Friday, September 05, 2025

Loose Lips - Last Laugh


Aussie punk/rock 'n' roll super-group Loose Lips have finally released their debut album, and of course it's a crackling affair. Loose Lips are Nadine Muller (the Prize), Josh Hardy (The Chats, The Unknowns), and Ethan Stahl (Chubby and the Gang, the Prize, Street Sweeper). Out on DIG! Records, Last Laugh is exactly the kind of record you'd expect from these folks. Think OG '70s punk meets power pop meets glam rock meets no-nonsense pub rock 'n' roll, served up with a swagger that's uniquely Australian. This is such a classic sound done right. There's nothing better than a three-chord rock 'n' roll band writing killer tunes and rocking the hell out of them. If you're a fan of The Unknowns and The Prize, well this has been your lucky year. The Unknowns just released a brilliant album, and The Prize has a debut long player coming soon. And then you have Loose Lips, who are essentially the best of both worlds. Last Laugh is a lean-and-mean affair at 10 songs in 24 minutes. It's everything that rock 'n' roll ought to be: loud, exciting, and a whole lot of fun. You won't want to miss this one!


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Ricky Rochelle - Second Layer


As I stated a while back, my first reaction to Ricky Rochelle's new album Second Layer was simply, "Wow!" On this release, Ricky has not only demonstrated the potential of pop-punk as a genuinely adult genre of music but also bravely bared his soul to the entire world. Heavily inspired by his difficult and complicated relationship with his father (who passed away in 2023), Second Layer is a record that a lot of people might call "dark." I'll just call it intensely personal, and this album only makes me love Ricky even more as an artist and human. I don't know if I would ever have the guts to put myself out there the way Ricky has on this album. And the beauty of it is that this is deeply relatable stuff he's singing about. When he reflects on living trough trauma and abuse and how it still fills him with self-doubt, he's connecting with so many people who've been in that exact place. The last five songs on the album in particular work as a cohesive narrative, and clearly that sequencing was intentional. Ricky doesn't hold back. You can feel the pain, anger, and desperation in the words, lyrics, and music. And when it culminates in forgiveness in "Before It Was Too Late," it's a powerful resolution. I'm actually tearing up as I type this. 

Elsewhere on Second Layer, Ricky devotes the songs "Lovers Escape," "Good News, I Love You," and "Highlight Reel" to perhaps my favorite topic of them all: marital love. So it's not like the album is all a big bummer. But that's how real life is. You can have amazing and terrible things going on in your life at the same time, which is exactly how it was for Ricky Rochelle at the time this album was being written. The musical diversity in these songs fits well with the range of emotions covered throughout the album. "Lovers Escape" and "Highlight Reel" are squarely in pop-punk territory — but definitely more pop than punk. "Good News, I Love You" sounds like Sting wrote a good song for the first time in 40 years. "So Fucking Beautiful" and "Can't Forget the Terror" are full-on 2000s modern rock. "Psychotic Reaction" and "Self-Doubt" bring to mind '90s skate-core/melodic punk. "Before It Was Too Late" is beautiful and largely electronically-driven  — a risky undertaking that paid off marvelously. 

If you've ever been a fan of Ricky Rochelle, the chances that you'll love Second Layer are basically 100%. He remains a charming and endearing vocalist and a songwriter with a tremendous flair for catchy hooks. This album finds him building off his signature pop-punk style but really pushing the boundaries in terms of the kinds of songs he writes. To say he put his heart and soul into this release would be an understatement. If you're going to go to the trouble to write songs and put them into the universe for an eternity, why not speak your truth? If "pop-punk for grown-ups" is a real genre of music, Second Layer is one of its defining works.

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Norcos Y Horchata - precious little album


It's hard to believe that it has been more than three years since Norcos Y Horchata released Forever Disheveled, its debut album. I recently proclaimed Forever Disheveled my 8th-favorite album of the half-decade. Needless to say, I had considerable expectations for NYH's long-awaited sophomore LP. 

Out today on Take The City Records, Eccentric Pop Records, and Rust On The Blade, precious little album does not disappoint. But nor is it quite the album that anyone would have expected it to be. Just when you thought you has this band pigeonholed, Amado and the gang have gone out and reinvented themselves (somewhat). This record is the perfect combination of surprising and satisfying. A few tracks ("BYOBV," "Previous Ones," "Live, Laugh, Toaster Bath") find NYH in its familiar lane of tough melodic punk rock with a Midwestern soul. And they are all certified bangers! But elsewhere, the band finds itself trying new things and incorporating different influences in a way that feels like more than just a natural progression. Right off the bat with "The Artist + The Art," you can hear more of an early UK post-punk and '77 art-punk influence in the songwriting and musicianship. It still sounds like Norcos Y Horchata, but it's not the same Norcos Y Horchata. The song chugs along with speed and power, but it has so many layers that even its layers have layers. Elsewhere, "Lake Ave Traffic" finds the band soaring to new heights of anthemic grandeur. "Hack Away" is pure hardcore punk and positively thrilling. "I Deal In Three Chord Currency" is rumbling rock 'n' roll stripped to its bare bones and then twisted into something you've genuinely never heard before. The sweet-natured duet "Tuckered Out" is unlike anything this band has done before: a song that's hauntingly beautiful yet still a snappy good time. "Carbondale" finds the album concluding back in anthem territory and giving major new wave energy. 

Different people might take away different things from precious little album. You might hear Naked Raygun, and maybe I'm hearing the bands that influenced Naked Raygun. There are plenty of nods to classic Midwestern American punk rock, but it never feels like Norcos Y Horchata is copying any particular band. If I tried to jot down all the influences I thought I heard, I'd end up with writer's cramp. Impressively, this album ambitiously expands NYH's signature sound without straying too far from all the qualities that made this band so great to begin with. The thing about these songs is that they were obviously written to be performed live. So even as the band pushes itself creatively, its primary mission is still to deliver songs that will make you wanna jump around like a maniac, sing along at the top of your lungs, and thank the music gods for blessing this doomed planet with the life-sustaining gift of rock 'n' roll. Amado's lyrics, which range from philosophical to hilarious to pissed-off to introspective to inspiring, are really amazing and a massively underrated part of his skill set. It's mind-blowing to think about how something that started as Amado's pandemic solo home-recording project has grown into this — undoubtedly one of the greatest American punk rock bands going right now. 

It's always a tall order to follow up a great debut punk rock LP, but precious little album surpasses its predecessor by leaps and bounds. From start to finish, these are just great fucking songs. And all the players involved do incredible work on this record. This is one of those albums that will remind you why you fell in love with punk rock in the first place. Vinyl is available now via Bandcamp, and I'd recommend you snag a copy ASAP. Also, Norcos Y Horchata fall tour dates have just been announced, so head on over to the band's social media pages for more info!

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