JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin’s 61st birthday.
Throwback: Happy 61st Birthday, Corey Glover!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Living Colour frontman Corey Glover’s 61st birthday.
New Video: debdepan Shares Playful Visual for Cathartic “Ghost”
Margate, UK-based duo debdepan — Chelsea and Grace — officially formed back in 2022, but can trace their origins back to writing sessions during pandemic lockdowns. The duo quickly made a name for themselves through Pie Factory Music’s Emerging Artists Program, which lead to their breakthrough single “Darkest Hour.” “Darkest Hour” gained radio play across the US and Europe, landing on the Deutsche Alternative Charts — and earning the duo a publishing deal with Archangelo Music.
The pair’s debut EP, 2023’s OMEN saw the band firmly establishing dark pop bonafides. The EP’s material received airplay from BBC Introducing, BBC London and BBC 6 Music. Adding to a growing profile across both the UK and European Union, the Margate-based duo has started to make a run of the European festival circuit with standout sets at Portugal’s Westway Lab, Spain’s Pro Weekend and Focus Wales, as well as opening slots for cumgirl8, Miki Berenyi and Pete Doherty. Earlier this year, they opened for The Wants during the New York-based trio’s UK tour. And this month they will be opening for TRAITRS.
The duo’s highly-anticipated sophomore EP Lovers & Others is slated for a November 28, 2025 release through Silent Kid Records. The EP reportedly sees the duo leaner more into dance music-leaning arrangements while still retaining the harder, grunge-inspired roar and bite that have helped them win attention across Europe and elsewhere. And as a result, the rising British duo showcase a refined, genre-blurring sound that’s still emotionally charged — but is also physically irresistible.
Written in the year since the duo relocated to Margate, the EP reportedly sees them balancing introspective vulnerability with a”pretty sad girl but also kind of party” bit of duality — a reflection of the late-night emotional shifts in their town’s nightlife scene paired with long, contemplative costal walks.
Lovers & Others EP will feature the previously released “Habit,” and “The Girl,” and the EP’s final, pre-release single “Ghost.” “Ghost” begins with a mid-tempo bit of melodic pop-inspired post punk and goth that seems to channel Florence and the Machine, before making a rapid left turn to a throbbing bit of Echoes-era The Rapture-like dance punk banger. But at its core, is the hopefulness of a new potential love, followed by the bitter ache of having that hope dashed when they inexplicably ghost. And then, there’s the release of bilious anger of discovering that person is a coward, who couldn’t — or wouldn’t — tell you the truth. “This song had to feel like a journey,” the band explains. “It needed a big fat pop chorus to juxtapose the dark and miserable verses.”
Recorded in Ramsgate, UK with engineer Mike Collins, “Ghost,” is informed by his inspired production choices. “Mike had a wicked idea to layer a bunch of guitars in the middle 8 to really build some tension,” the duo says. The end result is a song that showcases the band’s ability to balance aching vulnerability with explosive catharsis.
The playful, Halloween-inspired video for “Ghost.” was shot by the band across various Margate-based locations and features them dressed as DIY-styled ghosts, complete with goofy errors, including a visible drone controller peeking out beneath one of the duo’s costume.
“I borrowed my dad’s drone to film it, and if you look closely you can spot the controller under the ghost sheet!” they explain. “We wanted something playful with the ghost theme that we could shoot ourselves. Filming around Margate was pretty embarrassing, but at least the costumes meant we couldn’t see most people laughing at us.”
New Video: cruush Shares “120 Minutes”-Era MTV-like “Rupert Giles”
Manchester-based indie outfit cruush — Amber Warren (vocals, guitar), Arthur Boyd (guitar), Fotis Kalantzis (drums) and Bruno Evans (bass) — quickly emerged into the national and international scenes with their first three EPs, 2023’s Wishful Thinker and last year’s Ladybird Song and Nice Things Now, All The Time, which saw them quickly establishing a sound that was both forceful and tender, and sincere to the point of snot-crying with layers of indie rock fuzz. Their music has been forged in the drudgery of soul-sucking service jobs, rainy Manchester days and nights.
So far, the British quartet have received coverage from The Independent, NYLON, NME, BrooklynVegan, Dork, DIY Magazine, So Young, The Line of Best Fit, Clash Magazine, Rough Trade and Consequence, as well as airplay from BBC Radio 1′s Jack Saunders, BBC 6 Music‘s Steve Lamacq and Emily Pilbeam, and Radio X’s John Kennedy. And adding to a growing profile nationally, the quartet has shared stages with BDRMM, Pale Blue Eyes, NewDad, GIFT, BASHT and Girl Scout.
In a short period of time, the band’s sound has gone through a shift that has ushered a new era of tightly wound grunge pop rippers. And to further flesh out their evolving sound and approach, they enlisted Norfolk, UK-based Sickroom Studios producer Owen Turner.
Their latest single “Rupert Giles” may arguably be the most 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock-like song of their growing catalog, as well as one of the more purposely direct. Featuring a classic grunge song structure — alternating quieter verses and rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses paired with layers of guitar fuzz and thunderous drumming, the song’s arrangement serves as lush and dreamy bed for Warren’s plaintive and gorgeous vocal. Yes, for those of you, who are like me, inching towards old, the song will bring about memories of some of the stuff you were listening to back in 1994 — but while being remarkably modern.
“On a writing retreat to Wales we took a sunrise hike up Penygader. We listened to nothing but Neil Young, Brownhorse, and the Van Halen song ‘Panama,’” the band recalls. “We were sitting by this lake at 6am, with the sun rising, listening to it and all felt well. We knew we had a great song written, we were all sleep deprived and sweaty, the stars were aligning.”
Directed by Zack Arlo, the moody and impressionistic visual for “Rupert Giles” manages to further emphasize the 90s MTV-era vibe of the song.
Throwback: Happy 77th Birthday, Charles Bradley!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 77th anniversary of the birth of Charles Bradley.
Throwback: Happy 66th Birthday, Bryan Adams!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Bryan Adams’ 66th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 54th Birthday, Jonny Greenwood!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Radiohead’s and The Smile’s Jonny Greenwood’s 54th birthday.
LyrIc Video: Golden Hours Shares Propulsive and Forceful “The Letter”
Currently split between Berlin and Brussels, post punk outfit Golden Hours — Hákon Aõalsteinsson, Wim Janssens, Tobias Humble and Rodrigo Funtealba Palavacino — features a collection of seasoned players, who have performed as part Gang of Four, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Fuzztones, Tricky‘s backing band and a lengthy list of others.
The post-punk outfit rumbled into the scene with the release of 2023’s self-titled debut. Their sophomore album, Beyond Wires is slated for a January 16, 2026 release through The Third Sound/Fuzz Club Records.
Beyond Wires‘ first single “The Letter” is a brooding and forceful bit of post-punk anchored around featuring a propulsive bass line, layers of glistening, reverb-soaked squiggling guitars and thunderous drumming serving as a tense bed for Ian Curtis-like vocals. Sonically channeling Joy Division, as well as contemporaries like Interpol, Sei Still and others, the song evokes the tenseness, uneasiness and desperation of our current moment.
“The Letter is a well-aimed punch in the gut, a punch feeling so good that some would say it was most welcome” the band’s Wim Janssens says. “When all the letters of refusals, the unwanted bills and obituaries pile up to an insurmountable block in the brain, it can turn even the most stable minds among us into schizophrenic monsters, when forced to face the music head on, armed with nothing but the strength of desperation.”
New Video: London’s deathcrash Shares Heartbroken Yet Anthemic “Triumph”
London-based slowcore/post rock outfit deathcrash — Tiernan Banks (vocals, guitar), Matthew Weinberger (guitar), Patrick Fitzgerald (bass) and Noah Bennett (drums) — have come to prominence as part of a busy and very talented South London scene that includes Black Country, New Road; Jerskin Fendrix, Sorry and Black Midi, while setting themselves apart with a distinctly mysterious energy.
The London-based quartet’s full-length debut, 2022’s 65 minute-long Return was released to praise from Loud and Quiet, who wrote that the album was “an embarrassment of musical riches that is only matched by the depth of evocations that haunt the record.” Building upon a growing profile, 6 months after the release of their debut, the quartet went to the Outer Hebrides to record their sophomore album, 2023’s Less, which was a focused and lean progression of their sound to further critical applause.
Less was followed by a collection of remixes including collaborations with Water From Your Eyes and Mandy, Indiana.
deathcrash’s latest single “Triumph” is the rising British outfit’s first bit of new material in over two years. “Triumph” is a slow-burning, brooding tune featuring the sort of enormous, fuzzy power chords and rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses that seemingly channel 90s grunge paired with an achingly heartbroken vocal delivery and thunderous drumming. At its core is a sense of the regret, loss and uneasy acceptance of adulthood.
“This song is about fighting the urge to drive into oncoming traffic” the band comment. “It marks Patrick’s return to songwriting. It shows that growing up is no ‘triumph’, but an occasionally graceful and occasionally bitter acceptance of who you are now.”
Directed and shot by Patrick Fitzgerald and St.Teilo, the accompanying video for “Triumph” captures a sense of youth being fleeting, of knowing that things can and often will be painful and difficult — and yet there are small moments of being at shows, fucking around with pals, of just being somewhat carefree are the pleasures we need to cherish. This is interspersed with late night scenes of driving.
New Audio: Mariachi El Bronx Shares Swooning “Forgive or Forget”
Started back in 2008 as both a side project and creative experiment for the members of Los Angeles-based punk rock The Bronx, Mariachi El Bronx — Matt Caughthran (vocals), Joby J. Ford (guitar, vihuela, accordion), Jared Shavelson (drums), Keith Douglas (trumpet), Ray Suen (violin), Brad Magers (trumpet), Ken Horne (jarana), and Vincent Hidalgo (guitarrón)– has long been deeply rooted in their deep connection to the Hispanic music and culture of their hometown. Although seemingly different, the and doesn’t see punk and mariachi as mutually exclusive. Instead, they view both genres as spiritually entwined forces anchored in resilient storytelling. “Punk rock and mariachi music are very similar in soul,” The Bronx’s and Mariachi El Bronx’s Matt Caughthran says. “It’s working class music. It’s real music.”
Despite almost two decades of success, that has included sharing stages with Foo Fighters and The Killers; sets across the global festival circuit, including Coachella and Glastonbury; performances on Late Show with David Letterman to NPR’s Tiny Desk; and theme songs for shows like Weeds and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the members of Mariachi El Bronx still consider themselves lifelong students of the art form. That reverence carries over to their charro suits, which often attract as much attention as the music itself. The band has long turned to Boyle Heights-based Casa del Mariachi, a historic Los Angeles area landmark, where Jorge “Mr. George” Tello has been handcrafting the traditional suits for over 50 years. “This band has always been about learning and exchanging culture through music and art,” says Caughthran. “That’s what it’s all about! Everything we do comes from the heart and soul.”
Mariachi El Bronx’s long-awaited fourth album, the John Avila-produced Mariachi El Bronx IV is slated for a February 13, 2026 release through ATO Records. The album, which is the first album from the project in a decade, sees the trailblazing alter-egos of The Bronx continuing to embody the same ethos that sparked their creation — honoring the rich Hispanic music and culture that has always surrounded them in their hometown, while pushing creative boundaries.
Clashing emotions of profound loss and overwhelming love shaped the album’s themes. The songwriting “started as a battle between love and death but became a way to process all the chaos of the world,” Caughthtran explains. Throughout the run of the album’s 12-tracks, the band documents the stories of gamblers, former playboys, warriors and lovers — characters that became vessels for the specific pressures of modern life.
Returning after a decade away felt “joyous and familiar from the jump,” the band’s Joby J. Ford says. But the album’s recording process proved to be much more complex than expected. Within the year that he began writing the album’s lyrics, Caughthran contended with the deaths of several loved ones. And as they tracked the album’s material at producer John Avila’s San Gabriel Valley studio, the Eaton Canyon wildfires blazed across East L.A. “We came out of the studio one night, the entire side of the hill was just on fire,” Ford recalls.
While dealing with grief in his personal life and within Los Angeles, Caughthran also got married in the same year. All of these very profoundly human experiences and feelings have informed what may arguably be Mariachi El Bronx’s most emotionally resonate work to date.
Mariachi El Bronx IV’s first single, album opener “Forgive or Forget” features violinist Ray Suen on a swooning and galloping track that captures the nostalgia, bitter heartache, the longing to forget that heartache, and the desire to move forward with a seemingly booze-tinged haze. Fittingly, the song is rooted in a complicated and uneasy mix of despair and hope that feels lived-in and familiar.
Live Footage: Mavis Staples Performs “Human Mind” on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”
The beloved national treasure Mavis Staples‘ latest solo album, the Brad Cook-produced Sad And Beautiful World is slated for a November 7, 2025 release through Anti- Records. The album reportedly sees the 86 year-old legend standing side-by-side with us in the face of dangers she knows all too well — and comes at a time when increasing number of people out there have reason to wonder who and what could be lost.
The new album spans seven decades of the American songbook — a range nearly as vast as Staples’ remarkably lengthy career — and includes reinventions of timeless songs, as well as a batch of originals.
Recently, the legend performed the Hozier and Allison Russell co-written album single “Human Mind” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “Human Mind” was the first track recorded for the Sad And Beautiful World sessions and the single sees the legend acknowledging the complexities, contradictions, violence and heartbreak of our world, while still finding hope and goodness in people — and in turn, the world over a slow-burning, Staple Singers-inspired arrangement.
The song seems to say, “Yes, life will break your heart many times over; but there are small yet mighty measure of love, kindness and faith that hold it all together, barely. And that is what we should cling to when it’s especially dark.
New Audio: Helsloot’s Driving Remix of ARTBAT and Sailor & I’s “Best Of Me”
Originally released back in 2005, Booka Shade vs. M.A.N.D.Y.‘s critically applauded “Body Language” quickly became an instant classic and a defining track of mid-00s club culture. Built around a tactile bass line and an elegant sense of restraint, “Body Language” captured what Berlin-based label Get Physical Music had set out to represent: music that was both physically irresistible and and emotionally nuanced.
“Body Language” gave its name to Get Physical’s flagship compilation series, which has since become one of the label’s defining contributions to electronic music. Over more than two decades and 26 volumes, the series has been curated by Dixon, DJ Hell, WhoMadeWho, Monkey Safari, Francesco Tristano, Yulia Niko and founders Booka Shade, DJ T., and M.A.N.D.Y. Each edition of the compilation series has functioned as both documentation and argument, a reflection of underground currents and a projection of where club culture’s potential future.
Dutch producer Helsloot is known across the global electronic music scene for his melodic, vocal-led sound. His collaboration with Tinlicker “Because You Move Me” has amassed over 600 million streams. He has released material through a number of electronic labels including Anjunadeep, Domino, This Never Happened and Ritter Butzke. His full-length debut, last year’s Never Tried further cemented his reputation for a balancing emotional weight with dance floor precision.
Helsloot with be curating Get Physical’s Body Language, Vol. 27. Slated for a November 14, 2025 release, the 27th edition will see the rising Dutch producer bringing a contemporary perspective to the series. Last month, I wrote about the rising Dutch producer’s bold reworking on the oft-remixed “Body Language,” a take that irresistibly beckons the listener to get to that dance floor and move your ass.
The Dutch producer’s Body Language, Vol. 27 will feature, his remix of Ukrainian production duo ARTBAT‘s “Best Of Me.” Originally released back in 2020 through Get Physical’s sister label METAPHYSICAL, the melodic techno track quickly became a club anthem. In 2021, Sailor & I contributed his own, original album mix on Diving For Lost Treasure, showcasing the song’s depth as a vocal-driven track.
Helsloot’s remix places the Sailor & I vocal in a hypnotic and driving production that to my ears reminds me a bit of Tour de France-era Kraftwerk, JOVM mainstay LutchmaK and Octo Octa: layers of glistening and melodic synths are paired with a relentless motorik-like groove and crackling breakbeats. The Helsloot take is simultaneously club and late-night drive friendly without removing the emotional weight of the Sailor & I vocal.
New Audio: Queens’ THROES NYC Shares Brooding and Sultry “Bridge”
Queens-based duo THROES NYC — cousins Courtney Leo (vocals) and multi-instrumentalist and producer Michael Bozzo — have been making music together since they were children. As teens, their regular haunts were CGBG’s, Roseland and Irving Plaza, where they soaked up the energy and spirit of the ’90s and early ’00s NYC scene.
With THROES NYC, Leo and Bozo blend elements of Indie Rock, New Wave, Pop and Trip-Hop with the energy and spirit of the ’90s and early ’00s NYC scene that they grew up with.
Released earlier this month, the duo’s latest EP HOWL features their latest single “Bridge.” “Bridge” sees the Queens-based duo blending elements of contemporary alt pop, Bristol trip hop to create a broodingly eerie and atmospheric bed for Leo’s sultry delivery.
New Audio: Pacifica Shares Club Banging “Indie Boyz”
With the release of their full-length debut, 2023’s Freak Scene and last year’s acoustic Freak Scene: NAK Sessions, Buenos Aires-based duo Pacifica — Inés Adam and Martina Nintzel — quickly became a global sensation, for their unique blend of early 2000s garage rock, post-punk and 90s alt rock, and for their reputation for blistering live shows that channel friendship, chaos and catharsis in equal measure.
The Argentine duo have played sold-out shows across North America, Europe and South America, sharing stages with internationally renowned acts like Franz Ferdinand, St. Vincent, Kim Gordon and Måneskin while amassing over 880,000 followers across social media platforms, and over 25 million streams, plus millions of viral moments on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
Pacifica’s recently released sophomore album, In Your Face marks a bold new era for the Buenos Aires-based duo, an era that captures their trademark mix of vulnerability and rebellion with more bite, confidence and self-awareness than ever before, while anchored in lived-in, deeply personal experience.
“In Your Face is an introspective journey that brushes through themes of heartbreak, betrayal, lust, spite, immaturity, and regret — all with a pinch of humor and light-heartedness,” the band explains. “It’s about cause and consequence. Accepting fate and flaws, realizing some things really are the other person’s fault, falling in love and wanting to jump off a building for someone, learning to be patient, and just living through it — Tokyo streets, Maseratis, vibes.”
Album single “Indie Boyz” is thumping, tongue-in-cheek, DFA Records-era dance punk/indie sleaze-inspired banger, anchored around a scuzzy power chords and a Gang of Four-like bass line that sees the duo mocking the shit out of the sort of indie scene fuckbois that they would come across at the club.
The band notes that it’s “not to be taken too seriously — just a description of a week of going out almost every night. No poetry, just vibes.,” They also note that the song is also a nod to a trendy LA club, Tenants of the Trees.