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At long last (longer than it should have been because...well because time is a social construct really) Dave Hause returns for his second appearance on (*both laugh*)! When last we spoke (Episode 25 if you're keeping score at home), Dave had just self-released a double EP of Patty Griffin and Paddy Costello/Dillinger Four covers. We were still in Pandemic Year One and that project served as a fun and unique way to stay productive and creative and to dip his toes into navigating through the "new normal" waters.

Fast-forward eighteen months (yes, really...18 months, almost to the day...remember when I said time was a social construct) and it was time for round two! The centerpiece of this installment was Dave's latest solo album, "Blood Harmony." It was released last October on his own record label, but because the vinyl is still trickling its way out, I don't feel QUITE so bad about catching up at the six month post-release mark. "Blood Harmony" found Dave and his brother Tim working together again, this time in Nashville. The duo and producer Will Hoge (himself not only a brilliant songwriter and masterful producer but a veteran of this show as well - see Episode 12) holed up at Sound Emporium with a slew of heavy-hitting studio musicians (Sadler Vaden, Tom Bukovac, Garry Tallent!!?!?!). "Blood Harmony" finds Hause running headlong down the Americana path that he'd been at least tip-toeing down for the last decade.

We talked about the album, and the recording, and Will Hoge's greatness, and the idea of "chasing the song." We also talked about his ongoing partnership with Tim (including work on Tim's own upcoming debut solo album) and about therapy and about touring in a never-ending pandemic and a lot more, as we are want to do.

Check out "Blood Harmony" here: https://davehause.bandcamp.com/album/blood-harmony

While you're at it, check out the rest of Dave's bandcamp releases - lots of live shows and some newer B-sides and more: https://davehause.bandcamp.com/

Every now and then you come across an album that becomes a benchmark moment for you; like, life existed before that album and then the world shifted and things weren't the same after that.  My own personal list includes the likes of: Vs. Recipe For Hate. Question The Answers. Badmotorfinger. The '59 Sound. The Low End Theory. Stay Positive. 36 Chambers. Caution. 1372 Overton Park. And now, realistically, The Great American Novel.

If you're unfamiliar, Proper. are a three-piece formed in NYC roughly 5/6 years ago (as The Great Wight initially) but hailing really from a variety of locations across the country and bringing with them all of their collective experiences and musical influences and creating something that hasn't really been done before. I remember hearing their last album, I Spent The Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better admittedly a little late and thinking "damn...I've never really heard anything like this before." The new album, The Great American Novel, takes all of the things that were great about the last one and pushes the needles way past 10. It's important music. It's music about alienation and about not fitting in and about being a queer person of color in a land that, despite it being 2022, is at times becoming even less comfortable with people that check those boxes. It's raw and it's powerful and it's somehow still hopeful. Oh, and if fucking shreds. I feel lucky that we were able to catch up not just with Erik Garlington who spearheads the whole thing but with the full band (Natasha Johnson on bass and Elijah Watson on drums and whom you may also know from his "day job" as a journalist for Okay Player). Watch/listen as I outkick my coverage yet again.

Watch the video for "Red, White and Blue" here: https://youtu.be/m4rYi2Naobs

Watch the video for "Milk And Honey" here: https://youtu.be/P5ux_2eMuFk

Check out Elijah's writing for OkayPlayer here: https://www.okayplayer.com/

I don't think it's overstating things to call Hot Water Music not only one of the most influential and respected bands in the last three decades of this scene, but one of the most genre-defining bands as well. For the second time in this show's history, we got to chat up one of the founding members! This time, the victim was Jason Black, who in my mind is one of the most under-rated bass players in rock music. We talk about whether being an underrated bass player in a genre-defining band is all it's cracked up to be, but more importantly, we chat a lot about the brand new HWM album, "Feel The Void." It's out March 18th on Equal Vision Records, and not only does it mark the first time the band reunited with producer Brian McTernan, it also marks the band's first full-length with Chris Cresswell in the mix as a permanent member...even taking lead vocal duties on a song! We also talk a lot about how the band came together to write the album - no easy task given that they collaborated from their home bases in Florida (Wollard, Black and Rebelo), California (Ragan), Maryland (McTernan) and now Ontario (Cresswell). Hurray for Zoom!

You can still pre-order "Feel The Void" here: https://www.hotwatermusic.shop/

Check out the video for "Collect Your Things And Run" here: https://youtu.be/q1d4bvpj-pI

Check out Hot Water Music's upcoming tour dates here: http://www.hotwatermusic.com/tour-dates

If you've read any of the press that came out surrounding LA hardcore band Sweat's debut LP, "Gotta Give It Up," you've probably noticed that the common theme throughout is that Sweat aren't a typical hardcore band. They've got a sound and a style and a swagger that are unique; hardcore, for sure, but with riffs and rhythms that range from thrashy to chunky to 70s rock (think Think Lizzy). At the center of the activity is the firebrand that is Tuna Tardugno. It's abrasive and confrontational and a whole lot of fun. 

We caught up for a super fun conversation with Tuna about the band's history (they've only got nine gigs under their collective championship belts, a byproduct of the band's formation less than a year prior to the world shutting down) and recording with Grammy-nominated producer Jack Shirley and their upcoming plans (tour? new album?). We also talked a lot about Tuna's introduction to the world of punk and hardcore in upstate New York and the parallels between the DIY punk and wrestling communities, both of which are near and dear to Tuna's heart. Oh, did we mention Tuna's a wrestler as well? Admittedly, my knowledge of modern wrestling is actually more limited than my knowledge of hardcore, which is pretty effing limited in its own right. Still, I am from the same hometown as Paul "Triple H" Levesque, so maybe I can hold my own a little.

Anyway, this was a super fun conversation. Hope you dig it.

Order "Gotta Give It Up" here: https://shop.piratespressrecords.com/products/sweat-gotta-give-it-up-lp