We’re in love with this dark new video from Jessie Baylin. "Creepers (Young Love)" is a deliciously heavy, meaty track from her Richard Swift-produced fourth album "Dark Places," due out April 7th. It’s a refreshing departure from the typically sweet pop-by-way-of-France-circa-1960 that the chanteuse is known for. Creepers is right. We can almost smell the cigarettes and unwashed bedsheets when we watch this, and, even though we want to wash our hands after a view, we kind of like it. We’re hoping the rest of the album has the same sort of unsettling carnality as this track.

Jessie Baylin will be at Grimey’s on April 7th for an album release in-store performance, followed by a show at 3rd and Lindsley on April 11th. Tickets are available HERE. -Terra James-Jura

Banditos just announced the May 12th release of their self-titled debut album via Bloodshot Records. The six piece collective of Birmingham natives have already put in countless miles and several years of sweat and tears before arriving at this album, so rest assured that every one of these 12 originals is road-tested and dive-approved. Their first single, "Cry Baby Cry," boogies out of the gate with hopping piano and rollicking guitar paying homage to newborn rock and roll, while the banjo featured in the breakdown nods to their Americana roots. Nashville was clearly celebrating their adoptive sons and daughter signing onto the Chicago-based label with these past few days of shitty Midwestern weather. Keep up with the band at www.banditosband.com, and preorder the album here. –Terra James-Jura

File this under #SEIZURE. LA-based found-footage collective Everything is Terrible has teamed up with Daniel Pujol for his latest video "Manufactured Crisis Control." The result is a perfect compliment to PUJOL‘s hyper-intellectual punk rock, and exactly the thing you want to watch in a completely darkened room after a prolonged period of sleep deprivation. It ought to get your chops slobbering for his upcoming set at Freakin’ Weekend VI; Pujol is playing Exit/In on March 14th with JEFF the Brotherhood. Get tickets here and checkout the full schedule over HURRR. -Terra James-Jura

Feeling a little feverish? We got some new Penicillin Baby to cure what ails you. These guys are all action for 2015. They’re just finishing up their new album and are currently on a spring jaunt across the Southeast that has not one but TWO hometown shows: March 11th at Mercy Lounge with Gunther Doug and Chrome Pony, and March 23rd at Queen Art Collective with Ava Luna, Body of Light, and Lala Lala. Check out their awesome new jam "Stick It Out" that just dropped yesterday. We feel high and sunburnt just listening to that surfy guitar dance amid all of that fuzz. We’ve heard unspecified rumors of "big things" coming from these guys "soon," so consider out interest piqued. However, if its a concept album that syncs up with an arthouse flick from the 70’s…we’re out. This town is too small. –Terra James-Jura

Just a quick head’s up, today is the release date of ELEL‘s self-titled debut EP. Nashville is clearly endeared by the 8-piece world-jams-meet-indie-pop extravaganza, considering that they won our overall poll for Best Emerging Artist of 2014. Ben Elkins and the crew’s first effort has found a home with Mom+Pop Records alongside the likes of Andrew Bird, Cloud Nothings, and Wild Cub. Check it out HERE. ELEL is stopping in Nashville in the middle of their spring tour for an EP release show at The Stone Fox. Get your tickets early, as the show has a good chance of selling out! –Terra James-Jura 

 Howling Giant swept our most recent Artist of the Month poll, emerging easy victors with 59% of the vote. Of course, they had a bunch of newly converted fans to rally support from, thanks their new EP released just this January. Who could not like a band that "plays self-indulgent, drop-tuned, fuzzed out riffs that could curdle milk?" Check out the epic "Whale Lord" to hear what they’re talking about. –Terra James-Jura

Alright ya mooks, our little shindig with Kelly Ruth and friends is TONIGHT! We hope to catch you this evening at Lucky Bamboo (5855 Charlotte Pike, right next to K&S Market), toting a six pack in one hand (remember, it’s BYOBeeee!) and a fistful of raffle tickets in the other (we have prizes from Pinewood Social, Sack of Cats, Crema, Lindsay Walker Jewelry and Young Gun Apparel, to name a few.) We have tickets for sale here: http://tickets.soundstampmusic.com/last-chance-dance/, otherwise they will be $10 at the door. There’s also the option of paying $20 at the door to take part in a hot pot feast courtesy of our gracious hosts at Lucky Bamboo.  Doors are at 8, then we have Twiggs kicking off the night at 9, followed by Kelly Ruth, Korby Lenker, and Blackfoot Gypsies closing out the night. If you’ve never had a Blackfoot Gypsy nightcap, it will look a little like this (just, ya know, with a koi pond in the middle of the room. Sidenote, don’t molest the koi.):

On Wednesday night The 5 Spot hosted the unrivaled talents of local rising blues star Adia Victoria. With riffs easily reminiscent to the talents of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Adia evokes a sense of composed nostalgia while simultaneously painting worlds with a vocal mastery akin to Victoria Spivey. Wednesday’s show was the unofficial launch of a 20-date tour of the US with Hurray for the Riff Raff. Adia will be starting in Atlanta on March 5 and rounding out her excursion in Dallas, TX on April 1st. Using her fan favorite “Stuck in the South” to round off the evening seemed ironic. Regarding the tour send-off Adia commented, "It’s great to see so many people braved the freak blizzard to show us some love. Love is a good note to send-off on." Adia Victoria is going places. –Jordi Saint-Zyr

Last Tuesday The Cordovas released their new “Prison Guards” EP. Accompanying the album was this simple video of frontman and former Carson Daly bandleader Joe Firstman picking through the title track. It’s a gentle song championing the strength of the spirit that remains true to itself, the same uplifting, beautiful stuff that Firstman has proven so adept at casually tossing out. This EP is quite bare-bones compared to previous efforts. It’s a departure from the genre-hopping of 2014’s "Love Bravely" and the Southern blues of their self-titled debut, placing Firstman’s songwriting front and center. The Cordovas mainly stick to their acoustic guitars and keys with some handclaps thrown in, and raise a some goosebumps with a few instances of striking vocal harmonies (check out the end of "Winter Blues.") "Prison Guards" is a straighforward EP of unembellished lyrics with amazing flow and a little bit of soul. Check it out for yourself HERE. –Terra James-Jura

 We hope you are just as excited as we are for The Last Chance Dance this Friday. We’ve teamed up with Kelly Ruth to put on a pop-up show at Lucky Bamboo China Bistro (5855 Charlotte Pike), an unlikely but then again totally perfect venue to catch a night of great music, giveaways, and fun. In addition to Kelly Ruth and her band, we have Twiggs, Blackfoot Gypsies, and Korby Lenker in the lineup, as well as DJ AyDamn spinning between sets.  We’ve even made if Valentine’s Day-themed for all those lacking the huevos to ask out their crushes on the 14th. To sweeten the deal even more, tickets are up for sale via Soundstamp for a cool $6, saving you a couple bucks from door price of $10. Need another reason to get out on Friday night? How about the fact that this show is BYOB? Come on out, booze it up and maybe even get down. Do you have a crush like Korby Lenker’s "Book Nerd?" This could be your last chance to make a move! -Terra James-Jura

 Remember last fall when we we blown away by the weird, grotesque, grease-painted antics of "scamp-rock" troupe Fable Cry? It took us their entire 8 off 8th set to  realize we liked them, but when it his, it stuck. Well, they just premeired their latest single "Onion Grin" on Popmatters, and it is every bit the same ghoulish take on chamber music that we could only hope for. This go-round covers the pursuit and eventual murder of an ingénue-cum-entree, rather than visions of one’s impending hanging. It goes without saying that their upcoming album is going to keep things light. Get sucked into their universe a fablecry.com. –Terra James-Jura

Congratulations to The David Motel for winning our latest Artist of the Month poll! It was a close race betweem The Vamptones and The David Motel, until a last minute push sent the vote in their favor. "People, Places, Things" is the title of their debut album, released just last month. The trio (all named David, by the way) spin Americana yarns about love and the gradual heartbreak of living. Fiddle, harmonica, and straight rock’n’roll beats all find their rightful place on the album, though we particularly loved the Western twang to "Goodbye Loneliness."Check out thedavidmotel.com for shows, news, and a full stream of the album. -Terra James-Jura