Ari Blaisdell and Matt Jones are System Exclusive: a Pasadena based two piece band bearing an armful of mini synths, making heart-throbbing capital P pop cut with more than a hint of post-punk. Blaisdell’s vocals hearken back to openhearted 80’s hitmakers unafraid to quaver in the name of love, and they’re buoyed by Jones’ laser-gridded synth concoctions and heavy hand on the ones and twos. They’re touring on their debut self titled LP for Castle Face Records.

CEREAL GLYPHS
https://cerealglyphs.bandcamp.com/releases

“Earlier this year, Louisville garage-rockers Cereal Glyphs released their second album, appropriately titled The Second Hand. Sophomore releases can have a tendency to fall short on delivering the goods compared to a debut effort, but the Glyphs’ latest surpasses their first, which was a mighty fine record. This time out, the five piece group delivers 10 solid catchy psychedelic pop punk tunes that will stick in your head. The record does a great job of capturing the band’s energetic live sound, which is a difficult thing to do.”

“We are big fans of the Louisville indie band Twin Limb that features the vocals and songwriting of Lacey Guthrie, and the musicianship of MaryLiz Bender and Kevin Ratterman. The members all live in different cities now but Lacey assures us they’re still connected and always will be. We asked her about her new solo album that just came out called The King of Holding Onto Things. Lacey says:

I played on my own years ago, in my early twenties, before I found that I felt more comfortable writing and playing with other people. It took every ounce of every collaboration I’ve been part of to get to this place where I feel motivated to write using just my own voice or even capable of it, so I’d say this is my first solo effort that’s actually rooted in who I am as an adult. It was part necessity (the pandemic, my last relationship ended, Ouzelum wound up dissolving and I was living alone) and partly the product of a songwriting group that met online almost every week for over a year. The group was truly a lifeline and I’ll love everyone involved in it forever. I’m not exaggerating when I say it helped me keep my shit together for a while.

The songs came from different prompts and were (for the most part) completely wrapped up within a week, so they didn’t really have an opportunity to seep into each other. There isn’t an intentional concept or theme. What unifies them the most is that they were inspired by and shared with one small group of people over the course of a year / they were written on the same two synthesizers. For me personally though, releasing the album feels like shedding a skin. I got to know myself through the process.

The album was recorded by Nick Roeder at Fresh Produce.
Kevin Ratterman mixed the record at his studio, Invisible Creature, in LA.
Shelley Anderson (Black Lab Mastering) mastered the album.
There’s no one else playing on the album, it’s just me.”