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Pop-Punk Duo Teenage Joans Go Full Outlaw on New Country-Tinged Single “Bandits”

Eric Alper
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Pop-Punk Duo Teenage Joans Go Full Outlaw on New Country-Tinged Single “Bandits”

Teenage Joans have released “Bandits,” and it’s a genuine statement of where this Adelaide pop-punk duo is headed.

The track pairs their signature urgency with a country-tinged edge, a combination that sounds unexpected on paper and completely natural in practice. Written during a beachside writing trip in early 2025, “Bandits” channels the reckless devotion of a Bonnie and Clyde-style romance, all blind loyalty and chosen consequence.

The duo puts it directly: “We really wanted to blend a country vibe with our classic pop punk. The song is about feeling an intense connection to someone, so much so that you would do anything for them and rule out the worst because you love them so much.” That emotional core lands hard, and the production gives it room to breathe without softening the punch.

Cahli and Tahlia have been building toward this kind of creative leap since emerging in 2018. Their resume backs it up completely. Winners of triple j Unearthed High in 2020, back-to-back appearances in the triple j Hottest 100, a record-breaking 7 wins at the 2021 South Australian Music Awards, and three consecutive Best Punk Artist wins in 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Their 2023 debut album ‘The Rot That Grows Inside My Chest,’ released via Domestic La La and UNIFIED, debuted across 7 ARIA chart categories and earned a nomination for Best Hard Rock and Heavy Album. A surreal short film accompanied the record, reimagining it through an Alice in Wonderland-inspired lens. The ambition has always been there.

Globally, they’ve shared stages with Foo Fighters, Sum 41, Sleeping with Sirens, PUP, and The Strokes, and have showcased at Music Matters Singapore and The Great Escape in London. “Bandits” arrives as a duo fully in command of their own evolution, expanding their sonic palette without losing a single volt of their live energy.

They’re currently on the road in the UK now.

2026 UK Tour Dates:

May 9 – Bristol – Rough Trade

May 12 – London – The Black Heart

May 13-16 – Brighton – The Great Escape

Chicago Avant-Woodwind Composer Emily Rach Beisel’s ‘Sumptuous Branching’ Is a Solo Album Like No Other

Eric Alper
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Chicago Avant-Woodwind Composer Emily Rach Beisel’s ‘Sumptuous Branching’ Is a Solo Album Like No Other

‘Sumptuous Branching,’ the second solo album from Chicago-based woodwind composer and improviser Emily Rach Beisel, is out now on Amalgam, and it’s one of the most conceptually rich records to emerge from the avant-garde this year.

Beisel performs everything here: bass clarinet, vocals, piccolo, and electronics, woven together in a singular, theatrical flow. The album was recorded at Marmalade in Chicago by Bill Harris, mixed by Harris and Beisel, and mastered by Edward Hamel. It’s a fully realized sonic world, and every element of it was deliberate.

The conceptual foundation runs deep. “Sumptuous Branching is born from late medieval chant,” Beisel explains. “Early chant doesn’t have strictly codified rules in place yet, so it has a wild freedom and rich density that I find so compelling. The work in Sumptuous Branching is my imagining of this replete style in my own voice.”

Lead single “Cantilevers” sets the tone immediately. Inspired by Mark Z. Danielewski’s ‘House of Leaves’ and the structural logic of chant, the track layers lines that stretch forward and overlap without ever resolving at a single shared point. Beisel describes it as “a kind of chant that doesn’t loop back on itself, does not end.” It’s as arresting in practice as it sounds in description.

The album draws from a remarkable range of source material: Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s ‘The Iliad,’ Guillaume de Machaut’s ‘La Messe de Nostre Dame,’ and Danielewski’s architectural fiction. Beisel moves through these influences with genuine command, never letting the conceptual framework overwhelm the music’s visceral immediacy.

A Jazz Noise captured it well: “heavy stuff, sounds retrieved from the deeper places… BEISEL pokes around in the sonic depths and brings leviathans out to play.” That description holds across every track on ‘Sumptuous Branching.’

Beisel, a 2024 3Arts Awardee in Music and Northwestern University graduate, approached this record differently than their debut, touring the material through Spring 2025 before entering the studio. “I love albums that offer an intentional journey and reward listening from beginning to end,” Beisel says. “This record very much falls into that category.”

The Midwest release tour continues now through May 12th.

‘Sumptuous Branching’ Tracklist:

  1. Introit
  2. To Rise In Arms
  3. Cantilevers
  4. Hollow Ships
  5. Her Still Singing Limbs
  6. We Who Behold The Bright Surface
  7. Sumptuous Branching

Sumptuous Branching Midwest Release Tour 2026:

May 9th – Carnegie Art Center – Mankato, MN

May 10th – The Pattern Room – Minneapolis, MN w/ Liz Draper

May 11th – University of Minnesota – Minneapolis, MN

May 12th – Art Lit Lab – Madison, WI

Vendredi Sur Mer’s New Single “Des Montagnes de Toi” Proves the Swiss Pop Sensation Is Impossible to Ignore

Eric Alper
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Vendredi Sur Mer’s New Single “Des Montagnes de Toi” Proves the Swiss Pop Sensation Is Impossible to Ignore

Swiss singer-songwriter Vendredi sur Mer has released “Des Montagnes de Toi,” a stunning new track that deepens the emotional world she’s been building with her album ‘Malabar Princess.’ Listen here.

The song is built around a bewitching piano and a melancholic melody that feels completely at home in her catalog. It’s intimate, unhurried, and quietly devastating, a natural extension of the emotional current already running through “Écoute Chérie” and the previously released “Si t’étais là.”

Charline Mignot, the Swiss singer-songwriter and photographer behind the Vendredi sur Mer persona, has always written from a deeply personal place. ‘Malabar Princess’ draws directly from the landscapes of her Swiss mountain childhood, born out of a writing residency in Montréal and shaped by collaborators Sam Tiba, Adrien Gallo, and Owlle.

The album carries real range. “Arrêter le temps” pairs her voice with renowned French pianist and composer Sofiane Pamart in a piano-voice duet that feels like an open letter. “Hard,” featuring Hanni El Khatib, brings a different kind of tension. The title track reads as a nostalgic ode to Switzerland and the Alps, soft and searching.

‘Malabar Princess’ marks her third album and a clear return to the warmth and intimacy of her debut ‘Premiers émois’ (2019), following the darker sonic territory of ‘Métamorphose’ (2022). The evolution feels earned. Mignot describes the record as a sincere, poetic work where she fully reveals herself, blending desire and truth.

Her sound pulls from French chanson and 1980s pop, wrapped in lush, retro-styled production and her signature sultry vocals. Tracks like “Écoute Chérie,” “La femme à la peau bleue,” and “Les filles désirs” have already built her a devoted global following, and “Des Montagnes de Toi” gives that audience exactly what they came for.

Vendredi sur Mer recently completed her North and South American tour, including festival appearances at Foro Indie Rocks and C4 Stage in Mexico. The momentum she’s carrying into the rest of 2026 is considerable.

Vendredi sur Mer’s “Des Montagnes de Toi” is out now.

Lowertown’s ‘Ugly Duckling Union’ Is Here and the New York Indie Duo Earned Every Second

Eric Alper
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Lowertown’s ‘Ugly Duckling Union’ Is Here and the New York Indie Duo Earned Every Second

Lowertown’s ‘Ugly Duckling Union’ is out now, and it’s the record the New York duo has been building toward their entire career.

Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg have signed to Summer Shade and delivered something genuinely ambitious: a fully self-written, self-recorded, self-produced, and self-mixed album that doubles as a conceptual world. The creative independence here is total, and the results make that clear.

Lead single “I Like You A Lot” arrives as a rare love song from the pair. A spry drumbeat and lo-fi, twangy guitars carry a lyric about the physical grip of infatuation, the obsessive pull of admiring someone before you even know them. It’s warm, a little restless, and entirely alive.

The band put it plainly: the song “was written about the hope of a new crush, and the intoxicating feelings of admiring and fantasizing about someone from afar.” They describe that feeling as “almost like a sickness taking over the body, but maybe not in a particularly bad way.” That kind of honest, layered writing runs all through this record.

‘Ugly Duckling Union’ grew out of a difficult stretch. Constant touring, a label split, creative frustration, and the particular intensity of navigating all of it in their late teens and early 20s pushed their friendship and artistic partnership to the edge. Returning to their roots, both in Atlanta and in the online communities that shaped them, brought the album into focus.

The conceptual spine of the record follows Dale, a duckling protagonist, and his companions as they resist LBH, a tyrannical media corporation built on isolation and control. It’s a framework inspired by the communal creativity of Gorillaz and the audience-first ethics of Fugazi, and it comes loaded with accompanying materials: a playable Minecraft world, drawn comics by Doctor Nowhere (Silas Orion), plush dolls, and a full handbook.

Osby describes the album’s spirit directly: “Our home has been the people who make us feel understood, and the music that makes us feel understood. I feel like Avsha and I have just been two misfits doing stuff together, and I feel like this music is for people like us, it’s for the misfit toys.”

The record lands with real emotional range, from the tender pull of “I Like You A Lot” to the blunt charge of “DIPSH*T,” and every moment reflects a duo fully in command of their own sound.

Lowertown are on the road now through late June, wrapping with a hometown show at New York’s Bowery Ballroom.

‘Ugly Duckling Union’ Tracklist:

01 Mice Protection

02 Worst Friend

03 Echo of Desire

04 Forgive Yourself

05 Big Thumb

06 Cover You

07 I Like You A Lot

08 (I Like To Play With) Mutts

09 DIPSH*T

10 Anything Good Takes Blood

11 Found A

12 Some Things Never End

2026 Tour Dates:

May 9th – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean

May 10th – Whitefish Bay, WI @ The Argo

May 12th – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry

May 13th – Des Moines, IA @ xBK

May 14th – Lawrence, KS @ The White Schoolhouse

May 16th – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge

May 18th – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court

May 19th – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club

May 22nd – Seattle, WA @ Baba Yaga

May 23rd – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall

May 26th – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop

May 29th – Orange County, CA @ Constellation Room

May 30th – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy

May 31st – San Diego, CA @ Quartyard

June 8th – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar

June 11th – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger

June 12th – Austin, TX @ 29th St Ballroom

June 13th – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada

June 15th – Nashville, TN @ The End

June 17th – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (HELL)

June 19th – Jacksonville, FL @ Hard Love

June 20th – Orlando, FL @ Conduit

June 22nd – Miami, FL @ Lincoln’s Beard

June 23rd – Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum

June 25th – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook

June 26th – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd

June 27th – New York City, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

The Ultimate Festival Packing List: What Every Music Fan Needs

Eric Alper
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The Ultimate Festival Packing List: What Every Music Fan Needs

Festival season has a way of separating the prepared from the people spending $18 on sunscreen at the merch tent. After enough weekends in fields, parking lots, and campgrounds across North America and beyond, the list of what actually matters becomes very clear. This is that list.

Start with your feet. Everything at a festival begins and ends with footwear. Comfortable, broken-in shoes you’ve actually walked in before are non-negotiable. Blisters by noon on day one cost you the entire weekend. Bring a backup pair. Bring waterproof options if there’s any chance of rain, and there is always a chance of rain.

Pack layers you can move in. Festival weather operates by its own logic. Scorching at noon, freezing by midnight, sideways rain at 3am. A lightweight packable jacket, a long sleeve layer, and a bandana cover most scenarios and fold down to nothing in a bag. Dress for all 4 seasons because a single festival day can deliver all of them.

Protect yourself from the sun before you feel it. High-SPF sunscreen, a wide-brim hat, and UV-blocking sunglasses are the trio that determines whether you make it to the headliner or spend Sunday recovering from heat exhaustion in a tent. Reapply the sunscreen every 2 hours. The sun at an outdoor festival is relentless and doesn’t care about the set times.

Carry a refillable water bottle everywhere. Most major festivals have free water refill stations, and staying hydrated through a full day of sun, crowds, and dancing is the single most important thing you can do for your body. A collapsible bottle takes up almost no space and saves you a fortune over 3 days.

Build a festival first aid kit that actually works. Blister pads, ibuprofen, antacids, earplugs, hand sanitizer, a portable phone charger, and a small flashlight. These 7 items solve 90% of the problems that derail a festival weekend. The earplugs are essential even if you think you don’t need them. Tinnitus is real and a full weekend in front of loud speakers without protection adds up fast.

Bring cash in small bills. Food vendors, local artists selling prints, independent merch tables, many of them are cash only or prefer it. An ATM at a festival charges whatever it wants and the line is always longer than you expect.

Know your schedule before you walk through the gates. Download the festival app, screenshot the set times for your must-sees, and build in buffer time between stages. Getting from one end of a large festival to another during a set change takes longer than the map suggests. Plan accordingly and build in time to discover something unplanned, because the best festival moments are often the ones you didn’t schedule.

Leave space in your bag for what you find. A festival is a full sensory experience and you will want to bring pieces of it home. A small drawstring bag or foldable tote handles the merch, the vinyl, the zines, and the random objects that find you over a weekend.

The best festival packing list is the one built from experience. Start here and adjust it to your own hard-learned lessons.

Here’s How to Use Instagram Reels to Actually Get Your Music Heard

Eric Alper
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Here’s How to Use Instagram Reels to Actually Get Your Music Heard

The artists breaking through right now aren’t waiting for a label push or a playlist placement. They’re posting Reels, studying what works, and doing it again. Instagram Reels has become one of the most direct paths from unknown to discovered in the music industry, and the barrier to entry is lower than it’s ever been.

Start with the first 2 seconds. Everything depends on them. The hook, the most striking lyric, the most unexpected sonic moment, it needs to land immediately. Viewers decide within a heartbeat whether to keep watching, and the algorithm is watching that decision closely. Open with your strongest material and build from there.

Use your original audio deliberately. When you score a Reel to your own music, every view builds your audio identity on the platform. Viewers who tap your audio land in your catalog. That one habit turns a single Reel into a discovery engine for everything you’ve ever released, connecting new listeners to your full body of work in seconds.

Show the process. Behind-the-scenes content, recording sessions, songwriting moments, rough vocal takes, the unglamorous parts of making music, these perform consistently well because they build genuine connection. People follow artists they feel they know personally. That relationship drives streams, ticket sales, and long-term loyalty.

Post with intention. 3 strong Reels a week outperform 7 mediocre ones every time. After each post, check your insights and prioritize watch time, shares, and saves over likes. A Reel that gets shared reaches people who have never heard your name. That’s the number worth optimizing for, the one that actually grows your audience.

Engage in the first hour after posting. Responding to comments immediately after going live sends a signal to the algorithm that your content is generating real conversation. Instagram rewards that signal by extending the Reel’s reach. This single habit can double how far a post travels without spending a dollar on promotion.

Collaborate visibly. Reels remixes and duets with artists in your genre build your network publicly and put your music in front of established audiences. Tag artists, venues, and music publications in your content. The platform rewards content that keeps people inside Instagram, so give it every reason to push yours further.

Write your caption like a headline. It’s not an afterthought. A strong caption with a clear call to action, stream the full track, follow for more, share this with someone who needs to hear it, extends engagement beyond the video itself and gives the algorithm another signal that your content is worth distributing.

Consistency builds momentum. Study each post. Adjust. Post again. The artists winning on Reels aren’t the most talented or the most polished. They’re the most persistent.

Nicholas Galitzine, Jared Leto, and Idris Elba Bring He-Man Back to the Big Screen in ‘Masters of the Universe’

Eric Alper
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Nicholas Galitzine, Jared Leto, and Idris Elba Bring He-Man Back to the Big Screen in ‘Masters of the Universe’

He-Man is back, and the new “Who is He-Man?” featurette offers the first real look at what director Travis Knight has built with ‘Masters of the Universe,’ arriving in theaters June 5. The live-action adventure brings one of the most enduring pop culture franchises across generations back to the big screen with a cast and creative team that signal genuine ambition.

Nicholas Galitzine leads as Prince Adam, a character separated from Eternia for 15 years before the Sword of Power pulls him home to find his world shattered under Skeletor’s rule. Jared Leto plays Skeletor. Idris Elba brings Duncan/Man-At-Arms to life alongside Camila Mendes as Teela. Alison Brie, James Purefoy, Morena Baccarin, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, and Charlotte Riley round out the ensemble, with Kristen Wiig voicing Roboto in a casting choice that speaks to the film’s tonal range.

Knight, whose directing credits include the acclaimed ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ and ‘Bumblebee,’ brings the franchise’s core themes of heroic transformation and finding inner power into a 132-minute sci-fi action adventure built for spectacle. The screenplay comes from Chris Butler alongside Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, and Dave Callaham, from a story developed by the Nee brothers with Alex Litvak and Michael Finch. Producers Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Robbie Brenner, and DeVon Franklin shepherd the project for Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Studios.

He-Man has crossed cartoons, toys, comics, and film across more than 4 decades. June 5 is when this generation gets its version.

Israeli Artist Harel Asaf Recorded His Debut EP ‘Eretz Muvtachat’ Inside an Air-Raid Shelter

Eric Alper
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Israeli Artist Harel Asaf Recorded His Debut EP ‘Eretz Muvtachat’ Inside an Air-Raid Shelter

Harel Asaf didn’t wait for the war to end to make something. Between October 7, 2023 and early 2024, the Israeli artist recorded his entire debut EP ‘Eretz Muvtachat’ (Promised Land) under his alias DJ ZOAMBAR, mostly from inside a family shelter, between sirens, between fear and the stubborn need to create. The 6-track Hebrew EP is out now on all major streaming platforms.

What makes ‘Eretz Muvtachat’ remarkable is what it doesn’t do. The lyrics never mention battles or enemies. Instead, Asaf turns inward, writing about fathers and children, about what it means to stay, not politically but personally. Across 6 tracks, he moves from spiritual hip-hop to piano ballad to rock anthem, all in Hebrew, all produced with full electronic instrumentation, each song a different answer to the same question.

3 tracks anchor the EP’s emotional range. “Dima Acharona” (Last Tear) is a slow-burning Hebrew anthem built in E minor, its emotional weight arriving with restraint and precision. “Kir Shel Barzel” (Wall of Iron) shifts into D major at BPM 129, a full rock anthem that carries the EP’s most outward-facing energy. The electronic title track “Eretz Muvtachat” closes the set in C# major, propulsive and searching, the sound of someone working through something in real time with no guarantee of resolution.

This is what music made under impossible circumstances can sound like when the artist refuses to let the circumstances define the work.

The Oasis Reunion Documentary Is Coming to IMAX and Disney+ This September

Eric Alper
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The Oasis Reunion Documentary Is Coming to IMAX and Disney+ This September

Disney, magna studios, and Sony Music Vision today announced a highly anticipated documentary following the legendary British band Oasis. Presented by Disney+, the film will open in select IMAX and cinemas worldwide for a limited theatrical engagement beginning September 11, before streaming exclusively on Disney+ internationally and on Hulu and Disney+ in the U.S. later this year.

The currently untitled Oasis Documentary film is created by the BAFTA and Oscar-nominated writer, producer, and director Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, A Thousand Blows) and directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace (Shut Up and Play the Hits, Meet Me in the Bathroom). The feature documentary charts Liam and Noel Gallagher’s triumphant reunion tour Oasis Live ’25, one of the most anticipated rock ‘n’ roll comebacks of our time. The film is an unapologetically uplifting account of arguably the biggest musical event of 2025, capturing the experience and emotions of the band and their fans across the world. The unique perspective includes rehearsal, backstage and onstage access, as well as the first joint interviews with Noel and Liam in over 25 years. Alongside the band’s sold-out world tour, the film also explores the profound emotional impact of this phenomenal global cultural moment and what their music means to audiences and generations worldwide. 

Knight said, “I genuinely cannot wait for the world to see this film. I believe it captures the spirit and emotion of a global cultural moment and does justice to the wit and genius of two exceptional people. I wanted to tell the story of the brothers and the band, but just as important, the story of the fans whose lives the music has touched and sometimes changed forever. It is also the story of how music and songwriting can unite generations, cultures, countries and in a time of spite and division, give us all some reason to hope.” 

“Opportunities like this are incredibly rare,” said Eric Schrier, President of Direct-to-Consumer International Originals, Strategic Programming, and Emerging Media. “The film is an intimate story of reconciliation, the power of music, and Oasis, one of the most successful and influential acts of all time.  It’s a privilege to bring this extraordinary film to the big screen and to Disney+ subscribers around the world.” 

Featuring unprecedented access and never-before-seen footage, the film is a magna studios production, presented by Sony Music Vision in association with Sony Music Entertainment UK. Producers are Sam Bridger (Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now, Meet Me in the Bathroom) and Guy Heeley (Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man). Executive producers include Kate Shepherd, Marisa Clifford, Tom Mackay, Krista Wegener, Isabel Davis, and Tim O’Shea, with Oscar-winning sound mixers James Mather (Top Gun: Maverick, Belfast) and Tarn Willers (The Zone of Interest) along with cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (Belfast, Beetle Juice Beetle Juice) leading the creative technical team. 

Further details, including cinema listings, will be announced soon. The film opens at select IMAX and theaters worldwide for an exclusive theatrical engagement presented by Disney+ on September 11 and will stream exclusively on Disney+ internationally and on Hulu in the U.S. later this year.

SoLa Foundation and Live Nation Open a 9,000-Square-Foot AI and Entertainment Center in Crenshaw

Eric Alper
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SoLa Foundation and Live Nation Open a 9,000-Square-Foot AI and Entertainment Center in Crenshaw

The SoLa Foundation and Live Nation have opened the SoLa AI & Entertainment Center in Los Angeles’ Crenshaw neighborhood, a 9,000-square-foot creative and workforce training hub designed to prepare local youth and young adults for careers in entertainment, media production, AI, and technology. The ribbon-cutting ceremony featured remarks from Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, SoLa leadership, and Live Nation executives, alongside a live demo of the Center’s production capabilities in the Live Nation Lounge.

The Center is built around a direct partnership with Live Nation that goes beyond funding. A dedicated 1,650-square-foot space functions as both a flexible classroom and creative production environment, connecting students with SoLa educators, Live Nation professionals, and industry mentors. SoLa Foundation Executive Director Sherri Francois frames the mission plainly: “As technology continues to evolve, especially with the rapid rise of AI, we are committed to equipping our community with the tools, skills, and exposure needed to participate and lead.” SoLa Impact CEO Martin Muoto puts the stakes even more directly: “Our goal is to ensure that a young person in Watts who understands how to use AI has the same access to opportunity as a kid from Palo Alto.”

Central to the Center’s model is the SoLa Live Accelerator Program, a 6-month intensive that trains a new generation of live entertainment professionals from South LA through guest speaker engagements, immersive field trips, experiential learning, and guidance from Live Nation staff including CEO Michael Rapino. The Center also houses the Crenshaw Cafe, SoLa’s second culinary training kitchen and social enterprise, offering vocational training and state-recognized certifications with career pathways into food and hospitality. Programming will roll out over the next year with continued expansion planned as partnerships and curriculum evolve.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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