GREETINGS FROM NICA-ROCK-UA: Former Athens musician David Lamb (no relation) has been kicking around in Central America for over a year now with no plans to move back to the U.S. He’s had a ton of adventures, been the victim of a lot of crime, and been hit on his motorcycle and broken three ribs and his clavicle, among other experiences. Still, he’s managed to release the new EP Pieces under the project name Vanity Glare. Opening song “Vanity Things” is a fist-pumping, sing-along glam rock number that leads straight into the electro-pop OMD-isms of “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” each of which fulfills its individual task. He told me via email that his musical goal when starting six years ago was to create a massive sound. So far he’s pretty much there, and that’s not a schlubby achievement for someone who records everything on his phone with GarageBand. He slides into some Nine Inch Nails territory with “Comfort Of The Night,” and the similarity is a little much at times. He breaks this tendency down in the final song, “Running In Circles,” albeit its chorus can trace its heritage directly to Tears For Fears’ “Mad World.” He reports he’s going to visit the United States to tour sometime in October. Take a few minutes and check this out on Spotify where he’s got another couple of collections of songs as well.
PUSHERMEN: New-ish Athens hardcore band Arms Dealer—featuring members of Snuki, Delta 8, Beer Piss and Regulator—released its single track demo a couple of weeks back. It’s titled War Machine, runs just over four minutes long, and while it may be a single track, within that track are four songs. Each one lives up to both the band’s name and the demo’s title. Pretty sure I broke a sweat just listening. This particular release is a little outside the hardcore that label Hard Tack has released thus far. There’s more than a decent nod to classic thrash crossover stuff like Crumbsuckers, Hallows Eve and even newer projects like Toxic Holocaust. None of these are a one-to-one comparison, but should help map the road out a little for ya. Find this at hardtackk.bandcamp.com.
NAME UNRELATED: Promoters Most Known Unknown will present a whopper of a bill Saturday, July 26 at the 40 Watt Club. They’ve titled the event Threats & Promises, but it really looks like a truckload of promises only. The full lineup includes the aforementioned Arms Dealer, Big Trouble, Centipede, Chloride, Coffee Stain, Confusion’s Prince, Coyote, Dark Vaughn, Magic Cross, Multiple Miggs, Pollute, Refuse to Thrive, Regulator, Rosary, Spoil, U.S. Gas and Whiphouse. Doors open at 5 p.m. (!) and music starts at 5:30 p.m. This whole show is a mere $12, which is exactly .666 cents per band, so don’t go ‘round being devilish and trying to get in free. There’s also a free after party at The World Famous that night featuring Obscurity, CKI, Rauncher and Spectral Body. For tickets and more information, please see 40watt.com.
THE THRILL OF IT ALL: The Familiar Strange, the brainchild and project of songwriter Daniel Hogan, released its first album in two years, and it’s named Is God In There?. This 12-song record opens in full aural CinemaScope with “Love Is Just Around The Corner” upon which any reasonable listener will observe Bowie’s fingerprint. The ridiculous hook-oriented “I Don’t Want To Be Shitty” has a complicated yet still sort of straightforward arrangement. The romantic bedsit hymn “At Odds” moves along at a quick clip, and “None Of The Above” is an indie rock tune of the sort that used to be easily found on college radio. This whole record is a clever collection of tight tunes and clear production and worth more than a single spin, so go find this at thefamiliarstrange.bandcamp.com.
ONCE MORE FROM THE HEART: The Arcs are gathering steam behind the band’s upcoming album Athens Ave, which will arrive courtesy of Arfus Records on Sept. 16. As part of this momentum, the band just released its next pre-release single from the record, and it’s named “Get Out Of Town.” From its opening riff you’d think it would pick up some speed after its intro, but it maintains its mid-tempo pacing for the entirety of the song’s main section, then retreats slightly around the four-minute mark, and then closes out the whole last minute with the same riffage it arrived with. Find this at thearcs.bandcamp.com, and for more information, please see arfusrecords.com.
SIGN ‘EM UP!: Artist applications are now open for the 2026 South By Southwest conference in Austin, TX. The 2026 event will happen Mar. 12–18. While the long-running event has promised that its new re-working of the conference to allow each track to overlap—music, film and technology will all occur in the same span of days—will mean a whole extra day for music programming, the results are, obviously, not yet in. That said, it is highly competitive to be accepted to perform at SXSW officially and there are some specific inquiries interested artists will need to address (e.g. your goals for performing at SXSW, touring history, etc.). If you’re interested, please head over to sxsw.com/apply and give it a go.
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