Panda Bear Performs NPR Tiny Desk Concert

PANDA BEAR  Performs NPR Tiny Desk Concert    Sinister Grift Out Now on Domino  Second Leg of North American Tour Starts Next Month

Photo credit: Kara Frame Panda Bear, the solo project of Noah Lennox, makes his NPR Tiny Desk Concert debut today with a set featuring the singles “Defense” and “Ferry Lady” from his new album Sinister Grift and the unreleased track “Song For Ariel.” Lennox on vocals and guitar was joined by his live band - Rivka Ravede (vocals, Roland SP-404), Maria Reis (vocals, keyboard), Tim Koh (bass), and Tomé Silva (drums).     Watch Panda Bear’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert here.    Sinister Grift was released earlier this year to some of the best reviews of Lennox’s career, including Pitchfork, who awarded it Best New Music and hailed it as “his most straightforwardly beautiful record—and also his most emotionally complex,” and The Needle Drop, who gave it a 9/10 score and called the songs “his catchiest solo tracks to date… so melodic, so well written, groovy and wonderfully textured.” Stream Sinister Grift HERE.    Panda Bear continues his North American tour next month with a run of dates including festival appearances at Just Like Heaven in Pasadena, CA and Kilby Court Party in Salt Lake City, UT. All upcoming dates are below and tickets are available here.    PRAISE FOR SINISTER GRIFT    “Sinister Grift is a reminder of something that’s always set Lennox apart: He’s an exceptionally gifted songwriter. Nearly every track on Sinister Grift feels like it could’ve been written at any point in the last 50 years.” - Pitchfork (Best New Music)    “It’s his best album in years, with a layered richness, expansive harmonies and playfulness that recall 2007’s Person Pitch… Sinister Grift feels like a new period of real inspiration for Lennox.” - NPR    “The most pellucid and poignant album of Lennox’s career.” - GQ    “An adventurous yet accessible solo record, employing expansive arrangements and exhibiting his undiminished ear for melody.” - Wall Street Journal    “Panda Bear’s warmest, most pleasurable, and colorful yet.” - Under the Radar    “There’s so much uplifting brightness in this album, but as you might expect from an album with ‘sinister’ in the title, there’s almost always an underlying darkness and weirdness too.” - Brooklyn Vegan    “Where past Panda Bear albums have channeled some heavenly ideal of aching guitar pop with rich vocal harmonies, this one sometimes actually sounds like it could have been blasting out of someone’s radio on a boardwalk in the early 1960s.” - Hearing Things    “A listening experience that keeps you wondering what is around the next corner.” - Tape Op    PANDA BEAR ON TOUR     2025   North America     5/08: The Van Buren - Phoenix, AZ *  5/09: Humphreys Concerts By the Bay - San Diego, CA *  5/10: Just Like Heaven - Pasadena, CA  5/12: Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater - Austin, TX *   5/13: White Oak Music Hall - Houston, TX *   5/14: House of Blues - Dallas, TX *   5/16: The Fillmore - Denver, CO *  5/17: Kilby Court Party - Salt Lake City, UT  5/19: The Chapel - San Francisco, CA - SOLD OUT  5/20: The Chapel - San Francisco, CA - SOLD OUT  5/21: Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR - SOLD OUT  5/22: The Showbox - Seattle, WA   5/23: Hollywood Theatre - Vancouver, BC    * w/ Toro y Moi     IRELAND/UK    5/31: Button Factory - Dublin, IE  6/1: Slay - Glasgow, UK  6/2: Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, UK  6/3: Castle & Falcon - Birmingham, UK  6/4: Gorilla - Manchester, UK  6/5: Bristol Beacon - Bristol, UK  6/6: Chalk - Brighton, UK  6/7: Victoria Park - London, UK  8/15: Green Man Festival - Crickhowell, UK      pandabearofficial.com | Facebook |X | Instagram

WAR Celebrates 50 Years of Why Can’t We Be Friends?

WAR Celebrates 50 Years of Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Landmark Album Gets 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, Coinciding with the Band’s Year-Long 55th Anniversary Festivities

3LP Box Set Debuts at Record Store Day, Deluxe 3CD & Digital Editions Arrive June 6 via Avenue/Rhino

Featuring Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks, Jam Sessions & Unedited Mixes, Plus Remastered Audio & Revelatory Recordings From The Making Of The Album

Hear “Low Rider (Original Unedited Mix)” Now

WAR Hits the Road for Dozens of Tour Dates Across the US & UK

 

This June, WAR will release Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition), celebrating the multi-million-selling, blockbuster album that topped charts and left an indelible mark on music history. This deluxe 3CD and digital set commemorates 50 years of some of the band's most iconic songs, including its timeless title track, “Why Can’t We Be Friends?,” the perennially cool “Low Rider,” “So” and more. First released in 1975, Why Can’t We Be Friends? remains a groundbreaking record—defined by unforgettable melodies, a powerful message of unity, and an enduring influence that continues to shape music, film, and social movements today. On June 6th via Avenue/Rhino, the arrival of this special edition will not only honor the album’s milestone anniversary, but celebrate WAR’s 55-year legacy as cultural trailblazers whose impact still resonates across generations today. They are "one of the most seminal bands in music" (Billboard), and "when it comes to low rider Cali-cool multiculturalism, WAR wrote the biggest, loudest book" (Variety).

Pre-Order Why Can’t We Be Friends? 50th Anniversary (Collector’s Edition), and listen to the previously unheard “Low Rider (Original Unedited Mix),” available today: HERE

Newly remastered by Bernie Grundman, Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) presents the original album alongside two additional discs. Featuring seven unearthed bonus tracks, rare jam sessions and unedited mixes, as well as a revelatory recording about the making of “Why Can’t We Be Friends?,” the collection offers a deeper look into the record than ever before. The 3CD and Digital editions follow the stunning Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) 3LP set that just debuted as a 2025 Record Store Day Vinyl Exclusive. WAR's previous box set, honoring 50 years of The World Is a Ghetto, was named Best New Reissue by Pitchfork, and hailed as one of the best of the year by The New York Times, Variety and more. Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) continues that streak.  WAR’s signature fusion of funk, soul, jazz, Latin, rock and street music is what first propelled them to prominence 55 years ago, but it was their ability to craft songs of social consciousness that further cemented their place in the modern American songbook. The immediate global impact of “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” was so profound that NASA transmitted the title track into space during the historic Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975. Since then, WAR have continued to sing out against racism, hunger, crime and conflict, while their music has been sampled by Janet Jackson, Tupac, Beastie Boys, Method Man, Sublime, Redman, Cypress Hill, Shaggy, A$AP Mob, Scarface, The Geto Boys, De La Soul, Flo Rida, Liam Payne, Thomas Rhett and more, and covered by everyone from Willie Nelson to The Muppets, George Clinton, Phish, ZZ Top and The Isley Brothers. With more than 50 million albums sold, 20 gold, platinum and multi-platinum records, three Rock & Roll Hall of Fame noms, a GRAMMY Hall of Fame entry, four #1 LPs, nine Top 10s and twenty Top 40 songs, WAR didn’t just define the sound of the 1970s—they became a lasting voice for creative collaboration and social change, with a mission of love and harmony that resonates now more than ever. From the prophetic message of “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” to the timeless groove of “Low Rider,” this collection captures WAR at their most innovative and socially impactful. More than just a musical milestone, Why Can’t We Be Friends? (50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) reaffirms the album’s relevance—both as a reflection of the polarizing era that inspired it, and as a beacon of hope for our present and future.  As WAR enters its sixth decade, their influence remains undeniable. Recent honors—including their debut in the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade—further cement WAR’s status as musical and cultural giants. Meanwhile, WAR will hit the road for dozens of tour dates across the US and abroad, including a hometown, headline performance at the LA County Fair, and many more you can find at https://war.com/tour.  Photo Credit: © Far Out Productions, Inc.

Militarie Gun and Dazy share collaborative single + video "Tall People Don't Live Long"

MILITARIE GUN AND DAZY TEAM UP FOR NEW SONG AND VIDEO “TALL PEOPLE DON’T LIVE LONG”  OUT NOW

photo credit: Kevin Allen “Tall People Don’t Live Long”  LISTEN: https://i.militariegun.com/TPDLL WATCH: https://i.militariegun.com/TPDLLVid (April 16, 2025) - Los Angeles’ Militarie Gun teams up with Richmond’s Dazy for their new collaborative song “Tall People Don’t Live Long.” This track marks the highly anticipated, second joint offering from the contemporaries, following their fan favorite track “Pressure Cooker” released in 2022, which Stereogum raved, “It’s about the big riff, the slippery groove, the monster chorus. It’s about the big picture. It wants to be your favorite song. Give in.”  “Tall People Don’t Live Long” arrives alongside a video directed by Militarie Gun’s Ian Shelton where he and Dazy’s James Goodson don suits and dance in the shadows. Last week, Shelton joined Dazy at their show in New York City to premiere the song live on stage. Speaking about the new collaborative song, Shelton shares, “James is taller than me so you can guess how I came up with the title of this song. What started as a joke between us turned into a real conversation about how sometimes people who have reached certain heights in life begin to look down on others. ’Tall people’ became our tongue-in-cheek term for anyone that’s lost so much perspective that they think it’s alright to make someone feel less-than. This song is about rejecting that attitude—the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Goodson offers, “Ian and I wrote this song shortly after ‘Pressure Cooker’ came out and it made us realize how daring we could actually be with songwriting. It came together really quickly in an afternoon of us sending ideas back and forth, and I’ll never forget how we couldn’t stop listening to the demo and saying ‘I can’t believe we wrote this.’ Years later we were finally able to get together and take the song over the finish line with Justin Raisen. We see Dazy & Militarie Gun as basically its own band, a separate body of work from our other music with its own identity, and I think this song really solidified that idea for us.” “Tall People Don’t Live Long” marks the first new music from Militarie Gun since the standalone single “Thought You Were Waving,” which arrived with a cheeky Neta Ben Ezra-directed video last year. 2024 also saw the release of Militarie Gun’s track “Gun Under The Gun (MFG),” which was created for the WWE 2K24 video game as the walk-in music for Post Malone’s wrestling character. Post Malone also included “Do It Faster” on his curated playlist for the WWE 2K24 soundtrack.  Militarie Gun traversed the globe last year to celebrate their 2023 debut album Life Under The Gun, with performances in North America, Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom. Additionally, Militarie Gun released their mini-documentary Live Under The Sun last year, which sees the band and a host of their Life Under The Sun EP collaborators reunite at Manchester Orchestra’s Atlanta studio to further reimagine the tracks featured on their aforementioned EP, with guest performances from Manchester Orchestra, Marisa Dabice of Mannequin Pussy, and Christine Goodwyne of Pool Kids, who steps in for Alicia Bognanno of Bully for a performance of “Never Fucked Up Twice.”  Life Under The Sun strips back a selection of songs from Militarie Gun’s breakout debut album Life Under The Gun, putting Ian Shelton’s intensely personal songwriting center stage. Life Under The Sun includes "Never Fucked Up Twice" featuring Bully's Alicia Bognanno, "Very High (Under The Sun)," "My Friends Are Having A Hard Time" featuring Manchester Orchestra, "Will Logic" featuring Mannequin Pussy, and the cover of NOFX track "Whoops I OD'd." Life Under The Gun was one of 2023's most celebrated albums, released to praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NME, Revolver, Stereogum, SPIN, Paste, The FADER, and more. The album landed on multiple best albums of 2023 lists including Alternative Press, The Ringer, UPROXX, Stereogum and Rolling Stone, who said Life Under The Gun has "taken everything that’s uniquely cathartic about the hardcore and lacquered it with insanely catchy melodies." That catchiness has been on full display on TV with Taco Bell's ad campaign that prominently features Life Under The Gun's "Do It Faster." Earlier this month, Dazy released a kaleidoscopic new single “Pay No Mind (To The Signs),” which saw praise from Stereogum (“It’s a banger”), The FADER ("mixes the swagger of Britpop with lo-fi slacker rock"), Consequence (’Songs of the Week’), Brooklyn Vegan, The Alternative, Alternative Press, and many more – and wrapped up a tour with Liquid Mike and Graham Hunt. The song followed the prolific songwriter’s dual 2024 EPs, I Get Lost (when i try to get found) and It’s Only A Secret (if you repeat it), which drew attention from Pitchfork (‘Selects’), Stereogum, The FADER, Paste Magazine, Uproxx, and more. Check out “Tall People Don’t Live” above and stay tuned for more from Militarie Gun coming very soon.

"Tall People Don't Live Long" single artwork   Connect with Militarie Gun: Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok

Listen to The Bug Club’s “How to Be a Confidante” The New Single From Very Human Features

Today is April 16th, and The Bug Club is sharing “How to Be a Confidante,” a new single from the group’s forthcoming new long-player, Very Human Features.
 
On Very Human Features, The Bug Club continues their habit of presenting as a collective mind. Two-in-one. Rarely do you find a band with two creative forces that have such a singular, shared perspective, sense of humor, and knack for a pop melody. “How to Be a Confidante” does that-thing-The-Bug-Club-really-know-how-to-do where they speak as two voices from the same mind and pluck out common aspects of how we all live and make them sound ridiculous. The surreal is in the familiar, not in ignoring the familiar - The Bug Club knows this, and that understanding joins an unrelenting bassline in forming the backbone of this garage-infused belter.
 
The Bug Club will spend a good deal of time on the road in 2025 performing “How to Be a Confidante” along with other choice highlights from Very Human Features and their previous Sub Pop release, 2024’s On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System by Means of Popular Music, or the Contemplation of Pretty Faces, Tinned Bubbles and Strife. PLUS! Some of their older songs.
 
And today, the band is announcing new North American dates with Sub Pop labelmates Omni, which begin Friday, June 13th in Montreal, QC at Cabaret Foufounes and run through Friday, June 27th in Philadelphia, PA at Johnny Brenda’s.
 
Additional international touring highlights for the Spring and Summer of 2025 include The Bug Club’s European club shows (April 29th-May 15th), and festival appearances (May 15th-September ; select dates). Please find a complete list of current tour dates below.
 

UK | EU
Headlining Dates + Festivals, Spring 2025
Tue. Apr. 29 - Brugge, BE - Cactus Club [Sold Out]
Wed. Apr. 30 -  Eindhoven, NL - Altstadt
Thu. May 01 - Nijmegen, NL - Doornroosje
Fri. May 02 - Utrecht, NL - De Nijverheid [Sold Out]
Sat. May 03 - Groningen, NL - Vera
Mon. May 05 - Berlin, DE - Privatclub
Tue. May 06 - Hamburg, DE - Molotow Skybar
Wed. May 07 - Köln, DE - Blue Shell
Fri. May 09 - Milan, IT - Arci Bellezza
Sat. May 10 - Ravenna, IT - Bronson
Tue. May 13 - Paris, FR - Supersonic
Wed. May 14 - Lille, FR - L’Aeronef
Thu. May 15 - Brighton, UK - The Great Escape Festival @ Paganini Ballroom (Early)
Thu. May 15 - Brighton, UK - The Great Escape Festival @ The Old Market (Late)
Sat. May 24 - Walton-on-Trent, UK - Bearded Theory, Festival
Sat. May 31 - Cheltenham, UK - Wychwood Festival
 
North American | UK
 Headline Dates, Festivals + Support Shows, Summer 2025
Fri. Jun. 13 - Montreal, QC - Cabaret Foufounes *
Sat. Jun. 14 - Toronto, ON - The Garrison *
Sun. Jun. 15 - Detroit, MI - Third Man Records *
Tue. Jun. 17 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
Wed. Jun. 18 - St. Louis, MO - Sinkhole *
Thu. Jun. 19 - Nashville, TN - DRKMTTR *
Fri. Jun 20 - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Art & Music Festival
Sat. Jun. 21 - Nelsonville, OH - Nelsonville Art & Music Festival
Mon. Jun. 23  - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West *
Tue. Jun. 24 - Raleigh, NC - King’s *
Wed. Jun. 25 - Washington, DC- DC9 *
Thu. Jun. 26 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom*
Fri. Jun. 27 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s *
Sat. Jul. 26 - Thirsk, UK - Deer Shed Festival
Wed. Aug. 27 - Sheffield, UK - Don Valley Stadium ^
Fri. Aug. 29 - Dorset, UK - End of the Road Festival
Sat. Aug. 30 - Manchester, UK - Psych Fest
Sat. Sep. 13 - Burton-on-Trent, UK - Sonic Boom Festival
 
* w/ Omni
^ w/ Queens of the Stone Age

 
The Bug Club’s Very Human Features includes the only-very-recently mentioned “How to Be a Confidante,” along with “Appropriate Emotions,” “Jealous Boy,” and ten other excellent songs. It was produced and mixed by Tom Rees at Rat Trap Studios in Cardiff, Wales, and mastered by Mikey Young.
 
Very Human Features is available to preorder now on CD/LP/all DSPs from Sub Pop. LP preorders from megamart.subpop.com in North America, MM2 in the UK + EU, and your local record store, will receive the limited Loser Edition on Purple (NA) or Bio Pink (UK/EU) vinyl (all vinyl color editions whilst stock lasts!).
 
In February, The Bug Club released “Have U Ever Been 2 Wales,” a joyous ode to their beloved home country that features upbeat, regionally referential lyrics like “Have you ever been to Wales? It’s good, it’s goo-ooh-ooh-ooh-hood” and “…every choir from Caldicot to Treorchy will sing it proud.” The spirited song, doubtless soon to be the new ad jingle for Visit Wales, is also out now worldwide (including Wales) on all DSPs from Sub Pop.
 
The Bug Club has seen support from the likes of NME, BBC, KEXP, Bandcamp Daily, Brooklyn Vegan, PASTE, Stereogum, see/saw, Dusted, The Stranger  Rosy Overdrive, Glide, and more. NME said of their 2024 release On the Intricate Inner Workings of the System…., “…its 11 songs crackle with incisive melodies and funny pop culture-addled lyrics – they reference The Great Escape’s Virgil Hilts one minute, and move on to the horror of Lonsdale slip on daps the next – but they’re in and out in under 26 minutes. Zero fat.”

The Bug Club
Very Human Features
 
Tracklisting:
1. Full Grown Man
2. Twirling in the Middle
3. Jealous Boy
4. Young Reader
5. Beep Boop Computers
6. Muck (Very Human Features)
7. When the Little Choo Choo Train
Toots His Little Horn
8. How to Be a Confidante
9. Living in the Future
10. Tales of a Visionary Teller
11. The Sound of Communism
12. Blame Me
13. Appropriate Emotions

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Maiya Blaney shares new single + video "Honey I"

MAIYA BLANEY SHARES NEW SONG & VIDEO CHECK OUT “HONEY I” NOW

Maiya Blaney by David Murray “Honey I” LISTEN: https://maiyablaney.lnk.to/honeyi WATCH: https://maiyablaney.lnk.to/honeyi-vid (April 16, 2025) - New York City-based producer, songwriter, and vocalist Maiya Blaney shares her new song “Honey I” via Lex Records, today. Alongside the track, Blaney shares David Murray-shot and Nora Cammann-edited video of Blaney exhuming rage with bats and sledgehammers. “Honey I” closely follows Blaney’s recently shared single “Fumbled,” which was co-produced with Emerson Fossett and Harlan Steed of Show Me The Body alongside Blaney and arrived with a video directed by Fiona Kane shot through the streets and shadows of New York City. “Honey I” and “Fumbled” tease a larger project from Blaney slated to arrive later this year from Lex Records.  Speaking about the new song and video, Blaney shares, “‘Honey, I’ is one of the most vulnerable, doubtful, and unsure songs I’ve ever written. It was this feeling that felt endless, a never ending sinking. And I was like, I don’t even want to find a way out of this because I don’t know if I can right now. I just need to name it. The song and its visuals are all opposites attracting. I’m smashing shit to bits to what sounds like a lullaby. The production is slowed down jungle drums in the pocket of what would otherwise be a lonely acoustic guitar ballad. There are moments of play and performance (to camera) in the video and also moments of pure rage that I didn’t even know would make it in. And mainly, to one of the sweetest sounding songs I’ve written in the last 2 years, I’m admitting some of the saddest fears I’ve ever had about myself.” Since 2019, Blaney has been releasing music lacquered with emotion. 2021 saw the release of her album 3, which meditated on neo-soul and R&B sonics. With her new material, Blaney fully dives into her unsavory feelings of anxiety and unease, creating a tumultuous and intricate sound where drum n bass weaves with droning guitars, blips of glitch ping pong against grating synth, and Blaney’s vocals range from searing punk exclamations to gentle, exploratory croons.  Check out “Honey I” above and stay tuned for more from Maiya Blaney coming very soon.

“Honey I” single artwork by Nikita Garmash Connect with Maiya Blaney: Instagram | Bandcamp | YouTube