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Artists Worth Checking Out Get it or Forget it indie music Reviews Women in Entertainment

Get it or forget it – Fantasticboom, AG Weinberger, Family Animals, Luna Neptune, Sepsiss

The new releases keep coming, so we’re back with another edition of Get it or Forget it.  We hope you enjoy these five diverse artists.

Artist NameFantasticboom

Album NameHow to Build a Hole

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Indie Pop/Rock/Electronica

Track Listing:  1.  The Sound of Cutting Ties; 2.  Gabby; 3.  I Thought I Could Save You; 4.  All the Words I Know; 5.  this; 6.  How to Build a Hole; 7.  All of the Above; 8.  Meg; 9.  The Flavor of Regret

Publicist:  Self-promoted

ReviewMark Cuthbertson aka Fantasticboom is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who plays almost all the instruments on his latest project except the drums, which are contributed by Bucky Wheaton of Land of Talk.  The album was co-produced by Cuthbertson and The Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek.  Other than the very experimental sound of the first track, the album is pure indie pop/rock.  The songs are well written, with strong vocals perfectly mixed with the impressive musical accompaniment.  These songs would do well on college radio, and should be on the radar of smart program managers, especially “I Thought I Could Save You,” “All of the Above” and “The Flavor of Regret.”

Recommendation:  Skip the first track, but enjoy the rest.

Artist NameAG Weinberger

Album NameReborn

Label:  BigFoot Records

Genre:  Jazz/Blues

Track Listing:  1.  Wang Dang Doodle; 2.  Sweet Little Number; 3.  On the Wrong Side; 4.  The Fool’s Lucky Day (ft Bob Margolin); 5.  It Wouldn’t be Enough; 6.  Slippery Slope; 7.  Just One Minute; 8.  Cadillac Blues; 9.  Shoot; 10.  Caroline; 11.  Reborn; 12.  I am the Water

Publicist:  Blind Raccoon

Review:  Dracula may be the most famous of all Transylvanians, but inside the country of Romania, AG Weinberger is a close second.  On his tenth album, he mixes elements of jazz, blues, cabaret, psychedelic rock and folk to create music that put him in the elite of all blues guitarists in the world.  In his spare time, he’s also a composer and playwright and has written 19 plays for the Romanian theater companies.  While Weinberger does not consider himself a blues artist, but an artist who infuses blues into everything he plays.  We tend to agree, and think his album is a treat from start to finish, especially the title track.

Recommendation:  Get it if you love the blues.

Artist Name Family Animals

Album NameThe End is Mere

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Psychedelic Rock

Track Listing:  1.  Push Play; 2.  Gimme Jim-Jims; 3.  Nuclear Confusion; 4.  Voyage to Nowhere; 5.  Chivalrous Idiot; 6.  The Modern Life; 7.  Captain Z Bop’s Friendly Friends; 8.  Guitarbot 4000 + the Two Tongued Twins (Live at Magnitard’s Tavern); 9.  The March of the Megaherd; 10.  Exploding Light; 11.  A Speaker in Your Stereo

Publicist:  Self-promoted

Review:  The sound of Family Animals is very retro, no doubt heavily influenced by The BeatlesYellow Submarine and similar material.  The psychedelic undertones are almost mesmerizing and relaxing, especially on “Nuclear Confusion,” “Chivalrous Idiot” and “Captain Z Bop’s Friendly Friends” (which both sound like they could have come from The Doors), their first single “The Modern Life,” and the final track, “A Speaker in Your Stereo.”  On the other hand, “The March of the Megaherd” is more reflective of Jimi Hendrix.

Recommendation:  Definitely worth your attention, especially if you love 60’s influenced psychedelic rock.

Artist Name Luna Neptune

Album NameReverse the Hexes

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Alternative Folk

Track Listing:  1.  Sons of Adam, Daughters of Eve; 2.  Your Gods; 3.  Old Christine

Publicist:  Self-promoted

Review:  We last reviewed Luna Neptune when she released her EP Next Automated Wave back in August 2018.  She’s back again with another three-song EP that once again proves she is an artist on the cusp.  Her vocals are heavenly and the songs conjure up memories of such great songs as Heart‘s “These Dreams.”  The sound is very retro, sort of a cross between Heart and Fleetwood Mac, and very appealing, especially the first single, “Your Gods.”  We can’t wait for her to give us a full length album, because these appetizer EPs are so tantalizing and tempting while leaving us wanting so much more.

Recommendation:  Run out and Get this one.

Artist NameSepsiss

Album NameFair to Say

Label:  Self-released

Genre:  Metal

Track Listing:  1.  Fair 2 Say; 2.  Eyes of Empathy; 3.  The Swarm; 4.  To Write Hate on His Arms

Publicist:  Self-promoted

Review:  Sepsiss has a traditional heavy metal sound with a sweet twist, the powerfully crisp and clean vocals of Melissa Wolfe, which belong in the same category as Amy Lee.  This band has the potential to go head to head with the giants of metal, and come out ahead because of those memorable vocals.  We especially love “Eyes of Empathy.”  This is hard-hitting metal at its best, and we look forward to hearing more from these monsters.

Recommendation:  If you love metal, you will love Sepsiss.