Gus Baldwin & The Sketch announce Nov-Dec US tour dates, "(She's Gone) Arigato" single out now

 

“Noisy, fuzzy punk with a distinct pop sensibility… Full of energy and anger while also managing to be a lot of fun.” — New Noise Magazine

“Just goes to show you can still be catchy as hell while playing really fucking loud... I'm not entirely sure there's a single that can capture the live energy the drips from the stage when Gus Baldwin & The Sketch are up there, but this brand new single is pretty damn close.” — Austin Town Hall

"Kick ass to bombastic levels." -- Cosmic Clash

Austin power punks Gus Baldwin & The Sketch announce Western US tour dates today in support of their forthcoming debut album The Sketch. Midwest & Eastern dates to follow in early 2025. 

 

The band recently shared the first single from their forthcoming album. Hear & share "(She's Gone) Arigato" via New Noise HERE. (Or, direct on DSPs and Bandcamp.)

 

About the song, Baldwin says:

"It's a song about our hometown going through its confusing adolescent phase as it tries to reinvent itself from a bohemian Mecca into a confused technological wasteland. For the younger generation of artists here, I think we’re scared of losing something we never got the chance to earn. So we’re starting over, and turning a fresh page."

Watch/share the official video for previous standalone single "Relief" via YouTube.

Gus Baldwin is a singer/songwriter/ex-hippie/part-time punk hailing from Austin, TX. After a stint holding down drums for Dallas surf punk legends Sealion in high school, Baldwin went on to form the Psych Pop combo Acid Carousel, which he led for 6 years and 20 something releases before departing the band on Halloween night 2021. 

 

Since leaving Carousel, Gus has made a name for himself as a solo artist in Austin, constantly performing as a singer/songwriter, one man garage band, or with his band The Sketch. Quickly releasing a string of titles on his own GetWithIt! Records imprint, including the EPs THRILLER II, and Live Bugs, as well as a slew of singles, Gus established himself firmly as the godson of Texas rock'n’ roll. Splitting his time as a frequent collaborator with The Black Angels, Baldwin also works with the likes of Christian Bland & The Revelators as well as The UFO Club with Night Beats frontman, Danny Lee Blackwell.

 

The Sketch is the full length debut of Gus' partnership with The Sketch. The album was recorded in one day at Studio 22 in Los Angeles by engineer Joey Oaxaca (White Reaper, Starcrawler). 

 

The Sketch will be available on LP, cassette and digital on January 31, 2025. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

GUS BALDWIN & THE SKETCH LIVE 2024:

11/15 Austin, TX - Mohawk Austin - KVRX 30th Anniversary Party

11/21 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves

11/22 El Paso, TX - Mona Bar of Modern Art

11/23 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad

11/24 Denver, CO - Hi-Dive

11/25 Salt Lake City, UT - International Artist Lounge

11/27 Portland, OR - Dante's

11/29 Yakima, WA - Bearded Monkey

11/30 Seattle, WA - Substation

12/01 Eugene, OR - John Henry's Lounge

12/03 Eureka, CA - The Siren's Song Tavern

12/04 Reno, NV - Lo Bar Social 

12/07 San Francisco, CA - Kilowatt

12/09 Palmdale, CA - Transplants Brewing

12/10 Las Vegas, NV - The Griffin

12/11 Visalia, CA - Cellar Door 101

12/12 Long Beach, CA - Alex's Bar

12/13 San Diego, CA - The Tower Bar

12/14 Los Angeles, CA - The Redwood Bar

Artist: Gus Baldwin & The Sketch

Album: The Sketch

Label: Permanent Teeth Records

Release Date: January 31, 2025

01. Part I

02. Part II

03. Part III

04. Itch 

05. Steady on It

06. Luxury Television 

07. Slacker’s Prom

08. (She’s Gone) Arigato 

09. Beautiful Delilah 

10. What the Freaks Say

11. Sympathy for Sunday

On The Web:

linktr.ee/gusbaldwin

instagram.com/buddy_gus

gusbaldwin.bandcamp.com

permanentteethrecords.bandcamp.com

Gloomgaze band Babel Map's Kurt Ballou produced album 'Teeth' out now

“Tick-tocking, searing post-rock anthems.” — Echoes & Dust

"Babel Map, a band we've commended for over four years, continues to evolve with bold ambition… A truly remarkable step forward." -- Destroy//Exist

Harrisburg, PA gloomgaze band Babel Map release their new album Teeth today via Lost Future Records. Hear/share Teeth album on all DSPs HERE and Bandcamp. 

Side-Line recently launched the very Halloween/David Lynch appropriate official video for "Pazuzu" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

Teeth: the structure of enamel coated bone used for survival and defense in life, yet left intact, telling identification in the afterlife. 

Teeth, Babel Map’s forthcoming 3rd album was recorded by Kurt Ballou (God City Studio, Converge) mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna) in the spring of 2024. Prior to beginning the writing of Teeth, the group describes this chapter as an evolutionary time for them as a change in lineup allowed for a progressive increase in experimentation with song structure. 

Past albums were written and recorded mostly from playing songs in a live setting. Falling into a sound that they had never explored before, the quartet came together with blank ideas, pressed record and just built a song.

Once the album was complete, the band then began practicing live as a four piece to prepare for recording and now live performance. Babel Map explains the symbolism behind the title, as it is both about “showing your teeth,” but also “leaving a permanent piece of yourself behind for the world to reflect on.”

The band originally began in 2011 as a trip hop/electric solo project of Jessica Drummer based out of Philadelphia, PA. She then relocated to Harrisburg, PA and began playing live in 2015 where she was able to begin networking and playing with others. After a few changes in lineup, Steph Werner (guitarist since 2018 and Michael Stipe (bassist since 2019) quickly became a collaborative band where the sound changed into a Shoegaze/post-metal trance. 

They recorded their first album, Raw Tomato, My Heart (released 2020) with Ian Scheila at Headroom Studios Philadelphia while building their live show experiences until the shut down of Covid-19. During this time, CANCEL THIS! (Released 2022) was written, and quickly recorded right after the world rise from the pandemic. 

Due to change of lineup, the band began to write Teeth with electronic drums (produced by Michael Stipe) in 2023 as a trio. Brian Doherty later joined and began writing and producing percussion for the album and continues to play live today. 

Teeth is available on LP, CD and streaming on November, 1st, 2024 via Lost Future Records. Pre-order HERE. 

BABEL MAP LIVE 2024:

11/08 Mechanicsburg, PA - LoveDrafts Brewing 

Artist: Babel Map

Album: Teeth

Record Label: Lost Future Records

Release Date: November 1st, 2024

01. Bubble Tape

02. Nosebleed

03. Pazuzu

04. Mister Man

05. Kevin’s Dead

06. How How Why

07. Teething

08. Idiot

09. Doctor

10. Not This Time

11. Anubis

babelmap.bandcamp.com

instagram.com/babelmapmusic

lostfuture.bandcamp.com

lostfuturerecords.com

VOLUME (ex-Fu Manchu, ex-Monster Magnet, Nebula, w/ Dave Catching) album streaming via Metal Injection, US tour starts 11/1

 

“Pure, unadulterated desert rock by masters of the genre.” – Decibel Magazine

“Beefy, noisy, crunchy primal glory... One hell of a trip you should take.” – Metal Injection

"Feels like an acid trip in a sandstorm." -- Psychedelic Baby

Twentynine Palms, CA band VOLUME are streaming their forthcoming album Joy of Navigation (A Trip Through the Eternal Unknown) early today via Metal Injection. Hear & share the full album HERE. The album is available everywhere on November 1st. Hear the full album now on DSPs. 

It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine recently featured an in-depth interview with frontman Patrick Brink HERE. 

VOLUME launch Western U.S. tour dates tomorrow, 11/1 in support of the album. See all dates below. 

The band is VOLUME and it deals primarily in density: Thick and weighty as the abundant sand surrounding their Twentynine Palms, CA hometown, but also comprised of a mass of fine grit that can sear the skin with a gust of wind, and quickly dissipate into the ether. 

Yes, that is to say, VOLUME are purveyors of Heavy Acid Rock. Doomy psychedelia, but with more raw 70s punk brash than masquerading metal. VOLUME draw musical influences from bands such as The Stooges, MC5 and Black Flag to name a few, while also crafting their own distinctive heavy psychedelic identity. And, with Joy of Navigation, the band ventures into heavier, more psychedelic tones, while also keeping powerful hooks as the focus. 

Originally formed in 1993 by ex-Fu Manchu singer Patrick Brink, the band has featured a revolving set of collaborators, with ex-Monster Magnet guitarist Ed Mundell playing leads on the forthcoming Joy of Navigation mini-album. David Catching (QOTSA, Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Pop) co-produced the tracks with Brink, as well as playing synth on the recording. Mike Amster (Nebula, Mondo Generator, Spoon Benders) plays drums on the mini-album. The current live lineup includes Mingus on drums, bassist Jason Hernandez and lead guitarist Derek Christensen. 

Brink founded the band in order to take the lead and steer the musical reins down psychedelic rocking routes. Having performed with a number of acts including the aforementioned vocals for Fu Manchu in their early days, VOLUME offered Patrick a new creative outlet. Over their career the band has shared stages with Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon and Goatsnake, and performed at festivals including Emissions of the Monolith and Stoner Hands of Doom (SHoD). 

Brink’s upbringing in the secluded desert town east of Joshua Tree and 60 miles north of Palm Springs had a huge impact on his songwriting. It is a place of beauty and harsh realities, and those contrasts are present throughout Patrick's lyrics and songs. After getting into punk rock by accident in high school Patrick started his first band a couple of years later with the only other punks in town. This early love of punk rock inadvertently led him to the heavier bands on SST Records such as Wurm, SWA, DC3 and St. Vitus. 

 

Heavy As Fuck (1996) and Love Is A Mountain And Heavy As Fuck (1998) were the band's first recordings. In the Fall of 1998, the seven inch Check This Planet I’m Gone... was released on Superkool Records. Requesting Permission To Land (High Beam Records) was recorded with the help of Mike McHugh (Train, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion). Each song was recorded in one or two takes to retain the original heart and soul of the piece. 

“It’s rock and roll. Not brain surgery,” says Patrick of the recording process. The end result is a potent blend of thirty-plus minutes of psychedelic fuzzfest freakout and perhaps some of the rawest riffs you're likely to hear. 

 

VOLUME draw inspiration from a time when music was truly experimental and free. They see themselves as rock'n'roll torch bearers whose duty it is to bring the flame, intact, into the future. They invite you to join in that endeavor, for the Joy of Navigation. 

 

Joy of Navigation will be available for download/streaming on November 1st, 2024 via Golden Robot Recordings, and on LP via Kozmik Artifactz. Pre-save HERE, Pre-order HERE.

VOLUME LIVE 2024:

11/01 Las Vegas, NV - Fat Cat (Record release show)

11/02 Reno, NV - The Cellar Stage at Alturas Bar 

11/04 Spokane, WA - Jackson St. Bar and Grill 

11/05 Seattle, WA - El Corazón / Funhouse

11/06 Portland, OR - The Hawthorne Hideaway

11/07 Medford, OR - Johnny B’s

11/08 Santa Cruz, CA - The Jury Room

11/09 Oakland, CA - The Golden Bull Bar

Artist: VOLUME

Album: Joy of Navigation

Label: Golden Robot (digital) / Kozmik Artifactz (vinyl)

Release Date: November 1st, 2024

01. Joy of Navigation

02. Mercury

03. Heavy Sunshine

04. Golden Age

05. Space Baby