Congrats to Little Dickman for five rad years of sweet platters, like the Fruit & Flowers debut EP, “Drug Tax,” which drops June 30 and will be celebrated with a release party on June 29 at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn. More on Little Dickman in a bit, but first, do go check out Fruit & Flowers both live and on record. Their powerful mix of surf, punk, garage, psychedelic rock and pop may sound like it’s been done before, but the three-quarter female quartet deliver a dichotomous charm and edge that brings them to the forefront of the surf-punk and psychedelic garage rock movements. The results are as sweet as their name implies.
The seven-song “Drug Tax” kicks off with “Out of Touch,” a sleepy, gnarly blend of ringing surf guitar; fat, tubular bass riffs and understated girl-band garage strut. Fruit & Flowers then share contagious fun on “Subway Surfer,” an upbeat salute to The Ramones hanging out on a Rockaway Beach with The Go-Go’s. Layers of rich, sweet and varied vocals, plus a shredding guitar solo, add to the track’s strength.
The rousing “Dark Surf” churns up strong emotions as the band rides intensifying rhythms and vocals to calming conclusion, like a salty swell that eventually tickles the beach. “Down Down Down” is its own beach party with a strong ’60s pop sensibility and vocal approach mashed up with a more modern-day grungy guitar attack and taboo drug references. The title track also stands out, especially lyrically, as clever word play is punched with rhythms that lead into another wild guitar wipeout.
As for Little Dickman, here’s some tasty stuff also going on as the label celebrates five years of essential existence:
· June 30, Pink Mexico, Dentist and Psychiatric Metaphors, Asbury Park Yacht Club (free 9 p.m. show)
· July 3, Birdcloud (from Nashville, Ex-Girlfriends, and Little Vicious, The Saint, Asbury Park (7 p.m., $10)
· July 21, The Off White/Sharkmuffin split cassette
· July 29, TV Tramps, The Anchor’s Bend, Asbury Park
· July 31, Las Pinas (Argentina), Dentist, and Partner (Canada), The Anchor’s Bend, Asbury Park (free 7 p.m. show)
· Aug. 4, Looms’ “How It Has To Be” release.
Bob Makin is the reporter for www.MyCentralJersey.com/entertainment and the former managing editor of and still a contributor to The Aquarian Weekly, which launched this column in 1988. Contact him at [email protected].
Join us for McCarter at the Museum - renowned performing artists in one-night only events at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Jason Robert Brown is a four-time Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon In Vegas and The Connector, has performed as a soloist or with his band in venues around the world, including sold-out shows at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall. His albums as a singer-songwriter include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes and How We React and How We Recover on Ghostlight, and Coming From Inside the House and Live In Concert with Stephen Sondheim on Concord.
With Special Guest Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe. Tony Award-nominated actress Betsy Wolfe is currently starring as Audrey in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, following her recent Broadway run as Madeline Ashton in the hit musical Death Becomes Her. She previously originated the title role in Joy, the new musical inspired by inventor Joy Mangano, and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her celebrated performance as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet. Other Broadway credits include starring as Jenna in Waitress, Cordelia in the acclaimed revival of Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade, as well as her critically acclaimed performance as Cathy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Last Five Years. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus and has appeared as a guest artist with more than 65 symphony, pops, and philharmonic orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her screen credits include First One In, Estella Scrooge, CBS’s Instinct, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years. Wolfe is also the co-founder of BroadwayEvolved, the acclaimed musical theatre training program she launched in 2018 to train and mentor the next generation of theatre artists.
A limited number of early access tickets for McCarter Director’s Circle members and members of the Museum’s Partner Circle are available, on sale Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM. General public on sale begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Please be aware there is no public drop-off or parking at the Museum. For visitors with mobility needs, please contact the Museum at least three business days in advance of your visit to request special access to the Museum via Elm Drive. Call 609-258-3788 and select option 1 to speak to a visitor services staff member, or email Louise Barrett at [email protected].
