Pickled Priest 2025 New Music Mixtape #2: "Tariffying"

This mixtape is going to cost me a bit more this time, but you're worth it. We've imported lots of Canadians and Australians and Brits this time and as most of us know, tariffs have to be paid by the mixtape creator now, so I couldn’t put songs from great bands from Lesotho, Cambodia, or Switzerland on the mix as I had hoped to. I simply can't afford it. Still, we managed to cobble together some great new music within our budget and we’re pretty excited about it.

SIDE A

Intro: "Aman (Ordunun Dereleri)" | Ölüm

A Turkish psych kebab served up pungent and spicy to kick off our second new music mixtape of 2025. Don’t let the description, double umlauts, or song title deceive you—these guys are from Los Angeles. That said, this sounds like the real authentic Anatolian deal to me, complete with a liberally seasoned exotic groove. Tell your friends you found this while crate digging in a Turkish record store circa 1973. They'll believe you.

01 "La Trippance" | Population II

Possibly the best record of 2025 so far is by our favorite French-Canadian psyche rockers, Population II (verbally, "Population Two"), whose 2023 EP Serpent Echelle, topped our Best EPs of 2023 list and before that landed a song on our 2022 Year-End Mixtape. In other words, this record's quality is not a surprise. On the Montreal band's latest, Maintenant Jamais (Now Never), they deliver on the promise of their early work, sounding even more unpredictable and expansive than they have previously, which is saying something. "La Trippance" proves that this kind of chaotic noise often sounds better with French lyrics, allowing your mind to soak in all the varying sounds without being bogged down by lyrical content. Nobody needs that.

02 "Chrome Dipped" | Civic

Get ready for a Melbourne triple play! We'll start with the best of the bunch. Civic has quietly landed their last two albums on our Top 25 Album lists (Future Forecast #22 in 2021 and Taken By Force #23 in 2023) and they’re back with more snarling Aussie rock and roll again in 2025, but this time they’re more ambitious. “Chrome Dipped,” the album's title track, adds a new coating (fittingly) to their sound without losing the band’s original raw punk energy that we originally fell in love with.

03 "Carol" | The States

Melbourne strikes again! This time, the deceptively named the States are to blame. They may be regretting that name right now. I have a compilation, bought decades ago, titled Girls in the Garage, which compiled a bunch of 60's girl groups playing some lo-fi rock and roll singles long presumed lost to the garbage heap. Well, this might've been one of those singles if released back then, but thankfully this is the 2025 version, complete with upgraded production and playing, not to mention a primo vocal from Scarlett Maloney, a lead singer name with some serious moxy. You just know a Scarlett Maloney is gonna bring it.

04 "Vacant State" | Stepmother

If I’m not nominated for the board of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce yet, I will be soon. Here’s yet another ripping track from Melbourne, a modern day update of the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant," at least in theory. The usual punk rock sensibility, yelped vocals, and just plain nasty guitar riffs abound throughout and it never gets old when done right. They’ve got the U.S. beat in this genre, it’s just a plain fact. Admire the classic cover photo for the single, too, which takes me back to my youth where nobody thought twice about a kid jamming the business end of a toy gun into his mouth. He's just playing! Fire away!

05 "Currency" | Motorbike

One of the biggest surprises of 2023 was Cincinnati’s Motorbike, who made our Top 50 Records list based primarily on pure punk rock & roll attitude. They are as convincing as ever on their new record, Kick It Over, which I dare say is better than the last despite the fact they recorded it in someone's basement, furious riffs absorbed by wood-paneled walls and ratty old couches. There's a raunchy patina on these tracks that is right up my alley. “Currency” accounts for under three minutes of a 29-minute run time, but the whole record makes the volume knob its bitch throughout.

06 "Chain Reaction" | The Tubs

Makers of our #1 album of 2023 (Dead Meat), the Tubs are back with their second full-length and it’s a worthy follow up to that instant classic. Plenty of what I loved about that record resurfaces again on Cotton Crown, which is a good thing. Great vocals with just the right amount of resignation to the fates and a band that opts for a little distortion and muddiness in lieu of crystal clarity. It suits the overall mood, which is a little downtrodden and desperate at times. For now, “Chain Reaction” is a personal favorite, but my final selection to represent the record is anyone's guess.

07 "Television, a Ghost in My Head" | Frog Eyes

Canada might boo our national anthem now (justified), but that's not going to hold me back from getting my fair share of maple syrup-fueled weirdness imported from Victoria, British Columbia. Frog Eyes have been around forever and I routinely check in on what they're up to with varying degrees of interest, but when I heard their new record, The Open Up, I finally succumbed completely. I'll put them in a class with other genre-pushing bands like Roxy Music, Television, Violent Femmes, Ought, Wolf Parade, and numerous other oddballs who don't quite fit any previous mold. "Television, a Ghost in My Head" does have moments of familiarity throughout where I am reminded of others for a few seconds, but there is really no direct comparison for what you're about to hear. So follow their recommendation and open up your mind.

08 "Summer of Love" | Throwing Muses

Kristin Hersh, whether solo or with Throwing Muses (a band now over 40 years old!), still sounds vital, thanks to a voice that can crawl into and make a nest in your subconscious. It commands and haunts me from within, making each poetic word out of her mouth seem like a life or death proposition. One of those instantly identifiable and welcome feelings, much like a Michael Stipe vocal (who she has collaborated with) or a Mark Lanegan growl (who she has not). She's got that intangible gift for transforming a song. "Summer of Love" kicks off the band's new record, Midnight Concessions (a take on the Grass Roots Midnight Confessions, I presume). It's had me wrapped in its arms from the first time I heard it.

09 "Walk On" | The Lewis Express

I am going to listen to an album named Doo-Ha! 100% of the time. That's just a fact. "Walk On" is a jazzy instrumental from the record perfect for use during a short intermission or while in a game show isolation booth. Recorded to 2-inch analog tape, of course, it reeks of a bygone and better era, you'll flashback to the early-to-mid 60s as it plays, a real groovy number with piano, flute, bass, congas, and some killer drums guiding all on their merry way. Put this on your personal soundtrack and everybody walking down the street will assume you're the coolest cat in town.

10 "Abilene Grime" | Spiritworld

This is what those old Western soundtracks would sound like if Ennio Morricone listened exclusively to Sepultura and Pantera. From the album Helldorado (how is this not a Rob Zombie movie yet?), comes "Abilene Grime," which starts out with a dungeon organ and a horror movie scream before it starts cranking out the sludge riffs, Hellish vocals, and foreboding lyrics. It's all a hoot, believe it or not. A refreshing change of pace just when we all needed a kick in the ass.

11 "Miles Davis Headwound Blues" | Des Demonas

Notice to all readers: Washington D.C.'s Des Demonas are not getting their proper due. After logging a song at #6 on our Top Songs of 2018 mix ("The South Will Never Rise Again"), they returned in late-2024 with a new album I’ve classified as a 2025 release since it was released after our year-end deadline and also because I can’t fathom a great record like Apocalyptic Boom Boom! not getting the love it deserves. So far, most of their critical affection has come from cult rags and a random blogs like this one. I have no idea why. I mean, people, are you going to deny a song title as great as "Miles Davis Headwound Blues"? How could you not want to give it at least a test ride? Mixtape manna is what this is. And thankfully, it lives up to its provocative title. My only issue is that I had to leave killer garage single, “Obsession,” on the cutting room floor in order to make this one happen.

12 "The Shape I'm In" | Palmyra

Wherever you find rock and roll lifers, you’ll usually find a self-deprecating love song about the wear and tear such a hard life leaves on the body and mind. Are you the type who can overlook the battle scars and show some love to the cretins when they eventually crawl back home? If so, inquire within.

13 "Can't Lose My Soul" | Annie & the Caldwells

We end our first side with a ten-minute gospel song that really has no business ending. Perhaps it didn’t. Perhaps it shouldn’t. That’s a characteristic I like about gospel music—no person left behind. Annie & the Caldwells are perfectly willing to keep singing until the last soul is saved.

SIDE B

14 "Corporatocracy" | The Sure Fire Soul Ensemble

Meritocracy is the de rigueur word for 2025, but that doesn't mean everyone is onboard with its mission. San Diego's Sure Fire Soul Ensemble seem skeptical of the concept, implying by this song title that we're all headed for a new existence built on a revised power structure, one built around technology. Did you notice anything different about the attendees of President Trump's inauguration this time? Food for thought, but in the end, there's nothing overtly political here beyond the song's title. Just one of America's better instrumental bands doing what they do best—R&B workouts that remind us all of the glory days of the craft. Make America's Instrumentals Soulful Again!

15 "No Front Teeth" | Perfume Genius ft. Aldous Harding

This inspired pairing of Mike Hadreas (aka Perfume Genius) and New Zealand alt-folk artist Aldous Harding promised much and delivered more. As usual, there’s a feeling of something vitally important going on, but it’s never quite defined. Just two remarkable talents doing what they do best with captivating results. I rarely say this, but the video is a must watch, a true piece of outsider art, although it really doesn't explain much. My favorite comment from YouTube was, "This video took an unexpected turn. Thankfully, it then took an unexpected turn. Sadly, the video then took an unexpected turn. I was not ready when the video then took an unexpected turn." Or the one that simply said, "This happened to me once." Both fabulous in their own way.

16 "Terminal Way" | Bill Fox

No, not the Bill Fox over in accounts receivable. The songwriter from Cleveland. You might remember him. This Bill Fox is a cult hero to many (including me) and not just those in his native Ohio. He was a bit of a mythical figure for a while, releasing a couple revered records and then disappearing for too long. It was a surprise when he resurfaced again in the late teens, but a welcome one. His boyish, scratchy voice and the understated brilliance of his songwriting got right under your skin and stayed there. Every once in a while I get an inexplicable Bill Fox craving. His new material is similarly captivating in a way that’s hard to pin down. Just great songwriting I guess. “Terminal Way” from his forthcoming record, Resonance, his first in over a decade, shows he hasn’t lost any of his understated magic.

17 "A New Machine" | Rob Jungklas

In every wretched heretic

A mighty engine breathes

An old Pickled Priest favorite since the mid-80s, Jungklas has long since moved on from his early shot at radio airplay and has been making music from deep within his conflicted soul ever since. You can really unpack your adjectives with this guy: dark, ominous, haunting, mysterious, foreboding, Biblical. Stress Biblical. God plays a prominent role, so does the Devil. Often both at once, one on each shoulder. There's surely enough blood present to give Keith Richards his next transfusion. I'm intoxicated by it all when taken in one sitting, but I really lock in every time "A New Machine" appears through the steam in the streets, with Rob's shivering and shaking vocal ushering in a black sky for a few gripping minutes. I take the song as a tale of personal transformation, but I'm not totally sure if I'm right. I suppose it is what I want it to be. I don't think Rob would object to that take. I find that the best songs often have multiple interpretations anyway.

18 "What Have I Signed Up For?" | Tetsuians

One more stray track from Melbourne. Why not? There are so many Aussies making my lists these days, I've got to start staggering them throughout my mixes more and so I'll start now. Otherwise, I'm going to have a whole side of Down Under rock and roll and little else. I'm late to the table on this band, this being their fourth LP and all. The album, Ego in Echo, boasts several careening rock gems and "What Have I Signed Up For?" is just one worthy highlight. A real gold mine down there.

19 "Lorelei"/ "I Can't Stop" | The Sharp Pins

Fuck it. It's two-for-Tuesday, so this time you get a couple sides of power-pop for the price of one just when we needed it. Kai Slater from promising young Chicago band, Lifeguard, also loves his indie power-pop, so he started the Sharp Pins to cater to that part of his musical personality. The addictive little foyer candies (unwrapped and sticking together, no less) found on his new album, Radio DDR, are charmingly lo-fi, with just the right amount of melody and hooks that’ll make you think of a more accessible GBV from their early years with a little Dazy haze thrown in for good measure. The album is destined to become a bit of a cult classic in the genre. And you can never have too many of those.

20 "Keep It Alive" | Spellling

This is not the Spellling (sic) I'm used to, but I like it all the same, maybe even moreso. Previously a bit of a pop fantasy deal, Chrystia Cabral has brought a little more traditional alt-rock rock sound to her music this time that really works. Which doesn't mean it's conventional or predictable, but these things are relative. Almost all the songs are confined in much smaller quarters this time, showing that the long-form experiments found on her previous two records can be edited to single length without losing any of their impact. "Keep It Alive" is a bona-fide alt-rock hit and there are others just like it that make this a nice change of pace for listeners with shorter attention spans.

21 "Karma 5" | Isabella Strange

A pretty wicked little five-song EP here from Edinburgh's Isabella Strange. A killer band lays down the foundation for instant star Kira Wolfe-Murray, a real force behind her microphone. She's got swagger to burn, with just the right amount of detached cool to make each song a nice mix of post-punk and moody rock. "Karma 5" benefits from a heavy bassline, persistent drums, and clanging guitars, but let's face it the whole thing revolves around Kira who has the X-factor we look for in a frontwoman.

22 "S.N.C." | Darkside

S.N.C. = Still No Center. With a world full of complex issues to contemplate, it's not a bad idea to power down your mind for a while to protect it from permanent harm. It's one thing when the center won't hold, it's entirely another when there's no center to begin with. So, to paraphrase Seinfeld, what we get then is an album about nothing. Actually, that's the album's actual title, Nothing. Even if a full self-lobotomy is off the table, Darkside's latest single, "S.N.C." encapsulates the very same theme, accented by a funky clavinet workout around the two-minute mark ala Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” (which I was just writing about a week ago in an unrelated post!). If this is what it sounds like in your head when you purge all your worries and stress, then sign me up for a treatment.  

23 "Personal Responsibilities" | Snapped Ankles

Perhaps I need to reconsider my line of work. Nope, too late. Entrenched irretrievably. Instead, I will sate myself with a steady diet of demented anti-corporate rock songs to get through the day—the more demented and bizarre the better. And Snapped Ankles qualify on both levels. Or is dressing up like woodland creatures for live performances not odd enough for you? It certainly wouldn’t fly on the executive floor, that’s for sure, where the order of the day is propriety and hypocrisy, not in that order. Here's your way out.

24 "Letter from an Unknown Girlfriend" | The Waterboys ft. Fiona Apple

Fiona’s cover of The Waterboys' “The Whole of the Moon” from 2019 is marvelous if you haven’t heard it. I’ve always loved the song, originally from the band's excellent 1985 album, This is the Sea, but it takes on a whole new life with her singular voice behind it. The inspired pairing continues with a new album out soon from none other than the Waterboys, Life, Death and Dennis Hopper (objectively a great title), which includes some celeb cameos like Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Goldsmith, and the indomitable Apple, who was enlisted to tackle the lead vocal on the short, but devastating “Letter from an Unknown Girlfriend.” I don't have to tell you this by now, but to say she inhabits the song is an understatement. She absolutely dominates it with an Alanis Morissette-esque intensity (circa Jagged Little Pill). This may not be a song you'll play every day, but it's a song you won't be able to turn away from once it starts.

25 "I'll Be OK" | Michigander

Never underestimate the power of an earnest Midwesterner like Jason Singer, aka Michigander (from Kalamazoo to be specific), who may look like your kid's elementary school band director but actually writes heartfelt songs and delivers them with honest emotions—things you can't fake around these parts. People will know. Those same people tend to support artists who remind them of their own battle to triumph over their daily struggles, in this case Jason's persistent panic attacks, but the song's "I'm OK, but I'm not OK right now" refrain can be adapted to almost any of life's many challenges. So step back and give him a few moments to collect himself. We'll show you the same courtesy when it's your turn to suffer.

26 "Fuel" | Tommy Emmanuel

This Australian acoustic guitarist isn’t a household name, but at Guitar Center he’s a god to those in the know. There's a reason he has CGP (Certified Guitar Player) after his name on the cover of his new album. He's one of five players given the non-official designation by legendary guitarist Chet Atkins* who knows a thing or two about the instrument. I was actually first turned on to Tommy in 1997 when I bought Chet and Tommy's album, The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World, an amazing record. Fast forward a quarter century plus later and his new live album, Live at the Sydney Opera House, his dream gig, finds him in amazing form, technically jaw-dropping without losing any of the music’s soul and feeling in the process. As it unfolded, I found myself spellbound by his talent, his innovation, and his desire to push the limits of what an acoustic guitar can do. The whole thing is truly remarkable, with "Fuel" a major standout, but far from the only attraction. If he's good enough for Chet, he's good enough for me.  

*The list includes: Emmanuel, John Knowles, Jerry Reed, Steve Wariner, and Paul Yandell. And, of course, the OCGP himself, Chet Atkins.

Outro: "Ambassador Cathedral" | Phil Cook

We go out with a cut from, perhaps, my most played album of 2025 so far, Phil Cook’s Appalachia Borealis. Cut in Wisconsin with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) producing, it’s a beautiful album of instrumentals from an old-school stand-up piano recorded with the windows wide open, allowing sounds of birds chirping and rain falling to seep into the recording sessions naturally. The added ambience gives the record an organic feel whose purity has acted the part of a stress reducer for me. If you need to drop your blood pressure about 20-points this will likely do the trick. There's also a subtle soulfulness in these tracks that doesn't sound practiced to death. Phil Cook isn't your typical piano soloist. He's seems to be playing more for feeling than technical precision and I really like that approach.

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See you with another new music mixtape as soon as I find 26 more worthy songs. Could be a month, could be next week.

Cheers,

The Priest