Showing posts with label Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers. Show all posts

Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Piper Butcher - Robert Ellis Orrall

Photo - Dave Clancy
Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Sick of Me.

"Sick of Me" is Molly Hanmer's first single in three years and the first offering off the band's sophomore album Get Loose, due out on September 2021. The song comes after the release of Molly's debut album Stuck in a Daydream, released in 2018 with warm recognition from the National press and radio.

Get Loose parts ways from the Americana-themed compositions of its predecessor and dives deeper into Molly's passion for rock, blues, and psychedelic melodies. Lyric-wise, this new record feels more personal and brings awareness to political and social subjects that had an impact in the band when writing and composing the songs. As the title implies, this album is less restrained or unrestrained, hence "Get loose".

The 10 songs included in Molly Hanmer's upcoming album are longing for freedom to shake off the confines of the pandemic as well as our own critic or fears/inhibitions, urging us to break free, physically and emotionally.

"Sick of Me" was chosen as the song to kick off this new album. Musically fun, dynamic and radio-friendly, it could be the soundtrack of any Route 66 road trip; lyric-wise, the song is an acknowledgment of the fact that ultimately we need other people, with the pandemic keeping us isolated from one another. The importance of connecting with another, and aims to be a reminder that “me, myself, and I” can’t be our sole focus.

"Sick of Me" was written in the height of lockdown, at a time when it was impossible not to be real. And what was real for us was this loneliness, this longing to connect with others, which felt both vulnerable and even a bit perverse. There was anger, too, which you can hear as the song kicks off with this relentless immediacy. And "Sick of Me" was also cathartic, a way we could express our feelings, without breaking the furniture. And if you hear a nod to Iggy and the Stooges or the Buzzcocks, well, you wouldn’t be wrong. In sum, "Sick of Me" is an expression of the angst and longing we felt during a profound and painful time in our shared history.

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Piper Butcher - Before The Thunder.

Off the back of her debut single that debuted at #3 on the iTunes Alternative Chart, Newcastle singer-songwriter, Piper Butcher, is back for more with her brand new track, “Before The Thunder”.

Piper is one of the hottest new names to hit the Australian Americana scene and “Before The Thunder” is sure to capitalise on the success of its predecessor.

Piper says, “the song emanates a story of when someone wants something they can’t have and tries to cross the line to make it happen”.

The song brings about different side of Piper showcasing strong melodies and bluesy guitar licks that would make even John Mayer proud. Her versatility shines through and cements a class act that can straddle genres with the best of them.



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Robert Ellis Orrall - Sunshine.

Today, Robert Ellis Orrall shares the summertime-ready single “Sunshine” from his forthcoming album 467 Surf and Gun Club, out August 27 via Infinity Cat imprint Fixation Records. Accompanied by a music video starring power-pop Infinity Cat band Nectar and released on the same day as the label’s 19th birthday, “Sunshine” is every bit as nostalgic as it is catchy-as-hell.

“This song's about making the sunshine, spreading the sunshine, and letting the sun shine on the people you love,” says Orrall. “I'm hoping good times are back in style and our days can get a little bit brighter, no matter what the weather is outside.” He continues, “I asked Nectar - a band I like a lot - to make a video because they share my hopelessly optimistic in-spite-of-reality wish that we will all find a little more sunshine in our lives."

Nectar adds, "We filmed the video on one of the hottest days of the summer, so we were truly fueled by sunshine. The upbeat, good vibes of the song really set the mood and we had a blast!"

Owner of Infinity Cat Records and father to JEFF the Brotherhood’s Jake and Jamin Orrall, Robert Ellis Orrall is a Nashville legend. At the helm of the beloved indie label for almost two decades, he guided Nashville's punk-rock underground and launched the careers of bands like JEFF, Diarrhea Planet, Be Your Own Pet and Daddy Issues out of the now-demolished house at 467 Humphrey Street. But Infinity Cat is not his first success story. By the time he launched the label in 2002, the Massachusetts-native had already enjoyed a milestone-filled career as a major-label artist and behind-the-scenes songwriter, racking up Top 40 hits from the ‘80s through the 2000s and co-producing Taylor Swift's multi-platinum debut album.

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Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Micra

Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers - Fool's Run (Different Song).

Stuck in a Daydream, the debut album from Los Angeles based quartet Molly Hanmer & The Midnight Tokers, might be labeled Americana, and accurately so, but throughout are hints of blues, rock and roll, folk, psychedelia, even Bossa-Nova that makes it a unique sound in its own right.

Unlike albums where every track sounds the same, Stuck In A Daydream switches it up, making you stamp your boots on the floorboards and clap along on one track; and weep, pull out your journal and express bottled up feelings on the next.

The album is the product of Hanmer teaming with two industry pros who share her musical views, producer Marvin Etzioni (co-founder of Lone Justice) and engineer Sheldon Gomberg, a two-time Grammy winner, along with her talented band, The Midnight Tokers. BANDCAMP.


The first track I listened to on the new 'Stuck In A Daydream' album was 'Fool's Run (Different Song)'. It's the third of twelve songs in this collection (the rest should also play thereafter, if not the link above will do the trick).

Anyhow, it's a fine song to say the least, and one that provides a fairly representative feel for the album (in terms of quality and imagination), that said expect variety as the band comfortably settle into different genres, doing so with an eclectic mixture of emotions and styles.

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Micra - Child Grows Old.

The Triple J-tipped, Sydney-based atmospheric-pop duo, Micra, just shared their soaring new single, ‘Child Grows Old’. Following support in their home country based upon debut performances and early demos, the band, comprised of Bulgarian born and raised singer-guitarist, Ivana Kay and Australian multi-instrumentalist, Robbie Cain will support the string of single releases with debut performances in the UK and US in 2019.

Co-produced by the band alongside emerging Sydney producer/mixer, James Christowski, the reflective ‘Child Grows Old’ draws on influences ranging from Ariel Pink through to Beach House and Zero 7, working with glittering soundscapes and rich atmospherics. Speaking about the new single, Cain says: “The song explores a time in life which felt like nothing had changed for too long. Waiting around for something to happen without knowing where to begin. It's an internal conversation about forcing yourself to jump into the next phase of life and facing the obstacles that come out of that.”

The pair initially met - as if by serendipitous fortune - when were coincidentally sat beside each other at an Unknown Mortal Orchestra show after both arriving alone. That chance encounter would blossom into a musical alliance that culminated in the formation of Micra in early 2018. FACEBOOK.


Last month we featured 'Plastic' from Micra describing that track as "a dream pop song which occasionally moves towards shoegaze." They have quickly followed up with 'Child Grows Old' and it's another imaginative song. There's less shoegaze and a more feisty rhythm resulting in a catchy, electro rocker, with the vocals adding melody, clearly Micra are capable of differing styles and plenty of gorgeous hooks.

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Bumper Catch Up featuring: Rubblebucket - Mollie Elizabeth - Lilly Hiatt - The Kearns Family - WILDES and St Francis Hotel - Lucette - Caroline Strickland - Mon Rayon - Lala Salama

Keeping the comments a little shorter so we can cram a few more songs in than usual, this is our first bumper catch up of some really fine r...