Finding My Religion #9: 10 New Songs Curated By the Priest - 'Three Mixes in Seven Days, Part 1'
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
A mid-July triple play will unfold over the next week, courtesy of the Pickled Priest. The Priest phoned a help line earlier this week trying to cope with the stress of having so many great songs to write about. Their advice? Buckle down and blow them out, bird by bird, and colon blow the blockage in one long fever dream of listening and writing. If that doesn't solve the problem, they said, there's always pills and booze. If we had legs we'd kick you. We really would.
SIDE A
Intro: "Don't Feel Like Doing Nothing Today" | Tucker Zimmerman
I feel this way often, so I'll forgive the double negative in the title. Like you I'm guessing, music is my eternal caveat. Regardless of my apathy level, music is a constant presence in my life; its adaptability to any feeling, mood, or situation being its greatest asset. Turns out, chronic ennui, as expressed with just the right energy level, or lack thereof, by octogenarian Tucker Zimmerman is contagious. Hell, even perennial rambler Jack Kerouac isn't immune to the sedentary lifestyle; he's "off the road, staying home" in one of the song's funniest moments. Later, "Neil Young don't feel like singing today." Pretty amusing stuff. So where did Tucker Zimmerman come from? Turns out he's been around since the late 60s, when David Bowie was a notable fan of his early music, and, as recently as 2024, when Big Thief's membership expressed their admiration for him in glowing terms, going so far as to call him "one of the greatest songwriters of all-time" (which may be stretching the hyperbole a bit). His musical output after his early years has been minimal (he turned to writing for many years), but lately he's had a bit of a second coming. You know how these things go—everyone is perpetually looking for the next great lost album or artist ala Sugar Man. What I will say is that his new album is a must for anyone who likes to be unexpectedly charmed by an old, weary geezer who can still pen excellent songs and perform them as well. You'll be better off with these songs in your life I believe. And the songs will have to do, sadly. Zimmerman and his wife of 56 years tragically died in a house fire in January of this year, so the story, which could have been about a heartwarming return, ends in the most heartbreaking way possible. Heavy sigh. He lives through his music from this point on and Dream Me a Dream is one of the sleeper records of 2026 so far.
01 "No Me Jodas" | Downtown Boys
"No Me Jodas" translated from Spanish basically means "Don't Fuck With Me" and if any song reinforces that stern warning it's this one from Rhode Island punks, Downtown Boys, a band that has been away for far too long—nine years to be exact. What the fuck took so long? Their first album, Full Communism, was one of the best records of 2015, and their second, Cost of Living from 2017, was only a bit less successful. Now, they are back at fighting weight—half Spanish, half English, per usual—with Public Luxury, and the album shows they've lost no power and no attitude. One listen to "No Me Jodas" makes that very clear. One of our favorite songs of the year so far and the rest of the album explodes with the deceptive force of underwater landmines throughout.
02 "Do We Exist?" | Spacemoth
Did my freshman year philosophy professor co-write this track? It sounds like it. I mean, how do we know we exist? How do I know this blog exists? Apparently, such questions are best pondered with a synthesizer at the ready. Which brings us to band mastermind and sought-after producer, Maryam Qudus. She brings the deep thoughts throughout her band's new record, Inward Eye, and for the most part it holds your interest, especially the existential "Do We Exist?" Based on the band name, it's logical to expect some interstellar content and there's some prime, late-night, weed-driven stargazing going on here. The good news is the songs are still catchy, sounding a little like the Bangles met up with an Atari video game console to create the soundtrack for a Weird Science sequel.
03 "Kick Stones (The Boys)" | Westside Cowboy
Another buzz band from the Manchester, but this one is a bit different. At least based on their initial tongue-in-cheek EP, This Better Be Something Great, and a couple pre-album singles, "Kick Stones (The Boys)" and "Pin Up Boys," both strong opening statements worth getting excited over. I hesitate to get too frothy but here I go: This may be the greatest band to come out of the UK, ever, Beatles included. Will that get me the job at NME or Melody Maker? Still no? Oh well, hyperbole has never been my strong suit. While we wait for their official debut record, this single should legitimately make you hopeful. Are we in the presence of a bang or a bust? Based on this song, I predict the former. No more talk from me. Listen and decide for yourself. I like what I'm hearing so far.
04 "American Rough" | Andrew Sa
After some controversy and mismanagement, which led to an outright sale, Bloodshot Records is back and releasing albums again by some of our most overlooked insurgent country artists. Count Andrew Sa as one of the most original of the new breed. I haven't been this enchanted with a singer's voice since Christopher Denny released If the Roses Don't Kill Us a dozen years ago. I also hear a little Jimmie Dale Gilmore and a bit of Slim Whitman in there, too. This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? The moment the 90-second title track of his fabulous new album, American Rough, kicked off the album I was already ordering myself a copy direct from the source, taking me back to past days where I'd snag pretty much anything the label released. Glad to hear the quality control remains. One thing is apparent and that is Andrew is the best thing to happen to queer cowboys since Orville Peck and Willi Carlisle.
05 "Easy on the Eyes" | Willow Avalon
As you may or may not have gathered, straight up country music rarely finds its way onto our radar. It's not for lack of trying, however. It takes us a lot of work to find those rare magical moments, but when we find one there are few things more satisfying than the perfect country song. Willow Avalon's "Easy On the Eyes" is a good example of what I mean. It's got a classic feel, not over-the-top, cookie-cutter stuff. Defying the odds, Willow shows a level of restraint here that most Nashville clones wouldn't risk. That approach pays off big time thanks to a real nice weeping steel guitar and her fluttering butterfly wings vocal style. Now time to see if there's anything else on her new record, Pink Pocket Pistol, of like kind and quality. The title worries me, to be honest.
SIDE B
06 "My Mama Told Me" | Mike Campbell & the Dirty Knobs
Mike Campbell plays like Tom, thinks like Tom, writes like Tom, and even sings like Tom. In other words, Mike's new album with the Dirty Knobs is as close to a new Tom Petty record as you're ever gonna get. But this is no homage. Campbell is a great artist on his own merits and Mission of Mercy is a killer middle-of-the-road rock and roll album that's way better than you'd expect it to be. There are first-rate rockers ("No Regrets"), some killer blues riffs ("My Mama Told Me," featured here), a bongo-drum intensive duet with Kate Pierson of the B-52's ("Bongo Mania"), a gorgeous ballad with Morgane Stapleton ("More Than Gold"), and even a spoken word jazzy number to close it out ("Vagrant"). There are no bad songs and he keeps it interesting throughout, switching gears, tempos, and styles. If you loved Tom, give his guitarist some. He knows his way around a rock song, that he's proven time and time again over the years.
07 "Let Me Speak to Bobby" | Low Cut Connie
Good to have Pickled Priest favorites (Private Lives was our #1 album of 2020) back with new music, even if the band's latest record, Livin in the USA, is only 35-minutes long. I guess that's all Adam Weiner needed to get his message across this time. Some people like musicians to just shut up and play, but I like when politics and rock and roll mix. Why should musicians have to regulate their content like they aren't capable of understanding both? Well, few walk the walk and talk the talk quite as well—Adam's not afraid to tell it like it is and back it up. He was one of the first to cancel his Kennedy Center performance on principle and Livin in the USA is a clear indictment of where we are as a country right now. So is this album a dead-serious bummer? Quite the contrary. It still rocks with the joy we've come to expect from a Low Cut Connie record. Again, given the choice of taking yourself seriously or having a party, why not just do both?
08 "Sunburned in London" | Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
Good to have Rolling Blackouts back, if only for this great extended-length single (6:37) that's flown under the radar this year. RBCF singles always grow on me over time and this track is no exception. In fact, it may be my favorite track of theirs to date. If you've written these guys off, it may be time to give them one more try.
09 "Burning Out" | The Linda Lindas
The Linda Lindas were an impressive band right from the start, even when they were playing gigs at their local library branch, but they're gettin' grown now and they're getting better and better each time they release something new. In a recent year they played Coachella and the Scripps Spelling Bee on the same tour, so they seem up for just about anything. Does the song "Burning Out" indicate they're losing some steam? This song tells us otherwise—it's one of their best singles yet. Also stick around for their cover of "California Sun," which seems custom made for these L.A. veterans.
10 "No Kings Here!" | Gang of Four
It's not the Gang of Four proper anymore, but their spirit and sound remains on this one-off single with an easily identifiable target. See if you can guess who that is. From the first few moments the song sounds like classic GO4—with that unmistakable post-punk edge they've had since the late 70s. It's a song for now times, but also for all times.
Outro: "Broken" | Rat Boy
Our outro feeds off Gang of Four's "No Kings Here!" mantra and funnels it through a Rancid-esque filter to achieve a pretty convincing anthem of defiance for our politically divided world. Tim Armstrong of Rancid even contributes some guitar riffage to the track. From the UK, Rat Boy, not to be confused with Chicago's Ratboys, deliver that familiar skanking punk sound with conviction and on their new record, Crash!, they stack up 18 fast and furious cuts that eventually won me over despite my initial skepticism. I wasn't sure if I needed a record like this, to be honest, but I guess I do. I don't know if recording the album in Suzi Quatro's garden shed gives it more or less punk cred, but this record is a live wire with adrenalin to spare, so something worked. "Broken" in particular hits with just the right level of rebellious bounce—equal parts youthful vigor and political angst. By the end, I was almost gonna pump my fist in the air, but I don't do that anymore.
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See you very soon for Part 2 of our summer blowout spectacular!
Cheers,
The Priest