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Cowboy Preachers Club
“Little Rooms” – single
A bit has changed for Cowboy Preachers Club since the release of their Toro EP last year. The once six-piece band is now a four-piece, as a guitarist and a vocalist have both exited for different reasons, leaving Stephen Michaels as the sole guitarist and Bethany Pyles as the sole vocalist (bassist Mike Winn Jr. and drummer/percussionist Jacob Atwell round out the band).
And as far as their debut single as a four-piece goes, their sound has changed a bit too. Whereas the four songs that make up the Toro EP lean more into Americana, their latest single, “Little Rooms,” achieves more of a broader sound.
The song begins with an ethereal, almost haunting chorus of Pyles’ layered vocal harmonies, which are soon joined by a rolling indie rock guitar hook that opens up into a beautiful, bright, poppy, breezy, shoegazey, indie rock melody as soon as the drums and bass kick in. With “Little Rooms,” Cowboy Preachers Club creates an amazingly rich, warm, happy, carefree soundscape to sink into and lose yourself in. And the crescendo and then climax at the three-minute mark is the icing on the cake!
Pyles’ sublime, beautiful vocals are fully in the spotlight, put there by the underpinning of a supremely talented group of musicians and songwriters. With lyrics reflecting on the friends and love they’ve received as a result of the four of them creating music together, “Little Rooms” is a wonderful song that, once finished, you can’t hit replay fast enough, and it will be stuck in your head for days to come! I’m not sure anyone can listen to this song and not be touched in some way. Pure bliss!
Pissed On
“We Will Eat You” / “Cadaver” – singles
Pissed On was a fixture in the local death metal scene back in the mid-to-late 2010s, pretty much dominating any stage they played. While their body of work during that time only consisted of an EP, a split EP, and a demo, they still managed to leave indelible marks on a national scale, with the likes of Decibel Magazine, Metal Injection, New Noise Magazine, and of course LEO Weekly singing their praises.
Following their breakup in 2019, members moved on to new bands such as In Utero and Grave Lilies, but Pissed On continued to rack up impressive numbers over the years on streaming services such as Spotify, showing they were anything but forgotten. So it was with great interest when the band resurfaced in February 2024, almost five years after the last show.
Time has certainly not slowed them down any. If anything, they’re actually stronger and more brutal than ever! So far they’ve released four singles since 2024, with the promise of more to come. Their latest two singles, “We Will Eat You,” (which I have to assume is inspired by the 1979 Lucio Fulci gorefest movie Zombie) and “Cadaver” (about revenge on the system), are perfect examples of the type of crushing death metal, grind, hardcore combo that this band has always been so great at. While the covers of both show the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously (the “We Will Eat You” cover’s take on Weezer’s self-titled blue album is quite amusing). In short, Pissed On is back in a big fucking way! Prepare yourselves!
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Tripendicular
“Quiet Hours” – single
I like that singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and Louisville native Todd Groemling, (pronounced Gremm-ling), refers to Tripendicular as a “mostly-solo project.” Although he is certainly talented enough to write and record every instrument, sometimes he takes a bit of a step back and lets others help craft the songs.
That is the case with his latest track “Quiet Hours,” in which Groemling collaborated with California-based musician Kon Savransky. As described in the press release for the song, Groemling was looking to do an indie rock song, one in which the foundation was built solely on guitar, bass, and acoustic drums. Since he admits that he tends to gravitate towards music that sprinkles those instruments with synthesizers and orchestral textures, he let collaborator Savransky drive the song. And it is Savransky who took on writing the music, recording all instruments and mixing the song while Groemling handled vocal melodies, lyrics, and vocals.
The result is a track whose music moves beyond just that of indie rock and into shoegaze and dream pop territory that skirts the edges of psychedelic and new wave for a sound that is akin to the likes of Slowdive and Lush, creating a big, dreamy, rolling, melodic soundscape.
Lyrically the song is about caring for someone who cares more about themselves than you, with Groemling adding “There’s a fine line between being taken advantage of and deceiving oneself. But usually, eventually, we figure out when a situation is not right for us. This song is about that journey.” “Quiet Hours” is certainly an easy song to lose yourself in, and I suggest you do just that.
Turner
“Jump In” – single
Turner’s debut single “Jump In” is yet another reason why I say if there was still a record industry left, right now Louisville would be where Seattle was in the early 90’s. This is undoubtedly, unquestioningly, hands down a massive hit song right here that would have had major labels chomping at the bit to sign them based on just this song alone. But it doesn’t work like that anymore. But with over 3.5k streams in just a few days of being released, apparently I’m not the only one feeling it.
Turner, originally known as Bad Mustache, (and if you like this song, there are some other singles and an EP streaming on Spotify under that band name), started out as the solo project of frontman Jesse Klapheke, who then added Alex McGrath and Hunter Crump, (both of whom are also in BARCLAY’S, another band that would absolutely be signed if there were a record industry left), and Ryan Petit. The feeling they gave Klapheke’s songs as a full band, coupled with the sign they saw on the side of a highway outside of Columbus, led them to rebrand as Turner.
The great thing about this track is that while there are obvious influences of indie rock, alt-rock, grunge, emo, and punk, this isn’t derivative of any genre. It’s just an extremely catchy, highly enjoyable, over all-too-quick earworm that mashes together the best sounds of the 90’s, 2000’s, 2010’s, and today. Not to mention the music video for this song is great! In short, you need to hear this!
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This article appears in Jul 4-31, 2025.