(Sandy) Alex stopped by Third Man Records’s Blue Room last fall for a performance. The live session has been memorialized on vinyl, which is out now via Jack White’s Nashville label. Below is the beloved "Bobby," which originally appeared on his latest critically-acclaimed LP 2017’s Rocket (Domino). Enjoy! (Photo by Jen Cray)

Krust Toons: "You Illiterate Cur!" by Tedd Hazard – please feel free to drop him a line at teddandthehazards@gmail.com if you dig or have any funny ideas. You can also check out more of his illustrations and animation shorts HERE.

Sometimes a pleasant surprise is just the kind of lift one needs to shift the tides; the new album from garage-punk trio Bike Crash does just that. Joyful bursts of defiantly sung lyrics are coupled with a compact, casual, rumbling of noisy instrumentation. The band addresses pertinent, present-day, political problems, and infuses a playful dynamic in the process. Finding a balance addressing hard-hitting, societal issues and presenting that commentary in a fun, frenetic manner is no easy feat.

So Cool, the new split EP from Blushed & Secret Nudist Friends, arrived today via Good How Are You Records, and tonight, their collaborative release will be commemorated with a show at HH Ranch. A sunny, surf setting converges with a coarse, sandy texture in the sound of Blushed. The quartet finds a happy medium between relaxed, adrift waters and spirited, rumbling waves, which threaten to engulf, unless one climbs on board. It’s calm with a capricious volatility that keeps one’s head on a swivel. With Matty Klauser and Missy Pidgeon serving as the common/shared threads, Secret Nudist Friends cultivate a laidback, garage-psych headtrip, which momentarily spins off course in a jam-fueled spectrum and then pleasantly sways you into submission. They’ll also be supported by the buoyant indie rock of Church Girls and NYC alt-rock three-piece Warpark. – Michael Colavita

Other places to go this summer weekend…

HH Ranch (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI Blushed, Secret Nudist Friends (Split EP Tape Release), Church Girls

Johnny Brenda’s (1201 N Frankford Ave.) SAT Deadfellow, Ali Awan

Boot & Saddle (1131 S. Broad St.) FRI Lower Wolves, Unloveable, SAT Chestnut Grove, The Dull Blue Lights, SUN Thorazine

Kung Fu Necktie (1250 N. Front St.) FRI DJSC, SAT Girls Rock Philly benefit: Goodnight / Goodluck, Taxes, Booklegger / Blood Sound, Kiss of the Whip/ Homegirl

Union Transfer (1026 Spring Garden St.) SUN Kaonashi

The Trocadero (1003 Arch St.) FRI (Balcony) Nicky Bruh, Figgadelli, SAT Evan Wize, Night Bloom

The Foundry (1000 Frankford Ave.) FRI Fame Lust, SAT Minka, SUN Air Is Human

The Fire (412 W. Girard Ave.) FRI Plague Dogs, Devil Master, SAT The Output, Nothing To See Here, The Evergreen Drive (EP Release), Scars Like These, SUN Hellings, Jamie and the Guarded Heart, St. Brendan

MilkBoy Philly (1100 Chestnut St.) SAT American Trappist

Ortlieb’s Lounge (847 N. 3^rd St.) FRI Machine Gun Joe, SUN Douse, Cheap Seats, Pithair

The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave.) FRI Control Top, Chronic Anxiety/DJ Deejay, SAT Doug Wartman, Cave Women, Full Bush/Transmission

Bourbon & Branch (705 N. 2^nd St.) FRI Departures: Salvo, John Raffaele, Deana Sophia, TPATT, SAT Matt McAndrew, Matthew Schuler, Joshua Howard

Silk City (435 Spring Garden St.) FRI DJ Aktive, SAT DJ Deejay

Fergie’s (1214 Sansom St.) SAT The Mallory Project, SUN Rusty Cadillac 

Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9^th St.) FRI Sonny Knockout, Behind The Grandstand, Magnificent Birds of Prey, SAT Mikie May

Voltage Lounge (421 N. 7th St.) FRI Thunder & Glory, SUN DJ Mighty Mike Saga

Morgan’s Pier (221 N. Columbus Blvd.) FRI DJ Beatstreet, SAT Lean Wit It, SUN Ear Me Now

Franky Bradley’s (1320 Chancellor St.) FRI Philly’s Foxes: DJ Chris Urban, SAT Take It Off: Burlesque Battle

The Grape Room (105 Grape St.) FRI The Parameters, The Tisburys, SAT Parsnip Revolt, Chaos Theory, Minerva

Ardmore Music Hall (23 E. Lancaster Ave.) FRI Broken Arrow, The Newspaper Taxis, SUN Greg Sover Band

The Pharmacy (1300 S. 18^th St.) FRI Camp Candle, Gender Work, SAT Space Pizza, Nightjar

The Tusk (430 South St.) FRI Suicide Conspiracy, SAT False Front, Loafass, Beer Me

LAVA Space (4134 Lancaster Ave.) FRI Bike Crash, Twelve Gardens

Festival Pier (601 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd.) SAT Dr. Dog, (Sandy) Alex G

Century (1350 S 29^th St.) FRI Dumal, Necrosexual, SAT Eastcoast Noisefest, SUN Trash Knife, Atomic Cretins, Roadkill, Demodex 

Tralfamadore (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) SAT Erik Kramer, Very Bad Vibes, Screamcloud

Planet Phitness (Please contact one of the acts or venue for more info.) FRI June Gloom, Teen Spaceship

Featured on his new EP Planet 9 Rhythms, Jo Kusy has also provided rad visuals for his single, “(My Name Is) Planet 9”. Saturated in shades of DayGlo, the song embodies a psych-dance mind meld. Locked into that house beat, there’s a loose, slightly odd element in the air, which reflects its creator. Kusy is slated to perform next in Philly this Sunday, June 24 at the Lucky 13 block party, and you will also be able to find him at Boot & Saddle on Saturday, July 14, along with Night Sins, The Warhawks, and Forever Chasing Honey Bees.

Featured on the Wet Leather LP, we’re happy to premiere the new video for “A Cold Wind” from Dominy. Cruising in the twilight hours, director Lauren Tepfer captures the single’s gradual, pensive, road-weary vibe. It wears into you with a steady, semi-spoken, tell-it-like-it-is wisdom, reinforced by the hearth-glowing harmony, the twinkle of the keys, and resonating, home-welcoming, peddle steel/slide. This feels like one of those songs that one basks in, after a long night and maybe a few beverages.  You can catch an intimate, acoustic set with Dominy next Friday, June 29 at The Music Ward, joined by Rentboy, Rylan, and All Boy/All Girl. (Photo by Brittany Cook)

"The Red Door" serves as the first single from Restorations long-awaited, forthcoming album, LP5000, which is scheduled for release on September 28 via Tiny Engines. After the initial wobble of keys, an anxious swell of guitar and percussion builds in anticipation. Addressing the anxiety and concern over the changes brought on by gentrification, the song is fueled by earnest, emotive energy. What are the remnants of past that last when the faces of longstanding neighborhoods are wiped away, and where do the people go? (Photo by Emily Dubin)

Jesse Smith & Aaron Sternick have come together to bring us Welcome Center. The duo recently shared its debut EP Disorder. Album standout, “Withoxt Yxu,” creates a humid, electro-pop, key-percussion ripple. In a daydreaming state of limbo, one feels stuck in a situation. The trapped, melancholy perspective of the words is nicely counterbalanced by the liquidy dance groove.

Dialer provides a jarring shock to the system with new tape, out now via SRA Records. Roaring vocals vent as the instruments stir and smack; the in-your-face tone forces one to take notice/bear witness. The EP feels purposely chaotic as the turmoil from within is pushed outward. A sense of unwielding, hard-hitting thought comes at you, while a mesmerizing array of sonic debris swirls. (Photo by Tyler Hallett)

Edited by Jared Marston, the new video for Armani White‘s single, “Casablanco” (featuring Sango), is sure to catch your eye. Seamless, rapid-fire transitions sync with the sharp lyrical turns of his phrasings. The emcee/director serves as the focal point across an ever-morphing backdrop. Infected with exuberant energy, the video toes the line between intensity and the absurd, continuously pivoting. Armani White is slated to hit the stage of Made In America in September.

Total Babe is the latest album from Philly six-piece New Speedway, arriving via Time Castle Recordings. Peering through the static of fuzz-reverberating rock, the vocals console in a tranquilizing, dream state. Basking in that pleasant trance, one sheds worry. However, amid those sunny ventures, there is an underlying propensity to zoom through the skies, flexing riff-charged afterburners.

“I’d Like to Thank The Academy,” the new single from Hafsol, a.k.a. Dylan Penna-Powell, develops an airy pensive setting before a percussive beat propels it into motion. Poetic lines flow at a laidback pace. The steer of the groove and the gradual fade of backing vocals washes over in a pleasant drift, intertwined with its hip-hop cadence. Lyrically, this feels layered with significance, while simultaneously retaining free association.