Lazlo, founder of BlowUpRadio.com (an online radio station based around New Jersey artists), shines a light on some of the many new releases from NJ based musicians each week with this column. This week Lazlo takes a look at new releases by Sophia P, Friction 57, Mourning Coffee, Shaved Ice, and Boogie Down Apocalypse. Plus a look back at "You Can't Take My Coquito Away!" by Aquino.
Sophia P - "Sophomore". I know very little about Sophia P. The Bandcamp link below is all I could find, and other than the 10 songs that make up the album, "Sophomore", there is no other info. The sparseness of the info fits in with the sparseness of the music... I don't mean that in a negative way... the songs consist of just Sophia P's voice and guitar acoustic guitar. This kind of forces you to take notice and listen, as if we're sitting just a few feet away listening live in a coffeehouse.
Friction 57 - "Moving Mountains". It has been a long time since we've heard from Friction 57, with good reason. Nick, one of the four core members of the band, moved in 2022, putting the band on a sort of indefinite hiatus. However, Nick built a music studio in his new home and going through all the Friction 57 music he had, which has led to "Moving Mountains".
As Nick explains, "This is the culmination of everything Friction had on the table pre-pandemic, and anything else I had on my hard drive that would’ve become Friction songs. Rather than let all this stuff just fade into a memory, I sat down and recorded all the songs from soup to nuts."
If you are already familiar with Friction 57's melodic hardcore punk sound, then this is a must have. If you are new to the band, then this is a good representation of a band that has been part of the scene for a long time.
Mourning Coffee - "Peak Performance". "Peak Performance" is a live album, and calling it that can lead to high expectations. Let me tell you, Mourning Coffee meets, and maybe even exceeds, those expectations. Their Goth/Folk music, has long been emotionally moving, but I'd say these live versions are even more so then their studio equivalents.
Shaved Ice - "Onto Paper ep". Among the tags on Shaved Ice's Bandcamp page is "classic rock". I was wondering why, until I listened to their new ep, "Onto Paper ep". The four songs on it sound like the songs that would have been on the radio back in the 1970's, that you might hear now on a classic rock station as lost songs of the era that you are happy to hear again (unlike hearing [insert overplayed classic rock song here] for the millionth time).
Boogie Down Apocalypse - "Psychotropics". "Influenced by everything from Electronic to Punk with elements of Pop mixed to make the casual music listeners heads tilt… Some break elements are used lightly through out… However all music Is provided by Solo For Dolo taking helm on Drum Machines, Synths, Live Bass and Engineering duties… No Splice / Sample Packs are used, and all music remains a blend of quantized and non quantized elements to highlight a war against machines… No pitch correction software is added to the vocals, just a bunch of good old fashioned effects to hide shotty singing", states part of the press release for Boogie Down Apocalypse's new album, "Psychotropics". The end result is something truly alternative, with enough familiar components to not be jarring, but different enough that trying to describe it would be a mish-mosh of descriptors. I recommend just checking it out for yourself.
Not New, But Memorable Corner
Aquino - "You Can't Take My Coquito Away!". I'm not a fan of many holidays, certainly not Christmas, and I'm not much of a drinker, but thanks to Aquino I love Coquito!
Coquito originated in Puerto Rico, and Aquino's fun little ditty, "You Can't Take My Coquito Away!" not only tells the history of the holiday drink, but also the ingredients:
"Coconut, condensed, and evaporated milk
Cream of coconut and RUM, RUM, RUM!
Mix in cinnamon
With vanilla extract
Blend it with passion"
The song is as joyous and smooth as the drink. Enjoy!
Remember BlowUpRadio.com, plays these and many other New Jersey based artists on our internet radio station, so please check us out. #SupportGoodMusic - If you like any of the above artists, please purchase their music from their site. And if you would like to be part of BlowUpRadio.com's New & Notable, please send downloads or contact Lazlo at Lazlo-at-BlowUpRadio-dot-com. We're also on Mastodon and bridged on BlueSky.
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