Tag: Indie Rock

Smirk Announces New Album ‘Speculative Fiction,’ Shares New Single ‘Abide’

New album Speculative Fiction out July 3 via Smoking Room. Photo: another side

Track Premiere: Smirk Shares Melancholic New Single & Video “Abide” Ahead of New Album

Smirk has released the melancholic single and video “Abide” ahead of his highly anticipated new album, Speculative Fiction, due out July 3 on Smoking Room. Pre-order/pre-save here. (another side, 2026)

The indie-leaning track feels like a lost B-side from Surfer Rosa-era Pixies mixed with the twang of Gun Club and a solo straight out of the J Mascis playbook. Lyrically, the track slides right into the album’s overarching theme: abandoning longstanding ties for a fresh start and a new future on the horizon.

“‘Abide’ is based on an old British hymn that I reworked to be about the looming end of a long friendship. It’s about that slow drift where nothing really happens, but you can feel it fading and you aren’t trying to fix it.” — Nick Vicario, Smirk Mastermind

Unrest in the Suburbs: Facing the Past

Growing old sucks, but there comes a point in life when it becomes a necessity to ignore the pull to constantly wild out.

“When this band started in LA, it was a crazy time in my life,” Vicario admits. “I was crashing cars, doing drugs—I was doing horrible things and destroying my life.”

On Speculative Fiction, Vicario deals with a new twist on an age-old theme for punk rock: unrest in the suburbs. Instead of youthful rebellion, this version of unrest deals with looking back on past indiscretions and dealing with their repercussions—the disruption of the old life, settling into the new, and the reflection that comes with it. These thoughtful lyrics and themes, when paired with Vicario’s guitar-pop confection, make for a unique juxtaposition.

“When I was writing ‘Speculative Fiction’, a lot of that dealt with the ‘old me’ and some of the crazy life choices I made while abusing substances. So while the record is partially about the ‘old me,’ it’s also very much about putting them in my current world and the new set of problems that come from that.”

From Portland Hardcore to Solo Vision

Vicario has a deep history with punk rock. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, in the early 2000s, he was ingrained in the legendary scene that birthed Poison Idea and Wipers. He began playing in bands at an early age, hobnobbing with members of Tragedy and Criminal Damage in cover bands and even on the gridiron. At just 12 years old, his first band, The Diskords, were the toast of the Maximum Rock ‘n’ Roll illuminati, leading to several releases and having The Exploding Hearts take them under their wing.

His musical journey spans an impressive array of genres and projects:

  • Hardcore & Indie Pop: Playing in hardcore bands like Cower eventually led him to the indie pop outfit Wild Ones, who released two records across eight years (the latter landing on Topshelf Records).
  • Collaborations & Touring: Stints with Public Eye, Cemento, Crisis Man, and others, alongside touring with Surfer Blood and Dreamdecay.
  • The Birth of Smirk: Vicario eventually decided to focus his energies on his solo project, Smirk, dropping a self-titled album in 2021 and Material in 2022.

A New Sonic Blueprint

On Speculative Fiction, Vicario is restarting both personally and musically. Smirk is slowing things down, taking a more measured, power-pop approach that strays away from the speedy punk marking earlier releases. The result is decidedly more mid-paced, reflecting the works of Big Star and The Paul Collins Beat as much as early Stiff Records releases, all filtered through the DIY spirit of Guided by Voices.

Written entirely by Vicario, Speculative Fiction is Smirk’s third full-length album. To round out the record, he called upon a stellar cast of old friends and live bandmates, including:

  • Ross Farrar (Ceremony)
  • Max Smadja (RIXE)
  • Ryan Mangione-Smith (Advertisement)
  • Current members of Smirk’s live lineup (who play in Hotline TNT, Poison Ruin, and Pardoner)

Production Credits

  • Recording: Mainly recorded in Vicario’s home studio, with additional tracks captured by Ian Rose at Daisy Chain Studios in Brooklyn.
  • Mixing: Handled for the bulk of the record by Andy Oswald.

Life Imitates Art

With Speculative Fiction, life imitates art. Smirk slows things down, retools, and gets meticulous—making deliberate decisions with respect to songwriting, approach, and collaboration to execute a new vision.

The final result is a refined, focused, and less chaotic approach to punk with an eye on pop-sensibility. It perfectly mirrors Vicario’s new lifestyle: outside of the fast lane and behind a white picket fence.

Smirk’s new album Speculative Fiction arrives July 3 via Smoking Room. Stream the new single “Abide” now.

Speculative Fiction tracklist:

01 – Greetings
02 – Victimry
03 – Cheap Greed
04 – Going Off To Die
05 – Sistine Junk
06 – Dog Years
07 – I Shall Be Released
08 – Perfect World
09 – Abide
10 – Ritual Torture
11 – Interlude
12 – Shit Song
13 – Crime Pays

Photo: Emily Vicario

Paz Lenchantin Breaks Free with Triste, a Bold New Chapter in Her Career

Paz Lenchantin’s solo album Triste is set for an October 17 release. Photo: David Alvarado, used with permission.

Paz Lenchantin Steps Into the Spotlight with Debut Solo Album Triste

Paz Lenchantin, the Argentine-American musician best known for her nearly three-decade career as bassist, vocalist, and co-writer for iconic bands like Pixies (2014–2024), A Perfect Circle, Zwan, and The Entrance Band, is now stepping forward on her own. Her debut solo album, Triste, arrives October 17 via her own label, Hideous Human Records. (another side, 2025)

A First Glimpse: “Novela”

Lenchantin recently released Triste’s opening track and recent single, “Novela.”

“The track is a melodramatic story that resolves with accepting that you are the way you are—‘Sos como sos’,” explains Paz.

Drawing from the emotional tradition of Spanish balladry, “Novela” sets the tone for the album with raw, restless compositions. The accompanying video, directed by longtime friend and filmmaker Maximilla Lukacs, is available to watch now.

A Fusion of Roots and Reinvention

The 12-track Triste blends Latin folk textures with American rock structures, placing Paz at the piano and weaving her signature string arrangements around the rock foundations she helped shape in past projects. She performed all instruments before inviting collaborators, including former A Perfect Circle bandmates Josh Freese (drums) and Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar), to add depth to the record’s sonic landscape.

Each song unfolds with both editorial precision and mystical intuition, creating music that feels timeless while firmly rooted in the present.

Written in Mexico, Mixed with Vision

The seeds of Triste were planted in Petatlán, Mexico, where Paz spent much of 2024 writing about faith, doubt, and self-discovery in the wake of her departure from Pixies. The album was later mixed by Chris Coady (Beach House, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), giving the project a lush yet intimate finish.

A Statement of Independence

For Paz, Triste is more than an album—it’s a declaration of self.

“I had to make this record on my own—not to prove anything, but just to have faith that music can nurture me back. And it did.”

With Triste, Paz Lenchantin opens the first chapter of her solo career: deeply personal, sonically adventurous, and undeniably her own.

✨ Listen to “Novela” now and watch the video, then mark your calendar for the release of Triste on October 17, available for pre-order/pre-save.

Triste tracklist:

01 – Novela
02 – Lows & Highs
03 – Woman Of Nazareth
04 – Hang Tough
05 – Wish I Was There
06 – Si No!
07 – In The Garden With The Devil
08 – Adam
09 – Lucia
10 – Sin Dios
11 – Save It For Hell
12 – Triste

Triste Artwork By Camila Doring

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Echoes of Innovation: The Creative Vision of Cornelius’ Bad Advice/Mind Train EP

Acclaimed Japanese artist Cornelius releases new EP Bad Advice/Mind Train. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

The acclaimed Japanese musician Keigo Oyamada, known as Cornelius, just released the Bad Advice/Mind Train EP, available now via Like LTD. This three-song collection includes the previously released nine minute krautrock inspired opus Mind Train and the new track Bad Advice, featuring the legendary New York No Wave artist Arto Lindsay. (Magnum PR, 2024)

In celebration of his 30th anniversary, Cornelius also announces the forthcoming release of 2023’s acclaimed LP Dream in Dream on vinyl. The deluxe package, available on September 27, includes a Rainbow Foil Jacket with Die-Cut Window, Zoetrope Slipmat, and Colored Vinyl, offering fans a collector’s item that beautifully encapsulates the album’s visionary sound.

The EP’s standout track Bad Advice features vocals from Arto Lindsay (No wave iconoclasts DNA, The Lounge Lizards, The Golden Palominos). Lindsay’s presence on the track exemplifies the seamless blend of his distinctive styles. Cornelius elaborates on the inspiration behind the song: “This song was inspired by the sound of Arto Lindsay’s 80s experimental duo Ambitious Lovers. I was able to create a song like it, so I really wanted Arto to sing on it.”

Known for his passion of crafting lyrics that evoke their own unique mood, Lindsay continues this approach on the lyrics for Bad Advice, allowing for multiple interpretations and letting the words naturally come together.

The EP’s first single released last month, Mind Train is an epic, nine-plus minutes of gorgeously ethereal spacepop, with its sleekly styled minimalist sonic structures breaking into moments of exhilarating chaos. Influenced by the music of his longtime hero and collaborator Yoko Ono, it’s very much meant to inspire inward self-reflection.

The EP also features a remix of Dream In a Dream track Sparks by Canadian multi- instrumentalist, engineer and composer Joseph Shabason. He has played and recorded with bands like Destroyer, The War On Drugs, Andre Ethier, and Alvvays.

Cornelius is also thrilled to announce that Money Mark, known for his work with the Beastie Boys, will join him as support on the U.S. dates of the Dream in Dream World Tour. This tour, which celebrates three decades of Cornelius’s genre-defying music, will feature Cornelius’ 20-year compatriots: Hirohisa Horie on keyboards (also a support member for Yukihiro Takahashi’s Yellow Magic Orchestra), Yuko Araki on drums (also a member of Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band); and Buffalo Daughter’s Yumiko Ohno on Moog and bass. Cornelius and his band will play songs from his five previous albums since 1992, beginning with the landmark LP Fantasma. Cornelius encourages both old fans and new to experience this next wave in sound in person.

The tour kicks off on September 1 at the End of the Road Festival in Salisbury, England, and includes stops in Amsterdam, London, and several U.S. cities, culminating in a headline show at The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles on September 24.

World Tour Dates
8/29/24 – End of the Road Festival – Salisbury, England
9/3/24 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, Netherlands
9/6/2024 – Barbican – London, England
9/21/24 – Music Box – San Diego, CA*
9/22/24 – Pappy & Harriets – Pioneertown, CA*
9/24/24 – Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA*
9/25/24 – UC Theatre – Berkeley, CA*
9/27/24 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR*
9/29/24 – Neptune Theatre – Seattle, WA*

(* with Money Mark)

Dream In Dream will be out September 27, 2024. Courtesy photo, used with permission.