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 releases by Alex Sieira, Old Friends, Today Is..., San Tropez, BYRH, Geb Zurburg, and Solid Bronze.
Alex Sieira - "Better Days" [single]. Alex Sieira describes his latest single, "Better Days", as "about always moving forward, and overcoming hardships. Change can be scary, but also a beautiful thing."
This song is a beautiful thing! It wrapped me up in the emotions, keeping me warm on a cold night.*
"Better Days" will be on Alex's forthcoming album, "Welcome Home", coming out this fall.
* - to be clear, that is a metaphorical warmth. Don't go out in the cold wearing nothing and listening to the song and expect to stay warm.
Old Friends - "Missing" [single]. Old Friends return with an alt-rock single to wake you up from these sleepy winter blues!
Pick up a tennis racket or hairbrush and rock out in front of your mirror. And don't forget to air drum!
Today Is... - "Tunes for Bears To Dance To (Demos)". The new EP by Today Is... are four demos, so the sound lacks that mastered full sound, but don't let that dissuade you from listening to four amazing pop-punk tunes that are so much fun that they almost hide the downer, self-loathing.
San Tropez - "Maybe Tomorrow". San Tropez has been around since at least 2018 when I first started playing their music on BlowUpRadio.com, so it surprised me to find that "Maybe Tomorrow" is their debut album, but indeed previous releases were singles and EPs. It is great to finally get a full 10 song album from this outstanding dream-pop with hooks and riffs like waves on the ocean... light enough to float on, but big enough to surf.
BYRH - "Bring Your Right Hand". BYRH (pronounced "brrr") has been an acronym for many things, including their new album title, "Bring Your Right Hand". I was going to try to come up with my own acronym for how awesome their album's blend of indie-pop with power-pop is, but clearly I am not as talented as they are (Bet You Rock Hard just doesn't quite fit, and Booyah! Yeah! Rock! Harmonious!, is even worse). So don't worry about the acronyms, just go check this album out!
Geb Zurburg - "Forty High Five". Geb Zurburg (who some may remember from the band Echofission), returns with his latest solo release, the three song EP, "Forty High Five". Geb's music has always been an eclectic combination of sounds. The songs are pop rock, and have amazing harmonies, but they are also experimental, jam, alt-rock. It is a sound that Geb has been honing for many years now, and continues to impress with every release.
Solid Bronze - "Mt. Fuji". I could go on and on about how much I love Solid Bronze's new album, "Mt. Fuji", but let me just be concise, this is some fine Funky Soul Jams!
That's all for this week.
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 part of BlowUpRadio.com's New & Notable, please send downloads or contact Lazlo at Lazlo-at-BlowUpRadio-dot-com. We're also on Mastodon at https://mstdn.social/@BlowUpRadio
