Split single, two A sides from Assistant and Goodbye Wudaokou

By Henry Lipput

 Assistant’s Certain Memories and Goodbye Wudaokou’s Anything Of Us have been two of the most well-received albums of 2025. So it’s not surprising these Subjangle label mates and supporters of each other’s music have decided to combine their talents to each release a brand-new song as part of a (very) limited edition vinyl split single (30 copies total!!) on Bandcamp.

Not many do bittersweet better than Assistant and on their newest song “Flowers” the lyrics of a lost relationship are set against a pop tune.  “When we meet should we choose somewhere neutral/It won’t be fruitful if the memories are brutal/And will we hug or just there, awkwardly?” 

Unlike the Assistant song which imagines an eventual meeting of lovers, the Goodbye Wudaokou track “Sky Lantern” has no such thoughts and makes clear the two sides of the same coin these bands share. The Bandcamp page describes the song as “Intimate, mournful” and I  couldn’t say it better myself. “You only exist in the memory of a kiss/You only exist in the sun-whitened photographs/The ones I still cannot bear to see.”

Big Stir Records doubles down on the scary

By Henry Lipput

 “Are we being recorded?”

Last year the UK’s The Jack Rubies released two songs that fit perfectly with the Halloween spirt we’re celebrating right now. But both “Poltergeist” and “Phantom” were also metaphors for a relationship on the skids.

The band’s latest release, the great sounding “Are We Being Recorded?” (Big Stir Records) is even scarier because it deals with a real threat to more than just a couple of kids on the outs. The surveillance state is tracking our every move and there’s a real menace from hackers trying to get into our phones and computers.  Even the algorithms attached to the streaming services we use to watch our favorite programs and listen to our favorite tunes gather information in order to suggest what we should do next.

“You’re in my home sniffing ‘round/What have you found? Mr. Smith and Jones/Not your real names of course” sings the band’s Ian Smith (if that’s his real name). They go on to demand his real location but they already know and will delete his social media accounts.

Sounds like more trick than treat.

Chilling, Thrilling Hooks and Haunted Harmonies 

Did someone mention “Phantom?”

Chilling, Thrilling Hooks and Haunted Harmonies (Big Stir Records), is a frighteningly terrific new collection of Halloween-related tunes (including a spooky remix of "Phantom") interspersed with spoken-word horror stories presented as if Wolfman Jack was really a werewolf. The collection is a perfect accompaniment for your yearly candy and apple haunted house giveaways or your monthly neighborhood séance. (The collection is available on CD, digital, and a deluxe double LP in a gatefold package that unfolds to reveal a playable board game board.)

Speaking of hooks and harmonies, this Big Stir collection contains 21 tracks from the label’s artists. I could list my favorites but I'll just let the members of The Armoires tell you all about it.

You Needmores? We got mores!

By Henry Lipput

This is rocknroll. It’s a four-piece from Michigan playing both kinds of love songs within an inch of their lives.

SideXSide, the new EP by The Needmores (Lenny Grassa on vocals and guitar, Jason Neckrock on guitar, Jason Bowes on bass, and Eric Klisz on drums) is the follow-up to the debut single “Lookin’” that they gifted to us earlier this year.

And like the best rock and roll there’s both joy and heartbreak. The title song hits the ground running and the joy is non-stop: “Side by side/Anytime with you is fine/When you’re zoomin’ round the room/Singin’ that fine tune/Not sure what you sing/But it shoots me to the moon.”

The coin flips for impending heartbreak on “Let It Ride:” ” Three times you left me waitin’/Two times you stood me up/I’m here anticipating time in the sun/Gonna make it happen/It’s gonna take some time/Then I’m gonna let it ride.” (He thinks he's going to be fine when he breaks up with her but it doesn't really work that way.)