picks up where “Renewal” left off and was made during the pandemic and also reflects that period. The album also holds a modern take on Killing Joke’s Classic “Love Like Blood” and a cover of the Spiritualized track “Pain Away” as you can hear below.

On vocal duties we find Rieya, SORROWS and Dru Allen (This Ascension/Mercury’s Antennae).

The release is available as download but also as a limited edition digipak (100 copies) with 3D glasses and autographed prints. Read the review of ‘Bloodwork’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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13 years ago, that’s how long Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser has not released new solo music, but that is about to change as she will release a Record Store Day related EP. The EP, released under the Sun’s Signature moniker, will be the first release by the singer since she recorded and released the song “Moses”, written with Damon Reece and the late Jake-Drake Brockman, in 2009.

The title of the EP is simply called “Sun’s Signature” and will be out on April 23rd on black vinyl. The EP will hold five songs and will be released through Partisan Records. Only 8000 copies will be available worldwide.

Tracks included are “Underwater”, “Golden Air”, “Bluedusk”, “Apples” and “Make Lovely The Day”.

Sun’s Signature is the duo consisting of Elizabeth Fraser and English drummer Damon Reece (Spiritualized, Echo & the Bunnymen, Lupine Howl, Massive Attack, The Orb, Way Out West, Feist, Goldfrapp, Fuzzy Logic)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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