10-08-2021 alter:MiX # 33 alter tracks in PRSNT_PRFCT_MiX [2019-2021] # Mike Krol, Deserta, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Rival Sons, The White Stripes, William Parker, Shame, Joan of Arc, Upset, The Heliocentrics, Ani DiFranco
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An L.A.-based garage rocker with a large sense of humor plus a day job as a graphic designer.
Blue and Pink 3:32
Power Chords 3:22
Left for Dead 2:40
from Power Chords 2019
Most of the garage-punk acts that have emerged in the wake of Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees in the 2010s have been bands with no small amount of studied cool lurking behind their sweaty energy. Mike Krol is a vital exception to this rule; Krol is far too concerned with pumping out his fuzzy, no-frills, hook-infused rock and laying his heart out for all to see to have much truck with being cool. And that's a large part of what makes his music work so well. Krol clearly has a sense of humor and isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, but it's clear that rock & roll means a lot to him...
The project of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Matthew Doty finds the sweet spot between synth pop and shoegaze.
Be So Blue 5:30
Black Aura 5:31
from Black Aura My Sun 2020
With Black Aura My Sun, Deserta's Matthew Doty shows off his knowledge of several decades' worth of shoegaze and synth pop as well as his skill at reinterpreting those styles in ways that are familiar, but never boring. Much like Lust for Youth, Deserta excels at creating almost uncannily perfect recombinations of iconic sounds. ..
Sunny-sounding Australian band specializes in "soft punk/hard pop" with a smart and jangly approach.
The Second of the First 3:40
The Only One 3:46
from Sideways to New Italy 2020
After a couple of EPs where they worked on finding their feet as a band, the Australian quintet Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever nailed it on their first album, 2018's Hope Downs. Their three-guitar attack was honed to a fine point, the songwriting suddenly popped like formerly plugged-up ears in a descending aircraft, and their sound had all the mystery of early R.E.M. paired with the power of the Church at their rockiest. The record would have been top of the class during the golden age of '80s jangle pop, and it shone like a glittering diamond in the murky era of chillgaze and stoned psychedelia it was surrounded by in its own time. The band must have realized they had hit on something extraordinary because on 2020's Sideways to New Italy, they don't change the formula much...
