Monday, April 13, 2026
go tell your brothers and all of your friends
Brennan Wedl & Waxahatchee - Six O'Clock News (Kathleen Edwards cover)
go tell your brothers and all of your friends
On Monday, I was back at the Biltmore (twice in 7-days for the first time since...?) to see Ratboys.
Singin' to an Empty Chair might be my favourite album of the year so far (and The Window was one of my favourites of 2023), so I was pretty excited for this one.
I don't think they have a bad album and everything from Printer's Devil forward really feels like "this is Ratboys" for lack of a better description. But Singin'... also somehow seemed like a step forward.
It seems like it wasn't just me that noticed. The press cycle for this record seems (deservedly!) a lot more intense and it was awesome to see the Biltmore packed out on a Monday.
And man, do they rock live. Julia Steiner is the focal point for obvious reasons, but Dave Sagan's guitar playing--which is amazing on record--really goes to the next level live. I am not much of a solo-appreciator, but Sagan shreds in the exact kind of way I love, where he's simultaneously showing off some insane chops, while never taking away from the actual song.
Hopefully, you made it down, because I imagine they'll be somewhere a lot bigger the next time they're in town.
Album of the week
WU LYF - A Wave That Will Never Break
Look, I like Go Tell Fire to the Mountain quite a bit--enough to own a copy on vinyl. But there was always something a little... try hard(?) about this band. It's probably more annoying to accuse a band of being disingenuous than it is to actually be a bit disingenuous, but it always seemed like they were putting on a show.
That said, the one time I saw them, they really put on a show.
On A Wave That Will Never Break, I was kinda ready to roll my eyes. They pulled all their music from streaming (and there are very good reasons to do that, but it didn't seem like those were the impetus) beforehand and, while it's now up for purchase on Bandcamp, it seemed like it would only be available via some weird subscription service with vague terms.
But this record is good. Like, really fucking good.
It simultaneously sounds so similar to their debut, but also so, so different. Ellery Roberts wasn't going to hide unless he drastically changed they way he was singing, but everything surrounding him sounds similar too. It's just... way better.
Go Tell Fire to the Mountain sounded like a band trying to live up to their own hype, but 15-years later, they've finally arrived fully formed.
Plus, even streaming, it sounds fucking good. I threw on the first LP when I sat down to write this and the production--that the, at the time, young band took on themselves--betrays all the pomp and drama they were trying to evoke. Conversely, A Wave That Will Never Break sounds big and lush and just like the other parts of WU LYF's music now, whole.
Song of the week
Slippers - Fool in Your Room
Equal parts C86 and that lo-fi Olympia thing (which makes sense, since it's out on K Records) held down by a driving Is This It? bass line.
Classic of the week
This was a bit of a weird way to announce that Brennan Wedl is on Anti now--like you would've expected an original, not a cover. But if you're going to announce your new record deal with a cover, why not make it a cover of this Canadian classic.
Wedl's voice sounds so much like Kathleen Edwards' on this, which sure as Hell isn't a bad thing, but it would've been almost too true to the original without Katie Crutchfield, who doesn't really announce her presence, but her background vocals bring just enough to add some contrast.
now playing: Brennan Wedl - Kudzu
