Portland’s favorite power trio Guantanamo Baywatch has made a big leap since the days of their previous album, Chest Crawl. Most notably, there is an almost complete disappearance of their trademark surf sound. On their new record, Darling…It’s Too Late, the band has made the transition so easily it’s as if this shift of direction was where they have always been headed.

The album is a myriad of varying genres and styles, sounding like a tribute to the golden age of early Rock ‘n’ Roll. There are still quite a few instrumentals here, even the occasional glimpse of their old selves as on “Raunch Stomp” or “Mr. Rebel,” but even then they’re injected with a grittiness closer to country-fried Rockabilly.

The production is bigger and cleaner, and the band sounds more confident than ever, with Jason Powell’s vocals coming to the forefront for the first time where it had previously been buried or served a secondary role to his guitars. The guitars, as always, still play an integral part to their sound as does the thunderous rhythm section, especially shining on “Beat Has Changed” with a solo not unlike something from early Ricky Nelson.

The record feels like a glimpse into the world of pop music and Rock ‘n’ Roll in America during the late 50s and early 60s. The band explores everything from Country gospel à la Don Gibson on “Boy Like Me” to R&B torch songs on “Too Late,” and the Live at The Whiskey a Go Go swing of Johnny Rivers on “Sea of Love.” In fact, it’s like the band’s history lesson ends just before the advent of the British Invasion. The album even closes with what appears to be the sound of the Fab Four on the not-so-distant horizon with “Do What Want You Want.”

While their albums and singles have always been stellar, Guantanamo Baywatch up until now has always been best experienced as a live band. But Darling…It’s Too Late is a statement, proving they can be just as potent of a force in the studio. Every second of the record feels like it was handled with care and made with a deep enthusiasm and love for music. Darling…It’s Too Late is out now on Suicide Squeeze. 

-Cody Alexander

Shake, Rattle and Roll with Michael Rault. He is a talented, multi-instrumentalist that gives his listeners an era-blending modern take on familiar sounds from the 50’s , 60’s and 70’s. A recent Toronto transplant from his native Edmonton, Michael Rault puts his creative perspective into perspective with his latest album release “Living Daylight”. There is nothing fuzzy about his sound, he commits to claim it! A pioneer of dynamic rock n’ roll, transforming rhythms and beats with an undeniable brilliant pop vocal and heart piercing guitar riffs, every track is is a hit! So put your dancin’ shoes on, “Living Daylight” has us moving from top to bottom. The opening track ‘All Alone (On My Own)’ is captivating, shaking you up with tambourines, clapping hands and familiar charming vocal harmonies. ‘Real Love (Yeah)’ coats you with heavy guitars that peak and valley to talkative keys that beat to the oohs of “real love”. ‘Too All My Friends’ takes it down a notch with vocals that sway to romantic keys and easy-acid guitars. Michael Rault is currently on tour, see him Saturday May 23 @ the Silver Dollar before he jumps the border showcasing his sounds in the USA.

The San Francisco based alternative folk rock artist, Megan Slankard is gearing up to release a new album entitled Running on Machinery, due out on May 19th. We're very excited to be able to premiere the title track from the record!

Running on Machinery is a power-packed folk track that tucks away its folk sensibilities deep beneath an outgoing, heavy alternative pop rock compositional style. If you listen closely enough, you can hear that the song still encompasses an acoustic guitar rhythm deep within it. Slankard's voice is strong and confident and we really enjoy that she took a chance with this track to do something that is not traditional. It doesn't matter what genre she decides to put herself under, Megan Slankard exhibits that she understands great music production that puts out a really strong final recording.

A lot of independent artists like to make awesome bedroom recordings, but that style isn't for everyone. Slankard put out a high quality studio recording that was produced by Alex Wong. However a Bay Area artist chooses to express themselves, we're all for it.

Pop enough to sing-a-long to, rock enough to jump around to, and just enough groove to soothe your soul to. Texas King, hailing from London Ontario, got the crowd enlivened during the CMW showcase at the Gladstone last week. With lush, sizzling guitar tones, raspy vocals, and an on point rhythm combo, these guys became an energetic delicacy to see perform live. With their catchy lyrics the crowd sings-a-long alone to, “Come Find Me". They’re tight, greasy, and there’s - without question - no shortage of dance moves. Head on out to The Drake Hotel @ 05/17 and see on hell of a show!-Courtney Chalapenko 

A while back yonder, we brought you some sweet preliminary sounds from Austin post-rock duo COSMS then-upcoming EP. That EP has done gone and come out, and we've got the whole thing for you here today! Arteria expands on the sound from pre-release, Asian-influenced instrumental track "Pagoda" with five total tracks of contemporary two-musician post-rock experimentation.

It's a little weird to us who remember when Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky and the other post-rock of the 2000s was a wholly new sound, as now the genre is in a very different place. Most "indie" fans have moved to a pretty heavily psych-rock, indie-folk, synthy pop zone, and the massive underculture (does that even exist anymore?) attention has shifted away from genres like post-rock (you could include a lot of other genres like doom metal in there too). Personally, I think that's a great thing for bands like COSMS, because it allows them space to do whatever they want, to work on subtle changes and enhancements to their genre and to really get the sound they want down on record. The result is lovely gems like Arteria, with its Shanghai-meets-American post-rock sound, and its ultra pared-down two musician format that allows for each piece of their songs to be prominent, allowing the listener to really see how each part contributes to the whole.

That's an approach that is quite nice in post-rock, especially when you think back to those 20+ piece tracks that Godspeed used to drop. As awesome as those were, they were going for something very different, something rougher and louder and more urgent, almost desperately so. That was great for the time, but that COSMS has found a space to do something very different, and very lovely, in post-rock that's shows that the genre has much still to offer.

In all these are some fresh-layered tracks with delightful complexity in the song structure from but two musicians, and you won't find tighter instrumental music coming out of Austin. Listen to all of Arteria below y'all.