Listen: Saint Rich - "Officer"

Remember Saint Rich? The duo formed from Delicate Steve guitarists Steve Marion and Christian Peslak first made their presence known with the excellent "Sorry/Sadly" before being swallowed up by their intensive tour schedule with Delicate Steve. It's been 8 months since "Sorry/Sadly" but what many thought to perhaps been a one-off track has turned into much more than that. Today, amid news that Saint Rich not only signed to Merge Records but was also putting out an album by the name of Beyond the Drone, we also got another new track in "Officer"

"Officer" is a song for the ramshackle rock lover in all of us. Rougher around the edges than Delicate Steve's pristine melodic guitar lines and even their own "Sorry/Sadly", Saint Rich have proven in just two songs that they're not ones to be pigeonholed. Can you imagine the versatility that'll be contained within their debut full length? I certainly can't. All I know is that I want it and need it and the wait to October is going to be a rough one. Hopefully Saint Rich will ease the heartache with another new track before then but if not, we DO have two absolute resplendent guitar rock gems to keep us company.



Saint Rich's Beyond the Drone is out October 1st on Merge Records.

Listen: William Tyler - "Cadillac Desert"

If you're anything like me, you like maybe even prefer absolute stunning instrumentals over clever lyricism atop rather simplistic arrangements. There's just something so incredibly great about the rather revealing quality of a song that needs to bring it all melodically. Ultimately that's what I'm most drawn to even when there's words attached. What's happening musically?

Well for those like me, you're in luck. Taking his place among instrumental acts like Delicate Steve, Collections of Colonies of Bees or Phil Cook & His Feat, William Tyler is releasing a brand new album with Merge and if idyllic scorcher "Cadillac Desert" is anything to go off off, it's going to be an absolutely amazing collection of melody-laden guitar rock. On it, Tyler goes more places thematically in it's mammoth open air sprawl than most albums do while maintaining a smooth, clear timeline. It's minimalistic without being laboriously so and Tyler's ability to recycle themes while still moving the track along is rather incredible. It's the kind of track that could go on forever and you wouldn't hear a single complaint. It's a wind-swept pastoral reverie without any need for words and you wouldn't have it any other way.

William Tyler's Impossible Truth is out March 19th on Merge Records. 

Listen: Saint Rich - "Sorry/Sadly"

If for some reason you've been able to stop listening to Delicate Steve's Positive Force, you're in for another all-consuming release from Steve Marion. He's got a side project with bandmate Christian Peslak by the name of Saint Rich and their first single" Sorry/Sadly" is a slice of homey even-kneeled Southern-inspired rock. It's too clean and polished to be proper Southern rock but damn if it doesn't try. A burst of sunny guitar licks to warm you in the upcoming seasonal thaw.

An album's currently in the works and it might but be offensively catchy enough to make you never want to listen to anything else ever again. That's quite a statement based on a three minute debut track, I know. But I've got high high hopes for Saint Rich. Here's hoping there's more to come soon.

Listen to Saint Rich's debut single "Sorry/Sadly":

Now Streaming: Delicate Steve - Positive Force

It's a strange wonder that I haven't listened to New Jersey rock quintet Delicate Steve before today, the band has played shows with some of my absolute favorite artists/bands like Maps & Atlases, Buke & Gase, & tUnE-yArDs to name but a few that I'm undoubtedly missing. If you've paid any attention to the amount of praise I've given Collections of Colonies of Bees or Phil Cook & His Feat then you probably know instrumental albums are a definite favorite of mine - a favorite where few brilliant, shining works lie. Well Delicate Steve is about to change all that.

Featuring bright, exuberant melodies and fanciful instrumental songcraft, Delicate Steve's Positive Force is poised to become the soundtrack to my summer and might very well be yours if you let it. Each track is a veritable pop gem which puts a decidedly interesting and unique spin on world-influenced music. There's no playing make believe like you sometimes get but the influence funnels into their music alongside a sort of middle-end rock aesthetic and the result is an album you'll pretty much have to pry out of my hands. It's everything I didn't know I was looking for and then some.

You can stream Delicate Steve's Positive Force on NPR now until it's July 10th release date.