LEO Weekly has Spotify playlists for each Listen Local column featuring selected tracks from each reviewed release. Check them out here!
Public Wipeout
Lydia’s Nail Salon – EP
publicwipeout.com
The description of Public Wipeout simply reads “A semi-aspirational rock band and life philosophy. We make music and mistakes. Our only fan is dead.” OK, my interest is piqued now. What exactly is this? “This EP is the culmination of several years of informal songwriting and more dedicated work to become competent performing musicians,” said vocalist Kathleen Cohen. Originally forming in Seattle, WA under the name Big Dictionary, Kathleen and co-creator Matt Cohen (guitar, bass, primary songwriter) eventually ended up in Milwaukee, WI, then moved to Louisville in the summer of 2025.
The duo’s debut EP, Lydia’s Nail Salon, is five tracks and a little over 15 minutes of pure, honest, post-grunge, mid-90s throwback alternative rock that brings to mind the likes of Veruca Salt, Letters To Cleo, Better Than Ezra, Luscious Jackson, and Minus The Bear, except a little more subdued and less radio-driven than any of those bands. Kathleen Cohen’s strong, rich, bluesy voice is perfectly complemented by Matt Cohen’s flowing guitar and bass lines that grab the listener’s attention with deep-rooted hooks. I don’t have any info on who played drums on this EP, but they did a solid job in making these songs pop.
Recorded at La La Land by producer extraordinaire Anne Gauthier, who gives this recording a lush, warm, and expansive sound and really give the listener the feeling of being there in the room with them.
I’m not sure what their future plans are, but I am certain Public Wipeout could make a name for themselves in the local scene quickly. Their only fan may be dead, but their future fans definitely aren’t.
Seville
Velocity – album
linktr.ee/seville.us
Chaz Owens is someone the local music scene needs to keep an eye on. I first took notice of him in the band LUX, who put out some amazing tunes a few years ago, then went their separate ways. This was followed up by an excellent solo EP titled Gun Safety Film under the band name Echo Project in 2024. Echo Project has since rebranded as Seville, and their latest seven-song album Velocity is truly awe-inspiring!
In his email, Owens said this was his proudest project yet, and it’s easy to see why. His songwriting abilities (with help here from T. Moore of Screaming Ears Records) continue to expand and evolve into incredibly original territories that far surpass anything I would have imagined. Fusing shoegaze, indie rock, alternative, post-hardcore, and grunge wrapped in a sea of melodic hooks and atmospheric textures, Seville doesn’t just play music, they build intricate soundscapes that completely envelope the listener. Haunting and melancholic, yet dynamic and powerful, Seville has created an incredibly intriguing original sound unlike anything else I’ve heard from the Louisville music scene. For comparison, imagine a combination of Pixies in their prime, Wand, Slowdive, and Catherine Wheel all at once. Yes, this really is on that level! Actually, the Wand influence is rather apparent, as Cory Hanson mastered this album.
Velocity isn’t a record you’re going to listen to and forget; these songs stay with you long after the record is over. Do yourself a favor and clear 40 minutes of your time, grab your headphones or earbuds, turn off all distractions, and lose yourself in these songs.
Sixteen Bones
Signs, Symptoms & Other Ill Conditions – album
facebook.com/people/Sixteen-Bones/61581804130898
After more than a decade of virtual silence, the studio project Sixteen Bones – featuring David “Saylor” Bryant (My Own Victim, Surviving Thalia, SxWxP, Warplan) and Bryan Fox (End Of Me, Bryan Fox and the Good Chiggens) – rises from the ashes with their sophomore album, Signs, Symptoms & Other Ill Conditions. The duo first grabbed attention and critical acclaim back in 2014 with their self-titled debut album, which combined mostly acoustic alt-rock riffs and folk-style songwriting structures with elements of grunge, country, and Southern rock for a sound unlike anything either musician had publicly attempted before.
On the surface, Signs, Symptoms & Other Ill Conditions picks up where the self-titled record left off. However, the duo’s songwriting abilities have vastly improved. And with Bryant’s lyrics diving even deeper into his psyche by confronting abandonment, addiction, and his mental health struggles, the 11 tracks that make up Signs, Symptoms & Other Ill Conditions are as personal and introspective as one can possibly get. But Bryant’s lyrics aren’t about wallowing in darkness and self-pity; instead, they are about finding that ray of hope, clawing his way back out of the pits of despair, and reclaiming his life through exploration of what went wrong.
Signs, Symptoms & Other Ill Conditions is an intense, raw, unflinching personal journey set to extremely well-crafted songs that you don’t just listen to, you experience it along with Bryant and Fox, and it’s an incredible ride.
Sam Woodring
Mechanical Bull – EP
samwoodring.bandcamp.com
It’s always great to see people in bands you’re a fan of step out and do something unexpected and outside of their comfort zone. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it can be something very special. Case in point, Sam Woodring (a.k.a. Sam Goblin), guitarist of local thrashy punk legends Deady, vocalist/guitarist for the indie rock band Mister Goblin, and former vocalist/guitarist for post-hardcore band Two Inch Astronaut, has released his first solo EP, Mechanical Bull, and it is 100% folk music along the lines of James Taylor and Cat Stevens, but with perhaps a bit more of a liberal usage of the word “Fuck,” and damned if he didn’t pull it off perfectly!
For Mechanical Bull, Woodring stripped his songs down to the bare minimum, eschewing all instrumental accompaniment and musical contributors, leaving only his voice and acoustic guitar to do the heavy lifting. This gives the listener a chance to really focus on the lyrics, which are introspective and deep, yet also amusing at times and written more in story form à la Johnny Cash. Concerning the tracks, Woodring said in an Instagram post, “These are five songs about the last ten years, more or less. I’ve always wanted to be a confident enough songwriter to document things the way they’re written and say one thing instead of relying on bells and whistles,” which is exactly what he does here.
Over the course of the five tracks here, Woodring shows that he certainly has the skills to successfully pull off folk music. This is an excellent EP, and I’m hoping he keeps the songs coming, because he really shines here.
This article appears in May 8 – May 21, 2026.
