REVIEW: Sean Thomas Gerard "Bright Side"

[Repost from If It's Too Loud; by Ken Sears, January 19, 2026]

For his upcoming album, Sean Thomas Gerard recorded in the corner of his garage which is also a playroom for his two daughters. Somehow, you can hear that vibe in his latest single, "Bright Side." The song just feels like home. It's a laid back indie folk/singer-songwriter track that is overflowing with warmth. The sing is on the mainstream side of its genres, but when you nail a sound like Gerard has, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. This is the type of song that is pleasant and enjoyable when you first start it, and then you end up liking it more and more as it goes. By the time it's over, you're going to want to listen again. By the third or fourth listen, "Bright Side" is going to end up one of your favorite songs of this young year.

Sean Thomas Gerard says of his music: “I think about some day when I'm gone, my kids will be able to put on my records and feel like they can spend time with me again."

You can listen to "Bright Side" below. Stay In Your Light is due out March 20 on Fort Lowell Records, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Sean Thomas Gerard, check out the artist on Facebook and Instagram.

Top 300 Albums of 2025 by The Big Takeover

[Repost from The Big Takeover; by Jack Rabid, January 16, 2026]

#103 Kicking Bird 11 Short Fictions

OUT NOW: Sean Thomas Gerard "Bright Side" [Digital Single]

After five years of growth as a musician and father, Sean Thomas Gerard is back with Stay In Your Light. Gerard, who records in a humble corner of his family's garage that doubles as a playroom for his two daughters, shares “I think about some day when I'm gone, my kids will be able to put on my records and feel like they can spend time with me again” about his music. The artist’s take on the indie-folk sound is refreshing and personal. Stay In Your Light is a comforting symphonic hug that aims to preserve the innocence of those Gerard holds dearest.

The first Digital Single from Stay In Your Light — "Bright Side" — by Sean Thomas Gerard is out today on all digital music platforms.

LISTEN NOW | PRE-ORDER VINYL ALBUM

Top 25 Songs of 2025 by Galaxy Comics

[Repost by Galaxy Comics; January 2, 2026]

#23 Blase "Under the Same Stars"

Meet the rapper who's helped keep hip-hop on Wilmington's music scene

[Repost from StarNews; by John Staton, January 2, 2026]

You'd never know it to see him on stage, when he's rhyming with verbal dexterity and making lyrical connections between subjects as disparate as old TV shows, hip-hop culture and a sports jersey some dude in the crowd is wearing. But one of Wilmington's best-known, longest serving and most prolific rappers is a big introvert.

Super introverted," Fuzz Jackson, aka Fuzz Jaxx, said recently at the house and studio off Oleander Drive he shares with his friend and roommate, Wilmington sound engineer Owen Dollar. "But I get such a high from being on stage. I gotta have it. I gotta have that feeling."

For more than a quarter-century, Jackson's strong, confident voice, pop-culture-literate rhymes and trademark, rapid-fire delivery have been part of Wilmington's musical landscape, both as a solo artist and as a lyricist and rapper with one of Wilmington's most beloved (albeit disbanded) all-time groups, the jazz/hip-hop combo Organix, which drew crowds throughout the 2000s.

Jackson still performs with McClain Sullivan, who sang with Organix, as part of the Fuzz and Mac duo, a neo-soul outfit that pairs Sullivan's golden voice with Jackson's raps.

Commercial and financial success might have eluded him thus far, something Jackson was quick to talk about and brought up during a recent interview. But he achieved artistic success long ago — not to mention the respect of his peers on the Wilmington scene, who regard him as an elder statesman of rap, a rapper's rapper if you will.

Fuzz is cool, a huge inspiration. He's like a big brother, someone to look up to," said Wilmington rapper Sheme of Gold, who recently guested with Jackson on the song "Quadruple-Double" from Wilmington hip-hop group The Third Element. "He was telling us about, like, his record deal and just all these things that he's been through. … I hear all this stuff and I'm just like a kid at story time, I'm sitting crisscross applesauce."

Sheme then added what's probably the most common accolade Jackson gets: "He's a great freestyler." (Freestyling is hip-hop's version of improv, when a rapper takes the mic and delivers fresh material off the top of his head.)

James Tritten of Wilmington's Fort Lowell Records — which released music by Jackson and the hip-hop producer CoolOutSessions in 2024 as part of "This Water Is Life, Vol. IV," an environmentally conscious album series in which Wilmington hip-hop artists share space with indie rockers — took his praise of Jackson a step further.

"Fuzz is the greatest legend ever," Tritten said. "I just hope more people get to understand how amazing he is."

Jackson's story starts in Georgia, where he grew up watching old TV shows and movies with his father and listening to such hip-hop legends as Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, Run-DMC and Kurtis Blow.

Georgia is where Jackson started rapping with Shaft, the hip-hop group that brought him to Wilmington in the mid-1990s to play the old Mid-Atlantic Sound, Surf and Skate festival, aka MASSS.

"We were almost signed, then found out the label was broke," Jackson said.

By the late '90s Shaft was no more and Jackson was in Wilmington full-time.

He's seen Wilmington's hip-hop and music scenes go through multiple eras, from rap battles at the long-since-closed bars Bessie's and Oasis to hip-hop nights at 16 Taps (where Bourgie Nights is now) to dozens (if not hundreds) of shows with Organix to the days of camaraderie at the old Soapbox music venue, where hip-hop acts, indie rockers and metal bands would sometimes share the same bill.

Jackson is one of the few Wilmington musicians to have bridged all these eras, and he's opened up for hip-hop legends including Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco and Killer Mike.

Since the pandemic Jackson has rocked the mic at Luna Caffe's Tiny Caffe series on Castle Street and with Sullivan at The Sandspur in Carolina Beach. He's got a show booked Jan. 9 at Tavern Law downtown with his old friend and collaborator DJ Battle.

Jackson has recorded a voluminous amount of material over the years, and one could spend hours exploring his Bandcamp page.

On his latest single, "Champions," an old song off Jackson's "Dusty Rhodes" mixtape remixed by CoolOutSessions, sports references bump up against pop culture as Jackson compares himself to "Kobe in the booth/ Watch me close this out" or calls himself the "Talented Mr. Ripley/ Believe it or not … Bet on black?/ You better bet on Jaxx."

His 2025 single "The City Loves Me," with P-Grant, takes a less braggadocious tone, with Jackson rapping about having "$1.40 in my pocket … The city shows love but it can be heartless."

"Welcome to Hip Hop" from "This Water Is Life, Vol. IV" drops a reference to Jack "Dr. Death" Kevorkian because Jackson's "losing patience … You could live a nightmare/ Trying to chase your dreams."

Jackson said he sees Fuzz Jaxx as his "alter ego," an introvert who becomes an extrovert on stage. "That's Fuzz Jackson," he said. "That's who that guy is."

He said he almost quit music during the pandemic but hearing beats a friend cooked up brought him back.

"I can't see myself doing anything else," Jackson said. "It's like a marriage I got into, and even though sometimes she treats me bad, I stuck around. I'm like the male version of Peg Bundy. I just take it and stick with it because I love it so much."

Fuzz Jaxx

10 Hidden Gems: The Hip Hop Albums Too Many People Overlooked In 2025 by HHGA

[Repost from Hip Hop Golden Age; January 6, 2026]

MindsOne Stages

Stages is a sharp, polished boom-bap record that keeps its focus on craftsmanship. MindsOne delivers intricate lyricism over a diverse lineup of producers, blending thoughtful storytelling with head-nodding beats. KON Sci and Tronic trade bars with precision, moving between introspection and sharp observations about life, ambition, and purpose.

The production lineup is stacked. Marco Polo, Da Beatminerz, Kev Brown, and others contribute beats that range from smooth and soulful to rugged and raw. Tracks like “Blind Fury” and “Off the Handle” hit with hard drums and murky basslines, while “Grateful Heart” and “Liberation / Obligation” bring warmth with jazzy samples and laid-back grooves. Scratches from DJ Iron, DJ Noumenon, and DJ Slim Deluxe give the  album an authentic, turntable-driven energy that ties it all together.

KON Sci and Tronic bring clarity to complex themes without overcomplicating their delivery, making the album engaging from start to finish. Stages is grounded in Hip Hop’s classic traditions while still feeling fresh, proving that sharp lyricism and top-tier production will always have a place.

REVIEW: Tercel “Strange Energy” Tercel (EP)

[Repost from The Reconnoiter; December 26, 2025]

When love feels inevitable but fragile.  The song is about recognizing love as a powerful, almost mystical force, and quietly regretting how easy it is to hesitate when something real is right in front of you.  It’s when timing, fear, and wonder collide.  It’s a fave song from the debut EP by the Wilmington, NC-based band.

20 Best Albums of 2025 by Here Comes the Flood

[Repost by Here Comes the Flood; by Hans Werksman, December 31, 2025]

#4 Blase Somewhere Out There

Wilmington, NC based multi-instrumentalist Blase plays the kind of dreampop that is able to transport listeners to an alternate reality where things are quite beautiful and, as an added bonus, age is not a number, but has come to a standstill. His Somewhere Out There album flows gently and might be mistaken for a long lost record from the golden age of psychedelic pop, when echo and reverb smoothed over the rough edges of real life.

REVIEW: Kicking Bird “Cinnamon” 11 Short Fictions (LP)

[Repost from The Reconnoiter; December 26, 2025]

A fleeting, intoxicating moment where desire, disorientation, and urgency blur together.  The song is about the thrill and fragility of a momentary connection.  It’s intense, sensual, slightly reckless, and defined by the urgency of now rather than the certainty of what comes next.  It’s the first single from the second album by the Wilmington, NC-based band.

LET'S DANCE every First + Third Saturday at The Underfront Co. in Wilmington NC

Starting in 2026, we will begin hosting our LET'S DANCE Vinyl DJ Night twice a month at The Underfront Co. in Downtown Wilmington NC — the start, on the First Saturday of each month, and then again a second time on the Third Saturday monthly.  No need to worry about what date it is; simply look at the calendar to see if it is the 1st or 3rd Saturday of the month, and if it is — you can trust that we will see you on that dance floor at The Underfront Co. that night!

LET'S DANCE is a Vinyl DJ Night, hosted by Fort Lowell Records, featuring a variety of music — Pop, Disco, Boogie, Indie, Hip-Hop, R&B, Electronic, etc. — including the latest hits and spanning the past five decades. Dancing starts at 8:00pm and goes all night. A $5.00 cover charge will be collected at the door upon entry paid via Cash, Credit Card, Venmo, or CashApp.

Don't forget to check out the LET'S DANCE Spotify Playlist we made for you, below.  It is a sample of what to expect at our LET'S DANCE Vinyl DJ Nights, and serves as a great selection of music for you to enjoy if you simply want to dance around the house, your office, in the car, or anywhere.  Enjoy!

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGES:

• FIRST SATURDAY: January 3rd
• THIRD SATURDAY: January 17th

LET'S DANCE on New Year's Eve at The Underfront Co. in Wilmington NC

Celebrate New Year’s Eve at The Underfront Co. in Downtown Wilmington NC on Front Street — Wednesday, December 31st — with a very special New Year’s Eve Edition of Fort Lowell Records’ own LET’S DANCE Vinyl DJ Night / Dance Party featuring a variety of music — Pop, Disco, Boogie, Indie, Hip-Hop, R&B, Electronic, etc. — including the latest hits and spanning the past five decades to ring in the new year. Dancing starts at 8:00pm and goes all night. Tickets are available to buy in advance here; otherwise a $10.00 cover charge will be collected at the door upon entry paid via Cash, Credit Card, or Venmo.

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

 

Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2025 by Underground Hip Hop Mixtapes & Rap Music Culture

[Repost from Underground Hip Hop Mixtapes & Rap Music Culture; December 25, 2025]

#54: MindsOne Stages

Stages is a sharp, polished boom-bap record that keeps its focus on craftsmanship. MindsOne delivers intricate lyricism over a diverse lineup of producers, blending thoughtful storytelling with head-nodding beats. KON Sci and Tronic trade bars with precision, moving between introspection and sharp observations about life, ambition, and purpose.

The production lineup is stacked. Marco Polo, Da Beatminerz, Kev Brown, and others contribute beats that range from smooth and soulful to rugged and raw. Tracks like “Blind Fury” and “Off the Handle” hit with hard drums and murky basslines, while “Grateful Heart” and “Liberation / Obligation” bring warmth with jazzy samples and laid-back grooves. Scratches from DJ Iron, DJ Noumenon, and DJ Slim Deluxe give the album an authentic, turntable-driven energy that ties it all together.

KON Sci and Tronic bring clarity to complex themes without overcomplicating their delivery, making the album engaging from start to finish. Stages is grounded in Hip Hop’s classic traditions while still feeling fresh, proving that sharp lyricism and top-tier production will always have a place.

Top 25 Albums of the Year by Music Defined

[Repost from Music Defined; by Josh Terzino, December 22, 2025]

#12 - Kicking Bird 11 Short Fictions

Best Albums of 2025 by Stinkweeds Record Store

[Repost from Stinkweeds Record Store; December 15, 2025]

JPW & Dad Weed Amassed Like a Rat King

REVIEW: Tercel 'Tercel'

[Repost from Rosy Overdrive; December 15, 2025]

The self-titled EP from Tercel is the Wilmington, North Carolina band’s first record in which they don’t have to share the main billing (they took the unusual step of releasing a split EP with hip hop duo Fuzz Jaxx & CoolOutSessions last year despite only having a couple of one off-singles to their name at that point). They’re a quartet co-led by Savannah Wood and Robin Wood and rounded out by Chris Vinopal (pedal steel, guitar) and Taylor Salvetti (drums); on our clearest glimpse of Tercel yet, we start to be able to see them as big-picture, earnest, pop-forward indie rockers. The exuberant, in-focus guitar work reflects a band who’ve taken cues from their home state’s indie rock history (maybe more Superchunk than Archers of Loaf, but probably both), but all five songs on Tercel shoot for giant, polished choruses (call them heartland rock, Americana, power pop…) that skip right past the 1990s into the following decade. The more electric songs on Tercel (like “Stuck and “Strange Energy”) work because the band are just scuzzy enough to give the tracks the sharper edges they need, although my favorite song on the EP, “Decoder Ring”, cuts the fuzz and chases after an overwhelming, immaculately-building post-alt-country indie rock ball of emotion and melody. And if you’re looking to understand Tercel, that’s probably it.

Favorites of 2025: Kim Ware and The Good Graces – Grand Epiphanies

[Repost from Your Tuesday Afternoon Alternative on WUDR Radio; by Dr. J, December 8, 2025]

I’ll just say it: Grand Epiphanies is one of the most human records you’re going to hear in 2025, and maybe one of the few that doesn’t insult your intelligence along the way. While many releases this year seem hell-bent on either drowning themselves in studio varnish or hiding behind hipster irony, Kim Ware walks in like someone who’s survived a few things and isn’t afraid to speak plainly about the bruises. These songs don’t howl, they don’t posture—they breathe. And in an era when pop throws confetti over every emotional breakdown and calls it catharsis, Ware has the guts to sit with the silence, to let the ache settle, to make music that’s actually about feeling something and not just Instagramming the wreckage. This is a record that believes in sincerity, and for that alone, it hits like a revelation.

Deepening the craft: Why Grand Epiphanies matters

When Grand Epiphanies was released in September 2025 via Fort Lowell Records, it arrived not as a gimmick or a throwback — but as an earnest statement from a songwriter who has spent nearly two decades refining her voice. For fans of Kim Ware and The Good Graces, the EP represents both continuity and evolution. It retains the emotional honesty and Southern-tinged indie-folk roots listeners have come to expect, while embracing fuller arrangements, sharper lyrical clarity, and a maturity of perspective that only time (and living) can provide.

What emerges is a collection of songs that treat heartbreak, regret, longing, and self-doubt not as melodrama, but as shared human truths. Ware doesn’t write to shock, to boast, or to gloss over. She writes to reach — to offer a mirror to listeners, and maybe a little company in whatever dark or quiet moment they find themselves. This EP is a reminder: vulnerability doesn’t have to be pretty. It just has to be honest.

The team: musicians behind the music

Although Kim Ware remains the creative heart of The Good Graces — vocals, guitar, and songwriting — Grand Epiphanies is a collaborative effort, supported by skilled players and producers who understand how to highlight nuance rather than mask it.

On this release, producers and multi-instrumentalists Steven Fiore and Justin Faircloth play central roles, adding guitar, piano, keyboards, bass, and even backing vocals, and in doing so, help shape the record’s rich but still intimate sonic layers. Their presence builds on a long tradition within The Good Graces: throughout previous albums, different collaborators have drifted in and out of the lineup, each contributing something distinct to the band’s evolving sound. That kind of fluid membership has always been part of the project’s identity, keeping Kim Ware’s songwriting deeply personal while allowing the music itself to remain open, flexible, and continually renewed rather than fixed in a single form.

This flexible model echoes what Ware once said about the band: not as a fixed entity but as a “very talented group of friends,” coming together when inspiration, time, and circumstance allow.

In practice, this means Grand Epiphanies doesn’t feel overproduced or manufactured. Instead, it feels like friends gathered in a room, listening, playing, and creating together — a mood that invites trust and intimacy rather than distance and gloss.

Sound and style: picking up old threads, weaving new ones

Listeners familiar with earlier Good Graces albums — from Sunset Over Saxapahaw (2008) through Ready (2022) — will find much that’s familiar on Grand Epiphanies. Ware’s Southern-tinged twang, her blend of folk, country, and indie-rock sensibilities, the unhurried melodies, the earnest vocal delivery — these remain essential.

Yet this EP also feels more expansive than some earlier efforts. The production, led by Fiore and Faircloth, layers guitars, piano, subtle harmonies, and occasionally banjo or other acoustic touches to build a richer emotional landscape around Ware’s voice. Although personal taste will always shape which tracks linger the longest, several songs on Grand Epiphanies stand out for the way they crystallize what the record does best. Take the track “Old/New”: its guitar strumming and vocal lines evoke late-afternoon melancholy, but as the song unfolds, piano and backing instrumentation widen the space — giving the listener room to sink into memory, longing, and possibility. unfolds like a gentle meditation on what we leave behind and what we carry forward, its subtle layers of instrumentation creating room for genuine emotional reflection.

“Wish I Would’ve Missed You” approaches heartbreak without melodrama, turning regret and longing into something more like the experience of leafing through old photographs—quiet, tender, and unexpectedly overwhelming. And then there is “Missed the Mark,” a song that speaks directly to the insecure, the hopeful, and the uncertain, offering both an appeal for human connection and a confession of imperfection that feels disarmingly honest.

The choice to include a cover — a reimagined version of Some Guys Have All the Luck — also signals the confidence in balancing reverence and reinvention. On this EP, the cover doesn’t feel like a novelty; instead, it sits comfortably alongside Ware’s originals, transformed gently to align with the EP’s mood and tone. “Some Guys Have All the Luck” serves as a bridge between past and present, inspiration and reinterpretation. It doesn’t overshadow the original; it complements it, reminding listeners that songs evolve just as people do.

Overall, the sound of Grand Epiphanies suggests maturity without restraint, emotional depth without melodrama — the kind of record that lingers long after the final note fades.

The gift in the songs: everyday life, honest reflection, and human connection

What often sets the best singer-songwriters apart is a gift for translating ordinary moments into emotional touchstones. On Grand Epiphanies, Kim Ware exercises that gift with clarity and courage. Rather than lean on clichés — heartbreak melodrama, romantic tropes — she mines the subtler, messier terrain of real experiences: regret, nostalgia, second chances, self-doubt, hope, and quiet resilience. Many of these themes resonate universally: longing and loneliness, memory and loss, the ache of roads not taken, the fragile optimism that hums beneath everyday life.

In “Wish I Would’ve Missed You”, Ware reflects on regret and longing with a spare lyricism that strikes more powerfully than most breakup ballads. “Spent it all on grad school… every now and then a memory stops me in my tracks,” she sings — not flaunting heartbreak but confessing to being human, vulnerable, flawed.

Elsewhere — in songs like “Missed the Mark” — she turns the lens inward, wrestling with feelings of inadequacy, uncertainty, and the desperate hope to connect. “I scan the room and hope the messages I send / Somehow reach a brand new stranger, and they become a brand new friend,” she confesses, exposing the artist’s fear and longing behind performing.

The album doesn’t promise closure. It doesn’t pretend that “everything works out.” Instead, it offers companionship: a voice that says, “I feel a lot of this too.” In that way, Grand Epiphanies avoids insulting the listener’s intelligence by offering simplistic solutions. It acknowledges complexity. It honors pain. And it believes in healing — not as a fairy tale but as a slow, sometimes messy process.

How Grand Epiphanies compares to previous work

To appreciate Grand Epiphanies, it helps to see it against the backdrop of Kim Ware’s musical journey. The Good Graces began in 2006 after Ware picked up an old acoustic guitar and started composing songs rooted in Southern indie-folk traditions.

Earlier records, like Close to the Sun (2014), showed a willingness to experiment — to mix folk and country, to play with ambient touches, drum machines, and subtle electronic textures. But even then, the core remained familiar: Ware’s voice, simple guitar patterns, emotionally candid lyrics.

With Ready (2022), the songwriting felt sharper, more intentional; melodies caught between wistful longing and restless urgency. Yet Grand Epiphanies pushes further. The songs are more cohesive; the instrumentation more deliberate; the emotional stakes clearer. Listeners can trace how time, experience, and loss have deepened Ware’s perspective.

This latest EP also suggests a renewed trust in collaboration. Rather than relying solely on acoustic minimalism — the refuge of vulnerability — Ware embraces fuller arrangements. The result isn’t flashy, but it feels abundant in feeling. It’s as though she’s saying: “These aren’t just my stories alone anymore; they are ours.”

Why Grand Epiphanies feels especially relevant in 2025

We live in a time when noise is constant — in our politics, our social media, our media cycles. Simplicity and quiet reflection often feel like luxuries. In that environment, an EP like Grand Epiphanies doesn’t just matter musically; it matters morally. It represents a kind of resistance — not flashy or confrontational, but human.

Kim Ware doesn’t demand answers; she offers empathy. She doesn’t pretend life gets clean after the hard parts; she reminds us that even when scars remain, beauty can survive. For listeners who feel worn down, uncertain, or haunted by memory, these songs can be small lamps in a dark room. For those simply seeking honest songwriting in a sea of glossy distractions, the EP offers relief.

Moreover, the collaborative, evolving model of The Good Graces — weaving friends, producers, rotating musicians into a living tapestry — speaks to music as community, not commodity. In an age of streaming algorithms and viral hits, that matters.

A few honest limitations — and why they don’t hurt the EP’s purpose

As with any release built around vulnerability and introspection, Grand Epiphanies may not cater to all tastes. Listeners expecting polished pop hooks, glossy production, and immediate gratification might find its pacing too slow, its mood too muted. The EP’s strength lies precisely in its restraint — in accepting that some feelings don’t come wrapped up neat and loud.

And with only five tracks, Grand Epiphanies can feel more like a snapshot than a full portrait. Themes are introduced, emotional arcs hinted at, but not always resolved. The sense is less of closure and more of continuation. Which, in many ways, may be the point: life rarely offers tidy endings.

Still — if you’re open to being held in uncertainty for a little while; if you’re willing to sit with a guitar, a voice, and a few gentle chords — the EP offers something rare: a place to breathe.

Kim Ware and The Good Graces — still speaking, still feeling

In a musical climate often dominated by spectacle, loudness, and overstated sentiment, Grand Epiphanies stands out not because it demands attention, but because it deserves it. Kim Ware’s songwriting remains a gift: honest, gentle, unguarded, but never cloying or insincere. Backed by The Good Graces, she continues to prove that folk and indie rock can still speak to our messy, uncertain lives with clarity and heart.

For longtime listeners, the EP will feel like a meaningful evolution — a band maturing, growing more confident, more open to collaboration. For those just discovering Ware, it offers a doorway into a catalogue full of stories that don’t hide behind cliches or affectation. And for anyone longing for music that reflects rather than distracts, that comforts rather than commodifies — Grand Epiphanies is a small, glowing jewel.

In 2025, when the world often seems determined to overwhelm us with noise, Kim Ware and The Good Graces invite us to slow down, listen, and remember: we are not alone. We are human. We are trying. And maybe — just maybe — that’s enough.

REVIEW: Tercel 'Tercel'

[Repost from Swim Into the Sound; by Parker White, December 9, 2025]

After a handful of singles, splits, and regional shows, Wilmington, North Carolina’s Tercel have introduced themselves to the world with a self-titled EP - a rollicking, tight collection of five tracks that they’ve written and recorded over their first couple years as a band. It’s an exciting start that features a mix of early fan favorites and a couple more recent tracks that show off their chops as a band and introduce their unique flavor of indie rock to a wider audience.

Nostalgia is certainly at the core of what Tercel is doing on this project. They wear their 90s guitar influences on their sleeve but wield them in dynamic, exciting ways that dodge many of the typical labels (post-grunge, shoegaze, etc.) that are so often cited in the modern indie landscape. Their press materials list two dozen RIYL bands that span from Broken Social Scene to Japandroids to Sonic Youth to Sleater-Kinney to Yuck, and that’s a good way to describe Tercel’s synthesis of influences. They take tiny elements from a wide array of inspiration that date back decades, and the result is something that is at once nostalgic and timeless.

Every piece of the band sounds sharp, confident, and energetic, but the vocals are the standout. Savannah and Robin Wood share the mic gratuitously, but they share a similar emotionality and effort. On both the electrifying opener “Heron” and the second track “Decoder Ring,” the band borders on a yell as they aim to be heard loudly and clearly over Chris Vinopal’s buzzing guitars and Taylor Salvetti’s thundering drums. You could imagine a different band sounding discordant as they all play at 110%, but Tercel sound comfortable and in-sync, even at maximum effort.

The band’s clarity, energy, and unabashed effort harken back to an era where trying was cool, and frankly, that’s an attitude I think we could all stand to embrace. When Tercel decide to take that approach to their debut full-length, I’ll be lined up to listen.